Free Phoenix Reborn by Carina Wilder

otherwise. And now that you are spending time with a certain young man…”
    “You know about that?”
    “Absolutely. A wizard knows all.”

8
    “ W izard?” By now, Ashling felt that she was falling through her prolonged dream, her head spinning. “What are you saying?”
    “Shifters aren’t the only ones attracted to a place such as this. We wizards need magical landscapes as well.”
    “You’re…Gandalf?”
    Ranach laughed. “Don’t I wish,” he said. “Though my eyebrows are nearly long enough to be his younger brother. I don’t have the hat, though.”
    “So you’re essentially telling me that Woodland Creek is home to wizards as well as shifters. That I’ve somehow never known this.”
    “Yes. And imagine what a pain it’s been to keep it from you, and how difficult it is for the shifters to keep it from the normal folk.”
    “Normal folk,” said Ashling. She smiled. “I always wanted to be one of them. Normal, average. And now, suddenly, I’m not so sure.”
    “I’m glad,” said Ranach. “Now, do something for me: close your eyes.”
    Ashling obeyed, sealing them shut as the sunlight tried to penetrate her eyelids, causing her inner world to glow orange.
    “Try and shut out images of what you’ve seen, of the trees and the grass. Empty your field of vision.”
    “All right, I’ll try.”
    “Now create a blank canvas. Black or grey — just see nothing , if you can.”
    A moment later she replied. “Got it.”
    “I’m going to show you something,” he said. “Keep those eyes shut.”
    As though a film were being screened in her mind, a large book appeared before her: leatherbound, thick. On its cover were no words; just the image of a bird portrayed in some sort in gold leaf, its wings and tail seeming to trail in flames behind it.
    Ashling envisioned herself opening the book, and inside once again she found that there were no words: only pictures in vivid colours. More flames, this time moving, burning in beautiful waves on the page itself.
    She gasped.
    “It’s all right,” said Ranach. “Keep looking.”
    From the flames emerged a bird like the one she’d seen on the cover, shooting into the sky. It soared off into the distance, a trail of embers in its wake. And then it was gone.
    She turned the page, but the images had disappeared. Only blank sheets of parchment lay before her. Once again her eyes opened.
    “What did I see?”
    “You saw what you might become,” he said. “And though I have my suspicions, I don’t want you to tell me. It is to you to discover, when you’re ready. Just be aware, Ashling, that there is danger alongside your world.”
    Danger.
    She thought of Hawke in that moment. He might be willing to accept her as he knew her, but he didn’t know this: that she was truly a freak of nature. As exciting as it might be to gain the ability to morph into something other than a human, he was just a man. He wouldn’t — couldn’t — understand this.
    Still, something inside her felt liberated. At last, she was beginning to know what she was. She almost had an identity for the first time in her life. A shifter — and there were others like her, in this very town. How had she not known this? No doubt she’d even grown up with some of them.
    “How can I tell,” she began, “Who’s my enemy, and who’s an ally?”
    “You can’t, not always. There is good and bad in everything. But you will find that you learn to better trust your instincts. Listen to them and heed them, because they’re your greatest ally. If you meet someone who makes you feel comfortable and comforted, chances are good that they’re a friend. Likewise for the reverse.”
    “There was a man, the other night. Outside the bar. He said some very strange things…”
    “Yes, and there will be more. You have the power to defend yourself, Ashling; to be all but invincible against threat. But you need to learn to trust in it, and in yourself. Be kind to yourself. This is not an