Blaze of Glory

"Are you sure about this, Cynthia?" I asked tepidly, shifting my position nervously.

"Are you gonna chicken out already? We haven't even begun." Cynthia smirked.

"It's not that, it's just... Never mind, let's do this."

"Man up and join hands then." She replied with a little laugh, holding her hands out towards me.

Urgh...

"Something's not right." Cynthia paused. "You alright?"

I nodded slowly, feeling strangely drained.

Cynthia blinked hard at me.

"Uh, unless I'm starting to see things... You're glowing."

Glowing? Seems legit.

My head...

"Yeah, glowing." She responded, looking a bit spooked. "You're glowing red."

I looked down at my hands.

My god.

I was glowing.

I scrambled back, and felt a sharp pain in legs. I ended up falling right on my back. Cynthia was just sitting there, a shocked look on her face. My whole body exploded in pain. It felt like I was slowly being dissolved, in the most painful way possible.

Then came the scream.

I drew in a ragged breath, and looked at myself.

Oh.

Oh god.

I was on fire.

Ugh, it felt like my head had just been the punching bag of a very angry gorilla.

This was it. I was dying. I was rolling around, burning alive. And now I was dying.

Strangely enough, it didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. In fact, I felt better.

Maybe I was going to Heaven.

There was a sudden white flash, and the feeling of breaking through a soft sort of barrier

I knelt in the pain, and saw the strangest sight.

"Ryan!"

Talons.

My name is Ryan. And I'm a phoenix.

And I'm in the middle of a nest, overlooking a forest.

Well crap.