Disclaimer: The Nightworld and all its characters belong to L.J Smith- I'm just distorting it to my reality. Will probably contain some spoilers from the Nightworld Series. If any of the spelling or words seems weird- I'm British. Go me!

1

Take Two- I've altered the ending, since many people have opened my eyes- I gave Ash a personality change! Doh! Chapter Two will be here as soon as possible, fitting it in around my GCSEs.

Mary-Lynnette sat in front of her window, gazing at the stars, wondering what he was doing right now, under the same sky. Her heart ached- how she longed to be with him.

It was exactly one year ago since Ash had left her to slay his dragons. He had promised that he would return. "Would he?" Mary-Lynnette thought, "Would he even want to come back?" The thought was so unbearable she yelled at it forcefully to shout up. Of course he was coming back.

She longed to see him, his ever-changing eyes. He had changed so much when he was with her- how different would he be? Mary-Lynnette looked back at the stars, which did nothing to relieve the sharp pang in her chest. Slowly, she fell asleep.

Mary-Lynnette walked through the woods, the sound of her footsteps dulled by the carpet of pine-needles. She walked in a daze, not knowing where she was going, but being pulled somewhere. To her left, she heard the sounds of shouting, but couldn't make out the words. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't wake up- she was heading towards the shouting.

Ash was in a clearing. Surrounded. No way out. Hunter's goons had him trapped, and were circling him. Hunter had found out that he was working for Circle Daybreak- and he wanted him dead. "No mercy for a Redfern traitor," Ash thought grimly. He took in his surroundings. He was in a wood. Full of poison. And there were seven vampires circling him, eyes full of hate. For him. Hunter was known for not taking chances.

The leader laughed. "No way out, Ash Redfern," he shouted. Ash saw his own eyes reflected in the leader's watch. They were as black as midnight. "I think I'll be the judge of that" he said coldly. "I never back down from a challenge."

A female vampire stepped forward. "Traitor." She spat.

Ash's eyes blazed amber with annoyance, then the light was snuffed out. His eyes were pitch black. "I like to think of it as doing the right thing, you could join Daybreak if you wanted," he teased; goading them, which in hindsight seemed a very stupid thing to do, as the circle tightened around him, closing in on him. Ash picked up a solid piece of wood, snapping the end off, making it sharp.

He brushed aside the first blow, throwing the female over his shoulder. These vampires were going to pay. But that didn't stop that fact that he was outnumbered seven to one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the female vampire brush herself off, then jump back into the fray.

Ash dodged an oak club, narrowly avoiding impaling himself on a spear. "Now where did that come from?" he wondered vaguely. Someone had set fire to the trees around him, and a couple of the vampires were waving burning branches dangerously close to him. He staked one of them, losing his weapon in the process. He dodged the spear again, only to fall victim to a burning branch to his back. He bit his lip, but a faint gasp of pain escaped.

Cursing, he put out the fire, punching one of the vampires in the process of doing so. Grimly he acknowledged the broken nose he gave him, knowing it would soon heal over.

That's when the club got him on the shoulder. Ash yelled in pain, falling to his knees. He saw a carpet of pine needles through blurred vision.

The other vampires closed in, kicking and punching him down. The vampire with the spear stabbed him, with ferocity. Ash felt the wood invade him, poisoning him. He clutched his stomach, his whole world a haze a pain. Through the haze, the leader leered at him, "I thought staking you through the heart would be a little easy for you. Have a nice death." The vampires walked off, laughing. "Wasn't even a challenge," one joked.

Ash fell down on his back, his whole body shuddering with pain spasms. His eyes blazing emerald green, he whispered, "I'm sorry Mary-Lynnette." He lay there alone with the fear he would never see his soulmate again.

This is my first ever fan fiction entry- and I thought I'd jump right in and put Ash in danger. I figured it was still okay to make him afraid to never see Mary-Lynnette again, she is his soulmate after all. Please review- I'd like to know if my writing does need improvement- besides if no-one reviews I might have to kill Ash. Mwah ha ha ha! Only kidding, I love that guy. Yes I do know that there are tonnes of Ash stories on here already- but he is the most gorgeous fictional character EVER. I will answer any reviews at the bottom of the next chapter.