Willow Thornheart's Arc

Chapter 9 of 9

The caravan reached the far valley by dusk. Dex had heard the rumors on the road. Word of a hidden refuge was spreading among the hunted creatures. But no one could find it. Willow rode with him now, hidden behind flowered walls. She wanted to see the trouble herself. What she found stopped her heart. A golden phoenix lay in the open field. Its feathers should have burned bright as fire. Instead they hung dull and gray. One wing dragged in the dirt. It could not fly. It had been searching for her sanctuary and starved doing it. Willow climbed down and knelt in the grass. "Easy," she whispered. "I'm the one you're looking for." The bird lifted its head and made a broken cry. Dex opened his pack. Willow poured a healing draught between the phoenix's beak. Its throat worked. A faint glow returned to its chest. She stroked the ragged feathers and felt them warm under her hand. "You found me," she said. "You almost died finding me." Her eyes stung. How many others were dying out here in the open, hunting a home they could never reach? A twig snapped. Willow spun and raised the frostward wand. A woman stepped from the trees. Short brown curls, a red corset, a bow slung across her back. Willow knew that face. It was her own face, sharper and harder. Her sister. "Charlie," she breathed. Charlie had tracked the phoenix for a week. She stood frozen, staring. Her bow hung loose in one hand. "You," Charlie said. "The witch everyone's whispering about. The one hiding the beasts." Her voice cracked. "It's you." She looked at Willow's two-toned eyes, the same eyes their mother had. The hunt drained out of her face. "I've been chasing you for months. I didn't know it was you." Willow kept the wand up. "Are you going to shoot?" Charlie looked at the phoenix, then at Dex behind her sister. Something old and petty let go of her. She lowered the bow to the ground. "No," she said. "I'm done. I can't hunt my own blood." She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "How do they even find you? They're dying out here for nothing." That was the answer Willow needed. She sheathed the wand and walked to the tallest oak at the field's edge. She pressed both palms to the bark. "Then I'll call them home." She poured her power into the tree. The frostward wand magnified it. Light climbed the trunk and spread through every branch. The oak began to hum, low and steady, a pulse only hunted creatures would feel. A beacon. Any lost creature would sense the pull and follow it straight to the sanctuary. The phoenix stood on shaking legs. It turned its head toward the glowing tree. Then it hobbled forward, drawn by the call. Charlie watched her sister and the golden bird. "Show me the way," she said. "I want to help." Willow reached out and took her sister's hand. The searching was over.