Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 50

Spedro and Phoenix moved left, while Lindani and Ember moved right. Phoenix could feel a new power coursing through his body and was anxious to test it. He took long strides in his sprint to meet the rushing advance of warriors and raised his left hand at the last moment before crashing into their lines. A large stone rose beneath his feet, catapulting him into the air, much to the surprise of the warriors who watched him fly over their heads with mouths wide open. He landed in the middle of them, crouching down to one knee. All the men around him recoiled in shock, and Phoenix raised his arms then slammed his fists into the ground. His hands penetrated the hard earth to his elbows and he pulled his arms free. Hard, unforgiving stone now coated his fingers, hands, and forearms.

The first man to recover his wits flew forward, sword held high above his head. Phoenix turned lazily to meet him and simply raised an arm to block the soldiers downward swipe. The blade clanged against the stone and the soldier pushed, trying to force Phoenix’s arm down, to bring the sword to his opponent’s neck. Phoenix readied himself then when the strength the soldier was using climaxed, Phoenix dropped his arm and stepped swiftly to the side. The back pressure now gone, the soldier stumbled forward and Phoenix punched him in the back lazily, only meaning to humiliate the man. The dead flew forward at a dizzying speed, slamming into the soldiers in front of him and bowling them over. Phoenix balked for a moment then recovered before the other soldiers could notice his surprise at what he had done. The others turned to him and he started forward, swinging his arms with abandon, killing or wounding all within his arms reach. Men flew in the air in droves, flying fifty to a hundred feet before slamming back into the ground, unmoving. Others got in lucky swings but Phoenix reacted quickly, raising an arm to deflect the blows.

Again and again he punched till no more stood to challenge him. Phoenix saw one man with a fist-sized hole through his core feebly attempting to gather the fallen entrails leaking from his belly, trying in vain to put them back into place. Glancing around quickly he spied Lindani a ways off fighting ten men at once. Three dropped in quick succession, though he had no idea how, and he looked to Spedro on his left. Spedro had grasped one man by the legs and was using him as a club to bludgeon the twenty soldiers around him. Men screamed as the unfortunate weapon slammed into their bodies while more ran from the ferociousness that was Spedro in battle.

Ember was directly in front of Phoenix, twirling a single hand in front of her, and Phoenix raised an eyebrow. She had conjured a lateral spinning tornado, using it to push the men who assaulted her back at amazing speeds, slamming them into trees and one another. A hundred more men broke through the tree line, racing for Ember’s blind side, and Phoenix bolted into action. He lifted his hand slightly and a boulder came up through the grass silently and he stood atop it, wondering if this would work. He had no time to worry though, as the men were getting closer and closer to Ember. Phoenix tilted his hand slightly forward and moved it farther from his body. The boulder he stood atop suddenly lurched forward powerfully, carving a wide swath through the grass and dirt in a mad rush to protect the oblivious woman from the danger rapidly approaching. Phoenix raised his hand a bit higher and the boulder rose a bit more from the ground, making him stand four feet above it. He twisted his hand right and the stone beneath him followed, slamming into the men in his path. With quickly muted screams they were dragged beneath the rushing mount of stone and Phoenix made sure they stayed there with another twist of his hand. Hopping to the ground he turned to meet the seventy five or so survivors with a smirk.

“Come. Meet your deaths at my hand,” he snarled.

The men glanced nervously at one another then all rushed forward quickly. Again Phoenix took to punching the men within arm’s reach, this time sustaining a few injuries himself. One blade that glanced off his forearm grazed his left calf, opening a deep gash from knee to ankle. Phoenix made sure the man wielding that sword died slowly. In another instance a large axe slammed into the palm of his open hand. Bits of stone and steel dislodged from both Phoenix’s hand and the man’s weapon, once larger piece slicing into Phoenix’s forehead. Phoenix flew into a rage then, leaping high into the air and coming back down hard, slamming both fists into the ground. The earth around him swelled and flew outward as the shockwave traveled through the stone and dirt, throwing large stones in a fifty foot radius around him. Man after man fell under the assault until only one stood to challenge him. Phoenix pulled one of the stones from the armor encasing his arms and tossed it into the air lazily, and punched it on its way down, sending it through the man’s front plate of armor, his body, and through the back plate as well. With a terrible scream the man fell, clutching at the hole in his chest. He stopped moving once he hit the floor, eyes glazed over in death. Phoenix turned to find the three watching him intently and he beckoned them closer.

They obliged, and he told them quickly of the realm of the gods and what had transpired. They badgered him with questions but he cut them short when a force of fifty more walked from the surrounding forest, chins held high. These men wore no armor, instead choosing black hooded cloaks and Phoenix felt a surge of power in the ground as the men walked. “These are not ordinary soldiers,” he said hurriedly, “but Zuhdalay. Ready yourselves.”

The men stopped twenty yards away, and one man detached himself from the group, walking toward the four unafraid.

Phoenix scrutinized him quickly while he covered the small distance between them. A hood covered most of his face, shrouding his eyes in shadow. His long cloak rippled in the gentle wind and his boots came to a rest not ten feet from them. “Step forward Phoenix, son of Doritan.”

Phoenix stepped forward, closing some more of the distance between them, letting the armor fall from his arms as he walked, leaving a trail of stone in his wake. “How do you know me?”

The man pulled back his hood, and Ember gasped. Phoenix gritted his teeth, Spedro crossed his arms and took a step forward, while Lindani chuckled.

“You thought after the way you treated me I would just lay and do nothing? I have come for your head, Phoenix, and you cannot stop me this time.”

Pheonix laughed, and mirrored Spedro, crossing his arms. “We have bested you twice, and yet you still do not learn your lesson?” Phoenix let a small flame appear in his hand, steadily enlarging it. “I was merciful to you in Yaag, but this time you die. Siding with our enemy? I thought more highly of you Secrat.”

Secrat bent his knees and fell into a fighting position. “This time, Phoenix, I will deliver your severed head to Demetrius and nothing you can do can stop me.”