Nikolai

When Ash tossed me aside, I expected to feel something, anything but the emptiness I was feeling inside of me. How could I feel the intensity of Mary's throat being slashed and then feel nothing but sorrow? How could a mate survive their other half's tragic death? I'd watch my mom destroy herself from the inside out over my father's death, but looking at her physically, no one could tell that she had died on the inside. That's exactly how I felt; I felt dead inside. I could hear people screaming, swords clashing, and the smell of fresh blood spilling onto the ground, but I couldn't do anything to stop it. I couldn't move from the spot where I had landed.

I could hear the Alpha laughing and taunting me, jesting over Mary's unnecessary death, but I was too weak to stop him. I was too weak to put my sword through his back and silence him. I had failed my friends and my country, but more important than both of those combined, I had failed her. Mary trusted me to keep her safe, she trusted me to help her navigate through the evils of the world, and I, the most powerful creature in the world, hadn't been able to do that.

I was so busy wallowing in my emptiness that I didn't smell the fire or see the smoke. I didn't hear the screams coming from the upstairs rooms. I didn't notice the naked woman with the fiery red hair descending the stairs. The only thing that pulled me from my stupor was the pleas of Alpha Ash, begging for his life, begging the woman to forgive him for his sins. The woman seemed not to notice him as she walked toward him, her fiery flames following her every step, licking every part of the mansion. I heard Ash scream as his body was set on fire; I watched as the fire burned through him, incinerating him until he was nothing but ashes. The woman stepped toward me, and I hesitantly reached for her. Something about the curves of her body, and the flow of her unruly curly red hair, reminded me so much of my Mary that I yearned to touch her.

The woman walked up to me, but she didn't stop; she left her flames to caress my body as she walked through me. I expected to feel the pain of being burned, but instead, I felt tingles run over my body like someone had tried to tickle me with a feather. I called to her, but still, the woman didn't stop as she walked through the door.

I felt an overwhelming urgency to get up and follow her, so I did. I braced myself for the pain I knew I would feel when I stood, but there wasn't any; I felt brand new, like my body had been resting in a hot spring all day instead of wielding a sword and fighting against my enemies. Looking down at myself, I saw no wounds from the injuries I'd suffered fighting with the Alpha; my entire body had healed at an incredible speed. Could it have been the woman's flames when they entrapped me?

Upon opening the door, the scene of war, the dead bodies, the wounded soldiers, the floors coated with blood, and the smell of death, weren't there. Instead, it looked like I was in hell. There wasn't a single surface that wasn't burning, and standing in the middle of the flames was the fiery redhead. She looked around as she christened the ground, removing the impurities and destroying any evidence that a battle had taken place here today, but it wasn't just this area she was cleaning, it was the world; as I looked past the meadow that surrounded what used to be Ash's home, I saw that the fires went further than the eye could see. She wasn't just christening this land; she was cleansing the world. I could feel the heat from the flames as they continued to burn, rising higher as they stroked the trees and covered the sky. Soon I was in a ball of flame, trapped there, my only company, the fiery woman.

"Who are you?" I yell as I run toward her, knowing that her flames wouldn't harm me.

She smiled at me before turning away from me, not bothering to answer my question. Still, I ran toward her, feeling a pull I've only ever felt for one person.

"Mary!" I yell at the woman, wondering if she is the woman I've given my heart and soul to.

The woman turns toward me again; this time, tears run down her face. "How, Nikolai? How is the world so dark and cruel?" She asks.

I don't know how to respond, so I don't. I just keep running to her, but the longer I run, the further she seems to be.

"Why is it that children have to worry if their parents are coming home, knowing that they've just gone to the market for food? How is it that men and women are killed daily, but no one blinks an eye? How can women and men knowingly be sold off into slavery. Why is it that children are afraid to go to school? How is it that families no longer feel safe in their own homes? When did the world become covered in darkness?"

She's just an arm's reach away, but her words shock me, stopping me in my tracks. I can't touch her for fear of dirtying such a pure being.

"I don't know how the world got so dark, but there is still light in it," I respond. "There are people who will go out of there to make sure someone is having a good day; who are willing to hold their friend back and tell them truths that they don't want to hear. People who are willing to sacrifice their lives to save another. Some men and women will lay their lives on the line for their beliefs." I reply to her, my heart swelling with pride, knowing that I've met people like this and befriended people like this, "My mate, the keeper of my heart, the love of my life, She's taught me that there is light still in the cruel world, she's taught me to see the world in her eyes. She's made me want to implement changes that should have happened very long ago. My mate Mary has, My voice starts to choke, "had one of the purest souls. She will always be the light in my darkness."

"I'm not Mary," The fiery woman responds, reaching out and cupping my cheek, "I am the Phoenix, who lived inside her, the Phoenix that she rebirthed to save this world. Take what you've learned here today, King Nikolai, and help shape the world into a better place. And take care of your light, don't let the darkness snuff her out."

And then the fires surrounding us began to die down, the cocoon she'd wrapped us in gave way, and we stood in the meadow, all the darkness of the world gone, as lovers embraced each other, and friends ran to each looking one another over, making sure the other wasn't harmed. The fiery woman still cusping my cheek smiled as she observed the fire inside her, I felt her start to sway, so I wrapped my arm around her waist to support her. As her flames diminished, she fell against my chest, making me support her weight. I glanced down at the woman in my arms and noticed that the Phoenix had been replaced with yet another fiery redhead, wrapped in the safety of my arms, was my light. Her chest fell gently, rising and falling as she slept peacefully, curled tightly into my chest.