Phoenix Burning

by Anne, Melody

  “What kind of training?” Sadie asked.

  “We have many different weapons to learn, so that will be a surprise, but don’t worry, the elders aren’t going to make you use something you’re not comfortable with, I promise,” John said. He patted Sadie’s shoulder and she visibly relaxed. She’d do just about anything for John.

  The rest of the evening flew by. They ate supper, went to a short council meeting, and then headed to their rooms to rest. Phoenix lay in bed and realized she hadn’t seen Jessica since the table incident a while back. She was a little worried about what the girl had been up to. She knew it was most likely no good.

  She finally managed to fall into a restless sleep, only to once again be plagued by nightmares, causing her to toss in torment. She couldn’t understand why Vyco was in her dreams so much. None of the nightmares were nearly as bad as the one where he’d killed Sadie and that was a relief, but each time she awoke, she was in a cold sweat, pajamas plastered to her body. She’d already changed into fresh pajamas twice in the night, peeling the saturated pieces off and tossing them onto the floor to be dealt with in the morning.

  She needed to get stronger — she wasn’t sure how to do that beyond what she was already doing.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Your precious Phoenix has managed to elude me so far, but I’m starting to break her down,” Vyco taunted Jayden.

  “You will die, Vyco,” Jayden said weakly. He was bound in a dark cave, far below the earth’s surface. He’d nearly killed Vyco before one of Vyco’s minions had caught him off guard. He’d been his former master’s prisoner ever since.

  He ached beyond description when he thought of Phoenix. Vyco managed to taunt him daily, speaking her name and telling Jayden of their nighttime dreams together. Phoenix didn’t know they were real. To her, they were nothing more than bad dreams. Jayden hoped she continued to resist Vyco. He looked upward, thinking Josiah must be stepping in somehow, because Vyco had never been denied a mortal soul he’d gone after so intensely.

  “You amuse me, Jayden. You’re only alive because I think you hold some value to me, though each day you defy me weakens that resolve. When I have your precious Phoenix as my prisoner, I think you’ll be a lot more willing to do my bidding. I can see how your powers have grown, more than you realize. I want those powers on my side — enough so that I’ve spared your pathetic life. Josiah has grown bolder — he’s causing much chaos to my previously perfect plan,” Vyco spat. He paced the small cave.

  Jayden had tried for over a month to break the bonds around him. They wouldn’t budge.

  “Your determination is one of the things I admire most about you. You should know you can’t possibly break free, you fool,” Vyco said as he stepped within inches of Jayden. Jayden willed his entire body to break free. He’d have no problem ripping the demon’s head from his shoulders. He could feel the very darkness he wanted to avoid consuming him, invading his body, slowly seeping in. It was a constant struggle to remember who he once was and wanted to be again. If it weren’t for Phoenix, he would’ve caved to his old master.

  “I’ll never bow to you again, Vyco. If you so much as touch one hair on her head, you’ll wish for a quick death,” Jayden growled. His struggle wore him down and he sagged against his invisible restraints.

  “Yessssss . . .” Vyco hissed. “Embrace your true nature. Embrace all that anger and hatred. If you join me again, I’ll leave her alone. She can go merrily on her way. Bind yourself to me — serve only me,” Vyco said, his eyes lighting up with greedy hope.

  “Your promises mean nothing, Vyco. I’d give my life for her, as you well know. But you’d have me trapped for eternity and you’d still kill her. I’m not as stupid as I once was,” Jayden weakly whispered. He wished he had more strength. He wanted to shout the words.

  Jayden also knew Cassidy was trying to find him. He’d felt her pushing forward, reaching out — seeking him. He’d managed to block her, but the weaker he became, the harder it was to keep her out. He didn’t know how successfully he was doing it anymore. He knew Vyco was unaware of her search. He’d managed to block everything from Vyco, which caused the man much anger.

  “You arrogant fool,” Vyco thundered, losing his pretense of calm. He brought his hand up and shot a ball of fire at Jayden. Before Jayden managed to block it, it slammed against his chest, burning his skin, causing unbearable pain. The edges of his vision faded as his mind tried to black out.

  He closed his eyes, willing his body to shut down, just for a little while. He’d heal — the wound wasn’t fatal — but even his healing was taking more time. He was weak, and he knew Vyco was getting tired of waiting.

  Vyco would kill him soon if he couldn’t escape. At least he’d die knowing John and Cassidy would keep Phoenix safe. His only regret would be that she’d never know what had happened to him. She’d only think he’d left her, never to return.

  “You don’t get to pass out, Jayden,” Vyco said, his temper back under control, an icy vindictiveness in its place. “Oh, no, that would be much too compassionate,” he said with laughter before he proceeded to torture Jayden for what seemed an eternity. Jayden’s last thought, before his body couldn’t take one more beating, was that at least he didn’t give Vyco the satisfaction of crying out in pain.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You want me to do what?” Phoenix asked John, horrified, yet slightly excited.

  “I want you to rip apart that dummy,” John repeated. They were all standing outside in the early morning light. A blanket of fog slowly snaked across the ground, almost like fingers reaching out, looking for their next victims. Phoenix expected something to slither up her leg at any moment. The entire scene gave her the creeps.

  “You want me to go over to the dummy and stab it?” Phoenix repeated, just to clarify what John wanted.

  “You need to pretend like it’s a real person. What would you do if you were fighting against a soldier? He’s got you locked in his grip and your only weapon is the knife in your belt. It’s either your life or his,” John said. He closed the space between them and Phoenix found herself backed against a tree with John looming over her. She knew John would never hurt her in a million years, but his words and the fear of being trapped caused her heart to accelerate. Her eyes widened as she looked into his almost scary eyes.

  “But . . . but, John . . . I . . . I don’t think I could do it, not even if my life depended on it. I couldn’t just . . . just stab someone,” Phoenix stuttered, on the verge of crying. There was no way she could plunge a knife into someone’s living, breathing body. John grabbed her shoulders and brought his face within an inch of hers, escalating her panic.

  “Phoenix, what if it’s you and Sadie, alone somewhere, and you’re attacked? He’s going to kill you, then he’s going to torture and kill Sadie. You’re the first to go, so then it’s only him and Sadie. He’s bigger than her, stronger, and he knows it. He can torture her for hours, do whatever he wants. Do you want to be the reason your best friend goes through that?” John asked, his voice rising with each word.

  Phoenix looked at him through tear-filled eyes, picturing in her mind the scene he painted. She’d never let something happen to Sadie if she could stop it, but he was asking her to stab someone. She thought the whole gun idea wasn’t such a bad thing, after all. At least she wouldn’t have to feel a blade slip into a person’s body and take his life. She could distance herself from it.

  “I . . . I’ll try,” Phoenix said. John released her and she breathed a sigh of relief. She slowly walked up to the dummy and started circling around it. She repeated over and over in her head that it was an enemy and he wanted to kill Sadie. She lifted the knife high and paused with her arm outstretched. She had a staring contest with the faceless object. She heard John speaking with others in their group and knew he was giving her time to work it out.

  “I’ve had to take a life, Phoenix,” Devon said as he slowly approached. She started shaki
ng as she lowered the knife and looked at him with rounded eyes.

  “When?” she croaked.

  “We’d been in the cave for a year. I was out hunting for food and heard someone screaming. I knew better than to run through the woods and make a lot of noise, but I also knew I couldn’t just run in the opposite direction. Those screams would haunt me for the rest of my life if I didn’t try to help. In a way, they haunt me anyway,” Devon said. His head hung down as he relived the memory. Phoenix was silent and stared at him intently as she waited for him to continue.

  “I carefully made my way through the woods, the screams growing louder. It seemed to take forever, but it was only a few minutes. I looked around a tree, and what I saw stole the rest of my childhood innocence. There was a man lying on the ground, blood pooled around his body from where the soldier had slashed his throat. He must’ve been too weak to fight back, making the soldier’s job easy,” Devon said in almost a whisper. Phoenix inched closer so she could hear. She didn’t think he realized she was there, he was so lost in his memory.

  “The soldier had a woman pinned to the ground. He was slapping her hard across the face, her clothing ripped away from her. He was . . . he . . . I don’t . . . it was bad,” Devon said as a tear escaped. He wiped it away and pulled himself together. Phoenix placed her hand on his arm and he reached his own up and placed it over hers, feeling the comfort of her touch.

  “I saw red. I was so angry — for my parents being gone, for the stupid war, and then to watch this frail woman being tortured. I jumped from behind the tree, with my knife raised, and before he could do anything I plunged it into his back. I pulled it out, and plunged it into him a few more times. I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t hurt her anymore, or be able to hurt me. He fell against her body, causing her to scream more. I pushed him away and handed her my coat. She stopped screaming and stared at me. She had no more tears left,” Devon continued. Phoenix stood next to him with tears running down her cheeks. That could’ve been Sadie and her if Jayden and Cassidy hadn’t gotten there in time.

  “It was her husband lying dead on the ground next to her,” Devon said. “I buried him and she came back to the cave with me. To this day she still doesn’t speak much, but I’ve seen her start to open up a little more since our arrival here. I like that your parents have counseling for people. It’s important when they’ve gone through something as horrible as what she did. If I hadn’t killed that man, he would’ve continued torturing her until he was sick of playing around, then he would’ve slit her throat with no more conscience than he had with her husband.”

  He finally looked into Phoenix’s eyes. There was pain, but determination in their depths.

  “Thank you, Devon. I know that wasn’t easy to share. I’ll do this.” Phoenix sniffed and wiped her face, turning toward the dummy with newfound dedication. Devon stood back, giving her room. She felt anger brew to the surface as she finally thrust the knife forward. She didn’t put a lot of strength into the motion, but it was a step for her.

  She felt the blade slip inside the dummy, and her stomach turned. She pulled back and pushed the knife forward again. She tried several more times. Devon stood silently by as she massacred the dummy. She could barely see through the tears — the process seeming too real for her. It felt wrong, even though she knew the soldiers wouldn’t hesitate to stab her . . . or worse.

  “That’s good, Phoenix. You can stop,” Devon softly whispered as his hand slid down her arm and halted her forward motion. She stood without moving as he unclenched her fingers from around the knife. She felt tingling in her fingers as the blood rushed through them. She hadn’t realized how hard she’d been gripping the blade.

  “Um . . . th . . . thank you,” she stuttered.

  “Hopefully you’ll never have to know how it feels to do this on a real person, but you really do need to be prepared,” he said apologetically. Phoenix looked at him, not sure what more to say or do. He sighed before he tugged her into his arms. She stiffened for a moment before accepting the warmth emulating from his embrace. Luckily, everyone was busy with their own projects and didn’t notice her little breakdown.

  Devon released her, and to break up the intimate moment, he let out a laugh and ruffled her hair. Phoenix glared at him for treating her like a five-year-old, then stomped off to find something else to do. She heard his laughter all the way across the field.

  Phoenix approached her team and watched as they shot arrows and guns at targets. They didn’t have an unlimited supply of bullets, so they didn’t want to waste too many on practice. They mainly wanted the teams to get used to the weight of the weapons, the kick of the shot, how to hold them, how to use the safety and sights. Only a couple of people on each team would actually carry a gun.

  Phoenix picked up a long, solid branch and decided to challenge someone in a stick battle. She enjoyed the complexity of fighting with nothing but a piece of wood, and she was surprisingly good at it.

  “Who wants to partner with me?” Phoenix called. Groans from the group filled the air. She was really good at hand-to-hand combat and her opponents usually ended up with some bumps and bruises.

  “You’re all wimps. I’ll fight you,” Devon stepped forward with a wicked grin. Phoenix could still see the challenge in his eyes. He figured she’d wimp out after their intimate moment together. He couldn’t be more wrong because she’d really like to take some frustration out on him.

  “I like a challenge,” Phoenix said. Devon was really good as well, but she had the added advantage that he didn’t want to hurt her. She used that against him with no remorse whatsoever. She’d even played the innocent little girl before and then knocked a few of the guys to the ground. John had praised her, telling her she was smart. Good soldiers will use anything they can to their advantage.

  “You’re not getting away with your innocent act this time,” Devon said as he chose his stick and started rotating around her. The other team members stopped what they were doing to circle them and watch. It was their evening entertainment.

  “I’m crushed, Devon. I’d never try to do that,” Phoenix said while batting her lashes at him. She didn’t take her eyes from him, watching his body language, waiting for him to twitch even the slightest muscle, indicating his movement.

  “Knock him off his feet, Phoenix,” Leah cheered from the sidelines, making Phoenix grin. Leah was such a quiet girl, so it took all her concentration not to look over and give her a nod of approval. She could tell she had a huge grin on her face just from the sound of her voice.

  “Take her down, Devon. She’s getting too cocky with that stick,” Brian called. Phoenix wanted to shoot him a glare, but knew better than to turn for even a second.

  “You’re next, Brian,” she said, wishing she could look his way.

  “Bring it on, baby,” he said. She knew he was trying to break her concentration. She wouldn’t let him. She heard him squeal, and silently thanked Sadie, who she knew must have pinched or kicked him.

  Phoenix saw Devon’s stance change and almost grinned. He was getting sloppy in his impatience to attack. He’d moved his left leg back, telling her he was going to lunge to his right and down low. She moved quickly, slamming one end of her stick toward the ground, easily blocking his move, then quickly arching it through the air and landing a blow to his arm.

  He jumped back, but not in time to miss getting hit. If she’d really been putting effort into it, she’d have left a nice-sized knot. His eyes crinkled in delight. He respected her — and it felt great.

  “Nice move, Phoenix,” Sadie cheered. She grew a bit too cocky and glanced away for only a moment. Devon’s stick swished out and swept under her feet, knocking her on her butt. He quickly maneuvered himself so he was standing above her body, his stick placed atop her chest. She heard Leah and Sadie groan. The match was ending far too fast, and Devon was the victor. He looked at her with a huge grin. She was determined to knock the look off his face.

  She
acted as if she were defeated, and he relaxed his arm, so the stick wasn’t pressed so tightly against her body. She swung her legs up and brought them between his, causing his knees to give out. He lost his grip on the stick and fell to the ground. She quickly jumped on top of him, grabbed her wooden knife and pressed it against his throat. She had no problem using the fake knife in pretend combat. It was the real one that freaked her out.

  “Oh, come on!” Brian cried out in disappointment.

  “We’re never going to hear the end of this,” Scott piped in, as all the guys groaned.

  “Do you surrender?” Phoenix asked with a twinkle in her eyes. Leah and Sadie were cheering as they jumped up and down.

  “Not on your life. I guess you’ll have to kill me,” he said. Her knees had his hands pinned to the ground, but he could easily pull them out. If he did, then she could swipe the wood knife across his throat and be declared the winner.

  “Surrender now or die,” she threatened, pushing the dull wooden blade a bit tighter. He grinned, which should’ve been her warning. Before she knew what was happening, his arms snaked out, grabbing her wrist and making her lose her grip on the knife. He quickly flipped her over and suddenly had her pinned beneath him. It happened so fast she didn’t know how he’d done it. Her eyes widened in surprise.

  The girls let out a cry of disappointment, knowing it was over. The guys cheered and then everyone lost interest and started working on other training areas. Phoenix was pinned beneath Devon and her eyes rounded when she felt the change in him from playful fighting to intense attraction.

  “Do you surrender?” he huskily whispered, making her tense in a whole different kind of nervousness.