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."
Phoenix scoffed. "I don't know how."
"Try," coaxed Ember.
Sighing, Phoenix rose from the bed and reached a hand toward the water. Commanding it with his mind, he called it to him but nothing happened. Straining, he called it forward again, but the water only rippled.
Phoenix let his hand fall to his side. "See?"
Ember furrowed her brow. "Maybe it's different from fire. Maybe you don't just call it. Try to coax it to you; move your hands in the same way the Piaslo did."
Sighing once more, this time in frustration, Phoenix reached both of his hands forward and touched his wrists together, splaying his hands like two claws. He then reached out with his mind, and pulled his hands back to himself. Water flowed from the bowl into his hands on the way back to his chest. In wonder, Phoenix stopped moving, and the water orb fell apart, falling to the rough wooden floor with a pitter patter akin to rain.
Ember smiled, then frowned. "I was right. You can control water, you just don't know how."
Raising an eyebrow, Phoenix tried once more but the orb fell apart as soon as he stopped moving.
Ember snapped her fingers. "That's it!"
Bewildered, and somewhat angry that he could not control the water, Phoenix turned on her. "What's it?"
Beaming, Ember rose from the chair and called forth an air orb. It sat before her, and her hands constantly moved around it. "What is air? Light, pliable, yet strong. What is water? Smooth, calm, though always moving. You must be moving smoothly to control it! Try it again, but this time keep moving, without any jerky movements."
Exasperated, Phoenix tried yet again. He splayed his hand into the claws, then brought them to his chest and the water followed. He sent his right arm out and the water stretched, staying connected to his left hand as well. With a thick rope now in his hands, Phoenix brought his forefingers to his thumbs and the water flattened, to a razor sharp edge. He brought his right hand back to himself, then shot it out once more, toward the thick wooden foot board of his bed. It splashed against it, but passed right around it, re-forming into it's shape on the other side. Bringing it back once more, he shot it out again. This time however, he brought the edge back to himself when it made contact with the bedpost, and it sawed right in half.
"Wow!" exclaimed Ember. "Phoenix, that is amazing!"
Incredulous, Phoenix looked down at his hands. He tried calling the fire once more, and his hand lit up with a crackle of flames. He let the fire dissipate, then called the water to him again. Revolving his left hand, he held an orb of clear water, then called forth the fire in his right. Controlling water in one hand, and fire in the other Phoenix laughed, then let go of both elements.
Ember smiled, and Phoenix knew it was because he had laughed, not because he was more powerful than ever before. He grinned at her once, then let a sombre mask fall over his face. "Lets go find out who those attackers were."
Phoenix left the hut and was blinded by the sunlight for a moment before raising his hand to block out the rays. A cheer went up, and he found himself surrounded by the people he had saved. He quickly regretted leaving the hut, until a hand wrapped around his wrist, and pulled him from the flood of people.
Phoenix raised his head to look into the eyes of the village leader, his father Doritan. "Phoenix, I am so grateful you were here. Thank you for saving the village."
Casting his eyes to the ground, Phoenix mumbled in reply. "Ember was in danger."
Understanding, his father nodded. "Either way son, thank you."
Just then, a small boy came running into the village, kicking up a trail of dust behind him. "I found it! I found it!"
His father turned and knelt in front of the boy while Phoenix watched. "You found what Glaston?"
"The invaders camp! It's just over the next ridge!" the boy sputtered, excited and breathless.
Smiling gently, he congratulated the boy before rising to his feet. "Let us strike back at the men who brought so much death to our town! Men, gird yourself with weapons!"
The men of the village still alive started walking for the armory, and Phoenix turned to gaze at his father. "Most of those men are injured, why take them along?"
No longer paying him any attention, Doritan answered quickly. "We need every man we can get."
Ember came up and placed a hand on Phoenix's shoulder, who looked back into her expectant eyes. Sighing, he shrugged her off, and started walked in the direction the boy had come from. Doritan turned and called after him, "Phoenix! Where are you going? We will need you for this battle!"
Phoenix turned and met his fathers eye. "Yes, you will. I however, do not need you. It will take those injured men of yours too long to ready themselves. By the time I finish, you will just be arriving."
With his father angrily calling his name, Phoenix turned and crested the hill, before disappearing from sight, his mind intent on the mission at hand.