The Phoenix Tree

The phoenix sat on one of the travelers' shoulders and dug her claws in tight, merely out of hatred for their selfishness. The love she had had for humans suddenly vanished. These men did not want to create, only destroy. She cursed herself for being such a fool. The phoenix knew they planned on burning down or harvesting nearly all the trees including the massive one in front of them. Sparks began to pop and fizz around her. The phoenix flew from her keeper's shoulder and swooped above the men. Her tale blazed like angry flames and she became the very embodiment of a vengeful god.

" I believed in you all. You curious little beings with your constant questions and amazing quest for knowledge and understanding of this world. You were naive and fascinated with everything around you. Your journeys, your books, your inventions. A species so rich..." Her voice rang out boldly and powerfully. " But now I see that the conflagration of man has spread to far! You have come to think of yourselves as invincible and so much better than any other life. Can you not see that this tree is sacred? It breathes the very essence of life and yet you want to destroy it! I have grown sick of watching you prance about in self-importance. If I can do nothing else to stop you then I can only give up my life to save this ash tree. I pray that with my power it will stay standing high!" The phoenix dove toward the tree, three times her normal size because of the anger, and pierced through to its heart.

Blinding light exploded from the tree and the group covered they're eyes. Slowly, it faded and the men saw the phoenix's sacrifice. In the middle of the trunk was the bird, surrounded by a shell of gold. She was frozen, wings spread out, head tipped upward. The tree's appearance had been changed entirely. Its branches and trunk seemed to be made of glass and the veins of the tree were visible. Each carried fiery gold through the tree up to the leaves. The foliage was loosing its dark green and the shining liquid was replacing the pigment. Each leaf sucked up the fluid and slowly became a striking bronze, silver, or golden color. The ash gained a new luminescence and the men stepped back. All were speechless.

The man with dark hair stepped forward, arms outstretched. What is this? He thought. How could a beast, a thing of fire, care for this worthless plant? His brow furrowed and he walked closer.

" Wait, Laryast, you heard the fire bird. This tree could be dangerous." The man ignored his leader and held his finger close to the tree. He felt no resistance and cautiously brushed it with his finger tip. A red mark appeared on the tree and steadily faded away. Laryast turned towards the men. His eyes blazed like fire and an idea entered his mind.

" This animal is worthless. Leading us here and putting on a show of colors is nothing. How could have so easily been fooled? Can't you see it was all a trick? The creature has no real power. This is just an illusion!" Laryast removed his axe from his side and weighed it in his hand, seeming to contemplate his next action. " We can not allow false power to rule us. If we destroy the bird we can have what we wish!" He stopped to look each man in the eye. " This is not greed. It is reason!" His voice turned to a snarl and he held the axe up in the air. Laryast turned to the tree and without flinching or any hesistation drove the axe into the phoenix's heart.

Two screams rang out, both twisted in pain. The bird's wings reached out from the tree and wrapped around Laryast. He was engulfed in flame and as it burned him away so too did his minute amount of humanity. Laryast's body turned a color darker than oblivion and the phoenix's wings wrapped tighter around him.

The men gasped. " A demon." Laryast's soul, if such a monstrous thing could take that name, clawed and howled at the inferno, trying to snuff it out. The blaze curled around, but the monster fought back, extending its inky black body and hissing. The wings had curled in, trying to snake their flames into Laryast's heart.