Celeste’s eyes widened as belladonna laughed a deep menical laughter. Her eyes glowed red and her face grew pale as she shuffled forward towards the Elder oak tree with both arms outstretched and stiffened. Black bile spilled from her mouth as the shade continued to cackle from inside her body.

Raising a fist, Celeste quickly realized that there was nothing she could do without losing Belladonna as collateral damage. She put an arm between the plump, possessed witch and the Elder oak. Turning to face Celeste, the shade laughed through Belladonna’s mouth. Tears welled up in the corners of Celeste’s eyes as she saw Belladonna’s face growing paler and aging quickly. She would have screamed, but the tree she was inhabiting didn’t have a mouth.

That’s when she heard it. The frantic whispers that ran through her head had changed; rather than a jumbled mess of hushed voices, she heard a chorus chanting. Thousands of voices in perfect unison repeated the same phrase over and over in her mind like the beating of a drum.

Unable to understand the phrase, Celeste could only repeat it. At once, the words flowed through her mind like a river breaking through a damn. They coursed through her thoughts and shook the foundation of her being, as she felt like her thoughts were merging with the faceless voices in her head.

Then, roots slowly rose from the ground around the shade. Grasping Belladonna in a firm embrace, the roots lifted her and the shade off the ground. Celeste could feel Belladonna’s unnaturally cold body as if it were in her hand as the roots forced their way into the open, laughing mouth being controlled by the hellish being. Soon after, the laughing stopped, and those glowing red eyes opened wide.

Two screams escaped from Belladonna’s dying body. One was high pitched and fearful, while the other was deep and pained. Belladonna’s body slowly began to sink into the earth, carried gently by the roots of the trees. However, the shade was ripped out of her mouth as Celeste continued to chant.

Celeste continued to chant until Belladonna disappeared below the ground and felt secure in her roots, then immediatly swung a semi-truck sized fist at the shade. Its body exploded into several clouds of black smog. Each one Celeste mercilessly pounded into the ground until there was a small crater in front of her.

Breathing heavily, Celeste watched in horror as the shade began to slowly merge together and reform. It got pulled together enough to laugh before Celeste pounded it back into the ground. This process repeated until the sun sank below the horizon and Celeste’s arms that once moved naturally felt as heavy as they looked in the starlit sky.

Finally, Celeste took notice of the chanting that had been present in her mind. Repeating the words as easily as if she knew them, Celeste felt herself slip into the collective consciousness of the forest. The elder oak glowed in the moonlight as Celeste watch her own body rise from the ground. As the roots unwrapped from arounf it, Celeste gasped and almost lost track of the rhythmic chanting.

She was pale: her skin and hair were a stark white that shone under the stars. The colorless version of herself fell from the vines lifeless like a rag doll, but slowly rose on unsteady feet as Celeste continued chanting. Jerky, unnatural movements dragged the body forward like a marienette.

Meanwhile the shade started cackling again. Its head and torso were completely formed by the time it noticed Celeste’s limp body lumbering towards it. A terrible squeal escaped its black mouth as its red eyes opened wide with fright at the sight of the lifeless witch’s body. Trying to flee, the fragmented pieces of its body swirled uncontrollably but accomplished nothing.

Chanting steadily, Celeste watched as her body began to move more naturally. It crept up to the shade, raised a pale hand and opened its mouth. Celeste could hear her body start to repeat the chant in a raspy voice, as her own eyes and hand began to glow. Moonlight gathered around her hand as the sky grew dark.

Light drained from the moon and stats themselves as Celeste’s outstretched hand grew brighter. Heat emanated from the light as if Celeste’s body were holding the sun, and the shade screatched as Celeste’s hand grasped its throat. It started glowing briefly, before exploding into a million lights that seemed to float up to the stars to relight an otherwise black sky.

Several minutes passed before the night sky returned to normal, and when it did, Celeste’s body collapsed into a heap. Feeling dizzy, Celeste struggled to remain upright. Eventually, she collapsed and shut her eyes, accepting the urgent invitation to sleep.