Chapter 6

Jack found himself unconsciously tightening his grip on his staff with Ember's words. He couldn't believe he had been tricked; when he had seen her, she looked genuinely injured. Never once did the thought pass his mind that it was all a ruse to get into the Pole. Now, Jack found his entire body shaking from anger. North and Tooth were caught under debris; Sandy was trying his best to put out the now massive blaze… and Bunny… Jack tried not to think hard on it as he knew Ember was going to be a handful.

"Awww are you upset at me for skewing the fluffball?" she teased with a smile pouring her power into the bow. The fire on the oak flared to life and forced Jack to take a step back. He was out of his element surrounded by all this heat; it was making his head very hazy.

Ember was forced to jump back when the winter spirit took a swing at her. Ice sprayed off his staff, and she hissed when the chunks of ice touched her. The cold wasn't bad considering she had surrounded herself in a blaze, but when the ice melted to water… that was annoying. She wasn't given much time to adjust her stance as Jack came at her again, and she ducked his swing. Falling into a roll, she drew an arrow, came up behind the winter spirit from her roll, and put the arrow into his back. The scream was like music to her ears.

"Isn't it lovely in here?" she purred standing and walking over to the kneeling Jack. Her fingertips were glowing with fire, and she couldn't help herself as she ran them through his white hair. It took all of Ember's composure to not jump up and down in excitement from the groan of pain she heard. Unable to help herself and caught in the moment, she twisted his head back, so his throat was bared to her. Leaning down, she ran her tongue along the burn and up along his adam's apple. To her, it was licking something metal that had been sitting in thirty degree weather for a few days. She was just happy her tongue didn't get stuck.

"Is this really all you have?" she continued whispering into his ear. "I was expecting more." She clicked her tongue against her teeth to tsk him before finally letting go of his head. Jack bent farther over to pant.

Ember didn't get the chance to continue with whatever she was saying when a whip of dream sand twisted around her forearm and yanked her away from the winter spirit. Sandy stood there glaring down at her, and she just pouted her lips. He moved to yank the whip again, but she was smart. She grabbed what was wrapped around her arm and pulled forcing Sandy from his platform and to land among the debris.

Summoning another whip, Sandy lashed out at the fire spirit. She attempted to duck, but it wasn't enough. It caught her in the face across her burn, and she hissed from the mere contact. At least, it didn't knock her out. Touching her burn, she glared up at the Sandman. "You'll pay for that."

With a whistle from Ember's lips, the Nightmare came running and ran head first at the Sandman. Before she could continue with her onslaught, North broke free of the debris holding Tooth in his arms. His stare landed on Ember, and he set Tooth down near Jack before coming at the fire spirit.

Grinning, she drew an arrow with the intent of firing it right into the jolly man's face, but she had barely started to notch the arrow when her arms were seized and pinned to her side. She snarled out as her feet here forced from the ground.

"You need a time out," Bunny said into her ear.

"And you need to learn when to stay dead," she hissed, allowing her entire body to catch back on fire. It forced the Easter Bunny to let her go. Landing on her knees, Ember looked around to see the fire still going strong, but now she had four Guardians to deal with. Sandy was easily able to dispatch the Nightmare, and it hadn't bought her as much time as she thought. The thought passed to let herself just be captured, so she could continue to reign fire on them. However, she realized Pitch needed to also be brought up to speed, and who knew when she'd be able to escape.

"This really has been fun," she said more towards Jack than anyone else. The winter spirit was back on his feet, and he was staring pointedly at her. She had a feeling they would be exchanging more blows very soon. "But I fear, I must go and let you deal with," she said waving to the workshop burning. There was no way they'd be able to stay in here longer unless they wanted to be burnt alive.

Focusing on the draft coming though the holes in the walls, she called a warm breeze to pick her up. She had barely gotten through the hole when she was blasted from behind. The force threw her into a nearby snow bank. With a grimace, she forced herself to stand and shake the snow from her hair. The cold penetrated her deep into her bones. Her powers seemed to hide in the deep recess her body to get away from the chill running across her body.

Jack stood in the hole Ember had tried to escape through, his staff pointed in her direction. Both of them narrowed their gazes at the sight of one another. The winter and fire spirit sparred off again… Jumping from the hole, Jack flew at Ember catching her off guard by the suddenness. His staff nailed her across the face, and she skidded a few feet to the side before getting herself back under control.

Notching an arrow, she shot it at Jack's chest; he sent a wave of ice in her direction. The fire arrow and the ice collided mid air. The oppositeness of the power caused a mixture of the raw energy before it exploded out and forced both spirits to take a step back.

Ember's forced her body to turn up the temperature even though it was harder being in the middle of the Pole. It was obvious that Jack was using the cooler air to his advantage as hail started to pour from the sky. They had gone from fighting in her element to fighting in his, and with her injuries, this was not to her advantage in any way.

"You won't touch them again!" Jack called over, anger obvious in his voice.

"Oh you ruin all my fun," she teased poking fun at what he was a guardian of. "But you know I can't stop here. There is still the warren and the palace that could really use some remodeling."

Jack swung his staff forcing ice up from the ground and in the direction of Ember; she kept herself calm and took to the air. The warm breeze holding her up blocked out some of the cold that was causing her to shiver. It was almost painful to be out here.

"You won't win," Jack said rising into the air too. "You and Pitch won't win."

Ember simply shrugged. "Not everything is about winning."

"Then what is this about?"

"Making you suffer," she said simply cocking her head to the side. It was Pitch's plan to take out the guardians, and that really wasn't a concern to Ember. She just wanted the winter spirit to hurt, to know how she felt at night… to know that what plagued her in her sleep was his fault. That didn't mean she'd betray the Nightmare king; she had made a deal, and she would live by it. After all, she owed the boogeyman a lot more than she could ever say.

"It just happens to be that Pitch's plan works very well to hurt you," Ember pointed out. "You care so much for them, and by hurting them, I hurt you."

Ember notched another arrow and shot it at Jack who dodged it with ease. The two spirits went at each other and crashed together. The moment that any skin touched, they both felt the agony of the other's power. Ember was already in pain from all the cold outside, but any time Jack blocked her attack and they touched, it increased ten-fold. Based on his face, Ember could tell he was feeling roughly the same from the contact.

"Jack!" Tooth could be here calling from the workshop. He made a mistake by looking, and Ember took that as her advantage. Ignoring the pain she'd feel, she closed the distance and hugged the spirit. She let her body come alive with fire, and with that, she could hear Jack screaming and struggling to get away.

"JACK!" Tooth seemed to scream louder at the sight of him basically on fire.

Not knowing what else to do, Jack pushed past the agony and grabbed Ember's waist. He let his own power of ice flow into her. Both had tears streaming down their face; neither was willing to relent and just stop the pain. Bunny's boomerang forced them apart finally, and they came crashing down to Earth. Ember was the first to stand, and Jack was shakily getting up; both were panting, and the fight had taken a lot out of them.

"Make your choice Guardian," Ember called across the distance. "Go help them stop the fire, or come after me…" She knew at this moment that if he chose to fight her, neither of them would last very long, and Jack would probably win here. Outside he had a distinct advantage, just as she had an advantage inside the burning building.

Ember watched in slight amusement as Jack flew back over to the Guardians and started to summon his snow to try and quench the fire. She could tell he was exhausted and barely on his feet from the pain probably radiating through his body. She almost laughed knowing that wasn't even the hottest she could burn; if anything, that was the coolest her body went. It made her excited to try turning up the heat next time; however, for now, she knew when to retreat and regroup. Barely glancing back, Ember took to the air and headed back to Pitch with what she had done.

Jack watched Ember leave before closing his eyes and summoning more snow. Anything to save at least part of the workshop. Finally, Sandy placed his hand on the winter spirit's arm, and he looked down at the little guy. Sandy was staring up at him sadly and shaking his head.

"Good try Jack," North said with a very sad smile, and it was then, the winter spirit chose to collapse to his knees. His entire body shook from pain and the emotions welling up inside him.

Bunny stepped up next to him and placed a paw on his shoulder as they watched the fire burn itself out.

"You here to tell me I told you so," Jack whispered, his voice hoarse.

"No mate," Bunny said looking down at the winter spirit. "We'll get them." He placed his paw over the burnt patch of fur and repeated, "we'll get them."

Chapter 7 Preview: Ember and Pitch reorganize and decide on their next step while the Guardians look down at what remains of the workshop and try to decide their own moves.

OOC: Hope you guys liked the fight scene. Let me know what you think. R&R