She woke up.

Or rather something woke her up, but she still felt sleepy and decided not to worry about it. Next, she tried to stretch, which was when she realized that something was stopping her from moving.

Still being tired and not being able to move she opened her eyes to her surroundings.

For a moment she was shocked. She couldn't see the blue sky above her that should have been there and she couldn't feel the wind that was supposed to gently caress her flaming feathers. What she did see was the darkness of space with its white dots in the distance which were the stars that so many planet-bound creatures adored.

For a moment she wondered how she didn’t panic, but this seemed like nothing but a trivial matter in the end.

She was still curious about what stopped her from moving and focused on her immediate environment. The first thing she noticed was the glowing chains that were used to bind her. She couldn't feel their touch on her skin which was irritating, because it felt like she was free, but she couldn't move. Two ends of those chains were held by humanoids in front of her pulling her behind them. They were fully covered by their gray plated armor.

Since she couldn't see their front she could only assume that the armor provided full coverage, but from what she could see it was rather plain. There weren't any artistic parts like thorns on the helmets or intricacies like artworks. In short, they weren’t memorable at all.

The one in the middle seemed to possess an aura stronger than that of the others and the atmosphere around him was colder as if no one wanted to be around him for any longer than they needed to be. The plain armor only increased that effect.

Another interesting fact was that the other two seemed somewhat nervous about something. Their heads shook from one side to another. Never looking behind them to look at her and never at the person in between them. She concluded that they were nervous either because they kidnapped a phoenix or because they could feel the cold around the third of their party.

Nonetheless, all of their postures were upright like well-trained soldiers.

While they were still traveling through space she contemplated what to do. She didn't feel in danger since her captors didn't even try to mask their auras and it was obvious that they were much weaker than her. The chains didn't seem to be too sturdy either. She could easily burst through them if she tried. As such, she didn't feel like she was in danger.

As time passed she got more and more bored and thought about talking with her captors. Maybe surprise them that she was awake. But this would ruin the fun.

She stifled a laugh remembering how other lesser beings have tried to 'kill' phoenixes in the past. Another one of her kind had once told her a fascinating story about a species that believed the power of the sun should only belong to the gods and as such, it was supposed to be their duty to kill any beings that would challenge their gods' 'absolute domain'. To kill phoenixes they would try to capture them, which more often than not went horribly wrong, and then they would throw their captives into the sun. Not to mention that they only ever captured one and the same phoenix over and over again.

Now she had to stifle a yawn. Closing her eyes, she dozed off.

Something shook her awake. Still tired she slowly opened her eyes.

“You are the last of your kind. Your species is about to be brought to an end. Any last words?” asked the humanoid in a triumphant tone.

She was too flabbergasted to answer him right away and instead looked at him confused.

“Are you too stupid to understand my words, you filthy beast?” he roared at her, infuriated.

Not wanting to give him any satisfaction, she chose to ignore his boasting and looked around. The only noteworthy object around would be the relative close black hole, but she couldn't figure out how they would try to kill her.

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Right when he wanted to start speaking another of his cheesy lines, she interrupted him and said: “And how do you intend to kill me?”

“Ahahaha!” he laughed, “You're chained and stand before your doom and still can't comprehend the situation.” With that, he pushed her.

She was dumbstruck by his action. That was so weak. How is this supposed to kill me?

Well, if they don't have anything better to offer. She thought and gathered her power to … Nothing.

The power just dissipated. She couldn't hold the power she tried to gather and because of that, she couldn't use it.

Next, she tried to bust the chains. Again nothing.

Now would probably be the time to panic. She thought when she realized the push changed her trajectory to lead straight into the black hole.

Why am I not panicking? She asked herself again.

Something was wrong. She looked at the chain and realized it was enchanted. It probably had some subtle mind magic working on her. Now knowing about it, she blocked its influence and started to break into a sweat.

This was no time to panic, but no matter what she tried, how she tried to move or how fast she tried to gather her power, it failed. Again and again. Slowly, but surely, she realized that she wouldn’t get out of this situation and at last, she looked at the trickster.

He slowly reached for his helmet and took it off.

As far as she could tell he was a halfling. He had light gray skin, like the Drows, but instead of their gray eyes, his were black. Another feature would be his pointy ears. Not as long as an elf's, but the inheritance was still there. Half-Drow and half human she concluded.

Before he turned around to leave she recognized another mistake she made. Their armor wasn't completely plain. On their breastplate was an insignia, a deer with a spear lodged in its neck.

While she drifted towards the black hole, she slowly spun around. At first, she could only see the darkness in the corner of her eyes. The first time she noticed it she felt a shiver creeping up her spine.

The coldness only increased with the speed which stood in contrast to the ever faster decreasing distance between her and the hated blackness.

She closed her eyes.

She didn't know when she would reach her end, but she didn't want to look at it.

…

The suspense was eating at her.

After a while, she couldn't take it anymore.

She blinked once.

The black hole seemed gigantic in that instance.

She didn't want to die.

…

At last, she opened her eyes for one last time.

She was right in front of the unwelcoming darkness.

In the corner of her vision, she could see the light of the world dwindling behind her.

…

Then there was nothing.

It was darker than the darkest night she had ever experienced. Not even her own flames seemed to produce any light.

To her surprise, she didn't feel the pressure directly at first. She knew it was around her, but the chains seemed to disperse it, just like they did with her power.

…

Without any way to measure time, she lost focus. She didn't know how long it took, but at some point, she started to see small fissures on the chains.

She didn't know if she should be euphoric or panicked. On one hand she would regain her power, but on the other hand, she would have to fight the black hole on her own and she didn't know if she even had any chance of success. No matter how endless her power seemed to be.

…

Gradually the fissures expanded and became deeper.

When they finally became cracks she could start gathering and holding her power again. For a very short moment, this made her cry out in joy, then the pressure came upon her.

Thankfully it didn't increase, but it didn't decrease either. It was relentless, seemingly infinitely durable.

And so the constant struggle to stay alive began.

Not being able to keep track of time, it could have been centuries, millennia or even eons when she started to see the limit of her own power, but she promised herself she wouldn't lose, to never give up. No matter the pain she would survive!

She didn't know if she felt relieved or sorrowful as the last of her power was ultimately exhausted.

The constant struggle surely put a strain on her, physically and mentally, but it was over now and she knew it. Her promise couldn’t be kept. If she had had the energy left to cry, she would have.

In her final moment she thought to herself it's overwhelming. And with a sigh, she welcomed death with open arms.