Feeding Ground

Phoenix Rising

Lydia and Joshua took Molly to the sub-basement, and she saw the suffering of the children confined there. "I will help you get them out of here, off this island," Molly said. "I assume you have a plan?"

"Aysha." A lovely voice that sounded like bells ringing reached into Aysha's sleep and woke her. She lay still for a moment, listening, unsure if she was dreaming or awake. She had been in the midst of a lovely dream where she was flying over a beautiful meadow, and then along the rocky coast of a nearly empty beach. The only other person was an older woman with red hair liberally sprinkled with gray. The woman's face looked vaguely familiar as she looked up at Aysha and smiled with an expression of approval.

"Aysha. Come find me. I must speak to you. Can you hear me?"

The voice sounded like it was speaking inside her head. Aysha climbed out of bed, still not entirely convinced this was real; she might still be dreaming.

"Who are you? And where are you?" Aysha did not ask these questions aloud but asked them in her mind. Images began to flood in; an elevator, a number, and a sturdy wooden door. She slipped her feet into her slippers and moved silently out the door, treading lightly.

Ten minutes later, Molly quietly opened Aysha's door, letting a small sliver of light cut into the room. Molly left the door ajar as she walked over the bed, gently patting the crumpled pile of blankets. "Aysha, we have to leave." Molly patted the blankets again, realizing that they were empty, Aysha was not in her bed. Molly left the room, feeling dread and panic. She ran into Joshua in the hallway. "She is not in her room, Joshua." Molly was close to tears in her fear.

"Don't worry, Molly," Joshua said to comfort her. "I will look for her. Go and get Dan out of his cage." Joshua unclipped a ring of keys from his belt, slid one off the keyring, and handed it to Molly, who shoved it into her pocket. While Molly went to help Dan, Joshua went to the same level where Aysha had gone. He caught up to her, standing in front of the door she had seen in her mind, shaking the doorknob in frustration.

"I believe you need a key," Joshua said, startling her. Aysha whirled around at the sound of his voice. Joshua held up a tarnished brass key. He put it in Aysha's hand and went back down the hall the way he came.

Aysha inserted the key in the lock; it turned smoothly. Aysha hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was waiting for her in the room. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open all the way and stood there, looking in.

A large bird sat in the center of the room; its head turned as it fixed one cerulean eye on her. It had an intelligent look in its eye. Its feathers were brilliant crimson, though they looked dusty and thin from lack of sunlight.

" Hello, Aysha." The same melodic voice spoke in her mind, sounding like the highest notes of a flute.

"Who are you?" Aysha asked. "How do you know me?"

"I know you because my essence flows in your veins. I can sense it calling to me."

"What does that mean, I don't understand."

"I am the Phoenix. I don't have much time left, I will die soon, and the next Phoenix must take my place. There can only be one at a time."

"Why are you dying?" Aysha asked, her eyes welling with sadness at the thought of this lovely creature perishing.

"I do not want to be a captive anymore. I want to be free. I am ashamed that I allowed the human, Joseph, to trick me and catch me in a cage. My time is over, and the time of the new Phoenix is beginning."

"Who is the new Phoenix?" Aysha asked.

The bird held her gaze steadily. "You already know the answer to that. Come closer."

Aysha knelt in front of it.

"Your tears will heal. Your wings revive. Tell no one your secret. Evil men will try to control your gifts for their selfish gain. Your blood will restore the dead, but only those an hour gone, beyond that they are beyond raising. A full Phoenix has far greater power, but you are half-human. You are not immortal, and you will not be able to produce a new Phoenix, so you are the last of our kind. Guard the secret, above all else." It spoke all this into her mind.

It reached up with a golden claw and tore through the feathers covering its own chest. It pulled the nails out with something glowing trapped within them. Before Aysha knew what was happening, it pressed its sharp talons to her chest, over her heart, and pushed. Aysha clenched her teeth as she felt a white-hot burning pain at first, but the bird rose and trapped her within its wings, preventing her from backing away.

"I am sorry for the pain; this is the only way I can pass the essence to you, halfling."

The burning pain quickly vanished, replaced by a sensation of heat, but no longer unbearable. It began in Aysha's heart and radiated outward to her hair's roots, through her feathers, and out to her toes.

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Molly hurried to Dan's cage, pulling out the key that Joshua gave her. The other cells, where the other two Wendigos were being kept, standing open and empty. Joshua told her that they had to be put down; they were too dangerous to release.

Molly turned to Dan's cage and saw him collapsed, not moving. She frantically unlocked the pen door and dropped to the floor beside his still form. He was lying on his back, and Molly watched, but she couldn't see his chest rising or falling. Molly picked up his hairy and muscular arm, with difficulty, trying to feel a pulse, but there wasn't one. Dan was still warm, but she was too late. There was no life there. She laid her head on his shoulder in despair. 

'Joseph has killed him, rather than let him escape.' Molly thought. 

She is numb as she stands up and walks away. She rounds the corner and nearly collides with Aysha, who is hurrying the opposite direction. "Aysha, there you are! I was worried, where have you..."

"I'm sorry, Mother, but there is no time. Please, listen."

Aysha tells her everything that happened with the captive Phoenix. "I can help him, Mother. We need to find a syringe."

Moments later, they find a syringe in the lab on the next floor up, and Molly draws a vial of Aysha's blood, which she injects into Dan's thigh. "I don't know if this will work," Molly says, feeling doubtful, but wanting to hope.