Prologue
The city of l’Tai was a bustling center of trade, with many great merchants coming to visit the city from all over the world each week. l’Tai was a safe haven for many driven away from their by war and disaster. No one knew why there was such peace in l’Tai when the rest of the world had been in turmoil since the beginning of time, but it had lasted five years. The Priesthood of the Phoenix taught that the presence of the legendary Phoenix was the cause of this valley of serenity, but the Dragon Priests banished whoever preached this to the caves in the mountains. Regardless, the few believers in the city trekked to the temple of the Phoenix to give offerings of thanks for the peace she brought.
During the day, the sounds of the great city could be heard echoing throughout the deep valley it lay in. The king’s palace sat above the city on the lowest mountain, where the king surveyed his city at his leisure.
At night, however, the city was silent. The streets were empty of all life, except for the wind howling around each corner. High above, the stars shone as shadows of fire passed in front of them.
Faster! The midnight blue dragon thought as he willed his leathery wings to go faster. A creature bred for strength and speed, he straightened his tail to grow closer. The stars glittered on his scaly hide as he stretched his neck out to reach his fiery prey.
A beautiful battle was being fought of l’Tai, and none were awake to see it. A dragon was chasing the mysterious, blazing Phoenix.
Her body shone like a beacon in front of him. Her long fiery tail seemed to tease him as it rolled over his scales.
This is it, he thought. I can finally catch her!
He opened his jaws in one final attempt to ensnare her, when the Phoenix suddenly dove sharply towards the city. Cursing, the dragon quickly turned, but the Phoenix had widened the distance between them considerably. He made up the distance, triumphantly reaching out with his claws - and she was gone.
Confused, the dragon slowed down, furiously trying to find the tell-tale trail of smoke.
Ah he thought as he saw the pale ash floating to the ground of a nearby street. He swiftly flew down to have a better view of the street, but she wasn’t there. The only movement was a young girl cowering in a nearby doorway, her clothes slightly singed.
She must have passed this way he thought, dismissing the girl as a simple terrified street rat. The dragon flew up the street, but the ash trail was gone.
So close he thought furiously as he soared back above the city, taking a last sweeping look at the sleeping city below before speeding to the king’s palace.
Chapter 1
Heather sighed with relief as the dark dragon dismissed her and flew away. She waited a few minutes more in the doorway, and then hurried down the street, in the opposite direction the dragon had gone.
Heather was a young woman in her early twenties with pale skin and hazel eyes. Those that knew her in the marketplace sometimes said that her eyes took on a red glow when she grew impassioned, but this was generally dismissed as imagination. Heather’s long, dark auburn hair flowed down her back in loose curls, the ends brushing her fingertips. She had a thin figure, though this was less noticeable because of her curves. Many a man had fallen for Heather and her charms, but Heather simply smiled if they tried anything. Her quick strength kept the more daring men away. She dressed simply, as most of clothes became ruined after her usual midnight actions.
Heather had certainly gotten used to behaving as a terrified refugee of far away battles, but this time the fear had been real. The horrible dragon had come closer to catching her than he ever had before.
Each night, at the darkest hour, Heather had to fly around the city and the surrounding mountain paths, marking the area protected by the innate power of the Phoenix. This protection was required, as she, as the Phoenix had to survive until she could save the world. Heather had once forgotten the Southern route from the battle-torn country of Chaeora, and the death cries of the merchants traveling had reached even the palace on the mountain. She had never made that mistake again. Heather wished she could include the entire country of Chaeora, and the entire world in her power, but she could only reach so far. She pushed her limits as it was.
The Wind Lords in the northern ranges had made a prophecy thousands of years before:
Reborn from the ashes
One hundred times
The Phoenix shall rise again
The last of these shall find
Peace the world has never known.
Heather was the hundredth Phoenix.
She had been raised by the Wind Lords since her birth from the ashes. The Lords had spent her first decades of life trying to prepare her in every way they could imagine to bring the long-desired peace to the battle-torn plains and the mountains, long ravaged by storms. They taught of her previous ninety-nine lives, and how to fight, both as a Phoenix and as a human. They could only hope that she could survive the never ending battle with the great race of dragon in order to fulfill her destiny.
The dragons were her longest and greatest enemy. The race had been trying to defeat the Phoenix since the beginning of time, but had thus far failed to succeed. She had learned that the Earth Lords of the South had made a prophecy of their own to the dragons at the creation of the world that regarded her as well:
At the end of all things
When hope is gone
And terror reigns
If the starlight dragon
Finds the might
To win the Phoenix
‘Twill rule the night.
This accursed prophecy had caused the Phoenix endless misery for each of its lifetimes; five hundred years of fleeing.
Some incarnations, the spirit brought to the Phoenix would try to fight the dragons, burning their homes and nests. The Phoenix had long ago learned that the dragons spent their days as humans, and she could more easily destroy them when they were in this form. The dragons did not know she could change form as well.
This secret had been kept over the millennia, for the Wind Lords knew that this knowledge would doom the Phoenix were it ever learned.
I need to be more careful Heather thought as she quietly slipped through the shadows towards her home. She couldn’t let the dragons see her again as a human, or her secret would be discovered. That simply could not be allowed to happen.
As she passed the doorway of her hovel home, Heather smiled. Grandmother Feuerleeb was snoring loudly enough to wake the dead, but Feuerleeb slept like a rock. Heather soundlessly moved over to her pallet in the corner. Grandmother Feuerleeb had been Heather’s guardian ever since the Wind Lords had brought Heather to her when her training was completed. Grandmother Feuerleeb’s ancestors had been charged to watch over the human form of the Phoenix millennia before, and old Grandmother Feuerleeb had been the guardian of the last Phoenix as well. She was trusted with the greatest secret the world has ever known. Luckily, the dragons didn’t suspect a thing.
Heather stared at the ceiling as she lay on her pallet, her auburn hair spread like the sunset around her head.
He almost caught me she thought. I almost ended the world. I! The great bringer of peace, the hundredth incarnation. The Wind Lords will be furious.
Heather sighed as closed her eyes, drifting to sleep, with one last thought: this dragon is too clever…
Chapter 2
The dragon landed heavily on the palace lawn, not even bothering to slow down as it approached. He stood on his hind legs and started walking towards to palace. As he walked, his wings began to disappear, his tail receded and his body started to shrink. With each step, his scales faded and hair sprouted on the top of his head. His claws shrank into fingers and clothes appeared as he neared the palace. By the time he reached the steps, no one would guess that the striking young man was a dragon. The only reminder of the dragon was his dark blue eyes that sparkled in the starlight. His name was Aeor.
Aeor was considered handsome by most in the court, with his strong jaw and soft features. His dark hair brushed his ears, tousled from the winds of the valley. Aeor had a strong build and a quick smile, which attracted many of the simpering courtiers in the court. At the age of twenty-five, he was certainly the prey of many a lady. Tonight, though, his brow was furrowed in thought as he stalked through the halls towards the king’s chambers.
The light of the torches that lined the walls was reflected in the gold leaf that lined the floors and walls of the palace. The gold was cut into intricate designs, all of dragons. Dragons flying, fighting, resting – any activity that could be imagined by the artists that had created the pictures centuries before. The darkness of the high vaulted ceilings of stone seemed to eat away at the warm light created by the reflected light, absorbing the warmth like some dark monster. Occasionally, the golden walls were interrupted by halls covered by green, blue or red tapestries and paint, but Aeor ignored them. Everyone knew that the gold leaf lead to the king, and the king was his goal.
Eventually, Aeor reached a door, carved with dragon reliefs in its solid gold. He stopped and stood outside until he heard a deep voice say “come.” Aeor pulled the door open and walked inside confidently.
Inside, the room was solid stone. There was no cloth, no wood, and no gold. A solitary torch hung on the wall opposite the door. Stone had been carved into deep chairs, worn and rounded with age. In the largest of these sat a man that seemed to take up the whole room with his presence. Jaim had hair of the deepest black, broken with streaks of silver. Hardened features were partially hidden by a well-trimmed beard, and bright green eyes flashed in the light of the torch. A thick golden band sat atop his head. This was the king.
Lounging beside the king was a boy, a few years younger than Aeor. Few could tell Aeor and his brother Fier apart, except for the younger boy’s impish smile. This smile came quickly to his face as Aeor strode up to the two men.
“Back so soon, Aeor?” Fier laughed. “I see that you once again have no burning bird dragging behind you!”
Aeor ignored the boy and addressed the king directly, “Father, I am sorry that I have failed you again.”
Jaim glared at Fier before turning his head back to Aeor, “my son, the t’Saifel clan has been chasing this accursed beast for thousands of years. Another failure simply means that we will have to try again tomorrow.”
“But I was so close!” Aeor groaned, sinking into a nearby chair. “She was within my grasp but…”
“But?”
“Well…” he paused, knowing how foolish his next words would sound. “She disappeared. We were diving towards the city and just as we reached it, she was gone.”
King Jaim furrowed his brow in thought. The room was silent for a few minutes, only broken by Fier’s muted laughter. Aeor sat dejectedly in his chair, embarrassed that he had made such a foolish mistake. I could have finally brought great power to the kingdom. I could have saved the world!
Jaim’s voice startled Aeor into sitting up straight, “This has happened in the past. The Phoenix has disappeared before.”
Aeor recalled that the king had access to the memories of the many dragon kings before him. He would inherit this treasury when his father died, but the king was still young at two hundred and thirty. Dragons usually lived to be almost four hundred years old, and the royal line tended to live another century beyond that. The Earth Lords had blessed them with such longevity in order to better match each incarnation of the Phoenix. It was believed that young prince Aeor was the same age as the beast.
“Many dragons have been tricked, and even killed, by the Phoenix’s strange ability to disappear at the most inconvenient times. Be glad that you were able to slow in time to avoid crashing into the city, my son.”
“Has any dragon ever discovered how the fiery beast is able to disappear without trace? It is not possible for a being of flame to simply vanish!”
Jaim leaned back in his throne of rock, closing his eyes as he remembered.
“I do not believe that any dragon has discovered how such a feat is accomplished. Dragon scholars have studied the Phoenix for millennia, and there are many secrets to its being. You know that, Aeor.”
Aeor sighed. He had been trained in the history and art of the Phoenix his entire life, and she still remained unpredictable. He, as his ancestors had before him, wished that the Phoenix did not receive a new spirit with each incarnation. It confused him to know end that the same being could have a different personality every half-century. At the moment, this Phoenix was more volatile and clever than any Phoenix in the great memory of his father. Aeor knew he had to be the best in order to win her, as the prophecies demanded.
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