Haunted Holidays – The final Harvest

The orchard was quiet again.

No more whispers clawed at the earth. No more shadows reached through the cracks. The runes had sealed, and the gate below slept once more.

But safety always comes with a price.

Soft golden lanterns now lined the orchard rows ... a silent ritual of thanks and warning, placed by hands unseen. They were not decorations. They were sentries. And as long as they burned, the darkness would not return.

The harvest was finished. Crates of apples waited for a festival that would never know what had stirred beneath its roots. Life would go on, as it always had, unaware.

The Scarecrow Guardian stood still once more, returned to its watchful slumber. And the Lantern Keeper… simply stood beneath the rising dawn, holding the last light and vanished after the first sunray hit them.

No victory was spoken. None was needed.

The harvest was safe once more.