Phoenix of Hope: Complete Series — Books 1-4

by Zora Marie

  “Then why am I just now hearing about him?”

  “Because he saw you were surrounded by people who cared about you. No one is ever receptive of him once they know who he is, so he left you alone. Now he doesn’t have a choice, because it’s not his power that will save us, but yours. Your gift of seeing foreshadows of deaths, that gift is from him. The ashes thing though, that’s a mix of his and some other old god’s power.” Nikolas gave Eleanor a sidelong glance.

  “I do not know what all they mixed that day. None of us know. Xander controlled most of what was done.”

  “Fregnar speculates it was one of the earth or motherhood gods, something along those lines.” Nikolas waved off the topic. “Either way, that field in front of The Hold, everywhere those ashes touched is now a lush field and the ground has barely thawed there. Fregnar tells me that the animals who eat from those fields will be more fertile this year too.”

  “That’s interesting…” When they brought up rebirth that was definitely not what she was thinking. But it made sense in a way. Perhaps that was what Fregnar was planning, he planned to have her wipe the Fenari world clean so it could start again. Maybe whatever this power of hers was would fix the energy of that world, too. “I'm listening. What does he propose?”

  “He wants you to learn how to use that power—without almost killing yourself. He doesn’t like the idea of just sending an army to kill them all and leave the planet desolate, but he will send one to help you. He thinks between you, the dragons, and whatever else we can muster, we’ll be able to end this once and for all. Most of the forces here will need to stay here as some of the Fenari will flee.”

  “So, he’s proposing mass slaughter?” Koin asked and Zelia couldn’t help but notice the slight distaste in his tone and the glare he continued to shoot at Eleanor.

  “That is what they will do to us, all of us. And not just to us and other animals. When they’re done with us, they will kill the trees and plants, the very earth itself. Once, the old gods would have stopped them, but those who are left cannot do what is necessary. They are two weak in their power—or they don’t care. But Zelia, a new Old God, she could do it with help.”

  “What about Fregnar himself?” Linithion asked.

  “He will spare what power he can, but the decline in births here and elsewhere has resulted in him having more souls than he can easily contain. Unless we would like to fight the dead next, there is only so much he can do.”

  “Yet he found the time and energy to have you,” Eleanor said.

  “Yes, well, I and some boy from Coridale were experiments.” Nikolas grumbled at the notion. “He wanted someone to help him find Zelia, and maybe help him with the dead.”

  “Wanted?” Zelia asked, even as she wondered if Luxly or Jones could be that ‘some boy’ from Coridale.

  “I’m not as powerful as he needs, but I somehow lucked into finding you at least. Plus, I have enough power to understand how yours works enough to get you past the first big hurdle.”

  “And what does Fregnar want in return for helping us?” There was a sharp cut to Eleanor’s tone and Linithion’s arm tightened on Zelia’s waist.

  “Nothing, other than our success. He hates the Fenari as much as we do. They do not fall under his rule, but they affect the souls he tends. Souls of entire villages showed up while I was there, villages from here and from islands out in the sea. The souls of people who endure things like that, they’re not whole and often can’t be reborn. He’d have there be peace if he could will it. He knows it is not possible and has resigned himself to love all the races nonetheless, but the Fenari are not of this realm or any of the realms connected to it. The Fenari are from… elsewhere. How he explained it went over my head to be honest, but I think we can agree that the Fenari are not good and need to be stopped.”

  “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak as much as you have today.” Zelia appraised Nikolas, both him as a being and his energy. His energy was an orangish red and glowed nearly as brightly as Linithion’s.

  “I never had much reason to talk before now. So, will you let me teach you?”

  “Yes. But if any of you start calling me a god we’re going to have a problem. Princess was bad enough.”

  “Fair enough.” Nikolas gave her one of his rare, reserved grins, then held out the piece he’d been carving. “I thought you might want to know what he looks like.”

  Zelia took the carving. Fregnar looked mostly normal, save for the dragon wings and little horns peeking through his hair. Linithion trailed a finger down the rough wood carving of a wing.

  “How long did it take you to carve this?”

  “A while, and the features are not quite right. I’m more of an animal carver than a… god carver?” Nikolas shook his head. “And no, I will not be making another humanoid carving.”

  “Humanoid? Oh, I’m sure Fregnar loves that term.”

  “Oh, he does, and burn that when you’re done with it. I’d rather not have him take my hide off for an image of him getting out, even a poor image of him.”

  “Consider it done.” Zelia marked the curly hair, the sharp line of his jaw, and shape of his wings before burning the hunk of wood to ash.

  “You could have done that outside.” Eleanor waved a hand in front of her face as Koin opened a window.

  17

  There was a knock on the door and Koin opened it to reveal an Elven guard Zelia did not recognize. “There is a Chief Dotchavitch asking for Zelia through the scrying bowl.”

  “Really?” Linithion asked.

  “If they need help, you’ll have to send someone else.” Nikolas grumbled and looked a bit green at the thought of sea travel.

  “Wouldn’t dream of making you ride a ship again.” Zelia stood and offered Linithion her hand. “Coming with me?”

  “Of course.”

  They walked together down the hall and up a set of stairs to the sealed chamber with the scrying bowl. Eleanor and Koin trailed behind them.

  “Are you guys alright?” Zelia asked before Dotch could get a word in.

  “We are, those on other islands...” Dotch grimaced. “The warrior Yargo sent us said you’d want to know that there have been several attacks on the nearby islands. We’re doing what we can to convince those left to make rune weapons, but a lot of them are stubborn and most of them don’t trust dragons either.”

  “So, light a fire under them if you have to. The more villagers they take, the stronger the Fenari will be,” Linithion said.

  Dotch’s mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. “You know, neither of you ever mentioned these scrying bowls before. You could have taught us how to make and use one before you left.”

  “Well, you have one now, don’t you?”

  Play nice. Zelia nudged Linithion. “Thank you for letting us know. The same thing has been happening here.”

  “Only they attacked us, not just the unprepared villages.”

  “Sorry for your losses, Linithion. They get to me, too. How are the dragons holding up? I saw that black dragon that used to hang out with Raven take after the ship…”

  “His name is Grono and he’s found his rider among my friends. They’re all doing well, for now at least.”

  Dotch nodded. “Good. Well, I’ll let you two get back to whatever you were doing. Let me know if there’s anything we can do from here. I’ll try to keep someone near this thing…” Dotch waved a hand at the bowl.

  “Good luck with that.”

  “I know, right?” Dotch smiled and gave them a slight nod of farewell before the connection broke.

  “Well, that’s one less area to ask about when Yargo sends someone to update us.”

  “Yargo’s sending someone?” Eleanor asked.

  “Yes. I tried to get them to just feed me updates through Rog, but after the stunts he’s pulled they’re not letting him know anything more than they have to. I’m actually surprised they haven’t tried blocking us from each other, though that would proba
bly just make him worry more.”

  “Yeah, Rog mentioned that as a concern when we were stuck there.” A shadow crossed Linithion’s features, but when she blinked it was gone. “He said he’d take a swim in the pond to get here if they blocked you two from each other.”

  “He realizes that takes him to Dragon Island, not here, right?”

  “Oh, I told him that. He’s a little too cocky about his magic abilities.”

  “I’m sure he is,” Eleanor said. “I felt his power when he dragged you two after us. He’s probably a stronger magic user than Zivu.”

  “Careful, if he could hear you while we’re in here you’d give him a big head,” Zelia teased.

  Eleanor smiled for just a moment, then it was gone and that distant queen was back. Her attention shifted to Koin. “How are things in Coridale?”

  “Good. Luxly and Jones coming clean to Wulf went about as well as expected.”

  “That good?”

  “Wulf will probably regret how he acted in a few days, if he doesn’t already. His reaction is part of why I went ahead and brought them here. Things with Coridale itself are fine though. Villagers have been moved inside the city, the guards you sent to stay there are settled in, and the blacksmiths are making rune weapons. Hopefully they make these better than the ones they had been making.”

  “Good.” Eleanor let out a quiet breath of relief and the facade she wore slipped just a bit.

  “Zelia, we’ll start training later. Eadon should be done tending to Lucky now, if you’d like to answer his and Jones’s questions,” Koin said.

  “Actually, would you mind if I invited them to train with us? Lucky can watch.”

  Koin smiled faintly. “That’s up to you. Is the training field still a training field?” Koin looked to Eleanor.

  “No.” Eleanor sighed. “We’ve been training in the other half of the field the dragons are in.”

  “Then I’ll meet you there.”

  What had once been a room for royal guests now housed two beds and felt far too small for Lucky’s big personality. Some of the color had returned to his face and he no longer grimaced every time he breathed. One side of his chest was still covered in a nasty blue bruise, but she could see where it had faded around the edges, the skin there still not quite the normal color. Zelia crossed her arms as she leaned against the doorway and waited for Lucky and Jones to stop debating over who would sleep closer to the window.

  Her hand felt empty now that Linithion had gone to see if there was anything she could do to help her people. They had spent so much time together on the way here that it felt strange to be apart. She could have sworn she felt a hum of amusement buzz down her bond to Raven, but she didn’t say anything as Lucky finally noticed her.

  “Fine, fine, you can have the bed by the window.” Lucky patted Jones’s arm and gave a pointed look in her direction.

  “Oh, hey, Zelia.”

  “Where’s your cute friend?” Lucky grinned and Jones punched his arm. “Ouch, Eadon told me to take it easy for a few more days, not become your punching bag.”

  “Then stop saying stupid things. Sorry, Zelia, someone likes to joke a bit too much.” Jones blushed, as though ashamed by both his and Lucky’s actions.

  “Linithion is seeing if she can help any of her people, we just got here yesterday. I wanted to see if you two would want to train with me. Well, Jones. Lucky is not training with anything but magic until Eadon clears him.”

  “Well, you’re just no fun.”

  “You may come watch, though, and I’ll answer all those questions Jones mentioned.”

  “Ooo, you get an audience,” Lucky teased Jones as he fumbled with his shirt. His side clearly still gave him a good deal of trouble. He avoided lifting his right arm too high as he tugged the shirt over his head and slid his other arm in.

  “Very funny. Do I need anything?”

  “No, Koin will have what we need in the field.”

  “So, Koin really is your instructor?” Jones asked.

  “Was, and is again. He’s my uncle first and instructor second, though perhaps don’t tell him I said that.”

  “So, you really were raised by the Elves here?” Jones gestured to the tree around them.

  “Yes. Eadon adopted me when I was an infant. I grew up in this tree, through to my first death.”

  “First death?” Jones asked and Lucky whacked him across the shoulder with the back of his hand. “What? I’m just trying to wrap my head around her history.”

  “I’m fairly certain it’s not nice to ask such things. It ranks up there next to asking a woman her age.”

  “And here you were asking about her betrothed!”

  Zelia couldn’t help but chuckle at their antics. “It’s alright. It’s not like you meet and work with someone like me every day.” Zelia went and sat on the far bed, so there would only be open space between them. “There’s a lot about my past that I’m not proud of, thanks to Xander and the others. But yes, I die and I come back. I have fire like you,” she nodded to Lucky, “and ice, but I’m not like you or anyone else. I don’t like the term of god, but Fregnar insists that I am. I suppose if anyone would know it would be he who would know.”

  “So, you are a god? But when Gregory—”

  “Yes, I know. I snapped at him and I shouldn’t have, not because I actually am, but because I just shouldn’t have. I haven’t been in a good mental place in a long time, until here recently, perhaps.”

  “Until Linithion?” Lucky asked, his tone unusually gentle and kind.

  “In part. Of course, not having Xander actively messing with my mind helps a good deal.”

  “How long…” Jones’s brow furrowed as he searched her face.

  “They held me captive for three, four hundred years?” She shrugged. “Something around that, since Linithion and I officially come of age next year—by Elven standards at least. I try not to think about all the years in the cave, it doesn’t do any good to dwell on things like that.”

  Lucky nodded slightly. “I understand.”

  Both he and Jones had a distant look in their eyes and Zelia recalled what Kilian had said about them both being orphaned by their own powers. She wondered how old they had been and if they remembered it. They clearly remembered some of it at least.

  “So, you were planning to train?” Lucky asked.

  “Yeah. Killing Xander landed me in a version of my body that didn’t even remember how to hold a spoon, so I’m having to train it to sword fight all over again. So, try not to laugh too much if I fall flat on my face?”

  “Oh, come on now, where’s the fun in that?” Lucky rocked to his feet and grimaced as he tried to straighten. He teetered and Zelia grabbed his shoulders to steady him before he could fall face first into the side of the second bed.

  “You laugh at me, I laugh at you.”

  “Fair enough.” Lucky held his side as he forced himself to stand up straight. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Wouldn’t want you to knock your teeth out on your first day here.”

  “I don’t know, it could be entertaining to see him try to charm the ladies with no teeth.” Jones patted Lucky on the shoulder, then gestured for her to go first. “Well, ladies first. For one, we have no idea where we’re going.”

  18

  Lucky and Jones walked on either side of her and they scanned every tent they passed. Snow crunched and slushed under their feet and made Zelia wonder how far off spring was. Would flowers bloom around the tents even as the Fenari attacked?

  “Things are not usually like this here.”

  “Are those vines holding the tents up?” Lucky asked.

  “Yes. A lot of plant swayers live here.”

  “I take it, that's how you made a home in a living tree?”

  “Yes. The trees are alright with it because we do everything in our power to help them rather than harm them.”

  “Then, what do you use for fire? For all this forging?”

  “Coal and we
collect fallen limbs. Some trees even willingly let us take sections of them to make our bows and arrows.”

  “Interesting.”

  “So, where are you taking us?” Jones asked.

  “One of the pastures. The training area used to be somewhere among these tents. Eleanor has moved most everyone inside the inner border, and with everyone who survived the attack on the Drakeon Empire moving here, too, we’re far more packed in right now.”

  “And yet they could spare a pasture?”

  “Well, the dragons are taking up most of it.”

  Raven stared at her when they came around the last tent to the pasture fence. “Oh, here comes trouble.”

  Zelia smiled faintly as Raven appraised Jones and Lucky. Even Grono and Orvi turned from eating their breakfast of fish.

  “I thought you guys only had two dragons,” Jones said.

  “We did. A few of our friends hitched a ride back from Dragon Island. There are two others, Kafthry and Saria must be off riding. Either that or Elm and Evergreen are out fishing.”

  “So, you have five now?”

  “Yes. They all have riders, so no dragons for you two.”

  “Fine by me. I could go without ever riding a dragon again,” Jones said.

  “Yes, well, we don’t usually get blasted out of the sky, but I understand.” Zelia led them towards a gap in the fence, where the vine gate was left open. Koin stood just inside the pasture, a collection of swords leaned against the fence beside him.

  “Well, you took your sweet time getting here.” Koin tossed her one of the lightweight training swords hilt first. The handle smashed into her pinky, but she caught it—barely.

  “I told you I was going to answer their questions, besides, someone took his sweet time putting his shirt on.”