The Last Flame - Crystal Bow

Chapter 28

Bullseye winced. "I don't really go by that name anymore."

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Cliffton's eyes widened and Bullseye shifted his wings. "A lot of things happened. I'm not entirely sure if I'm comfortable telling you all of it, but...trust me when I say it was a lot."

"Y-Yeah." Cliffton nodded, eyes wide. "A lot happened with me, too!"

"I can tell." Bullseye ruffled his feathers. "You restored the fairy tree."

But he kept his response short, because he was burning up. He walked over to submerge himself in the water, but a cloud of steam went up and Bullseye still felt equally as hot. He hopped out of the river and flopped over. A few of his feathers seemed to spring away from him.

"What's going on?" Cliffton frowned.

"His rebirth!" Peregrine's excited mental voice responded. Bullseye wasn't really excited, though. It hurt, almost as much as it had...when he had first...

Everything went black.

++++

When Bullseye woke up, the pain was gone, replaced by soft, gentle warmth. He cracked his eyes open and sat up straight. Was he...taller?

He looked around. All around him, it was completely white. Faint ringing filled his ears, but it began to fade, as well as the white in his eyes...

"BULLSEYE!"
Bullseye yelped and jolted up from where he sat. Where was he? What happened? All he had remembered was overheating, but now...

Bullseye looked down in surprise. He sat in what could only be described as a fragile nest of ash, and his feathers were golden-tipped. At the end of his elegant, flaming tail, there was a small, stringlike feature with a fire at the end of it.

"Your first rebirth?" The fae-Moone-guessed. Bullseye nodded shakily. He felt...he felt really good. He waddled out of the ashes and shook himself. "Does this mean...I can shift?"

"We'll work on that." Peregrine said. "Follow me."

The gryphon led him away from the others and Peregrine sat in front of him. "It's not that hard to shift, you just kind of...will it to happen, just like you will your hands to move, and..." He shifted in front of Bullseye.

Bullseye closed his eyes and thought of flexing his talons or wings. It was just like that, right? He silently willed the shift to come, and for a moment, he felt his stomach flip as if he'd been sailing. He opened his eyes and stared at Peregrine in surprised. "I...did...it?"

"You did." The older shifter smiled and led Bullseye to a nearby river. Bullseye stared at himself in the river, surprised. There was now a ginger streak in his hair, and he was a lot taller. He also had his phoenix wings and the feathers along his tail were still there. His eyes were also amber and he crouched, brushing his fingers in the water. It was a cool contrast to the warmth, but it didn't hurt. "Woah..."

"Cool, right?" Peregrine smiled at Bullseye. "Does it still hurt?"

"No." Bullseye flexed his wings. "It just feels...warm. Nice. Like sitting by a fire on a cold winter night."

Peregrine smiled, seemingly at the memory. "Come on, let's go back to the others.

++++

Peregrine and Skyline had brung Moone, Stevie, and Cliffton back, and now the seven chatted eagerly.

"Where are you going now?" Bullseye asked. Cliffton shrugged and glanced over at Stevie. "To get the Elf Gem back, I guess."

"And to kill the Dragon King." Moone spat. "I don't like him."

"Call him Naireth. He doesn't deserve his title." Peregrine spat. "Well, if you're going to fight Naireth, know that you have a friend here. Hell, we'll even stay in the area to protect the Faerie Tree."

"...Thanks." Stevie smiled, looking away. She looked embarrassed but grateful.

"Alright," Moone huffed, "Are we going or not?"

"Let's head out." Cliffton nodded. Stevie smiled over at them and then at Bullseye and his...well, his flock. "Thank you."

"You should get an official title," Cliffton commented, "Like, uh...Protectors! Yeah! Protectors of The Faerie Tree!"

"Wow." Callisto, who'd missed most of the excitement, chuckled. "I'd gladly be a Protector of The Faerie Tree. What do you guys think?"

"I'm fine with being a Protector." Skyline put her hands on her hips. When shifted, she was a pale redhead with sparkling green eyes. Callisto was also reasonably tall, and he had black hair and gray eyes. Peregrine had dusky brown hair and blue eyes.

"Protectors!" Bullseye declared.

"Wooo!" The rest of his Flock-The Protectors-shrieked. Bullseye grinned and watched their new companions walk off.