Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the book, that is all Diane Duane's, however everything else is mine - plot, a couple characters, etc. I'm not making any money off this, yaddah, yaddah; you know the drill… also, for clarity's sake, anything in italics is mindspeech, and the page breaks are there b/c won't let me keep my original spacing/asterisks/etc...

A/N: Yay… another chapter… after a very long break.. sorry people, I was away at camp all summer. Awesome summer btw, but yea… not so great for regular story updates unfortunately. As well, ….

This chapter is dedicated to Brightstarr-Bella -- Here is your long-awaited chapter and I apologize again for it being so late. Happy Birthday!

Chapter 9: Phoenix Fire

Kit woke up to a cold nose at his elbow. Wake up! a voice commanded. Kit rolled over and mumbled something sleepily.

Get up now! the voice insisted, its words accompanied this time by a sharp nip on the arm.

"Ow! Hey! What's going on?" Kit demanded, sitting up amongst random clumps of blanket and rubbing the red spot forming on his arm. He glared at the black wolf with its paws on his bed. She looked completely unrepentant and twitched her ears in the direction of the door, growling nervously. Kit glanced from her to the door, then opened his mouth, but she seized his arm in her jaws and gripped it warningly.

Quiet. Kit stilled and listened.

What? he asked finally in mindspeech.

I heard something. She said, releasing his arm and cocking her head from side to side while pacing about the room. And I smell Shadows, she declared. Close by.

What on earth do you mean? Kit asked irritably.

They're not from Earth. she corrected him, pausing her pacing. They're from my world, I think. That is what I was told at least. The Shadows followed us here when we were exiled. They almost killed us all. Her mindvoice dropped to a lower tone. They killed my family.

How can a shadow kill anything? Kit wanted to know.

They aren't real shadows; we just call them that. I don't really know much about them. Mother told me some, but not much of it made any sense. I think they were once werewolves, like me, but something went wrong on our world - I remember hearing something about a Dark Book and Guardians and forgotten or forbidden spells. At any rate, some of us were transformed into monsters -- silent, dark, and deadly, swift as thought and vicious as the demons of hell. Their power came at the price of their souls, but it was worth it to them. They became immortal - unless they're killed, but so far no one's been able to kill them, so we're not sure if they're actually immortal or not - and partially intangible. They can make themselves ghostlike when they want; no more tangible than mists or shadows. This is why we call them Shadows.

What do they look like? Kit asked.

Like wolves, She said. But different. They are sometimes no color that a normal wolf would be, and they have burning red eyes that seem to hide an endless void behind them.

I think I've seen your Shadows before, Kit mused. I think they're what we call 'perytons'. He looked around nervously. And you smell them here?

Yes. the wolf nervously began pacing around Kit's room again.

Are you sure? I don't sense any.

I could never mistake it -- the scent of bloodlust, death, and darkness. They are hunting me. I am the only surviving member of my family.

I've dealt with perytons before, Kit said with more confidence than he felt. You're safe here.

Do you still smell them?

Electra walked around the room, sniffing the air. No, the scent is fading now. They must have left.

"Well then," Kit switched back to verbal communication, "I'm going back to sleep then." He yawned, looked at his alarm clock, whose red numbers flashed 5:30, and lay back down, fully intending to sleep for another couple of hours.

WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!

A black bullet tore through the door and landed on his chest. "Ponch! Get off the bed!" Kit yelled through a mouthful of pillow. Ponch obediently leaped off the bed, but continued trying to nudge the pillow off Kit's face enough to lick him.

"I'm up! I'm up! What is it, boy?"

Hungry. And smell something strange. Like wolf but not.

Kit frowned and pulled himself into a sitting position on the bed. "Do you still smell it?"

No. New smell though. Like - like - camping. the dog finally managed. Like but not. Bigger.

"What?" Kit shook his head, trying to understand what Ponch was trying to communicate. "I don't get it."

Hungry. Ponch repeated, wagging his tail.

"Okay, okay. I understand THAT." He rolled out of bed and made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, accompanied by two sets of claws that clicked across the tile floor. He filled Ponch's dish automatically, then looked at Electra. Her silver eyes bore into his. An awkward silence ensued.

The wolf acted and sounded so human Kit wasn't sure what to offer her in the way of food. He didn't want to offend her by feeding her Ponch's kibble, but was equally unsure what else she could digest of the food available to him. He knew wolves usually ate deer and other wild prey - at least according to National Geographic - and he was pretty certain he didn't have any venison carcasses lying around. Before he could voice any of these concerns, a tremendous crash sounded from the backyard.

"Kit, if you've broken anything in the kitchen - !" A voice called from upstairs, leaving the sentence purposely unfinished, so that Kit's mind could automatically fill in the blank with a thousand choiceconsequences.

"Don't worry about it!" he yelled from the kitchen. Whoever it was muttered back something unintelligible, but Kit wasn't listening anymore anyway. He ran to the back door and stepped halfway outside, peering out into the yard in the grey morning light. "Whoa." He said.

What is it? Electra asked, shoving at his knee with her nose, trying to make him move so she could see outside. Kit moved mechanically, allowing the wolf and Ponch out into the yard.

Whoa. the black wolf echoed the young wizard.

A bird stood in the middle of the yard; a bird that appeared to be made of living fire. It blazed and crackled; shining golden, crimson, and bright shades of oranges with blue and violet tinges, flames leaping about its body. It almost hurt to look at it, and the heat it emanated made it difficult to focus on it, and the mirage effect only made it more unbelievable to its audience. It spread its fiery wings and let out a shriek that had all the power of a raging bonfire behind it. Kit, Ponch, and Electra were nearly bowled over by the sound.

What is it? the black wolf asked.

I have no idea. Kit told her. I've never seen anything like it. He was still in awe of the creature.

Smell like camping. Ponch declared. Except bigger.

Yeah, I see what you mean Ponch. Kit said. The bird did indeed resemble a very large campfire.

I think it's scared. Electra declared.

I'm going to try talking to it. Kit said.

Knock yourself out, the wolf said, sitting down as close to the door as possible. I'm staying right here.

Suit yourself. Kit began slowly approaching the bird. It paced nervously back and forth, flaring its wings out, but didn't seem overly agitated, so Kit continued to get closer. He stopped in front of the creature and said clearly in the Speech, I am on errantry and I greet you.

The bird let out a screech and leaped sideways into the patio furniture, scaring itself. It tried to fly, flapping its fiery wings frantically, but only succeeded in entangling itself further. Kit continued talking to it in the Speech, trying to calm it down, but it only screeched louder, and launched a more furious campaign to free itself. Without warning, everything touching the bird - lawn chairs, table, and lawn - burst into flames.

"Whoa!" Kit yelled aloudas flames licked at his shoes. He jumped back to the relative safety of the patio stones close to the door, searching for a spell to put out the flames, but he already knew it was too late. The fire was growing faster than any normal fire. In mere seconds it had become a blazing inferno, devouring the lawn and the fence, and hungrily creeping towards the house.

The bird's shrieks had obviously alerted the neighbors because even though it was not even six yet, Kit could hear someone screaming "Fire!" Before he could react, he heard the screaming sirens of emergency vehicles. Someone had called 911. Events turned into a blur.

Feet pounded down the stairs of the house. The bird shrieked from the middle of the raging fire, and raised its wings and tilted its head to the sky. It shrieked once more, then turned to ashes before his eyes. The back door banged behind him and there were gasps and demands of "what's going on?" "what happened?" "where did the fire come from?".

Seconds later two red fire engines pulled up and firefighters began attending to the blaze. Streams of water shot through the air and the fire hissed in protest like a living thing. Hands pushed Kit and his family out of the backyard and out to the street, a 'safe distance' away. Kit felt Electra and Ponch press against either side of his legs, walking with him. Faceless people surrounded him in the crowd that had gathered to see the fire - some neighbors, some just come to see something burning.

Despite its rapid ignition, the flames were put out swiftly before any serious damage could be done. Kit blinked slowly, still trying to process the chain of events. It didn't help that the fiery image of the bird seemed to be imprinted permanently on his retinas. Every time he closed his eyes he could still see it blazing before him, and even though he put his fingers in his ears, he could still hear its shrieks echoing around in his head and making his ears ring.

When things had settled down a little, Kit headed off for a walk. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going yet, he just had to get away from the crush of people to someplace where he had room to think and breathe. Soon he was on the well-trod path leading to the local park with his canine duo at his heels. Play ball? Ponch asked hopefully.

We'll see. Kit answered distractedly.

Kit wandered aimlessly through the park, finally sitting down under a large tree in a quiet area and tried to piece his thoughts together. Ponch wandered off, the thought squirrel foremost in his mind. Kit wasn't worried. Ponch didn't get lost. Electra turned a circle, then lay down beside him, nose on his knee, looking for all the world like a loyal pet. Kit felt slightly awkward, but since he wasn't sure what, if anything, to say, he just ignored her and put his head in his hands in an attempt to still the slowly-fading echoey screeches of the firebird.

Living creatures were not Kit's specialty. He worked better with inanimate objects. If it was a T.V. remote or a car or a radio… anything electronic! But no… it had to be a bird. An animal. Where was Nita when he needed her?

Neets? Kit sent out a tentative mindprobe. You there?

No answer. He pressed a little harder in his search. Neets! Searching a little deeper through their link, he heard her mentally talking to herself. Terms he didn't know raced through her mind at breakneck speed,a few tricklingdown the telepathiclink to him. She appeared to be trying to build a spell, although he had no idea what type or for what purpose - he only recognized a few of the phrases and conjunctions.

Kit didn't want to invade her mind, but he did need her help. Neets! he said louder, inthe mindspeech version of slamming a door or clearing ones throat - loud enough to get her attention.

Hmm? Oh. Hi Kit. Nita answered distractedly. Kit could still hear her mentally running through concepts, but much more faintly - she had closed off that section of her mind. I'm sorry, she said. I'm kind of in the middle of something here… can it wait a bit?

Yeah. Yeah I guess it can. He said slowly, a bit annoyed that his partner didn't seem to have time for him. He could make her pay attention. He could tell her what had happened with the fire and the bird. Before the thought had fully formed in his mind he heard himself say, My house almost burned down a couple hours ago and Electra thinks Shadows are responsible, and there was a crazy bird made of fire trying to turn my neighborhood into an inferno, but yea, it can wait.

Kit immediately mentally kicked himself. Nita didn't need to be worrying about his safety when she was busy and on assignment. It was immature of him to be jealous of Nita's attention, howeverhis bid for attention did have an immediate effect, as he knew it would.

Kit! What happened! Are you okay?

He felt the background noise of her mind tune out to focus on him. Although he still felt bad for worrying her, a small part of him was happy that he was now the center of her attention. Kit filled her in on the events of the morning and about Electra's suspicions regarding the 'Shadows'. You wouldn't happen to know anything about birds that spontaneously combust, would you? He asked.

Actually… Nita's mindvoice took on a thoughtful tone. What you described sounds remarkably like a phoenix - a mythological bird from Arabia, but to the best of my knowledge no real phoenixes exist.

Well this was definitely real. I have the singe marks to prove it. Kit declared.

Are you sure you're ok? Nita's mindvoice still sounded worried.

I'm alright. Honest.

If you say so. Nita replied doubtfully. I'll look into your phoenix thing if you want. There's some weird stuff going on over here, and well, I don't know anything for sure yet, but I think your phoenix might fit in somehow. I know this sounds strange but with some of the stuff happening here, phoenixes actually make sense. Anyways, I'll keep you up to date, but I gotta go now. I'll talk to you later ok?

Okay.

Be careful!

I will.

Kit felt her mentally tune out and slip away. Electra shifted beside him and looked up at him, a questioning look in her startling silver eyes. Kit shook his head. He didn't really want to talk. She seemed to understand, and without saying a word, she laid her muzzle back down on his leg. Kit leaned back against the rough bark of the tree and closed his eyes. He absently stroked the black wolf's head, his fingers tangling in her thick fur as visions of flames danced across his eyelids.

Fire sang in Kit's dream, its piercing voice ranging from the soft breath of a candle flame to the deafening roar of the deepest hellfires. It danced through his memories, casting flickering shadows into the deepest corners of his mind. In one dream, he saw the firebird, the phoenix, once again. It soared proudly in the desert sky, the hot bright Arabian sun complimenting with flashing whites and yellows the fiery crimsons and oranges of its plumage. It gave a great shriek and burst into flames, and just as suddenly turned to ashes.

As it did, a jagged slash of darkness split the sky, which turned from a bright blue to a stormy black in mere seconds. All light was drawn into the dark lightning, and shadowy creatures emerged from it, wolflike in shape, but larger than any normal wolf. They felt evil; twisted. Everything about them emanated a sense of wrongness, from their red-stained silver claws to their burning red eyes, to the green-tinged auras that shadowed them.

They snarled to each other in raspy barking voices, then one, deepest midnight in color, pointed his muzzle to the stormy sky and let out a howl to wake the dead shaking from their eternal slumber before snapping an order at his shadowy pack. As one, they howled, and more dark lightning flashed and sizzled in the air. A burnt smell permeated the atmosphere as the shadow pack leaped toward the tears in the sky and disappeared.

The world was dark and black, and thunder rumbled ominously in the heavens. Kit stared into the dreamsky wondering what he had just witnessed. Out of nowhere the shadow pack leader's face appeared before him, snarling. The midnight colored wolf turned its burning-coal eyes on him and Kit was immediately lost in their depths - sucked into the void behind those eyes. The pull was so strong that he could not tear his gaze away and the wolf's gaze burned painfully through his eyes and into his mind, where the pain amplified. Just when he thought he could bear it no more, the creature leaped at him, silver fangs flashing -

"AHHHHHhhh!" Kit yelled, opening his eyes and staring up into the leafy branches of the park tree.

Are you okay? a voice asked.

Kit closed his eyes again then opened them to find himself staring into the coolsilverdepths of a black wolf's eyes; a wolf who, thankfully,looked nothing like the shadowcreature from his dream. Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just … had a bad dream.

Dreams are nothing to be taken lightly. Electra said in a strange voice. They are often useful in understanding certain situations, if interpreted correctly. They can also be a means of communication.

Communication with who? Kit wanted to know.

With Those who can use them as a medium to converse and share information.

"Well. That's really helpful." Kit said cynically.

Just do not be to quick to dismiss them. Or forget them.

"I'll keep an open mind," he assured the wolf. I seriously doubt I'll be forgetting that dream anytime soon. He thought to himself. And I'm certainly not dismissing it either.