DAWN OF THE PHOENIX

by A. J. STRICKLER

  “Hello, Brother.”

  Kian couldn’t find the words, so many things raced through his mind. This horribly scarred sorcerer was his brother. What had happened to make him this way? Why had he become this evil thing?

  “I know that this is a shock to you, Kian, but I had to keep who I was a secret. I had little choice in the matter.”

  Kian took a step towards his brother. “Why, you could have just come to me. By the gods, Tavantis, why have you done these things? Are you mad?”

  The wizard’s jaw clenched. “You don’t know why I had to keep who I was a secret? Can’t you see what the world has done to me? There was a time, Brother, when my mind as well as my body was broken. Sometimes madness is the only way to survive in the city beyond the Black Gate.

  "What I inflicted on you is mere child’s play to what that place did to me. Sanity is questionable to all who dwell there. I have suffered things the likes of which you cannot even imagine. I wanted revenge on the world, Kian, on the world and on you. Tavantis was too weak to do it, but the Dark One was more than capable.”

  Kian’s face twisted in confusion. “What did I do to you? You had no reason to want vengeance.”

  “You left me, Brother. None of it would have happened if you wouldn’t have left Thieves Port. I thought after I poisoned Elu that you might stay, but you could not be stopped. You had to go play hero.”

  Kian was stunned and could only stare in disbelief. Tavantis had killed Elu too. Elu and Gildor had been the closest thing to fathers the half-elf had ever known; he had modeled himself after the two men, and his brother had killed them both. “Why did you kill Elu? He did nothing to you, he was kind to us and he loved Mother.”

  “No, he was kind to you,” the wizard spat. “He took you under his wing. It was you he wanted to save. Elu didn’t have time for me, remember? He didn’t see any potential in me, and I was not Mother’s favorite. He cast me aside like a worthless cur. He trained you, Kian, and he made you want to leave. His lies are what made you forget your family.”

  “I was just a boy, Tavantis. It was what Mother wanted me to do. She wanted me to get out of that loathsome city and find my place in the world.”

  “And have you, Brother? Have you found your place?” Tavantis pointed his finger at Kian. “What about me? I wanted a place in the world too. Because I was not so skilled, I got left behind to suffer the cruel fate Thieves Port brought down on me. Things happened to me after you were gone, Brother. Things you could never understand. It destroyed me and made me more of an outcast than I already was. I was alone, no one was there to help me. My brother deserted me, and Mother could only think of her favorite son who was so far away. You took our mother away with you when you left, Brother. She never stopped longing for your return. She just didn’t have enough love for both of us. You took it all with you when you left. It made me a monster, Kian, it made me hate you both.” He lowered his finger as if he had just noticed he was pointing it. The wizard stumbled back against the battlements and hung his head.

  “Even after the years I spent hating you, I could think of nothing but finding you. I just wanted my brother back, my other half. You are all I have, Kian. I thought if I made you a monster like me, you would stay with me and we could avenge ourselves on this hateful world.”

  Kian looked at his brother with pity. Sadness found its way into the swordsman’s heart. “You wanted to control me. Turn me into something I’m not.” Kian stepped close to his brother, his voice lowered. “You’re a monster and a murderer, Tavantis, and I won’t share that with you. I can’t. I can forgive you for what you have done to me, perhaps some of the things you have done are my fault. If I would have stayed in Thieves Port, you might not have become this evil thing.”

  Kian paused and looked at the wizard. He could no longer see the boy he had grown up with. “You are right. The Dark One killed my brother. Tavantis was good and I was proud to call him my brother. He was nothing like you.”

  The wizard turned his face away from Kian, unable to look at him.

  “I want you to know this, wizard. I want my brother back. If I must fight for him, I will. If you want to change and turn away from the hate that corrupts your soul, you can come with me as Tavantis, my twin. We can make a life for ourselves. I will help you any way I can.”

  Kian reached over and grabbed his brother by the shoulders. “If you wish to remain the Dark One, know this: I will never join you in this evil and you will remain my enemy. I don’t hate the world because of who I am, and I seek no vengeance on it. If that is what you want, you will do it alone, wizard.”

  Tavantis hung his head. “You would truly take me with you? How could you ever get past what I have done to you, and what of Elu and Gildor?”

  “I loved them both, that is true. And if you were any other man, I would avenge them, but you’re my brother and I will find a way to forgive you. Come, gather your things and we will leave this vile place. You are part of me, Tavantis, my twin, I will do whatever I can to purge you of this sickness that has poisoned your heart.”

  The wizard thought for a moment. “I will try, Kian. We are family and I want us to be together, but I can make you no promises.”

  Kian nodded his approval. He so wanted his brother in his life, and he knew his mother would want him to do everything he could to save his tortured sibling. He had to try for her, if nothing else.

  Tavantis touched his brother on the shoulder. “It will take several days to get things ready for me to leave. I have experiments and spells that must be finished or shut down.”

  Kian picked up his sword and put it back in its scabbard. “I will find the queen and Isabella and have them wait here until you are ready.” Kian turned to leave.

  “Wait,” the sorcerer called out. “Would you have killed me, Kian?” The swordsman looked at his twin with the inhuman eyes the Dark One had given him, and Tavantis had his answer.

  It took some talking for Kian to convince the queen to wait at the tower. When she had inquired why they could not start for Turill, he told her about Tavantis.

  She had one of her fits, but he had expected no less. Isabella had aided him by telling the queen that the dark wizard had not harmed her while she had been his guest. She told Raygan that Tavantis had been the one that saved her from Duke Blackthorn. That had even surprised Kian. In the end, Raygan agreed, after all she had little choice since she could not get back to Turill alone. If nothing else, the queen was learning to be practical. The young monarch was much stronger than Kian had originally thought, and sometimes he found himself liking her, in spite of her feelings toward him.

  Tavantis took almost a week to get things tied up. The twins spent time talking and getting to know each other again. It was awkward and painful, but Kian tried his best. It was hard to overlook the terrible things his brother had done, especially the murders of Elu and Gildor. Kian told himself it would all be worth it in the end. He would just have to find a way to get past it. He would have Tavantis back and they could go on together. He didn’t want to give up the chance of have his brother back in his life.

  Kian had asked Tavantis about what had happened through all the years they had been apart, but his brother had not been very forthcoming. The swordsman could tell Tavantis had faced some awful things in his life. It would take time for him to trust Kian enough to tell him everything that had befallen him. He would just have to allow his brother the time to adjust to having someone in his life other than the vile necromancer Siro.

  At the end of the week, Tavantis told Kian he was ready to leave for Turill. “Is Siro coming?” Kian asked.

  “No, he will stay here. He has projects he wishes to finish and I told him he could keep the tower if he wished. I won’t need it anymore.”

  “He plans to live alone out here?”

  “Oh, he won’t be alone, he has…friends,” Tavantis said with a sly grin.

  Kian shrugged; he didn’t like the little necromancer at all. Siro made his skin craw
l, and he was more than willing to leave the little man behind.

  They started out from the tower, Kian and Tavantis walking side by side. They were soon joined by the Raygan. The Queen of Bandara looked unhappy. “Why don’t you use your magic to take us back?” the young woman inquired. “It would be easier on all of us and much better for the children.”

  “I’m not strong enough to take more than one person with me, Majesty. You will have to forgive my lack of power. Believe me, if I didn’t have to make this trip, I would not. The walk will be very painful for me.”

  The queen looked away from him. “I wish I could say I felt sorry for you, but I don’t.”

  “I would never have expected any sympathy from you, Majesty. I understand that is a trait you seem to lack.”

  “You are simply a detestable man.”

  The sorcerer smiled beneath his mask. “That is the opinion of most people I have come across, Your Majesty.”

  So the little band headed out from the tower as the last snowflakes of winter fell. Spring would come early this year. Kian and Tavantis walked together and Isabella and the queen followed, carrying the two children. The little girl waved over Isabella’s shoulder to the dark-haired goddess who silently wept as she watched the little girl leave. The Goddess Octavia walked back into the frozen wood, turning her back on the child she had grown to love.

  “What the hell is that?” Rhys blurted out.

  Endra rode a little closer. “My God, Rhys, it’s a forest dragon. It’s dead, I think. It should be hibernating this time of year. Something must have awoken it.”

  They dismounted their horses and slowly walked towards the beast, both still holding the reins of their horses in their hands. Endra looked the carcass over. The cold weather had kept it from rotting too quickly.

  “It’s covered in sword wounds, someone killed it.” She looked at the healer. “You don’t think…”

  Rhys shook his head. “I would not be surprised by anything he did, but a dragon? Alone?”

  “We have seen no one else beside the men from the Church and this beast has been dead too long for it to have been them. Besides, they were headed in the other direction,” Endra said, excitement rising in her voice.

  Rhys almost said no man could have killed a dragon by himself, then thought better of it. Endra might think he was saying Kian wasn’t a man and she was touchy about such things. “If it was Kian, he has done something I have never heard of.”

  Endra smiled. “It was him. I can feel it.”

  Rhys gave her a skeptical look. “Let’s go, he might need us. He shouldn’t be that far head.”

  Endra’s smile faded. “This creature was killed well over a week ago. Do you think he traveled through the storm and is already at the tower?”

  It was Rhys turn to grin. “No one could have survived that storm. It would have killed even Kian. I think your feelings about the dragon are wrong, my dear. It’s been dead too long for Kian to have killed it. He just couldn’t be that far ahead of us.”

  Endra remounted her horse, looking dejected. Rhys could tell she was concerned. “I’m sure he’s just up ahead, we’ll catch him soon.” The two headed on into the forest. Rhys could not have been more right about where Kian was.

  They pulled their horses to a stop as the little group made their way out of the gloom. Night was about to fall as Endra and Rhys spotted Kian with the others in tow.

  Endra leaped from her horse and ran, throwing herself into Kian’s arms.

  “What in the world are you doing here, woman?”

  Endra pulled back. “Rhys and I followed you. We didn’t think you should do this alone. I guess we’re too late.”

  Rhys passed them. He too had dismounted and had pulled Raygan into a gentle embrace, looking at her baby with relief.

  Endra gasped as she noticed the masked figure standing with the two women. “What is he doing here, is he your prisoner?”

  Kian looked at her with pain in his eyes and a touch of shame. “He’s not my prisoner, Endra. The Dark One is my brother.”

  The others had gone to sleep. Endra, Rhys, and Kian still sat around the small fire where they had cooked their meal. “How can you trust him, Kian? I mean, after what he did to you, not to mention Raygan.”

  Kian threw a small stick into the fire and watched the embers float off into the sky. “He’s my brother, Rhys, my family. Even after what he has done, I have to give him a chance. His story is one of loneliness and sorrow. He lashed out trying to make everyone feel his pain and he blamed me. In a way, I guess it is my doing. I left him and my mother. I should have stayed with them and none of this would have ever happened, and Gildor and Elu would still be alive.”

  “You are not responsible for anything he has done,” Endra said.

  Kian only looked at her. “Now that we are together again, I think he will be alright. We just have to try and understand him. There is a great deal of hate in his heart. It will take time for it to work its way out. I will just have to be patient with him and hope we can forgive each other. Rhys, will you take a look at his injuries tomorrow and see if there is anything you can do for him?”

  “Of course, it’s the least I could do after what you did for Raygan and her baby. How did you get to the tower so fast anyway?” Rhys said, trying to change the subject.

  Kian spread his hand out to the fire. “What was fast about it? Between the dragon and walking through that damn storm, I thought I would never get there.” The swordsman stood and brushed off his pants. “I’m going to check around the camp, I will return shortly.” Kian quietly walked out into the dark.

  Endra gave the healer a big smile as Rhys looked at her with his mouth hanging open. “I would have never believed it,” he said.

  Endra lowered her voice. “What I can’t believe is he has any faith in that masked bastard, brother or no brother.”

  Rhys nodded his agreement. “We should keep a close eye on him. Kian is too trusting for his own good. It wouldn’t hurt anything to watch him closely, even if the wizard is telling the truth.”

  “I hope he is. It would break Kian’s heart if that cur was lying about having a change of heart. His mother and brother have never been far from Kian’s thoughts since I have known him.”

  Rhys wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders. “I will sleep much better when we get back to Turill.”

  Across the camp, Tavantis slowly closed his eyes.

  “Your wounds are like nothing I have ever seen. Your flesh seems almost melted. The damage doesn’t look to have completely healed either. You say it’s like this all the way down the left side of your body?” Rhys asked as he examined the wizard’s face.

  “I assure you, my good healer, there is nothing you can do for me. My wounds are unnatural, given to me by an angry god for my pride and impertinence. They will never heal.”

  Rhys said nothing and handed the sorcerer back his mask. “Perhaps I could find you something that would ease your suffering. The injuries must be very painful.”

  “No need. I have learned to endure the agonies of the foolishness of my past. May I ask you a question, healer?”

  Rhys nodded.

  “I find it strange that you travel with my brother and his compatriots. I thought that men that live by the sword would not be the kind of people you would keep company with.”

  Rhys pondered the question. “I’m not a fighting man, that is true, but I do understand the reason for them. Many warriors, like your brother, are good men, noble and courageous, fighting to protect people from the evil in the world.”

  Tavantis grinned as he pulled the mask back over his ruined face. “I take it that you feel like I’m the something that you may need protection from?”

  Rhys looked right into the wizard’s eyes. “I don’t trust you. Maybe you’re telling the truth, but it will take more than just your word after the things you have done.”

  “Don’t worry, I will prove my true nature to you, Healer Morgan, in that yo
u can trust.”

  The trip out of the Adorn took longer than Endra thought, but they were traveling with two small children and the queen. The walk was taking a toll on the young monarch, as she was unaccustomed to physical hardships.

  The weather was getting warmer by the day, but it was still very cold at night and the ground was still covered in several inches of wet snow.

  Endra slowed her pace and dropped back to where the queen walked. “Would you like me to carry your baby for a time, Majesty?”

  Raygan gave her a soft smile. “I would be very grateful, Endra.” The queen handed her child to the warrior woman.

  “Has he a name yet, Majesty?”

  “Corwin. I have decided to call him Corwin.”

  Endra touched the baby’s nose. “A fine strong name, Majesty. Come, little Corwin, let us give your mother a rest.” Endra walked on. Even without the baby, Raygan struggled to keep up, but she managed to keep pace with the taller woman. “Endra, the girl child has no mother, and I was charged to find her a good one. Would you be interested?”

  Endra was taken aback by the queen’s inquiry. “I love children, Highness, but my life is a hard one, as you have seen.” Endra slowed down and moved closer to Raygan. “I already carry another child, Majesty,” she whispered.

  “Oh, Endra, I didn’t know. I’m…” Endra put her hand to the queen’s mouth. She gave Kian a quick glance. He was talking with Tavantis and hadn’t seemed to have heard. “Kian does not know yet, so please say nothing.” She looked down at her heavy clothing, it still covered the fact she was with child and she was still too much of a coward to tell Kian.

  “I understand, of course, I will remain silent,” the queen said, lowering her voice. “You were the first I thought of to take the girl. I know no one else. I would help you in any way I could if you decided to take her. I would keep the child myself if I could, but I don’t know how I much time I could devote to the little one with Corwin being so young, and the fate of my kingdom still undecided,” the queen said.