by CJ England
“I…love…you…” she tried to say as she collapsed into a heap on the ground. Her eyes flickered shut.
Milcham’s face was wet with tears. He knelt down, laying his face against the wall of fire. “Please, Assai,” he wept. “You can’t die. Not like this. We still have a lifetime planned together.”
There was no movement from the bloodied figure on the ramp. She was as still as death. He wept harder, knowing his reason to greet the sun was dying just out of his reach.
“Please, Yahweh,” he wept aloud. “Help us. I am your loyal servant. I have not mocked you or cursed your name. She doesn’t deserve to die just to prove a point. Help her. Please, my Lord.”
Far away Aithne floated, caught between the choice of life or death. Her body had not yet given up entirely, but she knew it was only a matter of time, so she waited, praying that somehow, in the middle of all this, Milcham would be all right.
Go to him, child.
The deep voice brought her out of her lethargy and she frowned.
Go to him. He loves you. Go to him, now…before it is too late .
Her eyes opened blearily. She could see Milcham, his face pressed against the wall of flame. She tried to move, but her tired body rebelled.
One inch at a time, my child. Go to him and all will be well .
Taking as deep a breath as she could through her ruined and bleeding throat, she obeyed.
Milcham’s fists were bloody when he finally stopped slamming his fists against the wall. Anger and pain filled his soul. “I love you, Assai,” he whispered as he touched the palm of his hand to the flame. “Forever.” He felt the sun finally touch his back and he shuddered. Though he wanted to die without her, he would not toss Aithne’s gift back in her face. For her…he would live.
Just as he was turning to greet the sun, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Jerking his head around, he watched in amazement as Aithne dragged her bleeding body nearer to the pillar of protective flame.
“That’s it!” he shouted excitedly as he beat on the wall again. “Just a little bit further. All I need is your hand. If I can bring you inside, I can heal you!”
His whole body strained along with hers as she inched her way closer and closer. When her hand touched the side of the nest, he gave a glad shout of joy. Her fingertips shakily touched the blue flame and her eyes once again met his.
“Come on, Assai,” he urged her. “Almost there!”
A moment later, a shout filled the air. Milcham jerked his head up to see Satan racing toward them. If Aithne didn’t hurry, it would be too late. He bent and put his face level with hers. “I love you,” he mouthed. “Come to me.”
Her green eyes filled with more tears and with her one last bit of strength, she plunged her hand through the flame and into his. Grasping her with all his remaining strength, he pulled her towards him.
Suddenly, her forward movement stopped and looking up, Milcham saw the Ancient One holding onto her ankles. “I will not let you have her,” he hissed. “She belongs to me.”
“Never!” Milcham shouted. “In Yahweh’s name, she will be mine.”
A tug-of-war ensued over the now unconscious woman, Milcham refusing to let her go. He’d rather miss the dawn than release her now.
Then with a sound like a thousand angels singing, there was a loud roar. Satan screamed as his body was hurled across the meadow to land solidly against the side of a large tree. Aithne, freed from his grasp, shot through the wall of fire to go tumbling into Milcham’s arms. Without a pause, he bent over her ruined neck, weeping his magical tears to knit her flesh and bring her back to him.
As he smoothed the wetness over her flesh, he heard another scream. There was a clap of thunder and glancing up, he saw Satan bow low to the ground. The wind whipped and the thunder crashed, and then suddenly, the Ancient One was no more.
A noise brought him back to the woman in his arms. Her eyes flickered open and she coughed. Her hand went to her throat, and she swallowed, hard. “I…I was dead.”
Clasping her to him, he wept again, this time tears of joy. “Not quite, Assai. You had enough strength to push through the barrier.”
“It was the voice.” She sat up slowly. “It told me to come to you.”
Milcham’s heart expanded. “The Lord heard our prayers. The evil one is defeated.”
“Where…are we?”
“In my nest.” Carefully, he helped her to her feet and held her as she swayed tiredly. “The dawn is here.”
Aithne’s eyes widened. “We…we didn’t miss it?”
“No,” he bent and bussed her lips as he thought of how uncommonly slow the dawn had been. Yahweh had been with him all along. “Do you still wish to try the fire, Assai. It is not too late to change your mind.”
She buried her head in his chest. “I haven’t gone through everything to stop now. I crawled into this nest knowing full well what might happen here. I’m willing to risk it to be with you, forever.”
His chest tightened. “Whatever happens, Aithne…know you are the most important person in my world. I love you more than I could ever imagine loving anyone.”
“I love you, too.” She bit him gently on the chin, smiling as his tired eyes glowed. “Tell me what to do now.”
He shook his head and his hair took on a brighter hue. “You have done enough, my adored one. Now…it is up to me.”
Turning her so she looked at him as he faced the now rising sun, he bent and kissed her one more time. Then, he lifted his arms to the sun in welcome and began to sing. His beautiful voice, roughened only slightly by age, poured forth and all the heavens held their breath to listen.
He sang of love and hope, of perseverance and faith. He sang and sang, the splendor of the song soaring to the skies. The tattoo of the phoenix on his chest began to glow with an unearthly light. It glowed brighter and brighter with every note he sang, until it almost hurt to look at him. His human body shifted away and before her tear filled eyes, he became the Phoenix. Aged and shaky with weariness, he kept his gaze on her as he continued singing.
Aithne gasped as she felt the heat build around her. She was protected by his cocoon of fire, but the inferno around them was drawing insidiously closer. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his flaming form and held him even tighter. She began to hum along with him, to help or for comfort, she wasn’t sure, but as the fire drew closer, she fought the urge to bolt.
He knew of her fear. Even though she tried to be brave, the horror of the flames showed in her eyes. He prayed she would be strong, and not let it overwhelm her. He sang louder, hoping she would draw strength from the beauty of his song.
As the fire began to touch them, he continued to sing, but instead of holding his arms up to the sun as usual, he wrapped them around Aithne, not to hold her, but to protect her. She was his gift, his joy and his love. As he sang his last notes of hope and adoration, her face was the last thing he saw before they were both enveloped in the scarlet-gold of the refiner’s fire.
—
After a long, long while, the flames died down. The tree and the nest of spices were undamaged. But as for The Phoenix and Aithne…there was no sign. All that was left of them were two piles of ash. One silver and the other gold.
Then…the golden ash began to move. It trembled and slowly began to heave upwards. From under the ash, there rose up a young Phoenix. Featherless and bald, it was small and scrawny, but it stretched out its naked neck and searched the nest for its companion. It refused to give up, calling in its tiny voice until it was hoarse. When it could barely make any sound at all, it bowed its stubbled head in defeat, and again, lifted its miniature plucked wings to the sun.
In a voice that could barely be heard, it sang. This time it sang sadly of love lost and memories that would never be forgotten. As it sang it grew, growing stronger and stronger with every melancholy note. Beautiful feathers of gold and red, purple and yellow, sprouted and covered his nakedness. Eyes that were blind opened t
o reveal orbs of glowing gold. The Phoenix had risen from the ashes and been reborn.
But he was, once more…alone.
There were no songs of joy this time. Milcham knelt in the nest, huge tears rolling down his beak. He’d loved and lost. He’d gambled her love was stronger than her fear, but it wasn’t. He didn’t care anymore if she was his soulmate or not. She was dead, he would never see her again, and he was dying inside.
Yahweh appeared and without a word, the Phoenix bowed before him. “You have a question, my Phoenix?”
Milcham nodded. “Is she really dead, Lord?”
The Lord nodded. “She is.”
His throat tightened with grief and loss. “I…I can’t believe this is happening. She almost died for me. I thought she was the one.”
Yahweh smiled. “Did you not offer to die for her as well?”
Milcham’s heart ached. “Yes…and I would again, if it would mean bringing her back to me. Soulmate or not, I am in love with her.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
Milcham froze and stared up at his Lord. “What do you mean?”
“Do you not remember the scripture, Phoenix?” Yahweh smiled. “And now abideth faith, hope and love, and of these three, the greatest of them is…”
“Love,” Milcham supplied. “This I know. I love her. With all my soul.”
“I know. You had the faith to search for her. And when you did, you hoped she would love you enough to step into the fire.”
“But—”
“And when it came down to it, you loved her enough to give up everything to be with her.”
“I would do it again if we can be together.”
The Lord chuckled. “Oh ye of little faith. My beloved Phoenix, do you really think I would allow you to go through eight centuries of searching only to lose her at the end?”
Milcham’s heart stopped. “Lord?”
“I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. I knew what the Ancient One would do before he even came to convince me to allow your temptation. I knew what you would do.”
“You…knew?”
Yahweh’s warm hand touched his feathered cheek. “I knew. And I suffered with you when you made mistakes. But I also knew you would succeed in the end, so I allowed those mistakes to help you grow.”
“But I didn’t succeed,” Milcham cried. “I failed. I failed and now she’s dead.”
“Yes, she is dead. Just as you were.”
Milcham’s head snapped up. “What?”
“Do not lose your faith and hope now, my Phoenix. Sift through the ash and find your love. Or do you not remember that humans develop much more slowly than a Phoenix does.”
His heart pounding in renewed hope, Milcham turned quickly and bent to the bottom of the nest. His ashes were knocked about, but the pile of ash that had been Aithne, sat in a neat pile. As he watched, his heart pounding in his chest the ash at the center of the silver pile twitched. He blinked, wondering if his need for her was conjuring up visions, but as he reached down to touch the pile, it moved again. He pulled back and then watched; more tears streaming down his face, as the ash fell away.
Waving in circles was a tiny human fist.
Milcham cried out in joy and happiness. Using the tip of one wing, he carefully brushed away the silvery ash. First an arm, then her body, then with a sneeze and a loud hiccupping cry her head appeared. Soon the naked body of a human female infant was kicking and squalling in the bottom of the nest.
“Sing for her,” Yahweh ordered as he faded from sight. “Sing her into being just as you do for yourself.”
Wonderingly, Milcham bent and lifted the tiny infant in his wings. A human baby is much cuter than a baby bird and he could already see Aithne in the child. Cradling his love in his feathery arms he turned and again faced the sun. Closing his eyes, he let the knowledge she was alive and in his arms, fill him. His soul expanded until all his love for her burst from inside of him. Opening his beak, this time he sang of rebirth and life, of love found and Yahweh’s truth. He sang of his future and of hers. Of eternity, together.
And as he sang, she grew. More rapidly now, she went from toddler, to adorable youth, to gawky teenager. His heart almost burst with joy as she joined in his song when she reached adulthood.
As she grew into the woman he’d fallen in love with, his song slowed, and he shifted back into the form of a man, barely acknowledging his ability to still do so. His hand cradled her cheek as he bent and kissed her for the first time. Her lips clung to his and her arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
“Mil…cham?”
“Assai,” he murmured hoarsely. “My precious one.”
“I’m…alive?”
“Very much so. You were reborn in the fire. Although, for a while there, I thought I’d lost you.”
She opened her eyes and he took a deep breath. Her green eyes glowed with the light of immortality. “I…remember now. I was so frightened, but I love you, Milcham. I could never leave you.” She traced the line of his lips with her finger. “No matter what was thrown at me. Not even a fire can keep us apart. I am a part of you, as you are a part of me. As long as we love each other, we will never see death.”
“Then we will live forever,” he said roughly. “For I will never stop loving you.”
Aithne smiled. “And you will always have my love. You have brought me to the other side of eternity.”
Suddenly, he gave a shout of sheer happiness. “We did it! Together we defeated the enemy!”
She laughed happily. “Nothing can defeat the power of true love.”
He pulled her into his arms. “You are my mate, my twin-flame. Forever.”
She threaded her fingers into his dirty blond hair. “My husband, my mate, my love. You are my world.”
As their lips met in a fiery kiss, they heard a soft chuckle. It will be good to see children in the garden again, Yahweh’s voice echoed in their heads. Come and visit often, my beloved Phoenix. My sweet Aithne. Teach your offspring the lessons you have learned so they too can greet the sun with the purity of love’s song.
“We will, my Lord,” Milcham promised hoarsely as he fit his hungry body against his new mate’s. “And we will never forget what you’ve done for us here.”
“No,” Aithne whispered as she ran her hand down his strong new form. “These memories we will keep for a lifetime. And we will make sure our children know how to fight temptation and when to give in…to love.”
Milcham smiled at her choice of words. “Shall we get started on those kids right now?”
She laughed and snuggled her naked body against his. “We can definitely practice.”
Her mate rolled her beneath him. “And as we know, practice makes perfect.”
Epilogue
A spray of water caught her directly in the mouth, and Aithne gasped aloud. Wiping her face, she glared into the wicked, laughing eyes of her mate.
“That,” she muttered, her eyes twinkling, “was unnecessary.”
Milcham laughed at her. “Since when do we do only what is necessary?”
She leaned back on the flat rock that sat about a foot underwater in the special swimming pool. She lifted her foot out of the water, and wiggled her toes at him. “Well…”
He swam closer and kissed the arch of her foot. “Was it necessary for you to dive bomb the workers that were repairing the turrets, yesterday?” He kissed her calf. “Or was it necessary for you to make me chase you to over five thousand feet high this morning, just so we could properly join the mile high club?” He moved higher and kissed the top of her thigh.
She grinned at him. “I thought so,” she answered regally. No way she was going to admit she’d only dive bombed the man on the wall because she’d lost control of her fancy new wings. And as for the whole sex in the sky thing? That was simple. Why not?
Milcham eased himself up on the rock and crawled up over her prone body. “I must admit, I do enjoy seeing you in your new form.”
Aithne smiled. After they had staggered from the nest where the fire had renewed and refreshed them, they had been excited to discover, Aithne had been given the body of a Phoenix as well. Milcham had easily shown her how to discover her flame and before his admiring eyes, she had shifted for the first time.
Whereas he was a creature of the sun, with colors of gold, scarlet and orange, Aithne’s hues were the opposite of the spectrum. Blues, greens and shades of violet, with burning eyes that glowed like emeralds. Her song was softer, more muted, better suited to moonlit glades and forest treetops.
Together, they had leaped into the air, so Aithne could try out her new wings. To her surprise, it wasn’t as easy as it looked, and Milcham had to save her from spinning down to the earth several times before she got the hang of it. But afterwards, they spent the morning enjoying themselves. Two immortal Phoenix, their beautiful feathers flashing in the sunlight, glided on the breeze, over their new home.
When her muscles cramped from overuse, Milcham led them to his special bathing pool. Tucked away in a mountain glade, its water was warmed by minerals in the earth. Morphing back into their human forms, they slid into the large pond. One feel of the hot water on her tired body, Aithne swore she would never leave it again.
Now, she reached up and kissed her mate’s bristly chin. “I am so glad Yahweh allowed us to have two forms. I love being able to fly.”
He grinned down at her, sliding his warm naked body alongside hers on the reclining rock. “And I am pleased as well. I love being able to make love with you. In either form.”
She blushed and then gasped as his lips covered one partly submerged nipple. “Oh, Milcham. I never thought I could be so happy.”
“It has been a long time coming.”
“Yes…it has.” Aithne thought of the past and all that had been done to them. “What about the Ancient One? Will we always have to worry about him?”
He heard the fear in her voice and pulled her into his arms. “No, Assai. He has had his chance and he failed. He will not be allowed to attack us any further. The Lord will protect us for the rest of eternity.” He shook his head.