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Together, the five of us cast a curse through the earth. The magic sent black goo bubbling up from the ground at the priestesses’ feet. Just one touch, and they would be cursed to surrender. The two of them merely laughed, like our attempt at dark magic was comical. Margaret swished the Master Wand, sending the black goo melting back into the dirt. Our spell recoiled, and the five of us were blasted into the air in all different directions.

Dynamite might as well have gone off at our feet. My back slammed into the massive trunk of a tree behind me, and I felt something crack. I was fairly certain it was a rib or two. I was so disoriented I couldn’t see where my friends had gone.

I forced myself to lift my head, but it pounded so hard I could barely see a thing. I caught sight of Nadine lying on her side not far from me. Her features swam in front of me, and my heart ached to reach out for her. I tried, but she was too far away to touch. Her eyes fluttered open, then closed again. She appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness.

Chloe’s voice rang out from my right. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to the coven!”

My vision cleared to see Chloe standing in front of her grandmother. She lifted the Mentalist Wand, but at the same time, the funnel cloud touched ground. The colossal winds of an enormous tornado swept her off her feet. Leaves spiraled upward into the air, and I was dragged across the forest floor by an invisible force. Trees groaned and cracked as they were uprooted. I grabbed a hold of a large tree root to avoid being swept up in the swirling twister. My legs lifted into the air. My broken ribs screamed in protest, and I struggled to breathe. It took everything I had to hold on for dear life without losing the Mortana Wand to the storm. I heard Nadine scream, but I couldn’t be sure of where she’d gone.

Chloe’s frightened cry ripped across the mountainside as the tornado yanked her across the landscape and out of sight. The cyclone careened off across the mountain, but the windstorm continued to whip leaves and debris across my face. I sucked in a greedy breath as my feet returned to solid ground.

“No!” Grant cried. He came running through the forest from behind me, the Alchemy Wand at the ready.

The rain above the priestesses’ heads lit up a bright green, reminiscent of glowing potions from the Alchemy classrooms back at school. He’d alchemized the rain into a mighty spell. The rain came down on the priestesses in a sheet, but Margaret quickly retaliated. Grant’s spell backfired, and green magic spiraled back into the end of his Wand. The magic lit up his entire form for a second, and then… he vanished.

I gasped, and the shock sent pain rippling through my torso. Grant had only been standing a few feet away from me, and now, he was gone. I didn’t understand what had happened. Then I spotted the Alchemy Wand in the dirt where he’d been standing. A fat, warted toad hopped toward the Wand.

The toad was Grant! I scrambled forward on my elbows, pushing past the searing pain in my side, and grabbed the toad and the Alchemy Wand before the priestesses could aim another spell. I shoved Grant and his Wand into the pocket of my robe to keep them safe.

It had all happened in a second, but Talia was already on the move. I spotted her stumbling to her feet twenty yards from me. She lifted the Seer Wand and aimed it at the priestesses. Our Wands were still connected, and I could feel her intent. She was going to cast a spell like the one she’d put on Cody, to show the priestesses what harm they’d caused. She hoped to change their minds.

No sooner had she lifted her Wand did Margaret cast out a shield. Talia’s spell backfired her, sending her spinning through the air. She lay still on the forest floor, knocked out by the power of her spell.

I got to my feet, but the priestesses had already anticipated my attack. With the flick of Master Wand, Margaret created dozens of portals all at once. The dark depths of the Abyss stared back at me.

Then monsters came running. At least twenty hellish beings jumped out of the portals all at once, all salivating with the thirst for human blood. There were so many of them I couldn’t take them all in. All I saw were endless gnashing teeth and sharp claws that could gut me in one swipe.

One of the monsters appeared as a skeleton-like canine—almost hyena-like with mangled ears and ashen skin hanging off its bones. It had big sharp teeth that it snapped at me as it crossed twenty yards in a single leap.

I cast my magic outward, and it was so strong that I didn’t even need a portal to send the beast back to the underworld. The creature vanished the second my magic touched it.

A tall, bipedal monster with lava for skin lashed fat fingers out at me, but I sent him back to hell in the blink of an eye. I did the same to the others in quick succession.

In my attempt to defend myself, the priestesses had successfully distracted me. The second I sent the last of the monsters to hell, another spell blasted straight into my chest. An invisible force dragged me backward, binding my arms to my sides. The Mortana Wand dropped from my hand, and I was yanked backward another ten yards until my spine slammed against a tree. Fucking hurt, too. I thought the blow might’ve fractured another rib, but I couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t already broken.

Lilian laughed maniacally as she flicked her wrist upward. I was yanked off my feet and into the air. Her spell was like magical ropes tying me to the tree trunk at least six feet off the ground.

I knew my magic was still working, because I could feel my power still pulsing into my zombie army down the mountain. But when I tried to command my Wand back into my hand, I couldn’t do it. Lilian had used some sort of curse fused with her Mentalist abilities to keep me from moving. I was frozen in place, unable to cast my magic. Lilian wanted me to watch as they ripped the rest of the coven to shreds.

Nadine stumbled out from behind a tree. She was the last one still standing… but barely. She had cuts all across her face, and bruises mottled her arms. She didn’t waste a second casting a spell—only this time, Nadine didn’t aim for the priestesses. She went after the Master Wand.

Battle spell after battle spell erupted from the end of Nadine’s Wand. But the second she cast the spell, the Master Wand was already gone. Priestess Margaret formed a portal that she tossed the Master Wand through, only for another portal to open above Lilian’s head. Priestess Lilian caught the Master Wand with an evil laugh. Nadine aimed for her, but she’d already tossed it through another portal back to Priestess Margaret. The two were playing a sick game of Monkey in the Middle, cackling as they taunted my wife with their games. It was two against one, and Nadine couldn’t keep up.

Margaret caught the Master Wand again, but instead of tossing it back to Lilian, she spun on Nadine. An intense spell shot through the forest, so fast Nadine couldn’t respond. I tried to call out for her, but Lilian’s spell had forced my jaw tightly shut.

Margaret’s magic hit Nadine, and my wife collapsed where she stood. I watched in horror as cuts opened up all over Nadine’s body. It was torture to be unable to stop it. Blood the color of ink oozed out of the wounds.

Nadine’s agonizing cry seemed to unravel the very fabric of reality. I’d never heard such a heart-wrenching sound in all my life. We’d been through so much, and not even the worst of it could compare to this harrowing sound. It was the kind of pleading cry that could summon the gods down to Earth, because no one in any realm, throughout all eternity, should ever encounter such evil. Even the demons down in hell would have trouble stomaching it. Tears streamed from my eyes as I was forced to helplessly watch my wife convulse as the wicked curse bled her dry.

Then she did the most marvelous thing. Nadine clutched the Curse Breaker Wand tightly in her hand, and by sheer will and determination, the inky black substance reversed course. The drips that had been trailing down her face turned backward, sinking into the wounds. The cuts healed themselves as she drew the curse inward.

Then magic exploded out of her, barreling toward the priestesses. It swept through the forest in a millisecond, and the priestesses were caught off guard. Nadine turned their curse back on them, and the powerful magic caused both priestesses to fall to their knees. Their eyes took on a blood-shot appearance, and their jaws dropped open as their bodies shook uncontrollably. Deep red blood streamed from their eyes.

I thought for sure Nadine had gained the upper hand, but Margaret pushed back with the Master Wand, and the spell broke with the power of a shockwave. The ground between us and the priestesses cracked, splitting the mountain apart. A deep cavern formed that must’ve stretched hundreds of feet down into the earth.

Nadine moved quickly. Magic swelled through the forest, and I witnessed tendrils of magic stream out the end of the Mortana Wand and into Nadine. They were soft, white wisps that were hard to see through the darkness of the storm. I didn’t think the priestesses noticed it, but I did. Nadine was siphoning power from the other Wands to use their magic against the priestesses.

In quick succession, Nadine cast a spell from each of the other four Casts. These weren’t spells she could normally create on her own. In fact, every attempt she’d ever made to use magic from other Casts had failed. But this wasn’t like the magic she’d used before. With the Oaken Wands working together, they created spells unlike any of us had ever seen. Through cooperation, Nadine was able to funnel their magic through her own Curse Breaker Wand.

A smoky black substance in the shape of a skull zoomed through the forest, until it became solid—like the dismembered floating head of a mythical giant. The skull hinged at the jaw like it was going to swallow the priestesses whole. Margaret swished the Master Wand, and the creepy skull turned to ash.

Before the priestesses had blocked her spell, Nadine was already casting the next one. The smoke from her Wand transformed into the shape of a massive cauldron above the priestesses’ heads. It solidified into cast iron as it tilted, sending a sizzling black substance to pour over the priestesses like a waterfall. Margaret barely had to move her Wand before the poison alchemized into snow. Harmless snowflakes drifted down around the priestesses, then got carried away in the wind.

Then an image invaded my mind, one so real I forgot we were in the middle of a battle altogether. Instead, I stood on the edge of the outcropping not far from here, looking over the remnants of Octavia Falls. Storm clouds brewed above the city, as if they’d never left after the fight, but it had to be years in the future. The fallen trees in the battlefield below had rotted away to nothing. The town below appeared desolate and forgotten. Far off in the distance, a lone figure in a dark cloak walked the streets, their lonely, mournful cry carrying all the way up the mountain.

The scene shifted abruptly, and the lone figure grew to tower hundreds of feet above the city. They lifted their hands, and the gothic turrets of the forgotten town grew to the size of skyscrapers. The powerful being seemed to be creating a fortress for their town. Lightning streaked across the sky as wicked laughter filled the air.

Thunder cracked, and I was yanked from the vision and back to the present. The spell recoiled, and Nadine was knocked to the ground, panting on her hands and knees.

I realized the vision had been Nadine’s interpretation of what the future held if the priestesses had won. She’d combined Seer and Mentalists powers to make it appear more real than the battle we currently stood in. She wanted to show the priestesses what would come of them if they achieved their goal—that they’d have no coven left to go back to, and by winning at all costs, they’d be left as nothing more than queens of their ashes. She wanted them to feel what winning for their side would cost them, in the hopes that they’d give up.

If anything, it only motivated them. The priestesses had turned the vision against her, shown her how much they relished in their victory. It didn’t matter to them what was left of the coven as long as they didn’t have to hand it over.

“You think your silly visions are going to stop us?” Margaret spat. “You thought you could beat us with ideas alone, that if you just told the coven to think positive and work together , all would be fine and they’d listen ? This war only ever had one outcome, and it was always going to end in your defeat, Nadine, because you’ve been wrong about giving people choices all this time. You’re too young and inexperienced to get it; it took me decades to figure it out. If we’re going to follow our goddess, we have to think like goddesses, and you’ve been thinking too small all this time.”

“Your ideas are going to die with you,” Lilian spat in agreement. “You’ll learn soon enough that no one ever wanted to listen to you in the first place.”

A spell shot out of the end of the Master Wand. I wanted to scream as a stream of black magic connected with Nadine’s chest, but I couldn’t make a sound. The spell hit Nadine so hard and fast that she went flying backward, spinning through the air until she landed with a heavy thud on the forest floor below me. Her head smacked against the tree I was bound against, and she lay completely still.

Then her voice entered my mind, and with it the most agonizing heartbreak imaginable. I’m with you until the end, Lucas .

I wanted to scream, but I was trapped within my own body. That made it a hundred times worse, because my grief wasn’t provided an outlet as simple as a scream. If I could let out a wail right now, I was certain the whole coven would be able to hear it—perhaps even feel the grim despair ripple through their bones.

Forget about defending Octavia Falls. The whole damn world was collapsing all at once.

Nadine was gone. We’d lost.

Margaret merely laughed, like this was some friendly game of chess and she’d just declared a checkmate. “The chosen one is down. We won!”

“Now we can finish this!” Lilian cried in delight.

Through my tears, I witnessed a smirk cross Margaret’s features. She whirled on Lilian, the Master Wand pointed at her companion. “I’m afraid only one of us can continue from here,” Margaret said with a tone of fake regret. “There’s only one Master Wand, and it was built only for a single magic user.”

Lilian raised her arms and dropped to her knees in surrender. I never thought I’d live to see this powerful woman grovel at someone else’s feet. “Please, sister. You don’t have to kill me. I have followed you all this time, and that hasn’t changed.”

“That’s why I have to do this,” Margaret spat. “Sometimes, being a leader requires you to make tough choices, even if you don’t want to. It’s not easy running a coven. People question you at every turn. Everyone wants to have it their way, but they’re not smart enough or knowledgeable enough to know what it takes to manage all these moving parts. I’ve been a priestess for over three decades, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that people have to be told what to do, or nothing will get done. You can give them the world, and all they’ll do is whine about it. They didn’t appreciate what we gave them, so we had to take it away so they’d listen. We aren’t built to share power. I’m going to rebuild the coven, but this time, I’m going to do it my way. You had the right ideas, Lilian, but you and I have always been in competition. You were always trying to assert your dominance to show who was really in charge, and at times I let you believe it. You were more than happy to show off your power, and I was pleased to use it to my advantage. But your usefulness has run out, and I’m done sharing power. I can’t run the risk of you betraying me.”

“So you would sooner betray me ?” Lilian asked as tears filled her eyes. “I did this all for you. I don’t need the power of the Master Wand. You should be the one running the coven. It was your destiny all along.”

“Of course it was!” Margaret yelled. “Witches believe in caring for the individual, but I tried all these years to care for these people, and the minute I couldn’t fix their problems, they turned on me. What about me? When do I get the credit I deserve? When will I be respected for my rightful power? Mother Miriam sanctioned me as a priestess all those years ago, but she put me through these lessons and hardships to show me how it should be done.”

“I agree,” Lilian urged. “The coven doesn’t understand how to manage under the division of power. They used their power to put my husband in prison, and I worked my whole life to change things. We need someone like you who will fight for what’s right. Let me be there to help you.”

“I really wish you could,” Margaret said in a condescending way. “But you’re too much of a liability.”

Margaret flicked the Master Wand the same time Lilian lunged forward. She shoved Margaret’s wrist toward the sky, and the killing spell Margaret intended to use on Lilian shot into the clouds. Lilian yanked the Wand from Margaret’s hands and blasted a spell straight through Margaret’s chest.

It had all happened so fast, it seemed surreal. But this wasn’t some trickery or vision. A sizzling hole sat where Margaret’s heart used to be. In the blink of an eye, Lilian had turned Margaret’s betrayal against her and took her fellow priestess’s life.

Lilian hadn’t meant a word she’d said. She’d only been distracting her rival to give herself time to gain the upper hand.

Priestess Margaret’s body slumped to the ground. The void of death made my stomach lurch as Margaret’s last thought rang through my mind. I sought power for nothing.

Mere milliseconds had passed. Lilian’s arm was still raised when a spell slammed into her wrist. I wasn’t sure where it had come from. If I had to guess, Margaret had somehow enchanted the Master Wand to backfire on other spellcasters if she lost control of it. Lilian screamed as the sound of breaking bone filled the forest. Her hand appeared completely mangled. The Master Wand flew from her grasp, then spun across the forest toward me.

A hand reached up from below me, catching the Master Wand. I looked down to see Nadine had gotten to her feet, and my heart filled with immense joy and relief. She’d been the one to cast the spell, catching Priestess Lilian off guard.

I didn’t get it. I’d heard her last thought. I could’ve sworn she was dead…

Then I realized the void of death I felt with Margaret hadn’t been present with Nadine. I’d been too wrapped in my grief to realize it. I hadn’t heard Nadine’s last thought. She’d been communicating telepathically with the power of the Oaken Wands. She was trying to tell me she was still here, and I’d taken it the wrong way.

Lilian’s eyes widened in horror as she realized Nadine now held the Master Wand. She thrust her hands outward to attack, but her magic didn’t come. She stumbled back a step. “That’s not possible! Margaret cast a killing spell on you!”

“Yes, she did,” Nadine said as she paced forward, keeping the Master Wand trained on Lilian. “And I shielded myself from her attack. The spell did hit me, but not with full force.”

Nadine has faked her death to trick the priestesses. What a clever girl.

“It’s over, Lilian,” Nadine said.

She lifted the Master Wand, and the storm calmed to a light drizzle. The crevice that had been spliced through the mountain merged together, leaving a scar behind in the earth.

Lilian’s spell on me gently loosened. I slowly lowered to the ground like I was attached to a harness. I landed beside Nadine, then pulled the toad from my pocket and placed him in the dirt.

Grant instantly turned back into himself. He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Yuck. Being a toad tastes funny… although I’m really hungry for some flies right now.”

“You can have all the flies you want later,” I said as I handed him the Alchemy Wand. Then I raised my hand, and the Mortana Wand flew into it.

Nearby, Talia lifted her head and blinked a few times, before pushing herself to her feet. “Fuck, that’s going to leave a mark.”

A shadow passed above us, and Chloe levitated herself down from the clouds. She kept the Mentalist Wand trained on her grandmother.

“You should’ve died in that storm!” Lilian spat.

“Please, Grandma,” Chloe scoffed. “I have telekinesis; I can fly. That tornado pulled me off course for a bit, but I found my way back. I always do.”

Lilian’s knees trembled. I’d never seen her look so frightened. Earlier when she groveled at Margaret’s feet, it was all an act, but the fear I witnessed in her eyes now was genuine. She’d been too sure of herself to ever think she might lose.

“What are you going to do now, Chloe?” Lilian spat. “Kill me?”

Chloe took several steps forward.

“What’s she doing?” Grant hissed.

Nadine held out a hand, signaling for the rest of us to stay back. “Let Chloe handle this.”

Chloe tilted her head. “You think I would kill my own grandmother?”

“Wouldn’t you?” Lilian asked coldly. “You know I’d do the same to you.”

Chloe stopped just a few feet in front of her grandma. “I don’t understand how you could be so cruel. I’m your flesh and blood. Does that mean nothing to you?”

“Of course it does, my dear grandchild. But there are things that are bigger than us, and you continue to get in my way. I’m a motivated woman, and I’ll do anything to get what I want.”

“Even kill innocent people?” Chloe asked sadly.

“If their existence obstructed my mission, then yes,” Lilian stated, sounding almost proud of such a horrendous crime.

“How many innocents did you kill?” Chloe demanded.

Lilian scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You expect me to keep count? Let’s stop this ridiculous charade. You have the power now. Are you going to be a coward with it, or are you going to step up and be the powerful witch I raised you to be? At least if you’re going to kill me, make it great.”

Chloe stared down at the Mentalist Wand in her hand, twisting it around like she was caught in indecision. “I’m sorry, Grandma, but I can’t be the powerful witch you raised me to be. You taught me to be cruel, to push people down to get where I wanted to go. I tried that for a while, and I learned it’s not the kind of witch I want to be. I’m not going to kill you. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be the damn powerful witch I choose to be.”

Chloe placed the Mentalist Wand into Lilian’s hand. My friends and I just stood there watching, trusting Chloe to know what she was doing.

The instant Lilian took the Wand, she aimed it at Chloe. She flicked her wrist to deliver a deadly spell… but nothing happened.

Chloe scoffed. “You think I’d just hand you power, after everything you’ve done? Grandma, I’m showing you my power. You always thought I’d follow in your footsteps and become some sort of prodigy you could mold to your will—as if your power could keep on living through me. You never saw me as my own person, but as an extension of yourself. I have power of my own, though. I always did.”

Lilian’s eyes widened, and she took a wary step back.

Chloe shook her head in disgust. “You weren’t the one who hunted down this Wand and learned how to utilize its magic. I did that. And everything I do with this Wand is greater than anything you’ve ever accomplished, not because I need its power to make me great, but because I choose to use it to help people. That’s something you can never say. You think I’m fighting you because I’m some rebellious college kid who doesn’t respect her elders, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Everything I’ve done to bring about your demise is in the name of bringing power back to the people.”

Chloe gave a chilling laugh. “The Mentalist Wand likes to play games, and it wants me to play this one with you. We’ve been playing together long enough that this Wand is loyal to me. You wanted to control me, and control the coven. Now I have control over you. I’m giving you the Mentalist Wand to show you that even though you have all this power in your hands, you can’t use it.”

Lilian’s hands trembled as magic swirled out of the end of the Mentalist Wand. Horror filled her eyes as she tried to resist, but the Wand overtook her mind, controlling her to its will.

“Confess what you did, Lilian!” Chloe shouted. “Tell us all what your real intentions were.”

“I intended to rule the coven,” Lilian admitted. Her arms shuddered as she tried to resist the spell, but the Mentalist Wand was far more powerful than her own will. “When the Waning started, I got scared. We weren’t equipped to deal with something like this, because it had never happened before. Nadine was right—we had to unite the people. But you can’t unite people who think differently than you!”

“You can! It’s called compromise and respect. Ever heard of it?” Chloe demanded.

“People didn’t respect me, so why should I respect them?” Lilian spat.

“Respect is earned,” Chloe shot back. “You tried to force people to respect you, and it can’t be done.”

“I did what had to be done!” Lilian sneered. “The Waning was a sign that the coven would fail unless we fixed our problems. If I had to sacrifice half the coven to keep around the ones who agreed with me, then I was willing to do it.”

“That’s thousands of lives lost at your hands,” Chloe accused.

“It was either thousands, or all of us,” Lilian insisted. “Which would you choose?”

“I’d choose another way,” Chloe replied. “Things aren’t always black and white, Grandma. Did you ever even stop to consider what Mother Miriam wanted?”

“I knew what Mother Miriam wanted!” Lilian shouted. “Her teachings are clear. Protect the coven . I did that by eliminating those who threatened our cause.”

“You truly believe Mother Miriam sanctioned everything you did—the hangings, the burnings, the Chosen, all of it?” Chloe asked.

“The Chosen was a sham!” Lilian sneered. “It was all made up to get people to fall into line. Mother Miriam didn’t tell us to make the Chosen, but we had to. People wouldn’t listen to us unless they believed our orders came from Mother Miriam herself.”

Chloe took a step away from her grandmother, like she couldn’t stand to be near her. “So you knew all along that you really had no power? You had to defile Mother Miriam’s good name to claim it for yourself.”

“People wouldn’t give up their power to me, so I had to take it,” Lilian confessed. “If you and your friends hadn’t been causing trouble, I wouldn’t have had to kill so many innocent people.”

Chloe scoffed in disgust. “I’ve heard enough. How about the rest of you?”

Chloe turned around, and at first, I thought she was talking to us. Then coven members started to emerge from the trees. I recognized people from both sides—Judge Calloway, Professor Clarke, Gwen, and Camille, along with Lincoln, Professor Richards, Alex, and Gregory. There were so many coven members that I couldn’t take them all in at once. It appeared everyone was here.

“Oh, remember when I was carried off in that tornado?” Chloe asked innocently. “I brought some friends back with me.”

Judge Calloway pointed a finger at Lilian. “You lied to us! We followed you because you claimed it was what Mother Miriam wanted, and all this time it was to fool us!”

“You had a responsibility to uphold!” Professor Clarke demanded. “Your word was the law of the land, and you abused it!”

“You take us for idiots, but you were stupid enough to get caught red-handed,” Gwen added.

Lincoln limped forward. He must’ve hurt his leg in the fight, but he pushed past the injury to face Lilian. He curled his lip up in disgust. “I worked for you long enough to know you witches were morally corrupt, but I never imagined you’d go to this length. I joined the other side to end the hangings, but it looks like there’s one last execution in order.”

“You wouldn’t,” Lilian said in a shaky tone.

Chloe wrenched the Mentalist Wand out of her grandma’s hands. “You thought I alone was going to decide your fate, Grandma? No. I’m going to let the coven enact justice, because that’s exactly what you deserve. This is the worst way for you to go.”

Chloe turned to the others. “Here you go. Have her.”

The coven rushed forward in an angry mob. Rage-filled screams echoed across the mountain range as they carried out their revenge. They grabbed Lilian and dragged her toward the cliff that overlooked the battlefield.

Beside me, Nadine shuddered, and I wrapped her in my arms. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. I wasn’t sure any of us knew whether we were making the right decision, but none of my friends moved to stop it.

Lilian’s scream filled the air as the coven tossed her over the edge of the cliff. It was the worst way to go—a Mentalist with telekinesis thrown to their death without the power to levitate themselves and stop it. We were lucky enough not to witness her fall, but I knew the moment she made impact, because Lilian’s voice filled my head.

I hope the coven receives the miserable ending it deserves .

“It’s done,” I told my friends flatly. It was strange how little I felt at her death, but honestly, I was just relieved.

“How can we be sure they’re gone for good?” Grant asked. “Not everyone leaves with their reaper.”

I used the Mortana Wand to search out their spirits, but I found nothing except the remnants of reaper magic in the air.

“They’re gone for good,” I confirmed. “Whether by their choice or by force, they’re in another realm now. We don’t have to worry about the priestesses any longer. Now, we can finally put this conflict to rest. With the Oaken Wands and the Master Wand, we have more than enough power to end the Waning. It’s time to finish what we started.”