"Selene."

Someone was shaking her. Urgently.

Selene's eyes flew open and she sat up to see Lily.

"What's wrong?"

Lily jumped in surprise, her eyes wide. The cavern around them had gone dark again. Even the lights by the top of the cavern had gone out.

"You had a-- Nothing. It's night and all the little people left. It wants us to leave too."

Selene looked around for the "it" she spoke of. But only darkness surrounded them.

"And what exactly is it?"

Selene could barely make out Lily through the darkness, she almost missed as the girl's eyes looked around.

"It wants us to leave right now."

Selene thought she heard fear in the girl's voice. Selene studied the girl, just for a moment, noticing the way her eyes darted and her mouth twitched as if she ached to move.

"Okay. Tell it we're leaving."

"It can hear you."

Selene's brows flicked up in surprise.

"Tell it that's creepy."

Lily tugged at Selene's shirt and said, "Selene."

Selene pushed herself up slowly, being sure not to put any weight on her ankle.

"Alright," said Selene, holding the girl to keep her balance, "How do we get out of here?"

As if a demand, the ground rushed up, taking Selene and Lily with it. Selene stumbled, and the ground moved. She felt utterly helpless as the ceiling got closer to them.

"Lily, is this supposed to be happening?"

Selene could hear the panic in her voice, brought out by the sure death that awaited them when the ground collided with the ceiling.

"I was scared the first time too. It helps if you close your eyes."

Selene looked over at the girl, her vision shaking as they rushed upward. Selene shut her eyes as tight as possible and bit her cheek to keep from screaming out in fear.

Suddenly, the air felt lighter. As if there weren't walls surrounding her. She opened her eyes to find them on top of the hill once more. It was dusk, and the sun seemed to have just disappeared below the horizon. The sky was an amber red.

"How long were we in that place?"

Lily was looking up at the sky as well, chewing on her lip.

"I don't know. It didn't feel like very long. When I was there earlier today, I felt like I had been there for hours, but when I left it was like I had only been gone for minutes."

Selene looked at the ground beneath their feet, how the flowers bloomed as if it were Spring not Autumn.

It seemed probable for Lily to be correct. The fact that they survived such a fall into the cavern proved there was magic at work here.

She resisted the urge to touch her forehead where the sprite had drawn something.

She reached for Lily's hand and said, "Let's go back."

She spotted her walking stick at the base of the hill, seemingly untouched from where she had dropped it. Lily grasped her hand and helped her down the hill. When she picked up the stick, it was ice cold.

Just how long had they been in there?

The trek was slow. Selene would stop every few hundred feet to rest and listen for danger. They had never been away from a fire during the night and she didn't want to think of the monsters that roamed these woods.

After a few minutes, they saw a light in the distance.

Both of them were beaming as they hurried to the camp. Lily pushed ahead, practically skipping. Selene shuffled behind her.

All she could think about was the feel of the fire's warmth on her skin. Even though she had slept in the cavern, she was still so exhausted and drained that she didn't remember that there had been no one to tend to the fire when they had been gone all day.

Lily halted at the edge of the clearing, her body completely still.

"Selene."

Lily's voice dripped with terror, at the thing Selene couldn't yet see.

Selene finally reached Lily's side and looked into their camp. Her eyes shot straight to the fire, to the glowing tendrils of red. Only, they weren't red; they were green. The fire burned higher and brighter but in a way that made Selene's skin feel as if it were roasting.

That was not what made Selene's stomach drop, nor what had her reaching for her dagger.

In the fire, among the swirling smoke and flames, was a demon.

Its head and chest were that of a skeleton, flesh hanging from its rotten bones. It wore a cloak of green fire that draped down to cover anything below its waist. The fire trailed up its body and created two horns atop the demon's head. And as soon as they entered the camp, it smiled. The fangs that burned in its mouth were enough to make Selene's hands shake.

"Lily, get behind me."

The girl gripped Selene's leg, shaking in fear, her eyes wider than Selene had ever seen them.

The demon looked at them with hollow eye sockets that licked with fire.

It raised one hand and pointed to them, to Selene.

"You."

The voice came from everywhere, traveling like fire would. Chills rose on Selene's arms.

"Lily, run. Run as far and fast as you can."

"I don't want to leave you again."

She pushed the girl away from her, back into the forest where they'd come.

"Don't be a fool. Run!"

The girl let out a whine, wanting to run but not wanting to leave Selene. Thankfully, she darted away into the forest, only the sound of her sprinting through the trees remained.

"What a lovely way of saying hello you have," Selene said to the demon, trying to push down her rising panic. She could barely keep the fear from her voice.

The demon didn't move, the fire swirling around it as if it were silk dancing in the wind.

Selene didn't take her eyes off it nor did it move from its place in the fire, as if not able to.

Maybe it can't leave, she thought, hopeful.

Then, as if hearing her thoughts, the fire around the demon erupted. Selene stumbled backward as it spread into the air and then vanished into nothing.

The night was dark once again, no demon in sight and no fire lit in the campfire.

Selene picked herself up, her ankle screaming in pain. She abandoned her walking stick and ran off after Lily.

She screamed for the girl, hoping the demon would come back to her instead.

Selene saw the green light in front of her, less than a hundred yards away. Terror plagued her as she limped as quickly as she could to the light.

She reached the clearing, her ankle sending daggers of agony through her body. She fell to her knees, her leg unable to support her.

She looked up through her hair at the horror that unfurled in front of her.

The demon had lit the whole clearing aflame. The green inferno had even reached the tops of the trees. Ash and soot fell from them and landed on Selene, staining her hair and turning it black.

It stood with its back to Selene. She watched its cloak move as it burned, sticking against its protruding spin and then flowing away from it as if blown by the wind.

The heat was unbearable, making Selene struggle to breathe. She sucked in air and her lungs felt as if they were on fire themselves.

"Hey!"

Selene pushed herself off the ground, gasping in pain as her ankle flared. The demon's cloak stopped moving, draping down against its spinal cord.

"Look at me, you son of a bitch."

Then, the fire went silent.

The night had gone dead, not a sound around them save for Selene's raspy breaths. The demon turned its head to the side, watching her with its green eyes.

"You wanted me, right? Here I am."

The demon didn't move, even the fire seemed to pause.

Selene used the time to shift her weight onto her good leg, tasting blood as she bit her cheek to keep from screaming in pain. She reached for her dagger and unsheathed it, the metal singing. She prayed for the gem to come alive, to heal her ankle and the infection that spread, to give her the strength she needed to kill the demon.

But the dagger stayed dormant in her hand.

"Come on. Look at me!"

The demon turned.

The dagger dropped from Selene's hand, hitting the ground with a thud.

Selene could barely see beyond the smoke and fire in the clearing. But one look at that face, at the little scar on her upper lip, and all hope left Selene.

The demon seemed to grin, a green sliver of flame protruding from between its teeth as it hissed at her.

It held Lily by the back of her neck, lifting her off the ground with one of its hands. She was gripping its wrist, attempting to pry apart its fingers. She was crying, her tears leaving trails through the soot that smeared her face.

The demon didn't even look at Lily, just at Selene.

"Let her go."

The demon didn't move an inch, its eyes glowing with satisfaction. There was that smile again.

"Please," her voice cracked, and she clamped her mouth shut as tears rose in her eyes.

The demon looked at Selene for what felt like an eternity, all the while Lily kicked and clawed at the demon, desperate to get away.

Selene stared back at the demon, straight into those burning, abyssal eyes.

It smiled again, its horns blazing. And leaned towards Lily, as if it was going to do something.

But the demon didn't lower her.

Selene stepped forward, reaching out towards Lily. And for a moment, the fear flickered out of the girl's eyes.

The demon lifted his other hand, holding it out towards Lily. It's clenched its bony fingers shut and before Selene could move, the fire began to roar once again.

Lily screamed, a blood-curdling scream of agony. Selene ran for her, but as soon as she put weight on her ankle her knees buckled. She looked up at Lily.

Selene couldn't move as she watched Lily's eyes widen, the whites of them a fiery green.

Then blood began to pour from the girl's mouth and nose. Her screams turned into choking as the blood filled her lungs. Her skin began to peel away, replaced by blackened patches.

The demon stayed silent, its horns burning higher.

It opened its skeletal hand and, at last, Lily burst into green flame.

The sound, her screams, they were so loud. Selene couldn't bear it. She dug her nails into the frozen ground, trying to crawl forward.

This can't be happening...

"Stop!" She shrieked, "Lily!"

But the demon did not listen. And Selene was powerless against it.

Selene watched as the girl she had given so much to protect went silent... and then was blown to dust as the demon squeezed his hand one last time. The soot flew everywhere, coating Selene and the entire clearing.

Selene vomited on the charred grass. She rubbed her skin until it was raw, attempting to get the ashes off her. Horror filled her as she realized what the ash felt like. It felt like powder. It felt like the lights in the cavern as the faerie had been blown apart.

As the faerie had been blown to ashes.

She couldn't hear herself screaming, nor did she see the demon move.

One moment, it was watching the ashes bathe the clearing, the next it was right in front of her.

Its eyes were level with hers as it knelt on the ground beside her, its hand was against the tree behind Selene's head, its cloak billowing around them.

The heat was so strong, Selene couldn't breathe without fear of the flames lighting her lungs aflame.

You and I are the same, Wielder of the Dragon's Fire.

Then, as if struck, everything went dark.