Page 21 of A Phoenix Reborn at Christmas

“Bollocks and broomsticks! What the fuck are you meant to be?”

It was a cute-looking chick with a bright-red beak and big, round orange eyes. They blinked at Leo. Brilliant orange feathers stuck out from its body and head. It opened its red beak and trilled.

Leo chuckled. “This is no raven.”

The raven croaked.

“Then what is it?”

The bird began to crawl up his arm towards his shoulder. Leo took it in his hands, cradling it against his chest. The bird nestled against him.

Leo smiled. “Well, whatever the fuck you are, you’re very sweet.”

Maybe it had lost its parents. He glanced up to the rooftops. Maybe it had fallen from its nest. But if it had, Leo was surprised it had survived such a fall.

Surprisingly the bird wasn’t cold despite being out in the snow on its own. It was actually really warm. Maybe it had a fever?

He spent a couple of minutes searching around where he’d found it to see if he could find a nest or any other birds. He saw nothing. But there was lots of rubbish and dilapidated crates and barrels. And urine. He could definitely smell urine.

A cat darted away as Leo looked behind a barrel. He wondered how close the bird he carried had come to being that cat’s supper.

“I better take you home with me,” he said to the strange little bird.

He’d look after it as best he could tonight. He would give it to his brother Briar tomorrow. Briar had better experience looking after injured or orphaned animals.

“I assume this is what you wanted to show me?” Leo said to the raven as he walked back the way they’d come.

The raven cawed again, hopping alongside him.

He smiled at the raven. She would definitely fit in with his family. They had a tendency to care for those in need. It was all a part of being a hearth and kitchen witch. He’d ask the raven to be his familiar soon.

“I’ll check on your wing when we get home. If you’ll let me, that is.” At least the raven didn’t look like she was in too much pain.

Leo stopped walking. Something was happening in his hands. He pulled them away from his chest. His mouth fell open. Because the chick in his hand had doubled in size.

It trilled.

Then it continued to grow and grow. It grew bigger than his hands. And still the bird grew.

The orange feathers turned to shiny and sleek orange and red feathers. The bird went from surprisingly warm to burning hot. When the weight became too much, he lowered the bird onto the snow, which immediately melted around it.

“What the fuck?” Leo didn’t know if he should run away. But the raven hopped around the growing bird, clicking and croaking excitedly.

Finally the bird stopped growing. It hunched on the ground. Its feathers trembled and shook. It was bigger than Leo! The orange and red feathers glowed.

Licking his dry lips, Leo put a hand on the bird’s back. “Are you all right?” he asked, not having any idea what to do in such a situation.

The trembling stopped. Slowly the bird raised its head, stretching its long neck. A plume of red and black feathers stuck up from the top of the bird’s head. The bird turned its head and blinked its brilliant orange eyes.

Leo couldn’t speak. The beauty of the bird had robbed him of all thought.

On wobbly legs, the bird stood. Leo stood too.

“What are you?” Leo whispered in awe, staring up at the bird.

Then the bird began to shake. Leo placed a hand to the bird’s soft feathers. “What’s happening?”

Leo cried out and tore his hand away from the bird’s scorching feathers. Flames licked along the bird’s body.