"Echo, are you awake?" Gareth barely breathed the words.

"Yeah," She responded after a moment. It was cold in the room, and she was shivering. She couldn't have slept if she wanted to. And since they were going to try and escape that night, she figured she had better not.

She had lost track of how long it had been, two months? Three, maybe? She had no way of keeping track. She just knew that these people were after Gareth's abilities, and the abilities they seemed to think that Echo and Riley had. They beat Gareth when any of them fought back, or resisted. They had been hunting her and Gareth for a while.

She played with her ring, "Do you think…?"

"Of course. They would never give up." Gareth rolled onto his side, facing her and Riley. "They'll search the world over before they give up on us."

Echo sighed, "If we go back now, to our families…they'll realize how much more powerful my sisters are."

Gareth nodded, "I can't put Maggie in danger."

Echo looked at Riley, her little brother. "He needs his father."

Gareth sighed, "I know. I wish I had mine right about now. He'd crack a joke."

"Normally, you would too."

She could see him smile, "At least you're still optimistic. I feel like everything that was me has been drained."

She was about to respond when she saw it. The Phoenix. Waiting for her. "Gareth…"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated, "We need to move, now. Grab Riley. I'll grab our bags." She quickly and quietly got to her feet, grabbing her shoes and their backpacks. Riley had managed to steal back the important stuff, her earrings (you never know when a single skeleton warrior could come in handy), Gareth's sword, money…

Gareth wrapped Riley in the blankets and picked him up, following her. "We said the north window."

"You have to trust me, the east window is better." She watched the Phoenix fly to a spot just within her field of vision. "Hurry."

She was hoping that what Nolan had told her was right. Phoenix was associated with sun, and symbolized time and renewal. But right now, Echo realized that it was the light in the darkness. The only ray of hope she had seen since they had been kidnapped. And she couldn't shake the dreams of following the Phoenix. She had always been on the run, but she had always found herself running toward the Phoenix.

Now, as they did their best to be absolutely quiet, she just had to hope she was right. That this was her fate, or destiny.

They didn't speak.

Gareth followed her without question. She figured he was too exhausted.

"Why east?" He finally asked when they came to rest in a forest glade.

She was putting on her shoes, "Because…" she looked at the Phoenix, perched above Gareth's head. She had realized about an hour into their escape that he couldn't see the bird. She remembered something her Dad had said about the sun one winter when she had had a bad cold. He had brought her to the window that faced east and told her stories until the sun rose. "Because sometimes the only hope we have is in a new day. Because the sun is what marks the day, and the sun rises in the east. I'm placing my hope in the east. With the sun."

Gareth nodded slowly, "Hey, if you know where we're going, I'll follow you to the Underworld and back."

"Let's not get carried away." Echo joked tentatively.

He actually smiled, "But seriously, they won't stop hunting us. Where will we go?"

Echo felt like she was being stabbed as she realized, "Anywhere. Anywhere but home. Anywhere but the camps, or the people who know us and are worried about us. They'll have people watching our homes, our friends. Everyone we love is in danger until these people stop hunting us."

Gareth looked down at Riley, "How do we tell him? How do we explain this?"

Just then, Riley started to wake up, "Gareth? Echo?"

Echo met Gareth's eyes, mouthing that she should explain.

Gareth nodded after a moment of looking conflicted.

"Hey, we were wondering when you'd wake up." She said softly, gently.

Riley looked around, "Where are we?"

"For now, we're safe. I'm not sure where exactly we are, though." Gareth told him, a calm tone to his voice.

Riley was awake now, "We're free?"

Echo went over, pulling Riley into a hug, "Sort of."

Riley was quiet, and he looked up at Echo, waiting for her to explain.

Echo sighed softly, "These people…they're dangerous. We have to keep them away from our families. They're going to be hunting us. So…we have to keep running. We can't go home, not yet."

"Oh," Riley's gaze dropped to the ground, "So…"

"So, it's going to be a while before we can get you back to your dad." Echo sort of choked on the D word. "But we're going to take care of you, okay? You're my little brother. I won't let anything happen to you, not while I'm alive to help it." It shouldn't have happened in the first place, she should have fought better, harder, faster.

She could see the same self-criticism play across Gareth's face.

Riley sniffled a bit, but wiped his eyes, "Okay. For family, we run. I'll see my dad again. I know I will."

Echo nodded, "Yeah."

"We'll make sure of it, kiddo." Gareth added, hugging both of them to him. "But we need to get moving again. Echo?"

Echo nodded grabbing her back and glancing toward the Phoenix.

It was farther away now.

"This way."