Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 15

Well everyone, I am very sorry for not posting like I usually do, but I was out of town with no internet access. But I have returned and am writing again! Remember to vote, and tell me what you think in a comment!!!

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Phoenix struggled to loose himself from the grip of the men, but to no avail. The moonlight beamed through his window, illuminating the faces of Secrat and his two friends.

Secrat’s face was twisted in a sneer, his lips pulled back to expose his teeth. “Did you think I forgot Phoenix? That your new-found fame would sway my resolve to make you pay for humiliating me?”

Phoenix smirked. “Actually, I did not even give you much thought.”

With the end of his barb, Phoenix called forth his flame. Nothing happened.

Phoenix smirk lessened, then he called forth water from the well in the center of the village, but nothing happened. His powers felt just out of reach, behind a flimsy door that he could not breach.

Secrat smirked, then held up a piece of jagged, blueish metal. “You didn’t think I am stupid, did you Phoenix? I have heard the stories from the camp, and how the cage in which the captives were imprisoned prohibits Zuhdalay from using their gifts.” Secrat stuffed the metal into his pocket. “I cut a piece from the cage to make this…shall I say, fair? It is you and I, with no gifts.”

Phoenix’s smirk disappeared altogether. His face set into a look of determination. “So be it.”

Secrat laughed, grabbed Phoenix’s collar, and started hauling him out of the bed. A large crack resounded, and Secrat froze. Inclining his head, Phoenix saw a large fist flash above his face, and slam into the man holding his left shoulder down. The man, Anon, flew backward, then slammed through the outer wall of Phoenix’s home, landing and rolling in the dirt of the square. Phoenix looked to his right to see Spedro, a murderous look on his face. The crack must have been when Spedro ripped through the wooden wall separating his and Phoenix’s rooms. A large hole was behind Spedro as he stepped through the remnants of the wall, over Phoenix, and between him and Secrat, who had backpedaled furiously when Anon went flying.

“This has nothing to do with you!” exclaimed Secrat. “Leave us be!”

Spedro simply crossed him arms. “Fine,” Secrat snarled, brandishing his blade. A seven inch, double bladed dagger. “Then you shall pay with him.”

The third man, Charo, pulled an identical blade and moved to Spredro’s right, while Secrat side-stepped to the left. Phoenix sat up and started to rise, when Spedro waved him off. Phoenix smiled, and simply pulled on his boots, eager to watch the events unfolding. Charo moved forward, lunging for Spedro’s neck with his blade. Spedro reached out and grabbed Charo’s throat, lifting him off the floor easily, before Charo had even moved within striking distance.

The small man’s face started turning red from lack of oxygen, and in a desperate attempt to free himself, plunged the blade into Spedro’s arm. Spedro didn’t flinch, and Charo removed the knife to stab him again as Secrat moved forward, trying to take advantage of Spedro’s apparent blind spot. Spedro reared back with the arm holding Charo, and flung him toward Secrat. Charo landed on top of the other man, and both fell to the floor, limbs entangled.

Both men scrambled to their feet, Charo’s neck already showing slight bruising, which was sure to worsen by morning. Secrat turned and jumped through the hole Anon’s body had made, followed by Charo. Anon was rising to his feet, his nose bleeding profusely. The decorated soldier removed the blade that hung on his back, a short, one-handed sword that Phoenix knew the man to be deadly with. Anon trained incessantly with the blade, considering he had no elemental gifts.