Born of the Phoenix

by Forrester, David Murray

  As Akella stood over the injured reaver with Sunderfall raised to deliver the fatal blow a shadow engulfed her; Kuungroth’s miasma. Ghostly hands seized her, pulling Akella down as her senses dulled and her body became numb.

  “So you’re the great warrior who slain Asuragor,” Kuungroth arose and stood before Akella as she knelt defenceless at the mercy of his dark magic. He pierced his claws into the flesh and muscle of her chest and raised her so their faces met yet she was unconscious with eyes unseeing. Akella’s arms were limp; Sunderfall dropped to the ground.

  The shards of Serrago lay scattered across the floor, Osrown regarded them despondently. He had forged the blade himself and had wielded the terrifying weapon with brutal fury throughout the ages and now it was no more, he had not expected Akella to possess such strength. Asuragor was a demon spawned in the chaos of the world’s creation, for Akella to have defeated him and claimed Sunderfall as her own then truly she was a foe worthy of reverence.

  Salvia dripped from Osrown’s mangled teeth; the intoxicating meal to come was a glorious pleasure he was going to savour.

  Akella’s conscious was trapped within the nightmare realm of the miasma. It was an ancient spell, over the eons Kuungroth had mastered it and used it to terrible effect devouring thousands of souls he had ensnared. There was a fatal floor with the miasma for by trapping the conscious in a horrific nightmare realm the mind was still active, Akella through her meditation had learned to master her dreams. Nightmares were trivial to her.

  The flames of self immolation consumed Akella as she opened her eyes. The fire was that of a phoenix and burned with the intensity of the sun, Kuungroth’s hands which he had impaled inside her melted instantly. Akella seized him by the throat and watched with bitter hatred as Kuungroth’s body succumbed to the heat of her flames, his flesh and bone dissolving into a pile of filth below her.

  In the sky above Belderra a dark portal opened, through it rode Delenair mounted atop Forceren. With Kuungroth defeated the demonic barriers he contrived to mask his presence dissipated, the goddess became immediately aware of the darkness engrossing Belderra and came with all haste to investigate the evil taint that was upon the holy stronghold.

  Belderra reeked of death. Delenair could sense the agony of the innocent souls that had been tortured here. She felt the lingering presence of Kuungroth within the stronghold and beckoned Forceren onwards into the ruined structure.

  The hallways echoed with the sounds of soldiers running in plate mail. Lacewell led the group. Hurriedly they followed the trail of destruction and found Akella, her body drenched in blood, the charred ruins of a monstrous corpse at her feet.

  “What is the meaning of this! Where is Osrown?” Lacewell couldn’t believe the amount of destruction within the stronghold, this woman Akella had to be another witch. If the corpse at her feet was Osrown then he would avenge his fallen lord.

  “Osrown was a façade, a mask for his true form,” she picked up Sunderfall and pointed the blade at Lacewell, “Osrown was no cleric, he was gluttonous reaver who had deceived you and played you as puppets for years while he devoured countless souls,”

  “Lies!” Lacewell refused to believe that Osrown was a reaver, he adored the man. Osrown was kind and just, a champion of righteousness. “This is just some plot between you and that damned wizard to seize control of Belderra!”

  “Don’t be a fool! Look at the corpse, does it look human to you?”

  There was nothing human about the smouldering carcass upon the floor. Neither the bone structure nor shape of the corpse was like anything Lacewell had ever seen. The blackened skull was large and had jaws lined with long jagged teeth, he felt as though he was looking at the ruins of a shorku.

  “This was my fault,” Delenair’s face was awash with sympathy as she approached them, “this is my sanctum and I did not see what was happening here.”

  The majesty of her silver eyes pierced though Lacewell like a blade. The divine aura that emanated from her was all encompassing. His soul soared and his heart sang as he realised the deity to whom he had devoted his life and prostrated himself in prayer to daily now stood before him; flesh incarnate.

  “Goddess.” Lacewell’s soldiers followed their captain’s lead, kneeling before Delenair.

  “Please rise,” her voice was soft, kindly, “you don’t need to kneel, it is I who should be asking your forgiveness.”

  Her humility caused Lacewell to blush, truly she was benevolent.

  “It is true, Osrown was a reaver who used dark magic to deceive us all. Only this one warrior saw through his mask,” she turned to Akella, “thank you for saving my people.”

  Blood still seeped from Akella’s lacerated wounds. Delenair placed her hand on Akella’s shoulder and she became illuminated by a divine light as her injuries were instantly healed.

  “Thank you,” She said; amazed by the goddesses healing abilities, “I came here for my sister, Osrown had her burned at the stake and told me that she was still here imprisoned somewhere within the stronghold.”

  Closing her eyes Delenair sensed the essence of all the souls within Belderra; her eyes suddenly shot open. “Hurry she’s is in pain!”

  As the pair quickly rushed from the room Delenair turned and addressed Lacewell. “Please search for any wounded and see to the repairs. You are now the steward of Belderra, I will come for you shortly and we will discuss the future of this sanctum.”

  Tears swelled in Akella’s eyes when she beheld Crystal. Her flesh had been flayed, legs dismembered she hung cruelly from the wall impaled by rusted spikes. Seeing Crystal so horrifically wounded and decrepit broke Akella. She regretted so deeply having parted with her in Menark and blamed herself for her sister’s suffering.

  Gently they removed her from her bondage. As Akella took Crystal’s hand her fingers became smeared with her sister’s blood.

  “Akella,” her voice was faint, weak, “I knew you’d come for me.”

  “I’m so sorry for leaving you,” a tear ran down her cheek.

  Crystal tried to respond but couldn’t, her body gripped with agony.

  “Shhh, don’t try to speak, you’ll be alright soon,”

  Delenair used her divine powers to restore Crystal’s legs. In the blessed light her flesh knitted itself back together as skin grew across her body. Within a few moments she was whole again yet her spirit remained broken. She clung to Akella in tight embrace, trembling, refusing to let go.

  “It’s alright now, you’re safe,” she had to force back her tears, “come, we have to find Melody and get you home.”

  Still she refused to let go or stand. Akella’s heart ached; she wrapped her sister in her cloak and picked her up, nursing Crystal to her chest like a babe.

  Bruised and bloodied Melody’s wounds were nothing compared to Crystal’s. Obviously the reaver had preferred torturing Crystal and left Melody relatively alone, perhaps saving her tortures until Crystal’s death when he would have a new play thing to torment.

  “Akella! You came!” Draped in rags Melody stepped from her cell and upon seeing Crystal rushed to her side. “I was so worried about her,” her face was grave, “the screams…”

  “She was…” Akella couldn’t finish the sentence; Melody saw the pain in her face and embraced her.

  “Don’t think about it, it’s over now.”

  “Let me heal your wounds,” said Delenair stepping from behind Akella.

  Melody felt as though she was looking into a strange mirror. This girl had similar hair to hers and was roughly the same height and build. “Who are you?”

  “This is Delenair,” said Akella.

  “The goddess?”

  Delenair nodded humbly.

  “A pleasure to meet you,” Melody smiled.

  “Please, let me heal your wounds,”

  “No it’s ok, I’m not in pain, what I really need is food, I’m starving!” As she spoke her stomach rumbled.

  “You should all come with me up into the sanc
tum, I can have food prepared for you and we’ll take your sister into the temple of healing,”

  “No,” said Akella, “we’re leaving now.”

  “Right now? Can’t we at least eat first?” Melody didn’t understand why Akella was in such a rush, it would take days to return to Leesa so why not eat and prepare for the journey.

  “Here take her,” gently she placed Crystal in Melody’s arms. Akella sliced her finger open along Sunderfall’s keen edge and began tracing a glyph with her blood upon the wall.

  “Blood magic?” Melody didn’t know that Akella knew blood magic.

  Delenair watched with interest as Akella finished drawing the glyph. Once complete the blood glowed briefly as a circle of light appeared. It changed colours many times before settling and the circle became a window; the bright face of a woman was peering back at them.

  “Akella, it’s been awhile. What have you been up to? I thought you were supposed to return ages ago so you could go to Floreska with Brackish?” Nancy could see the darkness that was upon Akella and knew something was wrong, “what’s happened?”

  “It’s Crystal, I need you here right now,”

  With a wave of her arm Nancy transformed the small window to the size of a door; her dazzling long silver hair swirled around her beautiful black dress as she stepped through the magical portal. Nancy Nadonya, the josai fairy. Melody was ecstatic, first Delenair and now Nancy; it was inspiring to be in the company of such legendary figures.

  “What happened to her?” Nancy scooped Crystal into her arms.

  “She’s been tortured by a reaver,”

  “I’ll take her now, are you coming back with me?”

  “No,” Akella shook her head, “there are things I have to do, take Melody with you though,”

  “I’m alright, I’ll stay with you.”

  “You should go with her Melody, Crystal will want you with her once she starts feeling better, I need you to send word for Jonathon too, she really needs him right now.”

  “I will,” Melody remembered the hours of Crystal’s horrible screaming at the hands of Osrown’s torture. The anguish and pain of not being able to help her was the worst feeling she had ever felt. She was determined now to see Crystal recover, to stay with her, by her side.

  Things she had to do. Nancy knew that meant someone was going to die. She thought no more of it as she carried Crystal through the portal to her chamber in the heart of Leesa, Melody stepped in after her. The magical portal lost its shape morphing into a thousand dragonflies which slowly faded from existence.

  Dogridge; it was time to find him.

  “I know what you’re feeling right now,” Delenair placed her hand on Akella’s shoulder, “I can feel the vengeance burning deep within you but I’m going to ask you to let it go.” She stepped away from Akella and starred into the darkness of the decayed passage of the dungeon. “I can hear all the souls crying out in fear and loss. Dreadfully gruesome things have been happening within Belderra, the very ground is tainted by it, it has seeped into every brick and every stone, my sanctum is a festering pit of vile misery and death. I know you want to seek revenge on the people you feel are responsible for your sister’s pain but you already have your victory and too many lives have been lost at the hands of Osrown, there is no reason for more killing.”

  Vengeance was burning deep within her; she could feel its warmth in the very core of her heart. Osrown had deceived Delrawk, a man whom Zoe held in high regard. Had Zoe not been there to intervene it was very possible that Akella would have killed him, another casualty of Osrown’s deception. It could be possible that Dogridge was an honourable man who was simply doing what his lord had commanded of him, blinding his vision with talk of righteousness and valour.

  “Dogridge, make sure you let him know he owes you his life.” She slung Sunderfall over her shoulder and turned to walk away.

  “I will,” she smiled, Akella was admirable, revenge is not an easy emotion to let go, “and the witch burnings, you have my word they will end.”

  Akella raised her hand in acknowledgement as she strode down the passage.

  “One more thing, in the cell there beside you there’s a woman, you should take her with you.”

  “Who is she?”

  “A witch.”

  Belderra definitely wasn’t the place for her to be. The rusted iron door was locked and didn’t budge when Akella pushed on it. She took a step back, unsheathed Sunderfall then the greatsword tore the iron asunder.

  Abused and downtrodden the witch huddled in the corner. She was draped in filthy rags just as Melody had been. Bruises and scars covered her exposed skin.

  “Take my hand,” said Akella.

  Trembling the witch reached out, her skin was cold to the touch. Beneath the layers of blood and dirt on her face Akella could see that she was once quite beautiful; her heart went out to the poor girl.

  “What is your name?”

  “Matearla,” her voice was coarse having not spoken for so long.

  “Come, you’ll be safe with me.” Akella helped her up and together they walked from the foul dungeon.

  The crimson dusk with the sun setting over the mountains filled Matearla’s mind with ease. She was free. Matearla believed within herself that she was going to die in Osrown’s dungeon; she had even contemplated taking her own life to deny the vile reaver the enjoyment of doing it himself. She never expected to be saved by the very woman she was hunting to murder. Akella held her tight as they rode atop Griz’mar, she could feel the awesome power of the bear resonating through his body; just who was Akella Terrifos? Matearla gave herself to the breeze which carried with it the sweetness of the flowers blooming within the valley, it helped to revitalise her senses. A heavy fatigue and weakness was imbedded in her limbs from her long incarceration; it would take awhile for her full strength to return. Something felt different within herself, she could feel the tides of change; the future was hers to forge.

  Chapter 22

  Numb with fear she fell, the pressure of air against her skin as she plummeted towards the surging river below. Patsy held a tight grip on Ravage’s hand; it did nothing to abate the terror within. The water below was a fear she never wanted to face. The drop felt like an eternity.

  When the pair hit the water their momentum carried them deep below the surface. Ravage’s sword slipped from her hand, sinking quickly into the depths of the river. They swam and broke the surface gasping for air. The steep cliffs of the ravine surrounded them; there was no bank or shore to swim to, no escape from the powerful current which swept them down stream.

  Ravage began to panic and constantly plunged her head below the surface of the water to see if any lurking predator was closing in to tear her apart. She trembled with fear and was almost too afraid to move fearing they would sense her in the water and come for her. She had seen dark shadows moving about the water just before Patsy threw them both from the ledge, there were creatures in the water and Ravage knew it was only a matter of time before they came for her.

  When submerged the river was so deep Ravage couldn’t see the bottom; only a growing darkness that sank into fathomless depths. From that darkness a shape emerged, it was long and terribly large. Slowly it ascended towards Ravage, its body twisting as it swam; she screamed.

  The appearance of the creature paralysed her with fear, her limbs refused to move. Frozen she watched helplessly as the creature from the depths closed in on her.

  Patsy dove below the surface and upon seeing the colossal beast rising towards them she reached out and grabbed Ravage and began to desperately swim for the safety of the ravine wall hoping to find a foothold or groove into which they could climb to safety. It was futile for the creatures speed was too immense to escape. Brown spotted tentacles reached out and seized the pair dragging them underwater. Patsy struggled valiantly. Her efforts came to naught for the tentacle was all muscle; she was helpless within its grasp.

  So this was how it would end. After all her d
reams and nightmares about creatures from the deep Ravage finally fell prey to one. It was a fate she could not escape. Unable to breath, unable to move, her nightmares had become reality. She closed her eyes as the beast opened its hideous mouth to consume both her and Patsy, this was her death and she accepted it, the end of all things; the darkness took her.

  Sprightly birds chirped and sang as they fluttered amongst the evergreen branches of trees which sheltered within the river cove grew tall and luscious. Sheer cliff faces encircled the remote cove hiding it away from the world. The water in the cove was shallow and pristine, sparkling with dazzling light reflected from rays of sunshine that brought with it soothing warmth. Green lily pads grew in bunches atop the surface of the water; colourful fish took shelter beneath the resplendent lilies swimming together in small schools. Pillars of flawless crystal were scattered across the bank of the cove each standing several feet high. Many of the spectacular pillars were covered with climbing vines that blossomed with enchanting flowers of purple and white.

  Laying half submerged in the water atop a bank of soft sand was Ravage. She opened her eyes, the sunlight bright and piercing. Sitting up in the shallows her long purple hair dripping with water clung tangled around her neck and shoulders. She pulled it free, strained the water from it and tied it in a pony tail. The astonishing beauty of the cove amazed her as she began to wonder how she had survived, or if this was in fact a dream, a vision of a beautiful world after death.

  Patsy coughed as she arose from a bed a lilies and wiped her eyes as she stared around in amazement, even in her dreams she had never beheld such beauty.

  From the pristine waters of the cove a woman appeared who radiated with an essence of absolute elegance and splendour. She was gorgeous beyond compare. A sultry green dress covered her luscious breasts as long golden hair bellowed down around her waist. In her eyes shone the light of the stars and her tanned skin was the epitome of perfection. A tiara of coral rested upon her brow which was encrusted with many sparkling pearls and gems collected from the depths of the oceans. Elegant silver bracelets decorated her delicate wrists and upon her fingers were dazzling rings of shell and platinum.