The Phoenix Series

Chapter 6

6

The steps grew closer. I stared at the mouth of the passageway, intoning, “It’s not going to eat me. It’s not going to eat me…” over and over again. The passage was dark and the cave bright with fire and torchlight, making it difficult to discern just what was coming down the hall. I could see the outline of the creature’s body, at least seven feet tall with very broad shoulders and heavy arms that seemed too long for the gigantic frame.

“She is very friendly.” Sid whispered to me as she stepped into the light.

I had underestimated her height; she had to be closer to eight feet. She was covered from head to toe in short dark brown fur with the exception of her hands and feet: the skin there was black and leathery. Her head sat directly upon her shoulders, there was no neck to speak of, and her face was reminiscent of a gorilla’s, but more expressive and with softer lips. My fear remained until I looked into her eyes. She had beautiful deep brown eyes, intelligent and warm. Nothing with eyes like that could eat me. She saw the fear melt from my body and came towards the fire.

“Hello, My Lady. It is so good to see you again.” I jumped to my feet and offered my hand.

“Thanks so much for having me over!” Sometimes I’m i***t. They both laughed at me. The creature spoke.

“Lady, it’s my pleasure! I’m afraid I mustn’t shake your hand. Touching sends sparks of Light, something we must avoid at this juncture.” So that’s why Sid touched me so rarely. I dropped my hand.

“I am Yeren and my home is yours.” Yeren gazed at me for a moment before continuing. Her voice was as soft as her fur and extremely feminine, the kind of voice you’d want to hear when you have the flu. “You must be hungry. I will prepare our dinner while we discuss the next stage.”

She turned towards the table at the back of the cave. Her gait reminded me of something. I watched her busying herself with preparations before it came to me.

“Bigfoot!” They both turned to me. “Or Sasquatch…” They stared at me. I blushed. “I’m sorry, was that offensive? I just wondered where I’d seen you before and then I remembered. There’s a movie, from the sixties, of a… a…” I searched for the word. “…A being that looks a lot like you.”

“Really?” said Yeren. Then she laughed. “Bigfoot … We choose the word ‘Yeti’ Lady.”

“Yeti, much better than Bigfoot.” We smiled and Yeren turned back to the food.

“Back to the matter at hand.” Sid’s voice was serious and cold. “We must get the wings. Yeren, have you set the enchantments?”

She paused: “Yes.” Her voice held a deeper resonance and the walls of the cave seemed to pulse briefly as she spoke. “The cave will be secure while we plan.” She returned to her work.

“Good.” He rubbed his hands together, a glint of conspiracy in his eye. “My Lady please sit, there is much to discuss.” I returned to my seat as he continued. “The first of the wings we shall retrieve is in the twelfth century. I have hidden it…”

“Wait a second. The twelfth century?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…. What century are we in now?” It was Yeren who answered. As she explained she filled a cooking pot with vegetables and a carafe of water.

“This cave resides in the tenth. These woods have no human life at this point in Time.” She smiled at me. “I find it very peaceful.”

“Of course.” I replied trying to sound nonchalant about choosing to live with or without humanity. “Okay…” My brain was really trying to keep up. Really trying. “We’re in the tenth and we’re Travelling to the twelfth.”

“Exactly.” They chorused. Sid continued.

“I hid the wing in a small village in an area you call the Ukraine. It is a forest much like this. The village followed a pagan tradition with many gods. One of the gods, Simargl, is depicted as a large winged dog; they have a statue of him there. I encased your wing in his of stone.”

My wing. The desire to see this thing was growing. Not just see it, to touch it also. I could feel my yearning building minute by minute. Did this mean they truly were my wings or was this some modern impulse to keep everything I thought was mine? I’d know soon enough. Sid was still talking and I dragged my attention back to his words.

“We will Travel to the village at night. The statue is located a short distance from its centre. The figure is crude and holds no magic; however, it bears witness to their sacrifices so the area itself has some power.”

Yeren interrupted.

“There is also the matter of the Hag.”

“I was getting to that.” Sid’s eyes narrowed with hate. “My Lady, there is a Hag that frequents those forests. They call her Baba Yaga and she has hoisted the head of many a man on the pikes of her fence. She moves throughout the forest’s Time so one can never know her exact location. It is one of the reasons I chose this place.” I gave him my best ‘you’re kidding’ face. “No, I am not kidding. Her presence deters many a visitor and the probability of her being in the exact place in Time where we will land, is extremely low.”

I mulled this over for a moment, Sid was gratefully silent, my brain needed to catch up.

“Let me see if I’ve got this worked out. We Travel to this village when it will be dark, sneak up on the statue and… smash the stone and grab the wing?”

Sid opened his mouth to answer but before he could Yeren jumped in.

“Stew’s ready!” She handed us both steaming bowls and hand-carved spoons. “And yes, My Lady, that’s it in a nutshell.”

We ate in silence for a little while. The stew was amazing. I’m not a big stew fan, but this I could eat again. The warmth of the fire and hot food was incredibly comforting. Yeren looked so beautiful upon her giant stool. The firelight bounced off her fur sparking highlights that I hadn’t seen in the dimmer light of the cave. A wave of warmth began emanating from my heart and slid down my limbs. It felt like the power Sid made but it was coming from me. The words left my mouth before I was aware of their departure.

“Yeren, you are beauty. Like the river to the mountain, you bend me.”

Sid and Yeren dropped their bowls. The dregs of stew hit the floor as they both stared at me. It took me a moment to realize what I’d said. With that realization the power left. It was abrupt and made me sway in my seat, sending my bowl rolling along the floor. I closed my eyes against the dizziness and waited until I felt steady to speak.

“What was that?”

“Your power is returning.” Sid sounded breathless.

“But why did I say those things? ‘You bend me’? I’ve never said anything like that in my life.” It’s true. More than one boyfriend has accused me of being cagey.

“My Lady, when you were in The Void you said many beautiful things.” Sid explained, his voice still breathy. Had they felt the power that moved through me?

“Beautiful is okay but ‘you bend me’ sounds…” I searched for a word that wouldn’t make me feel even more awkward. “…It just sounds so romantic.”

I started to blush. I hoped they would just assume it was the whole new power thing and not the fact that I just hit on a Sasquatch. Sorry, Yeti. Sid saw right through it and gave me a look that was very male.

“My Lady, in The Void we have very different views on romance.”

He gave romance enough emphasis that I adverted my eyes. This was getting too weird. I’d had my fair share of experimentation in college but hitting on a Yeti was way outside my comfort zone.

All this time Yeren was silent. She sat with her eyes downcast, hands loose in her lap.

“I’m sorry Yeren. I…” She interrupted me.

“There is no need to apologize, My Lady.” She smiled at me but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You are new to your powers. You have no memory of before.”

She gathered the bowls and moved quickly to the table. Her words echoed through me; ‘no memory of before’, what the hell did that mean? I thought Sid said I just wandered The Void but Yeren’s reaction told me I’d done a lot more. Had Sid told me everything? He broke the silence.

“We should get some rest before we gather the wing.”

“Good idea!” Yeren called all too brightly from the back of the cave.

Before I could ask about the sleeping arrangements Sid had materialized some cots for us. We all climbed into our respective beds and the others were asleep within minutes. Trying to fall asleep while listening to a Minion and a Yeti snore was difficult, but I managed.

I fell into a deep sleep, scattered with images of wings and stone.