[Narration]

The girl had been drug to a well and dropped head first into it. The man with her had been blindfolded, and bound. Work had quickened on the pyre being built in the town square. The owner of the dress shop asked a passerby she recognized, "What's happening?"

"They're burning the witch and her friend that beat Bruiser, Miss Dearborn. It's going to be a big event. They're selling tickets for the front row. Bruiser and The Boss are going to be the ones setting the flame."

Miss Dearborn dropped her head at the news. She snorted and spit. ~The Boss and the Bruiser were the ones that needed to be burned! ~ She went inside and put the closed sign in the window and went to the back of her shop to wait the day out. She wanted no part of what was going to happen.

"That poor girl and her friend..."

Traveler began to stir and they pored some liquid down his throat. He swallowed and the elixir worked it's magic, and he was out.

The man watching him gave him a kick in the side. When he received no response, he gave him a harder kick. "He's out for good." Hope he wakes up for the burning. It's a lot more fun if they beg for mercy before they burn."

"Hey boss, the pyre is ready. Can we burn 'em now?" Bruiser winced as pain pierced his ear.

"Now Bruiser, if we burn the two of them now, we might miss some profit. We need to wait till it's good and dark. We'll sale more tickets that way."

The man standing by the well looked around nervously, as if expecting something bad to happen. His friend looked at him and said, "Man, calm down. You ever see anyone live through being down the well that long? When we pull her up she'll be dead and all we'll have to do is drag her to the pyre."

Somewhere in the dark recesses of an abandoned house in the middle of town a dark figure moved. Long dark hair flowed behind her like a cloak as if it was being moved by a whirlwind. She walked towards the back of the room where she opened a secret door before stepping down a flight of stairs. She walked into the room avoiding tables and chairs as if the room was completely light. She continued till she stood before a twisted statue. She took a knife from her side and cut herself. She let the blood fall into a goblet. After a minute, she took the goblet and splashed the blood on the statue.

"Master, the man will be dead in a hour. All has been done as you requested."

The Statue began to glow with a red glow. It was not true light. It didn't throw shadows. It seemed to draw ones eyes toward it. It allowed you to _see_ it. The twisted shadow of a statue moved, and writhed as if tormented. "Goood." A voice emanated from the thing that would strike terror into any that heard it. "HE has been a pain to me for far too long." There was a dark glee in the tone. "You have done well, I will give you the soul of the girl to toy with.

Traveler and Mara had been drug to the town center, and tied to a stake. It was more of a rough-hewn tree than a stake. Cut into the tree someone had carved a number of ancient signs. Runes! The people had been told they were runes of holding. They were actually ceremonial runes of sacrifice. Bruiser, The Boss, and a dark clad girl strode up the steps one after another. Many there pointed at the girl wondering who she was and why she was there. The girl moved to one side and knelt. She did something all the way around the pyre. She sprinkled the pair with something. She said words that no one understood. She nodded to Bruiser and he lit his torch.

"By this burning we cleanse the town of this witch and her minion." She turned to Traveler, her voice giddy. "I hope you enjoy your visit with the Master!"

With that, the boss dipped his torch to the wood. Traveler began to sense something was wrong. He began to climb from his stopover to consciousness. He smelled something burning, but didn't register any danger. The flames slipped from the torch before slowly circling around the pair, causing the heat to rise. Suddenly he snapped awake and looked around in horror. He looked at Mara who was drenched with water from head to toe. There was no one around who could help them now.

Not even the ghost Mara was always seen talking too.

[Mara]

Mara was in and out of consciousness, her body felt cold, heavy. She was finding it hard to breath, before her eyes shot opened as she swallowed a mouth full of water. She fought to escape, to pull herself up and out of the water, but found the walls to be smooth, with no place to dig her fingers or her heels in. Every time she tried, her fingers would slip, causing her head to fall under water.

"Stay away from water!"

That voice struck her like a slap in the face as she slowly stopped her struggle. Her arms felt like they weighed a ton, her body the same. Blinking, she tried to look up, catching a pin size dot high above her.

"A well! I'm in a well..."

She felt the rope around her waist; thankful it wasn't around her neck. Try as she might, her fingers were too stiff, to cold to untie the knot that held the rope in place. She felt so tired, the water sapping any strength she had left. Hanging by the ropes end she was treading water, trying her best to breath through her nose. Before long the darkness surrounded her as her last ounce of strength faded.

Night fell soon enough as the two men that stood watch over the well started heaving and pulling on the thick hemp rope, their muscles screamed as the limp form of a woman finally slipped up and over the side of the well.

"Is she dead," one man asked, his hands still gripping the rope.

"Looks to be, but that can be deceiving," the other man said before nudging Mara with the tip of his boot. They both damn near jumped out of their skin when she coughed up a lung full of water.

"Damn it! She's still alive," the other man said. "But she won't be for long." Stepping up slowly, she kicked Mara again, not hard enough to break any ribs, but enough to see if she would attack.

"She's out cold. I'll bet she won't even notice the fire until it consumes her."

Both men laughed as they grabbed her, turning her over to get a good look at her. "She's might pretty. Couldn't we...you know..."

"Stop that kind of talk. If she woke up, she'd turn you into a toady frog, or turn your sorry butt to ashes."

The one man looked down, before taking a deep sigh. "That's true, but what a waste of a fine looking woman."

The other man tried to ignore the first as he threw Mara's wet form over his shoulder. "Come on you twit! Everyone's waiting for us. Did you get us some good seats?"

The first man smiled. "Yep! Right down in the front row. We'll get to watch her clothes burn off her first, then her hair and at last..."

"Shut up you fool! You're making me sick!"

Mara could hear every word the men were saying, after the first man nudged her. It was enough to expel the water from her lungs, but the cold water had left her as helpless as a newborn child. She needed warmth, and plenty of it.

She was about to get her wish.

[Moiran]

This was _not_ good. Moiran was unsure how things had gotten so quickly out of hand, but gotten out of hand they had. The unexpected surge of the crowd that had led to the capture of his two friends, and to the scheduled execution of those other two bozos, had caught Moiran completely by surprise. His first thought had been to rush to his friends' aid, but upon reflection, he realized that the townsfolk were unlikely to cause any harm to Socks and Petunia. They were, after all, only dumb mules that posed little threat to the town. Traveler and Mara, however (Mara in particular), had caused a considerable uproar. The little gnome supposed he should do something to help the pair, but Shades of the Afterlife if he could think of something to do.

He tried talking to other animals, the horses pulling the carts that brought the wood to the execution site, but it was no use. Though the little ghost didn't frighten them, they certainly weren't inclined to listen to him. In fact, he was blatantly ignored.

So, he watched helplessly as the pile of wood in the center of the town square grew larger and larger beneath the great wooden stake. He fretted as the two men fetched Mara out of the well and argued over whether to have their way with her before she was burned. He wrung his hands as the crowds grew and his traveling companions - no, his friends, for he had finally admitted to himself that they were as close to friends as he had ever had since his death, and maybe even in his life - were tied to the stake and the flaming torch was brought to them. When the flames began to climb, he was finally moved to action.

With the speed of thought, he was at the place where Socks and Petunia had been stabled. He found them in latched stalls, contentedly eating the best meal they had had in weeks.

"What do you think you're doing, stuffing your faces at a time like this! Mara and Traveler are about to be burned alive. We've got to rescue them!"

Socks and Petunia looked at each other. Their eyes widened and their nostrils flared in the equine equivalent of outrage.

"Well, get yourselves out of there!"

Petunia tried to reach the latch with her nose, but the stalls had been well designed. It was out of her reach. Socks tried a more direct approach, lashing out at the door with her powerful back hooves, but the door was solid.

"Great Shades of the Afterlife! This will not do!"

Moiran zoomed to the closest latch and tried to move it. His hands passed right through.

"This isn't fair. They're going to die!!"

He tried again. Nothing.

"THIS HAS GOT TO WORK!"

Moiran screamed in rage and threw his entire being at the latch. To his utter amazement, it flew open with a crack. Not questioning his good fortune he applied himself to the second latch with the same vigor. It too opened under his wrathful ministrations.

"Now, run girls! To the town square before all is lost!"

The two mules burst from the stable and galloped off to rescue their friends, a determined Moiran guiding their steps.

[Mara]

Mara found herself tied up next to Traveler. Under their feet was a tall pile of dried limbs and brush that circled them and the tree. Mara looked around, keeping her head down as the torch light the brush.

She smiled.

It was a soft smile but enough to cause alarm.

"The witch is awake!"

"Let her burn!"

Mara laughed as the flames started licking towards her, the heat slowly bringing her body and mind back to life. She struggled to break free of her bounds, but found that she was no longer tied up by mere rope, but by the runes that had been carved into the trunk. She glanced behind her, seeing Traveler, his eyes large as the flames started to slip towards him, but her smile grew.

"There is no need to fear them, for they will not harm you. I now control them, as I control and consume all that grows near."

The flames licked up towards Traveler, ever growing higher and higher as the crowd yelled and screamed. "Burn! Look at him burn!" But there was no heat! The flames felt cool as they shot up, spinning around and around like a fiery tornado. The flames grew in strength, growing stronger, redder, and more orange. People started shielding their eyes, as the flames seemed to spiral upwards, swallowing the two whole.

"Man would you look at that thing go! It's never done that before. Must be a dust devil..."

The ones that were sitting in the front rows were mesmerizes by the flames, unaware that their clothes had already started to smolder, turning brittle with the ever growing heat. Smoke started to fill the first two rows before the people sitting there exploded into flames. There was no screaming, no sounds except for a soft whistling sound, before the heat reduced their bodies to ash. The rows of people behind them ran, their skin red and blistered, cursing the woman that had sprinkled something on the fire. Their clothes smoldered, some pieces crumbled like brittle leaves before they escaped the growing tornado of flames. Some were seen fanning their hair as the loose strands suddenly burst into flames.

But they took with them the woman that started it all, casting her into the spiral inferno. She struck the wall of flame screaming for her master. Then there was silence as a pile of ash dropped to the other side. Soon the ever spinning wall of flames folded in on itself, growing smaller with each spin, destroying the tree that had bound Mara and Traveler, turning it into a blackened hulk, the runes long burnt away.

Jumping from the pile of soot and ash, Mara turned to the first shop she saw. Clasping her hands together, she sent out a controlled flame that shot forth like a beacon into the first building.

"YOU DARE TRY TO HARM ME AND MY FRIEND," she screamed, before the building exploded from the inside out, sending a shock wave that toppled the two building that was standing beside the first. Both fell with a mighty crash, as dust and debris fell in and around them. There was not enough wood left to the first building to build a matchbox.

It simply vaporized.

Men and women screamed as the force of the blast sent them flying head over heels, some into buildings, others on rooftops. She repeated the same thing, time and time again until the only buildings standing were the stables, where the mules had been kept, and the dressmakers shop. They stood without so much as a blister to their paint, nor a broken pane in any of their windows.

Miss Dearborn was the only one standing, after slipping out of her shop. Stepping over people, bits of wood and a few charred remains, she held her skirt high as she stopped near Mara.

"Serves them right, trying to be judge, jury and executioner. This town was as crocked as...that bent nail there. I'm sure they all got what they deserved. A one way trip to hell!"

Mara looked over towards the women, before looking back down at her near naked form. Dropping her hands to her side, she stepped up, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, her eyes no longer red.

"I am in need of your services once again. You have been kind to my friend and me. In exchange for that, I have spared your life, and that of your establishment. I had hoped that we would have met on better terms, but as you can see they tried to harm my friend here."

Miss Dearborn smiled as she placed her hand on Mara's bare shoulder. "Yes, I saw that. Now lets get you to the shop. I have this lovely blouse I found that will suit you to a T. We'll have to see about finding you another pair of boots and jeans too. Maybe something a bit snugger..."

Mara nodded as she glanced towards Traveler. "Please see to the mules. Then gather what we have lost in way of supplies, and coin. The buildings may be gone, but the supplies they held still remain, though scattered around, as you can see. I will be with her..."

With that, she followed Miss Dearborn back to her shop.

"Hun, have I got the hat for you..."

[Socks and Petunia]

The two mules headed for the center of town at a wild gallop. The elf-girl was infuriating. She called them burros. She yelled insults at them. But she fed them flowers occasionally and accosted the man who was trying to take them away. She deserved something.

Something ahead didn't seem right. The hot orange light was burning out of control. Socks skidded to a stop and whinnied sharply at Petunia. Petunia faltered, then continued, braving the increasing heat.

Mara had fed her flowers.

Socks called out again, but the roar of the hot orange light was too loud. She headed after her yoke-mate.

[Moiran]

The little alchemist soared out high above the crowd to get some perspective on the scene. What he saw terrified him. Mara had somehow taken control of the flames and was feeding them into mammoth proportions. Then came the whirlwind of fire.

Moiran saw what would happen. He screamed for Mara to stop. He zipped in front of Petunia in an attempt to warn her aside and saw with horror that Socks had resumed her course.

Then the wall of flame hit. It was past them in an instant, expanding with frightening speed. Moiran turned to his friends.

All that was left were two piles of smoking ash.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Shock, outrage and disbelief - then pure unmitigated fury flooded the ghost. A miniature maelstrom erupted from the immediate area, whipping ash and soot into the air around.

"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM!"

Moiran rounded on the approaching figure of Mara, hot white murder gleaming from his eyes.

(to be continued...)