When Penny woke up she was surrounded by flames all around her. Damien didn't wake up no matter how much she tried to shake him. 

"Damien!" she shouted over the raging fire but it was to no avail. Stepping down from the small bed, she went for the door, shaking the handle as it appeared to be locked. She used her leg, trying to kick the door but the fire kept hovering in front of her which made it difficult for her to kick it as the fire only increased as time increased. 

Screamed loudly, trying to bring the innkeeper's attention but she doubted anyone could even hear with what was going on right now. It was possible that the entire inn was caught up in fire and it had eventually caught up to the room they were in. The lantern had been closed before they had fallen asleep therefore it was unlikely that the fire was caused by their room. 

Going again to Damien who looked as if he was fast asleep, she pushed him back and forth. Trying to wake him up this time harder but he never woke up no matter how much she tried. For a second she turned scared and worried. Leaning forward, she places her head on his chest to hear his heart still beating. Though vampires didn't have a heartbeat, the pureblooded had a heartbeat very much like the humans where they had the core that kept them alive.

She didn't know what happened. Everything had been fine. She would have suspected the food but she was fine. It couldn't be that the food they had eaten for dinner had affected only him, could it?

It didn't look like the fire would stop until it burnt the whole inn to ashes and if she wasn't able to get out with Damien before that, it was possible that they would be the two corpses out of the three which included the innkeeper unless they had more guests.

She walked to the window, considering that the door wasn't opening and was jammed, this was one of the ways they could get out. Knowing well the fall would be bad if they did make it out of the window. When she opened the window, the fire only increased making it impossible for her to move closer to it. She used the blanket to wave it off but that didn't work. Of course, it wouldn't! She was only increasing the fire by doing it.

She looked around her before her eyes went wide and she ran towards the desk where the books had been placed. Given that she hadn't placed all of them there as most of them were in the bag, there were the two books that were left half burnt.

Time didn't help as it continued to move and the fire was only getting closer to them. Burning the wood above, below and around them. 

At this point, she wished desperately that she had the element of water so that she could extinguish the fire from the inn. Why wasn't Damien walking up though?

She went back to him, picking up his pulse near his neck where his heart was low or was it now that it had dropped? It had been fine a few seconds ago when she had checked his chest. Worry filled her face now and the panic was slowly getting her nerves where her mind froze and she didn't know what to do. She tried recollecting some of the spells and even though she had learned a fair amount of them, there was nothing she felt that could be used.

Finding a jug of water, she brought it to where Damien was and scrunched her face before throwing the water right over his face but that didn't work either. 

His eyes had been fine the last few days and his corruption hadn't acted out, not that she had picked on any strange behavior of his. When she again went to the window, the fire there had decreased. Taking the opportunity, she rolled Damien from the bed to move him near the window. Unfortunately, the person who had the ability to apparate was unconscious leaving the person without any important ability behind, which was her. 

The elemental bearer who was supposed to bestow her with the power to handle and control water had rejected her saying how she wasn't an elemental bearer which only left her with purification. 

Pus.h.i.+ng him forward, she helped Damien to get down on the floor. If their room was under fire, it was possible that walking down the stairs even after breaking the door was not going to be a good idea. It was a cheap and lonely inn that was made out of wood and not stones to not catch fire. 

The window was their closest outlet. She took a deep breath, her eyes looking through the window which she had opened to see some people standing out there. There were three of them in different positions. Their clothes were dark that almost camouflaged with the background if it weren't for the snowy ground that they were in. And one of them was none other than her mother who stood out there watching her who stood at the window. 

She stared at her and Penny stared back at her. 

Why? Penny didn't understand why things were happening as her mind was still under panic. It was when she caught sight of another person who had a stick with him, drawing something from one end to another did she realize what the fire was about. 

'Rituals can be of many forms and have different purposes. There are some rituals that go hand in hand where it can increase the possible energy to channel through but rituals have been something that has been advised to not take place in multiple places as it only increases the chance of the magic to friction together and steps into the zone of forbidden magic.'

Penny gulped, her hands turning colder when she saw the man was done drawing the line which wasn't a line but a supposed circle to withhold the ma.s.sacre which had been started.