Maya rubbed her hands together to stop them from shaking, and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she sent up a quick prayer for help. Then she opened her eyes and shoved some smaller twigs, under the pyre and more on top. Then she sprinkled some dead leaves around and through it, and took a cleansing breath. Taking hold of a couple of the smaller branches, she rubbed them together. Trying to get enough friction, to ignite a spark in the dried leaves. She could feel Jaden’s anxiety as he stood by her back, eyes sweeping the perimeter. He didn’t want to lose her, but to have to watch as she was tortured or worse while he was unable to save her was his worst nightmare. It was tripping all his switches, and bringing back his parents’ deaths. Maya could hear the voices of his past echoing in his subconscious. His mother’s screams, and his father’s roar as they were butchered, while he stood on the other side of the door. Closing her eyes again, she prayed harder for a miracle, before she again rubbed the branches together. She desperately needed them to ignite.
“Jaden you have to stop; you are making everything worse. Let the past go, and stay in the here and now with me. There is nothing you can do for them now. Balin is alive, but I need you with me, here while we still have a chance. Please,” Maya sent to him.
She heard the voices in his head recede, replaced by pictures of them together, laughing and loving and his cat turned. He stared into her eyes, the fixated stare of the cat, before the large head came forward and rubbed against her cheek with his own. She continued rubbing the sticks together.
“You have to stay alive Maya, or I won’t stay intact this time. Do you hear me? If anything happens to you, they’ll be hunting me next.” Jaden sent the words to her mind, followed by the scene of him trying to bring her back after her heart had stopped. She felt his pain at the loss of her in his mind, and rubbed her cheek along the cats, burying her face in his fur.
“I hear you, we are on the same page. What my mother never warned you of, is this. Now that I can shift, if anything happens to you, my phoenix will rise. She is also bonded to you. So if they take you from me, they will have destruction on their hands that you wouldn’t believe. You too have been warned,” she sent back to him then swallowed and turned.
She let out a whoop of excitement as the wood sparked, and the dry leaves began to smoke. Leaning forward, she blew on it, trying to stoke the flame and build it. She needed smoke, and lots of it. The big cat leaned over her and licked her cheek, before turning back to face the trees. Then he again began to pace around her and the pyre.