Ice Phoenix

He could have been from the future or another planet. One thing was certain, he wasn’t human. He wore a dark, knee-length skirt that was light, almost metallic in texture. Fire, water or acid could not leave a mark on it. His vest was made of the same material, distinguished from his skirt by a broad heavy belt resting on his hips.

Long white hair flowed down his back, an indication of race rather than age. By human standards, he would have appeared around thirty or thirty-five. He was also tall — around two metres — and his silver eyes glinted brightly in the firelight as he headed to the beach.

The sea failed to touch his boots as he walked across its surface, and when he had gained enough depth, he began to glide over the water. Despite his distance from the beach, he could hear voices coming from the houses. The neighbours had finally woken up. He glanced back, admiring the manner in which they formed lines from the beach to the burning house, throwing buckets of water into the fire. The only problem was — they were too late.

He looked away, gliding faster over the water. On this moonless night, no one saw him and the girl in his arms, or so he believed. He barely avoided the large form that torpedoed out of the water. Taken by surprise, he failed to see the tail descend. It caught him on his right shoulder and he grimaced as he felt it dislocate. He came to a dead stop in the middle of the ocean.

It hadn’t been a shark — the tail had assured him of that. He eyed the water warily, ready to defend himself if necessary. It was circling beneath, moving really fast, and it disturbed him to feel the intense fury emanating from it.

He shifted the girl slightly and she groaned. He looked at her with obvious concern in his eyes; shock had set in and her pulse was dangerously weak. He needed to get her to a hospital right away. But first, he needed to rid himself of the threat in the sea.

Puddy broke through the surface quietly. The stranger spotted him and tensed, preparing to attack. They remained still for a few long seconds, facing each other. A startled look crossed the stranger’s face. “You know this girl! You are trying to protect her.”

Puddy swam closer. When he was only about a metre away, he released a sad and curious sound. Years of friendship had created an unbreakable emotional bond between him and Terrana, and his call acted as a life-thread, reaching to her in the darkness.

She heard it, a safe and familiar sound in a world gone drastically wrong. It was an anguished voice, pleading for her to come out, and she couldn’t ignore it. She still had someone to love, one very important friend who had not left her.

The soothing sound of the sea filled her ears as her sight returned. Stars twinkled in the sky and she could see the Milky Way running clearly through the night. Someone was carrying her.

“Puddy?” she mumbled through burned lips. Her hand fell from her side and would have dropped into the sea had not the stranger shifted her slightly. He was kneeling on the ocean, cradling her to his chest.

A wet, familiar beak placed itself in her palm. Puddy made little sad noises.

“Puddy,” she whispered. She tried to turn over and cried when her body refused to move. Her burns were excruciating. Puddy nudged her palm gently, as if trying to tell her it was okay; that she didn’t have to move to see him.

“They’re gone Puddy ... they’re all gone. The fire ... took them. Why did ... it take them?”

Puddy nudged her palm gently.

“Archie ... pushed me away. He pushed me!” She choked, overcome by emotion.

The stranger looked around. He was worried because he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched. “I’m sorry, child. I must get you to a hospital.”

“Let me go.”

She was obviously delirious, he thought.

A low, mournful cry came from the dolphin and, surprisingly, it began to pull away. Terrana’s fingers clutched empty air and she called out his name. He resurfaced a few metres down, releasing another cry. The stranger also rose to his feet.

“Please, I must see him,” Terrana whispered hoarsely. He acquiesced and, applying as little pressure as possible, he shifted her so that she could see the dolphin. Puddy was still there, waiting for her.

“Please, put me down. I can swim.”

“Terrana,” he said her name for the first time, “it’s time to say goodbye.” It pained him to say that. He could feel her trembling in his arms and he sensed she wasn’t going to give up.

“Put me down!” Already, she was trying to break free from him. It could only have been delirium that blinded her to the pain because she shouldn’t have been able to move, not with her wounds.

Puddy wailed; a sad sound that moved even the stranger.

Terrana went very still, her expression shocked. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t leave.”

The wail was his last message to her. So deep was the emotional bond between the two of them, his cry had told her that this was the last time she would be seeing him. He was leaving the lagoon. The silver silhouette of her friend rose into the air like a bird springing for freedom before re-entering the water with barely a splash. Even when the water had stilled and all signs of him had disappeared, Terrana continued to stare at the spot she had last seen him until darkness swallowed her again.

The stranger breathed a sigh of relief. He had spent a lot of energy trying to shield her from the excruciating pain of her burns, and now that she was unconscious he could concentrate on getting her to a hospital.