The Phoenix Summoner (ON HOLD)

10

Anya found herself standing alone, in the middle of a forest. The forest was covered in snow, the sun shone through the trees causing the ground to shimmer. The forest was familiar to her. She heard giggling behind her, she turned around and found two small children a girl and a boy roughly around the age of eight.

"There" spoke the girl "Now this will forever be known as our tree." She smiled at the young boy next to her. The two children stood up from their crouching positions leaving the tree hand in hand.

"Promise me will stay together forever." The young boy asks.

"Always."

As the children began walking away, the girl suddenly stopped seeing something through the trees. Anya looked through the trees and an image flashed through her mind. It was of a Phoenix flying around a stag with large antlers and a figure with their back turned.

Anya sprang up from her bed, her breaths ragged. She reached up to wipe the sweat off of her face.

'What was that about' she thought. She sat there in her bed for a good couple of minutes before her doors burst open. Genya walked through with vast array of helpers. She gave one look at Anya and scoffed.

"I'm going to kill you! Look how dirty you are!" Anya looked down to see that she was still indeed dirty from yesterday's excursion. Her arms and legs were covered in grim, her hair was all knotted, and she had dry blood on her face.

"Up!" Genya snapped her fingers pulling Anya out of bed. Genya pointed to the washroom. "Bath. Now." She ordered.

Anya knew better than to fight with Genya, so she obeyed. She took off her grimy ripped clothes and hopped into the top. She scrubbed her body until it was red and raw making sure to get every inch of dirt off of her body. Once she was done one of the helpers placed a robe around Anya.

She stepped out of the washroom and stepped in front of Genya so she could examine the damage. Genya moved Anya's face with her finger inspecting the bruises on her face. Then she went around playing with her hair.

"Saints your hair is atrocious! You look worst than Alina." Genya pushed Anya over to the chair at her vanity and forcefully shoved her down.

"Ow, Genya!" Anya said as she started brushing through her hair. "Why are you being so forceful today?"

"Because you and Alina are be to presented to the King in an hour!" She signed with obvious irritant. Anya's eyes widened. She had only been in the king's presence once and that was when she first became Kirigan's advisor.

Genya turned Anya's chair around so she would face sideways. She started to use her powers to fix her cuts and bruises.

"Saints, what did you do to your face?"

"Oh, you know fought a volcra in the fold, then a Fjerdan on the way here. You know the usual." This was the first time Anya had laughed since coming out of the fold.

Genya smiled at her friend before looking at her with a serious expression and tone in her voice.

"You know they told me...that the wound you had should've killed you. That you shouldn't have survived."

"But I did-"

"But you shouldn't have, that's the thing. Whatever happened there saved your life."

"What are you getting at Genya-"

"I heard what you and General Kirigan were talking about last night."

"You were eavesdropping-"

"You weren't being exactly quiet, I mean I could hear your shouting from three rooms down." Genya placed the brush down and crouched down to look at Anya.

"Look...what I'm really trying to say is that you've been looking at it like this is a curse, like it's evil, but whatever it is, it saved you. That can't mean it's all bad right? You're the closest person have to a family. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

Anya smiled and grabbed Genya's hand. Growing up her and Genya weren't always the closest, for most of their life it was just Anya and Zoya but as they got older Anya began to see how much her and Genya were alike. They were both different.

"Right that's enough mushiness for now. Go change into your kefta."

"One problem, my kefta was destroyed by the volcra." Genya gave her and incredulous look.

"It's like you forget who I am sometimes."

~

I love Genya so much I had to make her close to Anya.