Mercy died in the Salem Witch Trials. But in death she and her sister witches brushed against something hungry from outside reality that had come to feed on their agony. That unintended contact made them something else: the first Maidens. Across the centuries, the Maidens have guided Marrowmont's course. But whether Mercy and her sisters can protect the haven they've built remains to be seen. Because the outside world knows about them know. And even three hundred years later, men who fear women operate by the same decree: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

CW: violence against women (descriptions of witch hunts manner of death/aftermath)

8,000 words. Standalone.