Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 45

Phoenix kept his gaze on the ground, utterly lost. “The water in your bodies. I can no longer feel it. And the water in your water skin, it will not answer my call.”

Lindani and Ember gasped in unison, while Spedro raised another eyebrow. “You jest,” said Ember.

“I do not.” Phoenix replied, still staring at the ground. “I have lost the power.”

Lindani opened her water skin, and proffered it to Phoenix. “Pull forth an orb.”

Phoenix stretched forth his hand, and tried to pull the water from the skin, but to no avail. Lindani slowly pulled it from him, and replaced the cap. Phoenix rose from the log on which he sat and slowly walked from the camp. Lindani started after him, but Ember’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Ember gazed after Phoenix, her eyes on his back. “Give him some time. I know him well enough to know he needs to be alone for a moment.”

Phoenix continued walking until he came to a clearing in the wood. A small pond stood in the center, the water slowly lapping at the gravel shores. Phoenix sat on the grass, legs crossed. Closing his eyes, he contemplated the new developments. Demetrius was now aware of them, and actively trying to kill him.

He had started this journey to protect his sister, he now was entangled in it to a point that he could not extricate himself even if he wanted to. Even though he started the journey for a selfish reason, after seeing the state of the land with Demetrius bringing war to it, it had become his fight. Whether the prophecy was about him or not, he would bring an end to Demetrius, or die trying. For over an hour Phoenix centered his mind as Lindani taught him, trying to control his emotions. The despair he felt slowly ebbed away, and after a time he opened his eyes, finally seeing the beauty around him as the last of the sun slipped below the horizon.

The calm water was deep and clear, while the alabaster stones of the shore contrasted perfectly. Weeping willows stood at bent attention around the clearing, their limp limbs brushing the ground as a whispering breeze blew through the wood. He stood and turned round once, taking in the beauty surrounding him. A moment passed, and he turned from the clearing, back toward the camp. It was dark by the time he returned, and he had to light his hand to show him the way. He caught sight of the fire in the camp and extinguished his hand. The three still sat where he had left them, around the fire. Lindani turned at the snapping of a twig beneath his foot, and met his eye before rising from her seat tentatively. She started toward him, and he raised a hand.

Walking into the light of the brightly burning fire, he sat on the stump next to Lindani, and spoke, his voice gravelly. “My power may be gone, and we do not know why. But this changes nothing.” He looked between the three of them, gauging their reactions. “We will still put an end to this. We started with my having two elements, and we will not stop trying for me to gain the other two.”

Ember broke in then, resting her hand on his arm. “But the prophecy spoke of you possessing all four elements. Without them, I fear you may not be able to do what you must.”

Phoenix sighed, placing his hand over hers. “We will not stop trying. We have defeated thousands of his warriors, turned their bones to dust, and committed their bodies to the earth. We will whittle away at his forces until none remain, until he himself must meet me on the field of battle. Until he himself will be exposed to my flame.”

He looked around once more, and saw the passion his words were inspiring in them. The fire light flickered in the eyes of the three, mimicking their souls, burning for justice, burning for peace in the land. "We will continue until we commit his body to the earth, and the animals can feast upon the flesh from his bones. Until our land is left in peace, and the four of us can live with no threats to us and our beloved.”

Lindani rose, grasping the hand of her husband. Pulling him to his feet, she led him to their tent.

The stone slammed into Phoenix’s stomach, knocking the air form his lungs. He buckled over, grabbing at his shirt, and fell to his knees, trying in vain to pull air back into his lungs before he passed out. He finally succeeded once the black dots started to dance in front of his eyes, and he blinked furiously trying to adjust his vision. He stood, shakily at first, then with more sure footing. No sooner than then he was able to see again, another stone slammed into his solar plexus, knocking him onto his back, and sending him into blackness.

How long he was out he did not know, but when his eyes fluttered open, Spedro was standing over him, smirking. Phoenix let loose a smirk of his own, and waved his hand over Spedro’s feet. The stone beneath them rippled, but nothing more. Spedro chuckled, and stepped back, then the cycle began again for the fourth time since he had awoken with the sun.

“Clear your mind!” Spedro would shout from almost a hundred feet away, before sending a deadly projectile of stone straight at him.

Lindani had twice bathed Spedro in ice in retaliation for hurting her mate, but it did nothing. Spedro was not a lenient teacher as Lindani was, giving him no instruction, but expecting Phoenix to exert control over the stone anyway. Phoenix’s stomach was black and blue, and his ribs hurt every time he drew a breath, but he pressed on. He rather enjoyed watching his friend sneer evilly as the stone shattered on his body, and knew that Spedro could have killed him a long time ago if he had wanted, so he took it all in stride.

“Clear your mind!” Spedro yelled, and Phoenix tensed, knowing the pain that was about to erupt over his body. He stretched forth his hand, and felt the stone moving at a great speed, but could not slow or stop it. Again he flinched, but the pain never came. Cracking an eye open, he saw a flash of brown and closed them tightly again.

Lindani laughed from her perch in a nearby tree, and Ember’s laughter echoed with it. Phoenix opened his eye once more to see the stone had frozen mere inches from his chest, encased in a thick coating of ice that looked like it had sprung from the ground.

He nodded to her, and she blew him a kiss from her leafy seat.