Phoenix Rising (Invasion #1)

by Bethany Shaw

  She gulped as she trudged over the dirt and rock to a steel door that led down into the tunnel. It screeched as she opened it, causing her to wince. She was met with complete darkness. She gulped, turning back to Zephyr. “I don’t suppose you have a flashlight or something?”

  “You can’t see in the dark?” he asked seemingly baffled by her predicament.

  “No, can you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.” Not only were they technologically advanced, but also physically advanced. Perfect.

  “Allow me to guide you.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and eased her into the darkness. His warmth enveloped her and she stifled a gasp, realizing she enjoyed his touch. Now wasn’t the time to be getting weak in the knees!

  Zephyr cleared his throat as he pulled her to a halt. “I cannot read the sign, but there is an arrow pointing down on it.”

  “Your translators don’t work on written text?” she asked as they walked through the abyss. Her eyes strained to make out something, but came up short in the pitch black.

  “No. What does it say?”

  “Well, I can’t see it, but the signs outside were warnings. This mine isn’t operational. It’s been closed down due to high CO2 levels,” she told him as she drew in a deep breath. Would the carbon monoxide effect him? If it was still present, they could be heading to their graves. “Are you sure there are people down here?”

  “I take it this CO2 is harmful?” Zephyr asked. “We don’t have anything like it on Delphi, and I and my team assumed since there are people down here the air was safe to breathe.”

  His grip on her tightened as she drew in a shaky breath. “It’s poisonous to humans. It’s an odorless gas that can make us very sick and kill us. Depending on how much there is, it could work quite quickly.”

  “Our equipment’s readings are accurate. There are people down here.”

  She sighed and allowed him to continue leading her deeper into the tunnel. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

  “I’m quite sure. We’ve come to a staircase. I’ll go down first. Take my hand and I’ll guide you,” he said as he slipped his warm, calloused hand into hers. He took a step down and then gently pulled her onto the step with him.

  She wobbled in his embrace. “I have no idea how long the mine has been shut down. It’s possible the CO2 levels aren’t dangerously high or its only bad in some areas. There is no way to know for sure.” She slid her foot to the edge of one step then down onto the next. “But if you’re right, and there are people alive down here, then that’s a good sign.”

  They continued down the steps in silence. The whole time she resisted the urge to ask him how much further it would be. Surely, they’d be reaching the bottom soon—she hoped.

  “Wait!” Zephyr grasped her midstep and she squeaked temporarily, rocking off balance. He righted her before speaking quickly into his comms asking for a report from his team.

  A loud boom sounded above them and the Earth beneath her feet started to shake. She screamed, digging her fingers into Zephyr’s arm to keep from tumbling down the stairs. Her pulse accelerated in her ears as another eruption thundered overhead. The stairs began to sway and she inhaled deeply, forcing air into her lungs while trying to keep her movements to a minimum.

  Zephyr yelled as he hauled her up the steps. Another explosion bellowed and the stairs jerked as debris rained down on them.

  Her hand reached out for the railing, but it was gone. Addison froze in place, too afraid to move, not even taking a breath for fear it might hinder their situation. The stairs creaked, listing further. As the ground gave way, she screamed, fear pulsing throughout her body as she plummeted.

  ***

  Zephyr grunted as the stairs split in two, sending him and Addison careening to the depths below. Out of instinct, his phoenix took over, sending his wings jutting out as his body changed.

  He lunged forward, swooping deeper to catch Addison in his grasp. She writhed in his grip as he flapped his wings and lifted them to safety. The space was narrow, forcing him to turn at an awkward angle and scraping his wings on the abrasive rocks. He grimaced at the pain, but continued on. He knew the sooner they reached the surface, the better. The entire mine seemed to be collapsing in on itself and his people were in danger.

  He stepped onto the rocky ledge first, ensuring it was secure before setting Addison down. The urge to protect the human was overwhelming and unlike anything he’d felt before. She scurried across the ground and collapsed on her abdomen, heaving in deep breaths.

  He wanted to ask if she was okay, but given his current physical state, he couldn’t. His eyes roamed over her assessing to make sure there were no injuries. He’d taken care to make sure his fire hadn’t burned her. Thank goodness he could control his body temperature.

  She’d be fine as long as they could escape the rest of the cave. He surveyed the area where the door had been; boulders had fallen, blocking their exit. Zephyr huffed, picking up his wings and flapping them wildly to send a short spray of fire out from the edges while stocking forward, hoping nothing flammable was near them. Satisfied they were in the clear, he drew in a deep breath and roared, sending flames toward the rocks. The rocks cracked and could be pulled away to create a hole large enough for them to escape through.

  He closed his eyes and transformed back into his other form. He moved the broken rock to structure their exit way and turned to Addison. “Come.” He reached out his hand to her.

  She peered up at him with wide eyes, panting. Sweat beaded on her brow and he cocked his head to the side, noting the redness of her face and the wetness that coated her brow. The heat must affect her differently. He never thought of that. He trudged toward her, knelt down, and scooped her into his embrace. Protecting her body with his, he squeezed out of the hole and paused.

  Giant sheets of ice covered the Earth. Icicles hung from the trees and crumbled remains of his crewmates lay strewn across the ground. The Imanji had used their primary weapon on this location. There was only one thing deadly to a phoenix—extreme cold, and the Imanji had a bomb that exploded, freezing everything in its reach.

  He set Addison down and ran his hand over his face. There was a crater where the shuttle and his team had been moments ago. He gulped then raced forward, only stopping when he reached the edge of the crater. Steel from the shuttle gleamed in the sunlight, buried by rocks and ice; he doubted it would ever fly again. His people were down there trapped and probably frozen to death.

  He pressed his hand over his comms, hoping and praying his gut was wrong. “Report!”

  Nothing.

  “Daven, Reese, report,” he said again.

  Silence.

  He closed his eyes and dropped to his knees. They were gone—all of them. He could feel it. The Imanjis didn’t leave anyone alive—ever.

  Chapter Five

  Addison covered her mouth as tears pricked her eyes. She didn’t need to ask him what was wrong; it was obvious the men and women who were with them were dead.

  She knew a little bit about mythology from school, but now wasn’t the time to ask if his friends would rise from their ashes. And judging by his reaction, they wouldn’t be.

  Zephyr let out a howl, drawing her from her thoughts and causing her to flinch. There was so much pain and anguish in his cry, it made her heart ache. She stood watching him for several minutes, unsure of what to say or how to comfort him, as he yelled and beat the ground. Not only were they strangers, but he was also an alien and she knew next to nothing about him.

  She took a step back as he stood and turned to her. His vibrant blue eyes flickered as if on fire. She licked her lips and met his gaze.

  “I’m so sorry, Zephyr.” She knew the words did nothing to ease the pain, but she had to say something.

  He grunted in response as he smoothed a hand through his hair.

  “Is there a chance—”

  “No. There are no survivors,” he cut her off. “The Imanji must have seen us. I doubt they
left any survivors in the mine either.” He pointed to a spot behind her.

  She turned and sighed, closing her eyes. The ground had shifted and was loose, indicating a cave in. Layers of ice rested on top of the ground. “There’s no way to tell for certain?” she asked, trying to stay hopeful.

  His hand went to his pocket, patting it. “I must have lost my detector on the stairs when we started to fall. It’s doubtful anyone survived. Their weapons are quite powerful. I’ve seen their ice bolts go as deep as twenty-five miles below the surface. We got very lucky. If we’d have been further down, we’d have perished, too.”

  Addison took one last look at the large sheet of ice and nodded in agreement. Even if people had survived the cave in, the ice would’ve frozen them instantly. “What do we do now?”

  Zephyr tapped something else on his suit. It didn’t look like a button, but it must be one. He muttered something in his language for several minutes before meeting her gaze again. “My long range communication device was damaged. I can’t call anyone.”

  “Will they come looking for us?” she asked with a gulp.

  “Not until the Imanji have cleared the area. Our shuttles are designed more for transport than combat and have limited weapons. The Imanji will target the shuttle.”

  “Why are they so ruthless?” she asked. Even humans didn’t target civilians, at least they tried not to.

  “We should move out of this area. They may do another sweep.” Zephyr shifted on his feet. “We could go further if we flew.”

  “Fly, how?”

  Zephyr smirked as burning wings sprung out from his back.

  “Oh, right.” She covered her face with her hands while squeezing her eyes shut. “Please don’t drop me or burn me.” He hadn’t harmed her earlier when he’d lifted her out of the mine. It was beyond her how he did not harm her, but she wasn’t going to complain as long as he continued to do whatever he’d been doing before.

  Was she really going along with his idea? Flying? In the sky? She was terrified of heights. There had to be another way, but she couldn’t think of one. She shuddered at the thought of dangling as they flew through the sky. How high would he take her?

  Her chest rose and fell as she gulped in panicked breaths while waiting for Zephyr. The wind kicked up and she flinched as something grasped her by both shoulders, lifting her. She held her breath, too afraid to move as her feet flexed, trying to find the ground, but it wasn’t there. She was flying.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she said a silent prayer he wouldn’t drop her and she’d land on the ground in one piece.

  Whatever you do Addison, don’t open your eyes, or move, or look down. Just don’t do anything.

  ***

  Addison gasped as Zephyr swung her up higher and then set her on the ground. His release waivered and she stumbled forward, pitching onto her knees, glad to see solid ground.

  “Are you well?” he asked a moment later, back in his human form.

  She doubted she’d ever get used to the idea of men changing to and from a phoenix at will. “Yeah.” She let out a deep breath and laughed. “That was...” there weren’t words to describe it. It wasn’t as bad as she’d feared, but then again, she’d never opened her eyes. She likely would have vomited all over the place if she looked down.

  Zephyr looked around and narrowed his eyes. “We should be far enough away from the attack sight. I believe one of the other shuttles was coming in this direction. It looks like the Imanji have been here, but they haven’t attacked any of my people.”

  “How can you tell?” Addison asked.

  “They only use the ice bombs on my people. They have other weapons they use to cause damage but kill as few of their prey as possible.”

  “Oh.” That was unsettling. She didn’t want to think about the crazy aliens right now when they should be worrying about where the other shuttle was. “I didn’t realize there were more groups. Are they close?”

  Addison gazed around; they were on a street in what appeared to be the center of a town. Slabs of concrete lay uneven, windows were smashed, and small fires burned. There were no signs of life around at all. The realization made her heart ache. Even small towns were full of life in the village center.

  “Several teams left at the same time we did. As I told you before, we don’t have long.”

  Addison gulped. He had mentioned that earlier, but she hadn’t asked the question plaguing her. “How long do we have?” she asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

  Zephyr met her eyes. “Approximately forty-eight Earth hours.”

  She shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself. Two days? They had two measly days to save everyone they could. “That’s not enough time.”

  “It’s all the time we have. We can’t stop the Imanji,” Zephyr said.

  “How do you know? Maybe you could—”

  Zephyr ran a hand through his jet-black hair and his face fell. “We’ve tried everything we could. The last planet we lost over three hundred Phoenix trying to stop the explosion. The Retribution barely made it out of orbit in time to keep from being destroyed.”

  “So, what? You just came here to save us and whisk us away to your planet? Why? Why would you go out of your way to help people you don’t know? Forgive me, but that sounds...weird,” she remarked. Why were they here? Why fight? Sure, she was thankful for their assistance, but what investment did the Phoenix have in helping other planets?

  Zephyr balled his hands at his sides as he growled. “It is our responsibility.”

  “Why do you care what happens to us?” she asked, staring at him through narrowed eyes. Why would his people put their lives on the line? He wasn’t telling her everything. There was something else; she could feel it.

  Zephyr sighed and looked away. “The Imanji are here because of my people.”

  Addison shook her head with a frown. How was that possible?

  “My people have visited many worlds over time, including Earth. When we developed the capabilities to travel through space, we sought far and wide for other species who were as advanced as we were. We stopped at many planets and interacted with the species, taking notes and keeping a log so we could check back at a later time when they would be ready to share information and interact with us.” Zephyr let out a breath and placed his hand over a broken concrete block. “I believe this is why your species has folklore about phoenixes.”

  Addison shrugged. If what he said was true, then it would make sense why some believed phoenixes were actually around, hence all the outlandish stories about them in mythology.

  Zephyr cleared his throat and continued, “We searched for many years until we found another civilization that wasn’t quite as advanced as ours, but very close.”

  “The Imanji,” she said in a whisper.

  Zephyr nodded as he sighed. “After searching for so long, my people were overjoyed, but saddened to learn their planet was dying. We jumped in to help the Imanji complete their first spaceship and shared technology with them. It never occurred to us they might want something more from us until it was too late. They stole the information and planet locations from our databases. By the time my people figured out what the Imanji really wanted and could do, it was too late for the delegation party deployed to their planet. The Imanji launched ships into space, ships of their own creation, attacking and destroying all of our space stations,” he paused, his stare drifting to an unknown point over her shoulder. “They’d played us, using us to gather information with the ruse that we were helping them. The Imanji had already been searching the galaxy themselves, feeding off worlds that they could. We fell right into their trap and gave them all the information on our planet that is full of life. They were just waiting for the opportune time to strike and when they did it came at a great loss to my people. We were able to protect our planet with a shield; after several months of trying to penetrate it, they finally gave up and began to move on to other planets—the ones they stole the coordinates to.”


  “Why are they doing all of this?” Addison asked as she motioned to the destroyed city. “I don’t understand how this could help them.”

  Zephyr met her gaze. “You said you saw your friend die, yes?”

  Addison nodded as a chill zipped down her spine. She’d never forget that moment.

  “The Imanji feed off other living things and consume their life force. They’ve killed many humans, but I guarantee, they have abducted just as many, if not more to store on their ship to take home until they cull another world,” he informed her.

  Addison shook her head, trying to make sense of everything. “When Marcus died, the Imanji ate his life force?” She gagged at the thought. “That’s disgusting. Why don’t they just settle on a planet somewhere and leave everyone alone?” Was that too much to ask?

  “That’s the problem, they can’t. They feed off the energy of the planet; it sustains their ships, which is why they destroy each planet they visit. First, they secure food for themselves, then for their ship,” Zephyr said.

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they need the planet’s energy? Unless...their ship is organic?” Addison asked.

  “Essentially, yes.”

  “But why all of this? Why kill so many?” Addison asked as she motioned to the wreckage.

  “Not kill—trap. Look at the city skyline,” he said pointing to the metro area a few miles from them. “All the large buildings are still intact for the most part.”

  Addison followed his gaze and inhaled, realizing he was right. The town they were in was a mess, but now that she really looked around, most of the houses and buildings were beaten down and broken enough to injure and disorient a person, but not so much for the inhabitants to be crushed to death.

  “They don’t care if their food is injured,” Zephyr continued. “If they don’t feed off their victims directly, they use a machine to kill them and store their life force to eat later. They attack cities just enough to cause chaos and draw people who are wounded, desperate, and disoriented out into the open. Their goal is to make sure they meet little to no resistance from the world’s inhabitants when they start sweeping for food. This is why they attack major cities and defenses first.”