Selene woke the next morning next to a dead fire, the comfort of Kadan behind her. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and gave the horse a pat on his side, thanking him for giving her some of his warmth during the cold night.

The horse barely noticed her, because by his head sat Lily, her arms filled to the brim with purple and white flowers.

She was singing a song and braiding the flowers into Kadan's mane. The horse's eyes were half closed as they sat in a patch of sun, soaking the light. He seemed to be enjoying the girl's pampering.

Selene recognized the song Lily was singing. It was a lullaby. A simple song that told the story of the creation of the world. How the First Flame sprung from Uriel's breast and gave life to the dragons. How the fire forever coursed inside them, turning their blood gold and their power endless.

It was sung to children when they were restless, meant to put them to sleep to dream of dragons and angels.

Selene remembered hearing it through from the kitchen as Gwen sang it to Cedric. She remembered closing her eyes and imagining what it would feel like to be held by a mother and sang to, to be loved. Selene did not know who her parents were. Nor did she know how she became a servant to the Clarke's. She'd just been there for as long as she could remember. That was the only time she had even let herself long for a mother because she had opened her eyes to a dark and cold room.

Lily noticed she was awake and a smile spread across her face, the scar on her lip stretching.

"Good morning, Selene! Look what I did to Kadan."

"I see it, and I think he likes it, but it will go straight to his head. Soon he'll think he's too good to let us onto his back."

Lily giggled and put a few more white flowers in his forelock.

"You didn't go far to get these flowers, did you?"

She shook her head, "No. I know I'm not allowed to go far," her eyes widened, and her head snapped to Selene, "What am I doing? I have something to show you!"

She grabbed Selene's hand and pulled for her to get up. Barely having time to grab her walking stick, the girl ran into the trees. Selene shouted for her to wait as she struggled to keep up, only able to use one of her legs.

Lily would slow down, wait for Selene, and then run ahead again. She was practically bursting with excitement.

All of this over some flowers, Selene thought and smiled.

It took them a few minutes to reach the place Lily had been frantic over. Selene saw a hill that rose in the middle of the forest, covered in the purple and white flowers. It looked so out of place among the winter-ready forest that Selene blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things that shouldn't be there.

Lily darted forward, running up the hill and turning to Selene.

"Come on. This isn't it."

Lily waved for her to follow and stood at the top of the hill. Suddenly, the ground opened beneath her and she fell through the hole, her blonde locks disappearing in the grass.

Selene let out a cry and darted forward as fast as she could. She left her walking stick at the base of the rise and dropped to her knees.

"Lily? Where are you?"

At first, there was only silence and the panic that constricted Selene's throat, then she heard a faint voice coming from beneath the hill.

"I'm okay, Selene. Your turn. Stand up and it'll let you in."

Selene didn't know whether to sigh in relief or begin to dig through the ground to get to her.

What the hell is going on?

Selene let out a breathy laugh and stood up, putting all her weight on her good leg. She waited, and nothing happened. She tried closing her eyes and still nothing happened.

"I swear to the Angels if I have to get her out of another hole, I'll--"

Just then, the ground yawned open beneath her, revealing a black abyss. A scream erupted from Selene's throat as she fell through the hill and the Earth sapped shut above her.

***

Lights shone in the abyss. Little bulbs of glowing, blue lights littered the walls, blurring as Selene fell down. And down. And down. The abyss seemed never-ending. Yet, the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat as it pounded. The wind didn't whistle in her ear nor blast against her skin as she no doubt plummeted to her death.

She would have believed herself to be floating in midair if she couldn't feel her stomach rise and watch as the lights flew past.

She had stopped screaming as soon as she saw the lights, as soon as she realized what they were. Sprites.

Selene watched the lights rush past and for a moment she thought they formed the figure of a woman. Selene's eyes widened as the lady took form and began to dance, her body moving to Selene's beating heart.

She was in awe as the woman danced over to her, seeming utterly real, and grazed her fingers along Selene's jaw.

The woman smiled, revealing elongated canines. As she danced away, her hair fanned out behind her and Selene noticed the pointed ears.

Horror filled her as she realized she was looking at a faerie. No, the light had formed this projection.

Take it away.

The faerie continued to move, her dancing becoming more vicious and brutal. Fire seemed to follow her, its flames made of the blue lights. And no matter how much she wanted to, Selene couldn't look away from this being. This immortal who seemed as if she would love to rip out Selene's throat and get drunk on her blood. Yet, she was beautiful. A lethal beauty that was meant to be wielded as a weapon.

Take it away.

The lights seemed to twitch, and the image became fuzzy, the women distorted.

Selene reached out to try and destroy the lights, but they were too far out of reach. The figure sank to her knees, her head bowing into her hands as she wept. Selene drew back, afraid of what was happening.

She knew that woman. She recognized the hair length and the fuzziness of the figures back. Right where Selene's scars were.

It will let you in.

Lily had said that. As if there was something down here.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Selene felt as if she had shouted as loudly as she could, yet her voice came out as a whisper. It sounded like someone had breathed into her ear as if she was asking herself that question.

The Faerie continued to weep, to cower as the lashes were delivered. Selene couldn't move her arms to cover her eyes. She couldn't move any part of her body. It was as if she was bound in rope and every time she struggled, the rope tightened.

She watched as the beautiful immortal was whipped, burned, and broken bit by bit. The faerie now lay on the ground, her breathing labored as she wept over the figure slowly forming in her arms. She looked to be protecting someone. No. Grieving.

Despite her terror, she wanted to help the faerie, to soothe her wounds and pick her up.

Before she could think anymore, the figure threw her head back, releasing an ear-splitting scream and exploded. Light scattered in every direction, coating Selene. The light felt thick on her skin, but not sticky. As if it were powder.

Then it was over.

The wind returned, and Selene felt herself fall faster as if whatever had allowed her in this chamber was through with her. She barely had time to draw breath before she hit the ground on her side. Her lungs ached as all oxygen left her. She coughed and gasped.

"Did you see the lights, Selene?"

Selene couldn't breathe enough to reply. She just laid on what felt to be a dirt floor and tried to sort through what she had seen.

She didn't understand.

Selene pushed herself onto her back and rested on her elbows.

"What the hell was that?"

Selene could barely make out Lily in the darkness. She could only see the yellow of her hair as it glowed; it seemed to be jumping in excitement.

"They were the little people we saw at the river. I think this is where they come during the day."

Selene looked up at the chasm they had fallen into. She had no idea how Lily had gotten out of here the first time, but it had no doubt been as miraculous as falling through the earth.

Lily bounded away, her laughter echoing through the chamber. Selene kept her eyes up at the distant glowing lights. She couldn't help but wonder what ancient magic was at work here. Selene was in too much pain to move from her place on the ground. She watched as Lily ran around and touched the walls, the stone coming to life as her fingers grazed it.

Soon enough, the entire cavern was alight in a blue glow. Selene thought it was beautiful.

Selene laid her head back on the dirt and listened to Lily talk to the sprites. Listened as they chittered back to her in their own language. The sound sent chills up Selene's arms. She heard a rustle to her left and turned her head to find a sprite less than a foot away from her.

It was almost too bright to look at, but Selene blinked through it and found that now she could easily make out its features. It had a feminine body, with blue hair that would have flowed to the ground if it wasn't floating behind it. The sprite stared at her with wide silver eyes, no pupil in its iris. If Selene squinted enough, she could make out a furrow between its brows as it looked at her.

The sprite was half the size of Selene's forearm, yet the glow seemed to make it look larger. She couldn't help but notice it looked like a faerie.

It took a small step towards Selene, appearing hesitant. Reaching out a small hand, it brushed her cheek. Selene hadn't realized she'd been crying until the sprite pulled back its hand to study her tear. Selene watched as sprite set the tear on the ground, the water holding together on the dirt, and returned to Selene. It touched her brow, trailing its small fingers around it. Its touch left a cold trail in its wake. The cold seemed to seep into her head as if ice had been dug into her. Yet, it made her body seem warmer.

"What did I see up there?" Selene whispered to the sprite, another tear rolled down her face. She thought of the woman being whipped and burned and couldn't help but feel fear. It was like all the joy she had felt after leaving home was gone. That was an omen, she knew it. And it terrified her.

The sprite shook its head and continued tracing lines on her brow.

"Why did she look like me?"

The sprite looked up as if trying to see the lights. When it looked back at her, fear nudged at her heart. The sprite looked as if it too were grieving.

"Angels, I feel so overwhelmed."

The sprite blinked slowly, refusing to speak or not knowing how. She pressed her lips together in a thin line and shut her eyes, but all she saw was the blue light.

Lily's sharp giggle cut through her thoughts. Selene opened her eyes to see the sprite had taken a step back, finished with whatever she was doing. Selene's brow felt so cold that it burned; she felt as if the sprite had seared the lines in her skull.

"What did you do to me?" Selene asked. But the Sprite simply stared.

Suddenly, a great exhaustion overtook her and as her eyes closed again, a voice entered her head. It was a woman's voice, elegant and soft. Perhaps it belonged to the sprite that stood before her. And it uttered a single word.

Awaken.