Page 37 of The Phoenix Inheritance

Isobel

As I lie on the dirt grounds of Sowilo’s arena, the only thing I see is Dane.

And it’s not only because I love him so damned much, but also because I hang onto reality by a mere thread. It’s been over twenty four hours since I bathed in the Solenz lake. My scar feels like it’s digging a tombstone into my very flesh.

“Mmh,” I barely stifle a cry as pure agony sears my stomach.

“Isobel?” Dane calls raggedly. “Isobel, what’s wrong?”

I bite my lip before I shriek in pain and scare the wits out of him. Only to realize a moment after how foolish that is – I’m the one who’s scared to death,shaking like a leaf, thoroughly terrified.

“M-my wound,” I manage to hiss. “I’m n-not sure… Not sure I can make it.”

Dane’s fingers rip my dress further apart until they can tremblingly rest upon the Gargoyle’s mark. It’s now stretched into a stonelike crevice, revealing the tender tissue underneath, red as lava. I flinch from the contact, though Dane’s presence makes my heart beat a little slower.

“Oh Isobel,” he breathes, and the broken tone of his voice is the saddest sound I’ve ever heard. “You didn’t tell me, the other night! You didn’t tell me you were dying.”

Dying.The word sends a chill through me until I feel so cold, it’s like I’m already gone. I didn’t want to leave so soon, I think miserably. I should’ve had a few more years. Ten, maybe more…

“I’m only dying as much as any other human does,” my bitterness makes me snap back. I eye the splendid feathers that weren’t there all the times we made love. With those wings, he’s even further beyond my reach. “You’re the one who’s not following nature’s course.”

Guilt contorts that beautiful face I’ve come to adore so much, and I wish I could take my resentful retort back. If these are my last moments, I’d rather spend them swathed in all the sweet emotions we shared until now. Dane said he loves me. I’m so lucky.

“I didn’t know yet Isobel, I promise, ” he croaks, flint eyes begging. “I only became a phoenix two weeks ago. I was going to tell you after the tournament. And I was going to tell you about who I am too, I swear. That my parents…”

There’s scarcely any energy left in me. I don’t want to waste the little time I have wallowing in problems that aren’t important. All that matters is that in our hearts, we were true to each other – and that we stay true until the very last second.

But even moving my lips seeps the drops of vitality left in me. “Dane…”

“I’m so sorry, Isobel,” he chokes. “For what my family did to you before, and for what we’ve done to you now. So, so sorry...”

It looks like he’ll suffer from that much more than I ever will, as I’ll be safely carried away to whatever awaits me beyond. How cruel that I’ll leave this Earth with so many regrets. That the last words I spoke to him rang with accusation. I won’t even be able to reassure him and tell him nothing is his fault.

Knowing Dane, he’ll probably torture himself with guilt for years – or centuries, as he’s practically immortal now. The thought would make me weep, if only I had enough life in me to cry.

Dane does it for me. Tears gather in his stormy eyes and trail miserably down his cheeks.

“What am I supposed to do without you?” He whispers shakily, yet I can hear him above the cacophony around us. “You have no idea how much I relied on you, no idea how much you gave me. I was killing myself inside until I met you. What in the whole world am I going to do now?”

If there was ever one moment I absolutely needed to speak, it’s now. I can’t. I can’t tell him that he must promise me to heal, to let me stay in his heart as a happy memory and not a life-sucking demon. I grieved my parents so I know how losing someone you love can make you lose yourself, if you don’t have it in you to hang on.

But all I can do is watch those tears fall as he holds my hand with trembling tenderness, despite the power I witnessed during today’s battle. My vision turns dark as Dane’s face hovers above me, his searing gaze fixing me like two beams of light piercing through the clouds.

And then I feel a drop on my skin. The agony stops. The gaping wound on my stomach doesn’t stitch together but seems to halt, grow harder and tighter, as if it were fossilizing itself. My heart stutters. I don’t dare let myself believe in a miracle but… what’s going on?

Dane’s eyes widen as he notices as well, and fill with the hope I wouldn’t let myself feel. He wipes his tears frantically and spreads the liquid on my scar. I have no idea what’s happening, but I can see clearly again. The vivid colors of the crowd behind, the blue of the sky.

But more importantly, Dane in all his russet and bronzen glory.

“I forgot. A phoenix’s tears can cure almost anything,” he whispers with a radiant beam.

My muscles now have enough force in them for a small smile to form across my cheeks. I peer down. My scar isn’t gone, but it’s back to the way it was a day ago. The magic of Dane’s grief didn’t stop the wound’s spread altogether, but it’s no less of a wonder.

All of a sudden the ten to fifteen years that were too little yesterday seem like forever – an eternity I can spend by Dane’s side loving him, since he said he loved me too.

But I forgot that things aren’t so simple. All of a sudden Dane disappears as a burly, fierce-looking man grabs his arm and thrusts it into the air in victory. From the flash of his crown in the blinding sun, I can assume it’s Dane’s father – and no-other than the man whose army of Gargoyles killed my parents.

“All hail the new Phoenix King!” he bellows, and the audience breaks out with glee.

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