Tightness at her shoulders and then at her waist tugged at Leanna's hazed consciousness. A rough, gritted surface spread behind her. It dug through the thin fabric of her dress and into her back, the discomfort centered at her shoulder blades. She made to move away when a sharp tug at her ankles sent awareness hot and burning through the fog of her thoughts. She'd been kidnapped, and now—she peered down with a groan—she was being bound to a tree.

Sobered by panic, Leanna darted her gaze along this foreign land, through the misty fingers that weaved through towering trees. Forest stretched in every direction, as far as her eyes could see in the pale light that seeped through skeletal branches. Creatures of the night were dead silent, the only sound that of snapping twigs behind her.

"Who's there?" she asked, anxious and hoarse, and knowing. "W-why are you doing this?"

The only reply was the gnarling of the rope as it rubbed into the bark, the binds tightening further. A minute passed. Preceded by the snapping song of breaking twigs and hollow thuds against the earth, Krinard appeared from behind the tree. Leanna sucked in a shuddering breath. She'd known it was him, but to confirm the horrid truth was a nightmare in its own cursed right.

Eyes focused forward, Krinard passed her in silence as if she didn't exist. Lifting a hand at his side, he clenched it to a tight fist. The rope squeezed more and Leanna cried out as it dug into her ribs and stomach. Bile burned her throat and her ribs cracked under the strain, but Krinard just chuckled.

Stopping by his satchel that lay on a log few feet away, he crossed it over his shoulder as one making to leave. Leanna bit her lip to stay its trembling. Surely he meant to leave her there for Machina's taking.

"Krinard," she called to his broad back tentatively. She moistened her lips, the dread at him tightening the rope further drying her mouth. "Please let me go..."

Rolling his shoulders back, Krinard spun at a torturous slow. As if the winter air froze her from within, Leanna's heart panged to a stop. Moving black webs marked Krinard's veins, mapping out their course along his sculpted torso. Their origin was the scar on his chest. Leanna slid her gaze along him, watching the poison creep up toward his shoulders and neck. His golden skin was pale, and dark circles cradled black eyes.

"Y-you've been poisoned..." she breathed glumly. Cold, Leanna shook her head. "This isn't you, Krinard! Listen to me. We must get back to the fairgrounds. Minerva healed me. Surely she can heal you too!" She wiggled, but the rope chafed at her arms. Her skin was sensitive in the icy air, and magnified the pain of the rope. Still, she fought through this, squirming as she said, "I know Finvarra will forgive you once he knows that your wound is the cause of this madness!"

Krinard tilted his head, a blank look in those black eyes. He glanced down to his chest and then lifted thick lashes to her. "You mean this?" He rumbled lowly, brushing a finger along the scars. A grin curled at the left of his lips. "Indeed, I have been poisoned. How else was Machina to be sure I wouldn't fail?"

A strong sense that he meant something else hitched Leanna's heart. "You are in league with her?" Memories of that dreadful night flooded her mind, all the pieces coming together. "She stabbed you in the back yet left you alive. That was all planned..."

"So it was," he murmured. Krinard brought a shaking hand along his forehead, wiping the thick beads of sweat at his brow. "But don't fear for me. She'll drain the poison once I deliver on my promise."

Instinct flared and Leanna stifled a gasp, a plan bursting into mind. They'd been through this before. She'd countered his magic once and now she knew what she had to do. Surely she could do it again! Leanna shut her eyes tightly at once and focused on the crystal. Just as she'd done before, she conjured up her most pleasant memories of Finvarra, of his confessions of love, of dancing for his eyes only, of belonging to him and only him...

"I belong to ice, not to fire. I belong to ice, not to fire..." she muttered in prayer.

"What are you doing—Oh, I see," Krinard rumbled, a humorless laugh rippling through the dark of her closed eyes. "Are you trying to use magic? I suppose that will be hard without this..."

Blinking open, Leanna's quiet mutters faded to a stunned silence. The blood drained from her face at seeing Krinard staring at her, her necklace dangling before his eyes. In her panic, she didn't realize the necklace no longer hung at her neck. Her only weapon against Machina, her only way at saving Finvarra and his circus was gone. Though in open lands, the forest suddenly felt airless.

You can counter black magic, her bitter half asked, but what now?

Leanna shook the nasty thought away. Anger sent her nails digging into the tree at her back, though she wished she was clawing Krinard's smug grin instead. "You're just like Gahn—a traitor who risked the life of his people! How could you possibly make a deal with Machina after all she's done? She killed your men!"

"It was a small sacrifice," he said, coolly brushing black strands over his broad shoulders. The poisonous webs had clawed over his shoulders, vanishing to his back. "But they are in a better place now, as we all will be once I deliver your precious crystal. Fionnbharr will have no choice but to give her his heart now and we will all be free."

All attempts at courage and composure failed then and she shook her head, frantic. "Listen to what you're saying! Finvarra hasn't given her his heart because she doesn't want it. You think she'll let you go after you deliver the necklace?" She jerked violently, trying to tear herself from the cursed tree.

Leanna groaned then, the bewitched rope tightening gradually the more she fought against it. She fought still. She would fight to the death! "She just wants to see the circus burn! Don't do this. I mean to break the curse—"

In a black blur, Krinard rushed her. He punched the tree above her head and the bark exploded with a deafening snap that rang in her ears, countering her scream. Wood chunks and slivers rained down onto her, and Leanna ducked her head to shield her face. Krinard snatched her chin into his hands, forcing her face to him.

He said through tightly clenched teeth, "I heard you talking with that repulsive Ogre! You think a pathetic human can ever kill Machina?" He neared her face. "You think I am going to rest my fate, the fate of my mate on you?"

Leanna swallowed deeply. He trailed the gentle pulse at her neck with his eyes, his hands then following. Clutching her throat tightly, he pushed her head back against the tree. Leanna winced at the jagged edges that dug mercilessly at her scalp.

"It never had to be like this had you just listened," he murmured, "had you just finished your performance. I cannot wait around for him to pass..."

He gripped her throat tighter, and tears squeezed from Leanna's eyes blurring the lights that flashed in the lack of air. "If you refuse to take his life and won't convince Fionnbharr to give you his heart, I will give Machina everything she needs to make it happen." He lifted the necklace at eye level between them. His black eyes followed the glinting crystal like a pendulum. "With this, your likeness and Machina's tenacity, we will finally be free."

He released her throat and stepped back, leaving Leanna to panting gasps and hot tears. Securing the necklace back inside of his sack, he chuckled darkly. "Foolish of Fionnbharr to leave an empty vessel walking this earth."

Leanna blinked, the horrifying plot coming together in her mind. Machina's evil within her doppelganger ...

"He won't fall for it! Finvarra knows me. It won't be long before he knows it isn't me!" Leanna dug numb fingers into the bark, wishing—needing to believe her words. "He will know... he will..." Her voice broke.

A wicked smirk tugged at Krinard's fine lips. "A few seconds is all we need. Once Fionnbharr sees her alone in the woods, he will cross the crystals to get her or Tomas will bring her through." He waved a hand airily. "Either way, it will all finally be over."

Fury burned through proprieties and Leanna growled and cursed and writhed to break free from those damned binds. But the rope proved its allegiance to Krinard, so did a frigid breeze that chilled her bones.

Though the world was against her, "I swear to you I will be free from here," she hissed, swallowing the salted taste of her tears as he trot away from her. "I will be free and you will pay for this!"

As if her words were a spell, Krinard hissed, curling inward with a groan. He turned and pressed his palms flush against the nearest tree, twisting his torso as if wishing to evade the pain within.

His body grew taut and long fingers clenched into the tree. "I told you I would do anything for her," he said tightly, clearly assimilating the pain. "I will get my freedom—we all will, and Fionnbharr will get the death he deserves." He exhaled sharply and gazed back to her over his shoulder, horrid black vines now framing his face. "As will you."

Leanna's fight died with an angry gruff. "So you will kill me, then!"

A deep sound rumbled in his chest and he pushed back from the tree. "It would be my pleasure, but you deserve a slow and lonely death for all the days my Inara has been missing. And I am being merciful, human. I promised Machina the crystal. I could have delivered you along with it."

"You bastard!"

"Ah," he said as if her words suddenly reminded him of something. He slid a trembling hand into his satchel and withdrew a white rag. Before a scream, he gagged Leanna, tying the fabric tightly at the nape of her neck. "There. We can't have you calling that feline bastard of yours."

Dread prevailed anger, and Leanna shook her head frantically, her muffled screams barely audible through the cloth.

Finished, Krinard took a step back; his hoof beats crunching dead leaves with a painful finality. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, tension hung thick in the air.

"I suppose the tales about you were true..." A twisted fascination shaded his words. "You truly did inspire him to madness and to his death."

Numb, Leanna watched him, sadly not knowing how much of Krinard's hate was his own, and how much of it was Machina's dark magic.

It mattered little when he turned and said over his shoulder, "May the winter cold and beasts of the forest be unforgiving." He galloped off, vanishing through the webbed tunnel of trees, leaving Leanna tied, without direction, without a coat, without her necklace... without hope.

...And without a voice to call to her friend, even if just a whisper.

Leanna struggled. She twisted and fidgeted, screamed and prayed. The rope and tree bark were merciless to her pleas. They seared and dug into her skin the further she worked at freedom, bringing death closer the more she tried for life. Streams of blood seeped from the rope burns across her body, staining the torn and soiled white dress. This streaming red was the only warmth, soothing her numb skin with smears of fading life.

A breeze whispered through the forest, soft as the coming daylight. It cooled the sweat on her brow, and chilled the blood on her skin. Leanna hauled in a deep breath, hoping to find something in the fleeting air other than the cold void of death. Perhaps Kioyo's soothing scent of coffee, perhaps Finvarra's welcomed scent of vanilla as they approached, coming to save her...

The winds passed.

No one came.

Remembering Krinard's words, a sinking feeling settled in Leanna's stomach. With her doppelganger filled with Machina's essence and mechanical heart, they would all be fooled. The circus—her home would be no more. They would all die, and no one would ever come.

What now? her bitter half asked.

But where her heart would have once offered her some hope, some courage, it was silent.

It was here Leanna wept. They were tears of complete and utter helplessness, of being much too small in a big world of magic; of being only human in a world of faeries and mechanical monsters.

Gazing up from her helplessness, she looked through a hole in the gnarled branches above. Streaks of pale sunlight gradually devoured the night sky. From their fading home, the remaining stars watched down on her, twinkling behind the gloss of her tears. Bright daggers of light extended and retracted from them, as if fingers reaching for all the last minute wishes being placed upon them before morning light.

Leanna cast wishes upon every single visible star before the coming sunlight stole them away. And just as her body seemed to give up on her, sleep and grief waging a war for control, she gazed to the North Star. It was upon this brightest star that Leanna placed her last wish, a simple wish. One word.

Help.

She gasped, sharp pain twisting at her heart as if the stars retaliating against her wishes. Her chest caved. Her lungs clenched. Currents of ache shot through her veins and her head slammed back against the tree when her body stiffened in pain. She dug her nails into the rough bark as her heart wrenched like it did for so many years when it felt like phantom knives sought to carve it out.

There was no doctor here. Only a savage ache that had vanished since entering the protection of the circus and its crystals... But she was not in their midst anymore, and her heart broke with a vengeance.

Her strength withered. Defeated, her head fell forward. Her lids heavy, Leanna surrendered and closed her eyes to the sweet, inviting darkness.

There was nothing here, only a black abyss that stretched on forever offering a promise of no pain within its tempting depth. If only she fell deeper, if only she let go of this life, of the hurt and misery it brought, then the promise of infinite rest would be hers... her own icy, black Forever.

Yes, Leanna told herself. She was the Leanan Sidhe, and she'd brought everyone their death. Her purpose over, the only death left was her own.

Pale red overcame the darkness of her closed eyes, a faraway light chasing away this promise. But this was not morning light, no. This glow intensified gradually, as if... approaching. It drew closer growing brighter, and in its warmth, the stronghold on Leanna's heart eased.

The air burned as it rushed back into her lungs and her heart sought its rhythm. In the discord, Leanna forced her lids to part. A soft light filtered through her lashes, but didn't hurt her eyes. Amidst the trees in the distance, a silvery white cloud loomed. Its non-threatening light spread out before it, preceding phantom hoof beats that echoed in Leanna's fading consciousness.

A smile twitched at Leanna's lips, her weary frame hobbling with a wry chuckle. She had been right. Her death would come bathed in white. And as the darkness promised, the instant she surrendered, the pain would go away. Lowering her head, Leanna watched the ghostly fingers of light stretch toward her muddied feet, waiting for the death it was to bring in its fingers.

As this ghostly hue dawned over dead leaves, moonflowers sprouted from the earth, curling at Leanna's toes.

She sucked in a breath, her head snapping up.

The frosted cloud slowly dimmed with a sigh that blew past her as dissolved icicles. In its wake, but a horse remained whose white coat glowed like the moon, its horn shining like a star.

"Inara?" Leanna mumbled through the cloth. The mare nodded, silver strands glittering under her halo of light.

Inara lowered her head and brought the tip of her twisted horn up along the rope. The binds snapped with a hiss, and measures of air and life rushed into Leanna's limbs with each broken link. Free, Leanna tipped forward, her knees buckling beneath her. Inara ducked her head, catching her before she met the earth. Folding her front legs, Inara ushered Leanna down to the ground and back against the rough bark.

Tearing the gag from her mouth, Leanna thrust it aside with a weak grunt. Unable to believe her eyes, she stared at Inara, her hollow breaths the only sound between them. Joy and anger, desperation and weariness made her lips quaver.

"How did you find me?" she rasped, her throat raw. There was a sudden anger in her voice, however much she wished to avoid it. After all that had happened, seeing Inara there burned. "Where were you?"

Inara turned pale eyes to her, but said nothing. After a moment, she whiffled yet no words left her still. Her stare, however, was keen with emotion and Leanna knew that though she didn't hear her, Inara spoke.

Leanna shook her head, wiping at her tears roughly. "I don't have the necklace, Inara! I can't hear you."

Big, gray eyes widened slightly. Nearing Leanna's forehead, Inara pressed the tip of her glowing horn at the center of Leanna's forehead. A cold current cut through Leanna's head, a welcome relief from the pulsing headache that had settled over her eyes.

Inara shifted back. "Is that better?"

Leanna nodded. Hearing Inara's voice swelled her throat, and she gazed down at the surrounding moonflowers, unable to look at Inara, unable to tame her anger.

"I was on my way back to the fairgrounds," Inara explained. "I heard the muffled screams and followed the voice, knowing that whoever it was needed help. What's happened?"

Leanna batted a hand dismissively. "We don't have time for this now, I'll tell you on the way." She gripped the tree and attempted to stand, refusing Inara's horn and help. Weary arms slipped down and weak knees gave way beneath her. She fell back to the damp ground. "Damn it!" Punching the bed of moonflowers, Leanna cursed again.

"I know you are angry," Inara coaxed her quietly, "but give your heart a moment. Without the crystal, it will weaken faster."

"Yes, well, my crystal would not be gone had you been there!" Leanna bore a heated gaze into Inara's, remembering the disaster that had ensued since Inara's departure. Resentment sent the words tumbling from her mouth. "Krinard went mad because of you. He was the one who kidnapped me, who bound me to this tree, and he took the crystal all because you left! Where were you? Why did you leave?"

Her answer was simple. "I was riding for my life."

Leanna scoffed. "If Machina was after you, then you should have returned so the crystals could protect you, instead of hiding from everyone that sought to find you."

Inara shook her head, strands of pale hair brushing over her eyes. "I was riding to find a reason for living. I was dying, Leanna. My magic was fading." The moonflowers around her withered and her glow dimmed. "I needed to get away from the anger and the pain and find myself again. Riding for my life lest I die... wise words from the Leanan Sidhe."

Around Leanna, white vanilla flowers bloomed. Her lips quavered at the welcomed and painful sight. She understood Inara, but, "I didn't think saying that would cause you to leave. We needed you."

"It wouldn't have mattered." Inara bowed her head away. "Krianrd's darkness has always been there. I love him, but he is not perfect. Had I stayed, he would have found another outlet for his anger, and I would have fallen deeper into despair." The star shaped flowers grew black and limp. "I needed to leave. Forgiveness would have meant little if I didn't find myself first."

If her dance was any indication, Leanna knew she too was destined for such a journey after all was said and done. Relinquishing her anger, she wrapped fatigued arms around the mare's neck. She nodded against the silken hair, understanding fully. "But now you have your magic, and we must get back. Krinard means to give Machina the crystal. He left long before you came... I fear Machina may already be there."

"Then fear will do us very little as she is probably already there." Inara aided Leanna in standing. Trotting back few steps, she closed her eyes, her horn kindling. A bright glow centered at her back. It diminished then, leaving in its wake an intricate gold and silver saddle. "We can only pray and ride for our lives... for the life of the circus."

Leanna lifted a foot to the stirrups. She paused, cold awareness firing her hesitation. "But I haven't the crystal. How can I possibly defeat Machina now?"

Inara's head swung to Leanna, pale eyes meeting hers with ardent conviction. Though Inara said nothing, Leanna heard the words in her soul. Doubt, and we will lose it all.

Like a child, Leanna blushed and lowered her head at the silent scolding. She mounted Inara in an instant and wound the reins tightly around sore and bloodied knuckles. Inara stomped in a circle as if getting her bearings. She stopped, facing the path Krinard had vanished through. With a piercing neigh that sent the creatures of the forest scurrying to safety, Inara bolted forward, her horn a beacon of hope as they rode toward darkness.

They rode hard, Inara's furious gallop a metronome to Leanna's heartbeat. Branches scratched her bruised skin like nailed fingers trying to keep her from the fairgrounds. The winds conspired with the trees, whipping her hair over her eyes as if wishing to blind her. Leanna held the reins tighter, welcoming this war against her. She would weather any discomfort for the circus... for Finvarra.

It seemed the branches and the winds won the battle when Inara's gallop slowed to a halt.

Huffing out a breath, Leana released the reins. "What's wrong?" she asked, brushing her tangled mess of hair away from her eyes. "Why are we—"

"Shh!" Inara hissed. "The trees are speaking." Inara spun in a tight circle as if chasing their phantom words. Leanna turned her ear to the air, hoping to hear even a whisper of this secret language. A breeze gust and the branches shivered a crackling song, their gnarled fingers tapping against one another.

"No," Inara breathed. Her horn dimmed and the muscles at her back tightened beneath Leanna. She gazed around frantically, and then whirled to a dense brush where Leanna could see a clearing on the other side. Inara trot toward it.

Leanna's hand flinched to her neck, to where her necklace would have offered her its quiet support. There was nothing there and she fisted the trembling hand at her chest. "W-what are they saying?" she whispered quietly, dread strumming down her spine. "Is Machina near?"

Now on the edge of a cliff, the terrible answer spread out before them. The entire forest was visible, from Winter Abbey's bell tower in the far North, to the bridge that led to neighboring lands in the distant South.

And at its heart was the circus, burning.

* * *

Thank you for reading!

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