The Phoenix Series

Chapter 9

9

I was positively panting by the time we stopped, but the others looked completely composed. We appeared to be at a dead end. There were tall trees in front of us, and a quick glance left and right confirmed my feeling. It was a wall of trees. I couldn’t see a path anywhere. I bent over, trying to control my breathing and looked up just in time to see Sid disappear into the trees. Yeren merely glanced back at me then followed. I did not want to be left alone on the path so forced myself up as quickly as possible and, matching Yeren’s movements, slid between the trees.

Once I had crossed that strange wall of trees, it became dark again, and I nearly ran into Yeren. She heard my stumble and uttered quietly,

“Stay close to me and follow my movements.”

We moved back and forth through the thick trees, my eyes straining to make out her silhouette in the patchy darkness. It was a jagged path that led to the mouth of a rocky cleft in the forest floor. The crevice continued down, and the trees grew together above it, forming an arch. I followed Yeren down into the crevice. As we descended, the rock became a roughly carved set of stairs and at the bottom was the unmistakable shine of the moon.

I stepped out from the stairway and joined Sid and Yeren in the clearing. It was amazing. Huge and round with soft, mossy grass blanketing the entire floor. Judging by the height of the rocky walls, we were about twelve feet lower than the forest floor. I looked up; the trees made a beautiful green funnel to the starry sky above. If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have found it peaceful. There was just one problem.

“Um… I thought you said there was just one statue.”

Okay, there were four problems. Around the perimeter of the clearing were four statues, each one of a dog with wings.

“There was when I left.” Sid sounded pissed. Yeren tilted her head and appeared to scent the air.

“The Hag has been here.”

“Yes. She knew I would come back. She has bought herself time.”

“Well, let’s get smashing!” I drew the bat from my bag and headed for the dog closest to me.

“Wait!” Sid’s quick words caused him to cough up a little something. I waited.

“The second…” He swallowed. “The second you smash a statue, she will know, and she will send more of her henchmen.”

“More bunnies?” I joked.

“Riders,” Yeren whispered. She looked frightened.

“But we have to get the wing! You guys can handle them, can’t you?” They looked at each other.

Maybe it was being so close to the wing, I don’t know, but suddenly I felt strong, invincible, and angry. It brought a sharp, hot feeling from my feet quickly through my body. It was different from the path, this time it seemed to come from inside me. It was power, like in the cave, and again it brought strange words to my lips.

“Siddhartha, Yeren!” I barked. “Look at me!” It was as much my tone as their names that dragged their eyes so quickly to me.

“We will fight, and we will retrieve what is mine.” I looked at them both in turn. “There will be no fear here.”

They gaped at me for a moment then Sid nodded.

“Yes, My Lady.”

I gave them my back and looked at the statue. I had thought the power would help me figure out which one held the wing, but it was gone. I seemed only capable of flares at the moment. I hoped that would change. I moved my bag to a more comfortable spot at my back and took the bat in both hands. Pulling it back over my right shoulder, I prepared to strike the stone.

“Here goes nothing.” I swung.

The effect was instant. Stone splintered, and the shards flew in a thousand directions. I dropped the bat and held my arms over my face. When I lowered them, there was nothing but stone on the ground and a stump on the dogs back. One down, seven to go. Sid let out a slurp.

“It’s not that one.” He had a wicked smirk on his face.

“Oh thank you!” I countered. “Shall I try the next one?”

Taking up the bat, I walked around the statue and prepared to strike again. I was just about to bring the bat across when Yeren stopped me.

“Do you hear that?” She was looking up at the sky. I didn’t hear anything

“Guys, let me get on with this.” Sid climbed onto a dog; his left ear pointed to the sky.

“I hear them too.” Them?

“My Lady,” Yeren looked at me. “The Riders come.”

“What do I do?”

“Hurry.”

I smashed the wing. It was just stone like its sister. I was running for the second dog when I heard a long, sharp scream, coming from the sky. I looked up to see the source of such a horrible sound. It was echoed twice more before they entered the open sky above the clearing, three men on horses floating in mid-air.

Each was a solid colour, both man and beast: one white, a pure brilliant white that cut against the night sky; the second was a deep bluish-red, the colour of blood and the third was black. The only thing distinguishing him from the sky was the silver of the horse’s bridle and the lack of stars where he hovered.

They dismounted and dropped into the clearing. They must have been at least thirty feet up, and they landed like cats. On the ground, I could see that they wore hooded tunics and leggings with soft boots that came to their knees. All three were exactly the same, except in colour. Even the skin on their hands was the same exact shade as their clothes. Their horses whinnied and circled overhead, but made no move to hit the ground.

Yeren made for the White Rider and began to grapple. Sid raised his arms and shot a bright green ball at the Red Rider. It knocked Red back a few paces, and he responded by running at Sid. The Black Rider turned to me.

Luck put the broken dog between us. It slowed him down slightly, very slightly. As he vaulted over the ruined dog, I ran around the second statue and tried to smash a wing. He was there before I could do it, so I angled my swing and sent it into his shoulder. I think the fact that I’d fought back stunned him. He stood swaying just long enough for me to drop and crawl under the dog. Jumping up on the other side, I swung and smashed the wing. Stone went everywhere, but only stone.

Mr Black was back in front of me. This time he was ready for my swing and grabbed the bat and pulled. I let him and, trusting that all men are created equal, I kicked him in the groin. He fell back to the ground with me on top of him. He was making lots of pained grunts, yet he was still trying to hold onto me. My leg was right between his so drove my knee up, as hard as I could. He let go. I jumped up, grabbed the bat, and gave him a good smack to the ribs with it. I left him struggling on the ground and smashed the fourth wing. Again, stone. I ran to the next statue. Four down, four to go.

As I went, I spared a glance for Sid and Yeren. Yeren was still wrestling Whitey; they were taking turns throwing each other into the walls of the clearing. Splinters of stone and plumes of dust rained down on them with every hit. Sid was in some sort of energy battle with Red in the centre of the statues. Coloured beams of light shot from their hands and clashed in the space between them. Reaching dog number three, I wasted no time in cracking into wing number five: again, only stone. Six was about to go down when the Black Rider grabbed me by the hair. It was so fast and painful that I dropped the bat. I gripped his wrist with both hands to stop him from scalping me. He dragged me away from the statue and across the rough stones. I tried desperately to stay on my feet. He took a few paces and then, wrapping his other arm around my waist, pulled me off the ground. I went feral. I just started kicking and thrashing around, screaming as loud as I could. I’m not some little thing to be tossed over someone’s shoulder and carried away, as I said earlier; I’m built like a woman. It was this, coupled with the thrashing that thwarted his plan. He dropped me.

I landed hard on the broken rock. I could feel blood start to ooze from my cheek. I got to my knees and crawled towards the bat, stone cutting into my knees and hands. The Rider tried to grab my feet, and I kicked at his hands. We continued in this way across the gravelly ground between the bat and me. I reached forward and got my left hand on the thing. I paused to give Black a chance to move. I had a plan. I swear. When he realised I stopped moving, he got to his hands and knees and crawled up my body. I waited until he’d made it up to my back and then I flipped over, quickly driving my right elbow into his gaping hood. He screamed and darted back. I let the movement take me all the way around until I was in a sitting position. I scrambled to my feet; bat in both hands, and approached the Rider. He was on his knees, hands buried in his hood, as black liquid dripped from them to the ground. I pulled the bat back over my shoulder. He looked up as it came at his head.

I didn’t wait to see if I’d killed him, I assumed that I had and kept moving. I assured myself he’d have done the same to me. Cold comfort. I drove all my guilt into a scream as I smashed the sixth wing. I got the shower of stones I expected. They looked like crystals against the black fluid pooling on the ground. I wondered briefly if the White Rider bled white, then kept moving. I tore through the clearing to the seventh wing and swung before I stopped running.

The stone began to splinter into the air. Just as I was moving to the next one, a piercing light filled the spaces between the stones. They slowed, almost stopped, their fall to the ground. I watched them hang there for the briefest of moments. Then the light retreated, and they fell abruptly, making a sound like delicate broken glass, as they hit the ground.

And there, where the stone had once been, was the wing.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Blues, greens, purples, and pinks played back and forth through the feathers. It was huge, bigger than the stone that encased it. Fully extended, it must have been six feet long. I wanted it. My body wanted it. I got a flash image of my naked back with two of these beauties hanging from it. I reached out a hand to stroke the feathers.

“The bag!” yelled Yeren. I snapped from my revelry. She had the White Rider pinned to the rock; they were so evenly matched. “Put it in the bag!” She shouted.

I reached into my tote and pulled the rough brown sac from it. I unfurled the fabric and climbed onto the statues back. I began to gently pull the sack over the wing, being careful not to touch the wing itself. It was quick work. The bag did exactly what Sid said it would. As soon as the wing entered it, it started to disappear. By the time the wing was concealed, it looked like I was holding a near-empty bag.

“Now run!” It was Sid who yelled this time. He looked drained. He had the Red Rider down on the ground, and the stream of green energy that flowed from the centre of his palms flickered slightly as he drove it into the man.

I shoved the sac into my tote, grabbed my bat and headed for the stairs. The White Rider made a grab for me as I went by and Yeren cuffed him in the face. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, reopening the cuts on my hands as I crawled the last few feet. The darkness of the forest enveloped me immediately. After the bright lights of the fight, it took me a moment to find my sight. When I was pretty sure I could see enough to not seriously injure myself, I ran.

Well, run isn’t the best word for it. The trees and underbrush were thick and made putting distance between the Riders and me difficult. I could still hear Sid and Yeren grappling with them. I drove myself into the trees. Many times a branch ripped at my face or caught in my hair. I let them take what they wanted and kept moving.

After a while, I realised that the only sound I could hear was the harsh pounding of my breath. I stopped and listened. The forest was quiet now. The sounds of the battle were far behind me. I had no idea how far I had come or where I was. My only thought was not to run back towards the village. The question now was, how were Sid and Yeren going to find me? I decided that staying in one place for a while was probably the best option.

I sat down on the forest floor and leaned against a tree. I was suddenly very hungry. I got out my water and a small handful of nuts and proceeded to snack. The nuts had a slight coppery tang from the blood in my hand, and I was very grateful they weren’t salted. I waited until I’d finished all the nuts to have any water, and then I limited myself to a few sips. I didn’t know how long it had to last.

Somewhat satiated, I rested. I could hear no sound of anyone approaching. I considered calling out to them then thought better of it: that might be asking for trouble. It started to feel like forever, sitting there, waiting for my blood to dry, and the fear that they weren’t coming began to surface. When I left them, they appeared to have the upper hand, but what if that changed? What if they weren’t coming because they couldn’t? How was I going to find the other wing? Sid never told me where it was. And how do I get out of this forest?

I was about to seriously freak out when a hand reached around the tree. Long elegant blue fingers stretched out towards me. I had enough time to think: ‘oh s**t’ before the fainting feeling hit me again.