Sofia: Phoenix Rising - Fire and Water Book 2
Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

“NOOOO!” I sit up in the bed breathing hard. The same dream that has been tormenting me for the past month now, has me screaming out in my sleep again. I hear Ash stirring next to me and I wonder how he got there for a brief moment before my memory returns to me of last night. We had drifted off to sleep during the movie.

The nightmare is still haunting my vision as I see Ash’s eyelids fluttering open to peer at me. “Are you okay? What’s wrong,” he asks groggily. “Did you have another nightmare?” I shake my head no and then shake my head yes because for some reason, my voice doesn’t want to work when I try to speak. Ash is now sitting upright as well and he places his hand against the side of my face, and using his thumb, he attempts to wipe away the tears that have decided to slip down my cheek.

“Shh, shh. I’m here. You’re okay. Just breathe in and out a couple of times.” I give Ash a meek smile for the words he is offering me as he tries to comfort me. As my breathing steadies, I realize that at some point during the night, Ash had removed his t-shirt. I know, an odd thing to notice but the mind does odd things in panic, right?

He pulls me into the crook of his arm and places a kiss on the top of my head. Tipping my head back to look at his face, he leans towards me and kisses the tip of my nose. These kisses make their way down to my cheeks and to my neck. The only thing I feel appropriate in doing is returning these kisses with ones of my own upon him. Before either of us realize it, we are mere seconds away from consummating our relationship.

To my surprise, Ash stops what is happening between us! “Sofia. No, we’ve got to stop. I promised your father!” And if those words don’t put a halt to doing what we were doing, well then, I don’t know what those words would be. I flop back against the pillows and groan and then I giggle against his chest.

“You are a much better man than I am Mr. Dritan!” Stating this causes a whomp in the face from a pillow that Ash has grabbed and tossed at my head. “Ow! What was that for?”

“You’re a butt Sofia Einan, you know that?” Ash says this but he is grinning the whole time. I fall against him, and he wraps his arms around me. “Go to sleep,” he whispers, after which he kisses me once and then snuggles against me.

With a yawn, I wake up and stretch my arms above my head at the same time pointing my toes, stretching my calf muscles too. On purpose I let an obnoxious noise escape my lips before I move my head so that I can crack an eye open and peek at Ash. “I’m not sure I can do this relationship thing with you little Shelia; not if you’re going to wake me every morning with atrocious sounds like that.” In the blink of an eye, he has pulled me into him and begins to tickle me.

“Ah! No! Stop!” I shriek out in between laughter. “I surrender! White flag. ASH! STOOOOP!” The only reason why he stops when he does is because his phone rings, interrupting him. “Thank God, saved by the ringing!”

“This isn’t over with little Miss!” He winks at me and then I hear him push a button on his phone before he answers, “hello.” Ash swings his legs over the side of the bed as I watch him sit his phone down and slip his t-shirt quickly over his head and beautifully sculptured chest and then pick his phone back up. “Yeah, Charlie, I’m still here. You said she can meet with Sofia around noon? Okay, I will go wake her up and let her know.”

I give Ash a questioning look because he has gone quiet while he is listening to whatever Charlie is saying on the other side. Suddenly he bursts out laughing. “No, I haven’t forgot Charlie. I still remember that you are a Seer.” This in turn causes me to laugh out loud as well. Did he really think Charlie didn’t know we were sharing a bed? Ha-ha.

Kestrel Faulkner with her piercing green eyes and dark brown hair is staring at me. Honestly, I feel like she is staring into my soul. I’m standing next to Ash but I’m not standing still. I keep shifting my weight from one leg to the other and probably appear as though I need to use the restroom, which isn’t a far-off assumption. This chick who doesn’t look to be more than twenty-five, has all kinds of emotions swimming around within me. The top two are anxiety and nervousness, feelings I’ve never been keen to feel.

“Hello Sofia. It is an honor and a privilege to get to meet you. I am beyond excited to be the one who will train you on how to connect with your phoenix and help you explore your powers. I must admit, it will be a bit of a learning experience for me as well. Normally I am teaching much younger children, preschool aged to be exact. Oh, gosh. I don’t mean to say that I think you are a child or anything. Just trying to explain how this is new for me as well. Okay, now that I’ve rambled on incessantly for way longer than need be, I will stop talking.” I smile at her. In just her short speech, she has caused me to relax, and I feel like we could become good friends.

I chuckle at her honesty. “It is very nice to meet you as well. I’m glad I’m not the only one who is a little nervous.” She returns my smile. Kestrel is slight in frame but tall. I think she is about 5’9 and I have the feeling that she is connected to the avian community too. I mean I guess that would only make sense since I am considered a bird. “So, will we meet here at my house to train or is there some place else you would rather go to?”

Before she can respond I hear Ash say, “hey sweetie, I’ve got to go. Charlie sent me a text and asked that I meet her at her house. I will be back later this evening so I can take you back to your house for school tomorrow.” He leans over and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and then walks down the hallway to the front door. A moment later, I hear the door open and then shut as he disappears.

“Uh, okay, goodbye...” I say this after the door has closed behind him. I blink a couple of times before I look back at Kestrel.

“Okay, um, I was thinking that we could use the gymnasium at the Sancturary where there are all kinds of protective spells and wards to help those learning how to hone in on transformation and unity of themselves.”

“That sounds good to me. The more protection you have for and from me is probably a good thing. Is there anything I should bring with me?” She assesses me for a second, looking at my outfit (a pink track suite) and then shakes her head no.

“Nope, I think we are good to go. Let’s head over there now and get you acquainted with the layout of the gym and then we can start doing stretches, exercises and then I will be able to assess where your starting point for training should be.”

I nod my head, “that sounds cool. Should we walk or drive my car over there?”

“Eh, it isn’t that far of a walk. Let’s enjoy the nice fresh evening air.” Let me just throw this out there, I should have driven my car!