The White Mage

Chapter 26

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again soon."

"Oh yeah, I find you again after eleven-eleven-years and a 'we'll see each other again' is going to be enough?" 

"I'm just going to SOM while you finish your mission. Believe me, your students will need to know how to fight if worse comes to worse."

"Swear to me that you will still be alive when I get back."

'That's kind of a ridic-" 

"Swear to me."

"Fine, I swear. Make sure she doesn't get herself killed, Eren."

Eramus departed, heading back the way we came from. We headed off in the opposite direction. In the far distance, the mountains dotted the horizon. Time to meet a phoenix.

*****

"Come on!"

"Well, we can't all be mountain goats, Abby." Cain said between grunts from effort of scaling the volcano.

"Excuse me for growing up near mountains. They were never this big though, but it just means  the more of the world we can see from the top."

"Will you two stop flirting and climb?" I interrupted.

They both were silent immediately. As we climbed, instead of getting cold, it was only getting hotter. Eventually, we had to stop and strip layers of sweaty clothing off our skin. The top of the volcano was an uneven ring around the gaping mouth. Cain picked up a large stone from the ground, tossing it in. He jumped back quickly when a jet of molten lava shot up.

"We could definitely die." He stated.

"Of course, you think the true sources of magic are going to make it easy?" White questioned.

"No, but-"

There was a whoosh of wings. The phoenix landed on a large, soot smeared rock, regarding us  with intelligent eyes. The bird liked like it was made of fire and feathers at the same time. The feathers started out as normal-but crimson- feathers, but ended in flickering flames. It looked between all of us, but settled on White when she stepped forward.

"You know why we're here."

"I do. And I will help you."

We all almost let out sighs of relief. Almost.

"But only if you can fetch me a flower." It continued.

"What kind?" White asked warily.

"A panda lily." The phoenix said, looking towards the mouth of the volcano.

On out croppings inside the volcano, flowers I hadn't noticed before were swaying from the heat. The petals were white with a thick stripe of black down the middle. But they were too far down to reach from the top. Which meant one thing, that someone had to climb down and get it.

"I'll do it."

My head snapped in Abby's direction. She was staring resolutely at the flowers down below.

"I'm the only one that can reach those flowers, the ledges are too narrow for you guys. I'm the only one with enough experience to navigate them, it has to be me."

"You can't." 

"Cain, if I don't so many people will die. I can't let their blood be on my hands."

"And what will happen if you die!?"

"I can't, we need those flowers."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

Tears glistened on Cain's cheeks as the phoenix watch the four of us.

"You think I could live with myself if something happened to you?"

"Cain," I said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Do you think she could live with herself if she didn't? You have to let her go."

White lead Abby to the opposite side of the volcano mouth, above where the flowers were growing. Abby cast one last look at Cain and I, then at White before climbing down. She went slowly, carefully. Steadily making her way down, Abby slowly made her way down to the lilies. With a lily safely in her pocket, Abby started to climb back up. But the very first ledge she reached to grab crumbled under her hand, sending her falling towards the lava below. 

"Abby!"

But Abby only panicked for a second. She quickly reached out to grab another hand hold, stopping her fall. She was to close to the lava for comfort though. As she climbed up quickly, she moved like she was in extreme pain. When she reached the top again, you could see why. Her hands and legs were blistered from the hot rock. Abby dropped to the ground, rolling on the back to avoid any friction on her blistered skin. The phoenix landed on her knee, but it didn't seem to hurt her.  Golden drops began to fall from its eyes, and when they touched Abby's skin, it began to heal. When she was finally healed, she pulled the flower out of her pocket to present to the phoenix. It took the flower in its beak and flew to a nearby rock.

"You have proven yourselves more than worthy. I will give you my fire."

The phoenix pulled one of its long tail feather out, holding it to White. She put her hands on either side of it, creating a magic bubble around it. It wasn't until then I realized the feather was made out of pure fire. White compressed the bubble until it became a bottle and the feather turned to liquid.

"Ouch." Abby said suddenly. 

She lifted the hem of her shirt to reveal a red marking on her stomach. It almost looked like a flame in bright red.

"You have a fire in your belly, now the others will know. I wish you well on your journey."

"Wait, there's something I have to ask you." White said, turning to the bird.

"No, human. I cannot assist you with such a thing. You will understand in time."

And with that the phoenix flew away. White crouched down on the ground, opening books pages. Over a map of Occum, a piece of translucent parchment with a sketched pentagram sat there. The center was positioned over Dragon's Keep, an unaligned territory run by the eight dragons. It was rotated to the left until each point matched a country. Looking at the map underneath it, I realized the point of the pentagram matched the location of the volcano. Next location, the cliffs of Theodore.

~~~~~

In memoriam of Toby, Molly's best four legged friend. May he always be in our hearts.

(Art credit to original artist, but this is how I imagine the symbols)