CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER 152: THE PHOENIX RISING

PHOENIX GUARDIAN EMBER POV

I exploded through the ground in a burst of flames.

Rock and dirt flew everywhere as I broke free from my deep tomb. For three hundred years, I had slept beneath the holy mountain, waiting for the call that would wake me. Now that call had come, and it screamed of death and despair.

My wings spread wide, each feather shining like molten gold. The night sky blazed around me as I rose into the air. Below, I could see the fight raging at the alliance camp. Dark power clashed with desperate hope, and the smell of blood filled the air.

I was too late. So many had already died.

"Guardian Ember," a voice whispered in my mind. It was the Moon Goddess herself, speaking through our ancient link. "The Shadow Lords have returned. The world needs you."

"I’m here," I said, my voice cracking like fire. "What do you need me to do?"

"Save them," she said simply. "Save them all."

I tucked my wings and dove toward the battle. As I flew, memories rushed back to me. The last time I had woken, Rome was falling and darkness threatened to swallow the world. I had used my reborn magic to stop the Shadow Lords then, but the cost had been terrible.

I had saved the world by dying for it.

Now I might have to do it again.

I landed in the middle of the battlefield with a crash that shook the ground. Shadow Lord creatures scattered as my fires washed over them. But there were so many of them, and more kept coming.

"Who are you?" a young woman shouted over the noise of war.

I turned to see her fighting three Shadow Lords at once. She was tough and strong, but I could see she was losing. This had to be Aria, the one the predictions spoke of.

"I am Ember, Guardian of the Phoenix," I called back, sending a wave of healing fire toward her. "And I’m here to help."

The fire healed her wounds and gave her new power. She stared at me in amazement.

"Phoenix? But phoenixes are stories."

"So were Shadow Lords," I said, burning another monster to ash. "Until they weren’t."

A roar echoed across the battlefield. I looked up to see a huge dragon flying overhead, its scales black as midnight. Lady Vex sat on its back, her eyes glowing with evil magic.

"So the old bird finally wakes up," she called down to me. "I was wondering when you’d show yourself."

"Vex," I snarled. "I should have killed you the first time."

"You tried," she laughed. "But I’m much stronger now. Strong enough to control even you."

She raised her hands, and dark magic shot toward me like black lightning. I made a shield of fire, but her magic was different than before. Colder. More crooked.

"You’ve been feeding on innocent souls," I realized with fear.

"Thousands of them," Lady Vex said proudly. "Each death makes me stronger. And soon, I’ll have enough power to bind even a Phoenix Guardian to my will."

I felt a chill run through my fires. If she could control me, she could use my rebirth magic to make the Shadow Lords immortal. They would never die, never be beaten.

"I won’t let you," I said.

"You don’t have a choice," Lady Vex answered.

She spoke words in an old language, words that made my fire flicker and dim. I felt chains of dark magic wrapping around my soul, trying to pull me under her control.

"No," I gasped, fighting against the binding spell.

But she was right. She had gotten too powerful. I could feel my will slipping away, my flames changing from gold to black.

"That’s it," Lady Vex crooned. "Submit to me, and I’ll make your death quick."

Just as I was about to give in, I heard a new voice.

"Get away from her!"

Three young guys burst onto the battlefield. I could feel the magical link connecting them, even though it was crackling and unstable. These must be the triplets I’d heard about.

The one in the middle—Lucien, I realized—was holding an ancient book that glowed with pure white light. The sight of it made Lady Vex hiss and draw back.

"The Modification Text," she snarled. "Where did you find that?"

"It doesn’t matter where," Lucien said. "What matters is that we know how to stop you now."

He opened the book and started to read. The words poured out like liquid fire, breaking Lady Vex’s power over me. I felt my flames return to their golden color.

"Thank you," I said to the brothers.

"Don’t thank us yet," Kael said grimly. "We still need your help."

"What do you need?" I asked.

Lucien stepped forward. "We found a way to change the Ancient Pact. Instead of killing all the supernatural leaders, we can sever their magical ties and use that energy to power the spell."

"But it requires someone to channel all that power," Jaxon added. "Someone who won’t be destroyed by it."

I understood immediately. "You want me to be the channel."

"Can you do it?" Aria asked, entering our group.

I looked around at all of them. So young, so brave, so ready to sacrifice everything for each other. They reminded me of why I had become a Guardian in the first place.

"Yes," I said. "But you need to understand what you’re asking. Channeling that much broken bond energy... it won’t just change the people who lose their ties. It will change me too."

"How?" Lucien asked.

"Phoenix magic is about death and rebirth," I explained. "When I channel the bond energy, I’ll die. But I’ll be remade as something different. Something that may not remember any of you."

"You’ll lose your memories?" Aria asked.

"I’ll lose everything that makes me who I am," I said. "My personality, my thoughts, my connections to this world. I’ll still be a Phoenix Guardian, but I’ll be a totally different person."

The group fell silent. I could see them wrestling with the choice.

"There’s something else," I continued. "The rebirth magic will spread to everyone whose ties we sever. They’ll lose their memories and links, but they’ll also be immune to Shadow Lord corruption forever."

"That’s... that’s actually good," Kael said slowly.

"Is it?" I asked. "Is it good to save people by making them forget why they needed saving?"

Before anyone could answer, Lady Vex’s words boomed across the battlefield.

"Enough talking!" she screamed. "If I can’t control the Phoenix, I’ll just have to kill her!"

The dragon she was riding opened its mouth, and I saw fire growing in its throat. But this wasn’t normal dragon fire. This was tainted flame that would burn away my very soul.

"Everyone get behind me!" I shouted.

But as I spread my wings to shield them, I felt something wrong. My fires were flickering again, but not from Lady Vex’s magic.

I was dying.

The three hundred years of sleep had taken more out of me than I’d realized. My life force was almost gone, and using my magic in fight had drained what little I had left.

"I don’t have much time," I whispered to the group behind me.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"I mean we need to do the ritual now," I said. "Before I fade away completely."

"But we’re not ready," Lucien argued. "We need time to prepare—"

"We don’t have time," I interrupted.

The dragon’s tainted fire shot toward us. I raised my wings and caught the fires, but I could feel them burning through my defenses.

"If we’re going to do this," I said through gritted teeth, "we need to do it right now."

"How?" Jaxon asked.

I looked back at them, my vision starting to blur. "You need to break the triplet link. Right here, right now. And I need to die and be reborn while channeling the energy from your severed link."

"But that means—" Lucien started.

"It means you’ll forget you’re brothers the moment I’m reborn," I ended. "And I’ll forget I ever knew you."

Lady Vex’s laughter rang across the battlefield. "How sweet! A group suicide deal!"

I felt my strength slipping. The dragon’s fire was eating through my wings, and I could see the distorted flames reaching toward the group behind me.

"Decide now," I gasped. "We save everyone and lose ourselves, or we all die together in the next thirty seconds."

"Do it," Kael said instantly.

"Do it," Jaxon echoed.

Lucien paused for one heartbeat, then nodded. "Do it."

I opened my beak and began to sing the rebirth song. The ancient song poured out of me, calling on magic older than the mountains.

But just as the ritual started, I heard a sound that made my blood freeze.

A baby crying.

I looked down and saw Aria holding something to her chest. A small bundle wrapped in cloth.

"Aria," I whispered. "What is that?"

She looked up at me with tears running down her face.

"It’s my daughter," she said. "I was going to tell everyone after the battle. But now..."

My heart stopped. A baby. An innocent child who would lose all knowledge of her mother when the bonds severed.

"The ritual will affect her too," I said in fear.

"I know," Aria whispered.

"She’ll forget you’re her mother. She’ll grow up not knowing who she really is."

"I know," Aria repeated.

The dragon’s fire was almost through my barriers. In seconds, we would all be dead.

"What do we do?" I asked desperately.

But before anyone could answer, the baby opened her eyes and looked straight at me.

They were shining with pure golden light.

The same light that had been in my fires when I was born.