Phoenix Flame

Vivienne was soaring over the lands again, only this time she was not flying on Verene’s back but soaring beside her on wings of her own.

‘You must awaken. I will do what I am able to help you but I am unable to free you from the dragon’s mark. You must do that yourself.’

‘But how am I supposed to do that?’ Vivienne inquired. ‘I don’t have any magic. I can’t possibly remove Kaen’s mark. He cast a spell on my heart. And ‘true love’s kiss’ clearly isn’t nearly as effective as fairytales make it out to be.’

‘As I said, I will help you where I am able. Sadly, none but the dragons themselves have yet discovered how to remove the mark. All I can tell you for now, child, is that you must not accept the enchanted jewel the dragon intends to give you. He is likely to try to force you to wear it. You cannot allow that to happen, for the moment it is worn you will forever be unable to leave the dragon’s side and slowly you will take their form.

‘All things from the Dragonlands are cursed, including the dragons themselves. That is why they have come here, and why they stole human maidens. As humans possess the least magical power, they are the easiest to change. The dragons came to this world hoping to escape their curse, but by that time it was ingrained in their DNA. All of their females would die, eventually leading to their extinction, but at some point they realized that the enchanted jewels from their original world could change other species into their own. It is assumed that, because they are not natural dragons, these females will not be subject to their curse.’

‘Verene, who are you?’ Vivienne inquired as they soared over land and sea. ‘Why do you appear in my dreams? I’d never even heard of phoenixes before, so why me?’

Verene gave her a loving smile, as a mother would her child. ‘You will learn who I am when the time is right. For now, know that I am here to help you. We take it quite personally when one of our own is abducted.’

‘But I’m not a phoenix. I’m just a normal girl.’ Again, that smile that seemed to carry all the love and patience in all the universe.

Vivienne awoke to find Kaen staring at her as though trying to decipher some riddle. He did not look away when she noticed, did not care how she interpreted his regard. He was a dragon, and she his obedient servant, willing or not.

Vivienne moved carefully to avoid waking the princess. They often fell asleep facing one another while creating stories for the other. They would frequently wake up hugging each other. Vivian stirred as Vivienne gently pulled away.

“Sorry, Princess. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Vivian just looked at her. “How many times must I tell you not to use my title? We are equals here, neither of us any freer than the other.”

“R-right… What should we do today?” Vivienne desperately wanted to tell the princess about her dream but Kaen seemed to be listening to their conversation rather intently. She decided it could wait until the afternoon when he usually slept.

The girls decided on making gold angels, like snow angels but in Kaen’s hoard of gold and jewels rather than soft powder. They only made two or three each before deciding the firm metal coins were too uncomfortable to continue. It really was a shame they couldn’t make proper snow angels. When finally Kaen decided to ignore their antics and sleep until nightfall, Vivienne informed the princess of her dream only to have her reveal that she had had a similar dream.

“…Only, in my dream it was an angel who looked exactly like you.”

Vivienne shook her head. “If Verene is telling the truth, then I would be a phoenix, not an angel. And how do you know it wasn’t you? Not even your father could tell us apart…” At that, a thought occurred to her. If Vivian was the angel in her dream, could it be that she herself was Verene? No, it was impossible. Wasn’t it? Angels just looked like humans with wings. Vivian being an angel wasn’t too difficult to imagine; but phoenixes were birds made of flame. They couldn’t possibly exist. And in the form of a human? Ridiculous!

Vivian sighed mournfully. “I cannot force you to accept your nature, but the angel in my dream told me it’s the only chance we have of escaping. We both must acknowledge and accept our true nature. I am certain the people of this world would be quite welcoming of a phoenix. You would be heralded as a hero.”

Vivienne was quiet for a minute, thinking about her family. If she truly became a phoenix, in all its glory, and obtained an eternal cycle of death and rebirth, she would never see her family again. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Vivian said nothing, but hung her head in disappointment. Time was running out. The dragon would give them the enchanted jewels soon and they would be trapped for eternity.

Only six months remained before the two girls would be collared with the enchanted jewels. Vivienne still refused to become a phoenix to escape their shared fate.

That night, Vivian dreamt of the angel. It offered her a choice. She could accept Vivienne’s decision and remain by the dragon’s side for eternity, or she could force Vivienne to transform by presenting her a flower of the heavens, a marigold of fiery hues emanating the light of the sun. Vivienne wouldn’t even need to accept it for its power to affect her. Simply seeing its radiance would awaken the eternal flame in her soul. Vivian reached out for the blossom, but hesitated. She wanted her freedom but her friend’s happiness was equally important.

The angel gave a smile that felt out of place on a being of light. Vivian snatched her hand back, sensing this entity felt embitterment toward Vivienne. Why? Vivienne had done nothing wrong, had only wanted to help. Vivienne deserved a choice in this matter. She would not allow an angel of darkness, for this was no being of light, to pollute her mind against her friend.

“I won’t force this on her. It ‘s her decision to make, not mine. Besides, everyone I knew is dead.”

Anger flashed across the angel’s face before she regained her composure. “As an angel, you could fly to the heavens to visit your family as often as you like; and your friend will live eternally as a phoenix, able to accompany you on endless adventures. You would be able to remove any painful memories of her former life so she will not suffer.”

“NO. Her life isn’t mine to decide.”

“Very well,” the angel said darkly.

Vivian slept peacefully and without dreams for the remainder of the night. She did not have any further dream encounters with the angel and eventually forgot about the flame marigold. The days and weeks passed with the two girls falling deeper into depression as the day of their permanent entrapment grew nearer.

The morning before they were to receive the enchanted jewels that would eternally bind them to the dragon, Vivian woke to find a massive bird, its brilliant feathers aflame. “Vivienne?! Did Kaen do something to you?”

Tears fell from the phoenix’s eyes. Vivian followed her gaze to see her own hand clutching the stem of a familiar flower. The angel. That winged wretch would pay for making her friend suffer like this.

Kaen tried to make himself more intimidating. Was he afraid of Vivienne? Afraid that she would escape now? Vivienne shook herself as though to loosen her muscles for a strenuous activity, her new plumage fluffing as she did so. She flew up to look the dragon in the eye. As glowing embers made contact with Kaen’s scales, he became smaller, and his scales receded to reveal a person. The man seemed disoriented.

“What is this place? Where is Elora?” Vivienne landed beside him and he jumped backward. “What creature is this?”

“She’s a phoenix” Vivian answered. “Sir, what is the last thing you remember?”

“My elder brother and I were quarreling. He demanded I give him the ring our father left to me, claiming it should be his by rights. I refused and next I know, I’m here, wherever this is.”

“We are on Mt. Flamouria, in the kingdom of Felnor. Vivienne, does this mean we’re free?” The phoenix nodded. “Let’s go, then. With the dragon’s mark gone, we’ll eventually die from the cold.”

They started down the mountain, the no-longer-a-dragon stumbling along behind them. Eventually, Vivienne grew tired of waiting for him and decided to carry him. She nudged him atop her back and they continued.

When finally they arrived at the castle, the there wasn’t a single person whose mouth didn’t gape at the sight of the princess. No princess had ever returned from a dragon’s mark unscathed. A celebration was had, with special honors for the brave hero and the phoenix who had slain the dragon, for how else could the princess have returned? None would guess that the dragon had been cursed and only the breath of a phoenix could cure him, and none recalled that there had been two girls in the dragon's lair.