Page 46 of Off with Her Head
"The prophecy is clear," Scarlett adds, green-blue eyes fixed on Mara's corrupted form. "One queen must fall."
Mara's desperation turns to rage. With a scream that shakes the entire clearing, she unleashes her full power—no longer attempting to corrupt the tree but to destroy it completely. Crystal shards erupt from her body, shooting toward us and the tree.
Scarlett and I respond instantly, our magic creating a shield that deflects the crystals with ease. The shards shatter against our barrier, dissolving into dust that the growing tree absorbs and purifies.
"You cannot escape what you've become, Mara," I say, sorrow mixing with resolve as I face what remains of my sister. "The poison has consumed too much of your original self. There is nothing left to save."
"You're wrong," she snarls, power flowing around her in increasingly erratic patterns. "I haven't been consumed—I've evolved! I see truths you refuse to acknowledge, powers you're too afraid to embrace!"
"What we see," Scarlett counters, "is someone who surrendered their soul for power at the cost of others."
The Blood Tree continues growing, drawing strength from us. Its roots spread visibly through the soil, creating patterns that mirror the sigils Mara used to separate us.
Mara's attacks grow increasingly frantic as she realizes her power is useless here. The crystals embedded in her body beginto crack, and black liquid seeps from fissures that widen with each failed hit.
She’s destroying herself.
"This isn't over," she hisses, her corrupted form beginning to destabilize. "The pool remains. The source still exists beneath Ironwood. As long as it flows, corruption will return—if not through me, then through another who appreciates true power as much as I do."
The statement triggers something in my memory—the vision we shared through my mirror. The pool, the poison seeping into it, the original break.
The pool, I murmur to Scarlett.That's the final piece. Defeating Mara here contains the immediate threat, but as long as the corrupted pool remains...
Corruption can spread again, she finishes, understanding flowing between us.But how can we reach it? It lies beneath Ironwood, guarded by whatever forces remain loyal to Mara and Edmund.
The answer comes not from either of us, but from the Blood Tree itself. As it continues growing, its bark splits slightly, revealing a small hollow within the trunk. Inside rests a single seed—crimson and black, pulsing with energy.
A third sapling,I realize.One for Underland, one for Darkmore, and one...
For Ironwood, Scarlett completes the thought.To cleanse the pool from within.
Mara follows our gaze to the seed, awareness in her dark eyes. "No," she gasps, launching herself toward the tree. "I won't allow it!"
But her attack comes too late. The clearing's containment tightens further, tree branches weaving into an impenetrable barrier between Mara and the Blood Tree. Her power rebounds upon itself, and crystal shards meant for us stab her instead.
She screams—a sound of rage and pain and, beneath it all, bitterness. "You've chosen the weaker path," she spits.
"We've chosenlife," I correct her, maintaining the containment while Scarlett retrieves the seed from the tree's hollow. "We’ve chosen our people."
"And that choice," Scarlett adds, her heart magic flowing around the seed to protect it, "makes all the difference."
With a final surge of magic, we complete the working. The Blood Tree reaches full maturity in an instant, its power flowing outward in waves that transform the clearing into a perfect balance of all three magical traditions—heart's creativity, blood's discipline, iron's stability. Where these balanced waves touch Mara, she begins to dissolve, poison having no defense. The process isn't violent or painful—more like ice melting in sunlight, returning to its original state.
"No," she whispers, her voice momentarily free of darkness as she continues dissolving. "I only wanted—"
"We know," I reply softly, letting my magic gentle as Mara's threat diminishes.
"The queen falls," Scarlett says, not with triumph but with solemn recognition. "As the mirror foretold."
Mara disappears entirely, fading into the air as though she never existed.
"It's not over," I remind Scarlett, thinking of Edmund and the forces still battling throughout Underland. "Mara was the source, but we don’t know what waits for us beyond the Wood now.”
"Then we continue," Scarlett says simply, her hand finding mine. "Together."
Our connection surges at the touch, stronger than ever.
Chapter
