The Phoenix Grail

by Helen Savore

  Jamie shortened his stride so he’d have to bound more to cover the same ground.

  “Well, those who can, push, and those who can’t…” He ducked Rhy’s blow. “I’m glad you're here though, I could use the company. I guess the misting drove people away.” He put a hand out. “No droplets through the trees. I’m liking this trail more and more.”

  “If you’re talking about the trees, then you definitely need the company.” Rhys slapped him in the arm and took the lead.

  Jamie let him and fell silent for some time, letting the sound of the wind and late birds surround him as he focused on running. It felt good to be out. He liked feeling his body in motion; he didn’t feel right when still. Cheering the team from the sidelines yesterday was awful.

  “Now if I can find something to kick, I can practice my footwork, too.” He lengthened his stride, more akin to what he’d do running down the field.

  “Hey, don’t you overtake me again!”

  Jamie shrugged and slowed to remain beside Rhys, but he let his eyes wander. Trees towered overhead, creating an uneven canopy. They were different, though he couldn’t name the varieties.

  “Let's see, leafier tree, more colorful tree. White trees, okay, that’s weird.”

  “It's a birch.”

  Jamie slowed again. “How do you know that?”

  “What, I can’t know things?” Rhys faced Jamie. “I know things.”

  Jamie picked up his pace, wincing. “Yeah, like what?”

  Rhys pointed. “You’re putting on a show about that leg there.”

  “Huh? What show? You saw me injure it. And some help you were.”

  Rhys shook his head. “Last chance to fess up.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say, Rhys.”

  He shrugged “What about Alexandrea? She’s been hanging around all the time, then she disappeared.”

  “Apparently I’m able to take care of myself now.” He didn’t want to think about it. She’d dropped him cold. It shouldn’t matter; she’d only come back into his life for a couple weeks, but he missed her now.

  “Does she know how sulky you’re acting?”

  Jamie shoved a hand at Rhys. “I’m not mooning over Drea, I’m annoyed about my injury. I'll get back in shape, get back to work, and get onto the field.”

  “Jamie, I don’t get why you aren’t talking to your old friend Rhys. Come on, man.”

  “That’s all there is, Rhys.”

  Rhys frowned. “Fine. Take it from someone whose job is half reading people, she likes you. What’re you going to do about that?”

  “Sure, you read that? Next time you see her, how about you ask her? Let me know what she says.” Jamie shook his head as he chuckled.

  “Will do.” Rhys sidled up and yanked Jamie’s phone off his armband. Rhys sprinted down the path.

  “No, wait!” Jamie took off without thinking. His legs pumped faster than they had in weeks and navigated the dips and turns of the forest trail without fail. In a matter of moments, he caught up with Rhys.

  “Ha! I knew you could run.”

  Jamie looked to Rhys, and then himself, dumbfounded. He was right. He felt fine. Maybe just a tad out of breath but otherwise great. “You know, you’re right.” Jamie took the two steps over and punched Rhys in the arm, hard.

  He dropped the phone.

  “Geez, Jamie, I just wanted to prove a point.”

  “Too far, man.”

  Rhys clutched his arm. “Okay, maybe it was two points. Believe me, it’s nice to see you taking things slowly for once.”

  “There is no taking here,” Jamie snapped back, but immediately regretted the wording.

  “Not yet it seems.” Rhys shot him a look as he jogged ahead.

  Jamie scrambled after him, matching stride before speaking. “You know what I meant.”

  “I know,” Rhys angled his pumping hands closer to his chest. “You know,” he said reaching towards Jamie, but he shook the hand away. “But others don’t know you as well as I do.”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Bobby mentioned something.”

  Jamie jogged in place. “You know what? I’m not going to question why you changed the topic, and just be grateful. That said, what did Bobby mention?”

  “That a certain bookshop owner caught his eye.” Rhys slowed and leaned against a tree. “He said he almost forgot how pretty she was, usually confining herself up in her shop. Cheering on the sidelines during the games, she didn’t seem so quiet anymore either. Given how protective you’ve been of her, after the sinkhole, he thought maybe something was going on. I reminded him you of course you’d take care of Doc Morgan’s family.” Rhys shrugged. “So I should tell Bobby not to worry?”

  Jamie’s grin fell. He refused to rise to Rhys's tomfoolery. “You’re stretching my leg.”

  “No, but you should.”

  “Can you just lay off for a moment?” Jamie swatted at the air and paced this small section. Bobby couldn’t, no way… Jamie knew he’d been away a long time. What if Rhys’s pushiness was making sure one friend wasn’t overstepping another bounds? Jamie ducked his head, running a hand through his hair.

  “I think that’s great,” he said, his mouth going dry. This wasn’t great, it was anything but great, but if he wasn’t sure what Drea was to him, he had no place to be upset about anyone else. Rhys gave him an excuse, she was practically family, Doc Morgan taking him under his wing, especially after his Da died. That was why she caught his attention.

  “She could use a nice guy like Bobby in her life. I know he’d treat her right.”

  “Sure thing. He couldn’t risk messing up that gravy train.”

  Jamie’s lip twitched. “What?”

  Rhys walked back over to him and looked him in the eye. “Yeah, I imagine she didn’t lose all her cash on that bookstore. And now that it’s gone, there’ll be the insurance. I’m sure that—”

  Jamie shoved Rhys back into the tree and sucker punched him.

  Rhys doubled over gasping and fell to his knees.

  “Don’t even joke about taking advantage of that girl. You, Bobby, or anyone else.”

  “Noted.” He coughed again, liquid coming up.

  Jamie groaned and ducked to steady Rhys. He shouldn’t have lost it. He knew Rhys was putting him on, but it still sounded so terrible. He wound an arm around Rhys’s back.

  “Let’s get you out of here, buddy.”

  Rhys’s coughing turned into a spasm, and clear water came out his mouth.

  “What the…?”

  Jamie tried to keep his head still as he felt Rhys’s stomach, wondering what had happened. The moment Jamie touched his abdomen cloth and flesh liquefied. Rhys’s form became water and quickly lost cohesion, falling apart and soaking the tree’s roots.

  Rain tore through the canopy above, drenching the parts of Jamie not covered in Rhys’s water.

  Jamie scrambled, but a flash of fire and heat filled his vision. He tried to tell himself it wasn’t real, but he felt it. A chill crept up his spine and flew through his nervous system. He was truly scared, more than he’d been since he was a child. This was no phantom haunting someone, unless one of them were about to die. In this case the whole world was changing. That had never happened before. Did that mean it would be him? Is this what the victims experienced?

  He thought he’d escaped this, but no, they had somehow been followed. First Drea and now Rhys? Was he even still alive?

  “Open your eyes.” The bass voice boomed from the ground and a rock burst through, toppling trees as it soared five meters up. On it stood a tall figure, somewhat mimicking Rhys’s features, but they were stretched. This Rhys-clone had a long black braid which whipped behind him as the air picked up. His head, chest, legs, everything, was covered in multicolored rings of armor. There was a pattern to the different metallic hues, but like the trees from earlier, Jamie did not know what they were.

  Jamie brought his arm up, trying to shield his eyes from the glare of this
being. Lightning struck behind it, glaring off the metal and gems that covered the person, making it look like a menacing rainbow.

  “What are you?”

  The figure brandished a spear and let out a wicked laugh that hurt Jamie’s ears.

  “I am what you see out of the corner of your eye. Mortals were not meant to spy our kind. You will get no further warning.”

  “What have you done with Rhys?”

  It turned its eyes on Jamie and he found himself looking into black orbs. “What do you think I have done?”

  “Give him back!”

  The creature chortled until it morphed into convulsions. Its impossible contortions made Jamie twitch. With each shake, the creature grew. It expanded, punching itself out, blowing itself up, as if trying to escape from within itself, until it reached over a meter wide. It split in half and the smaller half tumbled down the stone precipice.

  “Rhys!” Jamie stumbled down and grabbed his friend. But the separated thing was not human. It turned its head blob towards Jamie and opened its mouth wide, so wide its head split in half and fell back. Before Jamie could sick up at the sight, the figure transformed into a brilliant blue goop and crawled over to Jamie.

  Jamie yelped and struggled, trying to ignore the stuff stalking around him. Jamie tried to stand, but he was stuck, turning in the mixture of goop-filled mud. His flailing only got him more entrenched to that spot.

  “James,” the figure spoke again, now on the ground before him. “Time grows short. I must do this now.”

  Jamie continued to struggle as roots wriggled out of the ground and wrapped round his body. “No!” Jamie screamed as he tried to spread himself out so as not to be rolled together in one of the writhing roots.

  One caught his right arm, and he flailed, trying all angles to wedge his other arm, or a leg, anything, to pull away from the root. Another root grabbed on, then another, until he was caught in a demonic tree root-claw.

  Jamie screamed, but lost his breath when the creature met his eye.

  The orbs shifted and spiraled into a chilling, clear ice blue; they were so empty. Something stirred in Jamie. There was nothing he could do to save himself, and in that moment of acceptance, he found calm. He was done, but he didn’t have to make it easy or pleasant for whatever this thing was.

  “Don’t get any closer, I can bite you still.” He bared his teeth.

  Put the fear away, just act, and it will be okay. Don’t think, just do.

  The creature’s face formed a wicked smile, cut unnaturally wide through the inhuman face. It reached an arm towards its head, glimmering in pale blue light, and caressed its forehead.

  “Jamie?”

  Jamie staggered. He was on the path, jogging it with Rhys again.

  “Jamie?” Rhys repeated. “You have the strangest look on your face.”

  Jamie was stunned. They were much earlier in the path. There was a patter against the leaves, but no rain made it to them, and the wind was nonexistent.

  “I don’t know. I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

  “I was saying how I thought you were better off than you realize.” He paused. “But now you look pale. Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” he said, still distracted, not quite believing things were back to normal. “I’m fine, please, let’s just…”

  This wasn’t seeing just a death phantom, though he was still grateful the one hovering by Drea had done nothing. No, this was worse. Nothing had broken him out of reality before. That was a full-blown interactive hallucination.

  Jamie considered reaching over to touch Rhys and confirm he was still there. “I’ll—It was—” He gave up and shrugged. He spotted his phone on his armband, snatched it off, and shook it at Rhys. “Don’t take my phone.”

  Rhys clapped and laughed. “Why would I want to take that piece of crap?”

  Jamie winced. He was going crazy, he had to admit it. Was there something within his family? His mother suffered from early onset dementia, but it hadn’t been this early. He had to do something about it, but what? Have himself committed? He wasn’t ready to walk away from life. He saw the toll it had on his mom, and, and he still knew too much of himself. Jamie had already walked away from the career he wanted, and this compromise was working. Or was it? Less incidents, sure, but he was getting progressively worse. He knew better. The responsible thing would be to tell someone and get help. If he broke into another interactive hallucination, what happened to him in the real world? He could hurt someone.

  Rhys glanced to him from down the path. “Oh, are we done for the day? Coming or going, Jamie?”

  Later. This just happened, he still had to get his head around this new type of hallucination. He would decide later.

  Jamie nodded to Rhys and jogged over. “I think I’ve got a little steam left.”

  20

  “It’s hard to believe the court really was at Caerleon. You’re always telling me how the storybooks are wrong.” Alexandrea glanced at Moralynn, taking her eyes off the road. “I had school trips down here. I didn’t realize I was literally following in your footsteps.”

  Moralynn’s breath hitched. Alexandrea was too delighted by learning this piece of history. Alexandrea may question, but she never challenged Moralynn; that was right and proper, an apprentice must heed their master.

  The search forced Moralynn to lay her memories bare and face the gaps in her life. Two decades ago she pushed Boderien to draw more from her to guarantee Alexandrea would be an able apprentice because she was afraid for her failing memories, and since they had only gotten worse. Did fae memories deteriorate, too? Or was it because of her own unique rebirth?

  It would be worth it when she found the Grail. Adhomai saw himself giving it to her, but that might only be her body. Would it still be her mind by the time they recovered it?

  “Would it not be best if you face forward?” Moralynn meant more to redirect Alexandrea’s thinking, though she did worry about traveling in these cars. “Is this the best way to get there? We could summon some wind—”

  Alexandrea clicked her tongue. “I thought you didn’t like to draw attention?”

  “While it is taking time, I think this is an interesting conveyance.” Adhomai lounged in the back of Alexandrea’s small car. He was taking the ride well, better than Moralynn liked to admit. He thought it was intriguing to be passive in transportation. To lounge and not feel guilt from taking advantage of another’s exertions. He even praised the few bumps as a good reminder they were passing at such a prodigious rate.

  Alexandrea piped in. “We're almost there, where should I be heading?”

  This was not the countryside Moralynn had hoped for. Another modern town, sprawling, larger still than Alexandrea’s, with disparate buildings broken up by clearings and more roads. Moralynn minded her adopted family, Bedivere’s descendants, through the centuries, but she had not walked through much of the world. Despite having a sense of birth and death, Moralynn continued to be startled by the number of people in the land.

  Nothing was familiar enough to stir a memory. “What do you mean, where? Caerleon, I thought we agreed?”

  “You want to turn over the whole town?” Alexandrea tilted her head. “Adhomai, anything familiar to you?”

  He stroked his chin. “There was nothing hinting at Earth’s modernity from my recollection of the vision. If I had seen something, I would know for certain our target is Earth, rather than suspect.”

  Alexandrea huffed. “We could try the castle site. Although that was built around the thirteenth century. But they do believe it was built on an earlier site. Maybe there's a hint? Can you tell me more about your Caerleon?”

  Moralynn swallowed. “I do not recall. How can I know what happened later?” She looked away, but then caught the blur of the outlying buildings speeding past. It disturbed her equilibrium to not be in control of such speeds. “This was a bad idea.”

  “My Lady Phoenix Sparked, we needed an idea. This is a start.” Adhomai tapped her sh
oulder. “It does not hurt to look about.”

  “If you’re not sure, we could start with the Roman ruins,” Alexandrea suggested. “The amphitheater is open to the public. No admission, we can just walk up.” Alexandrea laughed. “It’ll look like I’m on a stroll by myself. Sounds like a plan.”

  It did not take long for Alexandrea to navigate the streets of modern day Caerleon, and soon the threesome trudged out to the amphitheater. After the claustrophobic car, the field was open and comforting. The plants were preparing for winter, but the natural foliage returned a measure of calm to Moralynn and offset her disappointment.

  “It is a bunch of grass mounds,” she said and frowned.

  Alexandrea waggled a finger. “Grass mounds, with stone shoring.” She dashed to the wall and flattened herself against it. “May this cold stone suck out my anguish, for my beloved has died today to the lions.”

  Moralynn replied. “I do not recall lions.”

  “Of course not, I think even those predate your long life.” Alexandrea lifted herself from the wall and walked through the passage, towards the center.

  Moralynn winced. Alexandrea must not know how close those words cut. It was difficult to tell for sure. She no longer had a true sense of Alexandrea since their alloy broke. Curse Raebyn and curse Boderien for being gone. She was tempted to curse Oberon as well for disqualifying her from the Trials and thereby denying her a Smith, but then Adhomai’s glimpse had led to this hope around the Grail.

  It was not a matter of if, simply when. Titania’s loom did not lie.

  “This is not an abandoned place,” Moralynn said, following Alexandrea out of the passage. She caught sight of other people meandering. One man stood in the center holding a box to his face, pointing towards the tree line. “It has been trampled for centuries. How are we to find something that no one else has found? What can we do differently?”

  “I do not know how we will find it.” Adhomai’s voice remained even.

  Perhaps it was the surety of his vision that kept him calm. No, his nobility could not have carried over from his old life. He certainly did not claim any of the memories, memories that Moralynn struggled to grasp and recall.