Fall of the Spectrum

Chapter Four

A pair of tawny eyes stared back at her, Phenex's lips stretching into a sad smile that said more than mere words ever could. Flecks of dried blood stained his face, while long, angry cuts covered almost every inch of his torso, coated in the strange green substance that prevented him from healing. There was so much pain in his eyes, and yet he still had strength enough to smile at her, to reassure her that everything would be okay.

She knew what was coming. She fought against the figure holding her, screaming at the top of her lungs for him to let go, that they couldn't just leave Phenex behind...

That they couldn't just leave him to die.

Then the weightlessness came and she was whisked away, a blur of dizzying colours surrounding her before her feet hit solid ground again. And there he was, too far away for her to reach, too far away for her to do anything.

Too far away to stop what was coming.

She knew she couldn't stop it, she knew it was pointless to scream and cry. It had happened already, in a time and place her conscious mind knew well, but her subconscious had yet to catch up with.

"No...Phenex!"

Light poured off of him, exploding into golden flame. A magnificent bird stood where he'd been, twice as big as his human form, rippling flames of red and blue extending from his wings and down the length of his tail.

Fire rolled across the ground in turbulent waves, wiping out the hordes of monsters scattered on either side, their cries cut off from the roaring of his flames. Just like before, Gwen had to shield her eyes from the blast, the fire much too bright for her to see more than a blinding white corona spreading out and covering everything in sight.

Even as she looked away, tucking her head against Forneus's chest—the guardian having created a barrier around them just in the nick of time—she could feel the heat rolling over her, snatching the breath from her lungs and creating prickles across her skin.

As suddenly as it had started, it ended. Ashes floated down from the sky, and amid their blackened flecks, something slender and golden caught the evening light.

A feather—his feather, settling into the palm of her hand.

"No," Gwen wanted to cry out, but no sound came. "Please...not again! I don't want to—"

There was nothing she could do to escape it, no plea that would save her from reliving that terrible moment. It was like being hit by a tidal wave, crashing against her and dragging her down, drowning her in a sea of repressed thought and emotion.

Phenex was gone.

"No!"

Gwen woke with a start, surprised to find her face wet with a mixture of tears and sweat.

The dream again. She dried her eyes, acutely aware of just how exhausted she was, almost as if she hadn't been asleep mere seconds before. But really, it came as no surprise anymore. Every time she dreamt about that day, reliving the moment Phenex had sacrificed himself to save not only her but her entire world, she woke feeling less rested than if she hadn't slept at all.

Since Switzerland, the dreams only seemed to be coming more frequently. It had gotten so bad that her training had begun to suffer, as did the private study time she and Forneus took together. Gwen had the sneaking suspicion he knew what was going on, for not once did he reprimand her when she forgot the answer to a question she should have known off by heart.