On June 6, 6002 of the Zyres Calendar in the kingdom of Atria, all sorts of beings were outside witnessing the solar eclipse. This event had never been recorded in history and on this ominous day in the countryside village of Bator, there was a couple ready to bring forth a new life into this world.
Over on a hill stood a modest house surrounded by a beautiful scenery of lush greens, mountains, and woodland. This house was owned by Gadriel and Iri Ashea. Alongside them was a trustworthy butler, Isaak, who they brought back from the royal castle. Gadriel eloped here to run away from the negative impact of marrying a housemaid as he was the crown prince. He gave up his title and let his brother succeed the throne.
“My Lord, Iri will be fine, the wet nurse is specialized in healing and will prevent any mishaps.”
Izaak looked at Gadriel a bit perplexed.
“This feeling is not something any reassurance can change, Izaak. My son will be born on this day. This feeling is something I’ve never felt in my life.”
Gadriel put a fist to his chest and looked up into the ceiling as if he were peering through to the skies.
Izaak sighed at the scene.
”On such a special day too. Makes you wonder if it’s a blessing or an omen.”
“It’s my son… it’s definitely a blessing!”
In the next room over you can hear the struggle Iri is going through as she pushes on.
“Now push! And don’t stop, he’s almost out!”
The wet nurse shouted out to let everyone in the household hear.
“I understand! He’s going to come! Darling, get your ass in here now!”
Iri had a clenched smile that seemed mixed with happiness and pain.
“He’s out, finally. He put up a good fight. Let me heal you up real quick.”
The wet nurse hurriedly used her finger to draw a rune in the space above Iri’s stomach. It shined a light green color giving the feeling of warmth. She lightly placed it over Iri’s body and activated the rune. Iri’s body emanated with the color green and it coalesced into her body, giving back color into her pale skin. As she was healing, Gadriel slammed the door open running to Iri’s side.
“I’ve always loved your vernacular, sweetheart. Now let me see our beautiful baby.”
Gadriel had the widest smile possible as he walked to his wife’s side. The wet nurse, Tilla, wrapped the crying baby with a blanket and handed him over to Gadriel.
“He whines just like you, Iri. At least he has your honey eyes. I can tell already he will conquer anything he wants!”
He held his baby up to the sky and looked intently at him. Iri grew impatient while she reached out to her baby.
“Don’t be silly, he will do more than that! But seriously honey, hand him back to his mother. Now what should we name you handsome.”
She contemplated with a raised brow and looked over to her husband for help. Gadriel quickly perked up as if he figured it out.
“Damien, a strong name befitting our son, what do you think?”
“Damien, Damien, Dami…. He’s stopped crying, maybe it’s meant to be just like this day. Born on the day of a solar eclipse. He must be special.”
“He is, he’s our son no one wi……”
They were both talking joyously with bright smiles but they were quickly interrupted. Izaak rushed inside the room with a desperate face.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Gadriel! Outside, you must look, hurry!”
Without saying a word he followed Izaak outside his house and looked up into the sky. The sun has been completely covered, and the land has turned gloomy. High above the clouds they spot an avian beast. It’s fur all red with the luster of blood. A crowd of people outside observing the phenomenon all realized the same thing.
“That’s a phoenix, why is it here from the main family?! This is not good Izaak.”
He looked over to his loyal friend of many years and they both knew what to do. No time for words Gadriel turned back to run inside until he heard the bird caw. The sonic wave caused everyone in the village to cry out in pain as their eardrums burst. The sound of wailing filled the entire village.
“IRI ACTIVATE THE BARRIER!”
Gadriel desperately shouted, the life of his newborn son was far more important. He tried going into his house until a light voice spoke from the heavens.
“Gadriel… you have chosen the wrong path.”
A figure on top of the phoenix was shown as a silhouette.
“I know it’s you Vasandra, what’s the meaning of this? Why is the main family involved!?”
“You know all too well, not only is it about your decisions, but also it’s about your evil spawn.”
“My SON!? What sin has he committed? You have no rig….”
Gadriel tried desperately to argue but was interrupted.
“ENOUGH Gadriel, this isn’t an argument. This is an omen from the universe. Your son is a spawn of darkness, and evil. Even if he wasn’t, we would rather be wrong than allow it to be right. Oria set everything ablaze. Leave no witnesses.”
Vasandra had a stern look as she spoke those final words to the phoenix. She whispered some words of comfort to herself moments before.
“I’m sorry… but this must be done, the risk is too high…”
Gadriel and Izaak both stood together as they looked up and felt all the heat in the area be sucked up into a vortex in the sky. The sudden loss of heat caused shivers to run across their bodies and made them feel listless. Meanwhile inside the house, Iri already heard the conversation from outside. She looked at her cute son as he slept peacefully. He had a light barrier around him, protecting him from all the noise and commotion. She looked at Tilla who had already collapsed to the floor from the heat loss. Iri’s willpower to protect her son kept her from doing the same. As she laid there staring at her son she heard the phoenix screech once again.
Gadriel and Izaak both managed to make it back into the room before the attack hit. They all knew there was nothing to do but wait. The moment the attack hit the ground it torched the village and all the residents to ash, leaving nothing in its wake. The three in the room felt the heat return but greater than ever. At this moment Iri had an enlightenment about the Dao of Fire.
“Fire is destruction… from destruction comes creation and brings forth life. It’s all a cycle, everything connects. It is a way of life to protect our son.”
Iri looked over at Gadriel and put Damien in between them holding each other closely.
In the moment when the heat and flames surged through the house she looked up into the sky with a slight smirk as she were rebelling against the heavens. The newfound knowledge had led her towards a path of life. She felt her inner flame, her inner soul and snuffed it out of her body, along with Gadriel’s and Izaak’s. There was no resistance as they knew she was doing her best for Damien. She pulled all their inner souls together creating a white ghastly flame above Damien. She cast it inside his body causing no pain to him. He slowly opened his eyes as his mother talked to him.
“You are a blessing Damien, we love you.”
All three of them appeared to have their life sucked out of them, with their skin withering away. They huddled over Damien as the hellfire came upon them and vaporized them to ash. Their ash fell over Damien as a white glow came out of his body. The glow sucked the remains of the fire into his own body, setting it ablaze as if he were a hellspawn. Slowly the fire disappeared into his body and he fell unconscious under a pile of ash.
Up upon the sky Vasandra stared at the devastated landscape before her. The once beautiful village that was filled with life is now nothing but a wasteland of ash. With a sigh she looked back up to the sky.
“Let’s head back Oria, I cannot revel in this feeling any longer.”
As quickly as they came the phoenix flew straight up and disappeared into the sky leaving behind a void.
A few moments of silence later a sound of wind flashed by and a figure landed on top of the Ashea’s vaporized household.
“I was a moment too late old friend, when I felt the heat disappear I knew something was wrong”
The man floated down to the ground where the house once stood. As the solar eclipse passed by, the light from the sun came down upon the lands once again. The man was rather old with a head full of gray hair, but carried himself with an indomitable spirit. One look at him and you can tell he was forthright and someone to take seriously.
“Only a creature like a phoenix can create this type of destruction with fire, or maybe even a special being.”
The old man furrowed his brows and took a glance around one last time.
“Maybe I can catch up with the culprit…”
Getting ready to take off once again he heard a rustling sound in the ruins of the house. He quickly turned around and appeared onto a pile of ash that was taller than the rest. He swiped his arm across it and created a gust of wind that drove all the ash in the vicinity away. With a look of astonishment he saw a baby wrapped in a blanket radiating a white glow off his body. He reached his arms down to pick up the baby boy and brought him to his chest.
“A miracle amongst disaster….”
After a moment of silence his face became resolute.
“Your father invited me to celebrate your birth…. He kept telling me he would name you Damien because you would grow up to be strong.”
He said this as he stared into his eyes which were now bright and fiery like a fire storm. As he continued to stare into his eyes he suddenly began feeling a searing pain within his head, and almost winced in pain. He quickly looked away and took a deep breath to expel the foreign energy.
“You are indeed special, Damien. Born amongst ash…. Truly reborn.”
He proceeded to wrap Damien completely and in an instant levitated into the sky and disappeared.