SPRITES: Legacy of the Black Phoenix

Prologue: Dreams of the Black Phoenix

The street shook, a crackling sound reverberating through the air. Crouching down with a tight grip on the hat on his head was a small boy. He loosened the grip, his eyes shifting down. The gold letters GA, ran across the center of his shirt, filling him with an inexplicable sense of courage.

The first steps were heavy, as if the quicksand were dragging them down. With each crouching step his courage grew until he grew bold enough to raise his gaze.

The neighborhood he once knew was barely recognizable. Filled with shattered windows, a shard like dusting in the air and shingles from the roof rummaging through the streets. The houses were tilted toward him, ready to collapse at any moment.

Paralyzed by the destruction a faint voice called for him to keep moving. Step by step, the enormous weight on his feet became lighter and lighter until he stood up strong, walking at a normal pace.

Gripping his hat, the boy dropped to his knees once more, staring down at the letters on his shirt. The terrifying noise was much louder this time. Just like before the faint voice called for him to pick up his feet.

Pushing himself forward his heart hammered away through yet another desolate block. It was worse than the last. Most of the houses were completely collapsed and surrounded by shard-like debris.

The vibrations and noises resonated through the boy's body once again. There was no doubt about it. Something was coming. The faint voice echoed in his head louder than before, counteracting the darkness that was closing in on him and pushed him to move yet again.

By the end of the following block, the boy reached for the trunk of a towering oak tree catching his breath.

A crackling noise pierced his ears. Below him the pavement tore toward him.He jumped back before as the cracks ceased just short of where he stood and looked up. A giant shadow began to form above him. He couldn't help but stare up wide-eyed and shivering in fear. Mesmerized by the giant shadow he froze, watching it grow exponentially while it closed in upon him. The faint voice called to him again. He started running. It didn't take long for him to notice that the visibility was diminishing around him so fast that it looked like it was nighttime. The shadow swooped past him. That didn't stop him from running though. Taking off in a direction away from the creature like he was possessed he was determined to keep going. That was until he was forced to stop. Before him laid an endless pit filled with the darkness that had covered the skies just moments ago. Looking back for another path, a large dusting of shards cornered him. He was trapped.

The boy crept to the edge of the pit. Peering down to the infinite darkness he felt something staring back at him. A stampede of noise erupted. This noise was different from the others. Far in the distance across the pit a group of soldiers carrying bazookas, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers were rapidly heading in his direction. On their shoulders he could vaguely start to make out the letters on their patches. When they got closer he was shocked to see the golden GA letters, written in the same style as the one on his shirt.

Hoping they could protect him, he anxiously waited for them to get closer. To his horror their faces were all covered with the same look of desperation that he had. The boy knew things were going to get worse—much, much worse.

The soldiers continued to run toward the boy from the other side of the pit until they reached the edge. From the pit, the darkness started to elevate toward the soldiers. They emptied their ammunition in the direction of the darkness until the area was filled with dust. When the dust settled, the edge of the area nearby the soldiers began to crack.

Grouping close together the soldiers fired what little ammunition they had left forming another layer of dust. As the dust settled, a crackling noise erupted, followed by the wails of the soldiers echoing into the pits. Before the dust settled he knew that they had all plummeted to their deaths. There wasn't any time for him to grieve for them as a large shadow swooped up from the pit, taking shape in the light.

The boy was now staring at the dark, scaly leg of a beast. Its leg was so massive that he couldn't see the rest of its body. The creature's slimy feet raised up high above the boy before slamming onto the ground twenty feet in front of him.

Staring up, he knew it was pointless for him to run. All he could do was scream. "Mom! Dad! Pax! Help!"

The beast roared while jumping back another ten feet. It towered over two houses as though they were a couple of dressers. Covered in sharp, scaly shards, it gave off a thunderous ringing in his heart.

Although the beast's hands were short in comparison to the rest of its body, its talons were sharp and long enough to slice through several neighboring houses like a pair of scissors through a sheet of paper. Its gaping mouth revealed thousands of jagged teeth that looked like they were ready to chomp down on anything in their path. Its eyes were two gigantic shards, with dark pupils that darted back and forth, surveying the area. The pupils then shifted their focus onto the boy, and the creature glided toward him.

With the beast approaching him, he knew that no one was coming to save him. Once again, he reached for his fisherman's hat and cowered in a turtle-like stance hoping for a quick end.

There was a long silence.

Shocked that the beast hadn't torn him apart, the boy loosened his grip on his hat and peeked. The beast was still there, standing still. A blinding fluorescent dark light appeared behind the creature.

Away he looked, but realized the light wasn't irritating his eyes at all; as he stared up at the black light, it filled his body with a sense of tranquility. Adjusted to the light, a set of feathers formed before him, up high in the sky. With the sun hitting every part of its body he took in the full view of the dark-colored phoenix.

Although the phoenix and the beast were nearly the same height, the bird was quite long, with a tail that was nearly the same size as the rest of its body. The phoenix rushed down toward the boy, giving him a full view of its narrow beak, large eyes, thick, curly eyebrows, and gaping mouth filled with darkness. He braced himself for the impact, but as the bird passed through his body, he felt a mixture of warmth and familiarity, erasing the terror the beast had stirred up in him.

For the first time since he had heard the thuds in the street, he felt at ease. As the phoenix flew directly through the beast, an explosion went off, blinding him.