Descent Into Darkness

Born Of Fire, Descent Into Darkness

Hey guys! I have started on book two of the Born Of Fire series, and here it is! If this is your first time reading any of my work, I suggest reading book one of this series, simply titled Born Of Fire.

For those of you returning from book one, I hope you enjoy. This book is going to be full of dark themes, broken love, dangerous action, and murderous heroes. I think you will enjoy this ride with me, so kick back, steal a piece of the floor/carpet/back or passenger seat/bed and read! And for the love of God, don't forget to vote!!!!

Descent Into Darkness

Chapter One

“Tell me where they are hidden, and I will let you live,” Phoenix growled, causing the fire enveloping his body to grow hotter, and the ambient temperature in the room skyrocketed.

“Please!” the man screamed, dropping to his knees before Phoenix. “If I knew, I would tell you!”

“There is no way for you to prove yourself, so you must die.”

The man inched forward, his long sweat soaked hair dragging along the rough stone floor of the house. “My lord, please. I left the employ of Demetrius months ago; I know nothing of the current troop movements!”

 “Did you leave his army out of the fear and cowardice you display now? Or was it because you heard I was coming for his head?” Phoenix asked, taking a small step closer to the slowly dying ex-general.

“My family was threatened by my failure to capture you, and there was risk of Demetrius killing them to punish me, so I took them in the dead of night and escaped!”

“So I have heard,” Phoenix said. Gesturing out the now broken window of the house, he pointed at the still smoking bodies of an old woman and young boy lying still on the cold ground. “And since I arrived tonight, you no longer have a family, so you should not fear Demetrius. Tell me where I can find more of the stones!”

“You have killed my son and my wife,” the man screamed, anguish filling his words. “If I knew I would tell you, and then beg you to kill me!”

“Oh, do not worry,” Phoenix sneered, letting the fire leave his hands and grasping the man’s sweat soaked collar. “You will die soon enough. I just need to make sure that you are not lying.”

He lifted him into the air, watching the fight leave the man’s eyes. “Whether you die painfully or peacefully depends on you and your answers.”

The birds left the trees around the small stone cabin a moment later with the sound of many wings, when a hellish scream of pain reverberated through the woods.

Ember squinted when the light reflected off of the stream and into her eyes, blinding her momentarily. The rapidly forming tears in her eyes did nothing to help her already impeded vision, and she raised a hand to remove the moisture before it ran down her cheek. Spedro’s horse neighed, catching her attention and she turned her tear soaked eyes on him, taking in the look of despair on his face. It shocked her to see still wet tear tracks upon his cheeks and her heart constricted in her chest, anxiety flaring up in her core. What had come over Phoenix?

She knew the stone was powerful, had felt its effects herself, but she had never dreamt that her brother would leave her alone, much less strike her. Her cheek tingled and she rubbed it with a cold hand, her mind flying back to the scene directly after Phoenix left. Lindani screamed, falling to her knees in the dirt, while she herself had stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Phoenix had stormed out of his tent, spouting madness, a crazed look in his dark blue eyes. She had tried to rip the stone from his grasp and he had struck her, causing a bruise to form almost immediately on her cheek. Spedro had started after him, but hesitated. Turning to her, he had to repeat what he had said three times before she even heard him.

“If I start after him, he may kill me. With the stone’s power, I do not doubt he has the ability.”

Coming to her senses, Ember looked for Lindani to spy her lifting herself onto her horse, water skin on her hip. Starting forward, she grasped the horses reigns. “Lindani, do not follow him. He is not himself.”

Lindani turned to Ember with a vacant, haunted look, and a white knuckle grip. “I must. I am nothing without him.”

Spedro grabbed hold of the other side of the reigns, holding the struggling woman in one place. “I agree with Ember, Lindani. You cannot follow him right now.”

“I must!” she screamed, digging her heels into the horse’s side. The horse broke, springing forward and ripping the reigns from their hands, bolting across the meadow. She didn’t get very far however, as a sharp gust of wind lifted Lindani from the horse’s back, still gripping the leather strap of the reins. “No! Let me go Ember, I must go to him!”

Setting her down on the grass, Ember waited for Lindani to bolt, and was not disappointed. Rising from the ground as soon as she settled, she burst to her feet and sprinted across the meadow. “I am sorry,” Ember whispered before raising her hands and slowly pulling them to herself. Lindani stopped a few feet from the tree line, and turned back to Ember with a murderous look. Her face was turning blue quickly, an apparent lack of oxygen having stopped her in her tracks. Spedro leaned down and whispered to Ember, his breath tickling her ear despite the circumstances. “Do not hurt her, she is simply in shock.”

She did not let her concentration waver, even as Lindani fell to her knees on the forest floor. “I am simply pulling the oxygen from around her body. She will fall asleep any moment.”

“Please. I need him,” Lindani’s mouth formed, though nothing came out but a dry croak. Ember’s heart broke for her, and a new batch of tears welled up, overflowing her own eyes.

“I am sorry,” Ember said, crying openly now.

Lindani stopped struggling, finally falling still, though her chest still heaved. Ember let the air penetrate the space around her once more, and they could hear the intake of air in the stillness. Spedro strode over to his prone sister, lifting her slight body from the ground and carrying her gently into his and Ember’s tent. When he reappeared, Ember stood in the same spot, unable to bring herself to move.

Spedro wrapped his arms around her, and she nestled her head onto his chest, letting herself ride the waves of his breath when they rippled through his chest. In these arms that so totally lowered all her defenses, she felt safe, as though the world beyond the flesh surrounding her did not exist. “What do we do?” she whispered, and she wondered how her voice could sound so lost, so devoid of happiness.

“I do not know, my love.” Spedro said. “I do not know.”

That had been one week ago, and they were still lost. Following the trail Phoenix had left, they wound through the countryside, never understanding why his trailed doubled back on itself and looped around in wide arcs. It was like following a blind man, who had been left to his own devices.