The Phoenix’s Guardian

By Hailey Huntington

They called me the Guardian of the Last Phoenix.

In truth, I was the caretaker of the last phoenix, meaning that I basically just cleaned up after Ignis’s messes. But I loved the magical old bird, even if she had a nasty temper. Looking after phoenixes was in my blood.

I think that’s why I noticed right away when Ignis began acting strangely.

She was perched on the window ledge of her tower, preening her feathers. Their fiery hues weren’t quite as vibrant as normal, which meant that Ignis would soon enter the rebirth cycle once more.

I balanced a tray of blazing hot peppers—Ignis’s favorite—and walked up next to her. “Snack time?”

Ignis mutely shook her head. That’s how I knew something was up. Every time she neared the end of one “life” and a rebirth, Ignis became more snappish and demanding than normal, always complaining about how she felt so old and couldn’t wait to be young again. And peppers were practically the only thing she would eat.

I eyed Ignis carefully as I returned the tray to the tower’s table. Ignis kept staring out the window. Something like a sigh escaped from her beak.

I frowned. This “life” seemed to have gone awfully fast. Ignis’s last rebirth was only two years ago, right after Father retired, and I became Ignis’s sole guardian. The cycle shouldn’t have gone that fast.

Ignoring all politeness, I marched back over to Ignis. “What is wrong with you?”

Ignis just sighed, adding one more surprise to the day. “I suppose I should tell you.” She swished her tail across the floor. “This life is ending—”

“I know that. Your feathers are dimming.”

Ignis fixed a beady eye on me. “Interrupting is rude.”

Maybe she wasn’t as subdued and melancholy as she seemed. But that was good, right?

Ignis studied the tower room. “This life will be my last.”

“What?”

“My inner fire is dying. By the time I dive into the pyre, it won’t burn hot enough for me to be reborn as an egg.”

I frowned, and tears threatened to fill my eyes. “But you’re a phoenix. You don’t die.”

Ignis rolled her eyes. “How do you think I came to be the last phoenix? Death comes to all, eventually.”

I staggered back. If Ignis… died, the kingdom would go into turmoil. The phoenixes had always protected the kingdom, guiding kings with their wisdom. Ignis managed to keep the peace even as the only one left. But if she…

I squared my shoulders, unwilling to complete the thought. “Then we’ll just have to make sure that the pyre is hot enough.”

“What?”

I wasn’t sure if Ignis meant to mimic my voice.

Ignis shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

I crossed my arms. “It can’t hurt to try.”

Starting that afternoon, I began to stockpile. I didn’t just collect the ordinary wood and spices used to build a rebirth pyre. Nope. I gathered enough wood to fill the entire tower, except for the area around the door and where the oil jars sat, which I would use to stoke the flames.

Every time I lugged in another bundle of wood, Ignis clucked her tongue at me.

I’d just brought up another jug of oil when Ignis suddenly said in a solemn voice, “It’s time.”

Flinging on my heat-resistant cloak and wrapping a piece of the same material around my face, I sprang into action. Within seconds, I had the fire lit and threw spice and oil into the growing pyre. Flames danced in front of me, and their heat pressed against my skin to the point of singeing the hair on my arms. Ignis soared above the crackling inferno. I heaved jar after jar of oil into the blaze. Smoke billowed around me, making it hard to breathe. The wood snapped and popped as it burned brighter. Sweat stung my eyes. The fire licked at the stones where I stood.

Then Ignis dived. The fire exploded in flashes of scarlet and gold. I threw up my hands. After a moment, I lowered my arms and stared into the flames. It was impossible to tell if there was an egg hidden among the inferno.

I took a deep breath of hot air, and I coughed so hard I doubled over. All I could do was go down into the castle and wait for the pyre to burn itself out. Only then would I be able to look for Ignis’s egg.

The fire burned for three days.

When nothing remained but a small stream of white smoke rising from the pyre I returned.

I gasped when I stepped into the room. Ash covered everything. Shards of charred oil jars littered the floor, mixed in amongst the soot.

Carefully, I waded through the still-hot ashes and stopped when I reached the center of the tower. Ignis had hit the flames at that spot and should have turned into an egg.

A tear trickled down my face, and a sob escaped as my knees gave way. What was I supposed to do now? The king and his council would be… highly displeased. And Ignis. As much as I hated her attitude sometimes, she was my friend.

I grabbed a handful of ash and let it run in between my fingers. Through my thickening tears, I saw a glimmer. Something faintly golden among the ashes.

Did I dare hope? I dug and with a shout of glee that echoed through the burnt-out chamber, I cradled a tiny, golden egg in my soot-encrusted hands. It was smaller than Ignis’s egg normally was, and the shell felt thinner.

But she was reborn!

I grinned, feeling rather proud of myself. Soon I’d build another fire and she’d hatch, ready to terrorize me again with her messes and demands. I doubted I’d mind as much, though.

In fact, I looked forward to telling her “I told you so.” A lot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailey Huntington loves adventures, and she’s always ready for another one—whether it’s discovering Narnia, traveling across Middle Earth, hiking a mountain in Iceland, or simply going on a walk with her family. Aside from adventures, Hailey also loves board games, music, ice cream, laughter, witty characters, fantasy, emojis, and Jesus—though not in that order.

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