Ashes

A fantasy story about a phoenix girl rescuing a princess in a tower.

Once Upon A Time, there lived a girl different from all the others. For tho her father was a mere mortal, her mother was a creature of fiery immortality in human form. She would die one day by a sword or execution and rise from the ashes again in time for supper the next evening. It should be said, however, that immortality did not mean invincibility as one day this girl's mother fell seriously ill with an ailment that could not be remedied by traditional methods.

Luckily the girl lived in a kingdom with a merciful and kind king. Her King, King Lightquiver, had a mission for her, retrieve his daughter the Princess Sana from a tower guarded by another kind of fiery creature, and he shall bestow upon the half-breed a curative witches brew along with riches untold. So it was then that the girl Asha Flamewalk undertook a quest that would change the lives of her and her family forever. 

As Asha, waved goodbye to her parents, she had a sinking feeling in her gut. It'd be necessary to temper it if she was to face the creature the king had described. She would need to control her worry if she were to rescue the princess as well as to get that potion, and she was getting that potion. There could be no hesitation she needed to control her impulses and misgivings, not the other way around. 

  While she walked, she hummed a tune her mother had sung to her when she was a small child. She used to think it was as if the skies themselves were singing when she heard her mother's voice. The two of them used to joke they must be descended from sirens as well. She kept those memories with her as she walked forward on the path into the night.

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   Eventually, when she made it into a nearby city, she bumped into a beggar woman in the street whom she took pity on and gave some coin.

"Oh, thank you, young lady, this should be enough to feed the little ones." she crowed. 

 'S no skin off my back," Asha mumbled. She shook her head thoughtfully "No need to thank me, ma'am," she felt a little embarrassed by the gratitude. People around here must not be very generous, thought Asha morosely. Asha's mother had always taught her to be generous, if for no other reason than the possibility of good karma.

 As she got to the edge of the city later the next morning, she fumbled around in her bag for her grandfather's ashes, which her mom had given her to carry before she left. When phoenixes die, they burned out one last time after which they remained a pile of ash which was then collected by family and given to the youngest descendant on their 14th birthday. It was kept in a glass vile and would be released to the wind on the highest hill by the descendant on the eve of their next relative's death. If there were no descendants left, the ashes would be released by a close family friend.

"What, where are they?" Asha growled frustratedly. The beggar!! Why that lying, thieving, conniving, old hag!!! That was her heirloom, her ancestry, her heritage, her-. Her family, she had to stay focused and remember why she was doing this. She needed that cure. So she pressed forward determined to deal with the matter at a later date.

  Asha walked for another two days and two nights, only stopping when necessary. Nothing unimportant or trivial could stop her nor wind, nor rain, not another thieving beggar. She had to save the princess or watch, as Sana and her mother both died, while she stood by helpless.

 Eventually, she came to a bridge going over a beautiful slow little stream. This is where the king had said it would be.

 "Not exactly where you'd expect a dragon to be, sir," she had tried to inquire more at the time, but the king had rushed her off before she could ask any more questions. "Royalty," she murmured. "Can't ever just be precise can they."

  She looked forward and saw the tower looming in the distance and behind it a black scaley mass that took up the entire sky. It had a thin, lengthy tail wrapped around the structure like a vine. Looks like she had her work cut out for her, putting that thing to sleep would be no easy task. Asha grabbed for the dragon-sleeping powder in her bag. Even she couldn't win against a monster of that magnitude without resorting to a little trickery. Resurective immortality would only do so much if you had already burnt to ashes. The tower was in an open field, however, and to say this was going to be simple would be very idiotic last words. All right, she thought, don't exactly have any better plans. Just have to go for it before it gets me.

"Aah," she screamed at the top of her lungs as she rushed the beast head-on. The dragon wheeled uncurling its tail from the tower as it roared and let out a breath of bright orange fire at her. Just as swiftly, she rolled out of the way of where the blast was heading. It again growled snapping its jaws ferociously. To her left, she saw the sleeping powder which had once been in her hands shattered on the ground. Thankfully the dragon's movements slowed. 

She looked at the tower again and saw a girl with the most piercing pleading eyes staring back as if they themselves were begging for help. "You, need that cure, Asha,'' she prodded herself, "You have to save her."  She gathered all her courage and ran for the door before the dragon could even react to her movements. She made it inside and saw... A staircase at the top of which stood the beautiful Princess Sana shaking in fear. "Princess, I'm here to rescue you, just hold on," she pleaded with the girl. The princess nodded numbly as Asha ascended the stairs with a quick pace. The poor girl must have been in shock after all it's not every day she could have gotten a rescuer coming to her tower. As she reached the top, she gingerly stuck her hand out to the princess as not to frighten the girl more. 

 "Princess I am sorry to rush you, but if we're going to avoid being dragon food, we should hurry," she implored Sana. Sana nodded slowly and grabbed Asha's outstretched hand.

"How are we going to ?" Sana started as they rushed down the staircase.

"The dragon should almost be asleep," Asha replied. "If we're just slow, careful and quiet it shouldn't even notice we're gone," she said."I managed to hit it with a dash of sleeping powder before I dropped it," she grinned cheekily. "It's in chains isn't it," Asha thought to ask for the first time.

 "It can't be a guard if it's always flying around other places could it," Sana said.

 "All right, you ready," Asha asked as they reached the doors.

 "No turning back now," Sana said grinning just as cheekily as her rescuer. So they did quietly creeping past the now sleeping dragon, over the bridge crossing the river, and then they were out of its reach. With that, they started on the march back to the castle. 

 The king was, to say the least, surprised when they returned.  "Did you not expect her to rescue me?" Sana asked.

"Heavens no, do you know how many young men and women I've sent to try to retrieve you," He boomed."All with promises of gold, magic, and who knows what else," the king laughed. "I didn't expect this toothpick of a girl to succeed where some of the kingdoms most brave and strong warriors have failed. I'm sorry, give your mother my regards, young halfling." The king said.

 "But father," Sana pleaded, "She traveled all that way, and was the only person to actually rescue me. On our journey home, she told me that she lost her grandfather's ashes, and you know how important those are to phoenixes. She is without a doubt one of the bravest and most selfless people I've ever come to know, risking her life for this mission just to save me and her mother, whom by the way, she can not save at all now." Sana was getting increasingly passionate about it now. 

"And another thing-" Sana started.

"Sana, just stop it's over," Asha interrupted. "You're right your majesty I am weak, but at least I'm not a crook that sends people on a fool's errand for a good laugh when someone's life especially that of your own blood is at stake," she remarked. "Good day to you, my lord," She mocked doing a very exaggerated bow. Sana giggled as Asha was rushed quickly out the door. She wondered quietly if there was anything she could do to help the person who saved her from a lifetime being locked away in the tower by the beast.

 When Asha arrived home, she saw her father waiting for her next to a vial of ashes. For the first time since her adventure started, Asha cried. Her father put her arms around her as she explained between sobs what happened on her mission and how she lost her grandfather's ashes. Then finally, when all was said, together they started to mourn the loss of Asha's mother. 

There was a knock at the door. "Sana?" she asked wiping tears away.

 "Asha, listen, I know this can't make up for what he made you go through," Sana said, "But I hope this works as a start," she slipped into her hand a vial of ash, more specifically Asha's grandfather's ashes. Asha hugged Sana tightly.

"How'd you even get this," She asked.

"I managed to track down the beggar you mentioned and ask her what she had done with it and tracked it from there," Sana explained.

 Sana stayed by for a while until it was time to commence the ceremony. It was just her and father as they didn't have any other family, so they figured it was best to just do it then. They'd already been preparing if the worst did in fact occur. So without further ado, Asha said the words and scattered her grandfather's ashes to the wind and put her mother's ashes in her bag. Saying goodbye one last time she and her father walked in the house.

Author's Note

The ending is a bit rushed since I originally wrote it for a high school class, sorry.