The Phoenix Series

Chapter 14

14

I awoke on my back, looking up at the dancing light on the roof of the cave. The curtains were open and the sun was rippling through the water to create the beautiful images above me. We had moved in the night. Noiryn now slept on my stomach, her head nestled just below my breasts, her arm draped around my waist. I lay there for a moment, peaceful. There was a time when waking up like this with anyone, let alone a being with three eyes, would have sent me dashing from the room. But today it felt good. The curve of her body wrapped around me, trusting me, seemed natural. I didn’t know who I had been to her, to all the people I had known in The Void, and as I watched her back rise and fall with her breath, I knew that I had to get to the bottom of this. The wing had more to show me. I could feel it like a faraway voice in the back of my head. I would find its twin, and I would go back to The Guard. Maybe the old Phoenix just did what The Guard said, but this Phoenix, me, had lived in the real world. And in the real world, you don’t just roll over and do whatever people tell you to do. That thought brought a lot of anger with it. Cold, hard anger, the type that makes you get in a guy’s face even though he’s twice your size. An image of a sword went through my mind and with it a quick kick of raw power. Noiryn sat up.

“Phoenix?”

“Sorry, Noiryn.” I sat up beside her. “Power flare.” I ran my hands vigorously over my face trying to dissipate the crackling feeling.

“They’ll probably be hard to control for a while. Maybe both wings will help.”

She put a hand on my shoulder. I could feel my power stir at her touch. I scooted away from her as casually and as quickly I could.

“Yeah… So let’s go talk to Benyst.” I got to the edge of the bed and, ignoring the steps, dropped to the floor. I went to my stuff and started pulling on my boots.

“Do you want something to eat before you go?” Noiryn was getting slowly from the bed. Her words got my attention.

“What do you mean ‘before you go’? You’re not coming with me?” She had come down from the bed and was taking sad, languid, strides across the room.

“I’ll help you Travel to his world… then I’ll have to leave you…” She continued pacing around the cave. “I have trouble being away from the water, from my cave.” She had made her way to the wall of water. “Besides, Benyst scares me.” She trailed fingers across the water, sending ripples along its surface. “I’m sorry.”

The memory of Healing her blazed through my mind. She had been so helpless, so needy. I had felt her sadness under my hands. Last night I knew how much comfort it had brought her to lie beside me, to feel safe and protected. Even if I still had no idea what I was doing, looking at her standing there with the light of the ocean playing across her sad face, I knew I had to go alone. Even someone as exotic and amazing as Noiryn could be paralysed by her fears.

“Hey…” I crossed to her. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve done so much for me already.” I put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned quickly and slid into an embrace.

“I am not as strong as you, Phoenix.” She whispered into my hair. Warm power grew in my belly, strengthening me.

“I’m not so much strong as ignorant. Hard to feel scared when you don’t know what’s going on.” I rubbed her back.

“You sell yourself low, Phoenix. When you find all your pieces, you will know.”

“I don’t know Noiryn…” The power had responded to her words and fanned out into my limbs, calming me. I pulled back and looked her in the eye. “I could never swim with sharks.”

“Well, wings aren’t made for water.” She pulled away, laughing. “Before you go I will prepare some more supplies for you.” She went to the table at the back of the cave and began placing food in a bag.

“Where am I going exactly?”

“Benyst lives deep in the jungle of the Congo, I’m not sure exactly where, but deep.” She took the small bag, now full of food, across the room and loaded it into my tote. “There is a waterfall nearby. That is where we will Travel to, from there you will have to walk. Do you have a lantern?”

I had been busy picturing hiking through the jungle by myself and missed the question.

“Sorry?”

“A lantern? Do you have one?”

“No, Sid was handling that.” We both paused for a moment, worrying about our friends.

“I have one you can have.” She pulled it from a cubby built into the bed riser. “Okay…” She blew on it sending a cloud of dust glittering through the air. “Let me show you how it works.”

I crossed the cave to get a better look at the lamp. It was strange and beautiful just like Noiryn. It was about twelve inches high and maybe five inches in diameter. It had a curving handle from which the body of the lamp hung. The handle, top, and base of the lamp were all made of brass and engraved in a similar fashion to Windiga’s plates. The brass was quite tarnished, but the markings were still clear. Three small feet protruded from the base of the lamp, they were carved in the image of small webbed toes and allowed for a few inches of space between the bottom of the lamp and the surface on which it was placed. The main body was a fantastic glass cylinder. One side was fabricated from strips of sea-coloured glass layered like a barber’s pole; the other was an intricate pattern of interlocking swirls. The blues and greens of the glass looked striking moving in and out of each other. I knew when the lamp was lit it would look sensational.

“Noiryn, it’s beautiful! I can’t take this with me.”

“Oh don’t worry, it’s tougher than it looks.” She swung the lamp by its handle, letting the cave light play on the glass. “This lamp has seen many things.” She said absently. Then coming back to herself she added. “It doesn’t need oil or flame and will work under water.” She handed me the lamp.

“Really? Then how do you light it?”

“You grab the handle and say ‘No More Darkness’, and it will light. Try it.”

I took the lamp by the handle and held it high in the air.

“No More Darkness.”

Instantly the room was filled with a clear bright light. There was no colour to it.

“The light is clear.”

“Yes, it would be hard to find your way with coloured light.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry; the lamp is sensitive. I’m sure you will see the coloured light eventually.” She smiled at me.

“Sensitive lamps?” I shook my head. “Crazy. How do you turn it off?”

“’Darkness Required’”

“Darkness Required.” The lamp went out. “Thank you, Noiryn.”

My bag was getting full. I went through it and tossed out the old food and made room for the lamp. Since I was going to a jungle, I packed the fur coat in there too. The bag was heavy, but across my body, the weight would be fine. I slung the bag over my shoulder and made sure the handle of the bat was in a good grabbing position. When I was satisfied, I turned to Noiryn.

“So. How do we get out of here?” She smiled.

“Follow me.”

She turned and headed towards the wall of the cave she’d entered through the night before. As she walked, an opening emerged in the rock. I followed her through into a narrow passageway. The passage was cool and damp, and the rock on either side was worn smooth, Noiryn must have lived here a long time. At first, it was dark but soon small lights set into the rock started to glow. The light refracted off the minerals in the rock, creating an elegant shimmer. It was soft but adequate. Watching Noiryn’s delicate frame move and flex as we went I became aware of a small flow of energy swirling around my heart. I was becoming less uneasy about these flares, and it became a pleasant constant as we moved.

The passage climbed steadily higher as we walked and soon the unmistakable glare of sunlight could be seen at the end of the tunnel. Noiryn stepped out into the light, and I followed. For a moment I was blinded by the brightness, but quickly my vision returned. The view took my breath away.

We were standing on a small ledge on the side of a high cliff. The ocean waved and surged below us, birds flew in the open sky, and the sun was warm on my skin.

“Noiryn, it’s beautiful.”

“Perhaps you’ll get to see it again.” She smiled at me and held out her hand.

“Awesome.”

I took her hand and fainted.