Sorry that took so long but here is the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, only my OCs.

Redwings on fire

Night was falling. It had been about a week since Hunith and Merlin had arrived. I stood by the attic window, staring out at the beautiful night sky filled with shining stars. I held a thin burning stick in my hand, the one I had used to light the candles.

My eyes wandered down to the street below. It was empty and dark. Not a soul walked there, no one to see me staring out. Slowly, I bent my head and blew out the flame and placed the curtains back into place. I looked back into the room to look at the other occupants of the cold attic. The snow had started falling again outside.

Jasper and Aida were sitting next to each other with their backs to the wall. They both had a blanket wrapped around them. Aida had her eyes closed but Jasper was staring at the flames of the candles. Hunith sat across from them against the opposite wall. She held Merlin tightly in her arms to keep him warm. There were bags under her eyes and I could tell that she wanted nothing more then to just drift off into a well deserved sleep.

I had a warm shawl wrapped tightly around my shoulders to keep out the cold. Even with this protection I shivered. I went and sat next to Hunith, taking a good look at my friend. Her eyes were already half shut. I sighed and reached out my arms.

"You need to get some sleep. I can take him for a while."

She looked at me skeptically then she yawned. I razed my eyebrows and she knew that I had seen. She sighed and silently passed me the child. I wrapped my shawl around him as soon as he was in my arms. Hunith yawned again and let her head wrest against the wall behind her. Soon enough her breathing slowed and I knew she was out.

We passed some time in silence. There were many nights that we spent in the same way. Silence became our new companion. The quiet of the night had once been a beautiful thing, but now it was filled with fear and worry. When would it end?

Jasper looked over to Aida who still had her eyes closed. A strand of hair had fallen across her face. He reached over and stroked it away. It was a simple gesture. His eyes fell slightly when she did not stir, and went back to looking at the burning candles.

We found out yesterday that he would be staying here a lot longer then we had first realized. The family who had hidden him before felt that it wasn't safe for him to come back any time soon. It may be best if he stayed here, forever.

I hoped forever wouldn't be long. Don't get me wrong, I cared about them both dearly, but they need their freedom. They can't live in fear their whole lives. The time will come when they can truly live again.

Jasper still doesn't trust me. I can see that. I had hoped that he would grow to trust me as Aida does but it appears as though that may never happen. He trusts Hunith though, because of Merlin.

As if he could sense me thinking about him, Merlin wriggled in my arms and yawned. I adjusted my hold on him so that he could be more comfortable. The shadows in the room seemed to move, drawing my gaze to the boy sitting across the room from me.

Jasper had his hand outstretched towards the candles sitting in the middle of the room. I watched as his eyes glowed a beautiful gold colour and the fire lifted from the wax, floating into the air. They bobbed up and down like on the waves out at sea.

Merlin seemed to sense the magic as his eyes popped open and he peered out at the dancing lights. I heard a giggle burst from his tiny lips and his little hand reached out as if he wanted to catch them. Or maybe he wanted to do it too. Perhaps he wanted to make the fire dance.

"That's beautiful." Aida's voice startled Jasper and he almost lost his control on the flames.

"You think so?" He made the flames rise higher into the air.

"Yeah." She raised her hand too, towards the lights. A few of them broke away from the others and they began to dance to a different song. Aida was controlling them now.

"Wow." Jasper murmured. His fingers twitched and his fire went to join hers. They weaved in and out and around each other. Kind of like Lords and Ladies would at a royal ball.

I'd heard stories of their dances, so elegant and graceful. Every move practiced and rehearsed until perfect. They knew their partner's moves before they made them. It was as if they danced as one. It was a connection they shared that no one could duplicate. Each pair was different in their own ways, even though they were all using the same moves.

That is what I thought of as I watched their fires burn together, as if they knew what the other was going to do even without talking. They were both staring up at the beautiful dance as if in a trance. The fire reflected in their eyes. They moved as one. The flames rose and fell.

There was that connection between the two of them that no other could understand. I watched them closely and still did not comprehend how they were doing it. Their magic bound them together. It was a bond stronger then the threads of time. Their futures would be forever intertwined.

Fire used to be a sign of freedom and hope. It burned as our hearts do. That is what their fire told me.

Now though, fire means something else. It is danger and fear. The ashes they leave behind cannot return to the way they once were. Fire is destruction as we are burned for our treason.

But as I watch these two, I am taken back to the time before the purge, a time of freedom. When fire meant so much more then just a way of getting rid of something that scared you. A strange feeling suddenly came over me. I wasn't afraid anymore.

Then, as one, their fires returned to the candles and the dance was over but this new feeling still burned inside of me. I looked over to Hunith who was still sound asleep. There wasn't anything that would wake her now. She wouldn't wake up until the sun rose high in the sky the next day, but now it was dark and I let her sleep.

I got to my feet and looked down at Aida and Jasper. They returned my gaze, wondering what I was going to say.

"Come with me." I said simply and headed towards the stairs. Aida followed me without question and Jasper followed her, still on guard.

We made our way down the stairs to the large cabinet. Aida stepped in front of me and pushed it out of the way. We stepped through. I grabbed a long piece of fabric from a chair that I had been using as a scarf and made it into a sling for Merlin. I threw two cloaks to them for them to put on. I still hadn't said what we were doing, but the mystery drew them in as they followed me out the front door.

The cloaks were warm around us in this cold weather. It wasn't until we reached the stables that I finally turned around to answer the question that was plaguing their minds.

"Have either of you ever ridden a horse before?" I asked.

"Yes." They both answered warily.

"Then get on." I opened the gates to reveal three horses. One was gray with white spots. Another was brown with white socks. The last one was black with a white mane.

Aida immediately went for the brown one. Jasper took the gray one next to hers. So I took the last one, the black one. Beautiful beast. I thought as I stroked its neck.

"Where are the saddles?" Jasper asked.

"Saddles?" I looked over the horse to see him. "Oh no. No saddles. We're riding bareback."

"What?" He looked at me incredulously. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe." I laughed.

"Oh, come on Jasper. What's life without a little danger?" Aida brought her horse over to the gates. She climbed up on the gate and mounted her horse. Then she smiled back at us as if to say hurry up.

With that, Jasper expertly mounted his horse and went to join her. I watched them for a moment before mounting my own horse. A came until all three of us were next to each other in a line with Aida in the middle.

"Don't these horses belong to somebody?" Aida looked to me.

"Yeah, but we'll have them back before Mr. Thomson will even notice they're gone." I galloped off before they could ask any more questions. I could hear the hooves of their horses' pounding the earth behind me.

We sped towards the forest, disappearing within the trees. There was no path to follow and I honestly had no ideas of where I was leading them. I was just going. For the first time in so long I didn't care. My eyes didn't scan the shadows of the forest for potential threats.

Jasper and Aida disserved freedom. They had been trapped in that attic for a long time, only coming out when I was sure it was safe and no one would see or ask questions. We never went too far and we always stuck to the paths I knew. Not this time. This time I left it all to fate to decide what direction we went in.

They had it wrong, the ones who said that Jasper and Aida were the only ones trapped in that house. I was too. I had to be carful in order to keep them safe. It hadn't always been that way. There had been a time when I was reckless and I loved it. Why do you think I was so willing to join the Black Feather? Not only to save them. If it had only been that then I wouldn't have been involved so much. I wouldn't have been Magnus' right hand.

I wouldn't have been the Blackbird's red wings. A bird can't fly without its wings. I wanted to fly and I wanted the thrill of it. When it started I loved the sound of my heart beating furiously in my chest. It told me that I was alive and I had something worth living for.

Back then I had nothing to loose. I volunteered to do the dangerous jobs because I wanted in. I liked the feeling of adventure and danger. I wanted to get out there and do something.

Now I was trapped, my wings pinned together. Now I had something to loose and I would do anything not to loose them. But I didn't think about that now. Forward was all I saw. I heard their laughter coming from behind me and I smiled. We needed to stretch our wings. I wanted to fly again.

The snow flew past us softly. Merlin giggled as we bounded up and down through the trees, expertly avoiding them all. I went faster and faster as if I needed to escape, to get away from something.

As I rode faster and faster I could feel my red wings stretching out behind me. I was Redwing again. We rode bareback and the feeling was strangely familiar, as if I had done it so many times before. But that wasn't possible.

The cloth was wrapped tightly around my head, not allowing my hair to fly behind me, caught in the wind. I had it like that as far back as I can remember. Why did I do that again?

Something knocked me from my thoughts and I stopped. The horse skidded to a halt. The others stopped beside me, wondering why I was staring off into the woods as if I had seen something. They followed my gaze, their eyes widening.

It crackled and popped. Consuming nature, its beauty, and freedom. The snow did nothing to slow its hungry rampage. This was the dangerous kind of fire, the one that we feared. This fire meant to destroy us, and nothing was going to get in its way.

The forest was on fire and we were right in the middle of it.

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