Fire On Fire
Chapter Eight - Bad dreams

I woke up to the sound of my mother humming, the familiar smell of her signature pancakes filling my nose. I got out of bed and walked down the stairs to find my mother standing with her back facing me, cooking on the stove. "Mom...." I whispered.

How was this possible? Maybe it was just a bad dream, maybe it was all just a long terrifying bad dream and now I'm finally really awake.

Quickly though the sweet smell of pancakes was replaced with the smell of them burning.

"Mom you're burning them" I said, but she continued humming flipping them over even though they smelt like they were done for.

I walked over to her and touched her shoulder

"Mom-" I began just as she turned around and grabbed my throat. This wasn't my mother.

Her eyes were replaced with blazing flames and her flesh was charred and she tightened her burnt hand over my throat.

I woke up screaming, choking , crying and sweating. My forehead was damp with sweat and my hair stuck to it, my cheeks, wet with tears.

Another nightmare.

Ace was at my side in an instant, his eyes worried and...afraid ? He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Ava what's wrong?" he asked, his eyes searching, his brows drawn together in confusion.

"J..J..J" I stuttered, I couldn't speak, I could barley breathe.

Still, Ace remained there his eyes searching mine.

Then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

I didn't protest, I accepted it. I Placed my hands on his broad shoulders and clutched his shirt tightly.

Finally I let out a small sigh as my heart slowed and my throat didn't feel like I was being suffocated anymore. I pulled back but Ace kept me at arms length.

"Just a bad dream" I managed to say, my voice croaky.

Ace looked into my eyes, his grey ones still holding some concern behind them. He got up and I thought he was going back to sleep.

He came back with a cup of water.

I accepted it gratefully, the cool liquid calming my nerves and cooling my throat. I downed the glass in one go realizing I hadn't had water in almost two days? I haven't had anything in two days.

We just sat there in silence for a while, until I realized where I was. I was on the bed, with a blanket covering me up to my waist. Did he...? but before I could think about it any more he stood abruptly.

"It's almost dawn so we better get a move on it if we want to be there before nightfall"

"Right...and where are we going exactly? " Ace sighed as if he were getting a headache.

Well I'M sorry if I've seen enough horror movies to know not to trust ANYONE! It's always the cute ones.

Yknow I thought he was starting to warm up to me. This man is confusing. Wait... Nevermind.

"We're going to a castle" I stood up, shock and excitement bubbling up inside me.

"CASTLE !??" Ace rolled his eyes but I could see the ghost of a smile on his lips

"I'll tell you all about it on the way"

As we walked through the rough terrain, I was itching to know all about this 'Castle' Ace spoke of . I was also itching, period. Damn fleas.

Ace eyed me and I could tell he sensed my excitement. He sighed and began.

"See, a long time ago, we had peace, us and the humans, us as in the creatures of Ilteedias.

We all minded our own business and lived amongst each other as equals.

Over the time though the tale of the great war was told differently, twisted and manipulated to make it look like we were the bad guys"

I saw Ace visibly tense as he said this "The fight was gruesome, families were taken away from each other and homes were destroyed, people were killed" I considered it all as I hopped over a stone. My heart dropped at the thought of that many people suffering, humans or not.

"Who started the war ?" I questioned softly.

"Many believe that it was the elves, they started a war against the humans although there aren't really any specifics as to why. We were devided, into four sections, the elves, the fae, the mermaids and the...Point is, after a long time of fighting, the elves saw that the only way to stop the fighting, was to separate our world and yours forever.

So now, the humans live peacefully in their world, and all magical creatures live safely in this world. Our world. And over time, to the humans we just became myth and legend. "

He finally finished as he stopped in front of a stream."So right now, I'm taking you to the kingdom of the elves, after all they're the ones who separated the worlds"

But if life was so awesome and 'peaceful' here, why does he want to escape so badly. What if he's a criminal..? Where was he going? He mentioned somewhere he NEEDED to be...

He didn't look like a model citizen to me and what was the other race? He mentioned there were four? Which one was he...?

By now my mind was filled with questions, mermaids were real? Fae too? And elves???

Feeling brave I asked "So why are you so hell-bent on getting away ?"

Ace stopped and looked me in the eye. I'd never seen anyone look this way. It wasn't hostile, but it was rage, pain, anger so much anger. I could feel it seeping into the air.

This was all so confusing, so much. Too much. I was surprised my head didn't explode.

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