egglover
egg
From the Ashes,
The Phoenix Rise.
But at what Cost?
- Jhon Steperan XV, 1868 BM
The Phoenix Rise.
But at what Cost?
- Jhon Steperan XV, 1868 BM
Chapter One
The sun rose high above the city of Sor, its warm rays reflecting off the lakes and the run-down canals that streamed from the Red Bay in the south. In the north, grand buildings and towers rose up on the hills, home to the rich looking down to the streets below, jammed with people. Higher still, the skies of Sor were polluted with ships instead of people, thousands of them dotting the sky and creating strange shadows no cloud could compete with.
Over the bridge that connected the central city to the outer islands, stood a tall, beautiful palace carved from marble and adorned with dark, stained wood. Its stone walls reached the edge of a beach where waves rose and fell gently against almost white sand. A grand path lined with palm trees and tropical flowers led up to the castle gates, guarded by men in yellow and blue uniform. Civilians strolled along the beach periodically, walking their pets or sitting to eat lunch, whilst a few cars trundled in and out of the palace. It was a paradise, and the Royal Family of Sor’s home.
The noon light shone over the palace courtyard where there was a distinct smell of fresh spring grass and sweet wafting fragrances of blooming ginger and capima lilies. Several Royal Guards had begun their daily patrols – they marched past the palace gates, into the courtyard littered with ornate fountains, and finally back to their outpost. The returning patrol nodded to two city guard officers who were just beginning to enjoy a lunch break. From the other side of the patio, a warm breeze carried the sound of gentle strumming to the guards, through weathered stone archways that were covered in vines. Dappled light peeked through the foliage of a large oaken tree that stood in the center of the garden, its branches swaying softly against a blue spring sky.
Against the tree sat Lady Elisiana. Her eyes were closed, body swaying to the soft melody she had played a thousand times before. The world around her seemed to stand still and listen, captivated by the moment, including a pair of soft brown eyes that watched from the shadows of the open stone corridors connected to the palace. Those eyes belonged to Princess Lenora, the fifth child of the royal line and the youngest at the age of fifteen.
Sweet Lenora was of no particular consequence, for there was no threat of succession thanks to her older siblings, thus she spent most of her days learning how to be a lady. Marry a noble man. Be a good wife. Bear many children. Be a good mother. Live a boring, wealthy life. Be terribly ordinary. She was almost a perfect, inconsequential princess for the Royal Family, except for the slight problem that Lenora was born a Phoenix.
The Phoenix, since the dawn of written history, were a threat to civilization. They were humans, like all others, only they could bend fire and, less commonly, other powers of nature to their will. The Treaty of the Crosses in 1450 was a written agreement signed by all reigning systems at the time that all Phoenix citizens would be either killed or exiled to the frigid mountains of the planet Bao.
In the year 1892, the Helexicon Empire, capitalizing on their recent expansions into the south, sent agents to Bao. They unleashed the Phoenix on the Northern systems, dressed in silver armor and capes, and the Dormans, the Neahians, and the Bakos fell to the power of the Phoenix Knights and the Helexicon Empire. Thus began a hundred-year reign of violence and oppression in the universe.
Only one world resisted the Phoenix, the holy world of the Matran, who formed an army under the watchful eye of their God and fought back. The Phoenix, though more powerful, were severely outnumbered by the commoners, and in the North every Phoenix warrior, and any family of theirs, were hunted and killed. The Common folk won.
The Helexicon Empire collapsed, its once mighty reach condensed into a small fringe in the east, and in its wake new systems loyal to the Matran were formed. The liberated worlds created new governments, much of their culture and way of life now derived from their Helexicon conquerors. The Kingdoms all resigned the Treaty of the Crosses in 1839, again ordering that all Phoenix were to be hunted and killed until their blight would be forever rid from the universe. The remaining Phoenix Knights were disbanded and slaughtered, and, on the Capima Islands, in the city of Sor, the capital of the newly created Sora System, the Knights were reborn: now as an order loyal to the Kingdom and open to all men and women of the system. They became the right hand of Sor, an army led by the Matran.
400 years later, and the Sora System had prospered greatly, but the Phoenix were not forgotten. They were still feared and hated. Even innocent little princesses, such as Lenora, were not immune to the prejudice, despite her unfortunate fate to be one. Thus while Lenora spent her days learning how to best serve the realm of Sor, a recent movement concerning the known Phoenix members of the Royal Family was reaching a climax.
Realistically, Phoenix were only a small part of the universe's population, and in the Sora System there were even less of them. Still, there were at least eight known living Phoenix connected to the Royal Family. Many of them had distant, questionable connections in their lineage, but there were three, including herself, who called the palace home.
The first was Lenora’s great uncle, who lived in the high towers of the Royal Palace and rarely left his chambers. He was an old, frail man who had outlived most of his siblings, including her grandfather, and had always been kind to his nieces and nephews despite his introversion. The second was herself, unimportant as she was, and the third was the wild redheaded girl, her cousin, Lady Elisiana, who played music in the courtyard and bathed in Sor’s sunlight.
Elisiana was only a few years older than Lenora, and the two girls had much in common, so Lenora saw her cousin as more of a sister. A friend. Elisiana had taught her not to be ashamed of her powers and of herself, despite the whispers in the court and the pointed, mean looks that were thrown their way whenever they ventured into the public eye. For that she was forever grateful.
Lenora tiptoed into the grassy knoll of the yard, careful not to let herself be known. She approached Elisianna, who was still lost in the music, and with a light touch, let her fingers crawl up her cousin’s shoulder like a spider. Elisianna jolted in surprise and swung around, her expression turning from fear to a grimace when she saw her younger cohort laughing at her.
“Don’t stop!” Lenora grinned, seating herself under the tree beside Elisiana. “I like to hear you play.”
Elisiann’s bright green eyes squinted at the one who had disturbed her. “What are you doing here, Nora? I thought you were with Miss Tawny, learning how to poop like a lay-dee!”
“Hah! If only,” Lenora picked at the grass beneath her legs. “Classes were canceled. Please keep playing.”
Lady Elisiana began to play her guitar once more, this time her eyes locked on to her cousin whose pale blue skirts were spread out on the lawn like wings. “Why were they canceled?”
“Who knows!” Lenora shrugged. “Apparently something is going on with the Knights. I heard the word ‘Guardian’ in there.”
“That Phoenix division?” Elisiana moved her fingers along the strings like it was second nature. “Strange.”
“No more strange than you not showing up to class any longer. I miss you, Siana. Save me!” Lenora pleaded. But her cousin shook her head with a smile.
“My parents have given up on me, finally,” Elisiana said proudly. “I’m not going back to that stupid class with those stupid snotty ladies.”
This was news. The younger one blinked. “Given up?
“Mmm,” the redhead nodded. “I’m apparently a disgrace of a daughter who will never see a penny of my inheritance.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know…” the princess pursed her lips but Elisiana grinned.
“I’m not sorry! Good! They can go to hell! I’ll make a living off of music and become super rich and famous without my family.” Despite her harsh words, the melody remained like velvet.
Lenora smiled, “Can I come?”
Elisiana stopped her playing and pulled Lenora into a hug, fiery red hair spilling down around their embrace, “You’d better. Just don’t sing, or else you’ll scare all of our loving fans away!” They both laughed, and then sat back on their elbows, not caring if their skin became grass stained or if their skirts were pulled up above their knees. A pause of silence overcame their conversation while they enjoyed the delightful wafting scent of the lilies around them.
“They’ll come around, Siana,” the princess said, turning her head to look at her cousin. “Your parents. They love you.”
Elisiana shrugged, “Maybe. I’m just tired of being treated like a freak.”
“Yeah, me too.”
This brief moment of peace and respite in the warm afternoon sun of the palace courtyard would be the last that either of them would have; for that very night, the tensions in the Sora System came to a head, and the Royal Family declared a civil war. The Phoenix division of the Knights, the Guardians, were declared traitors and their base on Larenska attacked by all the power Sor could muster. All across Sorillian space, Phoenix families were torn apart or cast away to neighboring systems such as Ulfire, or chased down to the area of space known as the Dark Worlds, which no governing forces ruled over.
Many were slaughtered on the grounds of the royal palace, including the fifth daughter of the King, Princess Lenora, and the King’s old uncle, Lord Orris, who never stood a chance against the invading Knights. Those who tried to save them were cut down like trees and added to the pile of innocent bodies.
Only one member of the Royal Family survived what would come to be known as the Extinguishing Night of Sor - Lady Elisiana, the King’s niece. She was smuggled onto a cargo ship leaving the Capima Islands, and forced to witness her uncle murder his own family, his own daughter, to maintain the purity of their bloodline. She watched with bloodshot eyes and a heavy heart as the city of Sor disappeared from below the ship that ascended into the skies, stared blankly as the planet grew smaller, so small, like a tiny dot in the horizon until it finally vanished from sight completely.
In the distance, before they left the Sora System, a single shooting star fell from the skies, leaving a thin trail of embers in its wake.
****
A winter storm was hitting the space colony known as Asteroid Eight, forcing flight restrictions on civilian inbound and outbound ships. Though the colony was famously revered for its year round winter wonderland, this blizzard made the asteroid look as though a child held it in its grasp and was shaking it like a snow globe. A flurry of wind and flakes that battered the windows of lodges, homes and holiday inns that lay nestled against white ski slopes. Everyone was huddled inside today, waiting for the storm to pass with hot drinks, and fires blazed against stone hearths to keep them all warm. In one such lodge, aptly named the Tempest Stay, a man named Wing sat with a hot mug of coffee grasped in both hands and watched a few children play with toys by the fire in the middle of the two story room. Most tables around him were filled with people chatting, eating and playing games while they waited for the storm to pass. Nearby, at the bar, a gruff looking man tinkered with a radio that cut in and out of static every now and then, never voicing more than two droning words at a time. It was hard to get any news at the moment. Still, perhaps it was for the best, particularly for someone who wished to lay low for the time being.
Asteroid Eight was as good a place as any for that sole reason. It was a colony formed on the outer rim of the Sora System and used as a popular holiday destination for Sorillians. Although it was privately owned, the Kingdom of Sor had been trying to purchase it for many years, but at the current time it was a neutral governing asteroid colony. Since the destruction of the Guardians, Wing had been staying here to evade the Knights that were still after him. The last contact he had had with the Guardians was an energetic girl named Yuen who had radioed him on his way out from Larenska.
“Ss-kksh - in. Come in - sskk - Wing? Wing is that your - ssk - ship? If you can hear me, Darius is - kssskh - north. He told me to tell you that - ssskhsk - and Tera - khsssskh - lay low. Lay low and stay - ss - sskshk - safe.”
The transmission had cut out after that. The fate of the Guardians, Wings friends, were unknown. Darius was north, that was all he could make out from the message, but he would be fine. Probably. So Wing stayed here, trying to form some sort of plan and escape Sor.
“Gahd damn!” the gruff radio man swore, banging his device on the bar, “You piece of junk! Work, gahd damn it! Work!”
A few patrons turned to look at him with annoyed expressions. Wing watched on absentmindedly. The man slapped the side of the radio three times, and on the third a spring fell out, rolling off the bar and onto the floor with a soft clink. Suddenly, to the surprise of the man, the radio started to work with perfect clarity. He scratched his head and placed it down, “Well, I’ll be damned!”
Many people tuned in to listen to the serious voice that seemed to be talking about something grave, everyone desperate for a small piece of news, but what they heard was grim indeed. “Last night Princess Lenora, daughter to the King of Sor, and Lord Orris, uncle to the King of Sor, were executed for crimes against the crown. Lady Elisiana, niece of the King of Sor, was also found guilty of crimes against the crown, but has yet to be found. All who conspired against the King will be punished, including the King’s brother Lord Harrien and sister-in-law Lady Nieve, who are said to have helped their daughter escape the capitol.”
Around Wing, several people gasped, and he noticed that most of the lodge was now tuned in to the news, which continued, “The Kingdom of Sor has since released a decree against all Sorillian Phoenix, who are now declared enemies of the crown. Any Phoenix who are found within Sora System’s borders will be executed on sight. It is deemed treasonous to fraternize or collaborate with any Phoenix. We must remember our dark history and learn from our ancestors' mistakes.”
With that, the radio went silent.
Last edited:
