Origin

CHAPTER 22

"Kristy!" a voiced echoed in the darkness.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was standing in the middle of ruins. The sky was red with low pink clouds creating fog in specific places. The ground I was standing at was covered in orange mosses. I took one step only to crumble a piece of wood. The sound spread around the quiet area and I soon heard my name again.

"You have grown up." I heard the voice once again. I turned to the direction of voice. I expected to see a person there. Instead my eyes roamed over a Phoenix. "You seem like you were brought up well."

Speechless, I observed it. It was different from the others of its kind I had seen before. While the others had a few discolored brownish feathers covering their skins, this one was bright red. On the top of its head were golden locks of hair.

"Do I know you?" I asked in wonder.

"No, but I know you. My life was meant for you," it opened its beak and chirped in an humane voice.

"I don't understand," I expressed my confusion.

"My name is Hepheos and I am your familiar." Its hoarse voice, which carried his message, confused me even more.

"I don't remember creating a contract with anyone," I mumbled confused. From what Holden had told me, I could only have a familiar if I summoned it and forged a contract with it. It would take a long ritual to call upon it and there was no way I would have ever done that and not remember it. I had never done any of these acts.

"You didn't. Your parents did and bonded me to you." It opened its wings and fly closer to me before extending its wing and caressed my cheeks. Its feathers scratched lightly my skin as I could hear his loud breathing. Frightened, I took a step back and withdrew from his grasp. "I am sorry you are scared of my appearance. Would you rather I changed my shape?" he asked and, unaware of what he truly meant, I nodded.

Light was radiated from its body and its shape became blurry. In a blink of an eye, it no longer looked like a bird. It had taken the form of a familiar boy instead. It had long red hair with a few golden highlights which reached his shoudlers with, light orange eyes and looked like it was about my age. Since it was now shorter, a little taller than me, the sheet it was wearing covered its humane legs. Realization hit me that I had seen him before in a vision.

"You are a boy," I commented.

"Us, Phoenixes, don't really care about our genders, although to answer your question, yes, I am a man. It's my second form so I can go unnoticed if I have to go out in public," he explained. "Can I touch you now?"

Slowly, I nodded giving him permission. He came forth, his face right across mine. He placed both hands in either side of my head and examined me.

"Your powers haven't awakened yet but they are close to. You have to learn how to control them fast." He dragged his now soft thump on my forehead. "You have to come find me quickly. Time is running out."

I didn't comment immediately but after a while I asked him, "Hepheos, why did you bring me here? And what do you mean by that?"

"Us, Phoenixes, are very independent familiars. We don't have to use our master's power to stay materialized unlike all the others, we have our own. However, I almost have used up all mine. Even I have to use your power source once in a while and the last time I did it was almost eighteen years ago, a few days before you were born and even then, I had to extract from your parents' powers. But now my powers are fading away. I won't last any longer. I need you to come find me and save me. Please," he begged, his voice cracking from emotion, before he dropped to his knees and wrapped his think arms around my waist.