Phoenix Rising...Part 2

The Frau joined Naomi in collecting the various bottles from Alexa. “Honey, why do you think that Lady Fyre needs to have a really big fire?”

Alexa threw up her now empty arms in exasperation. “I already told Daddy, because she told me so!”

“When was that, Sweetie?”

“She keeps telling me. I asked her if she was sure, because I know its wrong to play with fire, but she says ‘yes’ and we need to make it really soon.”

Naomi leaned down and picked Alexa up. “Did Lady Fyre say why we need the fire?”

Alexa nodded solemnly.

“Will you tell us?”

“Only if you promise to help me.”

Naomi rolled her eyes and looked at each of us in turn before turning her attention back to Alexa. “Alexa, we promise to help you to help Lady Fyre.”

“Lady Fyre says that we have to build a really big, really hot fire around her body. She also says that is really important to do as it soon as possible or she won’t be able to come back at all.” Tears began streaming down Alexa’s face. “I want to help bring Lady Fyre back.”

Naomi smothered her daughter in hugs and kisses, patting down her now wild hair with her spare hand. “Don’t worry, Alexa, we’ll help you to bring her back. Let’s get you something to eat while these others discuss how we’re going to do that, OK?”

The sniffling Alexa looked around at each of us, as if she were recording our nods as promises of support in her great quest. “OK, Mama.”

After they had left the room, I turned to face the Frau and Cerrydwen. “She wants us to build a funeral pyre and place Ravyn’s body in it? Can we even do that?”

The Frau shifted her weight and moved to sit down on one of the comfortable couches. She was looking at the seemingly sleeping face of Ravyn as she spoke. “If there is a chance that doing so might actually bring her back to us in some fashion, then yes, I think we have to try.”

Cerrydwen nodded. “Remember, her totem is the Phoenix and the Phoenix traditionally rises from its own ashes.”

Jim moved closer to Ravyn’s body. He reached down and brushed a stray strand of her hair from her face before looking up. “Can it really work?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “The Lady of the Lake brought back Naomi to us without even the benefit of having her body.” I moved closer to the table holding Ravyn’s body. Just as I got there, a stray thought occurred to me. “Hey, wait a minute! When I took Ravyn to the Lady of the Lake, she refused to help, but she did say something that I didn’t understand until just now—‘Return to your world and perform your rituals of loss and mourning. Only there will you find the solace you so desperately seek.’”

The Frau nodded, her eyes closed in contemplation. “Yes, that could be an obscure way of saying that the answer to our problem lies with a ritual of loss and mourning.”

Cerrydwen came up behind Jim and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “And given the nature of Ravyn’s powers, it would make sense to have her cremated as part of our ritual of mourning.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that illegal? We can’t just burn her body in broad daylight and expect no legal problems to come from it!”

Everyone turned to look at me, their incredulity showing on their faces.

“What? I am an FBI agent, you know. I figured I at least needed to make a pretense of worrying about the law!” I threw up my hands. “Ah, screw it! We have to try it. I can’t see Ravyn’s Spirit form around here, but I get the sense that Alexa really is able to talk to her, even now.”

Pointing towards the back of the house with her cane, the Frau stood back up. “Rusty, Jim, we have a very large pit out back, situated in a clearing about a hundred yards back in the woods. There are several cords of firewood already chopped back there. Rusty, if you can take Ravyn back there, the rest of us will bring the materials for the ceremony. Let’s get started.”