"So, peculiarly-dressed stranger of peculiarly-sounding words, just who are you exactly?"

I was never ever going to get over it. You can't seriously expect me to. You put the most indifferent, dispassionate person in my shoes, you'll find that even they have their limits that can be broken, and make no mistakes, they will be broken.

Because everything, the air I breathe, the sights I see, the sounds I hear - I'm sure there are many out there that love reading their fantasy stories, and envisioning themselves living in their favorite fantasy worlds.

Ain't no shame in it, I do my fair share of daydreaming too. But that was all there was to it. Just daydreams to escape the grueling, relentless tedium of reality. In my mind, living that 'otherworld' fantasy.

And now here I was, the 'otherworld' before me, literally living it… fabricated in a dream, no less.

Irony doesn't even begin to describe the level of irony we've just exceeded. Merriam's gonna need to come up with a new word to fit this situation for their latest edition.

"Helloooo? Are you still with me?" There was a sound of fingers being snapped, producing bright yellow sparks that nearly blinded me. "Or has the stranger merely been taken at a loss for words by the illustrious, captivating beauty before his mere mortal eyes?"

Then there's... this. Where the hell do I even begin with... this?

Ria was a conniving conniver with a cunning cheeky side. She practically lived and breathed this stuff. I wouldn't at all put it past her to come up with a practical joke that's just like this.

But was it a joke, though? Can I really call her bluff right now? It's a dream, anything can happen in a dream...

"Her daughter..." The words left me quieter than a whisper. "She... she never mentioned..."

She never mentioned anything anyway. Never told me anything.

"Mentioned, hmm?" She cocked her head, the same way Ria does when something intrigued her. "You talk about my mother as if you know her."

"I do know her."

She narrowed her eyes, staring me down all over. "Know her how?"

"She's a friend."

"Friends? With a human?" Her tone of voice made it sound so absurd. "I don't think so, dear stranger."

"It's true!"

"True or not, I have no inclinations to believe you whatsoever," She said with a blunt smile. "In fact, I actually have a far more reasonable explanation in mind. Care to hear it?"

What else was I gonna do? Say no, then lose my only lead? I'm a stranger in a strange land, lost in the deep murky sea of confusion being swept away by raging tides.

She's the buoy keeping me afloat, barely clinging on with slipping fingers... and I can't let my grip on her slip.

Gotta need to indulge her. Gotta get on her good side.

"Explain away," I told her, arms up signaling the go-ahead.

There was that smile again, so much like hers.

"Speak up if this tale sounds at all familiar to you, alright?" She said, clearing her throat. "A young man... a curious, ambitious man, might I add, has heard strange whispers being shared among his fellow countrymen. Strange glowing lights in the sky every night near the summit of High Hilindurs. Fast light, bright lights, disappearing almost as quick as they come, and no one to explain why that was..."

She paused to gauge my reaction - don't know what she was hoping to find... but clear confused furrowed-brow little ol' me wasn't it.

Regardless, hopping and skipping small circles around me, the phoenix continued, "Now curious, ambitious man, braved the perilous climb up to the summit, reaching the peak to unravel the mystery for himself... and after a long while, perhaps after days and nights of fruitless scouring, stumbles upon strange being never before seen... beings enshrouded in light, glowing bright but never burning... and the best most fascinating part? These strange magnificent beings are able to turn at will into even stranger creatures capable of flight.

"Witnessing this, but never really believing, the ambitious, curious young man kept a close eye on these new fascinating creatures that roamed, careful as to not give himself away, until one day... when his ever-burning curiosity could no longer be sated, he decided to risk approaching one of these creatures on their daily romp through the forest... perhaps to get an even closer look, or maybe to try and have a talk with one of them. Who really knows, though, right?"

She took one more step, coming full circle back towards me, with a haughty grin, and a flourishing spin, the smoldering light in her eyes looked back up at me ever so smug.

"Well, well then, young ambitious curious man," She folded her arms, tossing her flaming locks back. "Having an interesting conversation so far? Do you like what you see?"

This little mini-Ria think she's got me all figured out. Yeah... in her dreams.

"Interesting story you got there," I responded, shaking my head. "It's too bad it isn't mine."

She kept aloof. "Alright so maybe I've taken liberties with some of the presumptions, I won't deny. But the basic outline is always the same. You find us, you'll tell about our existence, people won't believe you, then we move continents never to be seen again by you - ahh... I've grown so weary of being in the same unoriginal story over and over again. Look, you aren't the first to discover us, and I highly doubt you'll end up being the last."

So confidently incorrect about being correct. It's amazing actually.

"Again, good story," I said, still shaking my head at her. "But I like my one far better."

That's when she snapped. The steady glow of her blazing brighter as she threw her arms up all flustered.

"And like I said, I really don't think so! You can't be friends with my mother, it's impossible!"

"Didn't seem that impossible to me."

She groaned. This one's quick to displease, unlike a certain other Phoenix... guess they aren't as similar as I originally thought.

"You are a liar," She said, hands on her hips. "That or you're unhinged. Or perhaps a dangerous mixture of both."

"Look, is Ria's social life really that sad or something?" I asked, genuinely at a loss. "Is it really that hard to believe that your mother has friends?"

'She has friends, you're just not one of them!"

"And how'd you figure?"

"Because if you've met here before, then you wouldn't be here talking to me right now, let alone even breathing."

That took... a rather unexpected turn. She's got me this time... now I really do wanna hear what she had to say.

"What do you mean?"

But she didn't speak, she walked... brushing past my shoulder, and back into the narrow entrance to the forest.

Again, no words, still it was clear that I was to follow... so follow I did. Every blade of grass she crunched, every log she maneuvered over, I did everything the same as she did.

It was only with the fifth log, bigger than all the others, when I was then reminded just how short she really was.

I'm no giant, but I certainly felt like one standing beside her... she's barely over half Ria's height. Just how old was this little lady?

I don't know my fantasy creatures well enough to gauge ages just by eye-balling but if I have to surmise, I'm guessing she's gotta be somewhere between seventeen to one hundred million.

And that's me narrowing it.

Suddenly something snapped my focus back to the present, and that's exactly what the culprit was - a sharp muffled snap... from under my foot.

A regular ol' small chunk of wood was my professional assessment after lifting my leg up. Was up and ready to just brush it off... but then I found myself still staring at it.

Didn't know why until I looked even closer.

It was charred. Very badly charred.

"Latrissa...?"

I looked back up, she wasn't in front of me any longer. Must have gone further into the woods... I cast one last glance at it, before I walked myself into that further.

There were more of them. I didn't even have to step on any to catch them. Scorch marks on the tree trunks, the grass further ahead had lost their green. They were practically just ashes... ready to blow with the wind.

Then just like before... the forest opened up again, and another breathtaking view was there before me once more.

Only this time... all for the wrong reasons.

Forest fires... I've only ever seen them on the news. In person, never.

Not anymore.

Dead trees, broken trees... the scorched earth, it was haunting how far it extended. The air here smelled different too.

Pungent, hazy... dead...

I saw a glow in the corner of my eyes, and when I turned, there she was - the small phoenix, wearing an expression that was just as foreboding.

She didn't answer my question before... I think she'll answer me now.

"What... What is this place?"

She picked up something long and narrow off the ground, burnt beyond the point of recognition. It looked like a stick from afar.

Then I leaned in a bit, and I saw little patches of white poking through the burnt black... she held it closer, I looked closer... and I felt my breathing stiffen.

That's not a stick...

"The last time ambitious curious young men tried to get a closer look at us," Her eyes fell, the light in them gradually dimming. "Mom was the one that met them..."