Rise of Phoenix by Christina Ricardo Page B

volley, a final attack to bring them down into the forest.  Serafin suddenly realized that the Guardians didn’t care whether she was captured or killed, they just wanted her gone.
    She panicked.
    She would have to use fire.
    She knew that there was nothing she could set alight, but the power of fire-taming was all she had left to fight with. She threw out her arm, hoping against hope that her magic would somehow be able to find something to set on fire; that somehow one of those Guardians would be carrying something that would burst into flames, causing confusion or terror.
    Nothing happened.
    Another volley of arrows shot towards them.
    She screamed and threw up her arm to defend herself. But none of the arrows found their marks. A gust of wind had carried them in the wrong direction.
    She was shocked, but knew her luck wouldn’t hold out. Even now the Guardians were readying for another volley.
    She felt Ash draining the healing energy from her and she had nothing left to fight with.

Chapter Two
Phoenix
    Serafin mustered the last bit of strength within her and summoned fire, desperately trying anything to help.
    As she did so, the wind picked up and whipped around her, knocking the dactyl off balance.  She threw her arm forward hoping to see flames materialize but instead a ferocious tornado appeared before her.  It tore through the Guardians, ripping the riders from their dactyls. She watched in horror as they fell, like children’s toys, into the forest below, the dactyls failing to pull themselves back into flight before they disappeared below the forest canopy.
    It took her a moment to realize what had happened. The fear of the battle had been replaced by confusion, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She was starting to lose Ash and the dactyl was struggling to stay in flight.
    “We have to touch down!” she called, hoping that Ash hadn’t passed out; that he had enough life left in him to guide the dactyl to a clearing somewhere. 
    He was weak but managed a weak nod and slowly they descended into the trees. Serafin knew that the Guardians were not too far from them, but with any luck it would take them a while to recover and gain their bearings. Luckily, it wasn’t quite as easy to track people within the forest as it was in the air.
    She would have preferred to keep flying, to keep out of the Guard’s way and get as far from them as possible but she knew she had to heal Ash and the dactyl before they continued. Even if it meant they couldn’t take flight again for fear of running into the Guardians patrolling the sky.
    The moment they were beneath the canopy, the heat of the sun was gone. The trees felt cool and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the shade. The trees in this part of the country were giants and the dactyl could easily fly between them, but with his wounded wing and semi-conscious rider it was a clumsy plummet to the ground before a landing that was closer to a tumble. As soon as they hit the soft earth, the dactyl collapsed.  Serafin slid off him, pulling Ash with her.
    Ash couldn’t stand, the arrow was sticking out of his chest and the blood was pouring through his armor. She couldn’t hold him upright by herself and he collapsed to the floor. She didn’t have much time; she had to stem the flow of blood quickly.
    “Shhh, it’s alright,” she whispered, delicately stroking his brow.
    She touched the arrow and he winced in pain.  It looked as though it had plunged in deeply, right next to his heart. She was relieved it hadn’t been just a couple of inches to the left. Even the greatest healer in the world couldn’t cure death.
    She knew she couldn’t risk pushing it through and she didn’t have access to the potions or poultices she needed in order to stem the flow of blood.
    She had no choice but to pull it out and heal up the wound as she went. It would be slow and painful, but it was the only way she was sure he would be safe.
    “This might hurt,” she