Where was Kazmerev? I needed him for this!
If he ever left without telling me again, I was going to ... I was going to. Well, I didn’t know but it would be something he would remember!
I thought I heard a whistle from up above and I looked up to see a Stryxex perched on the roof, its dark eyes looking right at us. This one had no rider.
Fear froze me. I gasped as both Judicus and Gundt looked up at the legendary creature with me.
“Uh oh,” Judicus said.
Chapter Twelve
He grabbed me by the collar and had me back into the tavern in a heartbeat, Gundt just behind him.
“Here now, we’re closing up!” the bartender said gruffly. “No more drinks.”
“Do you rent rooms above?” Gundt asked at the same moment that I heard the rustle of feathers from outside the door.
Kazmerev, you picked the worst time to hide! It is not helping! I tried to talk to him with my mind. If he wasn’t dead, he must be near, right? Those other phoenixes had emerged again when the coast was clear. If he really was hiding in my heart, could he not hear me?
“We do not, young man and I would thank you to leave,” the bartender said at the same moment that a big man stood up from where he was sitting beside the fire and strode over to us. He glared at Judicus.
Judicus raised his hands. “No trouble here.”
“Leave or we call the Watch,” he said with a growl.
“Do you have a back door?” Gundt asked as two more toughs emerged from the back.
“No,” the bartender said, lifting a crossbow from behind the bar.
“No trouble,” Gundt said, raising his own hands. He pushed past Judicus and me, almost slamming the door open as he pulled his short sword in the same motion.
It slowed him long enough for Judicus to bound in front of him, hands flaring to life with black ropes pouring from his palms. Even moving that quickly, he was almost too slow.
The Stryxex leapt forward, feet extended. Only my enhanced phoenix vision could really see the edges of his dark wings and fierce talons. Judicus must have seen them, too, because his black ropes shot out, twisting around the outstretched feet and trussing them like a bird to sell at market.
I gasped as the bird lost its balance and fell, hitting the cobbles of the street hard. Behind me, the door of the tavern slammed shut. And then Gundt was leaping forward, sword swooshing through the air – and straight to the cobbles. It should have struck the creature’s neck. And yet it hadn’t. I gasped and he seemed stunned, his mouth falling open.
“Quick. I can’t hold it for long!” Judicus cried as the bird thrashed. And then, out of nowhere, Huxabrand bloomed from Gundt’s heart. The moment she burst to life – a bright star in the black night, Gundt opened his hand and a bar of white fire tinted around the edges with rose pink gushed from his hand and splashed across the Stryxex. It gave one long, ungodly shriek, and then it disappeared, leaving nothing but the stink of burned feathers and a cloud of acrid smoke.
“They’re in the city,” Gundt said, catching Judicus as he reeled, stumbling from his use of power. “We can’t stay here.”
“What do you suggest?” Judicus snapped. “Going out to the countryside?”
“It’s still night. We go to the townhouse. We get the scent. We get out of here.”
“Without the others?”
“They’ll catch up.” His voice seemed too loud in the night.
“Without supplies?”
“We have these packs.” Gundt seemed less certain this time.
“Without rest?”
Gundt swore.
“We’re more vulnerable without the others,” Judicus protested, scanning the sky with palms still spread wide. “We might not like them or trust them, but we need them. Especially if we’re going to be chased and hunted by these creatures. Let’s go to the townhouse, collect any clues – in and out, fast and hard, and then hurry to the Figleaf Inn and hunker down in a defensive position until the rest of them can join us.”
“There are Stryxex everywhere. My skin crawls with them,” Gundt said, but it didn’t sound like an objection.
“What do you think, Sersha?” Judicus asked graciously.
I made sure they were both looking before I nodded and offered Judicus my arm.
“Not yet. I won’t take energy unless I have to. And unless I have your permission.”
I opened my hand and very deliberately offered it to him.
“Is that your way of telling me I have your permission?”
I nodded again.
Gundt sighed.
“I guess it’s her energy to give,” he said with a frown. “Bring Kazmerev back, Sersha. We need his eyes. Huxabrand needs him at her side.”
I shook my head.
“We need him. I know it’s more dangerous for him. That he’s safer in your heart. But you have to let him free,” Gundt urged.
“Stop being an idiot and tell her how to do it,” Judicus said calmly. He wasn’t watching us, so he couldn’t see my cheeks heat at his words. I wouldn’t have put it like that, but I was still grateful he’d said it. Sometimes, I could almost swear he was reading my mind.
Gundt coughed awkwardly like he hadn’t realized that I didn’t know how. “Okay, try it while we move. You take the rear, ropeworker. Give a grunt if you see something or if you think you might collapse. I’ll hold onto Sersha so she can look within.”
“This is my coterie,” Judicus protested.
“But tonight, this is my quest,” Gundt said with finality in his voice. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along with him. I saw the reflection of Huxabrand’s light on the dark cobbles ahead. It was well past midnight, and we were the only ones still out in the street unless there were villains lurking in the shadows. “Huxabrand will take point. Now, close your eyes if you must, Sersha, but whether you do or not you need to turn your thoughts inward. Think about your own heart and will. Think about the phoenix you have hidden within and call him forth.”
It sounded so simple. And at the same time – it didn’t explain anything at all.
I clenched my jaw and turned my thoughts inward, trying to think the way he told me.
Kazmerev? Are you there?
Nothing.
Kazmerev? I need you!
How did you think of fire inside you? How did you call to someone who felt a million miles away?
I didn’t feel full of a phoenix. I felt hollow and lonely.
I reached inside, thinking about what it felt like to find his ashes in my hands for the first time – of the feeling of sadness that had washed over me when Veela pressed them in my hands. Of the fire that burned in my heart – burning, burning, burning.
I felt it again. My hand clawed at my chest. My mouth opened, and we were lucky I couldn’t scream because I’d be screaming and screaming.
I felt myself dragged against someone’s chest but my eyes were clenched with the pain and I couldn’t see who it was, couldn’t think, couldn’t hardly breathe.
“Sersha ...” the rest was lost to pain. Their words washing against each other like broken wreckage from a shipwreck. “Let go ... come on ... enough. How many? ... All the way around? ... split up.”
And then darkness and burning. And I couldn’t find him within. There was only the pain and the fire and me. I did not know if the minutes were long or short, but they felt like years.
And then it was over.
And I was gasping for breath and just grateful, grateful, grateful for the feeling of cool air on my face and the sound of a familiar voice in my mind.
What were you trying to do, little hawk? Get yourself killed?
Kazmerev.
He was here. It would be okay. He was here.
“Sersha? Can you hear me?” Judicus sounded breathless.
I opened my eyes, and his face was right there, leaning over mine, pale in the light of a lantern. There was sweat across his brow, but his bright eyes were completely focused on me. The scrutiny
made me feel uncomfortable. Was I lying on his lap?
I was.
How embarrassing.
I struggled to sit free of him, and he let me go, hands hovering inches from me as if afraid I would fall again.
Sersha, are you okay?
I thought I was. Was he okay? There was strain in his voice. But he was right here beside us, bright eyes watching me and he seemed fine.
Fledglings. They’re impossible, Huxabrand said from very close by.
Something crashed against a nearby wall and the lantern shook. With a start, I pulled myself free to look around us. Gundt rushed into the room – some kind of bedroom by the look of it – with Huxabrand hopping through the narrow door right behind him.
“Oh good. She’s up,” he said briefly. “I found the track myself. Huxabrand swears she could sniff it out anywhere. It’s the Stryxex. They stink to high heaven to a phoenix nose – especially if there’s more than one of them.”
“What if Mally isn’t with the Stryxex,” Judicus asked quietly. He was looking me all over like he was afraid I was more hurt than he could see. I waved a hand and frowned to tell him I was fine, but he still inspected me and again, that kind of close scrutiny made my cheeks flame.
The agonizing pain had left me, though I still felt a little unsteady.
You were burning yourself up from within.
“She will be,” Gundt said. “Trust me. My sister would never let them free of her once she had her grip on them. But that’s not our problem right now. Our problem is that there is another Stryxex outside and this one is cunning. If we don’t act soon, it will burst right through the wall.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Does no one in this city notice giant birds attacking their houses?” Judicus muttered. “These northern cities are far too used to destruction.”
He was right. The whole house was shaking. Surely one of the neighboring houses should notice, right?
Fear not, we shall tear him to pieces, only speak the word.
The two of them flew out the door Huxabrand had entered through, eagerness in their every movement.
“I guess the neighbors will find out in a moment. The phoenixes want to engage the creature,” Gundt said.
“By all means,” Judicus waved a distracted hand. “Surely they’ll have to stop with the dawn, and it’s nearly morning.”
Dawn. And I’d lose him again after all that.
Fear not, little hawk. We fight your enemy. We wheel and strike.
My heart was in my chest. I didn’t like him fighting while I waited to see if he would be hurt. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to help him.
“They’ve begun the fight,” Gundt said. “Let’s get Sersha out of here while the Stryxex are distracted.”
I tried to sign that I was fine, that they didn’t need to worry about me, but they were so considerate in how they led me down the stairs to a backdoor and out – opening all the doors and watching in every direction as if they were my personal guards – that it felt ungrateful not to go along with it.
“Will that happen to her again?” Judicus whispered when we were out of the house and into an alley beyond. Above us, the only sign of a phoenix battle was the bright lights flashing overhead.
I hoped Kazmerev wasn’t hurt. How would he fight a Stryxex without my flames to help?
It’s two against one treacherous beast. Don’t be so anxious. We will shred the creature. Huxabrand just took a chunk out of its tail. This is what we were made for – righteous work.
But I couldn’t calm down even as we pelted down the alley and out into the open street, working our way from the smaller street to a wide main way dotted with darkened fountains. The streets were nearly empty in the middle of the night, though I heard the occasional call of the Watch.
Shockingly, none of them seemed to realize an aerial battle was being fought in their skies.
“She’ll be fine. It’s just hard to learn new skills while you’re moving,” Gundt assured Judicus. “But this is going to take forever. How far away is this inn?”
I wasn’t listening. My face was tilted up to the sky.
There they were!
Huxabrand swooped toward something I could barely make out and as she struck, talons out, Kazmerev struck from the other direction. They ripped the Stryxex between them, but at the same moment, something pulled at Kazmerev’s wing. He swung precariously to the side and I gasped.
He fell, plummeting, twisting at the last moment to pull himself up and shoot back into the sky.
It was a tight match – phoenix versus Stryxex. And then – out of nowhere – a bright yellow phoenix dove into the fray and there was a sound like ripping cloth as the three phoenixes swooped, dove, struck, and struck again. A shriek like a huge bird tore through the night and then, nothing.
My hands were trembling at my sides.
Kazmerev?
I’m fine. We’re all fine.
The light gold phoenix dropped to the earth slightly ahead of the others and to my surprise, Duche Olliman leapt from his back and hurried to us.
“No inn today, I don’t think,” he said grimly. “You spoke true. That was a Stryxex of legend. I found two others when I went to check the cache in the city. They’d made ... a nest of sorts there.”
“A nest?” Gundt asked, sheathing his sword. He looked wary.
Olliman looked away, his face tight. “We won’t recover anything from the room. Or anyone.”
“How many?” Gundt sounded grim.
“At least a dozen dead. As far as we could tell. There wasn’t much of them to find.” His voice was husky. “Dalissa sent me to look for you. We need to get as far from here as we can, or we’ll be so embroiled in fighting that we’ll lose the trail. Did you discover where they went?”
“I found a scent trail. We can follow it,” Gundt said. “But what of the city? What of the other riders here?”
“There are none left,” Olliman said harshly. “And we don’t dare leave anyone here to warn others who arrive. There are too many here for the five of us to defeat, and if we stay to try we’ll lose the trail and the ai’sletta.”
“If we leave no warning, more phoenixes will die,” Gundt said sharply.
“If we leave someone here, that person will die,” Olliman argued.
I tugged on Gundt’s sleeve and he swiveled to me, his eyes bright with intensity from arguing with Olliman.
I held my palm up like a landscape and used my other fist to make a bursting motion.
He nodded. “They’ll spread across the landscape.”
I pointed at him and Olliman and made the same motion. We needed to disperse and warn people in every direction.
“There aren’t enough of us to spread out and warn others,” Olliman said, understanding. “There are barely enough of us to recover the ai’sletta, if she is accompanied by these creatures.” He looked over his shoulder. “Frankly, some of us should return to Captain Rackam. He should not be left on the open water with such a threat nearby.” He paused. One of us will go to him. The others will join you down the trail. Which way does it go?”
“Hard west. Follows the Grand Hadri’s Highway from what I can tell,” Gundt said.
“If you start flying now, you might be able to reach the town of Band End by morning. We’ll try to catch up but if we fall behind, find an inn there and we’ll join you during the day.”
“Agreed,” Gundt said – as if it were really so simple.
Chapter Fourteen
We made it almost to the town before the phoenixes died.
It was a tense ride with everyone as silent as me. Even the phoenixes were silent except for the occasional check to be sure we were holding up.
It will be okay, Sersha. It will be okay, little hawk. We will find your cousin. We will outrun these Stryxex.
Kazmerev would break into my thoughts every so often with one of those assurances, but though I adored him for his thoughtfulness, and though I wanted to believe him, I was
still as tense and rigid as an oak board all through the flight.
There were Stryxex behind us and Stryxex ahead and how could we possibly rescue Mally with so many enemies on every side?
Judicus was a silent burden behind me, and he adjusted his seat often, trying to read his map by the light of the moon. Knowing him, it was more than boredom that drove his study. I could only hope he was hatching some kind of plan.
At one point he muttered, “Ciuade, ciuade,” as if that meant something to him.
When Kazmerev died, we kept going on foot. My heart ached for him. I felt lonelier than ever, surrounded by the long shadows of morning. Any of them might hold an enemy. I didn’t realize I was shivering until Judicus took my hand and held it between his.
“Here, let me warm this. You’re too cold,” he said, and it felt both kind and attentive and made me feel awkward all at once.
I felt even more awkward when Gundt looked back at our linked hands and shook his head without saying a word. I knew that’s what he’d do before he did it. The man couldn’t understand friendship. And why would he when he was bound for life to an insane phoenix with her nose so far in the air she couldn’t see her own talons?
That was unkind.
I was just tired.
We were almost to the town after hours of walking – it had seemed a lot closer when we were flying – when I smelled smoke.
Gundt threw a hand up, face wrinkling in concentration. After a moment he pointed to where he smelled it. It was up hill and into the trees, but as we moved toward the line of forest, we found a trail worn into the grass.
Gundt paused.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“So do I,” Judicus whispered. “We’re close to the ancient ruins of Ciuade. I have heard many tales of the place. No one should linger nearby. I don’t think that treasure hunters go there anymore – not now that it’s been stripped down so far. You’d need crazy luck to find anything there now, but there might be other vagabonds. Or there could be something worse.” He paused, swallowing visibly. “We could wait. Wait until nightfall when your phoenixes are back. Wait until there are more of us.”
Phoenix Heart: Episode 5: Grand Hadri Page 5
