Of Ashes and Wind

Journey Start

Gareth heaved up the last box, the great warrior with his big sword strapped to his back grinned at the early dawn. His dark red gaze matched the fiery hair that he kept tied back into a wolf's tail. He was huge and burly, but he often looked at her father Wren with great adoration and respect in his eyes.

"Did you forget anything, Nix?" A female warrior with blond hair that was braided back came from the front of the cart, Lyra was ensuring the horses were good to go.

"No, Papa and Mama packed away the things I would need and all my favorite things are in my bag." Phoenix had packed along her favorite books and novels in addition to the wooden training sword and bow.

Wren came walking out of the house with Orion in his arms, the third and final member of their friend group was on his tail – Icarus was a talented archer and had shot a few rounds with Phoenix and Wren the previous day.

"That's the last of it – the Village Chief says that he'll sort through what we left to see if anyone in the village would want it." Valyria said as she hopped into the cart with her daughter. Instead of the flowing dress and apron, her mother wore brown colored trousers and a dark tunic. A harness with several vials and knives was strapped to her chest and another belt was seen around her waist. Phoenix had no idea was half of the stuff was intended for. An elegant wand could be seen strapped to her forearm – her mother was reminiscent of a famed warrior she read about in her latest book.

Her father was dressed in drab that she had never seen before either. Dark trousers and a dark shirt were underneath polished light armor that adorned his chest, arms, and shins. Two swords were strapped to his back and his waist had a belt with more vials and another knife.

"It'll take us probably three weeks to make to Brilux." Wren hopped to the front of the cart with Lyra at his side, he grabbed the reins and looked back to see all of his companions ready. "Thanks again for helping escort us back to Brilux."

"You and Val are more than enough to make the journey." Icarus joked, the green clad arched had an easy smile on his face, "I'm more concerned about slowing the both of you down."

"It's been a while since I've used magic like that." Valyria rolled her eyes at Icarus amused grey gaze.

"Plus we've got some precious cargo." Wren smiled, he looked over to Phoenix. "Let's go then."

The sound of dirt being kicked up and frantic yelling made the whole group tense.

"W-Wait!" Two shadows stumbled on to the road from the forest path.

A boy with brown hair and a girl with dark hair were out of breath.

"Tristan, Penelope!" Phoenix yelled out and jumped out of the cart before her mother could catch her.

"N-Nix!" Penelope gasped out while bent over, "I... Tristan... We..." Tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

Phoenix scrunched her face up and waited for her friend to compose herself, Penelope sniffed and stood up straight. "Tristan overheard his father talking about you leaving with your mother." She was still heaving, but not as bad as before, "I... I don't want to see you go."

Phoenix remained quiet, unsure of what to tell her long-time friend, "It's.... my parents say it's for the best."

"If it's about you having a penis, then it's bogus!" Tristan yelled out.

In the background, a snicker could be heard from the adults. Wren struggled not to laugh while Valyria glared at her husband to make sure he didn't ruin this moment.

"Nix is Nix, what the adults do isn't right." Tristan stood before his friend, "You've always been my bestest friend out of all the kids."

"The adults are the problem though... they tell their children so many things." Phoenix closed her eyes, "My Mama said that adults tend to fear things that they don't understand."