The Burning of Sana Lightbourne

Chapter 69

"Sana, I love you."

A trill of joy flourished through Sana's body as she crumpled into tears of elation mixed and gnarled with anguish. Her world had twisted upside down and Rhyel's confession and proclamation of love made her fall into pieces.

"I'm sorry," Rhyel whispered, pulling her into the comfort and security of his arms as she sobbed against his chest. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that." He murmured in her hair. "But I had to tell you the truth."

"N-no." she sobbed, curling her hands in his shirt. "I'm...I'm glad you did. It's just that I...I don't know who I am anymore and I don't know h-how...how to l-love you back."

"You don't have to," he said, massaging the base of her neck while he hooked his arm under her knees and cradled her over his lap. "And you are who you've always been," he whispered against her head. "I know this has been a lot to take in, but I'll help you with everything. I promise."

And he will because he's our dragon.

Sana's phoenix hummed.

Between her gentle trills and Rhyel's comforting heartbeat, her sobs subsided into quiet whimpers. She thought her life had already had its dramatic change when she was sent to Darcanos. She thought the biggest thing that was ever going to happen to her was the knowledge that her family had no power over her.

Molding herself against Rhyel as her tears continued to fall, she didn't know how to handle all of this new information. Her emotions were all over the place after Dante and Sune explained how her mother conceived her, that she wasn't a child of her father like she'd always believed and she was possibly the only living phoenix of the Zarathos coven–or any coven.

That, coupled with Rhyel's confession of the future he lived through. The guilt he'd been living with for things he hadn't done and his willingness to change so he'd never make those same mistakes, weighed on her mind like a heavy bag of stones.

Sleep, Sana. Quiet your mind.

Her phoenix whispered.

You and I need to talk.

She wasn't sure how to quiet her tumultuous thoughts, but a wave of exhaustion rolled over her as her limbs grew weak, her body sagged against Rhyel and she wondered just how much power her phoenix had over her as she drifted into a comforting darkness.

I'm not as powerful as I once was.

A small plume of fire appeared in the ether that she floated in and swirled around her. Reaching out, Sana grazed the warm flame that pulsed against her fingertips. "What do you mean?"

Our mother kept me asleep inside of you until you were ready for me to awaken. That is why I'm just a flame. I'm what all phoenixes are who are conceived as we were.

The flame hovered on her fingertips.

"Without a father?"

Yes, being conceived in this way is not something any phoenix does unless she truly has to.

Sana frowned. "Why?"

Because an Erius phoenix is born for two purposes...

The flame walked along her fingertips.

To become the matriarch of a coven or to preserve a dying coven.

Sana's heart sank. "Does that mean the Zarathos are gone?"

I'm not sure. Like the souls of dragons, phoenixes live many lives over time, but most of my memories are weak and clouded since I've been lying dormant for so long.