The Phoenix

by J R Stone

  “Well, we’ll only know if the story is true if we go after the stone. That would give Sarah a new purpose and it would, for sure, spare thousands of lives, for she would not be focused on wars for territory anymore.”

  “Why don’t you tell her the story yourself?”

  “I can do that, but I thought that maybe you would like to do it yourself.”

  Seth didn’t look at Adam. “I’ll do it,” he said. It would be better if he was the one to reveal the possible existence of the stone. He was not sure how Sarah would react, and he wanted to be around if she needed him.

  It took them a couple of days to get back to Gannan. When they entered the city, fear took over the dwellers, which only made it harder for Seth and the others to control themselves.

  “No feeding in Gannan,” Seth commanded.

  Darius was about to protest, but Enoch held him back. “We don’t want to start a fight amongst ourselves,” Enoch whispered.

  “We mercilessly killed every single person in Totkan. People we had known our entire lives. Why are we sparing people we don’t know?” asked Darius between his teeth.

  Enoch was about to answer when Victor interrupted him. “You can ask Sarah that. Meanwhile, you follow orders,” he said severely. If there was something Victor had always hated was insubordination.

  Aware of Victor’s lack of tolerance towards disobedience, Darius didn’t say another word. He took a deep breath instead. Along with Seth, Victor was the only friend he still had, and he didn’t want to get into a fight with either of them.

  When they arrived in Gannan, Seth expected to see Sarah in the main hall, but she was not there. Maybe she was not as eager to see them as he thought she would be. He considered asking the soldiers where she was, but quickly changed his mind. Sarah’s whereabouts were none of their business.

  Without saying a word to the other knights, Seth walked over to Sarah’s bedroom. The huge wooden door was closed. For the first time, Seth paid attention to the engravings on it. They depicted a fight between a warrior and a monster. There were some animals near the warrior. They fought by his side against the evil creature. Curious to know how the story ended, Seth searched for the last engraving, but it had been scratched and was no longer visible. The door suddenly opened, startling Seth, who had been completely absorbed in the story.

  “They got the ending wrong,” said Sarah calmly. “We don’t want future generations to think they can defeat dark creatures like us. They can’t.”

  Seth was going to disagree, but that seemed pointless. Sarah would probably end up burning Gannan down as she had done to Totkan. No future generation would see any of those engravings.

  “Zuvia?” she asked curiously.

  “It no longer exists.”

  “That’s good news. Have you fed?”

  “Yes. Have you?”

  “Of course. This filthy city is full of murderers, rapists, thieves. A feast!” She smiled. “I doubt you came here to ask me that, though.”

  “May I come in?” Seeing her hesitation, he added. “I just need to talk to you. I’ll keep my distance.”

  Sarah stared at him for a second before walking back into her room. As she had not opposed his presence, he followed her. She walked to the window and kept her eyes on the landscape around the city. The least she looked at Seth, the better.

  “Adam said that there is a stone that is a portal to the other side,” he said cautiously, afraid of how she would react to that new piece of information.

  She turned around to look at him. “Excuse me?”

  “The stone allows a living person to go to the other side and come back with someone who no longer belongs to this world.”

  Sarah’s expression immediately changed from confusion to hope and excitement. “Where can we find it?”

  “He doesn’t know.” Even though he believed he was doing the right thing, Seth could not stop extreme sadness from taking over his heart. He felt guilty for the part of him that envied Tzeel’s having Sarah’s love. He did want to have his brother’s back, though, and he was willing to help her find the stone.

  “Tell Adam to come see me, please.”

  Sarah watched Seth nod and leave. Her heart was racing, her hands were shaking. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths trying to calm herself down. Not even once had she questioned herself if there was a way of bringing Tzeel back. She had focused on her immortality and on how she could get rid of it, which she couldn’t. But the words that came out of Seth’s mouth had turned the darkness in her heart into a glimmer of hope. When Adam knocked on the door, Sarah had to refrain from running to open it.

  “Come in,” she said.

  “Did you want to see me?”

  “Yes. Seth told me about the stone. Who told you about it?” she asked.

  “My parents. A lot of wizards have heard stories about it, but I haven’t met anyone who has actually seen it,” he said calmly. Adam wanted to change Sarah’s focus from exterminating entire cities to searching for salvation. However, lying was not part of his plans. The truth was that he could not guarantee the existence of such a stone.

  “I see,” she murmured. “Suppose the stone is real and we find it. Can I go get Tzeel?”

  “Theoretically, no. The legend says that only a living being can cross to the other side. We watched you die.” Adam kept his eyes fixed on Sarah’s. He didn’t want his words to hurt her, but he believed that it was crucial that they were honest with each other.

  “Do you think Seth can go?”

  “I don’t know. But I don’t think that should be our main concern.”

  Sarah was intrigued. She wondered what could be more worrisome than the possibility that none of them could go to the other side to look for Tzeel.

  “You burned Tzeel’s body,” he stated. “His soul needs a body.”

  Sarah looked away. She had indeed burned Tzeel’s corpse. It had never crossed her mind that she could need it. “Can’t we use someone else’s?”

  “For that, we would need a very powerful spell.” He gave a step forward before he continued, “In the absence of the soul’s original body, a replacement can be found within the same bloodline.”

  Sarah felt her blood freeze. Her knees weakened. “There is no one,” she mumbled, “No one, but Seth.”

  “Would you do it?” Adam stared at her.

  Sarah looked at him viciously. “How dare you?”

  The fear Adam felt did not stop him from confronting her. “If it came to it, would you do it?”

  Sarah could feel warm tears running down her face. She had no answer to that question. “There must be another way.”

  “Maybe. Kings are known to be unfaithful. Their father may have had other children.”

  “And how am I going to find them?” she asked in desperation.

  “We can start by talking with Seth, Darius, Victor and Enoch. Maybe they know something.”

  Sarah walked to the window. “I need some time alone.” Not only would she have to find a stone Adam was not even sure was real, but she would also have to find a bastard child – or sacrifice Seth – so that she could have Tzeel back. How would she live knowing that she had condemned Seth to spend eternity roaming the world without a body, without being seen, touched or heard? She buried her head in her hands and cried.

  A few hours had gone by before Sarah left her room. The night was chilly and the palace was completely silent. She went straight to Enoch’s room. He had been the royal family doctor for some time. So, if the King had had a bastard son, Enoch might know about it.

  She stared at his door for several minutes. She knew he blamed her for what had happened to him, and hate could be an obstacle to getting him to talk. However, since she had nothing else to lose, she knocked.

  “May I come in?” she asked sweetly.

  “Yes,” he replied harshly.

  When she walked in, Enoch was standing in the middle of the small, simple room he had chosen to be his. Sarah was surprise
d to see that there were only two pieces of furniture in Enoch’s bedroom: a bed and a chair. Unlike her room, his room had dark walls and smelled foul.

  “Why have you chosen this room?” she asked curiously, but he remained silent. She realized that he would not answer any questions she asked. So, she decided not to avoid the elephant in the room. “Enoch, have I let you down? Before the curse, had I ever disappointed you? Had I hurt you in any way?” Even though he didn’t answer, Sarah noticed a slight change in his expression. She continued, “Do you think I chose to have the love of my life taken away from me right before my eyes? Or that I chose to have the child of that love murdered in my womb? Or that I ever wanted to be immortal and never again be with the ones I love? Is that what you think?”

  Enoch looked down; he couldn’t face her. He felt ashamed for having been selfish and unfair.

  She walked over to him. “Look at me, Enoch.” As he obeyed, she continued, “I’ve never wanted any of this and there isn’t a single second I don’t wish things were different. I hope one day we find a way out of this.”

  “How can I help you?” he asked calmly.

  “Did Tzeel’s father have any other children?”

  Enoch frowned. That was not a question he would expect to be asked. “Why… I… Yes.”

  Sarah’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes?”

  “Yes. He had a son with a woman from Zahora.”

  “Zahora? Where is that?” she asked excitedly.

  “Several miles away from here. Why?” Enoch could no longer hide his curiosity.

  Sarah ignored his question. “Do you know who the woman is?”

  “I don’t remember her first name, but I do remember her last. It was quite different from the names we have here.”

  Sarah expected him to continue, but he didn’t. She knew why. “Adam said there is a stone that can open a portal to the other side. The portal allows a soul to come back to the world of the living. As we no longer have Tzeel’s body, I need to provide him with one. It has to be someone from the same bloodline.”

  “So, we are going to kill Tzeel’s brother.” A few months ago, Enoch would have felt horrible at the thought of murdering someone, but not anymore. After all the lives he had taken with his bare hands, he could not judge Sarah for choosing to kill Tzeel’s brother. He would not be a hypocrite.

  “Only when we find the stone.” She smiled. “I’m relieved to know Tzeel has another brother. We’ll go looking for him when we find the stone.”

  “We should do it now,” said Enoch firmly.

  “He has no use for us now.”

  “I know. But he has no use for us if he’s dead – and people die too easily. We can keep him here under our watch so that we make sure he is alive and well.”

  Sarah nodded. Enoch was right; she could not take any chances. “What was her last name?”

  “Gilligan.”

  “That’s an unusual family name. I think I’ve never heard anything like it before.”

  “Yes, but that’s good for us. It will make it easier to find them. How many Gilligans are there in these lands?”

  “I doubt there are any Gilligans other than them.”

  “Exactly.”

  “How far is Zahora?”

  “A seven-day journey.”

  “We will leave in the morning,” she said firmly.

  “We could leave now,” he suggested. It seemed pointless to waste time.

  “No, I need to do a few things first. We will leave at sunrise.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, my friend.”

  “I apologize for the way I behaved, Sarah. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.”

  “Thank you for saying that. Hopefully, we will have better days.” She gave him a sweet smile and left his room.

  Sarah went to Seth’s room, but he was not there. Not far from his bedroom door, there was a soldier guarding another door. Sarah found that rather strange since none of her knights were staying in that room. She walked over to the soldier.

  “What are you doing here, soldier?” she asked threateningly.

  “General Seth asked me to guard the room.”

  “Step aside.” The soldier immediately obeyed. Sarah was about to open the door when she heard a very low moan. She gave a step back and looked at the soldier. “Walk in and tell General Seth to meet me in my room now,” she said between her teeth.

  A strong wind invaded the room, and before the soldier walked in, Seth already knew Sarah had been there. She was angry; jealous, perhaps.

  When the soldier walked in, an unconscious woman was lying on the bed. He was intrigued to see that she was dressed and so was Seth.

  “The Queen wants to see you, General.”

  Seth walked over to Sarah’s room. A smile played at the corner of his mouth. For a fraction of a second, he wished Sarah would fail to bring Tzeel back. He sent that thought away. He wanted her to be his because she loved him, and not because she couldn’t be with Tzeel.

  Sarah had left her door to her room open. She tried to conceal her anger, but Seth could clearly see that she was mad. Seth smiled. Little did she know that feeding was all he had done.

  Sarah was displeased with his behavior. The smile playing on his lips was driving her crazy. She doubted he would be smiling after she told him what she had discovered.

  “You have another brother,” she revealed. “Your father had a son with a woman from Zahora.” Sarah was glad to see the change in Seth’s expression. The smile was gone. A severe look darkened his face.

  “Who told you that?” he asked, unsure of whether he believed or doubted the veracity of that information.

  “Enoch,” she answered bluntly. “That’s good news, though.”

  “And why is that?” he asked sharply.

  Sarah hadn’t foreseen that reaction. “Why are you so upset?”

  “Are you done?” Seth kept his eyes fixed on Sarah’s. That was a conversation he was not willing to have, not with her, not with anyone else. His father’s disrespect for his mother was outrageous, and he despised him for that.

  Sarah was shocked and confused. She was not used to being treated like that by Seth. “No, I’m not.”

  “Finish, then.”

  “If we find the stone, and we are able to bring Tzeel back, we will need a body for his soul.”

  Before Sarah could continue, Seth’s eyes changed to silver exposing all his rage. “Tzeel will not possess the body of a bastard!”

  Sarah had to bite her tongue not to tell Seth that Tzeel himself was an illegitimate child. “Seth, there is no other way.”

  “Can’t we use anyone else?” he asked in a loud voice.

  “It has to be someone from the same bloodline,” she explained, but Seth didn’t seem any calmer.

  “I’ll do it,” he said impetuously.

  Sarah walked over to him. “Seth, please! It cannot be you!”

  “Why? Why do you care? You will have him back. Isn’t that the only concern you have? Isn’t that the only thing you want? No, it isn’t,” he said cruelly. “You also want me, but you lack the courage to accept that. In the end, it will be like a bonus for you. You’ll get him back and whenever you kiss him, touch him, make love to him, you will be kissing, touching and having sex with me.”

  Sarah couldn’t control herself. Her eyes filled with tears. She hadn’t thought of any of that. “That would be torture,” she murmured.

  He got closer to her and caressed her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “Please, Seth, we need your other brother.”

  “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” He turned his back at her and walked towards the door. “Let me know when you are ready to go,” he said before leaving her room.

  XIII

  Before sunrise, Sarah and her knights were ready to leave Gannan.

  “Are you sure one of us shouldn’t stay to make sure these people don’t run away?” asked Amrath. He enjoyed having a pla
ce to call home, and Gannan was a place he had learned to like.

  “We can always conquer other cities, my friend. Besides that, I doubt these people are going anywhere. They are safe here. We have destroyed Zuvia, one of their greatest enemies, and soon we will defeat their other enemy. Why would they leave?”

  “Because they fear us.”

  “One more reason to stay. They don’t want to make us mad. There is nowhere to hide, and they know that. Wherever they go, we will find them. Now, it’s time to go.”

  They trotted their way out of Gannan. Enoch led the group. According to him, it would take them about seven days to arrive in Zahora. Sarah wondered what those days would be like. The first time they had traveled together, they were struggling to deal with what they had become. They were also learning how to deal with their hunger. At that time, things were different. They had accepted their fate, some of them, completely; others, partially. Either way, they were more mature now, and Sarah didn’t know how they would behave during their journey.

  After a few hours, Sarah was bothered that no one had said a word. There was no way they would travel for seven days without talking. That was not what she wanted. If they were going to spend eternity together, she wanted to know more about them.

  “Adam, Vincent, why don’t you tell us a little about yourselves? We know almost nothing about your story before Totkan,” she said nicely.

  Vincent gave her a broad smile. “Finally, we’re having a conversation! I thought we were going to travel in total silence,” he winked at her.

  Sarah couldn’t help giggling. She liked the fact that Vincent did not fear her.

  “My brother and I come from a family of wizards and witches. So, we learned magic before we learned how to walk,” said Vincent.

  “Oh, come on,” Adam smiled. “That’s a bit of exaggeration.”

  “A bit?” asked Darius, jokingly.

  Sarah was glad about the playful tone the conversation had taken. She smiled.

  “Well, maybe we learned both at the same time,” Vincent explained. “Unfortunately, my brother and I made some bad choices. Probably because, well, our family was not a very good role model. They were a bit corrupt.”