Bounty of Ash

Chapter 4

2

It was around the third... ‘Ohm, no wings in my reflection, ohm’ that I heard the sound of breaking glass coming from my kitchen.

Every inch of my body was immediately filled with a buzzing energy. I felt as if I could spring into flight and yet, incredibly, I remained perfectly still. I was calm, deliciously calm and totally alert. I became aware of a warmth at my back and looked over my shoulder to discover my wings had appeared beneath me. They were as soft and strong as I remembered and folded easily against me as I lay on the chaise.

More sounds of destruction filled my ears, and I rolled from the chaise to the floor, my wings tight to my back. Crawling as lithely as a cat, I moved to the French doors and peeked inside.

There was a large creature rummaging through my kitchen drawers. The fridge door was open, and I could see a jar of what looked like mustard, smashed and smeared on the ground. Gross. That was going to take forever to clean.

“Was that necessary?” I whispered to myself as I reached for the doorknob.

I stopped.

Do I have to reach for the knob, I asked myself. I’m a creature from another dimension, with voyeuristic intentions… I stopped myself from humming the entire Time Warp song… Surely I can get this door to open on its own? I quickly glanced at my intruder, I still couldn’t make out who it was, but the big creature was busying itself in my cupboards and seemed fairly preoccupied.

I had a little time to experiment.

I moved back from the door and, making sure I wasn’t visible to the creature in the kitchen, knelt facing the knob. I stared at it, hard. Then I stared at it some more, harder.

Nothing happened. Zip. Nada.

“Come on, Phoenix,” I sighed and took a deep breath, shaking out my wings like a bird in a bath. The movement sparked a little flame in my heart, and their weight was so comforting I wondered how I ever lived without them. This time, as I looked at the knob, I focused on fanning the flame of the little spark of energy deep inside my body. I had felt how immense it could become weeks earlier back in the Void. Not only had I blown apart the circle of the Guard, but I had also brought Archer back from certain death. Yes, I was the one who had tried to kill him, but we worked it out.

I focused on that little spark of power, and I breathed life into it. I used my will to make it grow and very quickly it was swirling inside me. The green flame coursed through my veins and my wings, soon I thrummed with energy. I rode the vibration. I let it swell and flow through my body until it felt solid in my bones until it felt like a state of being, always present, woven into the fabric of my soul.

From this place of calm and power, I asked the door to open.

It did.

I rose to my feet. Feeling no fear, only readiness, I stepped through the doorway. In the shadowy kitchen, the creature continued to gorge, stuffing slices of smoked salmon into its mouth. I took a few silent steps forward and called out to it.

“Hello, Yeren.”