Xi boa's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Azara half-carried Xi boa down from the shelf. His legs dragged. Each breath pulled fire through his chest where Drago's blow had landed. The burns ran deep, black at the edges, red beneath. Azara stopped and set him against a rock. "You cannot climb like this," she said. "The safe route is steep. It would kill you before the dragon could." She looked up the mountain, then back at the wounds. "There is a village on the cliffs. A healer lives there. We go to her, or you die here." They reached the village by dusk. Homes stacked up the slope like crates, stone on stone, stairs climbing between them. Terraces hung over empty air. Azara pounded on a low blue door near the bottom. It opened. A young woman stood there, grey hair spilling past her waist, silver eyes steady. She held a wooden staff. A crystal glowed at its top. She looked twenty, but she studied Xi boa the way only the very old do. "The grand healer," Azara said. "Lady moonlight. She is older than both our tribes." Lady moonlight did not waste words. "Bring him in. Lay him flat." They carried Xi boa to a mat by the hearth. The healer knelt and pressed two fingers to his chest. He hissed. "Dragon fire," she said. "It burns the spirit, not just the skin. My water will not reach this." She rose and crossed the room to a wicker basket. From the basket came a small bird. Its feathers glowed orange and gold. A tiny flame flickered at its tail. It was a phoenix, no larger than her two hands. The hatchling hopped onto Xi boa's chest and tilted its head. "A young one," Lady moonlight said. "Its fire mends what mine cannot. But it is new to this. It gives all it has, or nothing." The hatchling spread its small wings. Warm light poured from them, soft and gold, sinking into the black burns. Xi boa felt the pain pull back like a tide. The skin closed. His breath came easier. The bird's glow faded as it worked. Its bright feathers dimmed to dull grey. It swayed, then toppled against his ribs, still. Xi boa sat up. The wounds were gone. He touched the hatchling. It was cold. "It spent its life," Lady moonlight said quietly. "That is what a healer does." Xi boa stared at the small grey body in his palm. He was whole. He could climb now. But something had died to make it so, and it had died for a stranger's war. He closed his hand gently around the bird. Lady moonlight watched him. "You carry the flame's blood," she said. "A true phoenix dies and returns. This one may wake, if real fire touches it again. The eternal flame could do it." She met his eyes. "If you still mean to find it." Xi boa stood. The hatchling rested in his cupped hands. Now he had two reasons to reach the peaks.