Chapter Seven
C HAPTER S EVEN
I knock on Freya’s door a second time, only to be met with absolute silence. My gaze darts to Tibith standing beside me, wearing a curious expression as to why we are here. I purse my lips to the side and knock a third time.
‘Freya, are you in there?’ My voice sounds unusually fragile. When I don’t hear anything, I go to turn the doorknob, but I’m stopped before I can do so by Hira’s voice floating through the hallway. I mutter a curse word and step away from Freya’s door as Hira approaches me with the widest of smiles.
‘Hira.’ I bow my head and force a smile of my own towards her.
Her expression softens into something a lot like sympathy. ‘I heard what happened today.’
I would have imagined so.
Feeling uncomfortable, I clear my throat and apologise, but she shakes her head as if I shouldn’t have to.
Her long raven hair is tied back into plaits as she holds a wooden staff in her left hand. ‘Is there a reason you two fought?’
Tibith tugs on my leg, shying away from Hira as I look down at him. I exhale a tense breath, still not wishing to discuss what happened in front of him, but I know he partly understands something is not right.
‘Things are . . . rough around here,’ I tell her, making a poor attempt at a conversation with a phoenix leader, no less. ‘As you can imagine.’
Hira narrows her fire-stricken eyes as she hums in agreement. I almost open my mouth to speak again of something else but shut it when she says, ‘I have been meaning to show you something.’
Great.
I press my lips together in a tight line to hide my grimace. The timing cannot be more wrong and despite the fact I have not answered, Hira turns away from me and starts marching down the hallway.
‘Come along,’ she says. ‘We won’t be long.’
Tibith and I look at one another. He does one slow blink while I glance back at Freya’s door and sigh.
Who am I to turn Hira down?
When Hira said she had something to show me, I thought that meant within the Aerian palace walls. Not the campsites just north of Aeris. As Tibith and I jump off Hira’s phoenix form, I squint past the rosy glow of clouds settling above mountains. There’s a pull at my heart, knowing that over that horizon, across the sea, lies Emberwell.
Hira walks up ahead through stiff mountainous pathways. The higher we go, the colder I become. Wrapping my arms around myself, I let Tibith nestle his shivering body into my chest.
‘What is this place?’ I ask as the biting cold fills my lungs, and I breathe out puffs of mist.
Hira uses her staff to guide her as we reach a point where, surprisingly, the cold subsides, and there are mismatched summits made of granite. ‘Pintock Mountain,’ she says.
My foot scrapes across the ground, and I frown as dust flies into the air. I kneel, rubbing two fingertips through the dirt.
‘What is it, Miss Nara?’ Tibith whispers.
‘Ash.’
‘Here is where the ceremony of a phoenix’s rebirth occurs.’
I look up to find Hira’s sharp gaze staring at me. The fire blazing in them reflects how meaningful this place is for Aerians.
‘When a warrior goes through training and proves their loyalty to the Aerian leaders, we take them here to celebrate.’
I stand, thinking of all I have heard from Aerians over the past three months. How their allegiance is also to Solaris and Crello.
Glancing at my surroundings, I try to imagine what it must feel like to be reborn . ‘I suppose this is where you also took Lorcan.’
Hira nods and leads me towards a cave crafted within the walls of the mountain. I keep Tibith by my side, trying to figure out why Hira brought me here. If it is to remind me of who Lorcan now is, I do not need it. I have only known Hira briefly, and most of our interactions have resulted in tense silences or my impatience to save Darius.
‘Pretty!’ Tibith says hypnotically at the glimmering red gems encrusting both sides of the granite walls. I pull his paw back before he can touch anything that might break.
‘Ruby,’ Hira comments, almost amused as the reflections of the crystals bounce off her armour. ‘They are the gems of our ancestors’ beaks; they shed the jewel once they decide it is time to pass on.’
I look back at them, each one beautiful and shaped differently from the rest. Like Tibith, I am enthralled and barely hear Hira call out my name as she heads deeper into the cave. I follow, stopping behind her as we hit a dead end.
My eyes narrow. I don’t want to offend her by asking if this is all she wants to show me, but before I can say the wrong thing, she lifts a palm, pressing it against the wall. An orange glow ignites from underneath, illuminating the wall with flames as it slides open.
I blink as I walk inside with her and Tibith. My gaze roves around the enclosure. Phoenix wings are carved on the walls where weapons such as spears and swords are hanging. I glance at the crystallised ceiling, smiling as Tibith squeals with delight at every piece of treasure this place holds.
A tapestry hangs to the side of me, a piece of artwork depicting all three revered leaders of Aeris – Hira and her two sisters. I study the piece, noticing how Hira is at the centre, adorned in robes of ethereal flame – the embodiment of dawn. Beside her, Ara stands regal and enigmatic, draped in twilight hues that mirror the fading sun above them. Finally, the third sister, Col, is cloaked in the star-studded darkness of a cosmic sky. Her dark gaze holds something so mysterious, much like the constellations around her.
I tip my head to the side, the tapestry stirring a memory of what I once saw in Emberwell – a wall painting of Solaris and Crello as their hands joined to let the power of our world flow from them.
‘Nara?’ Hira calls to me, and as I turn, an instant wave of shock forces itself through my lungs when I see the two crowns resting atop plinths at the far end. One is of gold and resembles a halo as the solar flares soar outwards; the other is a wreath of starlight and crescent moons. ‘Forged from the power of a phoenix’s fire itself.’ Hira admires them as she waltzes up to the plinths. ‘They are beautiful, are they not?’
Extremely. ‘When were they made?’
‘Long before you existed.’
I stare at them as if I will fall prey to a trance sooner or later.
‘Though it is rarely spoken or written about, there were always tales that someday a deity representing Solaris and Crello would be born.’ Hira goes to touch the sun crown, but her hand stops in midair, and she retracts it. ‘To this day, I remember my mother speaking of it with others. Whether it was to be a vessel or resurrection, they never gave up on the hope that this possibility of reincarnation would eventually help rebuild what our world has become.’
And she believes that it can be me and Darius.
My sigh brings her gaze towards me as I shake my head. ‘I am not so sure I can help when I am so powerless.’ I stare at my palms, my lips twisting as I try to conjure some form of magic from my fingertips.
Nothing comes.
I sigh.
‘Perhaps the power of Solaris isn’t necessarily how you imagine it to be.’
I frown at her as she walks towards me, pressing her hand against my back and guiding Tibith and me out of the cave. Over my shoulder, I glance at the crowns before they disappear as the wall slides closed.
‘What do you mean by that?’ I go on to ask.
‘A dragon’s power involves one of three,’ she says. ‘Shadow, mind or fire – save for your love. A phoenix can incinerate anything in its wake yet create everlasting youth with the touch of its feather upon someone’s skin. Then, of course, there are the merfolk who admire Crello for the tides, and their magical power to manipulate water.’ As she comes to a stop, she turns to me. ‘And finally, Elves. Nature . . . darkness – much like Solaris and Crello, wouldn’t you think?’
‘I’m not sure I am following.’
She chuckles as if she thought that would be the case and resumes walking us out of the cave. ‘Every species has a role in this world, and they accept what it is, even humans, but the point I want to make is that you seem not to want to accept your purpose. Or to believe that you do not deserve to be Solaris.’
I slow down my steps, looking downcast. I don’t wait for her to stop as I say almost timidly for once, ‘Solaris created life alongside Crello, but what they gave, they could also destroy.’ My head tilts up, and I find Hira’s powerful gaze on me. ‘What if I end up destroying what I wish to salvage?’ Am I afraid? Yes, now more than ever, even if I still struggle to admit it at times.
Hira blows out a breath of understanding. ‘What is life without a little destruction?’
When I don’t answer, she raises her brows and turns her back to me.
‘You are wrong, you know,’ I say out loud. Her head twists to the side, and I’m staring at her sharp profile as I add, ‘Everyone might have a role in this world, but not all accept it. Why else do you think there are Dark Elves, Venators . . . Aurum? Sometimes, I believe not all of us are destined to be part of a world like this.’
She hums, mulling it over. ‘Which is why we intend to defeat Aurum.’
Even then, there will always be something.
And as much as I want to voice that, I decide otherwise.
‘So, how do you propose we do that?’ I ask. ‘We do not have the Northern Blade, and while Darius is bound to him, we are nothing but entertainment for Aurum.’
She spins around and gives me a forlorn smile. ‘From what I know of Aurum, he has only ever craved power. Being a Rivernorth was never enough for him, but you and Darius share something he does not have.’
I frown, failing to see her point.
‘You were both placed here to serve a purpose.’ She gestures her hand out. ‘So, perhaps it was an act from Solaris herself for you to survive the injuries Aurum inflicted on you back in Olcar, and it also may be that the reason our world is slowly dying is because we need you and Darius to protect it.’
Hira’s words plant themselves inside my mind. A seed, feeding me information until it grows. She believes everything has a plan that will work itself out, and maybe she knows that if I went to Emberwell now, if I tried to save Darius, I would be altering her perfect destiny.
A destiny in which I don’t get to make my own choices.
‘I know . . .’ She sighs. ‘I know that you wish to rescue Darius right now. But if there is any chance we can find a way to get him back without harming him, then shouldn’t we at least try and wait it out?’
I stare at her impassively. She is telling me to stand down when that is all I have done so far. How much longer must I wait? How much longer must I stay here?
Hira’s serene smile does little to change what I feel and want right now as she touches my shoulder. ‘I am sure that Darius, a royal Rivernorth descendant, would agree if he was in your position.’
That is where she is wrong.
I shift away from her touch because no matter what everyone might think Darius would do, I know that he would have gone to me the minute something felt wrong. Darius isn’t just a Rivernorth. He is also a Halen and the most wanted thief in Emberwell. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
The shifting wind suddenly picks up, dragging what looks like a flower through the air. I let it get closer before capturing it in my hands. As I open them, I see the five white petals. Delicate, beautiful, and not a plant that should be found on these mountains. Bringing the flower to my nose to smell the fresh fragrance of jasmine, I close my eyes and inhale, letting my mind wander into memory.
‘Here,’ Darius once said in Emberwell, as he plucked a jasmine flower from a woman’s basket.
‘What’s this for?’
‘You always smell of jasmine.’
I picture his smile and the careless shrug he gave me, and it suddenly feels like someone is ripping my chest apart. I clutch the flower tightly to me, thinking it can spur something magical to fix this loss, but I know it cannot. Not from where I am standing.
My gaze, fierce and in control, flies wide open onto Hira, staring at me with a curious frown. ‘You’re right,’ I say, not planning to let go of the flower. ‘I shouldn’t risk myself against Aurum.’ I smile at her, but even then, it is tense. ‘Like you have said before, he might want me to fall into whatever sadistic plan he has in mind.’
‘It is for the best, Nara.’ Hira gives me a gentle squeeze on the arm. ‘I am glad you understand now.’
I nod and watch her walk past me. Turning to Tibith, I see him tilt his head up at me, his usual big eyes narrowing with acute suspicion. I squat and hand him the jasmine flower. My smile is no longer strained as I look at his ears, flapping excitedly.
If Aurum wants me to walk into one of his traps, then let it be decreed that I will do everything in my power to escape it.