Mend the Flesh (The Phoenix Series Book 3)

by Sarah Rockwood

  "Who here can tell me what is happening right now in the throne room?" I asked the group.

  "I can, my lady." A large minion stepped forward, well by minion standards he was large. He had a good fifteen to twenty pounds on Sid and was at least three inches taller. A massive minion.

  "What is your name?"

  "I am called Thunk."

  "Fitting. What can you tell me, Thunk?"

  "There have been skirmishes. Two distinct factions are vying for leader. They are both quite bloodthirsty."

  "So I must defeat them both," I said. It was not a question.

  "You have already defeated one, my lady."

  "You?" I raised my eyebrows. "You led one of the factions?"

  "I did."

  "And you no longer oppose me?"

  "No, I do not."

  "And now you welcome my leadership?"

  "Oh, no, my lady. I despise you." He said the words calmly, with only a hint of malice behind his eyes. "You are not one of us, and you never will be. But you have bested me. And you did it very easily. I must carry that shame and acquiesce to your superiority." He bowed deeply. "You are our leader." The 'for now' hung silently in the passageway.

  "Glad you've come to your senses." I addressed the group at large. "I will need your assistance to retake the throne, but we will do it without violence." I could feel their silent protest. "There will be no violence! Things here have been twisted and dark for too long. It is time for free air to move through these caves."

  I turned back to the passage, stretching out my arms and my wings as wide as they would go. I breathed in deeply and my lungs filled with the stink of sweat and blood and fear. My heart ached with it and the orb of power that lived deep in my body throbbed in anger and sadness. This was not a world for me. But it was not a world I would turn from. These creatures, these minions, would be offered my protection; I would coat the walls of this place with my power until every last one of them were purged of the darkness that swirled here.

  I breathed this in and when I exhaled a stream of power burst from my mouth like a gale. My power blew down the passage before me, and I followed it, moving down the hall with my arms and wings stretched to brace myself against the strength of power that sprang from my body.

  I rounded a corner and saw the entrance to the throne room. I inhaled again, and my power pulled back and then doubled down as I exhaled. The strong wind swirled through the entrance with me right behind it, my entourage at my back. I was vaguely aware of Spin's hand clinging to my hip as I walked. I closed my mouth and watched as my power moved through the massive room. There were minions everywhere. It looked much like it did the last time I was in this place. There were even people back on the racks that hung from the walls. Instinctually I gestured towards them, and their shackles opened. They slid gently down the walls, cradled by my power. The wind ripped through the room picking up the most violent minions and pinning them to the walls.

  The throne was before me. A minion clung to it as a swirling column of my power pulled at him. I took the few steps up to the throne in a single stride, my wings, for the first time in weeks, flapping to boost my ascent. I stepped right up to the creature. His little fingers were digging into the filthy arms of the throne. I looked at him, and his eyes widened. I bent down and blew a slow stream of power onto his hands. His fingers turned icy blue as his hands slipped from the throne. He flew across the room and was pinned against the wall with his brethren.

  I turned to the room. My entourage spread out around me. Archer moved to stand just behind the throne; Sid found a place on the steps, the minions from the tunnel fanned out on the floor before me. Spin stood close to me, his hand resting on the throne itself. Some of the remaining minions crouched on the ground, holding wounded limbs and cowering. Others stared from their place on the walls, a look of anger and awe on their faces.

  I took my seat on the throne.

  "I have returned to claim my place as your leader." I scanned the crowd. "I offer you no violence and promise you no oppression. I am here to change things. I am here to make sure the weak are cared for, and the strong are generous. I am here to stop the pain and scrub the darkness from these walls."

  "And we welcome you, my lady." A minion who was crouching on the floor, but unhurt, had spoken.

  "I remember you."

  "Yes, my lady." He stood. "I knew you would return."

  It was Gentip, the one who had helped me take charge of things after I had beheaded Ganaraj.

  "I see things here have gotten a bit out of hand."

  "Yes, my lady." He stepped forward. "There has been great unrest these past few weeks, but now that you are back we can breathe easy again."

  "Traitor!" A voice screamed from the wall. "How dare you side with this bird! She is not one of us!"

  "Silence!" Gentip yelled. "You show some respect!"

  The yelling minion spat a huge chunk of phlegm in my direction. I mean really huge. Disgusting, but impressive.

  "There's your respect."

  "Bastard!" Gentip cried, he moved to run at the wall minion.

  "Enough!" My voice filled the room. "Enough. Thank you, Gentip, but we will have no more violence."

  "Yes, my lady." He stepped back. "But what will we do with him and his conspirators?"

  "Give me a second." I gestured to Sid, Spin and Archer, they huddled close. "Guys, what should we do with them?"

  "Kill them." Archer could always be counted on for the pragmatic response.

  "No, Archer."

  "You could put them in the jails," Spin offered.

  "You guys have jails?" I asked.

  "Oh, yes," Sid said. "They are built much deeper in the rock."

  "Are they big enough to hold all these guys?"

  "Definitely. They're huge," Spin said.

  "Okay, but then what?" I asked the men.

  "Then what, what?" Archer asked.

  "Then what do we do with them?" They all stared at me. "No one has any ideas?" More stares. "Okay, we'll put them in the jails for now." I rubbed my now beginning-to-throb head.

  "Your hair's grown again," Spin whispered.

  "Right." I sat forward in my chair, and the boys fell back. "All those against me will be placed in the jails." There was a bit of murmuring from the group. "We will care for them, they will have food, water and bedding. And if the jails are currently disgusting, then they must be cleaned first."

  "You're too soft to handle us, bird!" Wall minion yelled.

  "Gentip, you are in charge." I pointed to wall minion. "Take him first."

  "Yes, Ma'am," Gentip said.

  I pulled my hood up and sank back into the throne.

  20

  Getting all the opposing minions down to the jails took a while. It was also super uncomfortable to watch. Each one of them had their own special way of making it difficult for the minions on my side to grab them and take them away. Some went limp, others just let rip long streams of expletives; including quite a few I hadn't heard before and took note of for future use. Mr Wall minion stayed in his wheelhouse and hocked wads of phlegm at everyone from the moment they peeled him off the wall to the moment they locked him in his cell. The minions' flaky skin mixed with the phlegm to form a kind of paste that took two additional minions and a damp cloth to remove. I gagged hard a few times while they were cleaning it off. Not very leader-ish, but it was truly disgusting.

  By the time all those who opposed my rule had been deposited in the cells the minions were toast, and I was emotionally exhausted. Spin took my hand and spoke to me quietly.

  "My lady," He asked. "Do you know some people who could help you with all this?"

  "Hmmm?" I wasn't quite in a sentence forming state of mind.

  "Do you know some other Travellers who could advise you and work with you to manage all of this? Gentip can handle things here for you, but if you are going to join the Guard, you will need a council to help you navigate what is happening."

  "Spin makes a g
ood point." Archer's voice was clear and cold. Evidently, the dragging of various secreting minions down to the cells had not fazed him. "What about the siren and misshapen man that were with you in the Circle?"

  "The man is called Benyst," Sid said as he drew closer, his voice low. "He is a powerful creature. He would be a great asset. And the siren is called Noiryn, she is not as powerful, but she is loyal."

  "Noiryn is more powerful than she lets on," I said. "She saved me in the forest after Baba Yaga attacked." I didn't tell them about the vision I had of Noiryn pulling me from the ocean when I had tried to kill myself. I hadn't even discussed that with her. Maybe it was time I did.

  "This is a good idea," I said to the men. "Spin, you're right. I could use more firepower going into this meeting, especially as Archer can't stand with us."

  "He can't?" Sid asked, but there was a hint of contempt there.

  "It will be better for Phoenix if the Guard is unaware of our friendship at this time."

  "Oh," Spin said. Sid was silent.

  "Archer's right." I was hurt by the F word, but I understood why he used it. "It will call into question some of my earlier activities, and I so do not need that right now." I stood up. "Gentip?" I called, he was giving instructions to a group of minions, "can you come here, please?"

  "Of course, my lady." He dropped to hands and feet and was beside me in seconds. "How may I be of service?"

  "For starters, just call me Phoenix." His eyes widened. "Seriously. The 'my lady' stuff is starting to feel a bit suffocating." I turned to Sid and Spin. "That goes for you two as well. I think after today the Names will have Travelled all over the place."

  "Indeed," Sid said. I turned back to Gentip.

  "I need to get out of here for a little while, well, maybe a long while. I have a couple people to see, and then I have to go visit the Guard."

  "And take your rightful place as our leader," he said proudly.

  "Well, I'm not sure it'll be as easy that, but hope is free." Archer snorted, I shot him a look. "I'm trying to sound like a leader over here." I turned back to Gentip. "So, I will be leaving you in charge while I'm gone. Are you okay with that?"

  "Of course, my.." He gulped. "Phoenix." He said the word slowly like it might hurt his tongue. "I would be happy to lead in your absence."

  "Good, now we need a way for you to get in touch with me if things get crazy here. Archer? Any ideas on that?"

  "There is the Call." I waited for him to continue, but he said nothing.

  "And how does one do the Call?" I will not get annoyed. I will not get annoyed. I will not...

  "You do not know?" he asked.

  I counted to a million, okay, three.

  "No, I don't. I'm coming from the human world, remember?"

  "Oh yes, sorry." He stepped forward. "Each of you, give me a hand."

  "You're not going to explain it?" I asked.

  "It will be faster if I just do it," he said.

  "Right." I gave him my hand; Archer looked at the shredded bits of glove and frowned. "Just rip it off," I said. He did, exposing more of my weird shiny hand. Gentip coughed out a small shocked sound, but quickly recovered and placed his little flaky hand into Archer's open silver palm.

  Archer took our two hands and pressed the palms together. He held them tightly with one hand and then before I could protest, quickly drew a rib from his torso and drove it through both our hands. Gentip and I screamed and tried to pull away, but Archer held us fast. The rib bone began to vibrate, and Archer started to whisper as short, sharp currents of power shot from the bone and through our palms. I could feel Gentip's pulse against my hand, and I was sure he could feel mine. Our heart beats raced each other, who would be faster, who would control the pulse.

  "Be in your power, Phoenix," Archer said. "You are the leader."

  I took his words to heart. Literally. I told my heart to be calm, to relax, I told Gentip's heart to follow mine, to let me lead. It took a few deep breaths, but soon our hearts were beating in unison. When we had both steadied our breathing, the bone began to wiggle, not the tight vibration it had been doing, wiggle, like it was trying to work free of our hands. Archer reached out and took the tip of his rib between his fingers and with a quiet word, pulled it free. It was back inside his torso before Gentip's, and my hand had separated.

  "What the hell was that?" I asked, holding my hand to my chest.

  "You are welcome," Archer said. "You can now contact Gentip whenever you need to, and he can do the same," He stared hard at Gentip. "But only when it is absolutely necessary."

  "Yes, sir," Gentip said.

  "You just shoved a freaking bone through our hands!"

  "Yes, that is how it works."

  "You're supposed to tell people what's happening before you make a great big hole in their hands!"

  "Your hands are fine."

  I looked down at my hand. It was fine. There wasn't even a mark where the bone had gone through.

  "Are you okay, Gentip?"

  "Yes, Phoenix."

  "Then I guess we'd better get going." I stepped off the dais and headed out of the throne room. "My life is so weird," I said to no one in particular.

  21

  It was night when we arrived at Benyst's house, I couldn't remember a time when I'd seen daylight here. We landed in the circle of grass, the stars a beautiful glowing blanket above us. I loved this place. This was where I had reattached my first wing and made my first attempts at flight. It hadn't amounted to more than a few big hops, but it had been way cool.

  I took in the circle of torches, the lush grass beneath my feet, so out of place in this jungle hideaway. For Benyst did indeed live in the heart of the jungle. A large clearing that was only accessible via the circle we were now standing in or the dangerous path I had first taken oh so long ago.

  "You guys wait here," I said to the others.

  "I will come with you," Sid said.

  "No, you will wait here."

  "Benyst and I have been friends a long time. In fact," Sid stared at me hard, "It was I who introduced you."

  "If by introduced you mean that you instructed Noiryn to drop me off on his doorstep, then yes, you did that. But he and I have our own history now, and I need to speak to him alone first."

  "I disagree."

  "Damn it, Sid, am I going to have to pull rank here?"

  "No, my lady." He bowed sarcastically at me. I didn't even know it was possible and was honestly a little impressed.

  "Wow."

  I turned on my heel and walked away. I would have liked to have said something to Archer, but I was too angry at Sid. He seemed to swing pretty sharply from friend to adversary these days. These days? We reconnected forty-eight hours ago. Maybe I was expecting too much, and maybe I hadn't let go of the past as well as I thought I had.

  Fortunately, the distance from the circle to Benyst's home was long enough that I could breathe out all the Sid drama and focus on the possible impending Benyst drama. Since he and Noiryn had hooked up, the growths on his face and body had receded to reveal a very handsome, Gaston-like man with hair that would make Fabio jealous. The last time I'd seen Benyst I'd made a pretty huge, but impromptu, pass at him. In my defence, he looked ridiculously good and was lying on top of me at the time. Long story.

  I was a bit preoccupied as I rounded the corner of Benyst's hut and was caught off guard by the large pool that now lay before it. Pool is the wrong word. It was a beautiful lagoon, so black you couldn't see the bottom and a surface so still the stars reflected in it sparkled. The edges were framed with smooth rocks, some large enough for Noiryn to stretch out on. There was no mistaking it; this was a pool for Noiryn. This was a little bit of sanctuary for her here in the jungle. It warmed my heart.

  "I thought I heard something." A smooth deep voice filled the air.

  "Benyst," I said with a smile as I turned to face him.

  He looked just as good as he had before, maybe even a little better. His shoulders were broad an
d heavy with muscle. His arms were thick and defined, and his narrow waist led to strong legs. His hair was just as long and golden and his face just as handsome, his eyes just as blue.

  "You look beautiful," I said.

  "You look like shit." Straight to the point, that was Benyst.

  "Yes, I do."

  "What happened?"

  "Is Noiryn here?"

  "Nope."

  "Can you call her? I'd like to tell you both everything at once."

  "Alright."

  He stepped forward to the edge of the lagoon and stretched his big ropy arms in front of him. I could feel his power coming to life, and soon it was emanating from him in waves. Those waves hit the surface of the water, and it began to swirl, taking the sparkle of the stars with it and turning into a twisting vortex of darkness and shine. When the vortex had reached a steady rhythm, Benyst dropped his arms and stepped back from the edge of the pool. The water continued to spin as we stood side by side.

  "She'll be here soon. She was worried about you."

  "She's the best." A heavy pause. "I'm sorry about..."

  "Not necessary." He cut me off. "I reckon we both were at fault there. It's already forgotten."

  "Thank you. You didn't tell Noiryn did you?"

  "Of course not! I'm not stupid, well, not all the time." He winked at me, and it was the pure affection of the man I had met all those weeks ago, no heat, just care.

  "Right." I smiled. It pulled the skin of my face a little too tightly and now that Benyst was close enough for a good look his eyes widened.

  "Damn," he whispered.

  Suddenly the water before us began to draw in on itself, forming a large spout of water. The din from the rushing water was intense, and I thought of Archer waiting back at the circle of torches. He was probably doing everything he could to restrain himself from running over here. I glanced over my shoulder expecting to see him rounding the bend. When I looked back, Noiryn was leaping through the air towards me. I had just enough time to brace myself before her soaking wet arms were wrapped around me.