Phoenix Rising...Part 1

I emerged from the Shadow just outside of the small, cozy home that Cerrydwen and the Frau shared. The house itself was a single story affair that looked pretty rustic from the road, but that façade was by design. It looked like nothing more than nice country ranch home nestled into the backwoods country of the middle of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

The night was almost done, with a light glow illuminating the eastern horizon as night gave way to the dawn of a new day. I could make out Jim’s truck in the parking lot. He must have gotten word of the attack. His own home was less than half an hour away.

I was not looking forward to having to pass on Ravyn’s cryptic last words to him. I had no idea what question it was that Ravyn had answered and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know. I had to admit to being more than a little jealous of the relationship that had appeared to blossom between them in the last year or so. My jealousy, however, was now tempered by the guilt and sorrow I felt at not returning in time to save her.

With a heavy heart and a sense of failure, I approached the door.

It opened before I was able to reach up and knock. The Frau clucked her tongue and whisked us inside so quickly that I didn’t even note the others gathered about the door until I was already inside.

“Oh dear, it looks as bad as I had feared.” She bustled through the gathered crowd, creating a path for me to follow. “Please bring her this way, Rusty.”

Cerrydwen followed closely behind me, her face a mask of concern and barely contained rage. “Who did this to her?”

Before I could answer, I was escorted by the Frau into a rather large, comfortably appointed living room with a humungous fireplace. With practiced ease, the Frau began barking directions out to everyone around her, but they were given in such a way as to instill willing obedience and a desire to help in all who heard them.

“Cerry, be a dear and get the healing mat and the massage table from the other room, would you?”

“Naomi, would you please get some fresh sheets from the linen closet in the hall?”

“Jim, could you please fill a basin with some warm water and bring me the disinfectant soap from the bathroom closet?”

“Alexa, could you please pick up your toys and put them away?”

As if the whole scene had been coordinated in advance, the Frau soon had me placing Ravyn’s ravaged body on the newly erected table for her examination. She was a whirlwind of action, carefully stripping the burned and torn clothing from her body, quickly cleansing the worst of the soot and dirt from her wounds, and then covering her with clean sheets.

Jim, Naomi, Cerrydwen all hovered nearby, instantly responding to any and all requests that the Frau made, each absorbing the shock of seeing Ravyn stricken in this manner in their own way.

Cerrydwen remained largely silent, her face a mask of intense agony, her eyes burning brighter than I could ever recall. Her movements were quick and choppy, as if she could barely control the rage that filled her.

Naomi was clearly shaken and seemed to almost be in shock at seeing the woman who had served as mentor and instructor laid low. Her face reflected the pain she felt, but also the uncertainty at having her whole upset yet again.

Jim moved slowly and deliberately whenever he was asked to help out in some way, as if he needed to be sure that he remained in control of his body. His jaw was clenched and his lips set into a determined frown as he opened and closed his fists whenever his hands weren’t otherwise occupied. More than once, I saw his hand slip down to Ravyn’s right hand to give a quick, hopeful squeeze to her fingers.

Alexa toddled about the room, just out of everyone’s way as they bustled back and forth. She seemed almost oblivious to the emergency taking place in the room, piling up wooden blocks and tinker toys into an impressive pile in front of me.

“Daddy, can you help me?”

Relieved to have a chance to turn my eyes away from the treatment table, I looked down at my smiling child and her rather large pile of wooden toys strewn in front of me. “What do you want help with, darling?”

“I need more! This is all I have.”

“What do you mean? It looks like you can build quite a big toy out of these.” I sat down on an ottoman that I hadn’t noticed before and scooted closer to the pile. “What do you want to build?”

She looked at me with her big brown eyes and smiled. “We need to build something really big for Lady Fyre. She needs us.”

I couldn’t help the sudden feeling of loss and pain that welled up within me at seeing the innocent hope in the eyes of my daughter. I reached out and pulled her into a big hug. “I’ll help you build something for Lady Fyre, darling. But we can’t do it in here, OK? They need all of the room they can get to try and help Lady Fyre out.”

“Oh, I know we can’t build it in here, daddy. I need your help taking these outside. We need to build a really big thing outside for Lady Fyre. We need to use as many sticks as possible. She really needs us to do it as quickly as possible!”

I was puzzled by her words, so I pulled back, leaving a hand on each of her shoulders and looked at her in the face. “How do you know what Lady Fyre needs, darling?”

She returned my gaze steadily. “She told me so.”

I was distracted briefly Alexa as I heard loud sobbing coming from Naomi. I looked up to see the Frau turn and face me, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. Jim and Cerrydwen were locked in a sobbing hug, trying to give solace to each other.

The Frau spoke first. “She’s gone. There’s no power that I know of that can bring her Spirit back or restore this body. I’m sorry, Rusty. She was just too far gone.”

I nodded, knowing deep in my own non-existent heart that Ravyn had died. I had witnessed her passing on the dark precipice. “I thought so. I saw her Spirit form leave her body and depart as it if were pulled from the place. I tried to get the Lady of the Lake to bring her back, but she refused.”

Alexa broke free of my hold and walked off, humming to herself as she headed towards the kitchen.

I looked up at all of their tear-stained faces, seeing them mourn in ways that I no longer could. I felt hollow and empty inside.
I stood up, stepped over the pile of wooden toys and made my way to the table where Ravyn lay in now peaceful looking repose. Even dead, her face was a beautiful mask of dignity and determination. Her eyes were closed, but I could still picture them, vibrantly green and incredibly intense. Her dark red hair had been combed and lay fanned out above her head. The sheet covered her naked form up to her neck. It was very easy to imagine her laying in a spa, waiting for a massage.

I saw Jim across the table from me, looking down at Ravyn’s face. This seemed to be the moment to give her last words to him.

“Jim?”

He looked up at me slowly. His face was streaked with tears. “Yeah?”

“Ravyn did ask me to tell you something before she passed away.”

His reddened eyes narrowed, a lump seemed to form in his throat as he tried to gulp air before speaking. “Oh?”

I nodded, glanced back down at her face and then back up at his before I answered. “She said to tell you that her answer was ‘Yes’.”

His face changed, took on a more peaceful look at hearing that. He reached up with the back of his left hand and wiped away the wetness on his cheeks.

Somewhat relieved by his response, I took the chance to ask the question that had been burning in my own mind since I heard her last words. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to know what the question was.”

Before he could respond, Alexa barged into the room making all sorts of noise as she banged into furniture on her way towards us, her arms full of every bottle of cooking oil and flammable chemical in the Frau’s kitchen.

We all turned to look at this explosive mixture, but it was the Frau who got out the first questions Alexa.

“Alexa, where did you get all of that stuff and why are you bringing it in here?”

Naomi was already moving towards her daughter, reaching out to take some of the bottles from her.

Alexa stopped and looked up at all of us, clearly exasperated. “Lady Fyre needs a really, really big fire. Daddy won’t help, so it looks like I’m going to have to do it myself.”