Chapter 6 - Lumi That takes a moment to sink in. I stare at Tundra in wonder. Ember is staring at him too, but she does not look excited. “Seriously?!” I squeal in excitement. “That’s so cool!” A hint of a smile pulls at Tundra’s beak. “No!” Ember says. “Not cool! I’m already in danger as it is, being the only Flame Feather in the Diamond Alps!” Tundra sighs. “I know, my child,” he says. “That’s why we waited so long to tell you both.” Ember grumbles incomprehensibly and folds her wings across her scarlet chest. “I refuse to believe it.” I shrug. This is so insane! And awesome. Suddenly something occurs to me. “But Tundra,” I ask, “Why did you need to bring us out here to tell us?” Tundra looks at me. “Why did I need to bring Ember, you mean,” I look down. “I said I was sorry,” I tell him again. “Yes, but your curiosity still got the best of you. You’ve read about Pandora, how she unleashed all of the bad things in the world with the magic box.” He says. “Yeah but she’s a myth,” I say. “Just like the Ruby! And the Temple! And destiny!” Ember says. “And destiny, and the prophecy…” Tundra ignores her and clicks his beak.“A myth with a moral,” He says. “Didn’t Aella and I teach you anything?” I nod grudgingly. Ember looks up. “Why did you bring me here?” She asks. “It’s not worth it for me to travel so far in the cold, you know what happened the first time.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I shudder as I remember Tundra and Aella taking us out for a fly for a treat. Ember faltered a few times, but it was only one of our first flights, so we didn’t think anything of it. Then she started gasping for air and fell right out of the sky. Tundra dove after her and caught her on his back, quickly transferring her into his claws because of her natural heat. She was unconscious when Tundra flew her back up. Aella tried to shield my eyes, but I had already seen enough. When we got back to the cave, Ember didn’t wake up for 3 days. Aella and Tundra have trained her so she can be more cold-resistant, but it was scary. Flame Feathers can’t handle cold very well, so it took a long time for her to get used to it and develop the muscle and other stuff she needs to survive. Her natural heat is the only reason she’s okay up here, and it’s not safe for her to disable it, even for a few seconds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ember snaps me back into reality with a burst of fire in front of my beak. I shriek. “Lumi,” She says. “Did you hear me?” I shake my head.“Tundra’s about to tell us why he brought me out here!” I fix my gaze on Tundra. “Great!” I say, folding my wings and sitting on the floor. Tundra takes a deep breath. “The prophecy also told of two more phoenixes. There’s a certain Earth Feather and a certain Sea Feather that we must find. They will complete the four phoenixes of the Prophecy.” Ember looks upset. “So that’s it. I flew all the way here, through wind, snow, and FREEZING COLD temperatures, just to find a couple of Phoenixes who are in this ‘Prophecy’ that probably doesn’t even exist?” She’s fuming now. I don’t say anything. “Ember, I can’t convince you to believe it, but the Prophecy is real,” Tundra tells her. “You’re the only one in your entire tribe who can manipulate fire!” Ember looks taken aback. “How do you know that?” She asks. “All the books-“ “Aella and I rewrote those books. We didn’t want you to know until you were ready enough to know. Aella knew you would be furious, and look at you now. I didn’t want to wait any longer in fear that you would run away. I’m sorry,” Tundra looks down. “I was a coward.” I gasp. “Tundra, why would you say that? You’re the bravest Phoenix I’ve ever known! You’ve taught Ember and I everything we know!” I yell at him. Im calming down now, but I’m just sad. “We’re your hatchlings. Well, at least I’m your hatchling.” Tundra doesn’t have an answer for that. We sit silent for a few seconds, then Ember stands up. “I’m done. I’m going home.” she dives out of the cave, flapping away against the wind. The fire disappears. “Ember!!” I yell. I dive after her, fighting the wind and snow, trying to make her out. I see a flash of scarlett, and I flap my wings harder than ever. I fight through the wind and snow, ignoring Tundra’s calls of “Come back!” And “You don’t know what you’re doing!” After a few minutes of flying, and yelling Ember’s name, the red disappears, and I stop for a moment, hovering in the snow, scanning the area. Suddenly my tail feathers are yanked down and I scream so loud Aella can probably hear me from Diamond Peak.
