The bonfire flares up, sending a pillar of orange flame high into the sky.
You close your eyes and look deeper. And you see more.
Behind the fire—beneath it, beyond it—there is the rippling blue of magic that only you can see: the braided river of a thousand strands of time, woven bit by bit for the last six weeks—and now, hundreds of new threads streaming into it from the memories given to the fire.
It streams through you.
It flows out into the forest, following the same steady path that has carried it since Josephine first traced it out over a century ago.
For more than a mile it ripples and runs—and then bursts upward in a vertical rush, as if it were a waterfall in reverse, or as if it had hit a wall and could somehow climb up instead of crashing down.
With one final rush of power, the strands of time blend into a seamless shimmering barrier around the Timeless Circle.
The Circle is maintained for another year.
You have succeeded in helping sustain the most powerful magic you have ever seen. Possibly the most powerful magic in the world.
Across the field, you see Caitlin's expression shift from shock to anger as she turns her furious gaze toward you. She's failed, and she knows it—and she knows you were the one who defeated her.
You're going to have to deal with that sometime. But not now.
So what are you going to do now?