by Eric Vall
He paused here, and his eyes grew wistful.
“Ravi is too much like her mother,” he continued in a low voice. “They were both birds that were never meant to be caged. She needs freedom to live her own life, even if that is away from me.”
“I will talk to her the next time I see her,” I promised with a nod, “but I don’t know why you think she wants to leave. She seems perfectly happy here.”
I searched my memories for moments I’d had with Ravi since we arrived at the tribe, but nothing seemed to scream she wanted to leave her people.
“Ravi is gifted at masking her discomfort,” Fiyero sighed. “She may seem content here, but I can feel her restlessness and wanderlust whenever I speak to her. Also, I am not blind. I have seen how my daughter watches you. I believe Ravi would follow you anywhere, Lord Evan.”
When he finished, I studied the chief carefully. It was obvious Ravi had some feelings for me, but I would never expect her to choose me over her own people.
“If Ravi does decide to come with me back to Hatra, what will happen to your people?” I asked. “Their only heir will be gone, are you sure they would be okay with that?”
“Our tribe has been without an heir before, but as long as I live, there is no need to worry,” he explained. “If something does happen to me, Ravi will know she must return. I trust my daughter to understand her duty to her people is just as important as her duty to herself. But … I want my daughter to be happy. She will never find true happiness here, she might be able to find a purpose and feel accomplished, but she will never be truly happy until she can see the world and experience all she can. She has a greater destiny than hiding away from the world. I want her to realize that.”
“Okay.” I nodded solemnly. “If you really mean all of that, then of course I will ask her. I’d be happy to offer Ravi a place in Hatra.”
“I knew you would,” Fiyero replied with a glint in his eye. “I can see how you watch Ravi as well.”
I was saved from having to respond when I heard footsteps behind us, and Fiyero and I both turned to see Ravi as she walked up.
“Good morning,” she greeted us with a wave.
“Hey, good morning to you, too,” I said as she stopped between us.
She quickly hugged her father and then looked to the east.
“Wow, the sunrise is beautiful this morning,” she breathed, and her voice was quiet and still tinged with sleep. Then she yawned, and together we all watched the sun as it rose higher into the sky.
Chief Fiyero excused himself a moment later to speak to the elders, which was just an excuse to let me talk to Ravi alone, if the wink the chief sent me behind Ravi’s back was any clue.
“What were the two of you talking about before?” Ravi asked once we had turned away from the sun and began to walk toward the center of the village.
“We got a report from Kiran about the echidnas,” I told her. “We just discussed what will happen after all of this is over. We also talked about you.”
Ravi stopped and looked at me curiously.
“What did my father tell you about me?” she asked carefully.
“It was actually something we both talked about.” I shrugged. “Your father knows how badly you want to see the world, so I want to know how you’d feel about coming back to Hatra with me. It may not be the world, and it’s not forever if you don’t want it to be, but it’s a start. I’m sure you’ll want some time to think about it and to make sure you make the right choice, but--”
I was suddenly interrupted as Ravi threw her arms around my neck.
“Yes, I want to come!” her muffled voice exclaimed into my shoulder.
I chuckled, wrapped my arms around her waist, and hugged her.
“I’m glad, I want you to come, too,” I said to her honestly.
“I was so afraid that you would leave once all of this was over, and I’d never see you again,” she confessed in a watery voice.
“Hey,” I squeezed her a bit tighter, “don’t cry. Even if you had decided to stay behind, I would have visited you.”
The phoenix laughed and pulled out of the hug. A few tears ran down her face, but she smiled at me. Then I wiped away her tears with the pad of my thumb, and she sniffled.
“Sorry, I’m sure I look terrible right now. I’m just so happy.” She used the sleeve of her robes to dab at her blue eyes.
“You look as beautiful as always, don’t worry,” I reassured her with a grin.
Ravi giggled and grabbed my hand, and we continued to walk toward the village. A small table was set up with prickly pear fruit and cactus juice, but none of the phoenixes ate from the table, and I remembered Ravi had explained they didn’t eat nearly as much or as often as other species.
So, that meant this table was for Valerra and me. And I definitely wouldn’t let any of it go to waste.
I grabbed a handful of fruit and popped them into my mouth. Then I heard Valerra yawn loudly, and a second later, she walked out of her tent. She seemed to look around for a minute before she turned to Ravi and me and headed our way.
“Good morning, Valerra,” Ravi greeted with a bright smile. “I see you slept inside last night. How was everything? Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”
“I’m fine, leave me be,” Valerra growled as she grabbed some fruit for herself.
Ravi took a step back but continued to smile, and Valerra watched her from the corner of her eye.
“What?” Valerra finally snapped at her.
“I wanted to be the one to tell you … ” the phoenix trailed off as she looked at me.
“Go ahead, it’s fine,” I said to Ravi, before I turned to Valerra and lowered my voice until only she could hear me. “And be nice.”
“Lord Evan has asked me to return to Hatra with the two of you!” Ravi nearly squealed in her excitement.
Valerra stared at Ravi for a moment before her eyes looked to me. I smiled and shrugged, and Valerra rolled her eyes and huffed. I knew she wanted to lash out in annoyance, but she heeded my advice and took a deep breath before she spoke.
“Let me guess, you said yes?” Valerra said dryly.
“Yep!” Ravi nodded enthusiastically.
“And now I will be forced to deal with you and the humans together.” Valerra shot me a glare.
“I won’t disturb you in your canyons, so you don’t have to worry about me,” Ravi reassured the dragon in a peppy voice. “But if you come to Hatra, we can see each other then!”
I admired Ravi’s ability to not let Valerra’s bad attitude get to her, though I was sure it annoyed Valerra to no end.
“That’s great,” Valerra muttered. “Really, I cannot wait.”
The crimson dragon grabbed a few more chunks of fruit and stomped away toward the open desert. Then she shifted into her dragon form and jumped into the sky.
“I think I’m starting to grow on her,” Ravi sighed happily.
I looked over at her in disbelief before I saw her smile mischievously. I laughed at her and shook my head.
“I mean, she didn’t yell at you, so that’s something, I guess,” I said as I watched Valerra’s crimson body fly above us. “We’ll need to figure out where we can put you back in Hatra. I can talk to Laika and see if we can use the room you stayed in before, but I want you to have something of your own as well. Maybe we can build you a room once we begin to reconstruct the Lunar Palace. Alyona and I will each have rooms inside, so I don’t see why you couldn’t have one as well.”
I began to imagine the different ways we could rebuild the palace, and I envisioned all of the rooms that could be built inside. I could create a room for each of my different women. Alyona would have the largest, of course, since it was her city, but Laika, Valerra, and Ravi could have a room for themselves as well. Then my room could be in the center of the palace so I would be close to all of them.
I smiled at the thought, but then Ravi’s voice drew me out of my fantasy.
“That w
ould be amazing, Lord Evan, but you don’t need to build an entire room just for me.” The phoenix’s big blue eyes widened, and she shook her head. “As long as Laika is alright with it, I don’t mind living inside her airship.”
“It wouldn’t be any trouble,” I told her. “The palace will be rebuilt anyways, we might as well add a few extra rooms for those who are important to me.”
“And am I important to you, Lord Evan?” she asked with a soft smile.
“Of course, you are,” I replied. “Why else would I want you to return home with me?”
“You are important to me as well,” she said quietly as she bit her lip and met my eyes. “I’m glad to know the sentiment is returned.”
Electricity zapped between us, and we were both powerless to stop it.
The desert seemed to disappear as we moved closer together, and I felt Ravi’s hands rest on top of my arms. Then my hands settled on her waist as she stood on her toes, and I dipped my head down to kiss her softly.
If flames themselves had a taste, I imagined they would taste like Ravi. I was reminded of warmth and peace as we kissed, and her hands released my arms to curl around the back of my neck. I could feel the warmth of her hair on my face as the very ends burned slightly, so I pulled her closer to my chest, and I heard her gasp.
“Ahem.” A throat cleared behind us, and we jumped apart.
Chief Fiyero watched us with a bemused expression.
“Shall I assume you have decided to leave with Lord Evan and Valerra?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Ravi blushed slightly and bowed to her father. “Yes. I have decided to live in Hatra for a while, with your permission, of course.”
“You have never asked permission before, Ravi,” the chief chuckled, “there is no need to start now. I am your father, and you have my blessing to live your life how you see fit.” Then he stepped forward and hugged her tightly. “I will miss you, but I must admit it will be nice to pass along the worry and stress of your rambunctious nature to someone a bit more suited to handle you.”
Ravi gave a halfhearted glare as she pulled out of his hug.
“I am not that bad,” she retorted. “I’ve only drastically disobeyed you once.”
“And then you arrived home with two dragons,” Fiyero pointed out.
“Yes, and soon they will help rid us of the echidnas, so I think it was a valid excuse to sneak away and disobey you!” she shot back with a triumphant smirk.
The two bickered good-naturedly back and forth for a few minutes while I watched them in amusement. Chief Fiyero had told me several times that Ravi looked like her mother, but she was obviously her father’s daughter.
I laughed as they finally ended their petty argument, and then the chief turned to me.
“The elders and I have discussed the echidna matter,” he said, and his voice was void of the amusement he’d shared with Ravi. “We have decided to set up more patrols throughout the day to keep an eye out for attack. If Kiran is correct in his assumption that we have a few days, we do not have much time to prepare. I would like for you and Valerra to be part of the patrols as well. One of you can fly during the day, and the other can take a night shift. I want one of you here at all times now. We don’t want to be caught unawares without our main weapons of attack.”
“Wait, what happened?” Ravi asked as she looked between her father and me in confusion.
“The echidnas have burrowed,” he explained quickly. “Our scouts have lost their visuals and can no longer track them. Kiran has estimated we have a few days, maybe less, until they are upon us.”
“What can I do to help?” Ravi asked but then frowned as we shared a look. “What?”
“Ravi, I want you to keep yourself away from the fight when the time comes,” Fiyero ordered. “We can’t risk you getting hurt.”
“You cannot force me to leave the village when the echidnas arrive,” she insisted, and her blue eyes burned like twin flames of determination. “This is my tribe, too. I want to help protect it.”
“No,” her father argued with a sharp frown. “My word is final.”
“That’s not fair!” she exclaimed and threw her hands up in the air. “I’m the one who found help! We wouldn’t even risk fighting them now if it wasn’t for me.”
“Ravi!” Fiyero’s voice boomed, and his expression turned as hard as steel. “I said no. I will hear no more about it.”
Ravi huffed but stayed silent as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Part of me felt bad for her because I understood the desire to want to help your people, but I was also glad Fiyero insisted she stay out of it. I didn’t want her to get hurt either. I knew she had her fire magic, but it was useless against the echidnas.
“I know it doesn’t seem fair, but we both just want you safe, okay?” I said to Ravi as I reached out for her hand. “The echidnas are powerful and nearly impossible to kill. Your fire magic can’t do anything against their tough shells, and we can’t fight them if we are too concerned about you.”
Her eyes met mine, and she squeezed my hand.
“I know that,” she sighed, “and I appreciate that you both care enough to want me safe, but what about the two of you? How am I supposed to just wait for you to come back? What if something happens, and you both get hurt badly enough that magic can’t save you? I want the two of you to be safe as well.”
“Don’t worry,” I comforted her as her eyes began to water. “We will be fine. I promise to come find you as soon as all of this is over with.”
“Okay, fine.” She nodded reluctantly. “I still don’t like it, but I know I’ll just get in the way. But once we are back in Hatra, I will ask Laika to train me.”
I laughed at her determination.
“I’m sure Laika would love to help,” I told her.
Ravi grinned, but before she could reply, a sudden roar split the air above us.
I looked up to the sky and saw Valerra dive toward the ground, with her wings pinned against her sides to decrease her air resistance. She landed on the sand and created a giant dust cloud as the earth shook, and when she finally emerged in her human form, she sought me out.
“Do you feel that?” she asked me immediately.
I frowned but focused on my magic. At first, I didn’t feel anything, and I almost opened my mouth to ask Valerra what she was talking about, but then …
There.
At the very edges of my magical range, I could sense something. Something that was headed toward us. It gave off a dark energy, and I knew instantly it was the echidna colony.
I knew Fiyero and Ravi felt the dark presence as well when Ravi gasped and turned to her father.
“Is that--?” she asked with wide eyes, and Fiyero paled.
“Were all of you so distracted you didn’t even feel it?” Valerra snapped. “No wonder your people were nearly killed off.”
“Valerra!” I growled.
She turned her glare to me, but before she could snarl out anything, Chief Fiyero interjected.
“I should have warned both of you earlier,” he said with a harried look. “A phoenix’s presence can overpower dark energies. If Evan had been with you, Valerra, he could have felt it as well, but we were blind to it here on the ground.”
That explained it. I knew there was no way I could have missed something this strong.
Then a scream that sent chills down my spine echoed across the desert.
Chief Fiyero, Ravi, Valerra, and I looked at one another for a split second before we took off toward the scream. We ended up along the end of the village, past the tents of the citizens and along the far edge. I had never been here before, but it seemed to be where the phoenixes stored their food rations. There were a few camels inside a makeshift fence, which I assumed were used to carry supplies. The camels bleated fearfully inside their fence, and we all looked around carefully to find the source of the scream, but we found nothing.
Fiyero grabbed a female phoenix with long golden hair
as she passed by us, and she dropped the supplies she carried at the sudden movement.
“Where did that scream come from?” the chief demanded.
“I don’t know! I think it came from somewhere over there.” She pointed with her hand to a small group of three tents that sat outside the village. “I was here with the camels when we heard it. It echoed around us and scared the camels, so I went to grab some food to calm them down. I’m sorry, Chief Fiyero.”
She looked around at us with wide eyes, and Fiyero sighed.
“I’m sorry for startling you, Adara,” he apologized. “Let me know immediately if you find anything.”
“Yes, Chief.” She bowed her head and picked up the bundle of dried grass she had dropped.
As she hurried toward the camels, we ran to the group of tents. The dark presence was still strong in the air, and I made sure to continually check our backs for a sneak attack.
Fiyero grabbed one of the tent flaps and pulled it open, but the tent was empty save for a giant hole deep in the sand. The inside of the structure, though, was charred black and still smoking.
Ravi grabbed a piece of the charred tent and looked to her father.
“Papa, I think someone transformed into their phoenix form.”
“Lord Evan,” Fiyero addressed me, and his voice was eerily calm, “get Ravi back to the village. Find Kiran and tell him to get her somewhere safe, as is his duty. Then tell him that the echidnas are here.”
“What?” Ravi gasped with wide eyes. “Where?”
Fiyero pursed his lips into a thin line. “We can’t see them because they have burrowed beneath us.”
Chapter 13
“Wait, I can fight!” Ravi protested as I gently pulled her from the tent.
As soon as we were outside, I shifted into my dragon body.
“Ravi, come on,” I ordered. “We need to get you somewhere safe. Shift into your phoenix form so we can find Kiran and get you away from here.”
