A/N: Heheh.... I've decided to post more, instead of leaving you guys hanging, even though as I'm writing this, no one has read it yet.... :( But, for future (hopeful) readers, here you go!

Tam, if you're still alive, don't come down my hallway. Tell Edaline and Grady that I love them. But if you do come down my hallway, the flames... Only you can put them out. 

Groaning, I picked myself up. 

Where am I?

Looking, around, I winced. I must have hit my head. The last thing I remember is Sophie transmitting to me, and---

Sophie. 

It all came back to me. The mirror, hallways, and the shadows. Then unbidden---

I heard her voice. It was weak, haggard, like she was suffering a lot. 

Tam... If you're still alive, don't come down my hallway.

Hallway? Why? What happened?

Tell Edaline and Grady that I love them. 

Okay. But can't you tell them yourself?

But if you come down my hallway, the flames.... 

Flames?! Fintan?!

Only you can put them out. 

I'm coming Sophie. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had levitated out of the pit I was in, and dashed down the hallway I was exploring earlier. 

There was smoke in the air, due to the flames I was guessing, and it was thick. 

Boy, it was thick. 

I was coughing and using my cloak to cover my face, shielding me from the smoke. 

As I stumbled towards where I thought Sophie was, her words echoed in my mind. 

Flames.... Only you can put them out.....

But, what if I was too late? Too late to save the beautiful Sophie Foster? The one I had come to love?

Whoa, slow your roll Tam. She's your friend. And where did this love business even come from? You like Biana mister. Gorgeous chocolate silky hair, sparkling teal eyes, queen of fashion. Not the lovely Sophie Foster. Not the golden hair, or the strangely mesmerizing brown eyes. Or the golden flecks that she hates because they're horse eyes. Or the way she is a walking tornado of trouble, and yet we still love her. Not Sophie. Biana. It's always been Biana, right?

Shaking my head, I tugged on my bangs. 

Love life later Tam. Saving Sophie Foster now. 

 A few moments later, after some coughing and shadow throwing, I made it to the source of the flames. 

And there she was. Smack dab in the middle of them, the flames licking her cloak, was Sophie. She was unconscious, that was for sure, and I could see that the heat was getting to her. 

It was a sight that I hoped Elwin would be able to fix, because oh boy. If Sophie was going to die, then this was probably it. 

Burnt alive like her predecessor, Jolie. 

Rage bubbled up inside of me. No one deserved to die like this. Except for Fintan and Brant. And the rest of the Neverseen. But not Keefe. I needed someone left alive to hate/mess with. 

"Sophie!" I screamed out her name, using up a precious breath. It was nearly impossible to breathe now, and I dropped to the floor. 

Sucking in a deep breath, I searched the room for shadows. Where there was light, shadows followed, that there was a lot of light here. 

Pulling on them, I sent an experimental thread of a shadow towards the flames. 

To my surprise, they shyed away. 

With what I hoped was a determined look on my face, I stumbled to my feet. 

Brandishing my shadows as whips, I started to slash at the flames with all the rage I had in me. 

This is for Linh. Banishment was not for my sis. 

This was for Keefe. Parents that no one deserves to have. 

This was for Sophie. No one deserves to be ostracized for being different.

This was for Dex. No one needs the scorn of being the product of a bad match. 

This is for Fitz. No one needs the pain of family betrayal. 

This was for Biana. Beauty is pain, and women are made of pain. 

This was for Wylie. Families shouldn't be broken. 

This was for all those who suffered at the hands of the Neverseen. 

This was for me. Silver tips and shadows.

I smacked the flames, beat them, doused them, trampled them, until I could make a path to Sophie. The flames were the hottest near her, but my shadows kept them at bay. 

I reached out and stroked her. 

Ouch! Her skin was red hot! 

Sucking in a deep breath, I shook my burnt hand. 

I can do this.

I levitated her, and her cloak barely touched the ground. 

Stumbling from the flames and smoke, I finally found the time to press my Panic Switch.

Please work. Please.

 I scowled. The walls must still be doing something to it. I saw nothing. 

With Sophie floating behind me like a coffin, (fine, I read some human books when we went to the Forbidden Cities), I wheezed and wobbled towards fresh air. Outside. 

My shadows were searching for the sunlight, and I found a crack in the wall, with some loose stones around it. 

Thrusting my shadows at the crack, I managed to break through to the other side. 

It still wasn't wide open for me and Sophie to fit through, so I tore at the stones like a madman, making the gap bigger for the two of us. 

My hands were probably bleeding, and I think I was missing a couple of fingernails, but that didn't matter. 

This whole entire time, I hadn't heard Sophie breathe, or see her chest move, at all, and my fear was the only thing fueling me at this point. 

Several long minutes later, the hole was big enough, and I crawled through it, pushing floating Sophie before me. 

Gasping with the fresh air, I immediately rushed to Sophie's side. 

Her skin was still hot, but I could touch it if my hands were surrounded by shadows. 

Unsure if she was still breathing, I lowered her onto the ground, placing her on some cool spring grass. 

Covering Sophie's face with a thin layer of shadows, I pressed my lips to hers, trying to revive her. 

Breath, breath.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. 

Breath, breath.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Breath, breath.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

After what felt like hours of this, I finally got a weak pulse. 

"YES!!!" I crowed! "Sophie is alive!!!"

And then I felt the whoosh of air suddenly being displaced, heard the sound of a building burning down, and felt a sharp pain in my head. 

Before I went though, I was able to wrap shadows around Sophie and I. 

I hoped it was enough. 

A/N: Oh, good. Sophie ISN'T dead. Did I scare you? Because I scared myself. And boy. This was a long chapter. And now I don't know what to do. The plot thickens though, and I hope my brain will catch up to my fingers soon! :)