Ontari jolts awake to the sounds of shouting, of screaming and warnings and fear. Pain sears into her shoulder as she forces herself to sit and look around her. Her vision still swims, still blurs at the edges, but she can see enough that shapes, silhouettes and colours give her enough information to piece together the things before her. A warrior, man or woman rushes past her, something carried in their arms. Another just behind the first stumbles, finds their footing and races past without a second thought.

Ontari looks to her right to find other wounded struggling into seated positions, some she presumes reaching for weapons, others simply looking for something to help them find their footing. She looks to her left to see Entani struggling onto her side, her friends ribs in no state to be strained.

"What is happening?" Ontari asks, her mouth instinctively going dry at the sense of panic she feels spreading amongst the other wounded.

"Warriors are arming themselves," Entani says with a grimace and Ontari can imagine the sour expression on Entani's face as she seems to look out around them.

"We are being attacked?" Ontari says, and she finds her lips turning into a snarl, if only because she can guess who it is, no matter how foolish they might be.

"Yes," Entani says.

Ontari tries to rise then, she tries to force her shoulder not to hurt, but as she shifts it, as she moves it even a fraction she feels a splintering pain shoot into her bone and wriggle its way into her muscle. She gasps, she curses and she hates the fact that she knows she can't hold weapon and that she can't see well enough to do anything b—

A shout of warning sounds out behind her and she snaps her head around, she tries to see whatever it is. But all that fills her vision is a haze of bodies rushing, a haze of commotion and a haze red.

But something fills her nose, something makes her skin prickle and she knows. She knows. She felt that same thing when they fought the Mountain, she felt that same thing just days earlier when Ilian had made his escape and had attacked the storeroom.

Somehow, someway red smoke has entered the Mountain.

Though seldom, there are times when Ontari allows herself to wallow in her self indulgence when her body aches from either a too hard training session, or when her body has been too battered and bruised to continue without the time to recuperate.

But this is not one of those times.

Ontari moves fast. She rises from her cot, forces the pain in her shoulder into the deepest parts of her mind and she locks them behind instinct and fury. She can't see well enough to recognise most people that move past her, she can't see well enough to read signs and appreciate paintings. But she can see well enough to get herself and Entani out of danger.

And so she moves.

Ontari rips off the bandage that is immobilising her wounded arm and she ignores the pain.

"Entani," she barks out her friend's name, if only to make sure Entani understands through whatever medicine Skaikru has given her. But as she turns she already sees Entani struggling off her cot, the healer's mind clear despite her body's sluggishness.

Ontari steadies herself as she wobbles on her feet, she ignores the blurs of others helping those near them, she ignores the barks of warning that echo out through the Mountain and she reaches for Entani and she ignores the pain. It frustrates her that she can't do more to help. But she knows it pointless to worry about things out of her control in the moment. And so Ontari spits out a curse in anger as she reaches for Entani.

"I will—" Ontari winces, "—I will support your weight, Entani. Be my eyes."

She knows Entani hurts more than she lets on, in part because there's a distinct sigh of relief as she manages to catch Entani's arm and drape it over her shoulders. Ontari even manages to wrap her uninjured arm around Entani's waist in an attempt to shield her broken ribs from anyone who might jostle them in their pan—

Ontari coughs, she splutters and she sees the haze of red in front of them.

"Red smoke!"

Shouts erupt around them, they seem to give warning but Ontari can't see which way to go, she can't see which way to tur—

"Right, Ontari," she doesn't need to be told twice.

Ontari turns, she begins moving forward past bed after bed, vacated cot after vacated cot and she feels the prickle at the back of her neck, she hears the thudding of feet moving back and forth as others move by, as others flee, as others shout warnings and threats and curses at whatever approaches.

The flaming torches upon walls seem to give her a path forward, somehow, someway they seem to grow with intensity, they seem to grow in size and they seem to cut through her blurred vision enough that she can make sense of a direction.

But something happens.

Something does something it shouldn't.

There's an intensity that seems to come from nowhere. There's a heat that seems to flash up at their backs and Ontari can't quite figure it out, she can't quite understand where the heat came from. But then she hears, she smells and she senses.

Memories come racing back to the forefront of her mind. And she remembers the red smoke, she remembers interrogating Teben. And she remembers the flames catching the smoke and being set free. She remembers the heat, the intensity and the fear.

And she realises.

It must only last a moment, but in that time Ontari realises that Ilian and his idiot followers mean to burn the Mountain down, they mean to smoke them out, somehow, someway, use the red smoke and the fire it breathes to seal the Mountain for good. What else could it be used for? What else would it be used for?

"Flame, Ontari, Flame!" Entani's voice borders on panic, and Ontari doesn't need to be told twice.

And so she runs.

She runs and she listens to Entani gasp out obstacle and threat that must spring up in front of them.

Ontari shuffles left, she ducks right, she steps over fallen thing and she pushes past whatever Entani tells her to as she carries her friend forward. Others move, too, they move in a wave, in a swarm. There's a fear in the air, there's a panic. It's only natural, it's only to be expected. And Ontari thinks it evil, fuelled by misguided idiocy. But she understands. It's a perfect plan. To smoke out, to panic those in the Mountain and make it impossible to fight the fire. Not when it seems to be fuelled by red smoke that will make any who approach with buckets of water lose their minds, lose their consciousness and fall to the ground without any chance of waking.

Ontari wants to kill Ilian, she wants to feel the life bleed out across her fingers as she turns what was once inside his body into ornaments to decorate him in the afterlife.

And then they break free. They somehow manage to follow the swarms of people, of shoving, of jostling and panic and they break out of the room the wounded were held in and into the hallway.

But there's a raging, a roaring, and searing heat and a raging shield of red that blocks the path .

The crowd begins to move, they begin to run, to dash and to sprint.

Ontari can't keep up and she knows their path forward must be burning. She knows the plants, the tapestries and the furs that have decorated every hallway, every path and winding trail inside the Mountain must now be aflame by the red smoke that has somehow found its way inside.

Ontari tries to move faster, she tries to keep up with those that move by. But she can't. She can't as she stumbles over something, she can't as she manages to break her fall enough that Entani remains standing. She can't as she slams into the ground on her shoulder, and she can't as tears spring into her eyes from the pain. But Entani grabs her, she lifts her up and she pulls her to her feet.

"Come, Ontari," she hisses as the heat, as the flames and the sea of red that fills Ontari's vision begins to close in.

Ontari forces back the pain that begins seeping into her mind from under her locked door. She forces it back as she hefts Entani's weight back onto her shoulder as she begins moving forward.

"In front of us," Entani hisses a warning. "Watch your ste—"

Ontari trips on something, perhaps a fallen branch, a dropped weapon, a basket of supplies. But it doesn't matter. She trips and she scrambles and she shouts out frustration. She can't see anything but blurred shapes, she can't see anything but red and grey and orange. She hits the ground, scrambles to find her footing and she realises she can't feel Entani beside her, she can't see the shape of her friend anywhere, she can't see past the tears, past the heat, past the roar of the flames as they grow and grow and grow.

"Ontari!" her name is shouted, her name is called and she spins, she coughs as smoke now begins to fill her lungs, and it tastes and smells and feels acrid, putrid and it bur—

Ontari's hand is grasped in a tight hold and she knows she has found Entani.

"Up, Ontari. Up!"

And she does. Ontari lifts herself up onto her feet, and she pushes back against the mental door that somehow holds her pain back. She takes Entani's weight again, she feels her relief as the pain in her ribs is lessened and Ontari staggers forward, her feet following whatever urged directions Entani gives.

And it doesn't happen suddenly, it doesn't even register at first. But after the third, the fourth, fifth or sixth, perhaps even twentieth step she takes she realises they are alone, she realises that whoever else had rushed out of the room full of injured has made it to safety, has made it through the hallway she knows to be engulfed in flames.

But they haven't.

"Keep going, Onti," Entani says, and she can hear her friend's panic now, she can hear the fear beginning to creep into her voice.

And Ontari doesn't blame her. Not when her breathing seems to be leaden, not when the flames that fill her blurred vision seem to growing more and more defined with each passing second.

And then Ontari realises. She realises she can see the flames for they are close and she realises she can feel the fear now. Heat burns all around her, it licks at her body and she hates it. She hates it and she hates it.

Ontari staggers forward, each step she takes seems to be coming far too slowly. She staggers forward and she yelps as something far too hot laps at her arm. She staggers forward and she stumbles as she trips over something in her way.

Ontari hits the ground and something is wrong. Something is wrong. The ground is hot, somehow even putting her palm against it burns and she doesn't like it.

Entani begins to cough beside her, and Ontari feels her own lungs wheezing as the red smoke aflame begins to settle around them. But each breath she takes burns, each breath she takes fills her lungs and makes her mind slow. And she hates it.

But Ontari won't give up. She never gave up as a young second trapped in the freezing wilds. She never gave up surrounded by reapers. And she never gave up when she felt her whole world crumble around her when she discovered Nia's treachery.

And so she won't give up now.

Ontari snarls as she reaches for the blurred shape of Entani who remains doubled over, her chest heaving as she tries to fight for breath. Ontari roars out her anger as she lifts Entani up onto her feet and she begins moving forward.

Ontari holds Entani close, her uninjured arm tight around her friends waist as flames begin to come with an intensity that peels her skin, that burns her body and sears against her face. Ontari reaches out with her injured arm, and she screams in pain as her shoulder demands her to stop, as it pleads for her to drop it. But she ignores the pain. She ignores the pain for Entani isn't responding as much as she should, her friend isn't barking out directions clearly. And Ontari knows all she has now is her hand held out in the hopes she will be able to feel her way to safety amongst the searing heat, amongst the searing pain and the searing confusion.

"Stay with me, Entani," she cries, and she doesn't mean to shout, she doesn't mean to scream, but the noise of the raging fires seem to grow, seem to take command of every thing that surrounds them. "Entani," she squeezes her tight, tries to get her to make a sound, but the only thing she hears in answer is a whimper, a cough, a wheezing sound that scares her.

And it does for Ontari knows the red smoke brings those sounds to life, she knows it makes all succumb to its sleep. And she feels fear, she feels pain and anger and so many emotions she can't compartmentalise.

And so Ontari's mind splinters, the shields she had built up within her mind shatter and she feels everything.

Panic, fear, anger, confusion, hurt and pain. But she tries to ignore, she tries to push them back as she moves forward, as her fingers begin to burn. Flames must be licking at her body as she takes one step forward, but she tries to ignore it. And her legs feel numb, her lungs don't seem to be working as they should. And she coughs, she splutters and she gags on bile and smoke and heat as it sears her core.

And Ontari can't see now. She can't see anything but red, she can't see anything but blinding light, she can't see anything to give her direction, to tell her which way to turn or which way to flee. And she can't see.

Ontari trips on something. She falls and she tries to cradle Entani to her as close as possible in the hopes she can spare her friend more pain. Ontari doesn't know if she succeeds, she doesn't know if she fails. All she knows is that an indescribable heat is engulfing her, all she knows is that her mind is numbing. And all she knows is that her body isn't listening to her anymore.

Ontari finds herself laying on the ground somewhere buried deep in the core of the Mountain. It's hot, too, so uncomfortably hot that she knows it should hurt, that it should make her flinch and try to escape it's embrace.

But for some strange reason the heat doesn't seem to be registering. And for why she can't quite tell. Perhaps it's her mind's way of accepting her fate. And perhaps it's her body's way of saving her the pain of burning to death.

A serenity seems to settle over her then, and it seems kind. It seems gentle and so very understanding. It's almost comforting, too, strangely so perhaps. And Ontari finds herself on the ground, her cheek pressed against heat that doesn't register and she finds her vision clear enough in that very moment to see that Entani lays beside her, eyes closed tight as her lips tremble and her chest heaves.

There's so many things Ontari wishes she could tell Entani. So many things she wishes she could do for her. She had been certain they had so many things left to share together. But perhaps the spirits had decided her hopes, her dreams and her life were to end sooner than she had expected. Tears seem to fill Ontari's eyes as she reaches out for Entani, as she tries to take hold of her friend's hand. But for some reason her fingers don't move, for some reason her hand doesn't move. And for some reason all she can do is to look, to remember and to feel an ache in the very core of her heart.

Ontari had been born in a small town called Ronto and Entani had been there right alongside her. They had grown up together, and despite her insistence to the contrary, she knew their names were so very similar. But she'd never admit it, ever. They had shared laughter and adventures as youths, too. They had got into more trouble than she could even remember. And that trouble had followed them into their stints as seconds. But Entani had always been better at following detailed instructions that demanded far more concentration than Ontari could muster. It didn't surprise her when Entani had been chosen as a healer. But Ontari had had her own skills. She had excelled at the blade, and she had thrown herself headfirst into it with a determination to be the best, to be the fastest, the strongest and the bravest. She had secretly hoped to be chosen as a Royal Guard. And she had secretly planned to bring Entani with her, to prove to the Kwin that Entani could be her personal healer. She was sure Entani was the best, she was sure she was the smartest. She couldn't imagine otherwise.

But her life had taken a turn for the strange, for the bizarre and the unknown. A girl, a child, a fool had fallen from the sky and had set her life on such a different path. At first she had thought Clarke an enemy, someone to despise, someone to kill. But somehow, someway, and thankfully so, Clarke had wriggled her way into her heart, she had made herself inseparably tied to her just as much as Entani was. And Ontari found herself enjoying the new friend she made, no matter the frustrations at her quirks, her odd way of speaking, even the accent she still had after all the years spent speaking her native tongue. And Clarke had introduced Torvun to them, too.

And Ontari had admired the man, though she'd never admit it. She had admired his skill with the sword and the bow, and his ability to never fall asleep unless he wished for it, and for his ability to hear everything he needed to. She'd never admit that she had spent so many nights awake trying to train her hearing, trying to discern mouse from wind, and she would never admit that she found his seldom heard laugh infectious. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

But even those surprises hadn't been the end.

There was intrigue, mystery, betrayal and even romance laying in wait. She would never had guessed the adventures she had shared with Entani, with Clarke and Torvun. She'd never had guessed she'd come to at least some how admire the Commander, and she most certainly would never have guessed that she would have grown close to a Trikru warrior.

But life was never predictable. That, she had come to know.

And so Ontari thinks it fitting that she would never have predicated her life to come to this very moment.

She wishes she could see Clarke one more time and tell her that she admires her bravery, her moral compass, her willingness to do anything for her people. She wishes she could tease Torvun again, she wishes she could ask him if he'd train her to be better, to be best, if only because she knows he is. She wishes she could hold Costia one more time, perhaps tell her that what she feels is a little more than just a passing crush. She thinks Costia knows, she thinks Costia feels it too. But she wishes she could have told her before it was too late. Ontari even wishes she could see the Commander one last time, even if it is only to tell her that she has seen Clarke naked, just to see the look on the woman's face; Ontari's sure the Commander not the sharing kind.

But she thinks none of those things likely now.

With the last of her strength, Ontari forces her eyes open all so that she can look at Entani, so that she can memorise her face one last time, and for a moment, for the strongest of moments, she wishes Entani had made it out of the Mountain, she wishes she had made it out with the others, she wishes she had been given a chance to live a full life. But a relief fills her then for she finds Entani's chest doesn't rise anymore. She finds that her face looks just as it does when she sleeps. And Ontari smiles for she is happy Entani won't be live to feel the pain, to feel the heat and the flames.

Fire seem to lick at her body, it seem to engulf her and Ontari can't help but to close her eyes then.

Ontari feels fear, she realises.

Perhaps it's the first time she has ever truly accepted that her spirit is about to find another. She hopes she'll be born Azgeda, if she's lucky. Perhaps even Skaikru, if only because she thinks it would actually be interesting to understand the tech they wield. But truthfully she'd settle for anything other than Lake clan.

As Ontari feels the last of her consciousness leave her body, she finds a calm beginning to wash over her. And it's cool, it kind, it seems to soothe the pain that splinters her flesh and it seems to ease the sadness, just for a little bit.

And so the very last thing Ontari thinks is that she's happy Entani is with her at the very end. If only because she knows she'd be so very much more frightened without her friend by her side.