Descent Into Darkness

Descent Into Darkness Chapter 43

Same challenge as before, everyone. 290 votes or one week. Enjoy!

“Okay,” she said, snapping the book closed. “I believe you. But if you tell me that we are all to worship you now, you may make yourself another boat and leave this place, and you will not be welcome back to it god or not.”

“No, I do not want to be worshiped. I only wish you to teach me to control this,” he said, summoning a bit of air to circle in his hand. “I have three gifts now, and I wish to master air as I have mastered the other two.”

Ember nodded. “So you no longer possess the ability to control the earth?”

“I do,” Phoenix said, causing the ground beneath them to shake to prove his point, “but I know nothing of controlling the air, which is why I returned home. If I am to have anyone teach me, it should be the most powerful air-user I know.”

Ember rolled her eyes. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Phoenix.”

He smiled. “My dear sister, flattery gets me everything I desire.”

Spedro leaned down and whispered something in Ember's ear, and she nodded. “He is right, Phoenix. Our offensive is only weeks, if not days away. It will take much longer than that to teach you how to use your new gift.”

Phoenix stood and pushed his hands out from his sides. “Normally, that would be true, but you are forgetting something.” Air rushed in from around the clearing, swirling around his body quickly, causing Ember's long hair to blow in all directions and Spedro to raise an arm to protect his face from the flying twigs and small stones. “I spent entirely too much time watching my sister's training.”

Ember laughed, trying in vain to grasp her disorganized locks. “Very well, brother. We begin your training now, but only if you call off this assault.”

Phoenix allowed the wind to calm, and Ember shooed Spedro toward the stump where Lindani sat. “Before we begin, I will share with you the most coveted secret of air-users, since you are now one of us. Our origin.”

Phoenix nodded, and sat on the grass, Ember following suit. She plucked a few blades of grass from the ground and began twisting them together, speaking slowly. “There was once a man named Ashtion. He was lord of a castle to the east, in a land whose name was forgotten long ago. Some say it was the mountain city of Trontem, others say the city was destroyed, but it is of no matter. He was a handsome man, some say the most handsome to walk the earth. Princesses, queens, barmaids, and even beggar women were not immune to his beauty, and he was worshiped and loved by all. He was to be wed to a princess of the eastern country, to form an alliance between them. On his way to the docks to meet her ship, he came across a young woman called Stashina.”

Phoenix was about to say that Trontem had no docks, and was landlocked, but bit his tongue. Her hands still twisted the blades of grass, every few moments darting down to pull another piece from the ground. “She was the daughter of a ship's captain, and she had just returned from a long voyage as first mate to her father, and she stepped into the street before Ashtion's carriage. He shouted for the driver to turn, but he did not hear, and the woman was struck by one of the horses. Stashina fell, and one of her legs was run over by the carriage wheels.”

Ember stopped weaving the grass together, and he could now see that she had made a circlet, and with a smile she placed it on her head like a crown. “Stashina was placed in the carriage and taken back to the castle, while Ashtion went to meet his betrothed by horse. Later, when Ashtion returned to the castle after seeing his betrothed to her chambers, he stopped in to see the woman his carriage had injured. She was laid up in bed, her leg broken, and she was shouting at one of the servants to allow her to leave. Ashtion entered the room and tried to placate her, but she cursed at him. He had never before met a woman not struck by his beauty, and so his interest in her was sparked.”

She began weaving another circlet, her fingers deftly twisting the green blades together. “He somehow convinced her to stay, and he visited her every day for two months, until her leg was healed. Only after she left the castle did he realize how little his life meant without her, and he began sneaking out of the castle at night to go see her. They fell in love, but the wedding was a week away, and Stashina begged him to run away with her. His duty forbade him from doing so, and he told her as much. She screamed at him, yelling at him to leave her home, and he did. They did not see one another until the night of the wedding, which he had made her promise to attend. She did, and before the wedding, while watching him smile at his bride-to-be, she was gripped by intense sorrow. Deciding that her life was nothing without him, she went up to the tallest tower, and threw herself from the top of it. Little did she know that Ashtion had seen her tears, and no longer cared about the war his treachery was sure to incite, and told the eastern princess to return home, unwed. By the time he began looking for her, she was on her way up the stairs.

“He followed with all haste, but was too late, and the first thing he saw was the hem of her dress falling from the room as she dived toward the ground. He rushed to the window and extended his hand, screaming her name to the four winds, begging someone, anyone, to save his love. The gods heard his plea, and granted him the power to do so. A mighty maelstrom formed beneath Stashina, lifting her back up to the window, where she too was given the gift. All air-users are descendant of Ashtion and Stashina, until this day.”

She was finished with the second circlet, and she stood, placing it on Phoenix's head and he smiled up at her. “I do not think I can look as good as you do with one of these, Ember.”

She chuckled. “This is not for looks, brother, but for your training. You are still adept in your acrobatics?”

He raised an eyebrow, confused. “I am.”

“Then show me.”

“Alright,” he said, rising to his feet.

He coiled his muscles and was about to launch into a handspring when Ember's hand on his shoulder halted him. “Do your acrobatics, but do not allow the circlet to fall from your brow.”

Phoenix's eyes widened. “And just how am I supposed to do that?”

Ember jumped into the air, flipping, twisting, and twirling through the air, but the circlet never fell from her head. She landed back in front of him, the crown of grass not even having moved. “By manipulating a current to blow on your head at all times, keeping the grass in place. When your body flips, you will have to change the direction of the air flow to follow, so please, be careful.”

Phoenix shook his head and got ready, and Ember's voice cut in just before he jumped. Anticipate which direction you will need to bring the air from, but do not change directions too early, as that will blow the crown from your head. Nor too late, as that will do the same. When you can do this without second thought, we will continue to the next stage.”