Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 6

First I want to thank you, all of my readers and fans. Because of you guys, Born Of Fire is now #56 on the What's Hot List! To thank you all for voting and commenting, I have another chapter as you can plainly see. Remember to vote, and I will upload quickly. Thanks again, to each and every one of you.

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Phoenix awoke with a start and sat up quickly, his hand going for the dagger perpetually under his pillow. Grasping the handle and unsheathing it, he looked around the room for signs of danger. Finding none, he slowly sheathed the dagger and took a closer look around. He was in a room, with the last rays of evening light filtering through his window, lighting up Ember's form in the chair next to the bed.

"What happened?" he asked, startling the young woman out of her thoughts while gazing out the window.

She turned to him with a smile. "You used fire, that's what happened."

Phoenix hung his head in regret. "Yes I did. And I am so sorry Ember, but-"

"Phoenix stop!" interrupted Ember. "You used your fire to save my life, and to save the village."

"But I broke my vow," he mumbled.

"A vow made for wrong reasons! I have spent the last ten years watching you bury yourself in sorrow and misery, feeling guilty myself because I am the reason you made the vow to extinguish your flame. When you fought those men Phoenix, it was like the old you, the one I grew up with had returned to me. The one who would use all at his disposal to protect me," argued Ember. "Please do not return to the man you were before today?"

Phoenix sat for a moment, thinking through what she had said. After a moment he raised his head and forced a smile. "I shall try, my sister."

She reached out and placed her palm against his cheek. "Thank you brother. Now there is something else we must discuss," she said, removing her palm and leaning back into the chair.

Recognizing the tone in her voice Phoenix groaned aloud. "What did I do now?"

A gleam entered Ember's eye. "Not only did you use fire today, but people have told me you also used water. How long have you possessed that ability?" she asked, excitement filling her voice.

Phoenix raised his hand into the waning light coming through the window and studied it carefully. After a moment, he dropped it and sighed. "I do not know. When I fought the Piaslo, I used fire. But after I killed him, I just felt... stronger, faster. Then when everyone was around me I wanted to get away, so I tried to set myself aflame again, but the fire would not come. I noticed the skin flexing every time I tried, so I copied the movements the Piaslo had made. When the water flowed into my hand, I was overwhelmed. Then I woke up here."

Ember rose and moved to the chest at the foot of the bed, then bent down and lifted a bowl of water. With the same gleam in her eye, she set the bowl on the bed next to Phoenix, then turned to him, smiling. "Control the water."