Rise of Phoenix Read online

  Firewitch:

  Rise of Phoenix

  Christina Ricardo

  Chapter One: Air Attack!

  Chapter Two: Phoenix

  Chapter Three: A Trip to the Circus

  Chapter Four: Bonfires and Fairytales

  Chapter Five: You Can’t Escape the Past

  Chapter Six: Firewall

  Other Books in the Series

  Chapter One

  Air Attack!

  She felt the rush of wind against her face; the thrill in her stomach as they dove.

  Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the reins and the beast climbed higher in the air. Rising, up above the forest canopy and rushing toward the vast white clouds towering high above them.

  Serafin struggled not to scream as she held on to the reins of the dactyl and Ash’s grip on her waist became stronger.

  “Pull him to the left!” Even though his face was close to her ear he was forced to shout against the wind.

  Serafin tried to control the dactyl but she was already pulling the reins so hard she doubted the beast would notice a further tug on the left.

  Ash reached forward and grabbed hold of her arm, forcing her to give the reins a sharp pull. The dactyl swerved left, pulling out of his climb. He opened his wings wide and gently glided along on the warm winds.

  Ash laughed. “That’s better,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath.

  She felt safe with Ash on the back. Even when he was in control she still felt nervous on the flying beast and she didn’t think she would ever be able to fly it without him. As she started to calm down, she began to enjoy the sensation of being in control. She just had to remember not to pull too hard on the reigns, just a slight tug to the left or right was all that was needed to give the dactyl direction.

  As high as they were, Serafin could no longer see the distant grass plains they had travelled from, all that was below them was the deep and vast forest stretched out like an ocean of green, and, just up ahead of them, were the mountains of the north.

  She remembered travelling amongst those mountains every summer, as a child, she remembered all the little towns and villages they had stopped at, the beautiful views and the way the clouds could roll down into the valleys like thick cream down the side of a sponge, plunging everything into a dense and wet mist, sometimes for days on end. The mountains had been like a home to her then, but now, as she headed closer to them they seemed a foreign land.

  “You’re getting better!” said Ash, snapping her out of her thoughts and reminding her that she was supposed to be in control of the flying beast.

  “I have a good teacher!” she managed to shout back over the wind.

  Just at that moment the dactyl took a dive, so suddenly that Serafin couldn’t help but scream.

  “Pull up!” shouted Ash, “Pull up! Pull up!”

  He tried reaching forward for the reins but even he couldn’t get the dactyl to changes its course. Serafin noticed shadows dancing on the forest canopy and looked upwards.

  Suddenly she realized why the dactyl was diving. They were being followed.

  “ASH!” Serafin screamed.

  He followed her gaze upwards and his face changed as he saw the three Guardians diving after them on the back of great, armored dactyls.

  She pulled hard on the reins, trying desperately to pull the dactyl out of his suicidal dive, but it refused to respond, plunging toward the ground ever faster. Just as it reached the tip of the forest canopy it pulled up, brushing its long, finger-like, talons along the sea of leaves, swerving left and right to avoid the arrows that started to rain down on them from the Guardians.

  Serafin was relieved, but frightened. She knew that she couldn’t control the dactyl; whatever it was doing, it was doing so of its own accord.

  “We need to swap places!” she shouted.

  “What!?” Ash sounded terrified.

  “You have to take the reins!”

  “Fin! We’re in mid-air, we can’t just switch!”

  Despite the dactyl’s best efforts, the Guardians were catching up with them, fast.

  Serafin knew Ash was the better rider; she knew that as a trained guardian he had been riding dactyls for years. There was no way they could outmaneuver three scouts while she was in control. She didn’t have time to debate.

  She forced the reins into Ash’s hands and slipped her feet out of the stirrups and up onto the saddle.

  “FIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Ash shouted, clearly in a panic.

  The wind was beating hard against them as they sped along the treetops. She could easily slip and fall, plummeting hundreds of feet to the ground, but she couldn’t allow herself to worry. She had to jump. Tentatively, she took to her feet and turned, grabbing Ash by the shoulders and leaping over him. Allowing the wind to do the work for her, she flipped over, turned, and landed in the saddle behind Ash.

  The dactyl swerved suddenly to the right, narrowly missing an arrow and throwing Serafin off balance. She grabbed Ash’s tunic pulling herself back into the saddle, before slipping her feet into the stirrups.

  The Guardians had caught up; there was one on either side and one above, preventing the dactyl from swerving too far either way. They would try and force them to the ground, where they would be arrested and taken back to the abbey. She didn’t know what they would face if they were taken back, but there was no doubt in her mind that they wouldn’t live through it.

  Serafin couldn’t just give in after everything they had been through.

  Holding on to Ash with one hand, she started to summon the magic from within her. It was difficult so far from the ground, as she relied on the earth as the source of her magic, but she knew that there was magic in the very air itself. She concentrated hard and just at the edge of her fingertips she started to feel the usual flicker of energy. She forced herself to draw the energy up, allowing it to bubble and surge within her.

  The dactyl swept to the side, avoiding another volley of arrows, knocking her out of her concentration.

  With Ash in control, the dactyl was sweeping not just left to right, but making dives and jumps. She started to feel sick from the motion and she was losing grip on her ability to build up a surge of magic.

  She shook off the nausea and focused. Drawing the magic from within her and forming a ball of pure energy in her hand, she cast the energy towards a Guardian.

  He easily swerved to avoid it.

  He was so close she could see the Captain’s badge on his chest; she could even make out his eyes beneath his visor. He pulled another arrow from his quiver, skillfully riding without his hands he loaded the arrow and fired. It missed again, their speed and movement proving too much.

  Serafin drew up another energy blast, casting it in his direction. He pulled away momentarily causing her to miss by a huge margin.

  Suddenly, the Guardian lifted the visor on his helmet, wiping his brow. He was so close she could see his dark eyebrows and the scars of acne across his cheeks. As he looked at her, he smiled, before placing another arrow into his bow.

  Serafin stared in horror as it sailed through the air. She thought for a moment that he’d fired far out of range, but the arrow was moving directly into their path. She felt as though she was watching events occur in slow motion as it gradually drifted towards them.

  The arrow struck Ash.

  It thudded hard against his armor, but his howl told Serafin that the arrow had torn right through. He was flung back, clutching at his chest. She grabbed him.

  “It’s alright,” he lied.

  She glanced sideways and saw the look of satisfaction on the Captain’s face. He’d already loaded another arrow. With little room to swerve, the dactyl was caught between all three Guardians as t
hey fired at once.

  The dactyl buckled as it was struck in its haunch and its right wing was torn through. It lost height but battled on, its wings beating hard either side, but Serafin could tell that the poor beast was weakening.

  She threw Ash forward.

  “Grab the reins,” she shouted.

  He did as he was told, but she knew he didn’t have much time.

  She laid her hand on his back, summoning the energy to heal him in flight, and then turned to the Guardians as they soared in formation around her. They were readying themselves for another volley, a final attack to bring them down into the forest. Serafin suddenly realized that the Guardians didn’t care whether she was captured or killed, they just wanted her gone.

  She panicked.

  She would have to use fire.

  She knew that there was nothing she could set alight, but the power of fire-taming was all she had left to fight with. She threw out her arm, hoping against hope that her magic would somehow be able to find something to set on fire; that somehow one of those Guardians would be carrying something that would burst into flames, causing confusion or terror.

  Nothing happened.

  Another volley of arrows shot towards them.

  She screamed and threw up her arm to defend herself. But none of the arrows found their marks. A gust of wind had carried them in the wrong direction.

  She was shocked, but knew her luck wouldn’t hold out. Even now the Guardians were readying for another volley.

  She felt Ash draining the healing energy from her and she had nothing left to fight with.

  Chapter Two

  Phoenix

  Serafin mustered the last bit of strength within her and summoned fire, desperately trying anything to help.

  As she did so, the wind picked up and whipped around her, knocking the dactyl off balance. She threw her arm forward hoping to see flames materialize but instead a ferocious tornado appeared before her. It tore through the Guardians, ripping the riders from their dactyls. She watched in horror as they fell, like children’s toys, into the forest below, the dactyls failing to pull themselves back into flight before they disappeared below the forest canopy.

  It took her a moment to realize what had happened. The fear of the battle had been replaced by confusion, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She was starting to lose Ash and the dactyl was struggling to stay in flight.

  “We have to touch down!” she called, hoping that Ash hadn’t passed out; that he had enough life left in him to guide the dactyl to a clearing somewhere.

  He was weak but managed a weak nod and slowly they descended into the trees. Serafin knew that the Guardians were not too far from them, but with any luck it would take them a while to recover and gain their bearings. Luckily, it wasn’t quite as easy to track people within the forest as it was in the air.

  She would have preferred to keep flying, to keep out of the Guard’s way and get as far from them as possible but she knew she had to heal Ash and the dactyl before they continued. Even if it meant they couldn’t take flight again for fear of running into the Guardians patrolling the sky.

  The moment they were beneath the canopy, the heat of the sun was gone. The trees felt cool and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the shade. The trees in this part of the country were giants and the dactyl could easily fly between them, but with his wounded wing and semi-conscious rider it was a clumsy plummet to the ground before a landing that was closer to a tumble. As soon as they hit the soft earth, the dactyl collapsed. Serafin slid off him, pulling Ash with her.

  Ash couldn’t stand, the arrow was sticking out of his chest and the blood was pouring through his armor. She couldn’t hold him upright by herself and he collapsed to the floor. She didn’t have much time; she had to stem the flow of blood quickly.

  “Shhh, it’s alright,” she whispered, delicately stroking his brow.

  She touched the arrow and he winced in pain. It looked as though it had plunged in deeply, right next to his heart. She was relieved it hadn’t been just a couple of inches to the left. Even the greatest healer in the world couldn’t cure death.

  She knew she couldn’t risk pushing it through and she didn’t have access to the potions or poultices she needed in order to stem the flow of blood.

  She had no choice but to pull it out and heal up the wound as she went. It would be slow and painful, but it was the only way she was sure he would be safe.

  “This might hurt,” she whispered.

  “That’s ok,” said Ash, through gritted teeth and already sweating from the pain.

  She slid her hand under his body armor and tunic, in order to get to the flesh, holding her hand right over the wound. With the other hand she grabbed hold of the end of the arrow. He cried out as she touched it, but she knew this was just the start of it.

  She took a deep breath and began to chant. She felt the healing energy moving into him. The earth around her was rich with life and magic, and she was drawing the power up through the earth and straight into his wound.

  Then slowly she began to pull.

  He screamed in agony. She was sure the other Guardians would be able to hear him, even at this distance, but she had no choice.

  Slowly, she drew out the arrow, tearing through his flesh and healing as she went. She knew this was far from what she had been taught and she felt his pain as he writhed underneath her. But she had to keep going, had to draw out the full extent of the arrowhead.

  She felt the arrow tip beneath her fingers, and found that it was just below the surface of the skin. She gave it a firm tug and it left his body. She yanked it through his armor and threw it aside. With both hands on the wound she continued to chant until the skin beneath her fingers was completely healed.

  Exhausted, she took her blood soaked hands away. Ash lay breathing heavily, staring up at the sky.

  “How does it feel?” she asked.

  “Better,” he said and forced a smile.

  “Good.” She smiled back. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, you’ll need to rest.”

  “I’ll rest when this is over,” he replied, but his head fell back to the ground and he stared up at the forest canopy, his hand over the healed wound.

  Serafin forced herself to her feet. She wasn’t used to raw healing; she usually relied on potions and spells and she’d certainly never had to deal with a battle wound before. She needed time to rest as well, but she still had to heal the dactyl.

  Its great body was slumped on the ground. It looked at her with huge black eyes as she walked towards it. People often referred to them as dumb beasts, but she felt she could see a personality, a spirit within those eyes.

  She patted it gently on the head to calm it before she walked around to its back. Two arrows stuck out vertically. There was a little blood, but not as much as with Ash. She could see that the thick hair and leathery skin of the dactyl had prevented the arrows from going too deep. The best way to deal with this would be quickly. She grabbed the end of the arrow and yanked.

  The dactyl roared in pain and buckled, but she pressed her hand against the wound and as she chanted, it began to calm. As soon as she finished the first, she pulled out the second and, feeling better, the dactyl rolled itself onto its feet, struggling to stand. As it did so, he could see that the soft skin of its wing had been torn through.

  It had started to trust her and didn’t pull away as she reached out and touched the open wound on the wing. Gently, she whispered the chant and the skin started to repair itself.

  As she finished, the dactyl rubbed its head against hers.

  “I think he likes you.”

  She turned to see Ash, already on his feet, leaning against a tree and watching her. She smiled and turned back to the dactyl.

  “We can’t just keep calling him ‘it’, we have to think of a name,” she said rubbing the fur on its head.

  “A name?”

  “Surely, even the Guardians have names for their dactyls.”

 
“It’s not encouraged…”

  “But?” she said, knowing he hadn’t always adhered to the guidelines.

  “But,” he continued, “we did sometimes call this one Phoenix.”

  “Phoenix?”

  “His mother was a fire breather, and she died while having him, so somehow it seemed right…”

  “Phoenix,” she whispered, “I like it. How are you feeling?” she asked, turning back to Ash.

  “Better,” he said, trying to stand without leaning on the tree. “I think we could get going. I want to get there before sundown.”

  Serafin’s stomach turned, she had almost allowed herself to forget where they were heading.

  “Good,” she said, forcing a smile, “I think we’d better avoid flying. They could see us for miles. We should probably just ride. What do you think?”

  “I agree,” said Ash, as he marched forward and heaved himself up on to the dactyl’s back. She noticed him wince as he took the reins, but he said nothing, and he put his hand out to help her up on to the saddle behind him.

  The dactyl was eager to go and they took off at a gallop through the forest.

  Chapter Three

  A Trip to the Circus

  It was in the same meadow as always.

  Just outside the little market town, close to the river which made its way through the valley, beyond the foothills and out to sea.

  Ash suggested they leave the dactyl to roam in the woods and fend for itself for a while. It was a conspicuous beast to be seen with and Ash still had the pipes to whistle for it if need be. So at the edge of the woods they dismounted and made their own way down the mountain path towards the meadow, where Serafin could just make out the caravans all lined up together.

  There was a cold chill in the air and the clouds were low on the other side of the valley, it wouldn’t be long before the mist would fall. But behind the clouds, the sun was hot and its rays pierced through, dancing in the valley below them.

  Serafin hadn’t laid eyes on this valley for years and the memories swelled in her stomach as she thought of running through these hills. The view was exactly the same as when she’d left. Not a house, not a wall, not even a blade of grass had changed.