Young Writers Society

A/N: Chapter five for the Last Man Standing challenge. 1557 words. This is the third and final returning POV character (just so you know).

“A little girl with long burning hair swirled around in the powder snow, kicking it up around her with her small fur boots. Her breath turned to clouds when it met the cold midnight air, and the moon and stars seemed to envy her youth and warmth. They did their best to cast their light upon the snow so that it shone like diamonds, but no matter how they tried they could not outdo the girl in her splendour. Their jealousy grew as the girl filled the empty field with her chiming laughter, to the point where they could no longer tolerate her. They cursed the girl and her radiance, cursed her so that she would never be able to dance or laugh again. Her burning hair engulfed her and turned into feathers, and her body was broken and remoulded into that of a great bird. With every touch of her feathers the snow was set on fire, and the fire spread to engulf the whole world, until there was nothing left but ash.

The small phoenix was greatly saddened, for in the fire she had not only lost her world and her home, but also her family and loved ones. With her tears she brought new life to the world, and turned it green once more, but she could never bring back the ones she had loved. To protect the world from her flames she stayed in the air, so that her feathers would not make contact with any living thing. For months she flew across the lands, never stopping and never resting, not until the sun took pity on her. It could not undo the curse laid upon her, but it managed to help her. She was transformed into a girl once more, and the sun helped her control her fire during the days. During the night however, the moon and stars were still jealous, and they turned her back to a bird. The sun could see how the girl suffered, being turned to and from a bird, and decided to make a deal with the moon and stars. If the girl were to serve them for the rest of her life she would be allowed to stay in the form of a girl, and she would remain in control of her fire. When she passed away from her high age the moon and stars grew lonely, and made a deal with the sun. Together they would create new phoenixes every now and then, and in return the phoenix was to worship them all.

That was how our order came into existence, and that is why you have those powers. Everyday-"

"Everyday I need to perform the dance for the sun, moon and stars and live according to the rules of the order. You've told me that a thousand times, mother Vera."

The old woman raised a sharp eyebrow, which pushed the wrinkles from her cheeks up onto her forehead. "Then why did you go out into the town instead of doing your duties today?" Her voice wasn't harsh or disappointed, simply curious. The abbess had never really scolded me, not even when I was a child, but I was getting tired of the stories and the friendly nudges in the “right” direction.

"Because I wanted to see people my own age, and I wanted to see something outside these walls. It's not fair to keep me locked up in here. I want to live like everyone else." In the past - when I still thought there was a chance that the order might let me go - I would've sounded pleading and desperate, but now I couldn't even muster up that much emotion.

"Hillevi, you know the rules. It is not up to me. If the sun, moon and stars have a task for you that you cannot perform here they will send a guardian to lead you to where you need to be. No guardian has come for you yet." She smiled a small, slightly sad smile, taking another wheat cookie and dipping it in her tea to soften it for the few teeth she had left. "But you shouldn't worry, child. I'm almost certain that the time for you to leave our order will come soon. Until then, please remain on our grounds. You know the prophecy, and you know that it is only a question of time before the rulers of this land starts looking for you. Until then," she gestured at the plate of cookies, "try to enjoy your time here as best as you can." With the unmistakeable tone of wisdom that old people often use, she added: "There might come a day when you miss the boring times in our monastery."

***

I promised mother Vera that I wouldn't leave the monastery without permission again, and then left her room. The sound of my clogs against the cold stone floor echoed through the long, narrow hallways as I made my way through the maze-like old fort that the order had somehow managed to transform into a thriving monastery. The abbess was a nice old lady, just like the other sisters, but they couldn't understand why I wanted to leave. Unlike them I had never believed in the whole story about the sun, moon and stars. To pray and dance for them seemed about as helpful as praying to a rock. Sure, they were great mysteries, and no one knew what they were or what they had come from, but I couldn't help but think that they were inanimate objects. The feelings that they showed in the story I had never seen them show in real life, and I had never met anyone who could say that they had. If I wanted to I could probably leave the monastery for good, but I didn't know where I should go, and I was still afraid of my powers.

The first eleven years of my life I had lived outside of the monastery, much further to the south, but that had all changed the night I had set my family's house on fire. Luckily my father had woke up in time to lead us all out to safety, and then wake up the farmhands and have them let the animals out, but we lost our house and our barns. I was told that my father was going to sell the horses and some of the cows to afford to rebuild, but I had never gotten to see that plan come into reality. The night after the fire my father had seen flames creeping from my hair onto the hay we were laying on, and he sent me away the day after. I had been told that I was going to the academy to learn magic, and it still wasn't clear to me how I had actually ended up in the monastery, but I didn't want to complain. From what I had heard the academy didn't seem like a good place for me to be and the sister had always treated me kindly. Plus, the monastery was made out of stone, and stone didn't burn. Neither does snow.

Sister Torun and sister Althea smiled and waved to me as I walked out into the gardens. They were both working in the herb garden, using hoes to mix manure into the soil. It wasn't glamorous in any way, but they didn't complain. Instead they chatted with the same bright voices about everything and nothing. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the kind of happiness you could only feel if you truly believed that you were living a good life. All I ever felt when I was doing chores was frustrated. I knew there was something else that I was meant to do, a feeling that made my whole body itch to leave, but I didn't know what that something was.

“Hillevi, why don't you help us trim the apple trees? The snow damaged some of the branches, so you should cut them off.” Torun's voice pulled me back to reality, and I nodded quickly before going to the garden shed to get the handsaw. I needed to be more careful and not space out like that in front of the others. Even though they did their best not to show it, I knew that some of them were weary of me and my powers. Not only did I need to act like I was in control, I needed to actually be in control as well. There was a few times when I was younger that I had accidentally set things on fire, but the sisters had always been close with a pail of water.

The latter had already been placed against the tree, so I simply climbed up it and started working, sawing off any branch that the weight of the snow had snapped. As always I spent more time thinking than I did working, but I couldn't find it in myself to focus on something mundane when I was high up enough to see over the walls of the monastery. The town wasn't far away, and unlike the monastery it was bustling with life and activity. Who knew, maybe there was even some exciting stranger in town who could tell me about the many parts of the empire that I hadn't seen yet?