Chapter 2- Things Never Change

Seven years later

"Your pacing again, Baz." I tell her without looking up from my book. The lines in the story start to blur together as my interest in the story soon fizzles out as the rythmic sound of pacing on carpet bores into my head like the beat of a drum. I set the book down as she mutters under breath. Clearly oblivious to anything that isn't in her head. I put the book down and wait a couple seconds to see if I can ignore her repetitive steps. And when that doesn't work. I grind my teeth, and throw a pillow at her.

Baz stops and looks at me. "What?" She asks in surprise before she turns her nerves on her fingers and proceeds to bite her nails. I raise a brow as Baz resumes her pacing.

"You're pacing like a mad man. What has you so worked up this time?" I say in annoyance. She pauses her pacing. Baz bites a raw finger, her amethyst eyes worried, and opens her mouth. I hold up a finger to stop her. "And you better not say The Gauntlet again. I know it's not the full reason." At that, her mouth closes. "Come." I pat the bed beside me and Baz shuffles over, and sinks into the pillows beside me. 

"How do you know its not just The Gauntlet, Ash?" Baz whispers out as she stops biting her raw nails. To fidget with the tattoo like brands on her wrist that look like braids.

I put my head against her silver haired one. She smells like lavender. I take a deep breath of the calming fragrance before breathing it out through my nose. "Baz, we've lived together in the same room for the last seven years. I've seen you fearlessly kick and bite and stab all sorts of Mystics that think they're entitled to us. You've seen me heal wounds, burn those that get to close to touch us, and you have even watched me die and be reborn more than once. We have run The Gauntlet, and rang the Hell Bell seven times! It's unheard of, and we did it all as a team. So yes Baz, from my personal experience. I certainly know that you are not worrying over The Gauntlet itself, but definitely something similar."

I put my hand on Baz's to stop her fidgeting. "We tell each other everything. So I need to know what's wrong. Otherwise, I can't help you."

She sighs before laying her head on my shoulder. "You know, some days I miss immature Ash. She never asked such needling questions because she said it was my business and she had her own problems to deal with. Who would have guessed that she would grow up so wise." She said with a huff.

I smiled. "I miss her too, now and again. She came up with the best nicknames."

"Mine is still my favorite. Good ole Silver."

"First of all, you only like it because it's not an insult, and in my defense. I was a 17 year old dumb dumb." That got a laugh out of Baz. "But my personal fave is still Mr. Scissor hand with a masters in cold showers. Chuck always runs before I have a chance to pay him back for that. The slippery fucker." She laughed more. It was a bright sound.

Baz had laughed until she wheezed as I had angrily told her of my observations of that day.

"Oh, and we can't leave out Twitchy Eye." I giggled at the memory of the 17 girl that had stared down a stone cold warrior and unflinchingly gave him an irritating nickname.

"Good ole Marloth. You know, he only ever lets me call him that on my birthday." I confess as I mark the page in my book and close it. I poke her in the ribs and she gives a small eep. Her amethyst eyes glint with betrayal as they narrow slightly. "Come on Baz, no more beating around the bush. Just tell me already. You stubborn narwhal." I groan out.

She gives a huff at my tease, but I can see the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she fights off a smile.

"Baz." Time to pull out all the stops. "I'm going to tell Marloth that something is distracting you. You know how he gets, when he thinks his girls are off there game. When our year of freedom runs out and we have to run again." I shivered. It was unsettling to watch the usually stone faced fae turn into an overprotective mother hen.

"Yeah." The word seems almost sad and scared. She nestles in close to me. "I've just got this feeling in my gut, and then there's the dreams or maybe there nightmares. It's hard to tell." It was strange to see Baz confused. She's normally like a pillar that dares others to knock her down.

I put my arm around her shoulders and kiss the top of her head. "Then tell me. Instead of pacing around like an angry duck. Your anxiety makes me anxious, and I will probably join you in your pacing soon enough. But eh, if the other runners start reacting and join in. We could have a cha-cha train of panic all the way down the hallway." I contemplated. "Maybe we could even to get Marloth in on it."

An amused snort came out of Baz. "That'll be the day." But her amusement soon fades. "It's just...this time feels like all of this is going to end."

"What do mean all of this is going to end." My confusion and worry grow. "You're starting to sound as cryptic as Serena." Marloth's siren mate had a way of seeing things others didn't. And then said things in such a strange way that no one knew what she meant until it came into the light.

"In my dreams..." Baz takes a breath. "We're running towards the Bell and we're laughing cause it's right up ahead, ya know." Yeah, I knew that feeling. The feeling of hysterical triumph. "And then we ring the Bell together, but it doesn't ring. And when I try to ring it again..." She trembled. "You're not there and I'm all alone. But I hear the Wild Mother's voice saying that the time has come to face my fate, my destiny, and my mate. That I will be ready because the Bell will not ring for me again, and I'm afraid that it will ring for you and we'll be separated." Baz sobs and I hold her close. Worry filling me at her terrified words. "My life never felt like it meant anything until I met you, and you accepted me as an ally as a friend. You never demanded or wanted anything from me like everyone else."

"No matter what Baz. No one will ever break our bond. Remember, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. We are sisters bonded in from the blood that we shed, when we fought for every inch of gained in our first round in The Gauntlet. And every time after that. You're the big sister I never had who played along with my jokes and my antics. Nothing will ever change that." I tell her truthfully. "I'll kick your mates teeth in if they try to ban me from seeing you, and burn I'll burn there balls off. If they have them for good measure."

Baz gave a sobbing laugh as she wrapped her arms around me. "What did I ever do to have the Wild Mother grant me a friend like you?"

"I'm not sure. But I'd say it was either miming behind Marloth's back or that you've never been fazed by my language." I tell her seriously, which earns me a wet giggle.

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Fly faster. I have to fly faster. I beat my small wings hard as I wind through the trees. I can feel the Hell Hounds hot breath on my tail feathers. I have to get home. Mommy and Daddy will know what to do. Mommy and Daddy will sav- I feel teeth tear through my right wing joint and then it's gone. Leaving only pain as I slam into the dirt and feel my other wing get ripped away. I scream as I shift back into my eleven year old body. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Only the pain and those words sound in my head as the Hell Hounds go to tear into me before they freeze.

A heavy wind blows through, erasing every trace of the nightmarish memory. A heavy fog rolls through the woods."What in trolls balls is going on?" A soft breeze is my answer. The only sound I hear aside from my pounding heart and gasping breath. I stand up from the ground. I look down at myself to see the sweats and tank top I wore to bed, but at least my arms are where they're supposed to be. It also helps that I'm back in my 24 year old body. But I can't help patting myself down just to make sure anyways.

I stumble back in surprise as little blue flames suddenly appear in front of me in a glowing path. Will o'wisps. I take in a shaky breath. Will o'wisps are said to be the mischievious souls of Phoenix's that died when they were still babies. There was a chance once, when I might've joined them.

I could hear them whisper. "Follow us burning Ash."

"Why, you'll probably just lead me a stray." I knew better than to blindly trust others. Especially ghosts who were notorious for getting people hopelessly lost.

"We swear, we would never lead one of our own a stray." The whispers were almost loving.

"What do you mean, one of you're own! I didn't fade away into lifeless ash on the wind, when I first died!" I tell them defiantly.

"We are aware burning Ash. That of which you are aptly named. For unlike us, your fear did not consume you and drown you in the darkness. Instead, you lit the first ember yourself, and never stopped burning. You showed it when you turned those Hell Hounds to dust long before you breathed your last for the first time." There was pride in there voices. "We came to retrieve you then, but you already had everything well in hand. So know that we will never lead you a stray sister." The voices are reassuring.

"You're sure you're not lying. Don't you guys have a reputation to up hold. Getting people lost and all that." Warm laughter echoed at my unsure words.

"Who do you think leads all your suitors in The Gauntlet away?" The words are almost teasing, and I stiffen at them. "We do not leave our sisters and brothers that escape our fate behind. Come sister of burning Ash. She waits for you." There soft words have me walking along the path that they mark through the dense fog covered forest.

"Who?" I ask, putting tenuous trust in the lost souls of my brethren to guide me.

"You will see soon, sister." I say nothing more as I follow the little flame balls.

A few minutes later, I arrive at a clearing with a herd of baby phoenix souls that hover near me as if in protection. "We apologise, we must leave you now, sister. Know that you have nothing more to fear on your journey from here on." I fought down the urge to call them back as they faded back into the fog.

I step into the clearing, only to stop in shock as the fog disperses to reveal the Hell Bell. I swallow and walk up to. There are names etched into it. I reach out and brush my hand over them. Each name had a number beside it. The number of times each mythic rang it. It bothered me because the names are supposed to be on the inside of the Bell and not the outside.

I pause for a moment, when my fingers brush over my mother's. Ember Reilynn Flash 2. I lovingly trace her name before I continued my exploring. As strange as it was. It always made me feel closer to my mom every time that I rang the bell.

I hummed as I slowly walked around the Bell. My fingers never leaving its grooved surface until I came upon an even more familiar name, my own. Ashland Ember Azar 7. And right under it was, Baz's. Bastianna Reece Elwyn 7.

I stepped back from the domed metal. I stared at the names in shock. They seemed so final. The Hell Bell never carved your number unless it was the last you would ring it. No one every knew what ring would be there last because it's etched on the inside. It explained why people climbed inside of it, when they rang it but never heard the toll. Before they accepted there fate and ran back into the fray to find their mate.

I swallowed hard. So, my last run through The Gauntlet is to be my eighth. I grinned. "Baz and I had a good run, eh?" I turned around to find a beautiful dark skinned woman green hair and a dress made out of moss and vines watching me. "We always knew the fun had to end sometime. You just can't bear to watch you're children walk through this life alone. Can you, Mother Nature."

Our goddess smiled at me warmly. "Some of my children are harder to find a fit for than others."

"I'll take that as a compliment, but I don't appreciate you turning Baz into a mess." I scolded the ancient immortal.

The smile never left her face. "I had to get your attention somehow. You are as stubborn as your mother, my little anomaly." Her voice is like a soft summer breeze.

"Why in the seven hells would you want my attention?" I wasn't that special. Most only noticed, when they saw what lurked under my skin. I was just runaway Ash, when they wanted the nitty gritty details. I raised a questioning brow.

Mother Nature's face grew grave. "I see your future and your past coming to a cross roads. They will clash and force you onto one path even as you fight to choose the other. Your present may be stable, but not even I will be able to protect you when the ground breaks." I stare at her and swallow hard. That really doesn't sound good. "But have faith in your mate. They will hunt for you like a ronin trying to avenge their master. And do not fear Ash. You have more allies than you realize. Now all you have to do is trust in the path in front of, and it will never lead you a stray." Her voice became distant and faded away. As she and the forest were smothered with the dense fog.

"Wait!" I shouted as I shot up in bed. I looked around bewildered at the sudden change in scenery. The clock read 7:00 a.m., and Baz wasn't in bed. But her lamp was on. I rubbed my face as I feel back into the pillows. "Ugh... Mother fucking troll dicks. Why does she have to be as cryptic as Serena?" I said to myself in annoyance.

I heard the lock clock and the door opened to reveal Baz. "Oh good you're up." She sounded excited.

"And why, pray tell. Is that a good thing?" I grunted as I scowled at the way too happy unicorn.

She grinned at me. "They brought in the last of the runners last night." I groaned and pulled a pillow over my face. I was not awake enough for this shit. "Marloth told me that the new volunteers should be arriving today!" I winced into the pillow at her pitch.

Yay, now we had to suffer through another arrival, the banquet, and a day of preparation before The Gauntlet was started at midnight. All in all. We had 3 days, include today, of freedom before The Gauntlet threw its worst at us for the eighth time. And the last time. I made a face. My mate would be amongst the 60 volunteers. And so was Baz's...

I pull the pillow away from my face. "You are way too happy about facing the music and meeting your destiny." I tell her grumpily as I make finger quotes at the word destiny. She gave me a happy smile before pulling me out of bed. "Nooooo. Leave me in my cocoon where it's warm in safe." I whine as she pulls me fully out of my kingdom of pillows and blankets. She cackles as she drags me to the door.

"Marloth made your favorite coffee." At that, I race out the door towards the cafe. I hear a startled shout before I hear someone running after me.

"You should have lead with that!" I yell over my shoulder.

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