Stevie's Arc

Chapter 7 of 7

The crowd waited. Andromeda still held the lion pinned in the sand. Its huge legs pushed and slid, fighting the dragon's weight. Stevie's fear turned inward now. The trial was won, but the herald's words rang in her ears. Tame it, or lose everything. No one could do this for her. She had to walk to the beast herself. Her legs shook. She drew her sword. The bare metal caught the last light. Step by step she crossed the sand toward the trapped lion. Its blue eyes swung to her. She knelt beside its throat and laid the blade against the fur. She pressed until the tip just broke the skin. A thin line of blood beaded there. The lion went still. "Bend thy will to me," Stevie said, "or face death by my hand." Her voice did not break. She waited. The lion did not yield. It was proud. It twisted its neck and snapped at her, jaws wide. The teeth stopped short. Andromeda's grip held its shoulders down, and it could not reach her hand. It snarled and tried again. Stevie kept the sword steady against its throat and did not pull back. Then a small weight dropped onto the lion's nose. The baby phoenix. Its downy feathers glowed warm in the dusk. It stood right between the lion's eyes and looked straight at the beast that had once tried to kill it, the beast it had blinded to save Stevie. Neither moved. The lion stared up at the small bird. The phoenix stared down. Stevie did not understand what passed between them, but something did. The lion's breath slowed. Its ears turned. The two creatures held each other's gaze in silence, as if trading some private word she could not hear. The crowd had gone quiet again. Stevie held her breath and kept the blade where it was. The phoenix finished. It hopped off the lion's nose and crossed the sand to Stevie. It settled by her foot and looked up at her, calm. The lion let out a long breath. The fight went out of its body. Its legs stopped pushing. Its head sank against the sand. When Stevie lifted the sword away, the lion did not lunge. It lay still and watched her. "Andromeda," Stevie said softly. "Let him up." The dragon stepped back. The lion rose. It shook the sand from its white fur. Then it lowered its great head toward Stevie, close enough that she could touch it. She reached out. Her hand rested on its mane. It did not pull away. The herald's staff struck the ground three times. "Tamed," he called. "The beast is bound to her." The crowd roared. Stevie stood with three companions now. Phoenix, dragon, and lion. She had kept everything she won. But her hand trembled on the lion's mane. It obeyed her. It did not yet trust her.