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There is a legend of a bird, born of flames, that sours through the night. The Phoenix is a legend. The legend is real. I am a Phoenix.
I wasn't always a phoenix, once I was just a man. Until I was forever changed. It was an accident. But not like the ones you hear about in comic books, there was no radiation, no spiders. Just a car crash.
I was heading to work, driving a route that I had driven a million times before. I stopped at the red light and watched as the cars passed by. The radio blasted Three Days Grace's newest song. The light turned green and I headed out.
The next thing I knew, there was the sound of an air horn blasting on my right. I looked over to see the grill of a tanker truck rushing toward me. The last thing I clearly remember was the look on the driver's face, pure horror. He knew he was going to hit me, he knew he was going to die.
What happened afterward was odd, as if I was watching it in a movie. I saw the truck slam into the side of my tiny two door car, the driver tried to stop the truck. He must have jacked the wheel because the cab began to roll over.
As the cab landed on it's side, it dragged the trailer along with it. The truck skidded through the intersection, throwing sparks all over the place. The side of the truck tore open, spilling it's cargo all over the street. One of the sparks landed in the liquid and set it ablaze. Within moments, the entire street was aflame.
The flames reached the fuel tank of my car, now completely under the sliding cab. The explosion set off car alarms in the nearby parking lot.
My vision zoomed inward to center on my body, I saw myself burn in slow motion. As the flames consumed by clothing, I looked out my own eyes to see an orange-red bird watching me. As the bird watched, my clothes burned. The hair on my body went next. The tiny hairs on my arms seemed to evaporate, the heat within the car was so extreme.
Something strange began to happen as my skin started to burn. As the flesh was seared off by the heat and the remaining tissue reduced to ash, I could feel the heat, but it wasn't painful. Rather, it seemed to be right, as if the fires were not destroying my body, but cleansing it. Somehow, I opened my eyes to see the inside of my car. The dash was melted and dripping onto the door, bits of it burning as they fell.
My hands were ablaze, but the fire was not just consuming the flesh, it was recreating it. My fingers were made of fire, I watched as the bones within crumbled to ash and fell away.
The fire department arrived about then and began to spray the area, trying to control the fires and stop them from spreading. As the water fell on the car and my body, my view moved out side the car again. The fire truck sprayed down the area, and the crews got to work cleaning up the street. I watched from my perch on a building.
Once the last of the truck had been hauled away, and the final flames smothered. A glow began to shine in the center of the street. The very spot where my car had finally stopped moving. The crews didn't seem to notice at first, until the glow began to take on the form of a great bird. That they noticed.
I rose from the spot where my body had been destroyed as a great bird. As I rose, I seemed to solidify, becoming flesh once more. But not human. never again human. A phoenix.
I rose, with a wingspan that blacked out the sun for entire blocks. My new body was covered in orange-red feathers that seemed to burn without being consumed. My claws were tipped in red-hot points of light, and as I settled on the street smoke rose from the asphalt. The crews looked up at me in awe.
With a flurry of wings I launched myself into the air, a bit unsteady at first, but I swiftly gained control.
I flew.
As I soared through the sky, I caused clouds to evaporate. I was flying somewhere, but I didn't know where I was going. It didn't take long for me to figure it out, however. For in the distance, I saw another flying shape.
The size of a 747, it was the color of the setting sun with six limbs. It's four legs were tucked under it's body, with it's two huge wings extending out to either side. The massive dragon turned it's head to look at me and spoke in my mind.
Welcome firebird, it is good that you found me so quickly. I am known as Angi. I am one of the seven elemental dragons. You and I have much in common. And I'm sure you have many questions.
Phoenix and dragon, we flew into the sunset.
