The Last Phoenix- Book 1 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 26

Harper Magdalena

It was Christmas time. We were going home for a week before coming back to school for our Quest Assignment.

I couldn't wait to be back in Arizona. I missed my parents desperately. I hadn't even spoken to my mother before I left and now I would finally be able to make amends.

I wasn't sure if they ever got the memo that they could visit me and my cell phone didn't have service in Vale (they had their own system of communication). That's why I had saved up points to buy Vale's very own technology so I could keep in touch in the future.

It was a whirlwind trying to get out of Vale for the holidays. So many people were coming and going and the Marketplace was just a hellhole of people buying and selling Christmas gifts.

Hell, it was all worth it. By the time I got into the Innercity, where I was again taken aback by the beautiful glowing flowers, I was struck by more longing for home. Aurum had said that my grandma would meet me in the Innercity.

I passed by an older man tending to the flowers, vaguely remembering him from my first day. I walked up to him, my guitar case brushing against my leg. "Hello," I greeted him. He glanced up and grunted in reply. "I'm sorry but I just was wondering how these flowers are glowing."

He pulled his gloved hands from the plant. "Bioluminescence," he responded gruffly. "Some believe they're the souls left behind by the greatest shifters of history. They pop up every once in a while. I'm the Gardner."

I looked in awe at the great garden, weaving in and out of every building and root. "The gloves are to protect the plant," he explained. "If you touch them, they die. It's a serious crime around here." He glanced left and right. "It's a moral thing, y'know? You're basically killing the souls of the dead. My sacred duty is to protect the plants from harm's way."

I nodded in understanding. "Thank you," I said, again receiving a grunt in reply.

My grandmother was waiting for me a few minutes away, next to a raft like the one we used to get here. "You'll never believe it," she whispered to me in a daze, as the boat people shoved my guitar under the scaly seat.

The people (considerably nicer than the last few) pushed off from the side of the cave and continued farther down the natural tunnel. "Arizona, correct?" My grandma nodded. The turned down another cave marked Arizona.

"Grand Canyon area," the man told the woman, who steered down yet another unmarked tunnel.

A light at the end, seemingly a bit hazy, blinked back at me. "Is that...?" I faded away, glancing at my grandma in awe.

"Welcome to the Grand Canyon, folks," the woman said cheerfully. And there we were, in the Grand Canyon, the boat and cave disappearing behind us. Snow lay like a blanket over the ground, and I shivered only slightly. I was too happy to be home to care much about the weather.

I turned to my grandma. We were on a trail not far from my house. "Go ahead," she told me. I took off running towards the house.

My father was sitting in the backyard with his flute in his lap. Gopher was lounging next to his chair and Marley was running up to the gate already. "Dad!" I yelled with glee.

"Harper!" he cried out, jumping up from his seat. He'd known I was coming, my grandmother had said, so I assume that's partly why he'd been sitting an waiting. He pulled me into a tight hug and I felt tears of happiness prick at my eye.

"Come inside," he insisted. He led me to the back door and when I stepped inside, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. The sunlight filtering in through the aztec patterned shade over the window shined over the mahogany coffee table.