Page 87 of A Trial of War
“Come on, Skylar. Focus!”
The winds whispered across the jagged peaks at our backs, lifting sparks of dust that danced like tiny fireflies in the high sun. Below us, the high desert terrain stretched toward Crimson City, along with endless paths weaving through untouched lands once home to the wilt to the west.
“I. Am. Focusing,” I said through gritted teeth.
Raising my palms, I summoned my magic once again. A red flame sparked to life, turning orange, before flickering yellow, and then fading into a pale white. I focused all my might into the flame, willing it to burn brighter. And then, despite my stubborn determination, it fluttered and dimmed before sputtering into nothing but air.
“Hmm,” Adohan hummed. “You’re not progressing as quickly as I’d hoped when we started this training weeks ago—”
“You try conjuring the eternal flame and tell me how easy it is,” I cut in, glaring at the High Prince of Crimson City.
Laughing to himself, Adohan leaned casually against a boulder in the middle of the field, arms crossed, gazeunflinching with an otherworldly patience. His dreads swayed freely in the soft desert breeze as he watched me, not with annoyance, but with something more like quiet amusement.
“I can’t summon the eternal flame,” he said, his voice smooth like honey. “Only a phoenix can. So, unless you know of any others in the area…?”
“No,” I said, letting my magic fizzle out, frustration swirling inside my heart. “I don’t.”
I clenched my jaw, trying once again to summon the eternal flame, but my magic was slow to respond. Attempting this same task over and over again all morning was beginning to wear on my reserves. My limbs felt like stone pillars each time I lifted my palms, yet I refused to give up.
“We keep going,” Adohan added with a subtle nod, his tone gentle but firm. “We know from the texts that you can do this, Skylar.”
“What we found wasn’t much help.”
“But it was a start.”
Optimism? Fantastic… I wasn’t a fan.
I dropped to my knees, fingers digging into the warm desert sand. The heat from the soil seeped into my skin, but it was nothing compared to the storm of magic I felt swirling inside me. I could feel it… the fire in my chest, the pulse of it beneath my middle.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about summoning the eternal flame?” I asked, with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Any words or guidance besidesfocus?”
Adohan straightened, his gaze softening as he considered my question. “How about… try harder.”
I laughed. “Great.”
Adohan grinned as he stood and walked toward me, taking elegant, gliding steps. The warmth of his presence washed over me, a stark contrast to the icy frustration gnawing at my bones.
He’d mastered his magic centuries ago, bending fire to his will with effortless control, while I was still fumbling, unsure of my own power. Even now, with his magic fully restored, he could summon only a white flame. That led us to the conclusion that the eternal flame was simply one step beyond his limits.
The fact that I could summon a white flame with only weeks of focused training was a miracle in itself.
“Maybe it’s more about your connection to your animal,” he said. “The magic of the eternal flame… it lives within the phoenix. You hold the spirit of the phoenix inside you, correct?”
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of his words settle over me. I looked down at my hands, my fingers still tingling from the failed attempt to summon the flame. The fire flowed through my veins, as if it were a part of me. Many didn’t understand, and as a shifter, it was hard to describe to anyone outside our kind.
My phoenix wasn’t a separate entity—it was me, woven into the very fabric of who I was.
“In a way,” I said, my voice quiet. “We’re two souls. But we’re also one.”
The memory of the Labyrinth flashed in my mind, of being torn apart and then put back together. My phoenix had been ripped from me, and when I had been reformed, we’d become something stronger.
But it wasn’t like I could talk to my animal spirit and ask for help.
Adohan crouched down beside me, his movements deliberate and controlled. His once brown but now hazel eyes, that carried a golden hue from the veil’s collapse and release of his full magic, studied me.
“You don’t need someone to tell you what to do,” he said, reaching out to touch my sternum. “The magic is within you. The phoenix is a part of your soul. Your fire, Skylar. It’s not a separate being. You need to trust it.”
I blinked, his words slowly sinking in.
