by Eric Vall
When he disappeared inside a tent, I finally turned to Ravi.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I sent out my healing magic to examine her.
“I’m fine. Thank you for that. Kiran has always been a tad aggressive. He’s one of the best scouts we have, and he thinks that makes him untouchable.” She rolled her eyes. “When I was young, he asked my father for my hand. Thankfully, my father told him no, but Kiran never really got over the rejection.”
“I don’t like the way he grabbed you,” I growled. “If he tries anything like that again, let me know. I’ll make sure he won’t ever come near you again.”
“You are my hero, Lord Evan of Hatra,” Ravi giggled as she pressed her body closer to me, and I could feel every curve of her body as she hugged me. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you refused to come.”
“I’m glad you found us,” I murmured and rested my chin on her head, “and I’m glad I changed my mind, too. I want to help your people fight the echidnas. I want to keep you safe.”
She hugged me tighter, and my pants constricted a fraction.
Then someone cleared their throat behind us.
Ravi and I separated, and the phoenix princess smiled at Valerra, who stood with her arms crossed several feet away.
“Are you two finished?” the crimson dragon asked.
“Thank you, too, Valerra,” Ravi replied with a soft smile. “I know you don’t like me very much, and that’s okay. But you still are here to help my people, and even if it’s just to make sure Evan stays safe, I want you to know I appreciate it.”
Valerra scowled and turned away, and I had to hide a smile.
“It’s not like I had much choice,” the other dragon shot back and glared at me. Then she turned her head to look up at the moon and frowned at the stars. “It’s late. I want to sleep.”
“Oh, of course!” Ravi replied. “Come with me, I had a tent set up for the two of you next to mine.”
The phoenix turned back toward her tent and walked off, and Valerra and I followed quietly.
“I think Ravi is a little in love with you,” I joked with Valerra.
“That phoenix is nothing more than an irritation,” she scoffed. “I will be glad when our business here is done, and I can return home.”
“I think she’s started to grow on you, too,” I told her with a smile.
Valerra huffed and exhaled a puff of smoke. “She has not. We are here to kill echidnas, not make friends.”
“Okay, calm down,” I chuckled. “I was just messing with you.”
The two of us lapsed into silence as Ravi led us around her tent to two medium sized tents.
“These are the biggest tents we have, sorry,” the phoenix explained as she turned toward us with an apologetic smile. “If you’d rather sleep in your dragon forms, that’s fine! I do ask that you don’t stay within the village, though. There isn’t quite enough room for you.”
Ravi said the last part to both of us, but I could sense it was directed at Valerra.
“Fine,” Valerra grumbled and turned toward the open desert. Then she walked out for about thirty yards before she stopped.
When she had enough room, she shifted, and her massive, red scaled form appeared. She circled around in the sand for a moment before she collapsed in a giant heap and closed her eyes. Her head was turned away from us, and her tail twitched and nearly took out the tents Ravi had set up.
“Hey, be careful with that!” I yelled out to her.
Valerra snored loudly in response.
“I know you’re not asleep,” I said, and I knew she heard me when her tail curled around her body and away from the tents.
“Would you prefer to sleep in your dragon form as well?” Ravi asked as she glanced at me. “Or should I show you to your tent?”
“Let’s check out the tent,” I responded.
“Great!” She walked toward the tent on the right side and disappeared through the opening, and I followed after her.
The flap closed behind me, and I looked around. There were about twenty feet of space along the floor. A hammock was set up in the center of the room with sandy colored blankets, and a small dresser was next to the hammock. The only other object in the tent was a lantern that gave light to the small area.
“I’m sorry it’s not much,” Ravi sighed. “I’m sure you’re used to the soft beds and pillows of Hatra. I understand if you’d rather sleep with Valerra outside.”
“Ravi, it’s great, I’ll be fine,” I assured her with a soft smile.
“Of course. I’ll let you get some rest. I have to say my goodnights to the people and wait for the festivities to end before I can retire. Sweet dreams. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She waved as she turned to leave, but I reached out to grab her hand.
“Ravi, wait,” I said gently.
“What is it?” she asked as she turned to me. Her big blue eyes looked like sapphires in the middle of her face, and her lips were a plush pink bow.
I wanted to ravish her right then and there, but I shoved my draconic instincts aside, pulled her into my chest, and kissed her forehead instead.
“Goodnight,” I whispered and let her go.
Her face was nearly as red as the ruby on her circlet.
“Goodnight, Lord Evan,” she murmured, and then she spun and dashed out of the tent.
I watched her leave with a grin. Then I climbed into the hammock, made myself comfortable and closed my eyes, and I was asleep within seconds.
“Wake up! Lord Evan, please!” I startled awake as Ravi shook my shoulders.
Then I jumped out of the hammock when I saw the look of utter panic on the phoenix’s face.
“What’s wrong? Is it the echidnas? Are they here?” I grabbed her and quickly sent out my magic to assess any injuries.
“No, it’s worse!” she cried desperately.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder boomed around us, and I took in Ravi’s appearance. She was soaked. Her hair was dark and heavy as it dripped water onto the sandy floor, and her robes fell limply off her shoulders. I stared at how her robes seemed to cling impossibly tight along her breasts and the curve of her hips, but then another crack of thunder cleared my thoughts, and I realized I could hear rain from outside.
“It’s raining?” I asked incredulously. Weren’t we in the desert?
“Yes, but the rain wasn’t supposed to come now!” the phoenix replied frantically. “The desert is in its dry season!”
“Ravi, calm down,” I ordered as I grabbed her shoulders. “Tell me what’s happened.”
“It’s the elders!” she sobbed. “A few of them felt a little run down after the party last night and decided to burn themselves this morning. The rain started almost as soon as they all turned to ash! They can’t reform! And if they can’t be reborn, they … ”
She trailed off as she started to cry harder.
I remembered the story of her mom’s death, and I grabbed her hand.
“Tell me how I can help.”
“We need to shelter them from the rain,” she told me.
I nodded. I could create a makeshift covering with my stone affinity.
We ran out into the rain together, and my vision was instantly impaired. I was soaked within seconds in the downpour, but if I focused, I could just make out where the rest of the village congregated around three tents. I could see blankets and dried grass tossed onto the tops of the tents to keep the ashes inside dry.
Valerra, in her human form, met us as we ran toward the tents.
“I heard what happened, what do you need me to do?” she asked me.
I was a little surprised she was offering to help off the bat, but I stowed away my curiosity for now.
“I think I can use my stone affinity to create a barrier over the ashes,” I told the crimson dragon as I wiped the rain from my eyes. “It might take me some time, though. Sand is different than stone. Can you shift and help keep the rain off the ashes
until I’m ready?”
Valerra nodded, shifted, and jumped into the sky.
“Move!” she yelled to the phoenixes as she tried to land in a central area between the three tents.
She crushed a few tents as she landed, but no one dared to yell at her. Then her crimson wings spread wide, and thankfully, her massive wingspan was enough to shield the three tents that contained the ashes.
Ravi and I pushed through the crowd of people until we reached the front. Chief Fiyero stood under one of Valerra’s wings, and he was soaked, but his orange eyes were like twin flames as he yelled out orders.
“Bring more fire, we need to dry out the humidity in the air! If you can transform, get under a wing and help the ashes stay dry. We will not lose anyone today.”
Ravi ran over to her father. “Papa, Evan might be able to help.”
The chief looked over her head to me. “You said you are here to help my people. I know this may not be the echidna attack you expected, but I ask you to honor your word now. Help them.”
“It might take me some time,” I told him as we ran under Valerra’s wing. “How many of them burned?”
“Three,” he answered. “This one here and two others under her other wing.”
I knelt down by the entrance of the first tent and slowly pulled back the flap. Gray ashes were piled on the floor, and I felt a pang of pity for the phoenix who burned. I wondered if they had any type of consciousness while they were ashes. If they did, I couldn’t imagine the fear they were feeling right now.
I focused on the sand below, and I could remember from my Earth science classes in school that desert sand was stone. Sometimes the source stone could be from miles away, but in the end, it was still made of rock. So, I focused on that.
A moment later, the particles in the sand slowly started to rise up. I continued to move the sand upward and let it rise high enough to tower over the tent. I formed an arch around the tent and left only a small opening by the front. Then I looked at the sand sculpture I’d formed and smirked.
“Okay, I’m going to need fire,” I said. “I can’t shift here, and Valerra can’t reach without a risk to the two other tents. I can summon some flames in my human body, but we need the fire to be hot. We have to melt the particles in the sand so they form a better shield. The rain will just filter through the sand as it is now.”
Ravi and Chief Fiyero stepped forward to stand next to me, and both of them dripped with water as they stared at me with identical looks of determination.
“We will help,” the chief answered.
“Okay, I need you to summon the hottest fire you can and send it to the sand cover,” I explained to them. “Together, our fire should easily be hot enough.”
Ravi summoned her blue fire while the chief and I summoned our own. Then we sent our flames toward the sand and waited. White smoke billowed in a great plume, and I could feel the sand begin to melt under our flames.
“Okay!” I yelled after a few minutes. “We can stop.”
The smoke cleared after a few seconds, and Ravi gasped. The sand had melted into a solid sculpture of clear glass.
“How did you do this?” Ravi asked in amazement as she approached the glass.
“It’s something I was taught back home,” I explained as I silently thanked the earth science teachers from my high school classes. “It’s called vitrification. The transformation of a substance into glass. If you heat sand up to a certain temperature, the tiny grains of sand will melt and turn into this.”
Chief Fiyero approached me and gave me a strange look.
“Come, let us save the others,” he said as he studied me.
“Of course,” I replied, and we walked over to stand under Valerra’s other wing. The rain still poured as we sprinted across the short gap between her wings. At least the water was only dangerous to the ashes or their bird forms, or else the phoenixes would be in a lot more danger than they were in now.
We continued the process two more times before I yelled up to Valerra that we were finished. She shifted into her human body and stood next to us. Then she glanced at the different glass sculptures that offered protection to the ashes and turned to me.
“Don’t let this go to your head,” she huffed at me after a long moment. “You’re still an annoyance.”
“Dragon,” Chief Fiyero said, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Come with me.” Then he turned back toward where his tent sat and walked away.
Ravi, Valerra, and I all shared a look, but followed after him. The chief waited for us at the entrance to the tent.
“I would like to speak to him alone.” He nodded to Valerra and Ravi.
Ravi bowed slightly, but Valerra turned to me with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s fine, you can hang out with Ravi until we’re done,” I laughed as the crimson dragon rolled her eyes.
“Come with me, Valerra, we can get dry.” Ravi grasped Valerra’s arm and ignored her sound of protest.
When they were gone, I stepped inside the tent after Chief Fiyero. His home was bigger than Ravi’s and was filled with a variety of different relics. Golden armor was displayed along the far side of the tent. Swords and daggers were laid out on different tables. A woven hammock, similar to Ravi’s, was dressed in red and gold blankets and pillows, and I noticed he also had a small table with five different colored feathers.
Fiyero must have noticed my stare, since he walked over to the table and picked up a feather. It was golden and long, and he stared at it sadly.
“These feathers are all I have left of my four sons.” He set the feather back down along the table. “When each of my children experienced their first burn, I plucked a feather from their pyre. This one,” he pointed to a dark orange feather that was significantly smaller than the other four, “is from Ravi’s last night.”
“I know Ravi wishes she could have met them,” I said somberly.
“My sons would have driven her mad,” Chief Fiyero laughed, and he smiled at the thought. “They were very protective of each other. I can’t imagine how caged my daughter would feel if she had to deal with five overprotective men in her life. That being said, I would give anything to have my sons back so they could drive their sister mad.”
“I’m sure you miss them very much.”
“Their deaths are a heavy burden I carry every day,” the chief said sadly.
“It wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know,” I consoled him.
“No, but it was my choice to send all of my sons to seal the Breach. I was arrogant. I wanted the world to see my sons accomplish an incredible feat, but instead they were killed within minutes. Now, the world doesn’t even know we exist.” He shook his head, turned away from the feathers, and faced me. “But enough with the past. I wish to speak to you about something.”
“And what is that?” I asked respectfully.
“I didn’t trust you to save my people,” the chief suddenly admitted. “I thought you were a dragon who took advantage of my daughter’s trust.”
I began to interrupt him, but he silenced me with a hand.
“But I have realized I judged you too quickly. Your actions today proved that. You helped saved the lives of my people, and for that I thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” I replied without thinking.
“I do,” he insisted. “You have also opened my eyes on the matters of my daughter. I know I am overprotective of her, she tells me frequently. I cannot help it, though. She is the last of my children, and I want her to be safe, always. Ravi is strong, but I have never let her reach her true potential out of my own fear. I know now that was a mistake. Ravi’s fire is blue, a sign she is destined for great things. She will burn brighter than all others, if she is given the chance. I have decided to train Ravi in a form of fire magic that has been lost to my people for a thousand years. To offer my thanks, I will train you as well.”
“Thank you, and no offense, but I don’t understand. What kind of fire magic? Is it diff
erent than what I can already do?”
“Come. I will show you.”
I followed the chief from the tent, and I noticed it had thankfully stopped raining, though dark clouds still hung in the sky. Then the chief walked over to Ravi’s tent and pulled back the flap.
Valerra was on her back on Ravi’s hammock with her golden eyes closed, and Ravi sat crossed legged on the floor with an opened book braced on her knees. Ravi glanced up at the intrusion, and Valerra cracked one eye and sent me a look to let me know she had eavesdropped on our conversation.
“Ravi, come with me,” Chief Fiyero addressed his daughter, and she stood.
The pretty phoenix placed the book on her table and followed her father out of the tent. She sent me a worried glance before she let the flap fall closed behind her.
Valerra sat up. “So, you’re really about to learn phoenix magic?”
“I guess I am,” I replied with a smirk. “I’m sure I could convince the chief to let you learn as well.”
“Why would I ever need to learn fire magic from a bird?” she laughed at my suggestion. “I am older than most of these creatures, and my fire has worked perfectly fine for me all this time.”
“You never know, it could be helpful one day,” I tried to persuade her.
“I doubt that,” she said flatly.
Before I could respond, Ravi’s voice squealed from her father’s tent, and we both turned toward the sound.
A moment later, I could hear Ravi’s feet as she sprinted back to us. Then she appeared inside her tent and ran over to me.
“We get to learn magic together!” She grabbed my hands and practically vibrated with excitement.
“I know,” I chuckled as I squeezed her fingers.
“I’m so excited! My father hasn’t agreed to teach anyone offensive fire magic for centuries!” She hesitated. “I think his last student was his youngest son.”
“Did he tell you when he wanted to start?” I asked in an attempt to bring back her excitement.
It seemed to work since she brightened instantly.
“He said we could begin as soon as we are ready!”
