by Keegan Long
“Done for me?” Carter yelled back infuriated. “You have done nothing for me except given me the life of thieves. I know nothing about myself or my history because of you! And look around you. There’s nothing left!”
“Oh, so you want to know the truth!” Agnes stared back. “Your own parents abandoned you and left you to die! I still question why I even allowed Gibson to keep you when he found you at that abandoned village. They saw you as weak. They were right.”
Carter tightened his fists together at Agnes’ comment. He could feel the rage and anger starting to grow stronger inside him with every second that went by. But he knew better. His path was clear now. This is when he would get that new life he had always wanted. A life away from pirates and filth alike. This was his chance and he was never going to look back.
Before anyone could do anything more, the sea echoed with that terrible roar that could be felt from several leagues away. Carter turned around and saw the winged creature remerging from the white clouds above the cliff.
“NOW CARTER!” Gibson yelled as the two of them jumped overboard before Agnes could react and plunged into the cold water bellow them.
A jolt of pain was sent throughout Carter’s body when he jumped into the sea and hit the water with incredible force. He screamed out in pain but the water only silenced his screams. He looked above and saw the dragon fly just above the water and descended upon Agnes’s ship with its breath of fire. When Carter finally swam up to the surface, he could feel the heat of the fire come from the dragon’s breath.
He looked upon the ship once more and saw it was now in more flames than just moments before. Before he could react, the ship exploded and split into two. Carter found himself terrified, but amazed, by the fact that it took only one dragon to destroy an entire fleet of ships. Imagine if there were even more out there.
“Carter!” Gibson called out from the nearby distance as he pointed out the sandy beach he had before. “Swim!”
Carter followed Gibson’s lead and used all of his remaining energy to move his body across the water. It took several long minutes until they finally reached the beach as he quickly laid on his back and began to try and catch his breath.
“Let’s just rest here for a bit,” Gibson agreed as he too laid down by Carter’s side to try and catch his breath as well.
Carter closed his eyes and deep down was hoping when he opened them once again he would realize this was all just a nightmare he would wake up from. But he knew deep down that was not true and it was all real. His life had been changed forever.
“What the hell is even going on?” Carter called out. “None of this is normal.”
“I was hoping you could tell us,” a different voice replied that frighted Carter as he quickly jolted up and looked to see two unfamiliar faces standing on the same beach.
A young girl with her bow and arrow pointed towards their direction with a slightly older boy standing close behind her. The boy looked as if he could be the same age as Carter.
“Who are you?” Carter asked as he held out both of his hand up by his side as to not give the girl a reason to release her arrow.
“You first,” she demanded as she slightly pulled back on her bow string a bit further.
Carter slowly stood up with his hand still up to his side and noticed that Gibson had also followed his lead.
“My name is Carter,” he calmly began to explain. “And this is Gibson.” He pointed behind him.
“And give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put an arrow through each of your heads,” she stared. “Pirates.”
“That was never the life I wanted,” Carter tried to explain further. “But it’s the only life I’ve known. Please. We’re both just trying to get out of here.”
The girl continued to stare and held her bow at the ready, but then slowly lowered her weapon.
“Fine,” she said cautiously as she stored her arrow back into her quiver on her back. “My name is Anna. This is my brother Magnus.”
Carter nodded towards her brother.
“Was that a dragon I saw earlier?” Magnus asked curiously. “I didn’t know they still existed.”
“I didn’t know they existed at all,” Carter exclaimed.
“We were on the nearby road traveling when we noticed all the destruction,” Anna went on. “We decided to give it a closer look and that’s when the dragon came out of nowhere. Knocked us right off our horses.”
“Where did it even come from?” Carter asked. “Nothing like that has ever been spotted in Crossbone Sea for generations.”
“Who cares,” Magnus interrupted. “Let’s get out of here before it comes back and burns us all.”
But it was too late. The field once again was filled with the violent roar of the winged beast as the group turned around to see the dragon flying directly at them. Carter looked upon the beast and was paralyzed as it flew closer and closer with every second that went by.
“RUN!” Gibson yelled for everyone to scatter.
Everyone ran in opposite directions to try and find cover wherever they could, except Carter. He was still paralyzed as if he had become stuck in place and continued to watch the dragon draw closer to him.
“Carter!” Gibson yelled as he now noticed that he had refused to move like the others and began to run back towards his position.
But he was already too late.
The dragon opened its mouth and reigned fire down upon Carter.
Gibson lifted his arm to shield his face from the heat of the fire as tears began to roll down the side of his face. “NO!” The old man screamed.
“Damn,” Anna cursed as she too had to shield her face from the extreme heat of the dragon’s breath.
And then the dragon was gone and it disappeared in the far distance across the mountains. But then everyone’s jaws dropped in amazement as a figure slowly reappeared as the dragon’s fire began to extinguish itself.
It was Carter.
Alive with no scratches or scars at all.
Carter had felt nothing from the dragon’s fire. No pain. No burning. Just a presence of warmth.
“Impossible,” Gibson muttered as he approached Carter. “You should be dead.”
“I guess I’m not,” Carter said, just as shocked as the others as he lifted his arms to examine them himself and saw there were no traces of burns.
“That’s impossible,” Anna added as she and her brother came into view.
Carter looked over towards Gibson and was surprised to find him happily smiling upon him instead of amazed like the others. “What?”
“It all makes sense now,” Gibson continued to smile. “I knew you were special when I found you in that abandoned town with no marks of any sorts. No baby could survive in the wilderness by themselves like you did.”
“What are you getting at?” Carter looked upon his mentor. “I don’t understand.”
“What he is saying is, there has always been only one family throughout history that has been able to walk unharmed from the destruction of fire breath,” Anna began. “And we thought they had all died.”
“No,” Carter quickly came to protest the thought. “That’s impossible. I’m a nobody.”
“A nobody with no parents,” Gibson agreed with the girl. “No history. No home. A baby left not because their parents abandoned them, but to protect them.”
Carter continued to shake his head as if he wanted to continue to refuse the thought. There was no way he could be this special person the entire world had been looking for for the last several decades. He was nobody.
Carter turned around towards the travelers that they had met earlier and noticed they had bent down to one knee and faced him. He was astonished by the royal gesture as this was the last thing he would expect anyone to do towards him.
He quickly turned the other way, back towards Gibson, and noticed that he had followed the siblings’ lead as well.
Carter looked at Gibson and saw his face looked more prideful and honore
d than he had ever seen it before.
“All hail, The Phoenix King.”
Magnus
Crossbone Sea
Magnus had a million thoughts going through his head right now. Over the past hour he had witnessed a dragon vanquishing a fleet of pirate ships to ash, and saw a boy that was immune to dragon fire.
The Phoenix King was alive.
It was impossible to deny what they had just saw. He had read stories like this all throughout his life, but now he was living one for himself.
“What the hell is going on?” Anna looked around flustered and began to run her fingers through her brown hair.
Anna’s comment was left unanswered as the beach was only met with silence. No one had words for what they had all just witnessed. Everyone’s worlds had just be turned upside down, and the fact that there was a Phoenix King alive in Terran, changes everything. The High Druids have no claim to the throne anymore and this meant Carter was now the rightful heir to the Ruby Throne.
“This changes everything,” Magnus broke the silence. “With no doubt, you come from the Phoenix King bloodline, and in result, you have the sole right to rule Olympia.”
Carter was quickly to shake his head as he tried to ignore the comment. “No. You got it all wrong. I’m not royalty. I’m a nobody. My whole life has been living amongst pirates and keeping my head down while trying not to get noticed.”
“There’s no denying it, Carter,” Gibson took the boy by the shoulder. “There’s no denying what we all just saw. You should be dead.”
“And what am I supposed to do!” Carter snapped. “I can’t rule a kingdom! And damn sure can’t rule all of them throughout Terran!”
The group became silent again as Carter did bring up a valid point. What was he supposed to do? He had no army to back his claim. No experience on the politics or royalty. He was no warrior either.
Magnus took a deep breath before approaching the boy he barely knew. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now but you have no idea what this means for so many of us. Ever since the High Druids took over many years ago, the world changed. Civil war has erupted and many of the kingdoms cut ties with Olympia. Towns have struggled greatly, just like mine. If you make yourself known, those that are loyal will follow you. You can change the world to become a better place.”
Magnus looked over and could tell that Carter had taken his word’s to heart and continued to think about them.
“Where do I even start?” Carter asked with a blank expression across his face.
“We start with Andros,” Anna replied. “That’s where we were headed. It’s the closest kingdom from our current location. We have to try.”
“Why are you even helping me?” Carter said. “You barely know me. I feel like I barely know myself anymore.”
It was true. Magnus barely knew this person who now holds the name to the most powerful family in all of Terran history.
“And what about mum?” Anna turned to her brother. “We are supposed to bring back supplies to the village.”
Magnus closed his eyes to think and knew what he was about to say was probably one of the craziest things his sister never would have thought would come from his mouth. “We’ll go to Andros and demand an audience with the court, while getting the supplies for the village. Once we return the supplies, we’ll go with Carter wherever we need to go.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Magnus answered with a thought of doubt.
Magnus looked over towards Carter and saw him give a gentle nod towards him.
“We better get moving then,” Magnus acknowledged as he looked towards the mountains where the dragon had vanished over. “The last thing we want is to be here if that dragon decides to show back up. Not all of us are invincible to fire breath.”
Anna nodded as well. “Agreed.”
Magnus and Anna decided it was best to allow Carter and Gibson to ride with them on their horses. It was the fastest way to get to Andros. Gibson rode alongside Magnus while Carter rode with Anna.
The majority of the trip was ridden in silence besides the small talk Gibson would make from time to time.
“Been to Andros once,” Gibson commented as the group continued on through the vast empty grass fields. “A beautiful place.”
“Is it true?” Anna began to ask. “Do they really have pegasus?”
Gibson grinned as he remembered the city the last time he visited. “The legends are true all right. Beautiful creatures. Probably the reason Andros is considered one of the kingdoms to have the strongest armies in all of Terran.”
Anna looked up and smiled as she looked forward to seeing one of these magical beasts with her own eyes soon.
Magnus had always been fascinated about reading stories about the myths of magical creatures that supposedly existed all across Terran. But after the recent events of the dragon attack on the pirate fleet, it seemed like all those myths were now true.
“Last time I was there, a king and queen ruled the kingdom,” Gibson went on recalling his last visit. “Since then, the king and queen disappeared and is now ruled by a high court until the princess comes of age.”
“Princess?” Magnus asked.
“The only child and daughter of the king and queen,” Gibson answered. “And quite beautiful by what I have heard.”
Gibson smirked at Magnus as his face slightly turned red in embarrassment. Magnus decided it was best of him not to respond to the pirate’s teasing comment. Magnus looked over at his sister and saw that she gave him a teasing smirk as well.
It did not take long after until Magnus noticed the sight of large open farm fields come into view. The fields were massive and were filled with a variety of different types of crops being grown. Magnus even noticed some of the farms had open grasslands dedicated for being roamed by all sorts of animals. Horses, cows, chickens, and more were just a few that Magnus could make out.
“Andros,” Gibson commented as he looked over towards Magnus. “At least the border of it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Anna said. “I’ve never seen so many farm fields in my entire life.”
“It sure is,” Gibson agreed. “Andros is big in agriculture. They are completely self sufficient when it comes to providing food for its people.”
“Well, that must be nice,” Anna grumbled angrily as she thought about how their town struggled each winter to have enough food for everyone.
“Ever since the the take over of Olympia, the people of Andros have become an isolated kingdom,” Gibson explained.
It was not long after that the mountains came into full view of the travelers. No one spoke as they became amazed at the sight. An entire city built in one of the tallest mountain sides in all of Terran. And above it, were the flying horses with wings.
“Are those-” Anna pointed out the flying creatures.
Gibson grinned at her happily, “Yup.”
“How do we get up there?” Magnus asked as he looked up at the mountain side.
“The only way is flying,” Gibson quickly answered. “That or you climb the mountain. And I don’t recommend that.”
“Speaking from experience there?” Anna jokingly asked the grey bearded man.
“Ha!” he quickly spat back. “You wish!”
It did not take long before a patrol noticed the presence of the travelers as they flew down from above and landed at the ground next to them on their large winged beasts. Magnus saw that the Pegasus were just slightly bigger than your normal average horse. He agreed that they truly were beautiful and elegant.
The guards that approached them were fully suited in the traditional light blue armor with a Pegasus crest engraved on the chest. Each of them held a long silver pointed spear at their side.
“Woah,” Anna muttered as she got her wish to see a pegasus up close and in person.
“Welcome to Andros,” the captain guard began to greet them. “You have come at a moment when Andros will witness
history. We welcome you to join us in tonight’s festivities to honor this special occasion.”
The group looked at each other confused. They had no idea at what was going on. They had all been cut off from the news of the outside world for their entire lives, besides Gibson. But it seemed he was confused at this news as well.
“Sorry, special occasion?” Magnus asked.
The guard looked down at them confused on how no one was aware of what day they had arrived on. “Well, the queen of course. The princess is being crowned tonight.”
What were the chances of that, they all thought to themselves.
Magnus looked over towards Gibson and saw the the man gave him a teasing grin like he did last time he had mentioned the princess. Magnus quickly turned his head away in response as he tried to ignore him but found himself flustered anyways.
“And may we ask what brings you to the Kingdom of Andros,” the guard cautiously asked as he came to the conclusion that the travelers were unaware of the coronation and festivities taking place.
“We request an immediate audience with the queen,” Gibson told the patrol. “It’s urgent.”
The guards all looked at each other and began to laugh at the old man’s request. “And why would she want to see four peasants who clearly don’t know where they are, or their place.”
Magnus saw Gibson turn his head towards Carter and gave him a grin.
“Because of him,” he answered as he pointed towards Carter.
“And why would she want to see him?” they hastily responded at Gibson. “What’s so special about him.”
It was at this time when Carter got off the horse and put his body between the patrol and the group he had traveled with.
“Because I’m the Phoenix King.”
Emma
Andros
Emma was not able to sleep at all.
She had stayed up all throughout the night thinking about the day that she had always dreaded. And now her coronation was to be held that very evening at sunset.
Emma did not resent the crown, or becoming the Queen of Andros at all, but there were other things Emma wish she could do instead. She had always dreamed of becoming a Valkyrie, like her best friend Brianne, or being able to explore the lands outside Andros. She had visited very few other kingdoms, but dreamt of living out in the wild and discovering places that were still waiting to be seen for the first time.