Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 55

Longer than my normal chapter for you guys, as a way to kinda make up for not posting when I promised. A will institute another challenge for this chapter, so let's see if you guys can meet it. 70 votes, or one week, whichever happens first, and I will upload. Thanks for reading!!

Phoenix roared in anger, leaping from his horse with his body aflame. Spedro moved toward him, holding him back as he moved for Ember, for the stone. “Phoenix calm yourself!” He hissed in his ear. “The people stare.”

“I do not care if the cursed people stare, Spedro! I only want the stone; she had no right to take it from me!”

Phoenix lunged forward again, but Spedro’s strong arm held him back. The thoughts, ideas, and plans were fading from his mind, and he groaned when the loss washed over him. He closed his eyes and put his knuckles to his temples, in an effort to curb the rapidly growing pain in his head. A white, painful moment passed, when his mind cleared, and his emotions calmed of their own accord. He looked up to Spedro and saw the concern on his face, then to Ember and Lindani, both of whom were visibly shaken by his outburst.

He bowed his head, ashamed. “I am sorry, to all of you. The stone…” He trailed off, not knowing how to explain.

Spedro laid a hand on his shoulder, and nodded understandingly. “We will talk of this later. Now, we must find the leaders of this city,” he said, raising his eyes and searching over the heads of the throng of people. He raised an eyebrow, and beckoned to someone beyond the sea of citizens, and they only had to wait but a moment before a small boy, about nine summers broke through the crowd and stood before them, only coming to Spedro’s knee.

Spedro knelt, and Phoenix followed suit, shooting a glance at Lindani as he did. He mouthed an apology, and she nodded, a smile breaking out on her countenance.

“Who is the leader of this town?” Spedro asked the boy.

“Ahna,” they boy replied, looking at Spedro’s muscled arms with wide eyes. “Are you the great hero, Phoenix of Yaag?”

Spedro chuckled. “No little one, I am not.” He gestured to Phoenix kneeling beside him. “This is the great hero you seek.”

The boy took one look at Phoenix, then back to Spedro. “Are you sure? You look more like a hero,” he said, in the unabashed curiosity that only a child could muster.

Spedro laughed again. “I’ll tell you what young man. If you take me to Ahna,” he said, reaching into his pocket and removing a small block of stone. He closed his hand and his eyes, and dust poured from the sides of his closed fist. Seconds passed, and Spedro opened his hand to reveal a small statue of Phoenix himself. “This will be all yours.”

His eyes lit up and a large, missing two teeth smile flitted to his face. “Really?” Spedro nodded, and the boy grabbed his hand, leading him through the streets. People pressed in, but not upon Phoenix or the women. To Spedro, they chanted his name. “Phoenix! Phoenix! Phoenix!” went the chant, and Phoenix dropped back to walk alongside Lindani’s horse. She reached down and ran a hand through his hair, and he glanced up. “I really am sorry. I do not know what has come over me, but I can only think that the stone has affected me in some way.”

She leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Do not let it trouble you my love. We can speak of it tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows then, and Phoenix laughed out loud. They arrived at what must be Ahna’s home, and Spedro knelt once more next to the boy who had brought them there. “For you,” he said, and dropped the statue into the boys waiting hand.

Without a word, the boy turned and ran down the street, stealing little glances into his closed fist all the while. Spedro scanned the crowd that had followed them from the gate, and his eyes fell on Phoenix. With a shift of his eyes, Phoenix knew that Spedro would not walk in before him, even though the people thought he was Phoenix. He nodded, and made his way up the stairs and knocked, then waited until the door opened. A woman with golden hair and brilliant blue eyes stood there, and Phoenix cocked his head to the side as a wave of familiarity coursed through him. He knew her, but from where he did not know. She smiled, and beckoned them in, and the people cheered louder than before. The four passed through the threshold, and the doors closed behind them, cutting off the sound of the cheering people abruptly. Without a word, Ahna led them through the house until she came upon a sitting room of sorts, with five chairs set around a low table. Five mugs of ale sat on the table, along with a large plate of sweet cakes. Ahna sat, and gestured for them to do the same.

They sat, and Ahna spoke. “It has been many years since I have seen you Lord Phoenix, but never in my life did I think you would have grown so formidable.”

Phoenix realized she was looking at Spedro as she spoke, and he cleared his throat. She glanced at him, and raised an eyebrow. “I am Phoenix. This,” he said, pointing to Spedro, “Is my brother in law and in arms.”

Ahna’s pale cheeks flushed crimson, and she looked at her lap, wringing her hands. “The tales we have heard make the hero of Yaag out to be a huge man, who wears no armor in battle. The stories say he is an amazing fighter who wears no armor because no blacksmith has the materials to fashion a set to fit him. I do apologize.”

Phoenix raised his chin, and smiled. “No offense has been taken Ahna. Though I must apologize myself, I cannot remember from where I know you.”

Ahna studied him intently for a moment. “The last time I saw you Lord Phoenix, you were a boy of fourteen. Ember had just been scarred, and I was among the healers called to help her. The last sight I remember of you is a flaming specter, commanding us to leave the room in which we were working.”

Phoenix thought back, remembering a woman with golden hair passing him in a rush to get out of his way as he tried to get to Ember’s bedside after he had burnt her. “I remember now. But tell me this Ahna; how did you go from being a healer in Yaag, to Lord of Lanaro?”

She leaned forward and grasped her mug, sipping it before she answered. “My father, Lord of Lanaro before me, was in the middle of peace talks with your father when the accident happened. We were visiting Yaag, trying to persuade him to become an ally of ours. When we heard a young girl had been badly burnt, my father asked me to try to help. I had been studying under our healers for some time, and was quite good at it. We did everything we could for the young girl, but there was only so much we could do. The other stories we have heard place the girl with you in recent battles, but I am distraught to see she is not with you now. Has she met her end at the soldier’s hands?”

Ember laughed then, and sat forward. “I am the girl you speak of.”

Ahna looked long and hard at Ember, and then sat back with a mask of confusion. “The girl I remember was so badly burned, she would be scarred for the rest of her life. You, bear no scars.”

“I bore scars for ten years, but no longer. My body has been restored,” Ember retorted.

Ahna waited, and when she realized Ember was not going to speak more on the matter, she looked back to Phoenix. “So you have come to help us?”

“If you require assistance, we are at your service,” Phoenix said, pulling a sweet cake from the plate on the table.

“That we do, Lord Phoenix.”

Phoenix raised a hand. “Please Ahna, just Phoenix. I have no dominion over you, or your people.”

She nodded, pleased with his remark, and he continued. “What kind of assistance do you need?”

“We have come under attack in recent months, but not like the other cities. They do not send battalions to batter our gates, or regiments to lay siege to us. The send cowards, under the cover of darkness, to carry out assassinations of our leaders, myself included. I have lost three judges in the past month alone. My right hand man was lost, along with a visiting ambassador from Boxor. My people live under constant fear that the next throat cut under the cover of darkness will be their own.”

Phoenix mulled over what she had said, then asked between a mouthful of sweet cake and gulp of ale, “Do you not post sentries on the walls at night?”

She nodded. “We do. Each morning after an attack, we find one or two soldiers on the outside of the wall, having fallen to their deaths. My soldiers are now making wills before they rotate to the duty of patrolling the walls. It has become the most dangerous job in the city, next to being Lord of it.”

Phoenix understood the slight plea in Ahna’s voice. “Have there been attempts on your life as well?”

She nodded. “There have. The first never made it past my guards, but the second did, only to be confronted by my handmaid, Safonra, in the halls. He mistook her for me, and slit her throat before cutting her heart from her chest.”

Phoenix brooded, silent for several minutes. At last, he looked up at the five of them and said, “Okay, this is what we are going to do.”