Rise of the Firebird

by Amy K Kuivalainen

  Aramis scooped Anya up and they started to move. Kullervo was half carrying Yvan as he struggled to stand up right. They’d barely made it twenty metres before the creatures surrounded them.

  “Let go,” Yvan said and pushed Kullervo towards Aramis. “Stand still and protect the body.”

  “Yvan, don’t sacrifice yourself, not after she saved you,” Eldon demanded.

  Yvan ignored him and let the firebird rage out of him. The demons halted their attack when the firebird cried out. Then it was on them, a bird stretched to the size of man. It clawed them apart before fanning a white blaze that scorched the skin from the bones. When he saw that his companions were safe, he soared high in the sky.

  Beneath him, the demons had surrounded Mychal who was tearing them apart faster than anything human could. The firebird plummeted towards the earth, picking them up and shredding them in its talons. It felt Yvan’s pain and its own anger at Anya’s death. It swooped, slaughtered and burned until only Mychal remained.

  It flew back to where Kullervo, Eldon and Aramis had carried Anya’s body out of the scorched land and onto a bed of pine needles deeper into the forest. As the firebird descended, it shrank to its normal size. Aramis and the others moved away as it landed on top of Anya’s corpse.

  “Shouldn’t we shoo it away or something?” Kullervo asked as he wiped the tears off his face with the back of his hand.

  The firebird ignored him and it look inquisitively down at her. It started to sing a song of mourning and Aramis sat down on the ground next to Kullervo and Eldon, weeping like a broken child.

  The firebird stretched its wings out down over her shoulders and arms so it was lying chest to chest with her. Its song changed to a spell and it let its ancient power sink into her. The firebird had been dead many times and it knew its way back to life.

  Voskresheniye, the firebird commanded.

  ***

  Mychal came back to himself standing on top of the broken bodies of men and demons. He stumbled backwards out of the butchered mess as it started to burn.

  “Alexandra,” he muttered as he tripped and stumbled back to where he had last seen her.

  For a moment, he could’ve almost convinced himself that she was sleeping. He looked away and picked up Katya instead, placing her gently next to Izrayl. They’d all died trying to save each other and they deserved a better death than at the hands of demons.

  He finally summoned the courage to crouch down next to Aleksandra’s body. He closed her jacket to cover up the huge holes inside of her. Carefully, he smoothed the curling dark hair away from her face. Her eyes were still the gorgeous blue that he loved so much, but the spark behind them that made them shine was gone. His shaking fingers brushed her lids closed.

  The tremor in his hand spread up his body, the scream in him building. He didn’t know what he was without her to tell him, and to guide him back when he was too far into the blackness of his own mind. The deeper side of him opened his mouth and let out an almighty cry.

  Those that had drifted back to the camp covered their ears and fell to the ground. The windows in the remaining vehicles shattered and the ground quaked. He saw Søren trying to get close to him, blood dripping from his eyes. Mychal held onto Aleksandra and continued to scream until Søren’s fist hit him in the face and the world went black and quiet.

  Chapter Thirty-Four - Voskresheniye

  Voskresheniye… a voice echoed through the warm darkness. Voskresheniye. Voskresheniye. She knew the voice. She yearned for it and stretched herself towards it. Searching. Silent scream. Pain, breath, life.

  Anya was burning as she woke in her broken body. The firebird was a part of her, its wings melted into her arms, its torso in hers. She was burning from the inside with a primordial fire. A fire that brings life. Rejuvenation. Resurrection.

  “Voskresheniye!” she screamed, “Voskresheniye!”

  The firebird cawed sharply and pulled itself slowly from her, leaving sprays of small golden and red feathers on her skin like metallic tattoos.

  “By all the gods,” Aramis whispered through his hands. “How is this possible?”

  “I would never have believed it,” stammered Eldon. “The firebird gave Anya one of its resurrections. Almighty save us all. Are you feeling okay, Anya?”

  “An-ya,” she whispered, her eyes filled with the brightness of the green above her, the feel of the earth beneath her fingers.

  “Don’t talk to her until her mind stops drifting,” Kullervo suggested.

  “She needs Yvan,” Aramis said.

  The firebird was rubbing its soft face against her cheek affectionately. They watched it flutter off her and begin its transformation. Filthy with ash Yvan emerged and crawled over to her. She looked up at him in wonderment, trying to take all of his features in and make sense of them.

  “Anya?” he whispered.

  “Anya,” she stammered.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Besides the fact the firebird brought her back from the dead?” Kullervo asked sarcastically. “Why don’t you ask it? It gave her life back, but did it get her heart? Her soul.”

  “It didn’t need to,” Yvan said as he stroked her cheek lightly. “I have them right here.” He leaned down and kissed her.

  “Yvan…” she breathed.

  “You’re going to be okay, Anya. You are going to be okay.”

  “Did I do it? Is it over?”

  “You did it.”

  “Are the others alive?”

  “Some of us,” Eldon said. Yvan helped Anya sit but she hung on tightly to him.

  “You didn’t die, Eldon,” she murmured. “I am sorry.”

  “It would seem I don’t have permission to die yet. I’m the one that should say sorry. It was my creation that killed you.”

  “The firebird brought me back, so there’s nothing to forgive. Tell me it’s over.”

  “Yanka made a pack with demons. They swarmed the camp after you fell,” Yvan said. “The firebird killed many and Mychal took care of the rest.”

  “We need to go and find him. Help me up!” Yvan helped her stand on shaking feet.

  They walked back into the remains of the battlefield and towards where Yvan had last seen Mychal. Anya held onto Yvan as the violence and devastation overwhelmed her. Søren came walking through the rubble and collapsed to his knees when he saw Anya.

  “How is this possible?” he asked, shock and exhaustion overwhelming him. Anya let Yvan go and wrapped her arms about him.

  “It’s okay, bróđr, I am here. The firebird has given me a new life.”

  Søren was crying in broken sobs, “It’s not okay, Elenya. The Blakkrvirđar killed them.”

  “Where is Mychal?”

  “I had to knock him out. Did you not hear the noise?”

  “We heard it. It stopped right before the firebird came back. I thought it was another elemental or a demon,” Eldon shivered.

  “It was Mychal. I had to stop him before my head exploded,” Søren said wiping blood and ash about his face as he tried to get rid of the tears. “And then I saw what he had been screaming about.”

  “Aleki?” Anya choked.

  Søren nodded, “Aleki, Katya, Izrayl, Esbjörn and Lif. All survived the battle only to be killed by the Blakkrvirđar.”

  “It was Yanka.” Anya felt cold wash down through her. “I saw the black slime on her. The evil.”

  “When I saw the old one she had pulled from the earth, I thought the slime had been that,” Eldon shook his head. “I am a stupid fool.”

  “Tell me Vasilli is gone,” Anya gripped Søren’s face, “tell me he is finished.”

  “I killed him. I even had his head to give to you but…I don’t know where it has gone. The Illumination and the Darkness and whatever was left of the neutrals all scattered when the demons arrived.”

  “Good, I’ll get Aramis to contact Antru and spread the word that there is no more Illumination or Darkness.” Anya helped Søren back to his feet
. “Come on brother, we need to find Mychal.”

  Søren led them to where he had left him, but when they got there, the body was gone. Aleksandra had been placed next to her sister and Izrayl but there was no sign of the demon hunter.

  “We need to go after him,” Søren said helplessly. “I know what it is like to lose a great love.”

  “You won’t find him,” Aramis shook his head. “If Mychal wanted company, he would have stayed. He’s gone to hunt the rest of them to keep the humans safe.”

  “He knows where to find us,” Anya managed through her tears. “And I will make sure that he knows where to find her.”

  Of the Illumination’s great camp, only the mess tent remained standing. They spent the next few hours laying out their dead under Anya’s instructions. The dead Illumination and Darkness where left where they fell. An obliging Yvan burnt Yanka and Vasilli’s body unceremoniously. No one said anything as they watched them burn; the only movement that occurred was Søren putting an arm around Aramis as they watched the woman who’d caused them so much pain finally turn to dust.

  Their gear was collected from back at the neutral camp and by mid-afternoon Anya could barely stand. The gates, the forest, the entire world had been silenced.

  Anya went to the steam that wasn’t far from the old site of the farm. Eikki’s pump that used to irrigate his vegetable garden in the summer sat rusting next to a blackberry bush.

  Anya sat down on the rocky bank and cried until she was gasping for breath. She wept with exhaustion, with the awful loss of her friends, for Mychal alone and missing. She cried for Eikki, Ilya, and Trajan. She cried for her death, resurrection, and all of the effects that it would have on her body, her mind and her magic. Her grief consumed her until she could cry no more.

  Stripping off her torn and filthy clothes, she waded into the cold water and scrubbed herself until she was pink and raw. She could feel the distress and pain of the destroyed forest, wishing that she could reassure it, that she could heal it. A small unlooked for smile appeared on her face.

  By dusk they had all washed, changed, and sat about the camp. “We should do something about the bodies,” Kullervo said as they sipped on mugs of instant coffee.

  “I am going to do something with them,” Anya said firmly. “They destroyed the forest so now their bodies are going to nourish the new one.”

  At the time between times, Anya and the others moved the bodies of Aleksandra, Katya and Izrayl to a spot unaffected by fire or demons. Kullervo opened the ground and they were placed together in the earth.

  Anya took the cross that had hung about Aleksandra’s neck so she could use it to mark the grave in case Mychal came back. After the grave had been filled, Anya placed her hand in the fresh earth and wild flowers sprung up and covered it.

  Aramis and Yvan had made a large cross and Anya hung the necklace over it, whispering a protection that would prevent it from getting stolen and so the grave would always bloom and remain undisturbed. They were all too heartsore to muster the words to say, so they stood crying in a stunned silence.

  Finally, Eldon cleared his throat and lifted his hands, “Creator, of all that is and will ever be, we offer you our sisters and brother. They fought for life and the light. Honour them and grant them a place of peace together in your lands.”

  He started to sing in Welsh, a haunting sad melody. No one understood Welsh but they knew it was a song about the fallen. In the melody was Izrayl’s strength, his loyalty and quick smile, Katya’s stubbornness, her pragmatism and wildness. Aleksandra was the love in the song, the sweetness of her nature, her hidden steel, how much she loved her friends, her family and Mychal. Kullervo had found a bottle of vodka in the camps and they passed it around to each other. The sun had almost vanished when Aramis said, “So it is done.”

  “Not quite,” Anya reached into her pocket, brought out her small velvet bag, and took out a single red seed. Eldon took a cautious step back.

  “Anya, are you sure?” he asked. “We don’t know what you could be unleashing.”

  “A forest. One that will be strong enough to heal the land and replace what was lost. This is still my land. It is a part of me. I won’t leave it in this state.”

  She breathed on the seed and it flared like an ember. She dug a hole in the ground and placed the seed into it, covering it over quickly. She left her hand on the earth, the seed beating like a pulsating heart.

  “Stand back,” she said and none of them dared argue. Power flowed from her, connecting her to the land and all the life around her.

  Aramis and Søren shivered as she connected with them on the web of energy, the way Aramis had taught her. The Álfr was as much a part of nature as the ground beneath their feet and Anya was grateful to have their power near.

  Finally, she connected to the seed beneath her hand that was burning with power. The ground under them trembled and life exploded around them. The growing trees consumed the bodies of dead soldiers; saplings of birch, ash and pine sprung up, reaching maturity in minutes.

  “This is amazing!” Kullervo jumped in the air. “Look at it go!” He took a bunch of cloudberries from a bush and shoved them into his mouth. “Anya, eat some of these. They are…look blackberries!”

  Yvan started to laugh. “Didn’t you ever get warned about eating magic fruit?”

  “What is it going to do? Kill me?” he roared. “I could stay here forever.”

  “Would you like to? Stay for a while I mean,” Anya asked and Kullervo stopped chewing. Anya wiped the blackberry juice from his chin. “You could stay here for a little while, keep an eye on the gates for me and make sure the forest is growing well in its first few weeks. You can come and go as you please. It would give you a home, a base.”

  “You want me to be your family?” he asked uncertainly.

  “Of course I do. You are my cousin, don’t you remember?”

  “Your favourite cousin,” Kullervo corrected. “I don’t know, Anya. I’ve never had good luck with family. Real or adopted.”

  “And I have? You’re the only one I could depend on to make sure this place was protected properly. It needs a good strong Finnish influence.”

  “I can build a house?”

  “I expect you to. Where else am I going to stay? I want it to be a safe house for all of us,” Anya said. “You’re all the family I have left. I want a family home. Isabelle and the others will come here too when they want. I want a safe haven like Trajan’s house was.”

  “It’s a marvellous idea,” Eldon smiled.

  “I have to get Lif and Esbjörn back to the Álfr. They deserve to be mourned and buried with their ancestors,” Søren said grimly. “Are you going to come with me, brother?”

  “I will follow you. I want to get in contact with Isabelle and the others. We should go back to Petrozavodsk.”

  “Good idea,” Anya said. “The forest will need time to settle and I’ll need to tell Belle about…about what happened.”

  Later that night, Søren held tightly to Aramis and Anya. “Come and visit me, systir.” Søren kissed her cheek. “There’s much the Álfr can teach you.”

  “I like that idea,” she said as she hugged him again. Søren placed the bodies on a litter and it floated behind him as he summoned a gate and disappeared through it with a flash of green.

  The next day, they found their cars and headed back to Petrozavodsk. With each passing hour, Anya knew what she needed to do next. There was only one person that could help her and give her the answers she needed. Over the next day, they got in contact with Silvian who arranged a Skype session with everyone in New Orleans.

  “Still alive I see!” Cerise’s red hair flashed across the screen.

  “You are looking well,” Anya smiled.

  “It’s because I’m so full I won’t have to eat for months.”

  They told them about the assault on Coliseum Street and all that had transpired afterward. The dark magic users had been driven out and New Orleans was a free neutral
city once more. From the survivors of the great battle in Russia, word had spread through the world that the Illumination and the Darkness had been abolished. All were now welcome in New Orleans as long as they obeyed the law. Otherwise, they would answer to Harley.

  “You should see the people in this place looking at our girl to make everything well again,” Hamish said.

  “I am not doing anything! Lord Almighty, you Aussies can spin it,” Harley interrupted. “I’ve been helping repair the damage is all.”

  “They’re talking about making her the new queen,” Fox’s face appeared. “She keeps saying no.”

  “Of course, I am going to say no. I want to help people not oppress them,” Harley said, pushing Fox out of the way, who was rolling her eyes at the screen. Anya told them about the battle, how Aleksandra, Katya and Izrayl had fallen. Hamish held Isabelle as she curled into him crying.

  “But why demons?” she asked. “I thought they had backed off since she had found Mychal.”

  “They were hunting them. Yanka told the demons where they could be found. They might’ve promised to fight for her. They used her to get at him,” Anya explained. “Mychal is gone. He might turn up there. I hope he does.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out, magical and otherwise,” Silvian promised. “What will you do, Anyanka, now that you have saved the world?”

  “Me? There is only thing I can do. My mind and my magic are broken and there is only one place I know that I can go to truly heal,” Anya said and squeezed Yvan’s hand.

  “So you’ll go back to the Otherworld?” Isabelle asked. “I had hoped you would come back here.”

  “I will go to the Otherworld for a time, and then I’ll come and find you all. We will drink and celebrate.”

  “So what about the rest of you?” Hamish said as he continued to rub Isabelle’s back.

  “I am going home to the Álfr,” Aramis said. “They’re grieving the loss suffered in Svetilo. I can help them get the place healed and settled once more. A lot of our sacred books were stolen by the Darkness and they’ll need to be retrieved.”