Phoenix Rising...Part 3

I carried Ravyn’s body out to the clearing in the back of the house. The path to the clearing was barely visible through the thick undergrowth, but it was marked by small Celtic designs painted on tree trunks at eye level.

Once in the clearing, I set her body down in a nice grassy spot and set to building a pyre in the stone circle in the middle of the clearing out of the firewood that was stacked and ready to use nearby.

Jim, Naomi, and Cerrydwen joined in with the building of the pyre, each of them remaining silent as we worked.

The Frau brought a red gallon can of gasoline, which she set down in the grass near the stacked cords of firewood.

Alexa was kneeling in the grass next to Ravyn’s body, her small hands touching Ravyn’s forehead in a loving manner as she whispered unheard words to her.

Once the pyre was built, I moved to go get Ravyn’s body.

Alexa looked up at me as I approached. Her hands were now clasped around a small, brilliantly red, oval object that rested in her lap. Wet tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m going to miss her, Daddy.”

“Alexa, we’ll all miss Lady Fyre. She was a really special person who was very much loved.”

Alexa shook her head vehemently, her hair bouncing as she did so. “No, Daddy, I’m not talking about Lady Fyre. She’ll be here as soon as we’re done.”

The Frau and the others had gathered around us now, listening to this very special child as she spoke.

“Then who are you talking about, Alexa?”

Her shoulders bounced up and down as she was wracked with sobbing tears as she held up the small, egg-shaped object in her two tiny hands. “Betsy! I’m going to miss Betsy so much!”

Naomi squatted down next to her daughter. “But Betsy is already gone. We all wish she could come back too, but we’ve got to help Lady Fyre right now. Are you sure this is going to bring Lady Fyre back to us?”

Alexa nodded, at first too broken up to speak. But she calmed down and looked up into each of our faces before finally speaking. As she spoke, she placed the red egg onto Ravyn’s chest and then gently brought up each of Ravyn’s hands over the egg to make it secure. As she spoke, we could clearly hear a more mature version of Alexa speaking, like she had on previous occasions.

“Lady Ravyn gave me this egg that Betsy had created and asked me to keep it safe. She told me that if something really bad were to happen to someone I love and they died, that I could place the egg with the body into a really big fire on the same day that the person died and that the person would be allowed to come back. But she also told me that if something happened to Betsy, that the egg could be used to bring her back, but it could only work once. If the egg were used to bring Betsy back, it would take 1 year and 1 day for her to make another. So I can’t bring both Ravyn and Betsy back with the same egg. If I used the egg to bring Betsy back, she wouldn’t be able to help Ravyn in time.”

She looked down at Ravyn’s peacefully composed face after she had finished placing Ravyn’s hands onto the egg before looking back up at us. Her eyes reflected the maturity that had come over her voice.

“I know that Betsy would want me to bring Ravyn back over her. That is why I mourn the loss of Betsy. She is a creature from a different place, a creature that I will no longer be able to communicate with once this egg is gone, and that is a terrible loss. I also mourn for Ravyn, for I know that she loves Betsy and that she will be heartbroken at the loss of her friend, her companion. Right now, they are both together, spending their last moments in union with one another as they soar with the stars. Once the fire is started, they will be torn from each other, never to be together again in this lifetime. Ravyn wants to be back among us, but she is also saddened by the thought of losing one of her dearest friends.”

She stood up and looked directly into my eyes.

“Father, we must act soon. If we wait much longer, the pain of her loss may be too much for her to overcome. Please bring Ravyn to the pyre and start the fire.”

With those words, Alexa turned and walked towards where the pyre had been built, stopping just beyond the stone circle and waiting for us to join her.

I looked to the others gathered around Ravyn’s body.

Jim nodded silently, his jaw set in determination. Cerrydwen nodded as well, tears streaking down her face in empathy at the loss that Ravyn was about to experience. The Frau cleared her throat and motioned with the cane that I should do as instructed. Naomi was watching her daughter with a look that spoke of awe and deep, motherly love.

I reached down and slid my hands under Ravyn’s body, careful not to disturb her now clasped hands. I picked her up and followed Alexa toward the pyre.

I stepped inside the stone circle and placed her body gently onto the pyre.

Jim stood next to me, holding the can of gasoline. By the look on his face, he was struggling with the idea of dousing the pyre with the gas. His hands trembled as he struggled with the cap on the can.

I reached out and took the can from him. “I’ll do it.”

He nodded and stepped back to join the others outside of the circle.

I emptied the can on the wood all around her body, saving just enough to douse the sheet that covered her entire body, except for her head and arms.

The Frau hobbled forward, a box of fireplace matches in her hand.

I took them from her and motioned for her to step back. Once she was safely back with the others, each of them holding the hands of two others, I pulled a single long match from the box and struck it and tossed it onto the wood next to her head.

There a tremendous FOOM as the gas saturated wood exploded in orange flames that mushroomed up towards the sky. Had I been living, I’m sure that I would have been in pain from the contact burns, but instead, I just calmly stepped back, noting that my leather jacket was smoking.

As we watched the flames calm down, we gasped to see that Ravyn’s body seemed oddly unarmed by the inferno that raged all around and even under her. Her hands, however, began to glow with an incandescent red light that grew brighter and brighter as we watched.

Slowly, the fire began to take its toll, at first on the sheet that covered her body, and then on her hair and skin, which blackened. Everyone but me sobbed as her body was simultaneously consumed by the fire and lit by the glow of the egg that was soon only covered by ashes.

Finally, her body was no longer solid enough to support the brightly glowing egg, and it fell down through the remains of her torso and into the burning embers beneath. For the briefest of moments, the glow of the egg disappeared completely. I felt a flash of despair that the magick had failed.

Just then, there was another brilliant explosion of energy that rose from the remains of the funeral pyre and formed itself into a giant Phoenix form. The Phoenix looked down at us with its defiant gaze and opened its beak. A piercing, keening cry came forth as the Phoenix began to dissipate. Half of its energy seemed to tear off and float upwards, soaring back towards the unseen stars, while the bottom half of the form collapsed in on itself and took the form of a naked woman.

Ravyn Fyre stood before us with her arms raised to the sky, crying out in pain at the loss of the union between soul mates before crumpling to the ground, her body giving off tendrils of smoke as she sobbed.

Jim was the first to reach her side, laying his own jacket across her bare shoulders as he knelt beside her.

Alexa was the second one there. As Jim helped Ravyn sit up, Alexa jumped into arms and gave her a great big bear hug as she sobbed. “I’ll miss her too, Lady Fyre!”