The Phoenix (The Prophecy #1)

by Jessica McCrory

  She watched as Emmitt and Ophelia headed towards the village. Ophelia turned and smiled lightly at Anastasia. She offered a small wave and Anastasia returned the gesture. She would definitely be keeping an eye on her.

  Just before dusk Anastasia and Kaley were walking the outskirts of the fence looking for any damage to the villages main line of protection.

  “Hey, Anastasia! Wait up!” She smiled when she heard Brady’s voice.

  Hey, Brady. What are you doing out here this late?” A curfew had been put in place for the villagers and with dark coming on it was soon.

  “Just came to keep you and my favorite girl here company.” He smiled and reached down to pet Kaley. “I heard you found a survivor in one of the nearby villages, that true?”

  “Yes, her name is Ophelia. Tony, Emmitt and I found her this morning.”

  “That’s insane.” He had grown into a young man of fifteen and Anastasia could see he was going to be a handsome man. He already had most of the girls his age following him around. He was honest and kind and she was grateful she could call him her friend. “I wonder why they left her alive?”

  “She hid in a cellar beneath her house when she heard the attack start.”

  “Was it bad?” He could see the look on her face and already knew her answer. “Never mind.” Brady reached down ran a hand down Kaley’s long back. She relaxed into him and began to purr.

  “You keep petting her like that and she’s never going to be able to help me finish the rounds.”

  “Why are you walking the fence anyways?”

  “Just checking for any damage that could make it easier for a successful attack for the Brutes.”

  “We haven’t had any, the wall is fine.”

  “I just have a bad feeling Brady. Like something is going to happen, soon. Just do me a favor and keep an eye out.”

  “You know I will.” He smiled at her and for a moment her heart hurt. Even after all this time she still missed Dakota.

  “I asked Emma to go steady with me.” He grinned at her and Anastasia laughed.

  Brady and Emma had been dancing around each other for months now. Flirting without actually taking the step towards a relationship. She had pushed him to ask her, knowing how quickly time can run out and the regrets that came if you let it.

  “That’s wonderful! I'm very happy for you two.”

  He smiled and they walked together.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked cautiously.

  “Talk about what?”

  “About the guy you left back home. You never talk about him but I know he was important to you. I’ve seen the picture.”

  Her heart sank at the thought of Dakota. “He is important to me. His name is Dakota, we lived next door to each other and were best friends.”

  “Were you two in a relationship?”

  She shook her head. “No, just friends.”

  “Why not? If you cared for him, then he must have cared for you. Why didn’t he ask you to go steady?”

  He had she remembered, in a way at least. Had asked her to prom every year and each year she had come up with some excuse as to why she couldn’t go.

  “It was complicated. My life wasn’t easy and I wanted to get away as quickly as I could as soon as I could. It would have been difficult had we been anything but friends.”

  “You never talk about it much.”

  “I try to not think about it.”

  “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.”

  “I know you are Brady.”

  “Would you do it differently?” He asked her.

  “Do what differently?”

  “Your life. Would you have asked to be his girl if you could do it all over again?”

  She thought about it, the familiar pain in her chest tightening. “Yes, I think I would have.”

  “That’s good at least.”

  “Wise beyond your years aren’t you?”

  He laughed. “That I am, just ask my mom.”

  They continued walking the fence and she had a flashback to when she and Dakota would walk home together. She could see him as if he were there, smiling and joking with her as if they were the only two in the world. She remembered the night in his room when he had told her of his plans for their future. How their lives and turned out so differently was beyond her.

  Screams tore through the night and Anastasia spun towards the sound. “Brady get inside and lock the gate!”

  “No way, I’m going to help you!” He chased after her when she began to run.

  “No, Brady! I need you inside, please.” She added a silent plea in her eyes. She couldn’t risk him getting hurt.

  He looked like he was going to argue with her, but at the last minute changed his mind. “Fine, but call if you need me!”

  Barely inside the tree line she saw them. At least a dozen Brutes were pushing their way towards the fence. A body lay crumpled on the ground behind them. Kaley growled deep in her throat and Anastasia attacked.

  She felt her blade slicing flesh and she continued to move. She ducked arms and legs as they punched and kicked at her and when she felt a dagger slice across her arm, she barely noted the pain. She heard Kaley growling and knew that the cat was holding her own in the assault. She pictured herself on the outside of the fight looking in and was impressed with the level of skill she had achieved over the last ten years.

  She spun as four more came into the clearing. Using what Gregory taught her she conjured the light magic and flung it at the Brutes. It hit one in the chest and it was momentary stunned. She used the extra time and plunged her sword into it.

  One of the Brutes grabbed her braid and she felt herself being yanked back.

  “This her?” Her eyes widened with shock. She didn’t know the Brute’s were capable of speech.

  “It’s her.” Another one said, its voice just as deep as the others had been.

  She drove her sword into the Brute that had begun to approach from the left, and then another grabbed her arm. She spun and kicked until she felt her foot come into contact with something and they grunted. It released her hair and she continued fighting.

  Other Fighters burst into the clearing and they took the last of the Brutes down.

  Anastasia stood for a moment staring down at the death. Blood began to pool on the ground and Kaley padded over next to her. She could feel her own blood pounding in her ears and she did what she could to steady her breathing and allow the adrenaline to calm.

  “You okay?” Tony asked her as he came to stand next to her.

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Your arm.” He pointed and pulled a handkerchief from his waistband to tie it around her bloody arm.

  “Just a flesh wound, I’m fine.” Her mind was reeling from what she had heard. “Did you hear them?”

  “What do you mean? Heard who?” He asked looking at her.

  Had she imagined it?

  “What the hell?” She wondered aloud when something in the Brutes waistband caught her eye. She bent to retrieve it and almost dropped it out of pure shock.

  “What is that?” Tony asked staring down at her hands. All she could do was shake her head in disbelief.

  In her hand was a Glock 45. She hurriedly checked the other bodies. Every single one of them had guns and two spare clips.

  “No, don’t touch that!” She yelled at Emmitt as he bent to pick one of the weapons up. The last thing she wanted was one of them to pull a trigger on accident. Terrenia had never seen a single gun before. That was, until now at least.

  She quickly gathered the guns and shoved them into her waistband. She handed Tony the spare clips and then they drug the bodies further from the village.

  Brutes always came to collect their dead, they would fight their way into the village to get to them if they had too. The only solution was to leave them far away for them to find, or to burn them. And even then the smell of the fire attracted them.

  “What are those things?” Ton
y asked pointing to her waist.

  “They are called guns. They shoot projectiles at a target, if you don’t know how to properly handle one they are very dangerous.”

  “What are they doing here?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Where do they come from?”

  “My world.”

  “That means Vincent has been to your world.”

  “He has before.”

  “This is bad.” Tony rubbed his hand through his hair as they walked towards the training cottage.

  “Very bad.” She agreed. If Vincent was spending time in her world, it was bad news indeed. For both worlds now, not just Terrenia.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “This is bad.” Gregory repeated Tony’s sentiments as he looked down at the guns that lay before him on the table. “If he gets his hands on enough of these we are in big trouble. Even if he only arms each Brute singly, we could lose hundreds of ours to mere dozens of theirs.”

  Anastasia nodded. “Could he be launching an attack against my world as well?”

  Gregory may be her father and Terrenia her home, but she would always consider her dimension as her world.

  “It’s possible. Vincent has always been power hungry.”

  “How would he take them on, though?” she wondered aloud, “It’s not just these small guns that they have. The military has tanks, missiles, and other large weaponry.”

  “He must be planning something bigger than just a Brute takeover. I don’t see why he would be arming them if there wasn’t some larger purpose.”

  “Where would he be getting them?” Who was supplying them? She wondered.

  “There’s no telling. Vincent is very resourceful. He managed to find a couple to take you in, knowing you had been kidnapped. Chances are he would be able to get his hands on some weapons fairly easily.” Gregory noted and bent closer to inspect them. “Do you know how to use one of these?” He asked Anastasia.

  “Yes. Dakota’s dad is a cop. He taught us both when we went to stay a weekend at their cabin. We would go shoot every now and then.”

  “A cop?” Tony asked curiously.

  “A peacekeeper of sorts. A cop protects citizens and upholds the law.”

  “So, a Fighter.”

  “Yes, that sums it up.” She responded in agreement, noting that George Parker would like that definition. He was a proud man, as he should be.

  “I would like for you to carry one at all times, and teach us how to use them.” Gregory turned to face Tony. “Choose nine of your Fighters to bring in. They will learn and carry them as well.”

  “They won’t kill a Brute.” Anastasia noted.

  Gregory nodded in agreement. “But they will sure as hell slow one down.”

  Anastasia agreed and after a brief hesitation decided it would be best to tell them what she had heard. “There’s more.” Both Gregory and Tony turned to face her. “They spoke.”

  “What?” They said in unison.

  “The Brutes, they spoke.”

  “You heard them say something?” Tony asked. She could see the puzzling look on his face and knew he wondered why she hadn’t said anything before now.

  “I wasn’t sure what I had heard, but I think its best to share even if I did just imagine it. Although, I really don’t think I did.”

  “I trust your judgment. If you say you heard something, then you heard something.” Tony said quickly.

  “What did they say?” Gregory wondered.

  “One said ‘this her’? and the other said ‘its her’.”

  “So they were looking for you.” Gregory’s jaw was tight and she could see he was furious. “Why can’t he just leave us alone!” He yelled and slammed his fists down into the table.

  Tony gently touched his shoulder. “He won’t get her Gregory, Anastasia is as tough as they come.” He winked at her and she smiled lightly.

  When Gregory’s eyes opened, they were an iridescent blue as if they were being lit by something on the inside. Anastasia knew what that meant, for lack of better words he was getting close to a magical breakdown.

  Gregory closed his eyes and when they re-opened they were back to normal. He stood and walked towards the window.

  “Anastasia I don’t want you out alone anymore.”

  “Gregory, that’s not necessary-” She started but stopped when he turned to face her. She could see the fear and the pain in his eyes and knew that this would be non-negotiable.

  “Even if you weren’t my daughter, we still couldn’t risk losing you. You are our only hope against Vincent. Then there’s the fact that you are indeed my daughter and the last family I have left. I'm not willing to lose you too, I don’t think I would survive it.”

  “We will make sure if you go out, you are accompanied by no less than a dozen Fighters.” Tony looked at her. She knew that he thought of her as a daughter as well and her heart soared at the thought of being so loved, still she couldn’t help but be slightly irritated at being babysat. She knew arguing with Gregory would be difficult, but arguing with both he and Tony once their minds were made up would be impossible.

  “Okay.” She agreed. “When do you want to start learning to shoot?” She asked lifting one of the guns off of the table. She popped a clip into it and secured it at her waist.

  “I will gather the Fighters tonight and we can start first thing in the morning.” Tony turned and headed for the door.

  Later that evening Anastasia and Kaley walked through the village. She loved the amount of activity that went on inside the walls even after dark. People in Seattle had lost so much of the closeness when technology began advancing. This social connection has been lost in recent years in her world and replaced by something that was advertised to bring people closer when instead they had never been further apart.

  Families sat together around a fire, laughing and sharing stories together. Children played together with wooden sticks rather then video games or expensive toys and mothers shared stories about raising their children. She watched as a little girl fell and scraped her knee and the closest adult scooped her up and carried her to her mother for kisses. There was no selfishness here, only people who genuinely cared for each other.

  She turned and saw Brady and Emma standing together under one of the trees at the border of the village. They were holding hands and she smiled when Emma giggled as Brady whispered something in her ear. Anastasia turned, her face flushed when Brady kissed Emma. She was laughing as she turned to walk back towards the training cottage.

  “Hey, Anastasia, wait up!” Ophelia yelled as she fell into step besides her. “How’s it going?”

  “Hey, Ophelia. It’s good, just out for a quick walk. How are you settling in?”

  “Fantastic. Emmitt has been showing me around.” She giggled and looked behind her. “I heard you found something in the woods earlier. When the Brutes attacked.” She said in a hushed voice.

  “Emmitt told you?” It was meant more as a statement but Anastasia phrased it as a question just to be sure she had all the facts before she accused.

  “We can talk just between us girls can’t we? After all we are the same age and I think we could be friends.” She smiled warmly and continued. “Emmitt was telling me earlier that you think the Brutes are going to be launching another attack. Are we safe here?”

  Anastasia saw something lurking just beneath Ophelia’s expression. She didn’t believe it to be fear for even a second, which made her wonder what it could be.

  “We are perfectly safe Ophelia, no need to worry yourself. If the Brutes decided to attack, then we would know early enough that we can get everyone to safety.”

  “That’s good.” Ophelia nodded and continued to follow Anastasia.

  “Well, I’m going to head in to bed now. You have a good night, Ophelia.”

  “You as well, Anastasia, sleep soundly.”

  Ophelia stood staring after Anastasia as she walked away, a slow smile spreading over her lips. This was going to be t
oo easy, she thought to herself. Way too easy.

  The next day Anastasia set up targets and began showing each fighter and Gregory how to load, hold and fire their new weapons.

  “There will be a kick, it won’t be terrible but it’s definitely noticeable.” She pointed her gun at the target and fired. Three of the fighters jumped slightly and she bit back a laugh. Including Tony, these were ten of the largest men she had ever seen and none of them had ever heard the sound of a gun going off. “You have to know it’s there, but not anticipate it or you may pull your gun off target. Hold your guns up and aim down the sights. It needs to feel comfortable to you. It’s important that you don’t put your finger in the trigger well until you are ready to fire, if it goes off before you are ready, you may take a life you hadn’t meant to take.” She walked behind each man as they held their guns up. “You need to place this notch at the end of the barrel, in between these two at the front of the gun.” She pointed to the sights on Tony’s gun and then moved to stand behind the Fighters. “Now when you are ready to fire, put your finger on the trigger and gently pull back at the end of your exhale.” Eleven shots rang out and she smiled at the look on each man’s face. They all looked like excited boys on Christmas morning. “We have very limited ammunition. Each gun only came with one loaded clip and two spares. Use the rest of what’s in your clip to get the feel for it and then stop. We need to save the ammo until we can find more.”

  They each grunted in response and then continued practicing. She had to admit she was impressed. For men who had never handled a firearm before, they were precise and a few had even hit the bull’s eye on their first shot. Gregory seemed to be having more trouble then the others and she knew it was because of his eyesight. She had noticed that he had started straining when he didn’t think she was looking.

  She listened and watched, correcting stances where needed, until each man had finished firing off their clips. Then she helped each one take apart their weapons and clean them. She said a silent thank you to George Parker for making her and Dakota clean their own guns after each visit to the range. She smiled at the memory, they would spend the evening laughing and sitting around a bon fire watching the stars. Those were by far her favorite memories.