The Third Sun (Daughter of the Phoenix Book One)

by Victoria J. Price

  Lorn dived after them, right out of the seed pod. “Do you know who I am?” she screeched.

  Fia fought for the breath that had been knocked out when she landed. She fumbled for her bow, her spare hand searching for an arrow, as she clambered to her feet.

  Lorn’s feet touched the snow a few metres from Fia. Fire shot from her palms, up her hands to her arms, her neck, her head, until her whole body was engulfed in flames. “I am the Fire Mother.” Lorn’s voice was a twisted mess of laughter and crackling flames. She pushed her hands outwards, but no fire came. “Do you really think a little arrow will stop me?” A piercing sound escaped her.

  Fia fumbled with the arrow, and with one short burst of Lorn’s flames, the bow was searing hot, and Fia dropped it in the snow, falling to her knees. She plunged her palm into the icy powder.

  “You’re coming with me,” Lorn seethed, grabbing Fia by the arm and shoving her into the seed pod before taking to the skies once more.

  Fia cried out in pain as Lorn’s hand wrapped around her, searing heat shooting through her whole arm and up her neck, but she kicked and thrashed at Lorn regardless.

  “Move and I burn the whole pod,” Lorn spat.

  “You’ll kill us both,” Fia said through gritted teeth. She steadied herself against the wall of the pod with one hand—the other was already beginning to blister. The scent of burning hair filled her nostrils, and someone called her name through the snow as arrows came down at the pod. Lorn screamed as one caught her in the arm. The pod swung wildly as she fought to fly. At the same time, she furiously fired jets of flames randomly into the snow.

  “Fia!” Alexander called out to her. She couldn’t see him. But if she couldn’t see him, neither could Lorn, and that was a good thing. The thought of his wings meeting with Lorn’s fire was enough to send her into a blind rage, but she kept her cool as she felt in her boot for the dagger Arc had given her. Breathe.

  “You can have him, you know,” Fia said, drawing Lorn’s attention away from her attack. “It was never going to go anywhere, anyway.”

  “What?” Lorn called out, still distracted by her flames and the seed pod.

  “I said you can have him,” Fia shouted. “To yourself.” And she lunged forwards, pressing her dagger into Lorn’s shoulder blade, her burnt hand biting with pain.

  Lorn laughed. And then again, and again, louder and more hysterically, the intensity of her flames increasing outwards and into the sky as she laughed, like endless orange ribbons escaping her fingertips. She reached for the dagger, throwing it into the air.

  Fia took her chance; she grabbed hold of the pod’s controls and it lunged sideways, tipping her out of the side into the blizzard. A fireball followed her as wings encased her and arms wrapped around her waist. “No,” she screamed, “Alexander!”

  They fell hard into the snow, rolling and tumbling, the smell of burning hair and flesh filling her nostrils. “Alexander,” she called out again.

  “Are you okay?” he said, crystal blue eyes looking up at her from the snow.

  “I’m fine,” she sobbed, “you’re hurt.” She held a blistered hand over his wing, charred and smouldering, and he took it in his.

  “It looks worse than it is.” He held his free hand to an open wound on his wing.

  “Well. Isn’t this just precious,” Lorn called out from behind them.

  Fia stood with her back to Alexander as he wearily pushed himself up from the snow. She’d get in a few punches at least.

  But as Lorn launched her inferno, a flash of black and white dived past, tackling her to the ground. It was a Nord. They let out a deep roar as they attacked, a blurry mass of fur and flames until Lorn pulled herself free. She cried out in pain as arrows rained down on her, and she withdrew to the safety of the seed pod, shouting obscenities as she took off, sparks and embers trailing her as the pod spluttered into the air. Fia grabbed Alexander’s bow and chased after her, firing arrow after arrow, despite her blistered hand and her bloodied arm. But it was too windy. Snow fell in thick curtains. Lorn had already retreated to the remaining airship. Fia loosened her grip on the bow, her blisters already breaking, and fell to her knees with exhaustion.

  The airship disappeared over the mountain range, and the skies cleared almost instantly.

  Kharsee knelt on the snow beside Noor, surrounded by dozens of witches attending to Alexander and the other wounded.

  “You frightened her off,” Fia said, her gaze following the trail of a mercenary, fleeing towards the lake. “The snow, it was you?” She looked back to Kharsee, her violet eyes flickering in acknowledgement.

  “Just in time, too,” Noor added, pulling herself to her feet.

  “Arion?” Fia called out, panic trembling in her voice.

  “He is fine,” Kharsee replied. “We are seeing to his wounds.”

  “Enne, Enne!” Maab cried out as he ran towards them. Half clothed and barefoot, he almost threw himself at the mass of black and white fur in the snow. The Nord had saved Fia’s life. Maab pushed away at the witches surrounding him.

  Victorious soldiers cried out around them. Cheers and whistles escaped from amongst the Navarii and the Mizunese, even the Nords were celebrating. The Makya were retreating. Senkahs and Aurelli fled in every direction.

  But Fia’s world fell silent as she saw Enne’s charred body in Maab’s arms. “Do something,” she whispered to Kharsee, “please.”

  Maab stroked Enne’s singed fur as he hugged him close. “You hold on. Keep your strength up. Don’t change back. You need your strength.”

  But Enne ignored Maab’s plea and changed back into a man, holding a charred hand to Maab’s cheek.

  Kharsee took off her cloak and placed it over Enne’s scorched body. “It’s too late,” she said quietly.

  “No,” Fia replied, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Maab rocked Enne softly back and forth as the victorious cheers reached a crescendo around them. “Keep your strength up,” he said, stifling a sob.

  “Nothing warms my heart more than knowing my last breath was for you,” Enne said, gazing up at Maab. His eyes became still, and his hand fell from Maab’s face.

  Maab took Enne’s hand and kissed it, over and over as he cried. He closed Enne’s eyes. Enne’s spirit rose from his body in the shape of a beautiful white snow leopard, leaping and dancing in the wind.

  Through the cheers and the laughter of the soldiers celebrating victory, Fia watched Enne’s spirit above them until it joined the sky spirits in a flash of blue and was gone.

  Chapter Thirty

  Noor

  The Lady Noor and Fia sat quietly beside Enne’s body with Maab and a group of Nords. Alexander joined them, folding his wings behind him as he sat. Noor inspected him from where she was seated. The witches had healed his wounds, but bald, featherless patches of wing revealed the extent of Lorn’s damage.

  “The feathers will regrow,” he said softly, as Fia examined him, too.

  Noor shifted her attention to Fia’s bandaged hands, to the bulkiness at her shoulder where more bandages sat, after Lorn’s hands had pressed down on her. She felt a surge of pride—Fia had fought well.

  “You could have been killed,” Fia said to Alexander, as he gently took her bandaged hands in his.

  “We all could,” Alexander replied. None of them spoke.

  Enne’s body had been covered except for his face. Eyes closed, he could have been sleeping peacefully. Their paths had never crossed, but Noor knew from his mate’s stifled movements that he was loved. It was enough to tell what kind of man he’d been.

  The crowds around them had departed as soon as they’d realised what had happened, beginning the arduous job of clearing bodies from the battlefield. Their victory had not been without casualties.

  Alexander placed a hand on Maab’s shoulder.

  “It’s my fault he’s dead,” Fia finally said. “I’m so sorry, Maab. It’s my fault.” She clasped a hand over her mouth and her shoulders shook.
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  “We all knew what we were getting ourselves into today. He died an honourable death, saving his friend,” Maab said quietly.

  Kharsee walked by, a silent summons. Noor rose to her feet to join her coven leader.

  “You are needed for what lays ahead, Lady Noor,” Kharsee said, as their feet crunched in the snow.

  Noor chewed over possibilities. Was this an olive branch or another test? “Anything to keep the coven united.”

  Kharsee smiled. “You know I never wanted you to leave, but some things are beyond even my control. What happened with Silla…” Her gaze fell to the snow. “You made a choice, Noor. The more I think of it, I like to think I would have done the same for the man I loved.”

  Noor sucked air through her teeth at the sound of his name. Silla. They walked through the rows of pyres being constructed, past solemn soldiers preparing their friends for a final goodbye. So much death.

  “The coven has been impressed with your initiative to work with the angels, to find the girl. We want you back, Noor. To be our envoy.”

  Noor felt a glimmer of something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a long, long time. They’d circled back around to Fia and the others. “Arion. I take it you had something to do with their meeting?”

  Kharsee smiled. “I merely pointed her in the right direction. Arion is just the beginning.”

  Noor turned to her, a frown creasing across her brow. “She’s leaving. Erebus is calling to her, she can’t stay here, if she was our only chance…She’s leaving.”

  “The prophecy never said anything about her having to fulfil it from Ohinyan, if I recall.” Kharsee’s eyes glittered. Noor looked back at Fia, chatting with Maab. Just one girl with so much to achieve and so much already achieved since her arrival.

  Alexander walked up beside Kharsee, closely followed by Yahto and Altair.

  “Par awaits us,” Altair said, caution laced across his face. Earning his trust would take time. But Noor was patient. She followed them to meet the Makya.

  Altair made introductions, Par the Makya council leader, and of course, Raiaan stood beside her.

  “I fear we have failed Ohinyan,” Par said. She was small in frame, but Noor recalled her fierceness from the council chambers. “We raised Lorn to believe she is the Fire Mother. Her corruption is our doing. She has deluded some of our soldiers into following her and brought shame on us once again.”

  “She has even deceived our brother,” Raiaan added.

  “I saw you come from the airship with the others,” Yahto spat, eyeing Raiaan suspiciously. Altair held back his son.

  “I can vouch for this one,” Noor said, stepping forward, and flashed an image of herself as a Makya guard for all to see.

  Raiaan smiled. “Very clever. I ought to thank you, for your astuteness. And as Par has said, the council wishes to have no association with Lorn and Jerum. There are much bigger things at stake here that affect us all. We are as invested in Ohinyan as each of you. It is our home, too.”

  “We will all need Lorn alive. When the third sun comes, we will need her. That is why some have chosen to follow her. Lorn was taught the wrong values…had I been there, things might have been different.” Par shook her head, tapping a black, glossy cane as dark as her eyes in the snow.

  “I do not think Lorn’s current state of mind is entirely the council’s doing,” Noor added. “The darkness has been calling to her.”

  “It has been calling to all of us, but it is whether or not we choose to listen that matters,” Par replied, her old eyes glistening with knowing.

  Noor caught Alexander shift with discomfort.

  “The council have given their word,” Kharsee announced. “We will work together in the months ahead. It has been agreed amongst the key covens that the Lady Noor shall be envoy for the witches.”

  Par held both hands on her cane and nodded. “We have given our word, and we stand by it. Jerum has escaped with his sister, and we will not rest until we find them.”

  “Very well,” Alexander said. “We have much to discuss.”

  Noor did not join Alexander and the elders as they departed. She was too weary from her days aboard the ship to follow. She’d heard enough for now. Raiaan remained beside her, perhaps he felt the same.

  “So just how long were you spying on us?” he asked, no hint of anger in his voice. He held his hands behind his back and motioned for Noor to join him as he walked.

  “Long enough,” Noor replied. But she knew there was no ruffling his feathers. She’d seen his kindness on board the airship. He was never cruel to the Aurelli, and his soldiers had respected him.

  “So Erebus has been taunting my sister. That explains…rather a lot.” He surveyed the pyres as they walked, his expression blank.

  “Tell me something.” Noor stopped to face him. “Do you believe she is the Fire Mother?”

  His brow furrowed, but his eyes were bright, hopeful. She saw her reflection in the flecks of copper, gold, and carnelian. “I have been raised, as she has, to believe so, yes. Whether she will decide to take ownership of her responsibilities to Ohinyan is another matter entirely.”

  Noor nodded in understanding. They walked on together in silence, and Noor felt a new beginning taking shape. Hope fluttered in her chest.

  In Silla’s name, then.

  Chapter Thirty–One

  Alexander

  Snow had fallen heavily in the last few hours. What had earlier been a muddied expanse of lifeless bodies was now covered in pristine white, with the exception of the funeral pyres slowly being built in the snow.

  Alexander watched Maab prepare offerings and blessings to accompany Enne’s body. It could have been Fia lying there.

  In the distance, a handful of witches lead groups of Aurelli back towards Mizune. Fia, at Noor’s instruction, had spoken with the odd little creatures, assuring them they would be returned to their forest by the Navarii ships. They’d responded with skittish, frantic movements, but with the help of the other witches soon calmed after watching illusions of what it was like to be at sea, and how quickly they could be home.

  More witches coerced the Najin down into the valley below their forest, after much cooing and calling. It was a shy thing when not shackled. The surviving Senkahs had fled, in every direction into the shadows of Ohinyan. The darkness had taken hold, and there would be no way to bring them back from its depths now.

  Fia had made up her own mind about returning to Earth. At least it was her choice. He could give her that. With her safe on Earth, he could focus on his duties. On being a leader. Perhaps even a leader his father would be proud of. But above all, perhaps Ohinyan might even see its way out to the other side of the darkness that lay ahead. He clung to the hope that she might want to return, that she could see Ohinyan as her home.

  She walked towards him now, her auburn hair loose below her shoulders, and her eyes wet with tears. Loquere. She’d brought Arion to them. Alexander’s chest swelled with pride at the memory of her interpreting for them all just a few days before. How wide eyed they’d all been as she spoke for the great winged horse. He took her bandaged hand gently in his.

  “Come, the others are waiting.” He led her to the witches’ forest, and though they barely spoke, he committed to memory every detail of how she pushed back her hair, every brush of her thumb against his.

  Amongst glittering emerald trees, Alexander announced an alliance with the Makya council, one they all hoped would remain strong in the coming months.

  “Aid and provisions have been promised,” he said. “Par informs us that Lorn and Jerum have only a handful of Makya who remain loyal to them. Together, we will defeat them.”

  Large, bell-shaped flowers in bright purples and blues surrounded them, filling the air with a sweet, vanilla scent.

  “Our priority will be the declining temperatures,” Kharsee said. “It’s going to get cold, and fast, so we will need to work closely with the Makya to maintain a sustainable living temperature across a
ll inhabited areas of Ohinyan.”

  Alexander watched the old witch as she spoke. She’d welcomed Noor back, at least that was something.

  Kharsee caught Alexander’s gaze. “Our only alternative is relocation.”

  “Relocation?” Fia bristled beside him. “As in, to Earth?”

  Kharsee nodded.

  “That is an illogical solution,” Altair interjected, rubbing his chin. “Most people don’t even know of Earth’s existence. How can we expect them to evacuate?”

  How would they even get them all through? Alexander had already tasked his fastest scouts with searching for windows that might allow for a departure from Ohinyan. They couldn’t possibly fly everyone through, and he wouldn’t ask it of the angels, either. It wasn’t simply an evacuation, it meant only the angels would ever be able to return. And Fia. Would she want to come back?

  “The alternative is that we leave them here to die,” the Lady Noor chimed in, sharpening a blade quietly as she listened. “That is, of course, if the windows between worlds do not close entirely.”

  “But how can you take Par’s word, after all that’s happened?” Fia said, her voice laced with frustration.

  “We must take responsibility for shaping our own future. This alliance will ensure that,” Altair replied.

  “And what of Erebus?” Yahto asked. “How do we prepare for him?”

  Alexander felt Fia tense beside him, and he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

  “Our knowledge of Erebus is still limited. Arion has told us more than we have known for many years. We will need to learn all that we can about him if we are to ensure he does not take a hold on Ohinyan when the sun dies,” Kharsee replied.

  Alexander sunk into the rhythm of instruction. The Navarii would return the Aurelli to their home, before continuing in their ships across Ohinyan to raise awareness of the dying sun, and to learn whatever they could about Erebus. Maab, at Alexander’s request, agreed to lead one of the ships. Arion and the witches were to work together. The angels he had split off into various tasks: scouting for windows, for Lorn and her brother, and searching for any information that might help.