The list was read aloud by Gillian. It consisted of seven items, all of which sounded impossible to get. She stuttered and read slowly, with Blaise constantly urging her to hurry. It was midday and they only had twelve hours left.
"Okay, ummm…. It's a bit faded but I can make out a little. A Phoenix feather, ummm a…eh stone of truth, a ring of betrayal, an amulet of the mirrors, a shard of human bone" she squinted. "I think that says an orb of…magick and finally…the coin of freedom." She sighed. "We'd better get moving."
"God." Quinn cried. "You'd think they'd have the bloody Holy Grail on there." Rashel faced him.
"Quinn, listen…we'll get everything."
"How do you know that?"
"Because we have to. Okay lets sort a plan of action people." Everyone turned there attention to Rashel. "Ebony's in trouble and we need to help her, right? Well we split into teams. I know we seem to have a lot of time but he's confident we don't. It'll be hard but we'll do it." She emphasised that for Quinns benefit. He wasn't used to failing. Ebony was in her own world. "We'll split into teams. Quinn, Mary-Lynette, Blaise and Ebony. You're team one. Ash and Gillian, you guys are with me. Lets get moving!"
"Umm, Rashel?" Ash started to stutter eyeing Quinn, Ebony and Mary-Lynnette uneasily. "Umm, can I go with Mare?" Rashel looked annoyed.
"Ash there isn't time for this. Are you in grade school or something? Let's just stick to my groups." She addressed everyone. "Now…move out, find a door and stick together. And be careful people!"
****
Ebony was in a dreamlike state. Blaise had decided upon the third door in the wall. Rashel's team had travelled into the fourteenth (the fifteenth was locked). They were currently floating, being pulled against their will into a burning heat. It was strange and a major contrast to the cold damp atmosphere of the dungeon.
"Oh my goddess," The cry had escaped Blaise's lips in a low moan. "Fire!" And she was right. A Ring of Fire surrounded them…in some strange place with stacked orange chairs. The heat was searing, Ebony swore that she would be burned alive slowly and painfully. At the outside of the ring a huge shadow could be seen, hopping from the tables violently. Over the roar of flames, she could hear a faint squawking. Quinn was the one who spoke what everyone was thinking.
"A phoenix!" the sight of others panicking had returned him to tough guy mode. "The feather. I'll go get it." Mary-Lynette stood in his way. "No. Neither you nor Ebony go any further. It's fire, it'll kill you both in a flash. Rule one, vampires shall do no tasks involving fire." Blaise stood blankly, adrenaline pumping due to an obvious fear of fire.
"I'll go." Mary-Lynnette turned to face her.
"No Blaise. It's obvious you're terrified." She immediately noticed her mistake.
"I said I'll go. Mary, you're no fighter and you have a soulmate…your only here because of Ash. It makes no sense for you to go. Anyway…nothing can scare Blaise Harman." She grinned and launched herself into the flames. Ebony screamed in terror, trying to rid herself of the restraining grip Quinn had on her arm. An unearthly shriek was heard from the flames.
****
Ash was worried about his Mare. She wasn't meant to come. She couldn't defend herself like the others. She wasn't even a witch like Gillian. Rashel was leading him across what seemed to be a barren desert. It was unnerving to open a door and find nothing but the great outdoors. What was even more unnerving was the vultures circling their heads above. Rashel turned to him and Gill for an announcement.
"I think we've travelled far enough." She glanced at her chunky, purple, hey kitty, a ridiculous gift from Quinn. "And we've succeeded in wasting an hour. We never thought that there were more doors than items. Oh shit. Well I hope the others are doing better!" They began to trek back across the wasteland.
****
Blaise was in an inferno. Her hair was singed and her face was black. Her jeans were ripped and her top had seen better days. To add to the mayhem she still had to collect the feather and get back. A small blessing came when she discovered the phoenix was smaller than the shadow, it only came up to her waist. She knelt, coaxing it over.
"Here, pretty birdy…come on, auntie Blaise wants to say hi! Come on, don't worry…I don't bite. I love all creatures great and small!" Somehow the phoenix saw past Blaise's animal friendly façade and saw her long forgotten comments to Eric about shish kebabs. The cute bird transformed into a fiery demon, hissing and spitting ash and embers. Blaise yelped as a spark ignited and burnt her arm.
"Right." She made a grab for one of the long, swirling tail-feathers. The phoenix gracefully avoided the lunge. It squawked as the witch successfully grabbed a tail-feather and ran into the flames, but all was not over...oh no.
A voice sounded over the flames.
"Blaise."
"Darius?" The voice had the same crystal fluidity.
"Blaise, you really don't think it's that easy do you?"
"You think that was easy?" She stopped suddenly, sensing a vibration in the air. The flames weren't burning her anymore, but they could still be heard roaring over the outside sounds.
"Poor child, your lost, scared, confused. You don't deserve Ebony as your friend. Never mind."
"I'm not handing her over to you and by the way…it's to late, I already have the feather Darius."
"Yes you do, don't you?" The voice was dreamy. "Now all you have to do is get out with it!"
The flames got brighter and the heat returned. Blaise felt her entire body burst into flames, an unimaginable pain, beyond that of anything she could imagine. She screamed only once before submitting to the darkness.
****
It was Quinn who had first heard the scream. He feared the worst, as the flames grew brighter before extinguishing themselves. Ebony surged forwards only to be greeted by a charred corpse in what where once tight denim jeans. The body was clutching a single, singed red feather. Mary-Lynnette turned and began to throw up as Ebony sobbed over the loss of her friend. Quinn grasped the feather, remaining the tough guy as always and picked up screeching Ebony and carried her away. One thing was clear, Blaise had not survived the blaze.
