“Trust me,” he asked sincerely of her.
Her jaw clenched, but she nodded nonetheless. He tossed the fabric in the flames, and then he pulled something from the bag he’d had on his shoulder.
The phoenix skull.
He sat it down at the edge of the roots and then stepped back to her side. The flames flickered in her eyes, and she buried herself in his chest as the smell of it filled her nostrils. His lips pressed to her forehead, and he hugged her against him.
But then something reached out for her core, and she bolted back away from him at an instant, her eyes unable to leave the fire.
“What—”
Nausea swept over her, and she felt a cold chill take over her body. Her knees hit the dirt. A radiating flame started in her toes and vibrated through each muscle, an inch at a time, until it rose into her chest.
The greatest gasp she’d ever taken filled her lungs, and she was thrown onto her back.
What threw her the most though, was the not surprised or concerned look Draven had on his face. He crouched beside her and held out a hand. Her gaze narrowed at him, unsure of what was happening.
A screech so high-pitched her ears rang sounded in the air.
The flames at the base of the tree burst upwards. Wind brushed through and extinguished the fire at the roots, but one remained in the air, as though a fireball had been launched into the darkness.
Something tugged at her core, filling the emptiness she’d felt since the absence of her raven. It was familiar, yet something completely different from what she’d felt before.
The burst of fire turned to black in the silhouette of the moons above the, and her heart throbbed at the sudden realization of what had soared upwards from the flames.
“A phoenix?” she breathed.
Draven’s hands wrapped under her arms, and he pulled her to her feet. She was stiff, frozen as the black flames of it suddenly disappeared again into the darkness of the forest. But she could feel its core as it dove down to the earth before her.
The ground shook. It landed in front of her in the moons light, and her stomach knotted as its neck rose high, head only a few inches above hers. The whisp of its tail feathers wrapped around her feet. Its great black horns glistened in the moons light.
The amber of its eyes stared at her down its great long beak.
She reached out hesitantly.What is your name?she asked it.
It is not the time for you to learn it.
Her brows began to narrow, but when the phoenix’s nose nudged her hand, her heart skipped, and then she nearly collapsed at the rate in which her head melted against its head.
Her core sighed into the comfort of its warm black flames, the whisps of its energy filling her chest. A tear streaked down her face as she settled into it, allowing it to complete her core once more, to bond with her as she’d bonded with her raven. After a moment, she took two steps back, and she gave the creature a bow.
Take your flight.
The phoenix burst into shadow and dove into the air.
Aydra watched it soar, collecting its first flight above her head in the silence of the moons. A joy filled her chest that made her emotions edge, and she felt her hands trembling.
The sight of Draven caught the corner of her eye as the phoenix left her sightline. He was standing off to the side of Duarb’s tree, his body reflecting back in the light, hands shoved in his pockets as he simply watched the bird soar with a small smile on his face.
“How did you know?” she asked breathlessly.
His gaze flickered to meet hers, and he didn’t say anything as he raised an expectant brow.
A wash of understanding came over her. “The Honest Scrolls,” she realized.
He nodded slowly and started to walk towards her. “If more people read them, they might uncover the true magic of this land. This world is more than our minuscule squabbles and fights. Living here in the Forest, you learn to appreciate everything Haerland did before vanishing. The phoenix represents not just the Venari. She is the corp—”
Aydra cut him off with a hard press of her lips to his, nearly jumping into his arms as he stepped before her. His startled figure relaxed after only a moment, and then he pulled her flush against him. Her chest swelled with all the things she had no idea how to put into words, and when she finally pulled back, she pressed her hand to his cheek.
