The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 3: The Pendant of Death

Chapter 31: The New and Improved Ministry of Magic

Chapter 31

     Echo was restless. It was early morning (or late night, depending on how you look at it) and she couldn’t sleep. She walked out of the room she was sharing with Rain Fox, Sky Heart, Sam, and Bria, and went down the stairs. She tip-toed down the steps and around one of the tree trunks rising through the old cottage. The night was chilly but a fire downstairs was still going strong, lighting up the downstairs den and living room. Echo got downstairs and looked around to see who was up. Only one person was up, sitting on the couch and looking at the fire with a gaze of anger and concern.

     “Fuzzy?” Echo asked to the young man sitting before the fire.

     “Bonjour, Kitty,” Dev said quietly and with a smile. He was in a pair of jeans and a tight-fit t-shirt, showing off his athletic physique. He had a tall glass of water in his hand. His hair was messy and undone. “What are you doing up?”

     Echo walked to sit next to him by the fire. She grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped herself in it. She squatted down and plopped next to her Ceddy. She covered him in the blanket, enveloping him with it. She leaned her head onto his strong, broad shoulder, snuggling next to him. “I could ask you the same thing, Love.”

     “I had a good amount of sleep already,” he said. “I slept enough on the way here on Shade’s little boat. Besides, I was practicing.”

     “Practicing what?” Echo asked.

     “This,” he said. He looked at the glass of water. The little pendant around his neck glowed a little and the water in the glass began to rise. The water snaked as it rose, forming a little serpent. He stared at it and it changed its amorphous form into a little water tiger, claws and stripes and all. The tiger pounced on the fire and dissipated, dousing half of the fire and sending embers into the air. He turned and looked at Echo.

     “That was good, Love,” she said. “You’re getting a lot better at that.”

     “I have been trying to do it without being angry or so emotionally attached to the events around me.”

     “Why?” Echo asked.

     “Because if I can do it by just concentrating and not just when I’m angry or running for my life, then I can do more with it. I can become a true pendant bearer, not just someone that they asked to hide an old relic. I have to learn how to work this thing, Kitty. It is important that I learn it.”

     “Why?” Echo asked. “Why is that important to you?”

     “Because I need to be able to protect you, Kitty,” Dev said to her. “Ever since you put that thing on, you’ve been at risk and in danger all the time. I have been away for too long. I don’t want to keep hearing about you nearly dying or my friends getting killed because I wasn’t there. It’s all my fault that Hardstone was out there, Kitty.”

     “No, Ceddy. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t blame yourself.”

     “He would never have been out there if it wasn’t for my foolish-“

     Echo leaned over and kissed him. Tears were in her eyes. He kissed her back, embracing her lovingly.

     “Was that supposed to shut me up?” he asked with a grin.

     “No,” she said, “That was me telling you everything is okay.” She lowered his head and kissed his forehead. “And that is me telling you don’t carry that kind of guilt on you. I did that with Starling. It never gets lighter. It hasn’t been lighter. But if you and I run around feeling guilty and not being as strong as we can be, then we’re useless and we might as well sit this crazy business out.”