by Keegan Long
“But what about the Necromancer!” she protested. “We can’t just let them roam around Wilbro wreaking havoc whenever they like!”
“I feel the same way,” Grace agreed. “But it does not concern Anubis at all. His eyes are only set on Anuba and that’s all he’ll care about until it’s his again.”
“I don’t care, though,” Jadyn spoke too soon. “Who cares about Anuba. People will die if we leave and do nothing.”
Grace smiled down upon her friend to Jadyn’s surprise. She thought she would had taken offense to her words but she hadn’t. Instead she saw her friend looking at her more proud than ever. This was the first time Grace looked down at Jadyn not as her friend but as her leader.
“You really are the best of us,” Grace said. “But unfortunately it’s out of our hands. For now.”
Jadyn did not want to admit it but she knew Grace was right. Anubis or June would never allow it. There was too much at stake for them and the entire group. She decided she would play along for now, but not for them, but for her sisters. They were the only family she had never known and they deserved a place they could finally call home.
“Fine,” she retreated back to laying down on her bed. “For now.”
“That’s the spirit,” Grace cheered. “Now get some rest. We leave at first light tomorrow.”
First light had came a lot sooner than Jadyn had liked. She had gotten little to no rest that night and was dreading the fact that the majority of the day she would be horse ridding through the desert regions of the East.
When she walked into the living area, she noticed everyone was frantically gathering their things and loading the horses with weapons, bags, and various other supplies.
“Only bring what you need!” June barked about to the different girls. “Leave everything else behind!”
As Jadyn limped around and gathered her things, Raj came to her side and groaned as he pleaded her to pet him.
“Not to worry,” she petted him. “We’re going to our new home now. You’ll have a lot more room there than here. You’ll love it.”
“It truly is magnificent,” Anubis looked down at the two of them.
“What is it like, My Lord?” she asked the Olympian.
“Beautiful,” he illustrated. “The city is surrounded by an open desert field that reflects from the sun. Temples more numerous than you have ever seen before. And then there is the throne room. The place I belong. Upon the Golden Throne.”
“Wow, sounds amazing,” Jadyn commented.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Anubis grinned. “No words can describe it the way it deserves to be.”
“Are you confident we have enough troops to take the city?” Jadyn asked. “I heard the walls will make it difficult.”
“Not to worry,” the Olympian placed his hand on Jadyn’s shoulder. “We have the best troops in all of Terran. They don’t stand a chance.”
She smiled back at him, “Okay then. Let’s do this.”
It did not take long after until the Daughters and Anubis were on their horses and making their way out of Wilbro and into the desert with Raj by their side. As Jadyn rode out the city’s main entrance she looked behind one last time and bid the only home she had ever known one last farewell.
“Weird isn’t it,” Grace said as she noticed Jadyn was thinking the same thoughts she was having as well. “Never thought I would actually leave this place. It has always been our home.”
“This isn’t the end,” Jadyn reassured her. “I will return and make things right one day and destroy that Necromancer. Revenge will be fine.”
Jadyn rarely let her emotions get the better of her but this she did not care about. She was angry and wanted that sorcerer to pay for what they did to all those people. Especially the old lady who had shown her nothing but kindness. They deserved to pay and only when she stood over their dead body would she be satisfied.
It was a day’s ride to get to the outskirts of Anuba where Anubis’s forces had already started to set up camp. Jadyn dreaded the trip since she found out about it and it did not disappoint her in any ways.
The sun was out in full force that day across the desert with not a cloud to be seen. Jadyn was constantly wiping the sweat from her forehead and being conservative with her water supply because once she was out there was no more until they reached the camp.
Jadyn looked up towards Anubis as he lead the group from the front. He was more focused and determined than she had ever seen him. His face was stern. His muscles tense. His eyes looking nowhere except forward. His throne was almost within his grasp.
“What’s that up ahead?” Grace pointed out a large pointed structure in the far distance.
Jadyn squinted her eyes to try and get a better look and noticed what her friend had seen. It was a massive structure. The biggest building she had ever seen in her life as it stretched high in the clear blue sky. It was a pyramid.
“A great eye you have there, My Daughter,” Anubis spoke. “That is one of the nine Great Pyramids of the East.”
“It’s beautiful,” Jadyn commented.
“They are all,” Anubis agreed. “That is the Pyramid of Osiris. My brother.”
“What happened to him?” Jadyn asked. “What happened to the other Olympians?”
“They died,” Anubis snarled. “Killed off during the Titan Wars.”
“The Titan Wars?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Anubis quickly dismissed as he refused to talk about that part of his past. “The world is better off anyways as without them and with me being the last Olympian.”
“I agree, My Lord.”
Jadyn looked up just in time to notice June pass a jealous grin towards her. She was jealous. She had always thought she would be Anubis’ favorite as she lead the Daughters of Anubis. Jadyn could not help herself but smile back at her.
Night had now began to cover the vast desert region of the East. Jadyn was surprised how cold it got once the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon.
Even though the sun was gone, Jadyn could not ignore how beautiful the desert was still. It was quiet and calm. She could even hear the slightest faint cry of a nearby bird.
“We’re here!” Grace interrupted her thoughts.
Jadyn looked beyond as surely enough noticed a field of lights slowly come into view. Then she noticed the tents and was surprised by how many there were. There must have been thousands of them.
As she got closer, she looked down at the camp from the top of the hill and noticed all the people and horses roaming about. There were men dressed of in brown and tan cloth just like she and the Daughters did. There were even women here as well.
“My gods,” she mumbled to herself but loud enough for Grace to hear her.
“I agree,” she commented. “Who would of ever known there were this many people out there loyal to Anubis. All of these people out there waiting for him to return. Just like us.”
“Yeah,” Jadyn said. “But unlike them we actually did something about it.”
“Come my daughters,” Anubis calmed the group down. “We got a war to win.”
Carter
Harkingrove
Carter’s dreams that night were the most violent and horrific ones he had ever experienced. Creatures of nothing but bred of pure evil. Golden light lit up their eyes as if they were made of magma and bodies dark and covered with what appeared to be dried up dirt and ash. All he felt was darkness.
Carter saw these creatures frequently throughout his dreams and as time went on they became too familiar to him. Every dream he had became more and more real to him. He was convinced these creatures were real and someone was trying to warn him about them.
But who?
The dream he had that night conjured a great battle between these forces and those of the living. Men, elves, dwarves, and more all on one side as they faced off against their common enemy. But even with all of their strength combined they continued to be slaughtered upon the dark and dead battlefiel
d.
There was one figure that continued to stand out throughout the entirety of the battle. A young man lead all the forces as he rode on top of a phoenix that was a tall and big as a dragon.
Carter was inspired as he looked upon the man on top of the bird red feathers. He showed no fear or remorse. Only strength and courage.
“Malvis!” Carter heard a man yell towards the leader.
He looked around and saw it that was a man dressed and reflected much of what Gordon looked like. He was a Greybeard but a young man who could not be over the age of twenty.
“He’s coming!” the Greybeard pointed out towards the hill in front of them.
Carter turned towards the hill and saw the creatures he always saw charge down from the hill side and towards the young phoenix rider and all the forces of the living. But this time it was not only these creatures but he saw all the creatures of darkness he had heard from legends. There were giants, minotaur, cyclops, wights, and more.
He examined the battlefield and looked upon the millions of soldiers that had gathered to fight off against these monsters, but in the end, they were still out numbered by these creatures drastically.
“Hold the line,” the phoenix rider ordered. “Fire our siege weapons.”
Carter’s dream changed and now he was in the middle of the battle as he looked up towards the sky filled with fire reigning down from the siege weapons from both sides of the battle. The young rider reigned fire down upon the monsters from atop on his phoenix but their forces was still too many.
Then the earth began to violently shake as Carter tried to keep his balance with much difficulty. He looked up towards the mountains and saw something he wish he could of unseen instantly.
A giant fiery figure emerged from the top of the mountain as it had escaped from within the mountain itself. The figure looked much like that of the creatures he had always dreamt of but had to be at least ten times bigger. It was bigger than any giant on the battle as it invoked fear in all those who laid its eyes upon him.
The last thing Carter noticed was the young man on his phoenix flying towards the monster with sword in hand. There was no way for him to survive but he kept flying anyways and then the next thing he saw was the monster screaming violently as his cried echoed throughout the battlefield.
Carter looked more closely and noticed the rider had stabbed the monster directly in the chest as his sword held in the monster’s body. The monster swung violently as it struggled to keep itself standing.
Carter frantically began to search the sky and battlefield for the young rider but he was nowhere to be seen. Him, nor his phoenix, could be spotted. He was gone. Devoured by the great beast that now struggled to keep itself on top the mountain.
The monster continued to screech and without warning the entire scene was blinded but a bright white light and next thing Carter knew was his dream had now vanished.
This was something he had never experienced before. Usually his dreams were only brief glimpses or visions of places or the dark creatures, but none had produced a full scene and account.
What did this mean? What were they trying to tell him?
He had so many questions already. Now this dream only created more questions and still had no answers.
When was this battle?
All Carter knew is he had never had a dream that had felt to real before. But now he was more scared and afraid as ever.
“Carter,” a voice called out in the far distance.
His vision slowly changed and now noticed Gordon was above him as he slightly shook him as he tried to wake him up.
“Carter.”
“I’m up,” he groaned to the Greybeard.
“Is everything okay? You were moaning during your sleep.”
“It’s nothing,” Carter quickly dismissed as he assured to Greybeard it was nothing to worry about. “Just a dream. That’s all.”
“Good,” he smiled down upon the boy. “It’s best we get going. First light is almost here.”
Carter struggled to get up, but once he did, he noticed everyone was already up and about getting their belongings together as they prepared for their final day’s journey.
“Exciting day, boy,” Gibson approached him. “We’ll get to Olympia today. Shouldn’t even have to be a full day worth of travel either.”
“That’s good news,” Carter replied. “I’m getting pretty sick of traveling on horse.”
“You could ride on one of the griffins,” Gordon suggested. “I bet they’ll even fly for you.”
“I don’t think I’m ready for that quite yet,” he objected. “Plus, I prefer having my two feet here on the ground.”
Gordon laughed, “if you say so.”
The group proceeded to leave Gobber’s Bar and Inn as quietly as they could as they did not wish to run into anyone on their way out.
Gobber was already up cleaning his bar from the previous night’s festivities.
“Good luck, boy,” the dwarf reached out and grabbed his hand. “You have a tough road ahead of you. But you got the right people with you to do some good.”
“Thanks,” Carter said as he reached out his hand. “And thanks for the room.”
“You bet ya,” Gobber smirked. “If you ever run into some trouble up North reach out to my people in Thorne. They’ll help you.”
Carter nodded and the group left Gobber’s Bar and Inn behind. Once they had gathered their horses, and met up with the griffins outside the city, they were on the road again. This time they were being accompanied by three large beasts instead.
During the trip, Carter had caught up with Gordon and asked him about Thorne. The place Gobber had mentioned earlier.
Gordon went on to explain how Thorne was the birthplace and Kingdom of the Dwarves of Terran. There were a few dwarves scattered about Terran, but the majority of them lived together in their city built within the valleys of the snowy mountain up north.
“Do you thing they would fight for me?” Carter asked.
“Hard to say,” Gordon answered reluctantly.
Ever since Carter had left Andros all he could thing about is how he was going to go back and help Emma was the Troja invasion that was bound to happen if it had not already. He was no warrior or leader but he wanted to help her especially after everything she had done for him. She was fighting a war to defend his name and show the world that she believed in him and was at his side.
But how was he going to help? He had no army to help and fight against Luther and his forces. And the longer he took the more likely Andros would fall.
“Who will then fight for me?” Carter continued on. “Who will follow me because the longer I take the more people that are going to die in Andros.”
“Emma may be young but she is stronger than you give her credit for,” Gordon advised. “The people of Andros are bred to fight. They can hold their ground. Something Luther has underestimated them for.”
“But I have to do something,” Carter continued protesting.
“And we will,” the Greybeard reminded him. “There are many people who will join you. For example, the Greybeards. But we are no army. The people will present themselves to you and when the time is right you’ll know. For now it is important to focus on why we are here.”
“The phoenix egg?”
“Exactly,” Gordon answered sternly.
“How do you know it’s here?” Carter asked. “Are you even sure?”
“I am,” he answered straightly. “Last time I was here I had my suspicions so I went out to investigate before I left the city. I found it.”
“Why didn’t you take it then?”
“I have no right,” Gordon explained. “You are the only one that has sole right to that egg and only with you will that egg hatch.”
Carter then went on to remember his dream from that night. The young man he saw who flew upon his fully grown phoenix across the battlefield and at the fiery monster that lead to his death.
He must hav
e been a previous Phoenix King, Carter began to think. But when was all this?
Carter decided it was probably best that he told Gordon about his night’s dream. There was a chance that he might be able to make sense out of it unlike him. But before he could he was interrupted.
“We’re here,” Gordon announced to the group.
The group slowly came over the hill and the city elegantly came into view.
Carter was stunned and was speechless for words. The city was massive but beautiful at the same time. The outer walls were enormous as they reached high into the sky. Carter was curious if anyone had tried to scale those walls.
From the top of the hill, Carter noticed immediately the hill and massive palace on top in the very center of the city. It was one of the most beautiful structures he had ever seen.
“The Olympian Keep,” Gordon pointed out as he saw Carter’s eyes looking upon the hill. “Home to the Phoenix King and the royal line. At least it used to be.”
“This city must hold hundreds of thousands of people,” Magnus commented.
“A couple million actually,” the Greybeard corrected.
“Damn,” Anna mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
“It never gets old,” Gordon smiled at the city. “Come on. We best get going.”
Everyone followed Gordon’s lead as they rushed their horses to the front gate of the city. The griffins followed this time as Gordon assured them that the city was so big and busy that no one would notice or pay attention to them.
As he rode closer to the city, Carter began to notice that massive statues that stood across the wall. Most of them were men but noticed some women. He later realized that all the women statues actually pictured the same woman.
Some of them held swords pointed down while others held their hands out with welcome arms. He had never seen any of these figures before but there was something familiar about all of them. A strange connection Carter had with all of them but could not explain.
“The Kings and Queen of Old,” Gordon explained he he lead on the group. “The Phoenix Kings and Queen.”