Rising From the Ashes

The phoenix stretched her spent wings and waited nervously for customers to arrive.

Blown glass instruments she had taken days to make, studded her merchant’s table like gems.

Aurora was a phoenix from a proud family, yet she was worn down, humbled by life circumstances. Even with the spells she cast on herself to look more vibrant, you could tell how weary she was, and how much she struggled to keep up her smile.

But a bird has to eat. Especially as the new laws restricted how much she was allowed to hunt.

Before long, a unicorn with a dazzling white coat strutted up to her booth. He assessed her glass baubles with wary eyes. Aurora tried to look friendly as she explained the charms and benefits of her glass wares. The unicorn still looked skeptical and asked her all sorts of challenging questions.

From behind the unicorn, another phoenix rose up like a cloud. He looked strikingly similar to Aurora, except for his shadowy form. Aurora glanced with fear at her dead brother Lysandre, and wished desperately that he would leave her alone.

But he never did. Lysandre would make her pay for what she did to him that fateful night, even if it was just an accident.

The unicorn haggled aggressively with Aurora, and she found it increasingly difficult to maintain her composure. Without warning, her brother’s ghost swooped through her glassware and the table burst into flames.

Aurora shrieked.

The unicorn whinnied and cursed, “I knew I could never trust you phoenixes! You birds are all glamour and no goodness. No wonder you keep dying, reviving, and dying again.”

The beaten phoenix merchant dipped her head and endured his diatribe. Not all phoenixes rise from the ashes, she thought. The phantom of Lysandre floated beside her, waiting for the next opportunity to strike and ruin her life again.

Aurora shook with the effort not to cry. If she were stronger, she would have sniped at the unicorn, who claimed to be a prince of the land. But she needed to preserve every ounce of her energy.

The unicorn trotted off, his head held high, like the entitled beast that he was. Aurora took a while to completely douse the flames. As the phoenix prepared to fly home, admitting defeat for another day, a green-eyed pixie strode towards her booth.

The pixie had stunning aquamarine wings and purple hair. She smiled at Aurora and held out two strange objects to her. A black rose and a white gown with blood stains.

Aurora stared at these items with consternation.

But the pixie looked warm and benign. “Oh, darling, you look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

Aurora flinched at her choice of words, but the pixie seemed to take no notice and went on, “You see this flower and this gown? These are items I used to track down someone who had hurt me a long time ago.”

A dark look came over the pixie’s features. “I have a feeling I can help you do the same,” she said. “So, what do you say? Will you join me, my beautiful one?”

Aurora took a glance at her brother’s ghost, and for once, he looked afraid. Lysandre whispered, “Don’t nod.”

The phoenix took a deep breath. And she nodded. Her face glowed with some of her old radiance. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help you.”

This story is a response to Bradan Writes Stories’ writing prompt, the Monday Mash-Up #4.

Prompt (2 points): A wandering merchant is trying to hide from a ghost who wants revenge. The ghost, only seen by the merchant, does everything they can to ruin any sales the merchant might make.

Aurora’s table catches fire (1 point)

A black rose from the Pixie (1 point)

A white gown covered with blood, also from the Pixie (1 point)

The unicorn prince acts like a “Karen” (1 point)

Palindrome “Don’t nod.” (2 points)

Total 8 points

Originally published in The Kraken Lore on Sept 19, 2022