The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Seventy Two

He looked like a younger version of Volo, with his eyes, smile, and exuberant disposition that he had when he was still a deity. I was sure that this young man was Volo because I imagined him exactly to be like him. If Volo would turn into a human, this young man was exactly what I Imagined him to look like. There was no doubt about it. So when he walked towards my bed (which was made of volcanic rocks that were molded to look like an altar table) I immediately showed myself so that he would see me.

“You are real…” I heard him mutter to himself. It was full of shock and disbelief and I was amused by it. “Are you the Scarlet Phoenix?”he asked while his companion hid behind him. That was to be expected as my Gypsies told me that I exude an intimidating presence that would make even grown men cower. But this young man here was different. I think this is because he used to be a deity himself, that is why he isn’t fazed by my presence.

“And what if I am? Who are you? And why are you here in my home?”

The young man suddenly bowed his head. Maybe he remembered that he needed to revere me as I was a deity. “I am sorry, my dear deity if we have disturbed you. We came here to know if this was really a home of a deity.”

“That’s your reason why you came here intruding?” I asked and the two of them were now moving backwards from me as my voice was starting to get louder too as I speak. “You wanted to know if I lived here?”

The young man who looked like Volo nodded. “Please, don’t punish us my dear deity! I know it was foolish for us to come here, but we were tourists here in the area who had nothing to do us since the winter still did not come, so we got bored and checked this volcano!” His explanation sounded lousy, but that would explain the lack of fear and respect from them. And it was true that this is where this volcano called Mt. Kal Ayu is an area which used to be a tourist spot for the people. The mountains surrounding the area get covered by the fine powdered snow every winter which was good for skiing. Maybe these two came for the annual skiing season (which was foolish as there was no winter for the last ten years already since Volo disappeared.)

“You had the nerve to come here with that lame excuse---”

“Please, don’t kill us, my dear deity! We are willing to become your slaves forever! Just don’t kill us!”

“Don’t include in that stupid idea of yours!” the other young man contradicted. “This was only your idea, Nievo! I kept telling you on the way here that I was not keen on going here!” hissed the other young man who was literally shaking now.

“Oh, you are going to drop me now, don’t you?”

“This is your fault!”

“But you came here with me, Romy! I did not force you, you know!”

“Silence!” I yelled at them and the two of them stopped bickering. One of them, the one called Romy, fell onto the ground. “You foolish humans! This is not a place for the two of you to come and play! I could not believe that no one had told you to honor and respect such a holy place!”

“We are very sorry, my dear deity! Please, don’t kill us!”

The two of them were now kneeling in front of me with their heads already touching the ground. I could sense fear and regret in their spirits and that softened me a bit, but this person called Nievo was impertinent. I could sense it in him that he is not used to following rules, so I wanted to give him a lesson.

I walked towards them with my wings made of flames erupted at my back. They saw it and their jaws dropped, but when they saw that I was approaching them they asked for my forgiveness again. “Please, my dear deity! Spare us! We will do anything that you want us to do! Just don’t turn us into ashes!”

I ignored what he said and stopped in front of them. “You. The one who was just dragged here,” I said pointing at the one called Romy. “You may go. Don’t tell anyone about what happened here or I will kill you.” Without any further ado, Romy scurried away like a frightened rat. He did not even look back at his companion who was left behind.

“Thank you for sparing my friend’s life, my dear deity!” he said and I could see him shaking violently. I think he was seriously scared now for his life. Maybe he thinks that I will really kill him, that’s why he was scared as hell. “But please, don’t kill me too. I have a family to go back too, my dear deity. Their hearts will be broken if I don’t come back. And if you really wanted to kill me and I could already do nothing to change your mind, please return my body to my parents, my dear deity… I don’t want them to remain clueless of what has happened to their foolish son!”

“If you are worried about your parents that much, then maybe you should have thought twice before coming here. Trespassing into a deity’s house when you are aware that we are powerful…”

“I’m so sorry, my dear deity… I was just too excited that I was here in the area. I have been wanting to come here for a long time already… That is why we still went here as tourists even though we knew that we can’t ski anymore.”

That took my interest. “And why are you so interested in coming here?”

The young man hesitated, but then he went on telling me something that just solidified my theory. “I have been dreaming of some mystic places since I was young, my dear deity. I know that you might not believe what I am saying but I have been seeing this place in my dreams.”

I almost got goosebumps from what he just said. “You had dreamed of this place?”

“Yes, my dear deity. That is why I felt familiar with this volcano even though this was the first time that I came here. I came to know this place in my dreams.”

“Dreams? You mean to say that this was not the first time that you dreamed of my place?”

He nodded. He now calmed down, maybe he already sensed that I was no longer murderous towards him.

“That’s right… I have been dreaming about this place for a long time already…”

“And despite that, you still don’t know that a deity was living here?”

He shook his head. “I could not understand what I was seeing, my dear deity. I did not know that the deity that was living here could turn herself into a bird engulfed in flames. I thought that you were two separate identities.”

Now I think I understand why he was so keen on coming here. “So you came here to check on me. You wanted to see if I really was a woman and not a bird of flames.”

“Exactly, my dear deity,” he said. “But still, I know now that I have disrespected you and this place which now I have come to realize may be sacred for you. And because I realized that now, I will be no longer begging you for my life. You can punish me the way you want.”

I paused for a moment for I needed to think straight. This person, this mortal, might be actually Volo. He does not only look like him, but he also has the strong will that he told me before. I am sure that this was what he meant when he said that a person who was a reincarnation of a deity will be born with a strong will. This man named Nievo has a strong will in him. I can feel it in his spirit. He isn’t even afraid of dying. It was as if he had accepted his fate that fast. I could no longer sense fear in him right now, and that impressed me.

“I don’t think that your death will benefit any of us,” I finally said and he looked up to me like a puppy when he heard that from me. “I could give you another punishment. One that could benefit the two of us. Do you agree?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “I agree, my dear deity. You can do whatever you want to me if you like.”

“Then I have decided on your punishment, young man. From now on, you will become my slave.”

And that was the start of something new between me and the mortal, Nievo. After that encounter, I allowed him to come back first to his family, and then after three days I told him to come back here and start becoming my slave. This might just look like I was just being kind and considerate to him, but this was also a test that he needed to pass. As a mortal, Nievo will be tempted to just escape from me and never return. This was his only chance if he wanted to avoid me. And if he was smart enough, he could do some research and he will find out that there might be ways of avoiding a deity like me.

But if he had a strong will… If he was brave enough, he will come back and serve me for the rest of his life.

“It is the last day,” said Ova to me who was combing my hair. I was preparing for my already-delayed hibernation. I had waited for Nievo’s return which caused me to postpone my hibernation for now. “Do you think that he will still come here, my dear deity?”

“He should,” I told Ova. “He will feel my wrath if he does not return.”

“But what if he leaves Aure in order to escape his fate? That is also possible.”

“Then I will go after him if that happens. I will not let him get away that easily.”

Ova looked rather intrigued. “Pardon me for saying this, my dear deity, but you seem to be too fixated on that young man. You are not like that. You can just kill that person already. But you gave him another chance and now you want him to be your servant. That is rather interesting.”

“I just don’t feel killing anyone right now for such a simple mistake,” I replied, although Ova had a point. If this was a different scenario, I might have killed Nievo already. But since there is a huge chance that he is Volo, I will wait for more evidence. To be honest, I don’t need another servant. My Gypsies are enough for me. They have been efficient and they have never failed me once, so I don’t need another set of hands right next to me. But Nievo might actually be Volo, so I need him to be right beside me at all times. I want to make sure that I will be there next to him so that once he dies, I will be able to guide him back as a deity. I still don’t know how that works but it will be better if I will be beside him all the way. That is the only thing that I can do for him anyway. But if it turns out that Nievo is not Volo, then I will just release him from his enslavement. What matters is I have now the chance of helping him fulfill his duty to the kingdom of Aure.

“It is already late, my dear deity. I don’t think that he will come back here. Humans are like that. If there is a way to run from such a fate, we will run.”

“Let’s see if you are right…” I just said, and I waited for another hour before I decided to finally hibernate, as Nievo did not come back just as Ova predicted. I was already lying on my altar-like bed and my eyes were already closed when I heard a voice.

“I am sorry! I was late!” Nievo’s voice came booming as he took a deep breath beside me. I opened my eyes and glared at him.

“You insolent fool! You have already wasted our dear deities’ time! You should be punished by death!” Ova was furious, but I waved a hand in front of her to stop her from scolding Nievo. He looked like he ran from his house to where we were right now.

“I’m sorry. Something came up---”

“What happened?” I asked. “You look like someone attacked you.”

“Someone did,” he replied with an alarmed expression on his face. And then he shared with us what happened. According to Neivo, he was already on the way here when something mysterious showed up in front of him. It was a man clad in armor which was made of gold. He wanted to kill Nievo.

I stood up after hearing that. “Someone tried to kill you? But why? Do you have someone who you had bad business with?”

Nievo shook his head. “That’s impossible, my dear deity. I may be reckless and stupid at times, but I am a peace-loving person. I would not do anything that will warrant anyone to attack me like that.”

“Then who the hell attacked you?”

“I don’t know who he was because his face was covered with an iron helmet, but he seemed to really want me dead…”

“Did he not tell you anything?”

“He did not speak even a little. But there was something that I noticed.”

“What is it?”

“He is not an ordinary human. He moved faster and he seemed to be able to levitate. For a moment I thought that I was fighting a deity, but then I was able to wound him with a knife that I have in me as a self-defense weapon. He bled, so I guess he was not a deity.”

Ova and I stared at each other. It was clear from Ova’s facial expression that she does not believe a thing that Nievo has told us. But this was too much of a tall tale and a coincidence.

“Give me the knife that you have with you. Let me see it.”

He handed me a knife with a golden handle and it gave me chills. “A knife with gold? Where did you get this?” I asked him suspiciously.

“My grandfather gave it to me. He is a blacksmith in Carmel.”

“And you wounded the armored man with this?” I asked and Nievo nodded. I now have theories. So there is a man out there who has some powers and he wanted to kill Nievo. But why? Does this person know that Nievo could be Volo? Or is it something entirely different?

“This is bad,” I whispered at him. “It seems like someone wants you dead, Nievo. And whoever this person is, I can feel that he is not someone that you can defeat on your own.”

He went pale with that. “Then what should I do?”

“You should hide. Ova, bring him to the secret Ritual Grounds where we gather during the Fire Festival. Hide him there.”

“But I can’t leave you here while you are hibernating, my dear deity.”

“Then give him the map to the Ritual Grounds. The one which you carved at the back of the golden shield that those pirates owned. Tell him how to decipher it.”

“Are you sure, my dear deity? But that was for the Gypsies who left us. We reserve it for the day that they will come back with us.”

“Nievo needs it now,” I said and I lay down again as the two looked at me confused. “Hide there while I am still asleep. Save yourself, Nievo.”

“But why is someone after me? Why does he want to kill me?”

“I might be wrong, but he could be Kentan,” I said.