Rise

Chapter 3

3

“So, what’s the problem?” I strode out into the bright morning sunshine.

The battle smoke had lifted revealing the large minion village that had sprung up on my lawn. There seemed to be more of them, or maybe it was just that my yard was smaller than the woods outside my gate. There were many cooking fires with a dozen or so minions gathered around each one. Noiryn was flitting between them as she carried a large box of bread from group to group.

“Where’d all the bread come from?” I asked Royal.

“Grog and Brog,” he scratched his chin, “well, Brog mostly. That little guy knows how to bake. Tireless, too. Worked the entire time we were gone and kept at it all through the battle.”

While we were gone? I struggled to remember what he was talking about. Where had we been? All I could remember was slicing up those minions and then blasting into awesomeness. Royal cleared his throat.

“We met with the Guard. They said you’ve got until the next full moon to get everything done.” Royal was trying to read my face. “Remember?”

“Of course I do!” The words sounded harsh even to me, but I didn’t apologise. So I forgot one little thing, who cares? “So what’s going on out here? What did you want me to see?”

“Phoenix,” Royal rarely said my name, “you okay, girl?”

“I’m fine.” I snapped back.

“You don’t sound fine.” He stepped in front of me and spread his wings, effectively shielding us from the rest of the yard. I had never seen his wings outstretched before. They were more faded than I had realised. “It sounds like you’ve forgotten about the Challenge, too.”

“Challenge…” I said the word slowly, trying to jog my memory. I cast my mind back to the Circle of the Guard. We had argued, I remember that. They had told me to do something, something difficult, something I had to do to protect the minions. Then it hit me. Hard.

“The Challenge!” My knees buckled and Royal caught me before I hit the ground. “How could I have forgotten?” The Challenge in question was an epic gauntlet where I had to fulfil a task set out by each individual species in the Void to earn their approval and an official seat on the Guard as leader of the minions. And I only had until the next full moon. Oh, fudge.

“Has anyone arrived yet? How much time do I have left?”

“Easy, girl, nobody’s dropped by, we got some time.”

“We?” Royal still had his arm around my shoulder, with wings that is a very committed gesture.

“Of course, we. We’ll all help. You get to bring a team, remember?” He smiled; up close his teeth were surprisingly perfect.

“Royal, you have great teeth.”

“Okay, you’re better now.” He let go of me and folded his wings. “Until the first Challenge, we gotta deal with the minions.”

“What’s the problem? They look okay.” They did, sort of, as long as I didn’t look too closely at their soot-streaked faces and tired eyes.

“Not the injured ones.”

“What? Where are they?”

“We got a tent sent up behind the house. That’s where Spin and Benyst are.”

“Take me to my people.” I stood tall in my silver boots. “I must heal them.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a bad idea.” Royal drawled.

“Why?” I snapped.

“Because the Guard might have a problem with it, and until you take your seat, they can make things very difficult for you.”

“Screw the Guard. Can they do this?” I gestured at my glorious new body.

“Nope,” Royal smirked.

“Then they can stay out of my way.”

“Alright,” Royal grunted. “Follow me.”