Torn From Stone (The Phoenix Series Book 1) Read online

  They dismounted and dropped into the clearing. They must have been at least thirty feet up, and they landed like cats. On the ground, I could see that they wore hooded tunics and leggings with soft boots that came to their knees. All three were exactly the same, except in colour. Even the skin on their hands was the same exact shade as their clothes. Their horses whinnied and circled overhead, but made no move to hit the ground.

  Yeren made for the White Rider and began to grapple. Sid raised his arms and shot a bright green ball at the Red Rider. It knocked Red back a few paces, and he responded by running at Sid. The Black Rider turned to me.

  Luck put the broken dog between us. It slowed him down slightly, very slightly. As he vaulted over the ruined dog, I ran around the second statue and tried to smash a wing. He was there before I could do it, so I angled my swing and sent it into his shoulder. I think the fact that I’d fought back stunned him. He stood swaying just long enough for me to drop and crawl under the dog. Jumping up on the other side, I swung and smashed the wing. Stone went everywhere, but only stone.

  Mr Black was back in front of me. This time he was ready for my swing and grabbed the bat and pulled. I let him and, trusting that all men are created equal, I kicked him in the groin. He fell back to the ground with me on top of him. He was making lots of pained grunts, yet he was still trying to hold onto me. My leg was right between his so drove my knee up, as hard as I could. He let go. I jumped up, grabbed the bat, and gave him a good smack to the ribs with it. I left him struggling on the ground and smashed the fourth wing. Again, stone. I ran to the next statue. Four down, four to go.

  As I went, I spared a glance for Sid and Yeren. Yeren was still wrestling Whitey; they were taking turns throwing each other into the walls of the clearing. Splinters of stone and plumes of dust rained down on them with every hit. Sid was in some sort of energy battle with Red in the centre of the statues. Coloured beams of light shot from their hands and clashed in the space between them. Reaching dog number three, I wasted no time in cracking into wing number five: again, only stone. Six was about to go down when the Black Rider grabbed me by the hair. It was so fast and painful that I dropped the bat. I gripped his wrist with both hands to stop him from scalping me. He dragged me away from the statue and across the rough stones. I tried desperately to stay on my feet. He took a few paces and then, wrapping his other arm around my waist, pulled me off the ground. I went feral. I just started kicking and thrashing around, screaming as loud as I could. I’m not some little thing to be tossed over someone’s shoulder and carried away, as I said earlier; I’m built like a woman. It was this, coupled with the thrashing that thwarted his plan. He dropped me.

  I landed hard on the broken rock. I could feel blood start to ooze from my cheek. I got to my knees and crawled towards the bat, stone cutting into my knees and hands. The Rider tried to grab my feet, and I kicked at his hands. We continued in this way across the gravelly ground between the bat and me. I reached forward and got my left hand on the thing. I paused to give Black a chance to move. I had a plan. I swear. When he realised I stopped moving, he got to his hands and knees and crawled up my body. I waited until he’d made it up to my back and then I flipped over, quickly driving my right elbow into his gaping hood. He screamed and darted back. I let the movement take me all the way around until I was in a sitting position. I scrambled to my feet; bat in both hands, and approached the Rider. He was on his knees, hands buried in his hood, as black liquid dripped from them to the ground. I pulled the bat back over my shoulder. He looked up as it came at his head.

  I didn’t wait to see if I’d killed him, I assumed that I had and kept moving. I assured myself he’d have done the same to me. Cold comfort. I drove all my guilt into a scream as I smashed the sixth wing. I got the shower of stones I expected. They looked like crystals against the black fluid pooling on the ground. I wondered briefly if the White Rider bled white, then kept moving. I tore through the clearing to the seventh wing and swung before I stopped running.

  The stone began to splinter into the air. Just as I was moving to the next one, a piercing light filled the spaces between the stones. They slowed, almost stopped, their fall to the ground. I watched them hang there for the briefest of moments. Then the light retreated, and they fell abruptly, making a sound like delicate broken glass, as they hit the ground.

  And there, where the stone had once been, was the wing.

  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Blues, greens, purples, and pinks played back and forth through the feathers. It was huge, bigger than the stone that encased it. Fully extended, it must have been six feet long. I wanted it. My body wanted it. I got a flash image of my naked back with two of these beauties hanging from it. I reached out a hand to stroke the feathers.

  “The bag!” yelled Yeren. I snapped from my revelry. She had the White Rider pinned to the rock; they were so evenly matched. “Put it in the bag!” She shouted.

  I reached into my tote and pulled the rough brown sac from it. I unfurled the fabric and climbed onto the statues back. I began to gently pull the sack over the wing, being careful not to touch the wing itself. It was quick work. The bag did exactly what Sid said it would. As soon as the wing entered it, it started to disappear. By the time the wing was concealed, it looked like I was holding a near-empty bag.

  “Now run!” It was Sid who yelled this time. He looked drained. He had the Red Rider down on the ground, and the stream of green energy that flowed from the centre of his palms flickered slightly as he drove it into the man.

  I shoved the sac into my tote, grabbed my bat and headed for the stairs. The White Rider made a grab for me as I went by and Yeren cuffed him in the face. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, reopening the cuts on my hands as I crawled the last few feet. The darkness of the forest enveloped me immediately. After the bright lights of the fight, it took me a moment to find my sight. When I was pretty sure I could see enough to not seriously injure myself, I ran.

  Well, run isn’t the best word for it. The trees and underbrush were thick and made putting distance between the Riders and me difficult. I could still hear Sid and Yeren grappling with them. I drove myself into the trees. Many times a branch ripped at my face or caught in my hair. I let them take what they wanted and kept moving.

  After a while, I realised that the only sound I could hear was the harsh pounding of my breath. I stopped and listened. The forest was quiet now. The sounds of the battle were far behind me. I had no idea how far I had come or where I was. My only thought was not to run back towards the village. The question now was, how were Sid and Yeren going to find me? I decided that staying in one place for a while was probably the best option.

  I sat down on the forest floor and leaned against a tree. I was suddenly very hungry. I got out my water and a small handful of nuts and proceeded to snack. The nuts had a slight coppery tang from the blood in my hand, and I was very grateful they weren’t salted. I waited until I’d finished all the nuts to have any water, and then I limited myself to a few sips. I didn’t know how long it had to last.

  Somewhat satiated, I rested. I could hear no sound of anyone approaching. I considered calling out to them then thought better of it: that might be asking for trouble. It started to feel like forever, sitting there, waiting for my blood to dry, and the fear that they weren’t coming began to surface. When I left them, they appeared to have the upper hand, but what if that changed? What if they weren’t coming because they couldn’t? How was I going to find the other wing? Sid never told me where it was. And how do I get out of this forest?

  I was about to seriously freak out when a hand reached around the tree. Long elegant blue fingers stretched out towards me. I had enough time to think: ‘oh shit’ before the fainting feeling hit me again.

  10

  I was so warm, so cosy and warm. The bed was soft, and a thick duvet covered me. I was about to drift off back to sleep when I realised I shouldn’t be sleeping. I sat bolt upright and threw back the cover
s, realised I was naked and pulled the covers back.

  I was alone and back in a cave. This one was very different from Yeren’s. The ceiling was much lower, but it was easily three times the size, like a giant bachelor apartment.

  Everything was built into or around the rock; candles glowed in many of the small niches in the walls. I sat on a bed in the back right corner of the room; it was raised from the main level of the home and framed by stalagmites. Or was it stalactites. I don’t know, the ones that grow up. Light blue gauzy fabric draped from tip to tip of the stone pillars. The linens were plush, and the bed was wide. In front of the raised bed area was a sunken living room filled with soft cushions and pillows: it didn’t look that different from the bed. The other side of the chamber held what appeared to be a cooking area and a large open space where the floor looked most even and was covered by a thick multi-coloured rug. Even with all the rock, it was surprisingly girly. The most startling thing about the cave was the curtain.

  Curtain seems too plain a word. Drape would be better but still not close. It ran the length of the cave along the wall I faced. It was made of a very heavy fabric that looked like the sea. There were shades of blue and green throughout the piece and as I watched they moved in and out of each other like living tie-dye.

  I wanted to see just what it was hiding but first I needed clothes. Carefully holding the blankets to my chest, I scooted to the edge of the bed. I wasn’t as sore from the fight as I thought I’d be but my back cracked loudly as I moved. At the base of the riser, sitting on a small wooden chair, were my belongings. My tote bag was on the floor; a little worse for wear, with my bat beside it. The neatly folded clothes in the chair and coat swung over it looked freshly laundered. I looked around the room, it was still empty, I threw back the blanket and went for my bag.

  I had to make sure the wing was still there. A few moments searching produced the rough brown sac. I opened the bag and looked inside. In what appeared to be a very large space was my wing. Not a feather was out of place. Reassured, I place the sac back in my tote and turned to my clothes. Whoever had cleaned them did a great job. As with the wounds on my body, all the bits of stone and blood were gone. I had packed extra panties in my tote but didn’t reach for them. My mystery maid had cleaned everything. I had packed a bra as well even though I couldn’t wear one with the suit. It didn’t seem right to leave the house without one. So I shimmied into the panties and pulled the suit on as quickly as possible. I slowed down once my breasts were covered. Although whoever cleaned this stuff had undoubtedly stripped me, I still didn’t want them to see me naked while conscious. Weird, I know. I was sitting in the chair, getting my boots on, when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone approaching.

  There was nowhere to hide and I didn’t want to anyway. Escaping didn’t make a whole lot of sense because I had no idea where I was. I also needed to know what had happened to Sid and Yeren. So I remained where I was, in the simple wooden chair. I decided to feign confidence and threw and arm over the back of the chair, angling my body away from my captor. The noise seemed to be coming from the open area at the other side of the cave, but there was no door there. In fact, looking around there were no doors anywhere. With a sound like grinding gears, an opening appeared in the rock. Silhouetted by the glittering rock behind her, my captor stepped through. She was the most unusual creature I had ever seen.

  The first thing that struck me was her skin. Parts of it were human and pink like mine but the majority of it was blue, a light pearlescent blue. Her hands and forearms were completely blue, so it looked like she was wearing very long gloves. The blue coated her legs and moved across her torso covering most of her breasts, but left her neck and shoulders pale. She had no hair, just a crown of this remarkable blue above her startlingly symmetrical face. She had big, round eyes that were a shade darker than the hue of her skin and a wide mouth that looked almost lipless from this distance. She saw me in the chair but did not react. She simply came towards me. As she got closer I could see that the blue was made up of scales about the size of a silver dollar, like a fish. They covered her in perfect rows that bent and flexed as she moved. Her body had the taut stealth of a swimmer and in her naked state I could see the muscles of her stomach and thighs move. Blushing slightly, I brought my gaze to her face. I could not see it when she entered but in the centre of her forehead it looked like she had a third eye. It was closed and had no lashes but it was definitely an eye. Closer still, I could see I was right about her mouth. She had no lips, just a heavy fold of skin above and below her mouth, the upper hanging slightly over the bottom. On her way across the room she turned towards the kitchen area. She produced two glasses and filled them with water. When she turned her back to me, I could see that the blue continued to mid back. Her spine was very pronounced. It seemed that every vertebra had a boney point, almost as if spikes should protrude from the meat of her back. She walked the remaining steps to me, a glass in each hand.

  “You’re probably very thirsty.” She held out a glass as she drank from her own. I was thirsty, but had I not seen her drink the water first I wouldn’t have taken it.

  “Thank you.” I took the glass and drank deeply.

  “And you’re probably wondering what’s going on.” I pulled the glass from my lips.

  “Oh, you’re quick.” She winced. “Just where the hell am I? And where are my friends?”

  “You are in my home, which is very safe. No one ever comes here.” She looked down as she said the last.

  “And where exactly is home?” These Travellers were so cryptic.

  “Embedded in a reef in the warm waters of the pacific coast.” I gaped at her. “Here, I’ll show you.”

  She went to that fabulous curtain and began to pull it aside. I was distracted by the movement of her scales until I saw the view. We were indeed in the middle of a reef. There were thousands of brightly coloured fish swimming past the window. I crossed to the glass and pressed my hand against it.

  “Ahh!” I stepped back as the view rippled. What I thought had been glass was pliable under my hand. In fact, my hand was wet.

  “It is only my power that keeps the water back.”

  “Wow.”

  “It is a simple thing, Phoenix.” I looked at her sharply.

  “I thought my name was not to be used.”

  “That was before. After your incident in the woods, all the Travellers will soon know that you have returned.” She barely made eye contact with me, choosing instead to look at my chin or shoulder. It was incredibly unnerving. “Sid had wanted you kept secret until both your wings were recovered. But he underestimated Baba, or overestimated himself, whichever you prefer.”

  “Where are Sid and Yeren?” She looked at me.

  “They have been taken by The Guard.”

  “We have to get them back!”

  “That is impossible. They are in The Void now. There are too many there that would have your heart before they’d see you return.”

  “Shit!” I yelled it and the water rippled. “Shit!” The water pulsed and I threw my glass against it. The wall of water held but my glass was absorbed. I watched it float away as I steadied myself.

  “What’s your name?” The creature had cowered as I raged and didn’t answer right away.

  “What is your…”

  “Noiryn.”

  “You cleaned my clothes?” She stood straighter.

  “Yes, they were covered with Rider blood.” She must have felt my guilt. “Don’t worry. You can’t kill a Rider.”

  “No?”

  “No. They never die.”

  “That’s a scary thought.” I shuddered then gestured at my suit. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She gave me a weak, lipless, smile.

  “What’s your role in all this, Noiryn?” I wasn’t raging anymore, but I wasn’t happy.

  “I am one of the few who refused to push you from The Void. I joined with Siddhartha to see you restored.”

&nb
sp; “Restored to what?”

  “To yourself.” I was ready to scream again.

  “Damn it! Won’t anyone give me a straight answer? I don’t know what ‘myself’ means! A few days ago… hell, I don’t even know how long I’ve been here!” I began to pace back and forth across the room. “Before Sid pulled me from my bed I had no idea I was even a part of this place! Noiryn…” I turned to see her on the floor. She had curled into a tight ball with her arms over her head. I softened my voice.

  “Noiryn?”

  “Please, your anger… It hurts… Please stop.” She looked so pitiful that I dropped to my knees beside her.

  “I’m sorry, Noiryn.” She raised her head towards me. A tear rolled from the corner of her third eye.

  “You need to touch the wing.” Her voice was barely a whisper but as she said ‘wing’ a flash of power moved quickly through my body making me inhale sharply. I nodded and we got to our feet.

  I got the satchel from my bag and handed it to Noiryn. She gestured for me to sit in the middle of the living room cushions. When I was in place, she took the bag and gently shook the wing out to lie in front of me. It was more beautiful than I recalled. In the extreme of the fight, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate just how exotic and marvellous it was.

  “When you touch the wing memories will come.” Noiryn knelt close beside me. Since my apology she was much more comfortable. “Let them. Do not fight them no matter what they show you.”

  “Is it bad?” I was really scared.

  “Only you, Phoenix, know what truly happened. This is the only way to find out.” I gave her one of Sid’s patented nods. “I will be here when you emerge.” She got up and left me alone in the centre of the cushions.

  I stared at the wing and was afraid to touch it. We had worked so hard to find it, but now the moment was here, and my friends were not, and everything was riding on me remembering. They wanted me to be ‘myself’ again. What if I didn’t like who that was?