United. (Book 5 of the Lupus Antiqua Series)

Endymion stared at her in surprise, but said nothing as she walked past. She wasn't surprised. On the walk from the house to the hill just a mile into the forest she'd been pulling her power up from within her.

She used the walk time to shed herself of doubt, fear, vulnerability, or anything else that might get in the way of her doing her job. It was a process akin to shedding who she was and pulling on the mask of the Imperium. She wasn't herself this way. And her power was one distraction away from unleashing itself everywhere.

He seemed to sense the danger she represented and was keeping his distance, though still shadowing her. At the top of the hill stood a circle of standing stones.

She wasn't sure who had first put them here. Perhaps it was some ancient ancestor or perhaps the natives of the region. It hardly mattered. They were a place of power.

She stepped inside and waited, Endymion pausing outside the stones, seeming to know he shouldn't enter without an invite. They didn't need to wait long.

Two of the Umbra entered first. They were rare True Witch males, tasked with protecting the Matrons. Most Matrons had two Umbra. High Witches often had more. They were powerful of body, and their faces looked vacant but she knew they were anything but.

Umbra were a massively dangerous threat on a good day. But she had no cause to worry. Umbra didn't attack True Witches unless their Matron were endangered.

After them, the Ludex entered. Ludex were seekers of guilt, and they were incredibly good at finding it. It was the Ludex who hunted down criminals and brought them for sentencing.

Next to her was a beautiful women. He blond hair shimmered and her skin was so pale it was translucent. She was hollywood beautiful and she'd be breathtaking if not for the expression of absolute malice in her eyes.

That changed though, once the woman caught sight of Abby. The malice changed to terror, and her skin blanched white.

"No." The woman whispered. "No!" She was yelling now. "You can't do this to me! You can't let her in my head like this! It's criminal!" She was struggling but the bonds holding her still and compliant were created by the Ludex. There was no escaping them.

Then, the Matron entered. She was older, in her seventies, but she was spry and fit. She wore her sky blue robe; the robe of the Priestess. The trim about the neck, sleeves, and hem was green with little golden leaves embroidered, indicating she was the Matron of an Earth coven.

Power surrounded the older woman. Unlike lesser witches, True Witches only got more powerful with age. Everyone in the clearing bowed at her entrance, except for Abby.

Her role here put her outside the niceties. If this was just a social call, she would have bowed like everyone else, but this was ritual, and it had different rules.

She stood as still as stone, and would until it was time to act. She was here to represent the end for this woman. The end of the line. The end of her life, and the beginning of suffering. Words would do nothing. Not from her.

The Matron came to stand next to her, facing the blond woman.

"Endymion, please do join us." The Matron called. He did, watching everything with wary eyes. "I want you to see what might happen to you, should you choose to harm Abigail."

The Matron faced the condemned woman.

"Tina Lorraine, member of Coven Birch; you have been accused of using your specialized ability to steal the powers of other True Witches." There was a small pause. Abby was glad of it. She needed a moment to absorb that. It was a cardinal sin amongst True Witches to steal another's power. No wonder she'd been called on.

"The charges have been investigated and proven by a Ludex. Because of the heinous nature of your crimes, you have been brought before the Imperium.

When she enters your mind, she will look for proof of your innocence before enacting your sentence. If innocence is found, you will be spared. If not, you will suffer the Duty of The Blessed." Everyone in the circle cringed a little, even the matron.

The Duty of the Blessed, was the term for what she was about to do. The saying came from the idea that those who are blessed with rare gifts or talents are blessed because they are supposed to use them. The gifts come with responsibility.

"I have heard the charges." She stated, her voice was firm and cold, her power which was built up and waiting to spring leaked through in her voice, giving it a resonance it didn't usually have.

"Imperium; begin." The Matron said, voice full of authority.

Abby stepped forward and placed her fingertips around Tina's head, almost like a crown. For the delicate work she would need to do, physical contact was best.

It wasn't hard to get into the woman's head. Her emotions were running high, and her even though she was desperately trying to block Abby out, there was no way to accomplish that.

Abby sifted through the woman's rat trap of a brain. There was nothing in here but cruelty, malice, hatred, jealousy, and a sadistic streak a mile long.

Her memories were one disgusting thing after another. This woman delighting in destroying people, either through power theft or through simple manipulation.

She enjoyed feeling superior when one of her schemes succeeded. She was a terrible person, through and through.

She shook her head.

"I have confirmed this woman is guilty, and likely to continue her criminal acts of released. My duty will be done." The finality of the ritual words rang through the stones, and an eerie feeling began to build in the air.

It was always this way when she used her power this way. It was almost like the dark things in the world were opening their eyes and watching her, waiting to see if she would lose control of her power.

She pushed that thought aside. She couldn't afford to worry about the consequences of that right now. She would have nightmares about it later.

She pushed back into the woman's mind, locating her connection to her power. The connection was different in the mind of every witch, but it was easy for her to find.

The connected severed as easily as if she'd taken a freshly sharpened chef knife to gossamer.

Tina jerked in her invisible bonds and vomited, narrowly missing Abby. Sharing Tina's mind as she was, she knew the sudden absence of magic was akin to having your arm suddenly and violently ripped off.

The woman was screaming at Abby in her mind, trying to get her to stop. But once this started, there was no stopping. The magic demanded release.

Then, Abby methodically cut off the woman's ability to eat, and her ability to speak, careful to leave everything else intact. It was a cruel sentence. Tina was going to suffer greatly before she died of starvation.

And no one would break the law in Birch Coven for decades if not longer. Feeling like some weird version of the grim reaper, Abby stepped back, releasing the woman's head.

"It is done." She stated, voice almost back to normal. Her magic rested in her veins, sated and content now she had spent so much of it at once.

The Matron nodded and departed, followed by the others, in reverse of the order they'd entered, leaving her and Endymion alone. She turned to walk back to the house, trying to keep it together since Endymion was here. She made it two feet before she fell to her knees and started to cry.