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Callia's face drops as she sees her daughter, truly sees her. Ana's eyes have returned to normal and she looks as she truly is, a little girl who is lost, alone, and scared. And tortured by the memories of what she has done under the control of someone else.

"Gods, what have I done to you, my child? What have I done?"

Callia drops to her knees. "Most of them are dead and yet I feel no relief. No hope. No peace. I am stuck forever in this hell Amora sent me to when I would not let her kill our daughter."

Brock turns to Callia. "I am tired of the wars. Of the fighting. Of the killing. We will not be friends. And it will take me lifetimes to forgive what you have done to my family. Just as it will take you lifetimes to forgive me for what I've done to yours. But perhaps we can try? For our children's sake?"

Callia’s eyes flick to the side, shame filling her face. "I do not know how to stop, but I agree, the bloodshed cannot continue. Vengeance has not given me what I'd hoped, but neither will forgiveness, I fear. I am too lost for both."

She turns to me. "What will you do to me now? Where will I go?"

"Where you deserve,"I say softly.

Chapter 18: The Punishment

“If you are seeking,seek us with joy

For we live in the kingdom of joy.

Do not give your heart to anything else

But to the love of those who are clear joy,

Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair.

For there are hopes: they are real, they exist –

Do not go in the direction of darkness –

I tell you: suns exist.”

~Rumi

The tensionbetween Callia and Brock is thick, and with the dragons leaving this world and the unicorns extinct, Ana is now all that's left of the two races, and none of us know what that will mean for her as she grows into her own powers—if she has any left at all.

Only time will tell what the future holds for the child.

We stand by the ocean near the castle, the five Night brothers, myself, Ana, Brock and Zara, and Lilith, who has just arrived.

Callia awaits her fate nervously.

"Are you sure this will work?" I ask Lilith for the umpteenth time.

"Yes," she says with slight exasperation. "I obtained this spell from a solid source."

It is meant to open the door to the world of spirits, but I'm nervous as I begin the incantation. So much could go wrong. The last thing I want to do is create a tear in the fabric of reality and unleash the undead into the Otherworld.

We just narrowly avoided an end of the world scenario. We don't need a ghost apocalypse now.

But we have to do something with Callia. She can't stay in this world as she is. She's a risk to others and she cannot heal while living in limbo.

The Night brothers stand near me and I channel their power with mine as I speak the ancient words. They are unfamiliar on my tongue, but Lilith and Brock both helped me learn the proper pronunciation.

As I speak, my hands begin to glow and a streak of light and darkness woven together spreads, creating a portal that peels open, and producing a window into the realm of the dead.

"It is time," I say to Callia.

I could force her into the portal, but I remain hopeful that won't be necessary. It will be better for her own soul's journey if she steps in on her own.