Land of the Phoenix Chapter 9

The Sorceress

The lion-man just so happened to be close by, he had been wandering around aimlessly, regretting his treatment of Anne. Now, he was sitting on a fallen tree, flipping through Anne’s drawing book and thinking about the way she seemed to love or want to love everything, even if it was bad.

Suddenly, his lion ears tingled at the sound of a faint far away scream and immediately knew that it was Anne in trouble. He got up on impulse and ran towards where the sound came from faster than any lion ever could.

***

It wasn’t long before the crow-men stopped at a huge and magnificent but terrible castle. Anne knew that this was probably where the Sorceress lived and her heart sank. The door stood like the mouth of a dragon, its portcullis teeth opened and the bird-men took her inside to her doom.

Their footsteps echoed in the hollow throat of the dragon as the headed towards the dark stomach. There she was sitting on a blood red throne, the very person Anne had feared to meet since two days ago. The evil unfeeling witch who had haunted her as she followed the lion-man across this strange country.
The witch had a long glittering grey dress, white wolf ears and flaming white hair that seemed to have no definite end as floating snowflakes issued from the end. She leaned back smugly in her throne as Anne was dragged in before her and propped her wolf paws on a red velvet stool.

With enormous surprise, Anne saw her friend the stag-fly buzzing around the queen’s throne. It’s tiny hooves clicked as it landed on the handle of the throne. Anne realized that this bug was not her friend but had told the Sorceress where the bears and crow-men could find her.

The Sorceress moved slightly in her chair, drawing Anne’s attention back to her as she spread a horrible smile across her pale face.

“So you are the young witch who has been ruining my kingdom with your unwanted feelings.” She said n a deep menacing voice which reverberated against the stone walls. The crow-man pushed Anne farter into the room and knocked her cruelly to the ground.

“But, I don’t worry. Nobody cares about you, nobody wants you here, nobody wants your feelings and soon you’ll be gone and nobody will have to worry about you. You’re witching days are over!” She stood up proudly and stepped down from her throne and raised her staff at the girl kneeling on the floor.

***

The lion-man had just arrived at the castle when he heard Anne being thrown t the floor. He slid under the portcullis which, conveniently, had not been closed all the way (it turns out that fate placed a knot in the rope that lowers the portcullis and it got caught, and the guard had not cared enough to fix it.) His padded lion paws made it easy for him to sneak through the hall. Sunlight, streaming through a stained glass window in the throne room, lit magnificent colors over the room.

The lion-man saw Anne lying at the feet of the Sorceress, her doom written on the point of the queen’s magic staff. He sneaked further into the room, the blood-thirsty crows oblivious to his presence. The Sorceress raised her wand; Anne covered her head and the lion-man, against his whole being yet unable to control himself, stepped in front of the wand point. The earth quaked harder than ever as the Sorceress, angry at his interference, stabbed at the lion-man. She screamed, when the wand stopped short and shattered into tiny glittering pieces.

Another howl came from the Sorceress as the crows standing nearby were suddenly knocked to the ground and vanished. A glowing light passed over them and hit another crow next to Anne. When it passed over the lion-man and the girl they felt its warmth flow through them. As the wave of light approached her, the Sorceress’s eyes grew wide with terror, with her dying breath she whispered “The Phoenix”

The room grew brighter as the center of the light came closer, the lion-man helped Anne up from the ground and embraced her. They both realized that the curse of the Sorceress was over and the world was returning to its natural state full of feeling and meaning. The Phoenix was released because the lion-man preformed the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to give his life for Anne who taught him to love.

Soon the Phoenix arrived, its bright flaming feathers omitted the light that destroyed the Sorceress and gave light to the dismal throne room. Then, the majestic bird let out a beautiful call and flew over them, touching Anne with its long red tail.