Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 49

Visions assaulted Phoenix’s mind. He came to in a void, blackness surrounding him. For a moment he was disoriented then the memories of the orb passing into his body came flooding back. He twisted in the weightlessness, trying to find a point of reference. Nothing but emptiness surrounded him and his breath hitched. Before he blacked out he had been sure we would wake up in the field next to Spedro as if nothing had happened. A moment passed as he floundered with plans to escape but could bring none of them to bear. His mind felt muddled and his thoughts would not come together properly.

His thoughts fell back to the orb and he lifted his tunic, looking for a mark from the light invading his body. In the blackness he should not have been able to see anything but his chest was aglow with an unnatural light emanating from the center of his being. The light disconcerted him, and he lowered his tunic slowly. A simple idea formed in his mind and he closed his eyes in an attempt to utilize it. Pushing into his sixth sense he felt the familiar vibration which to him seemed odd. In this void his sixth sense should have been still. Instead it hummed with an intensity like never before. Opening his mind to it he dived into it but a moment later a soundless scream emanated from his lips. The scream of a multitude echoed in his mind getting stronger and stronger until his head felt like it would burst.

“Calm yourself Phoenix,” a rich, masculine voice echoed to him. “Once your mind is calm you can remove yourself from the assault.”

Not caring who the voice belonged to Phoenix dug his knuckles into his temples, clenching his eyes shut. “I cannot! There is too much!”

“You must!” the voice argued. “If you do not gain control of your mind, the raw emotion will kill you!”

Phoenix tried to control his mind as Lindani had taught him to control his heart, to induce calm into the storm that assailed his psyche. Breathing deeply he was able to quiet the attack slightly. It still raged in his head and he quickly realized the cacophony was voices. Voices mixed and jumbled together, most screaming in what sounded like agony, others weeping with abandon, few laughing raucously, and some voices talking quietly.

Phoenix concentrated on the quiet voices, straining to block the others from his consciousness. He succeeded and, slowly but surely, the other voices died down unitl they were but a whisper. Opening his eyes Phoenix looked about the void, searching for the voice that had helped him.

The same rich voice resounded once more. “I am here, Phoenix. You have to look but behind you.”

Phoenix whirled and caught sight of the visage behind him. A man wearing dark clothes, seemingly illuminated from the light proceeding from Phoenix’s chest. Phoenix stretched his leg in an effort at moving closer to the man who simply smirked at the attempt. “This is not the physical world, Phoenix. You cannot walk, run or jump here. You must will yourself closer.”

Phoenix envisioned himself moving closer to the man then, lo and behold, he started drifting slowly forward. The man chuckled, approval clearly ringing in the laugh. “See?”

With the distance between them lessened, Phoenix was able to make out the man’s features. The first thing he noticed was his bald head, though it seemed the man had chosen to have his hair shorn so closely instead of it happening naturally. Next were the man’s brown eyes but they were far from ordinary. A light danced within the iris, and Phoenix leaned closer. Ribbons of deep black swirled over the pupil, disappearing into it then reappearing on the other side. If there had been ground for him to stand on Phoenix would have stumbled back in surprise. As it were his own eyes widened in shock and the man laughed again, splitting his pale mouth. A neatly trimmed goatee encased his chin and lips and Phoenix looked to the man’s hands. A large ring sat on two fingers of each hand, a different colored stone set in each ring; blue, green, red, and white.