Chapter 10 Phoenix
Phoenix
The preparation for the ritual had taken the entire afternoon and then some to complete.
Professor Blackwood had been meticulous about every detail.
The clay from the cemetery had been shaped into a crude human form, no bigger than my forearm.
My blood had been mixed with water blessed under a blood moon, creating a viscous crimson liquid that smelled of copper and strange magic.
Karrick’s bone fragment lay at the center of the workstation, looking impossibly small against the dark wood.
“The full moon will reach its apex in exactly seventeen minutes,” Professor Blackwood announced, her voice tight with concentration. “Are you ready, Mr. Emberwood?”
I nodded, my mouth dry with anticipation. The pendant burned against my skin, as if sensing our intentions to free me from its grip. “I’m ready.”
“Mr. Laurent, I need you to stand at the north point of the circle,” she instructed, gesturing to a mark she’d drawn on the floor with chalk. “Your connection to Phoenix will help stabilize the energy flow.”
Karrick moved to his position, his amber eyes never leaving mine.
Even with the distance between us, I could feel something pulling me toward him, a connection that transcended the physical, that even my parents’ memory manipulation couldn’t completely erase.
There was something there, something meaningful. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
“Now, Phoenix, you must stand directly opposite Mr. Laurent, at the south point. The opposing energies will create the tension we need.”
I took my place, feeling the magic in the room beginning to stir. The air felt thick, charged with potential, like the moment before lightning strikes.
“When I begin the incantation, you must focus entirely on your desire to be free,” Professor Blackwood said, her silver-streaked hair gleaming in the candlelight. “Visualize the pendant’s hold breaking, imagine your true self emerging. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” I replied, though my voice trembled slightly. What if this didn’t work? What if my parents somehow sensed what we were doing? What if I’d been living a lie my entire life?
As if reading my thoughts, Karrick spoke from across the circle. “You can do this, Phoenix. I believe in you.”
Something about his voice, the absolute certainty in it, steadied me. I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on the weight of the pendant against my chest, imagining it lifting away.
Professor Blackwood began to chant in a language I didn’t recognize, her voice rising and falling in hypnotic cadence. The clay figure at the center of the circle began to glow faintly, pulsing in rhythm with her words.
The pendant grew hotter, searing my skin until I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I fought to maintain my concentration.
“Now, Phoenix,” Professor Blackwood commanded, her voice cutting through the pain. “Focus your energy on the golem. Direct it with your will.”
I reached out with my magic, feeling for the crude clay figure.
It responded instantly, the glow intensifying as I poured every ounce of my being into the connection, watching as tendrils of golden light stretched from my hands toward the small clay figure.
The pendant burned against my skin with such intensity that tears sprang to my eyes, but I refused to break concentration.
This was my one chance at freedom, at remembering who I truly was.
“It’s resisting,” Professor Blackwood warned, her voice strained. “The binding is stronger than I anticipated. Mr. Laurent, we need your energy as well.”
Across the circle, Karrick’s eyes met mine. Without hesitation, he extended his massive, clawed hands, mirroring my posture. The moment his energy joined mine, something electric shot through the room. The clay figure convulsed, its crude features twisting as if in pain.
“Yes,” Professor Blackwood hissed. “The cursed bone is responding to the Beastkin’s call. Phoenix, focus on transferring the pendant’s binding to the golem!”
My chest felt like it was being split open. The pendant’s chain tightened around my neck, fighting against our magic. I gasped for breath, struggling to maintain the connection.
“I can’t,” I choked out, my vision blurring. “It’s too strong.”
“You can,” Karrick growled, his deep voice cutting through my panic. “You’re stronger than they ever knew, Phoenix. You always were.”
Something in his words resonated deep within me, stirring fragments of memory, running through pine forests, laughing as I chased a beast larger than life, feeling completely and utterly safe despite his claws and teeth. The trust between us had been absolute.
With renewed determination, I focused on the golem, visualizing the pendant’s burning grip transferring from my chest to the clay figure. The room began to spin around me as the magic pulled at my very essence.
“The moon is at its apex!” Professor Blackwood announced. “Now!”
She slammed her palm down onto the clay figure, and a shock wave of power erupted through the room. The pendant around my neck gave one final, searing pulse of heat before suddenly going cold. I felt something snap inside me, like chains breaking, and collapsed to my knees.
For a moment, everything was silent except for our ragged breathing. Then Professor Blackwood’s voice, tinged with triumph. “It worked.”
I looked down at my chest where the pendant still hung, now visible to all, a small silver disk etched with the Purity Front’s symbol. But it no longer burned. It was just metal now, powerless. And when I looked at the golem, I saw a crude clay replica of the same pendant around its neck.
“Phoenix?” Karrick’s voice was hesitant, concerned.
I lifted my gaze to find him still standing across the circle, uncertainty written across his bestial features. The distance between us suddenly felt unbearable.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” I whispered, slowly rising to my feet. With trembling fingers, I removed the pendant and dropped it to the floor. It landed with a dull thud that seemed to echo through my entire being.
I took a step forward, then another, crossing the boundary of the chalk circle.
Karrick remained frozen in place, his amber eyes wide with disbelief.
Without the pendant’s burning constraint, I could finally see him clearly, not just his physical form, but the soul beneath.
Something stirred in the depths of my mind, like curtains being drawn back to reveal a landscape I’d forgotten existed.
“Karrick,” I whispered, my voice breaking on his name.
I crossed the remaining distance between us, each step bringing more clarity. Memories flickered at the edges of my consciousness, running through pine forests, swimming in a creek while he watched from the shore, his bestial form terrifying to everyone but me.
When I reached him, I did what felt most natural; I threw my arms around his massive frame, burying my face in the thick fur of his chest. He stiffened for a moment, then his arms slowly encircled me, careful and gentle despite their strength and size.
“Phoenix,” he breathed, his voice rumbling through his chest against my ear.
Professor Blackwood cleared her throat. “The ritual was successful, but we’re not done yet. The memories, Mr. Emberwood, they’re still locked away.”
I reluctantly pulled back from Karrick’s embrace, though I kept one hand on his arm, unwilling to break contact completely. “How do we unlock them?”
She approached with a small vial containing a swirling silver liquid. “This will dissolve the memory blocks your parents placed. It won’t be pleasant, and the memories will return all at once. Are you prepared for that?”
I glanced up at Karrick, finding strength in his steady gaze. “I need to remember. All of it.”
“Very well.” She handed me the vial. “Drink it quickly.”
I uncorked the small container and tipped the contents into my mouth. The liquid tasted of winter frost and bitter herbs, cold as it slid down my throat. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then pain exploded behind my eyes.
I gasped, clutching my head as images flooded my mind in a chaotic torrent.
A forest clearing. Karrick shifting forms for the first time in front of me.
My small hand reaching out fearlessly to touch his fur.
The two of us building a fort by the creek.
Sharing secrets under starlight. My parents’ faces twisted with disgust when they discovered us together.
Their hands on my shoulders, dragging me away as I screamed his name.
The ritual they performed while I sobbed, begging them not to take my memories.
The emptiness afterward, the hole in my heart I could never explain.
My knees buckled, and Karrick caught me before I hit the floor, his strong arms cradling me against his chest.
“I remember,” I choked out, tears streaming down my face. “I remember everything.”
The pain was excruciating, not just from the memories returning, but from the betrayal, the years of lies, the realization of how completely my parents had violated my mind and soul.
“They made me forget you,” I whispered against his fur, my voice raw with grief and rage. “They made me forget the best part of my childhood. The best part of myself.”
Karrick’s arms tightened around me protectively. “I know,” he murmured, his deep voice vibrating through his chest. “I know, and I’m so fucking sorry, Phoenix.”
More memories crashed over me in waves. The way he used to carry me on his back through the forest when I got tired.
How he’d patiently teach me to skip stones while I helped him practice human speech in his shifted form.
The promises we’d made to always be friends, to never leave each other.
The absolute devastation on his face when my parents dragged me away, his roars of anguish echoing through the trees.
“You tried to follow us,” I gasped, the memory so vivid it felt like it was happening again. “You ran after the car.”
“I… I tried to forget,” he confirmed quietly. “I convinced myself it never happened.”
I pulled back to look at his face, seeing past the bestial features to the boy I’d loved so fiercely. Because that’s what it had been, wasn’t it? Love in its purest form, innocent and all-consuming.
“I never wanted to leave you,” I said, my hands fisting in his fur. “They forced me. They held me down while they—” My voice broke. “While they stole you from my mind.”
Professor Blackwood approached cautiously, her expression softer than I’d ever seen it.
“The trauma of having memories forcibly removed is severe,” she said gently.
“Especially at such a young age. Your parents committed a form of magical assault that would have them imprisoned by the Elder Council.”
Rage flared in my chest, hot and wild. The candles around the room suddenly blazed higher, responding to my emotional state. “They said it was for my own good,” I snarled. “They said monsters would corrupt me, turn me against my own kind.”
“You were never corrupted,” Karrick said firmly, his clawed hand coming up to cup my face. “You were the bravest, kindest person I’d ever met. You saw past what I was to who I was.”
I leaned into his touch, marveling at how right it felt, how perfectly my face fit in his palm despite the size difference.
“I missed you so much, Karrick,” I said, knowing I felt a whole lot more than that.
But the emotions were already too overwhelming.
It was hard to decide what was real and what was just the rush of magic flowing through me. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Well, I’m here now,” he smiled, his tusks showing proudly. “And we’re gonna pick up right where we left off, alright? I’m still your best friend, if you’ll have me?”
I didn’t need to think twice about that.
“Of course you are,” I replied, throwing my arms around him once more.
Then, suddenly remembering, I reached into my breast pocket and withdrew a crumpled photograph with frayed edges of two young boys.
I held it up to Karrick. “I think… I think you always have been.”
Karrick’s eyes misted over as his arms wrapped around me, holding me tight once more.
There was a warmth growing in my belly, something that had nothing to do with friendship.
But it was there, burning away like a flame that I couldn’t put out.
This Beastkin was more than just a friend to me, of that, I was sure.
Even without memories I’d kept his photograph for years, not knowing who it was.
Obviously there was more than just friendship there.
But for all the miracles of the day so far, there was still one question left unanswered.
Was I more than just a friend to him?