[Chapter 5]

The Phoenix

A large hollowed drummer's log on the far side of the dance floor began to roar as a row of drummers began to bash against it with hide and cedar clubs.

The crowd cheered, whistling. The sounds of loud cawing from outside of the ceremonial grounds caused the crowd to roar louder with excitement.

More drummers began to enter into the room. Beating their smaller hide drums while they sang, marking the start of the final dance of the Ceremony of the Sun- the Dance of Fire.

The seated crowd rattled their handheld chimes and shakers, howling at the top of their lungs.

The Chief of Ceremony entered the ceremony ground cawing like a loud bird. He dressed topless, covered in tattoos, with an adorned red silk skirt. Covering his head he wore the finest of the masks of the Red Bird, made hundreds of years before.

The Chief nodded his head towards Corrin, his face visible beneath the heavy headdress of cedar, smiling with a big toothless grin- he loved the festivities.

Corrin stood up nervously beside the other five Phoenix Dancers awaiting the start of her performance.

The loud, disorienting, roar of the hollowed cedar logs filled Corrin's ears as the drummers beat against the smooth surface of the drummer's log.

Corrin wiped the sweat and sand from her brow and looked over to her fellow dancers, whom were already getting into position beside the great bonfire.

The young girl checked her footing, making sure her feet were in the correct position and followed the footprints that they left in the sand as the dancers began to circle the fire.

The Chief of Ceremony approached the central bonfire and cawed loudly as the Phoenix Dancers got into position around him. Corrin slowly stepped towards him, watching as the other Phoenix Dancer's moved to the sound of the drums.

Corrin and the Phoenix Dancer's began to dance- swaying, dipping, diving and stomping and spinning to and fro, moving to the beat of the drums.

The audience cheered on, howling. She feared that they could see her nervous trembling. The loud cawing of the Chief kept startling her as she tried to remember her positions.

Corrin looked over at her fellow dancers, whose eyes were also framed in chalky black charcoal with black lines of paint running across their arms and legs. They almost appeared to be in a lulled state, relaxed and collected.

The loud thunderous sounds of flapping overpowered the roar of the booming drums, with a caw as loud as thunder itself- this penetrating shriek startled Corrin, driving her to the sandy floor, as her attention turned to the sky.

The winged-beast emerged from beyond the clouds, cawing like a monstrous eagle. Corrin quickly stood up and continued to dance as the Red Bird made its entrance through the opening in the roof and onto its center perch above the bonfire.

Corrin tried to focus on her dancing, but she could feel the Red Bird watching her every step. Its head sporadically turned to the slightest of movements.

Nervously, she peered up at the monster on its perch above her, breaking her dance formation. She wanted to see with a closer view what she served and danced for- this sacred God-Phoenix.

The red bird cocked its head left and right, shifting its head to view the room. The beast saw that Corrin was watching. The Red Bird turned its large head sideways and gazed down at the trembling girl. Corrin briefly locked eyes with the four-eyed beast. Her heart stopped, unable to look away, entranced by its many-eyed gaze.

Corrin's bewitched glowing palm began to heat up immensely, shining brightly and piercing through the black ink that covered her hands.

The Phoenix shrieked, cawing loudly as it flapped its wings, still seated on its perch. Startled, Corrin wrapped a large fern leaf from off of her skirt and tightened it around her palm- frightened that this would be her last moment.

The beast began to calm, as it lowered itself against the warm cedar perch, closer to Corrin and the flames of the fire.

The Phoenix now seated, was in reaching range of Corrin. It's enormous, polished beak shined in the light of the flame.

The Red Bird appeared as if it was getting roasted by the great fire pit, but instead found comfort in it.

Corrin looked down at the Red Bird's long talons that still gripped mangled meat in between them. The Phoenix held the body of an earlier sacrifice against the large wooden beam, ripping into him with its sharp knife-like beak.

'The large beast was monstrous, but strangely beautiful,' she thought.

The Red Bird had two eyes on each side of its head with freakish bones protruding from its abdomen.

Long majestic feathers in shades of red and orange covered what Corrin imagined must of been a hideous body.

These feathers were magical, illuminating visuals of bright sparks as they swayed. Wisping embers floated from off of them into the breeze. The hovering embers glistened in the night sky before fading away.

'One single feather could restore the life of a dead man,' Corrin recalled, 'but plucking one is forbidden, it would have to fall off naturally. The last feather to do so happened nearly a century ago. It's unlikely one would fall today.'

Corrin had never seen a feather restore a life before, but the Speakers- famed storytellers of the fire, assured her that a feather could, and that the power of the feathers was very real.