The Hidden Pheonix

Chapter 5

Morning came with pink and orange hues. Eric sat on his window ledge looking out towards the sunset. He always woke up early, and enjoyed the silence that morning came. He looked over to the other bed in the room, a fluff of hair and horns poking out of the blanket covering the figure still asleep. Geovanni had been Eric's friend for as long as he could remember, both being accepted into the Solrtice Academy and studying magic. Teiflings were not a very accepted race in the world but Eric would never look down on his friend. Slowly Eric got up and sneaked out of the room. The temple they stayed the night in was old and sent shivers up Eric's arms. He wanted to go down to the main hall. He had learned prayers from Milo and had slowly started following the Phoenix as a deity instead of some mystical creature. And when Eric reached the alter to the Phoenix he kneeled and looked up to the tall window. A snap of his fingers and his friend Moose was with him. The giant beast seeming to understand the importance of the building he was in, and bowed his head. Eric took out a small pendent from a pouch hanging off the griffin's side. The small figure was made to look like it was on fire. A man completely surrounded by fiery wings, it was supposed to represent the Phoenix himself, and how powerful he was. Milo gave Eric the figure, stating that it would help with his magic. Thinking back to the conversation had him smiling, choosing to lean on the creature beside him.

The sound of footsteps drew Eric out of his prayer. The loud sound of said footsteps could belong to just about anyone, but Eric was sure him and his friends were the only ones in the building, so he didn't bother turning around. "You left me bud." The voice brought a smile to Eric's face, turning around to see his horned friend strolling towards him. "I was awake for an hour before I left you." Eric responded, knowing that it didn't really matter how long he waited. "You still left me, traitor. I thought you said you would never leave my side?" The words were spoken with a smile. The teifling plopping down next to Eric only to look up at the window in front of them. "How long have you been out here?" Eric thought for a moment. "I don't know... I kind of zoned out." The chuckle beside him was comforting. "The smartest wizard I know, doesn't understand the concept of time." "Hey man time is a hard thing to figure out." The two sat and laughed for a bit, and when the two stopped they sat in comfortable silence. Waiting for the rest of their group to wake up.

The group was all together eating breakfast. Opal had slept the longest and finally wore a smile, her sister Dotty singing traditional orc songs from home. The language flowing perfectly with her accent, proving her love of her orcish side more than her other half. Her tusks, normally a hindrance to her speech, only helped with the words coming out f her mouth. Milo stood up on a chair, her short stance making her smaller than almost everyone in the room. She was telling her friends what had happened when they were separated. Her words were coated in what you and I would call a Scottish accent. The small figure of Griffon stood next to her. He was a small goblin, a mop of curly green hair sat on top of his head covering two long floppy ears. His skin was dark green, large eyes and nose made his expressions cartoonish. He would chime in Milo's story whenever he noticed she missed a part. The group seeming latched onto their every word. No they didn't do anything exciting but they had been apart for so long that the group didn't care, they just wanted to be with their friends. They still had a journey ahead of them, but for now, they were just happy to be together.

The group packed up and got back on the road. They had to travel to the city, where there was usually a board filled with missions that the group could complete. Gemini commented that anyone that put those missions on the board were just cowards that had never done anything for themselves, but he was okay doing them because they gave the group money. The group travelled till night and made a camp. The open fields somehow settled the groups nerves. Being able to see everywhere around them was nice and the soft grass was more comfortable then the floor in the woods. The night was peaceful, small buzzes of insects surrounded the group. Gemini laid down to go to bed, eventually falling asleep to the soft chatter of his sister and Milo.

Gemini woke up, or at least he thought he did. The dream made his limbs feel heavy, and his thoughts were clouded. A warm breeze on his neck made him turn around, and suddenly he was in a village. It was small, the people running through the streets had long ears and defined features, making it clear that the town was made of elves. Everyone was running around him, into homes, screaming, and freaking out. Gemini wished he knew why, but he was afraid to find out. Until a wave of heat covered his face making him close his eyes, and when he opened them again, the village was of fire. A large dragon stood at the other end of the village, its large figure was covered with dark black scales and feathers, its snout looking more like a beak then the mouth of a dragon. The oddly bird like appearance of the dragon put Gemini on edge. Suddenly he was filled with adrenalin, looking down to his hands only to be met by his sword. Gemini turned the sword around, admiring the blade, and prepared to fight the large beast. But when he looked up he was met with the small elf boy he met at the small village they stayed at. He was running with a slightly older girl, and when a roar was heard behind him, Gemini quickly turned around. Behind him was a beast, a lion as tall and larger than the biggest dragon he knew, it had large white feathered wings that looked as soft as clouds. The two elf children ran over to the large beast, and climbed on top of it. Slowly the creature got up, and started running towards Gemini, it's large wings spreading and lifting it off the air. The gush of air caused the leaves on the ground to fly around Gemini, blinding his vision. When the leaves blew away Gemini was met with his own camp. He recognized the orcs surrounding him, his father stood across from him. The tribal markings covering his body were the same as when Gemini was initiated into the tribe, and when Gemini looked down the same old orc was knelt in front of him on that day. The sword in his hand was heavy, making it hard for him to lift said sword to the man's heart. The kind eyes of the orc calmed Gemini, and a slight push of his hand made it easy for the blade to go through the skin of the man in front of him. The traditional chanting of the orcs surrounding him were almost deafening, but the joy in seeing his father smiling at him was still there. That was until the same dragon appeared behind him. Gemini tried to shout but no sounds came out of his mouth, and the open mouth of the dragon shot fear into his heart.

Gemini woke up, chest rising and falling at a rapid rate. The night was slowly coming to an end, and Gemini was happy that no one else was up. The cool air slowly calmed his nerves, and he slowly caught his breath. He looked down at his palm, the cut in the center reminding Gemini of his heritage and the orcish blood running through his veins. A small smile came to his face, and he whispered the orcish song his dad would always sing to him. The group slowly waking up to the sound of soft singing coming from their friend.