where the phoenix had perched the night before.
While they watched, a hole appeared in the top of the egg, the tip of a curved beak breaking through the hard shell. Then, all at once, the shell cracked and the bird was fully free. It was large and covered completely in midnight black feathers. It regarded them with an intelligence that would be surprising in any natural animal, but which seemed to match its magical appearance. The phoenix called out once with loud screech and then took to the sky. It flew with assurance, a fully mature bird from birth. It quickly left their sight and passed over a ridge, leaving them and the valley behind. It was gone.
Cassian walked out of the cave and cautiously examined the pieces of eggshell left behind. He collected all he could find, intending to take them back to the lab. Master Linus would be beside himself with joy at such a rare and powerful find. An ingredient of the highest order!
He was turning back to the cave to pack away his bounty when he noticed a glint under one of the charred branches lying on the ground.
When he looked closer he saw to his utter shock that it was a small version of the egg they had just watched hatch. It was a small, intact phoenix egg! As the meaning of this sunk in, Cassian was more and more stunned. A new phoenix! Right there, on the ground!
He tried to remember the lore. What had been written about phoenix reproduction? How long would the egg take to hatch? He just didn't know.
But more importantly, what was he going to do with it?
By now Sera had noticed he was standing and staring and she followed his gaze. "Cassian..."
"We have to take it back with us."
"We can't! I know we were chosen. I know John gave me the feather so that we could be here, so that we would witness this. But Cassian, I don't know how to care for something like that. Even touching it might hurt it."
"I know," he said, "I know."
He stood, lost in thought, still clutching the pieces of the larger egg shell. He couldn't leave a prize like this egg behind. "But we have to take it with us. The fire last night will bring others to see what they can find here. If we don't take it, others will, and they're likely to be more concerned about its value in gold than for what it is. It's far better off in our hands than in the hands of whoever finds it next. And Sera, someone will find it."
She looked at him unhappily, but she could not argue the truth of his words. She even knew some of the men who would be coming to this valley to scavenge, and they were not men she would entrust with a dried cactus, much less a treasure as delicate as this egg.
"Yes, they will." She seemed resigned to fate. "They would be as likely to sell it to a village cook for an omelet as to sell it to someone who knows what it is."
She looked down at the egg, its black surface reflecting the dawn sky.
"But I can't take this, Cassian. It's too much. I can feel its power, and I know John meant for me to take it. But he was wrong. This doesn't belong with me, nor with my uncle. It's not meant to sit on a farm, hidden away." Now she was resisting destiny.
"We'll take it to Master Linus. He'll know what to do with it." Cassian tried to hide his excitement. He thought this egg belonged in the hands of the properly trained.
"Are you sure? Won't he just give it to the king?"
"Ha. You don't know Master Linus. He won't ever tell anyone he has this, not until the day he dies. He is a man who holds his secrets close. He'll swear me to secrecy as well. And he will be unhappy that you know about it at all, no matter how much I reassure him. This is the most valuable thing he will ever have, in terms of his research, which he values far beyond any amount of gold."
Cassian knew the egg might not hatch in Master Linus's lifetime, nor in his own for that matter. It might be a century or perhaps more before the new phoenix was brought fully into this world. But that merely meant his responsibility was all the greater.
They packed the egg carefully, though both thought it was likely to survive anything they put it through. It would likely survive even things that they would not. Still, they wanted to treat it with proper respect.
As they rode back towards the pass to exit the valley, Sera pointed to the road ahead. Just at the lip of the rim into the valley, Cassian saw an old man riding on the front of a large vardo. While he watched, the wagon turned around and went back down the road away from them. Cassian had no doubt that when they reached the rim themselves, they would not be able to see the wagon anywhere on the road ahead of them. He wondered why John had chosen them to find it. Or why at least he had chosen Sera.
When they reached the top of the rim, they looked back on the valley. Smoke still rose from the smoldering ruin of the forest, but there was no open flame left to be seen. They looked ahead and saw no one between them and the forest leading back to the fens, just as Cassian had expected.
Once they reached that forest, Sera took them on a different trail back down than the one they had rode up on. She was nervous, wary. She made them stop and clean the ash off themselves and their horses, she wanted no sign they had been in the burning valley. Cassian understood, and he appreciated the caution. Best to not let anyone know where they had been lest curiosity be aroused about what they saw there.
They made very good time down the hill and were at the edge of the fens in a matter of hours. Once they entered the wetlands, they soon came across a group of cursing soldiers, their boots caked in mud and their breeches soaked. They were a few Fen Folk serving as guides, all of whom seemed to be completely dry, even down to their toes. Cassian smiled at them as he passed, and he would have sworn one winked back.
They passed through Whillwhistle as the sun was beginning to get low in the sky, and camped a few miles outside the town, along the river. They slept in each other's arms again that night, their passion enriched by all that they had seen the last several days.
Cassian awoke the next morning, however, to see Sera was already readying her horse for the day's ride.
"I must take leave of you here. I have much to tell my uncle, and much advice to ask of him."
"You aren't riding with me to the city? But what shall I do with your horse?" Cassian was concerned about her sudden departure and hoped it did not bode ill for seeing her again.
"Uncle is away, in the north. The road out of Whillwhistle will lead me to him, so I must ride back through the town. I wanted to spend one more night with you, so I am happy to backtrack."
Cassian smiled at this, taking her in his arms for a farewell kiss.
"I will see you again soon, Cassian. Put my horse in the stable, and tell Corrin to keep her for me until I come for her. He's done this for me before, all will be well."
"I did not know I would be away from you so suddenly."
"Another reason I didn't tell you. It's easier this way."
"It will be so long til the morrow," he quoted the traditional farewell of lovers parting.
She smiled at his romantic turn. "So long til the morrow. Ride carefully and remain safe."
She turned and rode back towards town, looking back over her shoulder just before she passed the bend.
Cassian gave her a final wave and watched her disappear around the curve. He packed his gear and rode on towards the city.
He stayed on the main road, not sure enough of the route to follow the paths Sera had led them on during the ride out. Was that only three days ago? It felt like years.
He spent most of the ride deep in thought, about Sera, about the egg, about the phoenix and the terrible fire, about the book, and about Sera. She knew John had selected her to find the egg. Why did she not accept it? And more importantly, when would he see her again?
The ride was thankfully uneventful, the only unusual moment coming when a Rhymish rider passing him. The rider was alone and was moving at a fast canter away from the city. His face seemed tense and there was a sense he was on a grim mission. Cassian was not at all certain what was happening with the Rhymish, but it was looking less and less
likely that it could be for good. A change was coming, that much was clear even without relying on omens.
Cassian arrived back at the city late in the afternoon. He rode to the stable where he left the horse. Corrin seemed to take housing the animal in stride and refused any attempts at payment, saying Sera's horses were welcome for as long as needed.
He carried his bags back to the laboratory. They were heavier now, with the mero's breath extract, the shell pieces, and of course the small phoenix egg.
When he arrived home, Master Linus was in the laboratory working with a liquid Cassian had never seen. Linus seemed a little surprised to see him, but carried on with his work, focused on mixing the concoction thoroughly.
"You have returned sooner than I expected. Was the journey so easy as that?"
When Cassian didn't answer, Linus turned to look at him. He looked his apprentice in the eyes and saw someone different from the man who had left the laboratory a few days prior. "Oh. It would seem you have had an extraordinary journey. Tell me, Cassian, what has happened?"
And with that query, Cassian released all the tension that had been building up in him over the past few days and nights and told Linus everything.
When Cassian described the meeting at the vardo, Linus interrupted. "The Wanderer said his name was John? You are certain?"
"Yes. It was John the Wanderer. The King Of All Birds, I am told."
Linus shifted, stroking his beard