Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
The early morning rays of the sunshine brightened the world below. Phoenix’s dragon shook her head, loving the feel of the sun and wind against her scales. She flew between Valyndra and Draegor.
The wind swept past her, whipping through her feathered wings, lifting her higher until the castle and city below became little more than specks.
The kingdom was waking—farmers guiding lumbering beasts of burden through dew-laden fields, traders setting up their colorful stalls, the scent of fresh bread drifting upward as the sunlight gilded the rooftops.
Below, the sea shimmered like molten glass, reflecting the rising sun in brilliant flashes of silver and gold.
The mountains loomed ahead, jagged and vast, their peaks dusted in snow, their valleys cradling thick, emerald forests.
The air smelled of earth, salt, and something older—ancient magic lingering like mist.
Phoenix’s heart beat wildly in her chest. Her excitement built until she felt like she would explode. She wondered if the other kids were having as an exciting adventure as she was.
I hope so. It would really help me not feel guilty about having fun myself, she thought.
They have fun. They make trouble.
Phoenix silently groaned and hoped her dragon was wrong. She tilted her wings, catching the wind, soaring higher until the clouds brushed against her scales when Valyndra and Draegor rose. The sky stretched endlessly around her—alive, boundless.
This world truly is magical, she thought, staring down as a shimmering lake appeared, cradled by cliffs. Waterfalls cascaded down, veiling the entrance to ruins carved into the rock. Massive stone pillars, some broken and crumbling, others proud and defiant, stood sentry.
“Welcome to Arkla. The first home of the dragons,” Draegor called out with a proud expression.
They circled once over the lake before descending. The wind shifted, carrying the scent of damp stone, moss, and the metallic tang of magic long dormant. The ground hummed beneath Phoenix’s talons as she landed on the thick slabs of stone that made up the front entrance.
She shook the water off her wings before shaking the rest all the way to her tail. She grinned when Valyndra and Draegor did the same. Gazing around her, she stepped far enough away from the spray of the waterfall before she transformed back into her two-legged form.
Ruins stretched before her—ancient, wild, and heartbreakingly beautiful. Vines crept over cracked stone, trees growing where walls once stood. The lake glittered in the morning light, its waters impossibly clear, reflecting the soaring cliffs and the endless sky.
Valyndra’s voice was soft, reverent. “This… is where it began.”
Phoenix stood, staring wide-eyed, her lips parted in awe. “What is this place?” she asked, rotating in a slow circle as she tried to take everything in.
Draegor’s deep voice carried over the mist. “The birthplace of the Guardians. The first rose here—against darkness, against the void. And one of the Guardians… chose to stay.”
The air pulsed around her, thick with magic. Phoenix shivered, sensing eyes long gone watching from the shadows. Valyndra approached a stone plinth, her fingers tracing the worn symbols.
“I know this place… because I was one of them.”
Phoenix’s breath caught. “What?”
Valyndra turned, the weight of centuries in her golden eyes. “I came from another world… long ago. Searching. Lost. Just as you are now.”
“I… I don’t understand,” Phoenix stammered.
“You don’t have to. Not yet. All you need to do is listen… with your heart.” Valyndra smiled gently and placed her hand over Phoenix’s heart. “Come. There’s more.”
They walked together through the ruins, the ground soft with moss beneath their feet. As they moved deeper, the air grew heavier, the magic thicker. Phoenix glanced at Valyndra.
“What brought you here… to the Seven Kingdoms?”
Valyndra’s steps slowed. She glanced at Draegor, her expression softening. “I felt a pull… a bright shimmer in the darkness of space. I followed it… and found him.”
Draegor reached for her, pulling her close. Their foreheads touched, the intimacy of the gesture tightening Phoenix’s throat. For a fleeting moment, a memory danced in her mind of a spot of light she remembered seeing… and feeling a pull towards it.
But it was so far from Valdier.
A shiver ran through her. It had happened the last time she came here… well, on the way home. She shook her head and pushed the memory back into the recesses of her mind. She was too young to feel what they were talking about.
She followed the couple through an arched doorway until they stood in what had once been a great hallway.
Towering pillars lined each side, leading to a massive domed ceiling painted with a battle scene—Valyndra’s golden dragon soaring through the stars, her wings aflame as shadowed beasts clawed at the edges of creation.
Phoenix’s breath caught. “That’s… you?”
“Yes.” Valyndra’s voice lowered, carrying the weight of a myth. “Long ago, one of the Gods grew jealous. He could not stand the powers the Goddesses bestowed upon the worlds.”
Phoenix stared, enthralled. “What kind of powers?”
“The power to shape-shift, wield magic, and create using nothing more than the energy around them. I think he was jealous that we could feel and embrace strong emotions. Emotions like love.”
Valyndra moved forward, and as she did, the very walls shimmered. Images burst to life around them—worlds spinning in slow, graceful arcs. Phoenix twisted, her eyes following the images. Draegor’s voice rumbled through the air.
“My father’s father’s father created a spell to capture the magic of this place. He wanted to keep the stories alive, so none are forgotten,” Draegor explained.
Phoenix’s fingers trembled as she reached out, her hand passing through the swirling images.
She gasped as she recognized Valdier, Ceran-Pax, the Curizan home world, Sarafin…
and Earth. Others—worlds she didn’t know—danced just out of reach.
Her eyes were draw to one that pulsed with a soft, warm light.
Valyndra’s gaze swept the swirling cosmos. “The jealous God resented what was gifted. He wished to see only those weaker than he survive. So, he set about destroying the worlds the Goddesses created.”
Phoenix turned sharply. “Why didn’t the Goddesses stop him?”
Valyndra’s eyes darkened. “They were bound by the laws of their kind. They could not interfere. But he broke the law… and for that, he was cast out, into the void.”
Draegor’s jaw tightened. “They thought he’d perish… but hatred sustained him. His rage twisted him. And so… it is left to the Guardians—and the worlds he seeks to destroy—to fight back.”
Phoenix’s chest ached as she looked at the vast expanse of creation swirling around her.
“How… how do we stop something like that? I mean, there have been wars. At one time the Valdier, Curizan, and Sarafin fought each other. I learned about it in my classes. None of the archives said anything about a Guardian Protector.”
Valyndra turned to her. “By remembering who we are. The Guardian Protectors are not there to save us from ourselves, but to save us from one who could erase entire star systems.”
Phoenix turned when Valyndra reached for her hands. “Close your eyes, Phoenix… and listen.”
Phoenix wasn’t sure what she was supposed to listen for. In the background, she could hear the sound of the waterfall and the squawking of the birds. She breathed deep and closed her eyes and tried to ignore the hammering of her heart.
“Tell me what you hear,” Valyndra requested.
“I hear the waterfall… and birds,” Phoenix began before she paused and frowned.
The air stilled. The colors of the swirling worlds dimmed until only darkness remained.
And then…
A sound.
Soft at first—like the hush of distant stars breathing.
Then, voices—whispers carried on the wind. Music—ancient, hauntingly beautiful—rose around her, filling the air with the weight of countless souls.
“I… hear… music… voices,” she whispered, her eyes still closed.
Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as the Song of the Guardians wrapped around her. She felt them—all who had come before her. Their hopes, their fears, their strength… and their unyielding love.
The words of the Goddesses—Aikaterina, Aminta, and the others—rose like a prayer.
“You are not alone. You were never alone. You are the fire, the shield, the song. And when the darkness comes… you will rise.”
Phoenix opened her eyes, breath shuddering. Around her, the air shimmered with golden light and she swore she could see the universe spread out before her. Billions of star systems scattered across a canvas of black. Each one connected by a thin gold thread.
“I see… the universe, connected,” Phoenix murmured.
Her eyes swirled with the colors of the vast star system. She felt—everything. Every star, every world, every soul—woven together by threads of light and sound. And at the center… her.
Valyndra smiled, pride and sorrow mingling in her gaze. “The Song of the Guardians… it has chosen you.”
And Phoenix knew—her world had just changed forever. She hesitated, then drew a trembling breath. Slowly, her voice rose, weaving with Valyndra’s…
“In the age before memory—long before our names were carved into stone and the skies learned to carry the weight of stars—the Goddess created the Guardians.
Not to rule. Not to conquer.
But to protect.
One born in every age, when the world trembled and darkness rose, greedy and hungry enough to swallow the light. Each Guardian… forged from two worlds. Never fully mortal. Never truly divine. But both.
Carriers of the ancient flame—powerful enough to heal a broken realm… or burn it to cinders.
And yet… their greatest gift was not their strength or their fire.”
Valyndra’s compassionate eyes met Phoenix’s, soft with something achingly old as their voices blended, one ancient, one young.