Phoenix of Hope: Complete Series — Books 1-4

by Zora Marie

  “Raven, can we land on the other side of the village?”

  “Of course.”

  She drifted down and landed with an easy grace. There was a lone tree, and she sat down at its base, listening to its soft hum.

  “Zelia, there’s something that’s been bugging me.” Dotchavitch’s tenor voice broke her thoughts from the tree.

  She turned towards him, seeing that he had dark circles under his eyes.

  “You didn’t sleep, did you?”

  He smothered a yawn as if to confirm it and Zelia took pity on him.

  “What would you like to know?” she asked him.

  “There are so many things… yesterday you made it sound as if you had a family, but you’re obviously not human.”

  “That…” her voice grew tight. “My past is a difficult subject.” She fiddled with the end of her tunic. “I have had a family, but not in the normal sense. Elves raised me, and I was taken in by Yargo after,” she paused. “In between, I lived in captivity for a long time. I wish I would have died, so many could have been spared, including people I care about.”

  The faces of those she had killed rose in her memory and she could feel the tears rising to the surface. Her ribs tightened around the metal plate as she fought to hold the emotions back. Raven settled beside her, her cool scales brushing Zelia’s arm and pulling her from the emotional edge.

  When she looked back at Dotchavitch, he glanced away, his brow furrowed with guilt and regret.

  “So, I’m about to head out. Would you and Raven like to tag along?”

  She nodded, then she noticed Dotchavitch’s sword.

  “Are we going somewhere dangerous?”

  “Who knows, maybe? Why?”

  “Can… may I have a bow and arrows?”

  “What about your powers?”

  She lifted her hand, the cracks were smaller, but still visible. It took him a second, but he nodded.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He disappeared into the village and when he returned, he was carrying a bow and quiver, along with a set of fur lined leathers which he held out to Zelia.

  “Thank you.”

  He gave her a soft smile and nodded towards the dragons.

  “Come on, let’s get going.”

  Dotchavitch seemed lost in thought as they rode, so she let the silence sit. They were out past the main island chain when she glanced back to see that the other riders were flying after them and Dotch followed her gaze.

  “Weird, they rarely follow me when I take off this early,” he shouted.

  “They don’t trust me.”

  “No, but don’t worry about that. Come on, we can make a pass around the island up ahead before they catch up.” He leaned forward, urging Stardust to pick up the pace.

  Zelia admired the island as they circled it, it was even larger than Dragon Island. Caverns, ranging from the size of tiny pockets to the size of huge ships, pierced the cliffs along the shore. A point stuck out into the ocean where a single lonely tree hung out over the rocky cliff. It seemed as if it pointed at Dragon Island.

  A hill rose in the shadow of a small volcano and that is where they waited for the others to catch up. The moment her feet touched dry land; she sensed much that was going on beneath the earth. She could feel the ground move and shift several meters below the surface as if it were alive. The earth buzzed with uneasy power as the others landed beside her.

  “It’s unusually warm here today. We should leave.” Fifthry fidgeted and scanned the island.

  “Why? Because it’s warm for Autumn? Let’s go explore, maybe we’ll find a new dragon,” Dotch said.

  “No. We should leave,” Fifthry insisted.

  Zelia left them to argue and walked off, but an uneasy feeling grew in her as she went down the hill.

  “Are there any men on the island?” Zelia asked.

  “Is she talking to us? She can hear us?” The trees creaked and cracked with excitement.

  “Well, go on, answer her!” some of them encouraged.

  “Wait, what was her question again?”

  “Men…”

  “Oh! Yes, there are men from a ship walking among our trunks,” several of the trees replied.

  “Wait, hold on, one at a time please,” Zelia stopped them. “I can hear you, but I can’t make sense of it if you’re all talking at once.”

  The trees quieted and then the one beside her answered in solemn creaks, “Their boat lies hidden in the caves deep below our roots.”

  “Do you know what they’re doing here?”

  “We’re not positive… but they seem to be searching for something. Something that drives them to carry metal nets and weapons.” Zelia turned to return to the others, and the trees called after her, “Beware… we shelter many creatures amongst our branches. Everything from snakes and spiders to aggressive dragons… they won’t hesitate to protect themselves.”

  “Are you alright?” Dotchavitch called and his voice made Zelia look round. Everyone was staring at her from the top of the hill.

  “Why?” she asked as she climbed the hill.

  “You’ve been staring at the trees down there for a while.”

  “Oh, well, there are other humans on the island. Most are in the caves and some are traveling through the trees.”

  “How do you—”

  “Trees, I hear them talk… it’s related to everything else.”

  “Trees talk?” Dotchavitch sounded disbelieving, and there were giggles from the others.

  “So do dragons and all the animals.”

  The giggles became laughter and Dotchavitch turned to glare at the other dragon riders for a moment then looked back to Zelia.

  “Alright, shall we go say hello to the visitors then?”

  “I don’t believe these people have good intentions. They hunt for something other than food.”

  “Sounds like dragon trappers... even more reason to go. Don’t worry, we’ll be careful. No one traps dragons on our watch.” Dotchavitch waved her towards the dragons.

  She shook her head without budging.

  “You won’t be able to spot them through the canopy. If you wish to find the ones’ traveling through the trees, we’ll have to go on foot.”

  “We don’t leave our dragons,” Johnol protested.

  “You’re right, you guys go find the ship in the caves and I’ll go with Zelia to find the men in the trees.”

  Fifthry slid from Gulepia. “If you’re going; I’m going. Johnol, you’re in charge since Seabloom is our only sea dragon.”

  Seabloom’s wings quivered with delight as she puffed out her pearly white belly. Julio, Senth’s green spotted red dragon, rolled his eyes at Seabloom’s little show. For a moment, Zelia marveled over the amount of expression the dragons could show as they huffed little whirls of smoke from their nostrils.

  The twins groaned as they took off on their dragons.

  “Why do we never get to be the leaders?” Sligh’s volume more than made up for his twin’s lack of voice.

  Fifthry shook her head at Sligh and followed Dotchavitch and Zelia into the trees leaving their dragons on the hill.

  “We’ll keep an eye out from above,” Raven said.

  For a while, the trees guided Zelia, but then they stopped shifting their upper branches to show her where to walk and one spoke. “Look here, they’re just ahead.”

  She peered through the gaps in the leaves and saw five figures. They were still out of earshot, so she jumped down to a lower tree branch.

  “How do you do that? You walk in the branches easier than we walk among their roots,” Fifthry said.

  “Shh, they’re not all that far off, just over the next hill. There are five of them.” Zelia turned and disappeared back into the canopy without a sound.

  Fifthry might as well scream ‘I’m over here!’ with how loud she talks.

  Then Dotchavitch tripped over a tree root.

  And how much racket they make.

  It d
idn’t take long for the five men traveling through the trees to hear their approach.

  Zelia crouched in the canopy of the trees and drew her bow, ready to shoot as the men surrounded Dotchavitch and Fifthry. They were a rugged looking crew and carried all sizes of metal nets and weapons. Many of them had scars as if they had been burned and scratched by dragons.

  Dotchavitch drew his sword as one man spoke.

  “What are you and such a beautiful young lady doing way out here, boy?”

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing. Except the beautiful young lady part. None of you are beautiful or a lady…”

  “It’s been so long since we’ve been in the presence of a true woman.”

  One of them moved towards Fifthry with an outstretched hand. He was about to touch her face when Fifthry’s sword shot to his throat.

  “Touch me and die, you nasty little piece of scum,” she snarled.

  The one who spoke first interrupted, “Now, now, no need to be hasty, little ones. You’re outnumbered, and certainly out-armed.”

  Dotchavitch gave a defiant smirk.

  “We’re not alone. Even now we’re being watched.”

  The men held their weapons a little tighter. “Then why don’t your friends show themselves? Or are you bluffing?”

  “Why would I show myself?” Zelia spoke with the wind, letting it carry her voice through the trees.

  The man laughed. “You travel with a little girl?” He turned to where he thought the voice came from. “Come here little girl! We won’t hurt you!”

  She moved to another tree as she scanned the area, making sure no one else was nearby and replied, “Why would I do such a thing? Tell me, why are you here? What is it you hunt?”

  The men glanced at one another, uneasy at her words no matter how young the voice sounded.

  “Why don’t you come down here? And we’ll tell you.”

  Zelia jumped down right behind the biggest man with her bow drawn, three more arrows in her hand ready to be notched. “Now, why are you here?”

  The man gave a deep laugh. “So heavily armed for such a little thing and doesn’t even know how to draw a bow properly. Why don’t you go run home to your mommy and daddy? The forest is no place to play.”

  She shifted her aim and shot one of his comrade’s axes through the handle. The ax shook as it stuck to the tree behind it, the handle splintered around the arrow.

  In the blink of an eye, she had a second arrow from her hand trained on the man.

  “I do not play. Now tell me what you are doing here or the next one is going through one of your companions.”

  She smiled coldly to unnerve them, her years of torturing and killing people crept back into her mind. She knew all too well how to force a person’s hand. Please don’t let it come to that ever again.

  “Where did you learn to use a bow like that?”

  “Would you shut up before you get us all killed, Brian?” the man Fifthry held a sword to asked.

  Brian waved him off with a careless flick of his wrist. “So?” he asked her.

  She forced a smile as she looked down her arrow at him. “From the Elves of Elyluma. They have the finest archers the realms have ever seen.”

  Brian crinkled his nose. “Elves? The Ely what now?”

  “Do you not know who you are talking to?” Dotchavitch put in. “Trained by Elves, voice of dragons and trees, child of the gods.”

  I never said anything about gods.

  She stood unwavering even though Dotchavitch’s unwelcome endorsement caught her off guard.

  “You believe all that about this girl? She can’t be more than fourteen winters old!”

  “I have seen more winters than all of you combined. Now, I will not ask you again.” The man laughed, and she cut him off. “Fine, if you won’t talk. Start walking. Take us to your captain.”

  The man shrugged and put his sword away. “We were going to take you there, anyway.”

  He turned his back on Zelia and walked off deeper into the trees, away from the dragons. Dotchavitch and Fifthry followed behind the men as Zelia removed her arrow from the tree.

  She threw the damaged ax aside and whispered to the trees, “Guide the dragons to us.”

  She walked on the branches just above the men. This way she could keep a close eye on their every move and have plenty of time to react should the need arise.

  One of the men watched Zelia for a while before deciding on small talk to learn more about her. “You climb well for a girl.”

  She ignored him completely.

  A few minutes later they came to a stream, and the trees parted for a short span.

  The men slipped and splashed as they trudged through the knee-deep stream. Clouds of mud and sand puffed up and clouded the water with their every step.

  When they reached the opposite bank one of them called out, “You’ll have to get out of that tree to cross.”

  Zelia ignored the man and looked at a tree across the water.

  “Would you lend me a branch?”

  The tree sprang to life. It twisted and turned until a single branch stuck out in front of her. Startled, the first man to cross stumbled back and fell into the water, taking the others with him. She made the short leap to the branch, and it returned to its original position.

  “Thank you.” She patted the tree’s trunk and looked down.

  Even Dotchavitch and Fifthry looked shocked as the men muttered, “H-h-how? Trees don’t move!”

  Suddenly the trees creaked and cracked with so much alarm that even the men could hear them. She scanned the trees until she saw why. An unfamiliar dragon came barreling through the trees straight for Dotch and Fifthry.

  The men struggled to their feet, splashing around in the stream, and trying to manage their iron nets. As the dragon neared, they threw the nets at the dragon with practiced ease. But this dragon wasn’t so easily caught. It darted and wove around their attempts to ensnare it.

  Once the men ran out of nets, the brown and red dragon turned to attack them. Zelia leapt in front of the group of men, Dotch, and Fifthry just as the dragon began breathing fire.

  Zelia raised a hand in front of her, the fire stopped and shot out in all directions as if it were hitting an invisible wall of stone. Some leaves scorched, and the trees pulled back from the flames.

  Zelia faltered, and the flames licked Fifthry’s sleeve.

  “Hey!” Fifthry jumped back, dusting off the hot embers.

  Zelia’s vision blurred with the effort to hold back the flames.

  She locked eyes with the dragon as it stared at her in shock, his voice ringing through her head. “How—” He drew back as he asked, “What are you?”

  His head tilted as Zelia urged him on with a wave of her hand. “Go while you can.”

  The dragon weaved through the trees before turning to look back at her. With that last glance over his shoulder, he disappeared.

  “Leave the metal nets. You won’t be using them anymore,” Zelia said without moving from where she stood.

  “You heard her, get going,” Fifthry shooed the men to walk and moved off behind them.

  As soon as the men were out of sight, Zelia fell to her knees and just sat in the charred leaves. The heat rising off the blackened ground was almost comforting.

  “Are you alright?” Dotch asked once the men were out of earshot.

  She nodded. “You should go with Fifthry, I’ll catch up in a few.”

  “Alright. Don’t be too long.”

  She could hear a pause in his step just before he passed the nearest tree, and she closed her eyes. With a sigh, she rocked to her feet and started after the others.

  21

  The forest came to an abrupt end, and the ground fell away in a steep cliff to the ocean. Without a word, the men worked their way backwards over the edge of the sheer cliff and began picking their way down, one foot at a time.

  The last one paused before he disappeared from sight. “Don’t just stand
there, there’s only two ways down and this is the way to our ship.”

  Three long shadows passed over the men and they plastered themselves against the cliff. With only a glance at the dragons, Fifthry and Dotchavitch jumped from the cliff.

  “Come on, Zelia, jump. I’ll catch you,” Raven said.

  Dotchavitch and Fifthry’s dragons circled up with their riders. Zelia slipped her arrow into her quiver, ran towards the cliff, and jumped. Raven swooped down and slid beneath her.

  “Told you I’d catch you.” Raven spread her wings and rejoined the others.

  “Nice jump!” Dotchavitch called over the beating wings.

  They glanced down, the five men who hung from the cliff had a mix of surprise and fear in their eyes.

  The dragons circled, rising and lowering with the thermals coming off the island. Dotchavitch and Fifthry devised a plan while Zelia and Raven flew up well above the island in search of a glimpse of the other riders.

  “Do you see them, because I’m not seeing them.”

  “No, they must be in the tunnels below the island.”

  She shook her head when she returned to Dotchavitch and Fifthry.

  “I could go check the tunnels.”

  “No, I have a feeling we’re flying into a trap and our friends might have already found it,” Dotchavitch said.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. Ever since that man said he’d planned to take us to their ship…” her voice trailed off. “What do they do with the dragons?”

  “Usually kill them. Sometimes they force them to work, who knows what they’d do if the others found them.”

  She stared down at Raven’s black scales and her mind shot her back to the past. A knife replaced her bow and a bound boy drenched in blood screamed before her. No, they can’t be like that. She shook her head. And if they are, I won’t let them. Even if I have to break my promise.

  She glanced across to Dotchavitch and Fifthry. How do I reply to the dragons in their tongue? She mulled over accessing their tongue but had made no progress by the time the men reached their rowboat. They picked up their oars and set to work rowing towards the huge open mouth of a nearby cavern.