From the Ashes (A School for Good and Evil Fanfic)

Part 16

"Ash!" Hester yelled. running out of the castle. "Ash, it's not safe out here! They'll kill you!" She looked around frantically and spotted him. He was fumbling as he attempted to unchain a horse from the chariot they had arrived in. "Ash!" Hester yelled again. He glanced back toward her nervously, then vaulted onto the horse, taking off into the dark woods. Hardly thinking about what she was doing, Hester ran toward the other horse, pulled herself up onto the saddle, and took off after him.

She wasn't sure why she cared so much about the fate of this young boy, one that was related to Aric at that. All she knew was that she wouldn't let the Society take him, wouldn't let them do to him what they had done to her when she was only a few years older than he was. No one deserved to go through that. She heard her friends call her name, but she didn't turn back. She galloped down the path, targeting the other horse mostly by sound. After awhile, she sent her demon ahead of her so she wouldn't lose sight of Ash's horse. Soon, she realized where Ash was going: back to Nottingham. But why would he return there? That would be the first place the Society would look for him.

Hester began to see lights up ahead, though they seemed brighter than those usually lit in Nottingham at night. Her horse whinnied in panic, trying to turn around, but Hester urged it to keep going. As she rode toward the town, it became evident why the horse was so hesitant. The scent of smoke could be smelled on the night breeze as they drew closer. Hester leaped off of her horse, running to the tree line. She exploded out of the trees, gasping at what she saw.

The entire town was on fire, and Ash could be seen running through the flames, in the direction of Dot's house. Hester followed him through the burning town, pushing through a screaming crowd of citizens. When he reached it, he darted into the burning building, glancing behind himself once more. Hester moved to follow, coughing as she inhaled the heavy, strangely sweet smoke. Just as she reached the door, someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her into a headlock against the side of the building.

"Don't move," a familiar voice hissed. Lilith's voice.

"Fat chance," Hester growled. Her demon seared toward her through the flames, shooting a fireball at Lilith's head. She dodged out of the way, but in her brief moment of shock, Hester managed to wrench herself out of the chokehold. She stumbled away, choking on the smoke that continued to fill her lungs. She pulled herself through the door to the house, calling for Ash, and for her demon. It didn't come. Hester felt a chill down her spine. Something wasn't right.

"Looking for something?" Hester spun around to see her demon struggling in Lilith's hands.

"Why?" Hester choked out, trying to buy time and deliberating the best way to avoid death. "Why are you doing this?"

"I do whatever my master asks of me," Lilith responded. "Not that you know anything about that, as you're always trying to be the leader."

"So you're a brainwashed slave," Hester hissed. She took a deep breath (or tried ti, at least). "Look, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Either you leave me, my friends, and Ash alone and give me back my demon, or I'll kill you."

"Kill me?" Lilith pretended to gasp. "Quite an ultimatum. And how, pray tell, would you do that, when I can do this?" She holds up the demon.

"No," Hester gasped. "There must be--" She was cut off by a stab of pain, so sharp and intense that she fell to the ground, the flames creeping toward her body. There was another stab of pain, sharper this time. Her vision blurred. Someone was screaming. She thought she heard someone call her name. She gasped for breath, but found only smoke. Soon there was nothing but the pain; the intense, agonizing pain.

"Do you know what makes a villain stronger?" The voice whispered, over and over. She could see death coming, and she welcomed it. When the darkness came, she didn't resist. She fell into it willingly, not caring if she never came back.