Rising Phoenix - Sequel To Forgotten Power

Chapter 26

"What are you doing here?" Bren asked, quickly pulling his hand from the tree.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I..."

"It's okay. I don't need an explanation. But I would like to know what happened here..."

"It... I-it wasn't m-my f-fault..." Bren stuttered, his voice shaking, "I d-didn't mean t-to..."

Arelyn tried to keep her expression gentle, which was difficult considering all her past experience with scared children was normally caused by her, "Do you know what happened?"

"I-it was an a-accident!" Bren's large eyes started to well up with tears as he rested his forehead against the charred bark, "I-I didn't..."

Arelyn put her hand on Bren's shoulder, "Hey, hey, it's ok. It's ok. Like you said, it was an accident. Everyone makes mistakes."

"D-does everyone b-burn down a f-forest as a m-mistake?"

"Bren." Arelyn crouched down so she was sitting on her heels and looking up at the boy's shaking figure, "You have no idea how many mistakes people have made that are worse than this. Compared to mistakes I've made, this is a birthday party. It's ok."

"I h-highly doubt t-that..."

Arelyn sighed, "Would you like me to give examples? Or will you take my word for it?"

Bren glanced at her for a second before looking away, "I c-could've hurt s-someone..."

"But you didn't." Arelyn grabbed Bren's shoulders, "Bren, I want you to listen to me. Ok?" She waited for Bren to nod before she continued, "Nobody got hurt here. I get that it's still a shock for you that it happened at all, but you don't need to worry about 'What if someone got hurt?' because they didn't. It won't be on your conscience forever. I, on the other hand, have done things that a human trial could probably have me killed for. I have hurt people, and I do have to worry about 'What if they hadn't been hurt?' 'What if they hadn't died? '" Arelyn lifted Bren's chin so he met her eyes, "So you shouldn't be so scared. I've made most of my terms with what I've done. But you haven't done pretty much anything." She smiled, "It's ok."

Bren's eyes were wide with hesitant curiosity and fear, "You k-killed someone?"

Arelyn looked at the burnt ground, "I'm told that it wasn't me, but I still blame myself. I will always accept full responsibility for their deaths."

"What happened?"

" ...you really want to know?" Bren paused a moment before nodding, "Ok... I'll be vague. Some bad guys launched a Chimera attack on some big city in the L- a ways away," she caught herself before she slipped, "I told some of my...half blood acquaintances who started fighting it. Something happened, and I just couldn't move. Two of them, including our 'leader' were killed by it. Our leader was burned and her cousin was poisoned."

"And you couldn't save them?"

Arelyn slowly shook her head, "Had I actually helped them fight, I probably would've died instead of them. Everyone probably would've liked that more than this..."

Bren looked at his feet a moment before wrapping his arms around Arelyn in a hug, startling her. "If you had died instead of them," he started, "we wouldn't be talking here right now. I would still be in the dark with Emma. I never would've come back here. Some people might've been happy if the others were still alive, but there's a reason you are. If you had died, those bad guys would probably have attacked the good guys while they were still upset about you dying. But with the leader gone, they don't see you as a threat. You and the others can get rid of them."