Chapter Twelve
They all stepped through and found themselves indeed in front of Bréagha’s small cottage, the last rays of the dying sunlight lighting the clearing.
The Sentinels all waved goodbye, then silently headed to their manor houses on the other side of the woods behind Bréagha’s cottage, their minds on what had just happened.
The other familiars followed close behind, including the two massive dragons whose Sentinels kept glancing upward, clearly unsure what in the world they were supposed to do with them.
“We’ll add what just happened to our search, Bréagha.
Sperwa, maybe you can come talk with me and Lily sometime at the library, see if you have the information that we need to truly understand what’s going on.
” Marcus spoke as Roz created two other portals, one to the library and the other to the Soul Keepers home.
Isadora and Donegal gave Bréagha a quick hug and slipped into their portal, their minds on their own questions about what was going on.
Lily smiled and waved her goodbye from her portal, before stepping in.
Marcus followed, after one last smile to Bréagha to try and reassure her.
Both portals winked out of existence and Roz was still standing with Bréagha and Sperwa.
“I thought maybe I could help set something up for Sperwa Pyre, if you wanted,” she shyly suggested. Bréagha sighed deeply and nodded gratefully.
“That would be great. I think Marcus still has my special wand. I think he’s worried about the chaos I could cause.” She waggled her eyebrows and winked at her friend who grinned back.
“Sperwa, where would you like your nest? Bréagha has an extra room upstairs or we can create an area in the backyard. Maybe a lovely greenhouse so you have a roof over your head but can still have flowers and things? Do phoenixes like flowers?” Roz stopped herself when she realized she was rambling again.
“I think maybe…can we make the extra room a greenhouse? That way I’m close in case Bréagha needs me? I’m not sure if I can phase to her like the other familiars can,” answered Sperwa, unsure.
“Yes! We absolutely can. Let's go see what we can do," exclaimed Roz.
She didn't get opportunities for large projects like this very often and practically bounced with anticipation. She raced up the steps with Sperwa and Bréagha close on her heels. At the top of the stairs, she turned left and went to the small room at the front of Bréagha’s cottage.
She looked around for a minute, then closed her eyes in concentration.
First, the furniture inside, just a simple daybed and side table, disappeared.
Then three of the walls as well as the ceiling disappeared.
The room expanded by a few feet in length and width before three walls and a ceiling, made completely of glass, fell in place.
Roz concentrated harder, her face scrunching up tightly. This wasn’t easy.
She placed a large nest of soft sapling branches against the only wall that wasn’t glass, partially sheltered by one of the glass corners.
She then lined the walls with various plants and trees, growing them to fill the area.
She added some tables with more plants, making sure to create a canopy above the nest. She opened her eyes and looked around, frowning.
Something was wrong. She stood for a few minutes, her eyes scanning everything.
The greenhouse was filled with fragrant flowers, herbs, and trees.
She studied the nest and the trees surrounding it.
She waved her wand again, her pink magic flying to the trees around the nest. She rearranged them into other corners of the room, then added a couple baby weeping willows near the bed.
Their branches created not only a canopy, but a waterfall of flowers and greenery that enclosed the nest entirely, creating a safe, comfortable place for the phoenix to sleep.
She walked over, pushed the branches aside, then lined the nest with bits and pieces of stuffing, to make it as soft as possible. She finally stepped back and sighed.
She turned to where Bréagha and Sperwa had been watching her work from the doorway. She took in Bréagha’s gaping face and even Sperwa’s bewildered look and giggled.
“Do you like it?” she asked nervously.
“I have no words. Just…nope no words.” Bréagha stepped into the room and looked around.
Rozengwyn had taken an old boring guest room and transformed it into an extension of the garden itself.
There were flowering plants of every size and color, she had hung fairy lights throughout the space for lighting, and they winked merrily through the branches of the trees that reached the ceiling and created a canopy, with just a little space in the middle for stargazing.
Moonlight filtered through and dappled the nest. She had also added a bit of humid air to make it cozy for a phoenix, which was causing the herbs and flowers to mix in a heady aroma that created calm energy.
Sperwa walked over to her nest and climbed inside.
Bréagha and Roz watched as she circled, moving a branch here or there before she settled in nicely.
“Thank you, Rozengwyn. This is better than any nest I could think of. This is wonderful!” Sperwa stuck her head under her wing, settled in more comfortably and after a few minutes Bréagha and Roz heard soft snores coming from the nest. They grinned at each other, before moving the weeping willow branches, making sure to cover the nest up so Sperwa could sleep in peace.
They then moved to the hallway, pulling the door shut behind them, quietly.
“Thank you for all your help, Roz. That had to take a lot out of you. Go home and get some rest. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.” Bréagha hugged her friend before she popped out in a flash of pink. “So handy.”
She then walked into her own room. She stood for a few minutes looking out her back window towards where she knew Aiden slept.
His light was on, and she wondered if he had talked Roz into bringing him a TV so he could watch his zombie movies before bed.
She grinned at that thought, maybe she should see if that was even possible.
She could show everyone the Tardis. She also wondered where his tiger, Makani was sleeping tonight.
At the foot of his bed, like a house cat?
She changed her clothes into a pair of sleep pants and tank top.
She ran her hands, like always, across the top of her trunk and the door closest to her side of the bed before climbing under her covers.
It had been a long day and like she had told Roz, who knew what tomorrow would bring.
For now, though, she had finally met her familiar and she felt complete in a way she never felt before.
All those years of floating through the foster system without an anchor or a place to call home, with only Aiden to keep her grounded in any way, had created an empty space inside of her that she didn’t realize was there until right this minute, when it was gone.
She was home, she was complete, and the future was filled with impossibly beautiful possibilities.
She smiled as she fell deep asleep. She could face anything as it came, she just knew it.