For Now | Dreaming Trilogy | Book 1 (HEAVY CONSTRUCTION)

Phoenix | A Little Brother

It hurt. I don't mean it was like someone poking you with a stick, I mean it was like a thousand bodybuilders smashing pointy sticks into every inch of you. I tried to open my eyes, but it felt as if they were being forced shut. I wanted to struggle, but I knew it was no use.

I was seriously being defeated by a tree. This wasn't right.

I'd felt close to death since I was eleven. I never told anyone, but I did. I felt the hollowness creeping into my chest, just below my collar bone. I'd tried to ignore it, but the fire... It grew. It didn't just grow, it took over my body. I didn't want to function. It felt like my entire body was being weighed down and nothing was worth working to move to finish something.

I'd wanted to die. I'd tried and I'd failed. I didn't have cats, and cats' claws certainly don't dig into your flesh deep enough to bleed for a week.

That being said, I was not going to die because of this. I just wouldn't. I am Phoenix Lucis, and I will choose my own fate. I don't choose death by tree.

With that thought in my head, I tried something truly terrifying; I stopped struggling. I went limp, and, as expected, the tree started to wrap tighter and tighter around me. I took as deep of a breath that I could, and focused as much power as I could on the tree suffocating me. I almost cried at the thought of what I was doing, but I ignored common sense. I heard the awful gush and roar of the flames as they leapt from my body and wrapped around it, the tree catching quickly. I let out a terrified yelp, opening my eyes for a moment and seeing the fire.

The pieces sliced my skin and reopened old scars. They all either brushed or snagged my skin, like saying goodbye as they thinned and flew off in the wind. Suddenly, I was coughing and sputtering on my knees. It felt like my body was melting, limbs turning to soup. I was shaking, my face nearly hitting the dirt. It felt like my lungs were on fire, ashes clogging my throat.

"Phoenix!" I heard Jake call. I felt hands picking me up, one arm wrapping under my shoulder blade and the other under my knees.

"I can't run while holding her!" Said a worried voice I knew was Shane. It dawned on me that it was Shane who was holding me, and Jake was brushing the ash and hair from my face.

I opened my eyes, pushing Shane away. "N-no. I can run." My throat hurt from just that much.

Shane let me down slowly, his arm still around my shoulders. "Phoenix..."

"Don't be stubborn!" Jake snapped. "Let us carry you! You used a lot of power to get me out of there. Not many could do that."

"Shut u-up, Jake." I rolled my eyes, shrugging Shane's arm off me. "Come on... We don't have long..." I coughed, and to my horror, smoke poured from my lungs. I tried to shake it off, and stumbled forward. I caught my fall with my hand at the last moment, holding in a yelp of pain. I looked at my hand and already saw a bruise forming along my wrist. Sprained.

"Phoenix!" Shane said, helping me to my feet. "Your wrist..."

I huffed. "No time. I didn't throw myself into a killer tree to have you die from trying to help me."

Jake looked up at me. "Phoenix. Jump when I tell you to." His green eyes glinted in a way I knew I'd regret, but I nodded silently. I was too drained to protest now. Jake closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then opened them again. There was an orange hue to them. "Now!" He said, grinning.

I did as I was told. When I expected my feet to hit the ground again, I felt air swoop up under me. Scratches formed where Jake's leaves were billowing around beneath me, holding me up. I looked at Jake, who had a devilish grin across his face. He was missing his arm from the shoulder down. He was holding me up. "I could drop you." He said, his eyes turning back to green.