Chapter 5 - Ember I see Lumi, of all phoenixes, hiding sheepishly behind Tundra. “Hi?” She says weakly. “What The- Oh my gosh- for the love of Icicle- WHAT are you doing here!?” I splutter. “I followed you?” Is her questionable response. Lumi steps forward into the cave, followed by Tundra. “Why?” I ask, confused. “I don’t even know what we’re doing out here anyway!” Lumi shuffles forward a few tail-lengths. “I was curious, I guess.” She says. “Luminescence,” Tundra says sternly. “We are going to let you stay, but it’s eagles for all your meals for a week when we get home. And you have to catch them. By yourself, with no help.” He scolds. Lumi looks down. “I’m sorry.” She apologizes. She lowers her head farther, and Tundra reluctantly repeats the motion. She does the same to me, but I hesitate before accepting her apology. Now I’m curious too. I mean, why me and not her? I sit down, and lean against the cave wall. “Tundra, why are we out here?” I ask. Tundra grimaces, and then he sits down. “I guess since we are alone now...” He looks around, and pokes his head out the door “Well, as you know, your mothe-” He stops abruptly, then nods towards Lumi. “Your mother,” He says, “As you know, reads a lot. She has loved to read since before either of you were of existence.” Lumi and I nod, waiting for him to get to the point. “One day, she was scouting around the rubble at the bottom of the mountain.” Whoops. I forgot to mention, our mountain was one of the few that made it out of the Great War. And even though it was hundreds of years ago, there is still lots of rubble covering the lower half. Aella still has us clean up rocks and boulders weekly for chores. Lumi and I always stall, but she eventually catches on to us and we end up doing it twice as long. Tundra continues. “She was scouting around the rubble, when she came across an old scroll. A very old scroll. One of the lost scrolls of the Temple of Carnelian, to be specific.” He pauses, waiting for a reaction, and he is not disappointed. Lumi and I gasp in unison. We both recognize the name of the Temple in all of our history books that we are required to read. The Temple that was lost in the Great War, destroyed in the attacks, along with all of the scrolls and books in it. “Ember, can you please give us a fire?” Tundra nods at a little pile of wood he brought inside. I nod. The fire inside me billows up like a storm, and I let a small flame out, directing it toward the branches and setting them alight. Tundra resumes. “In the book, Aella found a prophecy.” My eyes widen. There hadn’t been a prophecy in at least 500 years, from what the books say. “Well what did it say?!” Lumi demands. Tundra sighs. “Patience, child. I was getting there. The prophecy foretold of a great evil, born from jealousy and hate, thriving on unjust and power. This evil could be the destruction of all of us, every tribe.” Lumi gasps. I just roll my eyes. “Oh come on, this can’t be real,” I say. Tundra looks at me seriously. “Yes, it is. Aella and I have proof.” Lumi leans forward. “Really?” She loves fantastical, unrealistic tales of wonder like this, while I just can’t enjoy those types of stories. My brain just doesn’t work that way. “The only way this evil can be vanquished is using The Lost Ruby.” We both gasp. “But The Lost Ruby is just a myth, like the Lost Temple of Carnelian!” I burst out. “It could be real.” Lumi says quietly. I scoff. “As I was saying,” Tundra looks at me. “The only Phoenixes that can use the Gem safely are the Chosen Four. A single Phoenix from each tribe, which have powers that are beyond any Phoenix in all of Øyenes. And you two,” he looks at both of us, “Are in this prophecy.”
