That happiness lasts about half a second before my body tingles again in a very unpleasant way. I begin to feel dizzy and a familiar feeling of wanting to hurl. My eyes widen and Lucius looks at me in question. I am quick to grab the talisman and search for the spell that had caught my eye a few moments ago.

"What are you doing?" He says as he grabs my arm.

"Rose is pulling me back to her but I saw a spell that can get me into the Kynda before nightfall."

"No you can't. You have to wait until the Blood Moon or else you won't come back out." he argues.

"I've gone there before. I can come back out." I answer. He looks at me a bit torn before he nods for me to proceed. The slight distraction is a second too long and my body starts to disappear as the room starts spinning. Lucius grabs a hold of my hand and teleports with me.

Once the room stops spinning I see a very angry Rose in front of me. Her black hair still perfectly curled. Lucius tightens his hold on my hand and Rose sneers at the action and scoffs. "Of course you'd betray me too Alora, he seems to have that effect on people. Make you betray your cause, yourself, your destiny. Lucius is a traitor and a liar. He turned his back on our friendship, on my sister. He only cares about himself."

"Bullshit Rose." Lucius snarls "I am not the one who gave up on Asha. You did. You gave me no choice. Everything I have done is to save her. I wouldn't have had to betray you if you hadn't betrayed your own blood."

Rose grits her teeth and blasts Lucius with energy that sends him flying into the wall. And since he's still holding me so tightly I also slam into the wall.

"Everything you've done has been for nothing. The day has come and you have nothing. I will complete my purpose and make the ancestors proud. I will destroy the Kynda and find peace with my sisters." She says and Lucius shakes his head.

"You're lost Rose. You will never find peace if you destroy the stone. You will kill her." He grabs the talisman from his pocket and presses it against my back. "I won't let that happen."

"There's nothing you can do to stop me." She retorts.

"You're right." He says "But The Flame can."

Her face morphs into surprise then anger once Lucius does the spell. "Evanescet"

"NO!" She shouts as my body shimmers and begins to get sucked into the Kynda. "Alora! No!" She shouts desperately trying to grab my disintegrating form. Lucius nodding at me is the last thing I see before I'm swimming in fire. The familiar burn makes me smile and for the first time in the last three days I feel at peace. Like the fire is my home. The fire is peace. The fire is... me.

Like last time I'm pulled away from it all too soon and land so hard on my ass that not even this gaudy dress could break my fall. Standing up, I brush off the ash as I look around the flame filled forest. This time no one is around me. Good. This means no one knows I'm here yet. I have to find Asha.

Taking a look up at the sky I see the Blood Moon looking closer than it did last time. Adrenaline kicks in and I immediately begin the search as I creep through the fiery trees.

If I were a witch trapped in a hellstone where would I be?

Well, if it were Rose she would look for the furthest spot away from all of the excitement. A quiet space.

Going on a hunch I begin to walk further and further away from the moon. Knowing Emerson he'd be close to the exit today which means he's probably pacing in front of the setting moon. I grin when I get to a part of the forest where the flames are much hotter than I've felt before. I didn't know that was possible. Once my skin starts sizzling and parts of my fingers start falling off I know I've reached some sort of barrier.

"Asha!" I whisper shout "Asha I know you're in there. I've come to help you escape." The flames snarl and burn hotter. I close my eyes and wince at the blistering pain "Rose told me about you. Please let me in."

The flames revert to their normal heat and I sigh in relief as the flames part just enough for me to squeeze through. Once I'm on the other side Asha stands several feet away, on the other side of a small river which surprisingly was not made of lava but water. I rush to it and jump in, my body sizzles and I hold in my need to scream as the water burns my raw flesh, cleansing it.

Once I resurface she extends her hand and pulls me out. "Rose sent you? Who are you?" She asks softly.

I look at her sympathetically "My name is Alora and no, she didn't send me... Lucius did."

Her eyes water and she covers her mouth in shock "He's alive?"

"Yes, they both are."

She sobs and wipes her tears "Oh I was so worried about them. Time moves differently here. I was beginning to fear that I'd been here longer than I'd thought. But the fact that the fashion hasn't changed means that I haven't been here all that long. Oh joy! This is grand news my friend! Come, we must prepare."

"Asha... wait." I say feeling a sense of dread wash over me as I realized I'd be the one to break the news "Rose conjured up this dress for me. This is not something that people in my era wear, in fact it's very uncomfortable and makes it hard to be stealthy."

Her body tenses and her blue eyes stare at me with an intensity so great I could almost feel her reality snap. "People in your era?" She whispers as her chest begins to rise and fall quickly "What year is it?"

I pressed my lips together sadly and place my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "It's the year 2021... you've been trapped here for three hundred years."

She gasps and pushes me away as she steps backwards. "No. Nonono this can't be possible. No! This can't... can't be real. Oh my god." She drops to her knees and clutches her chest as she gasps.

"Woah okay, Asha I know this is a shock but you need to calm down before you have a panic attack. Look at me, breathe. Just breathe. Yes, it's been a long time but you're not alone. Rose and Lucius are still alive, still out there, and still waiting for you. They didn't abandon you, they have spent all this time looking for a way to get you out. And it's here, I'm their plan. I can get you out of here but you've gotta help me out. Okay?"

"Okay, okay." She whispers shakily as I help her stand. "Oh god."

"Hey, it's okay. Look at me, I'll get you out of here."

She takes a deep breath as she wipes her tears. "What's the plan?"

"Well, right now we need to find my grandfather. I'm not leaving here without him." I say and she nods "Do you know where he might be?"

"They all stay downstream, close to the exit."

"Alright, let's go. We still have a few hours before nightfall in the real world." I say as I start to walk towards the forest.

"We have less time than that." Asha says and I look at her in confusion. "Time moves differently here. The moon is almost touching the ground, we may have twenty minutes tops, before the portal opens."

"Shit." I hadn't thought of that "Let's go."

We make our way hurriedly through the forest. The hem of this stupid dress getting caught numerous times along the way. Asha however moves so gracefully, like the dress is not a nuisance at all. I try not to feel jealous of how gorgeous she is and fail. Her insane curly black hair and sparkling blue eyes would bring any man to his knees. Although I have no feelings for Lucius I still feel a bit of jealousy towards her. The spell is broken but it's hard to fully forget being fake bonded to another soul. Regardless, I shake away the weird jealousy and instead focus on getting her out of here and into her mate's arms.

When we reach a clearing I see my grandfather and the others standing behind Emerson as he stands tall and proud. His shoulder length red hair is tied into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck with his hands clasped behind his back staring patiently at the moon. My plan was to sneak up on them but the element of surprise was taken away the moment Asha stepped on a twig. She looked at me and winced apologetically while the others faced us. My grandfather looked understandably confused before joy filled his features. We walked towards them and Emerson turned his attention towards us. I can't help but stare at the deep red scar on his right cheek as we come to a stop a few feet away from him.

"Child, you've returned." Says Emerson cautiously as he comes to stand before me. Asha trembles slightly and hides herself behind me. He notices the movement and suspicion clouds his features "I see. You've come to stop me."

"No." I state confidently "I could care less about anyone out there."

"What!?" Asha screams, betrayal lining her features and Emerson smirks.

"I underestimated you child. It seems you have all the qualities to be my second. The honor is yours once we are out." He states proudly.

"The witch is on the other side. I thought it appropriate to have her sister stand against her. I've given her a potion that makes her susceptible to suggestion. Go ahead, try it." I offer, praying with all my might that this girl gets the hint.

Emerson motions for her to step forward and she timidly does. He pulls out a knife and orders her to stab herself. She hesitates but eventually grabs the knife and plunges it into her thigh as he indicated. He nods in satisfaction and pulls out the knife. "Very good. Now drink up, I need you in peak health." He orders her as he forces her to drink his blood from his palm where he sliced himself open. Asha wrinkles her nose but does as she's told and the tension in my shoulders relax. My grandfather looks at me in admiration and I slyly wink.

Asha comes to stand beside me, giving me a glare on the way. I mouth an apology and she shrugs. The ground begins to shake harshly as the moon touches the ground causing a ripple through the air. An intense explosion in the sky causes the moon to blast open and the portal appears. My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I feel my wolf start to appear. My eyes burn and my claws extend. Without a second thought I lunge at his back but his quick reflexes cause him to turn and slam me against the ground.

"And here I thought we could take over the world together." He sneers claws extending.

"Alora!" Asha calls out, my grandfather pulls her back.

"Get her out of here! All of you get out now!" I shout as I lunge at him again. He rolls his eyes and smacks me away. I growl angrily and jump onto his back slamming him onto the ground just as he was about to grab my grandfather. "Get out! Go!" I shout as they hesitate. He gives me one last look before hauling away a struggling Asha. Once they are out Emerson flips over and bites my neck. I snarl in anger and dig my claws deep into his chest. He smirks and shifts into his wolf. An immense ruby red wolf that towers over me even as I shift. His roar was so loud my wolf whimpered. She actually whimpered. I am in deep shit now.