Yara: Civil War

Chapter Two

    Yara sprinted towards the tree’s again, ducking under branches and huddling against the closest tree trunk she could find. She had read up on enough history that she knew how unpredictable Phoenix’s could be. For all she knew, this one could be looking for a snack. 

    “I’m a little insulted you think I would eat you,” a soft voice spoke, and Yara jumped in fright. 

    “Um,” she responded with a shaky voice, “Not to be rude, but I don’t know that.” The Phoenix laughed. 

    “No, little one. I do not eat witches,” the Phoenix cooed softly. “You can come out now.” Yara felt like she was being beckoned by her mother, by the soft way the Phoenix was talking to her. 

    “Wait, are you reading my thoughts?” Yara mentally smacked herself on the forehead. “Of course you can. I can’t believe I forgot.” She slowly made her way out from under the fir tree, being careful to keep the branches out of her already messy hair. Yara was completely unprepared though, for the magnificence of the creature that stood before her. Based on all the photo’s she had seen, compared to what she was looking at, they were all wrong. This creature before her was huge, towering over her at about eight or nine foot. Her red fur was long and shaggy around her neck and chest, small white flames lazily flickering in between. She had four lion paws instead of bird’s feet, the way a Phoenix had been drawn for centuries. Her beak was dark maroon, with a rusty orange color at the tip. The Phoenix dipped her head down towards Yara, and the witch could see that her eyes were blazing, liquid gold. Her sleek and lean body shimmered in the sunlight, and when she opened her wings to their full length, Yara was sure they were as large as an airplane’s. The Phoenix was breath taking. 

    “It’s okay,” the Phoenix laughed. “Everyone’s first time meeting me is like this.” Yara realized her jaw was hanging to the ground, and quickly closed her mouth. 

    “I’m sorry, it’s just- I mean,” she stammered, looking for the words, not able to take her eyes off of the creature. “Phoenix’s are extremely rare, and well, you’re defiantly not what you’re pictured to be.” Yara’s statement got a good hardy laugh out of the bird. 

    “Well of course, if you think man knew exactly what he saw when we came to visit, do you think I’d be able to go anywhere without being hunted?” 

    “I think no matter what you looked like in a book, you might still be hunted looking like that,” Yara blurted before she thought about what she was saying. “I’m sorry, it’s just, any mortal man that might come across you looking like this or a blazing bird, you’re bound to be hunted regardless.” Yara’s statement made the Phoenix stop and ponder. 

    “Then let me take a form more suited for your Earth,” said the Phoenix, and a brilliant white fire engulfed her before Yara could even comprehend what was going on. Next thing she knew, Yara was looking at a young woman, early twenties she guessed, with very long red hair. Her eyes were still liquid gold, her skin very pale. And she was very naked. 

    “Oh!” Yara exclaimed, shielding her eyes out of respect. “Um, please don’t think me rude, but your new body is going to need some clothes.” The Phoenix looked down at her human form. 

    “Do other humans not look like this?” 

    “Well, I mean, your anatomy is good, you look like a woman. It’s just, they don’t walk around naked everywhere.” Yara could hardly believe she was explaining to a Phoenix that people wore clothes. 

    “Hmm. The last time I was visiting this planet, people roamed around like this.” The woman snapped her fingers, and a beautiful, wine red robe shimmered into existence. She looked like a wild fire goddess. 

    “Close enough,” Yara told her. “Now, I, or we, need to get back to my home.” Yara looked around, the sun a few feet above the horizon. “There’s a crazy vampire that is going to start hunting me again, and I would like to put some significant distance between us.” 

    “Vampires,” the Phoenix hissed, and Yara took a startled step back. It was the most malicious sound she had made so far, and it honestly frightened Yara. “I came to this place because of a vampire.” 

    “Wait, what?” 

    “A vampire killed someone very dear to me,” she growled. “I am here seeking vengeance.” 

    “Well, you can help my cause then. But first, I have got to get home.” 

    “Where is your home?” the Phoenix questioned. 

    “Well, it’s here on Earth, if that’s what you mean.” Yara watched the Phoenix as she walked over to Yara, and held out her hands. 

    “Take my hands,” the Phoenix commanded softly. “Take my hands, and envision your home.” Yara cautiously moved forward, as if she would scare a bird off if she moved too fast. She placed her hands into the Phoenix’s hands, the woman’s hands warmer than she had anticipated. “Now, close your eyes, and show me.” Yara closed her eyes, and saw her home, a decent sized home, but not too big, it’s brick walls, bay windows, the manicured lawn, the beautiful flowers her mother planted that grew back year after year, the fountain she loved so much. It was her thinking place. She saw the forest behind her house, looming and protecting her home from prying eyes. 

    “You can open your eyes now,” said the Phoenix, with a smile in her voice. Yara opened her eyes, and saw her home. The cool air from the over cast sky felt good on her skin, and she wanted to soak it all up, happy to finally be back.

    “Oh, thank god,” Yara drawled, almost sinking to her knees. “Thank you, so much. You have no idea.” 

    “Well, actually, I do,” the Phoenix reminded Yara, and tapped her head. She blushed.

    “Once again, I forget you can read minds.” 

    “You will get used to me and my abilities soon enough,” the Phoenix jested. 

    “Yara!” a masculine voice shouted, and Yara cringed. Turning her attention to the garage, where the voice had come running out of, she put on the best good-to-see-you smile she could manage. Yara knew she was going to be in trouble. 

    “Heyy-yy,” she said. The man that ran to her now was her fiancé, Jorrund. “Now, I know this all looks, well weird, but I can explain.” She barely got the words out when he crushed her with a huge bear hug. “Can’t…breath…” 

    “Yara, you have no idea how worried your father has been,” he growled out. “What were you thinking?”

    “Um…” she stalled. “Well, you see, I can’t actually remember that right now,” she said, fiddling with her hands and looking at the ground. “I kind of got bit.” 

    “You what?!” Jorrund fumed. “Your father is going to be furious!” He paced in front of her. “Do you know how long this will last?” Jorrund quit pacing long enough to glance at the Phoenix for a second, and then kept on pacing. He suddenly stopped and actually looked, and then looked over at Yara. “Who’s this?” 

    Yara couldn’t get a single word out, her mouth open to speak, when she heard her father yell her name. She let out an exasperated sigh, watching him run up to them.

    “You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” he sighed, relieved his daughter was home. He wrapped her up in a hug, and then held her out at arms length. “What were you thinking?” 

    “Oh jeez, can we not focus on me right now?” Yara replied with an exasperated sigh. “I’d rather not talk about that right now.” 

    “A vampire bit Yara,” Jorrund tattled, and she threw her arms up in disbelief. 

    “Hey Jorrund, shut the f**k up!” He stuck his toung out at her and she went to give him the bird when her father intervened. 

    “Yara, who? Where have you been?” Her father was pissed, she could see it, but he was doing all he could to stay calm. 

    “A vampire in Dorran’s hoard bit me. I guess it happened while I was unconscious, because I woke up in a magic nulled room. Which brings me to the unsettling fact that I don’t know the last time I took a shower, and I’d like to go get one now.” 

    “Who’s this?” her father suddenly asked, obviously captivated by the Phoenix’s beauty. 

    “This is-“ Yara realized she didn’t know the Phoenix’s name. “Um…” 

    “My name is one a mortal can not pronounce, so you may call me Phoenix.” 

    “There you have it, this is Phoenix.” Yara clapped her hands. “While ya’ll get acquainted with Phoenix, I’m going to go get my shower now.” She looked over at the blazing red head. “If you need me, just let me know, but I really do need to get this nasty stuff off of me.” Phoenix nodded her head, her attention quickly pulled back to her father, who had a million questions. Yara walked up her walkway and through the elegantly carved cedar door, and she had never been so happy to see the stairs that led to her room in her life. She rushed up, and burst through her bedroom door. 

    “Yes!” she sighed contently as she walked into her familiar bathroom. “Hello shower, hello soap,” she cooed, turning the shower on the hottest setting she could take it. She let her matted hair out of it’s ruined bun, and stepped into the shower, behind a purple shower curtain. “Oh, how I’ve taken a shower for granted,” she groaned, feeling relaxed in the steamy shower. Yara had been spoiled with dimmer lights, and had them on their lowest setting, helping her relax further. 

    “I think you take a lot of things for granted,” she heard Jorrun say, and she almost slipped and fell in the shower with fright. 

    “Seriously?! Can you please, for my heart’s sake, not sneak up on me like that,” she squeaked. “I don’t think I could handle much more right now.” She held her hand to her chest, slowing her breathing down.

    “Sorry,” he muttered. “Are you okay?” She could hear him sit down on the toilet while she dunked her hair into the scalding water. Yara briefly looked at his shadowed figure through the curtain. 

    “You mean aside from loosing bits and pieces of my memory, being kidnapped in the first place by Dorran, of ALL vampires, and having a Phoenix show up?” Yara paused for a moment. “Okay, so the Phoenix isn’t bad. She brought me home, so despite the other things that happened, she was the good part.” 

    “Okay, hint taken. But this just proves my point,” Jorrund huffed. “Stop running off like you can fix things.” 

    “At least I try! What ever it was I was trying to fix anyway.” Yara groaned. “Can you tell me what happened at least, when I left here?” 

    “You actually left my house. You were all ruffled up about the Enigma.” Yara listened quietly. “Something about how you could feel something was off, and that you had a dream about it. You went to go check on it I guess, by the way you snuck out.” It made sense then, why Dorran thought she might have had it. Yara voiced the opinion to Jorrund. 

    “He asked me where it was, but I couldn’t tell him. He got upset because I got snacked on by an overzealous vampire. Jorrund,” she paused, shifting nervously in the shower, the water turned off. She was cleaned up, her hair washed and conditioned, her body feeling refreshed. But she had no desire yet to get out of the shower and face him, especially with what she was about to tell him. Blood magic was very, very powerful, very old magic. Not many witches could control that kind of magic, and the majority of those who had, well, they went down in history for being the worst. 

    “Here,” he said, handing her a towel through the curtain’s opening. “Put this around you and tell me what’s going on, I can hear it in your voice.” Yara grabbed the purple towel from him and thanked him, wrapping the towel snug against her body. When she was satisfied with her towel, she cautiously stepped out and peered around the bathroom door frame. Yara caught him laying on her bed. 

    “Hey, hey, get off my bed,” she scolded him, snapping her fingers. 

    “You know, you’ll have to share one with me when we finally get married,” he teased her, waggling his eyebrows at her. 

    “Ugh, don’t remind me,” she retorted. “I’m still not fond of you.” 

“Well, regardless of how you feel about me, it’s happening.” His blond hair fell over his emerald green eyes, and Yara had to fight the small feeling of likeness that was beginning to grow on her. She rolled her eyes at him and stepped into her closet, firmly closing the door. Yara hurriedly changed into a comfy grey tee-shirt and black leggings, and walked out with her wet hair wildly placed all around her head. She gave her head a quick shake to fix her hair and sat on her bed, while Jorrund watched her from a nearby chair. 

    “So tell me,” he started. “There’s something that’s really bothering you.” His voice took on a more serious tone. He was relaxed, but his gaze was boring into her skin, and Yara shifted again uncomfortably. 

    “When I escaped from Dorran, I felt a different kind of magic.” She bit her lip and looked out her window. Yara could hear her father chatting with Phoenix, and made a quick mental note to remind him to lay off the questions. She quickly explained her fiasco in Dorran’s castle, and when she escaped from the room. “This kind of magic…” Yara looked at Jorrund, worried what he might think of her. “I think I did blood magic.” 

    “You, wait, what?” He stared at her in disbelief. “Yara, you are one of the most powerful witches this family has ever seen, you could have just found a weak spot in his castle.”

    “Jorrund, I don’t think you understand. He is old, rich, and powerful, I hardly doubt he has cracks in his magic nulling walls.” 

    “But,” he stopped and shook his head, and was now up on his feet pacing around. “Blood magic? Are you sure? You know the council will want to hear about this.” 

    “No!” Yara yelled at him, leaping off the bed. “Jorrund please, don’t say a word, not until I can figure out what is going on. Between Dorran wanting the Enigma, Phoenix, and now my probable blood magic ability, I really just need you to be quiet. There’s too much going on right now.” He turned to face her, and saw the pleading in her blue eyes. “Besides, you know they would just take me, you know how they are.” 

    “Hey, don’t talk like that,” he said, scooping her into a hug. They didn’t have the best relationship, the announcement of their betrothal came at a bad time, and they hated each other when it all started. But it’s been three years, and he was warming up to her. “I will not let anything happen to you.” Yara sniffled, trying to keep tears back. The last few hours had been quick and overwhelming, and it was catching up to her. She looked up into his green eyes.

    “Why are you being so nice?” 

    “Because,” he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’m starting to care about my future wife’s well being. And because I know how you feel about the Council.” 

    “I would love a distraction from everything. Can we talk about something else?” She pulled away from his embrace, which she felt was getting to be too comfortable. Yara didn’t want to love anyone, and after her mother’s death, she didn’t feel like she wanted to open up to anyone. She dreaded what might happen to her if anything happened to her father. 

    “Well,” Jorrund quietly accepted her quick withdrawal from him. He understood what she might be going through. “You were pretty missed, by everyone.” Yara led the way down stairs and into the kitchen. “Please, here soon for my sanity, get ahold of your bestie and tell her you’re okay.” Yara slumped, upset with herself. 

    “I know I should have told her what was going on, but I couldn’t involve everyone. Jorrund, that Enigma, it’s incredibly dangerous.” She turned to face him. “I’m still regaining my memories, but I do know that its bad. If Dorran gets ahold of it, he could wipe out the entire vampire race.” She shuttered. “That’s like knowing another witch or warlock got ahold of an instrument of destruction destined for magic users, and the impending doom that we might all die.” 

    “You got dark on me very fast,” Jorrund said, making himself a snack. “But I get what you’re saying. We still have vampire’s as allies that I’m sure don’t want to be obliterated from existence.” 

    “And some of those governments rely on those vampires to keep the human population in check. I think they would be pissed if something were to happen,” she responded. Yara finished making herself a giant bowl of salad, and dug in. She moaned with happiness, closing her eyes and savoring her food. Jorrund eyed her for a moment before turning away and pretending to be occupied with his phone. Her disappearance made him realize how much he actually started caring about her, and now he was having other feelings for her that he didn’t know how to handle yet. 

    “Jorrund?” he heard his name come from Yara, the small, meek sound of her voice let him know she was about to need him emotionally. He turned to look at her, and had to refrain from leaning in too close. She smelled like lavender flowers after a good rain. 

    “Yes?” 

    “I know after we were more or less shoved into this arranged marriage that we didn’t exactly get off to a great start in this relationship,” she started, and his attention peaked. “But, what ever happens now, I just-“ she abruptly stopped and bit her lip. 

      Oh woman, if you could see yourself. Jorrund had to shift his legs to adjust his pants. He placed a hand on hers to ease some of her uneasiness. “It’s okay,” he assured her. 

    “I just want to know that you’re in my corner, I guess. I know that sounds silly, but I have a feeling that s**t’s about to hit the fan, and I just really need someone to back me up, you know? For when I go jumping head first into things,” she giggled a little, and looked into his green eyes. 

    “Of course, Yara, I will always be here for you.” His voice was unusually low and husky, and he had to clear his throat. “Just so long as you don’t go doing anymore crazy, dangerous galavanting into vampire hoards.” He fluffed the top of her hair, earning him a playful smack on his arm. 

    “Oh, trust me, that will not happen again. It was the most horrific night of my life.” She raised her hands up as if she was swearing an oath to Jorrund. “Our vampire allies are more sophisticated than Dorran and his creepy hoard.” Yara finished off her salad and put her dishes in the sink, soaking in the familiarity of home. There were plants all over the house, just the way Yara liked it. There were succulents scattered everywhere, pothos plants hung from every corner that linked their vines together, and beautiful fern plants sat displayed in huge, elaborate pots. She loved the feeling she got when she was around nature. Jorrund had walked out of the kitchen, and returned a moment later with Yara’s phone. 

    “Call that woman, before she show’s up here and I have to be around her,” he teased. 

    “Hey, just because she’s a bit excited doesn’t mean you can be mean,” she pretended to scold him. 

    “A bit? She acts like she’s drank eight cups of coffee, like all the time!” 

    “Okay, so she’s a little hyper,” Yara giggled. “She keeps me on my toes, it’s good to have a best friend that keeps you alert.” Jorrund playfully rolled his eyes and waited for Yara. She dialed her friends number, and before the first ring could even finished, Myra answered the phone. 

    “OMG!” Myra squealed, and it was loud enough even Jorrund could hear her. Yara held the phone away from her ear while she waited for Myra to calm down. “You are in huge trouble missy! Everyone has been so worried! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have came with you, you know that!” 

    “Myra, I wasn’t going to risk putting you in danger,” Yara explained. “Do you know who captured me? It was Dorran, and I highly doubt you would have been spared in there.” Yara held the phone away as Myra screeched, and she listened to more of her best friends lecturing.  Just like Yara, Myra’s family was an old witch family. 

    “That’s it,” Myra concluded, “I’m coming over right this minute. Someone has to keep an eye on you.” 

    “Hey, Jorrund’s here, trust me, he’s been keeping an eye on me.” 

    “Some eye keeping he’s done! You were captured by Dorran!” 

    “Well, in his defense, I did run off. Snuck away actually, they had no idea I left.”

    “All the more reason you need an extra pair of eyes.” Yara could hear Myra grunt, and there was a sudden sound of a mini explosion. 

    “Myra? What the hell was that?” 

    “Oh, just another experiment,” Myra coughed. “That was actually a good sign, it means the components are reacting with each other like they should.” Yara rolled her eyes and laughed. 

    “Okay crazy lady, I’m going to let you go so you can focus on that experiment you got going on, and not blow yourself up.” 

    “Ugh, fine, okay, but you better stay put, when I’m done here I’m coming over,” Myra promised, and after they said their goodbyes, Yara hung up the phone. 

    “You see what I mean,” Jorrund spoke when she was done. “I swear she’s always hyped up on caffeine or something.” 

    “I know, but that’s just her,” Yara sighed, missing her friend. But she also needed some down time. “Hey, is dad still talking with Phoenix?” 

    “Yeah, I don’t think he’ll ever stop,” Jorrund chuckled. For a moment, they both looked at each other, content and happy. Jorrund’s stomach got hot, and his body felt tingly. The way Yara was looking at him made him feel more aware about his feelings, and it was only getting worse. She lowered her gaze, feeling a similar feeling. 

    Suddenly, a low wailing sound could be heard everywhere, and Yara winced. “That sounds like the properties defense system,” she said, and they both took off out of the house. There was a sound that everyone could hear, but only magic users could feel the pull where a breach was made. “Quick, it’s coming from the back side.” Yara sprinted off, her feet feeling good in the soft warm grass. The sun was now setting, a brilliant orange shining against the tall pine trees. She could feel someone pushing through their barrier, and she wished she had brought her staff from her room. Jorrund took up a stance next to her, prepared for the intruder. Green fire crackled between his fingers, and Yara realized how good it was to have a warrior by her side right now. Several figures emerged from the woods, and Yara let out an exasperated sigh. A pack of ten wolves poked their heads through, panting and whimpering. 

    “Logan,” Jorrund growled, sheathing his fire. “What is he doing here?” 

    “I don’t know,” Yara sighed. 

    “I called them here.” 

                                                                                             ~*~