Page 82 of Pure Magic
It would be funny if I wasn’t a jealous man. As it is, I’m glad he’s gone and will likely forget about us in a moment.
All the witches kneel as Hecate approaches. She’s so beautiful it’s hard to look at her, and even harder to look away.
I bow my head, take Sara Beth’s hand, and pull her back to her feet.
Hecate smiles. “You have done well, children. Though, I knew you would. Love is your greatest gift.” She looks at me. “Even your brother who was lost came back to you because of love.”
To my right, Prudence sits with Kaden, who is still lying on the ground, unconscious.
“Will he live?” My heart aches at the idea of losing him again after getting him back for just a moment.
“Life and death are up to him.” She smiles as if she knows I despise her frequently cryptic answers.
“What now, Goddess?” Sara Beth asks.
Her sigh sounds like a calm breeze. “Now you go on, child. You have done as I asked. You can live as you like. This world is safe for now. I cannot promise darkness will not try again to take your light, but I think it will need time to recover from this day.”
“And you? Will I see you again?” Desperation and hope ring in Sara Beth’s question.
Goddess fades. “I am always with you, as I’m with all witches in the light.”
We stand staring at the killing field a long time. No one speaks as the sun breaks on a new day. We fought all night, and now the light of day illuminates the carnage left behind.
A light rain still falls as witches search for wounded among the dead and tend to both. The dead are carried to the center of the ring. A group including Minerva and Laura purify and sanctify the ground to get it ready for the funeral.
Sara Beth consoles each coven over their loss. Windsor also lost two witches. Mable Bale, a water witch, and Jennifer Maynard, an earth witch, were both killed in battle. Trina and Winnie cry softly as they clean their bodies to ready them for the pyre.
Sara Beth leaves the Kent coven’s gathering to console Windsor’s witches. She takes no time to mourn.
I hardly knew Mable or Jennifer, but I mourn their loss as I sit for the first time. It feels like years since I’ve relaxed, and even now, Kaden lies inside the tent fighting for his life. Prudence and Esme are with him and sent me out for some air. Feeling I should be doing more, I close my eyes and let my sorrow come.
Cold hands fold over mine. “You’ve done plenty,” Sara Beth whispers. “Your brother is ill, and you’ve lost your sister. You stood with the light and fought for our world.”
“I should have died in place of Mable or Jennifer.” My face is wet with tears for them. None for Ariana. She made her choice, and I wept for the girl she was long ago.
Sara Beth wraps her arms around me. “No. Some things are not our business, and the time of our death is one of those. It is not for us to decide when we go to Goddess.” Looking in my eyes, she cups my cheeks and tears roll down her face unchecked. “Besides, I need you to grow old with me.”
It’s hard to imagine any joy existing in the world when rain still falls on the battlefield, but the idea of spending my life with this magnificent woman spreads happiness inside me. “Does that mean you’ll marry me, Sara Beth Ware?”
One side of her mouth tips up in half a smile. “Perhaps, when you ask me properly.”
Looking over her shoulder, miles of carnage and sorrow are all I can see. I pull my attention back to her. “I’ll do just that, when this part is over. First, we’ll mourn our friends.”
She smiles wide while tears track down her soft cheeks.
After a full day of rain rinses away most of the blood, the moon rises over Stonehenge. Demon bodies were carted to a field in the afternoon and burned without ceremony. When they were gone, the ground was salted and blessed.
Memories of the battle of dark and light will be with us for our lifetimes, but for now, we’ll do right by our fallen brothers and sisters. Cleaned and wrapped in burial shrouds, fifty-six bodies lay at the center of the standing stones. Fifty-six souls gave their lives for the light.
Laura Pinkerton and Sara Beth stand hand in hand at the south end of the circle.
Sara Beth begins. “Mother Goddess, release these souls from this place and let them walk in blessed gardens of summer.”
Laura continues. “As they enter dreams and are reborn, thank you for our time. Let their light shine down and give us peace.”
Candles are placed at the north, south, east, and west. Sara Beth flicks her wrist to light them. “We light these candles to remember those who left us and shine a light for their journeys. With fire, and wind. With earth, and water.”
Bowing her head, Laura says, “In the light of sun and moon, we know in peace we shall meet again.”
