My body cracked, twisted at the same moments as my voice cried out feeling unimaginable pain slipped through me with no ending. I screamed continuously as my body morphed, enlarged growing to a size where the throne of Rosa looked like a small ant, even Camelot looked tiny, itself being the size of a small country. Suddenly my body got small to a reasonable size for my current appearance, four to six hundred feet in height. My wingspan is roughly estimated to be Nine hundred feet in width. Turning my head back and forth I concluded I changed into some sort of flying monster or leviathan of some kind potentially a dragon or gestalt.
Flapping my wings rapidly coupled tremendous amount of force I launched myself upwards toward the darkened skies. Around a third of Camelot became flattened due to the force, though I couldn’t reach my full size as it seemed I didn’t have control over it at this time. Nevertheless, I could still cause massive amounts of damage just by flapping my wings. At this time, it became apparent that I morphed into the body of a Phoenix a rare type only seen in legends. The body was burlier, still being as quick as a Phoenix, though they would still be quicker in harsher weathers.
‘Erm… what is that?’ Luna asked finally waking up from her long nap.
‘What! The! Fuck! How are you flying?! Why are you a fucking Phoenix?!’ Luna asked in fright as I struggled to get down. Trying to figure out how to use the nine-hundred-foot-wide wings that were once my arms. I didn’t answer Luna seeing as I slammed into the side of a mountain range destroying a good half of it. ‘Guess this will be a learning curve like riding a horse or balancing on your hands. Just takes time.’ I thought launching upwards was a lot harder than before. As I slowly got the hang of it, I tried slowly down and speeding whilst bringing my wings in and out to see if that would do anything like increase aerodynamics.
‘I know you’re having fun and all that but what would Onrath’s kings be thinking seeing a two-hundred-foot black Phoenix fly over them with crimson gold eyes. Not to me talon the giant black wings and the two sharp talons attached to your two fucking tails respectfully!” Luna exclaimed as I twisted my body into a barrel roll sending me into the side of a cliff rocks flew off as a result this even caused me to bleed slightly. Shrugging off the feeling of hurt I barrel-rolled successfully through a nearby valley in the kingdom of wolfgar.
Flying low in the valley I could hear screams of people running for their lives no doubt seeing a giant black Phoenix low in a valley. Ignoring Luna’s protests, I flew up and up until I reached the clouds. ‘Riftstep- lightning crawl’. At the spoken interval of the words lightning seemingly covered my entire body. Upon the lightning wrapping around my wings, I rift-stepped above the clouds avoiding them all together.
The massive wingspan and entire black phoenix body blocked out the sun from view making the world grow dark. My body and wingspan were a moving eclipse. Flapping my wings to keep me upright looking down on the realm of onrath, even though these eyes belonged to my nearly six-hundred-foot body, the realm still felt small. ‘They look like ants.’ Luna said seeing through my eyes as I peered down with the golden sun at my back. ‘I used lightning with riftstep’. Imagining that moment again I tried to feel for the lightning. One fleeting moment pass then my core as another type of mana I could use made its presence known. Lightning mana is now part of my repertoire. Another thought lingered on my mind thinking of my current host of skills or powers at my disposal.
Phoenixes unlike dragons didn’t have four limbs thankfully they had ways around that. Phoenix had a mana spell so to speak called flaming rebirth that with self-death they could make their mana more powerful for short bursts. I wanted to try but knowing I wasn’t a Phoenix I couldn’t figure out how it worked so in the end forming another spell I learnt from last Life called thousand blades of Solarance. I thought of the spell within mere seconds thousands of blades formed behind me, in my mind, I was opposed to using this on anyone or anything but another part of me wanted to use it.
‘Thousand blades of Solarance.’ I spoke in my mind, a pillar of light shot towards me with amazing speed throwing my inner voice off kilter. With a decisive quick reaction, I dodged the pillar of light that burned a violent white hue of religious enlightenment. ‘Your mother’s magic?’ Luna asked as I dropped from the sky to lower myself below the clouds yet still blocking out the sun. I knew this wasn’t my mother’s magic but someone familiar to me a sort of pseudo master in magic, the court mage of Amaranth, riel’s capital. Malonis, the white archbishop of onrath.
As he readied his second pillar of light I landed on my two clawed tarsus and talons. My entire body was held up by an entire mountain range ten or twelve strong. Watching through my enhanced sight as mage after mage readied spells, no doubt to take me down though it would do little effect seeing my form is covered in feathers even scales stronger than dragonhide. Malonis now close to sending his pillar of light, he was abruptly stopped by the crown prince of Riel who shouted a coordinated message. I watched as all mages nodded their heads reading to attack once again with the crown prince Imra in toe.
‘The royals really want you dead, don’t they?’ Luna asked as stood motionless watching. Waiting. One spell after another spell flung towards me. The impact towards my scales along with my sharp-fanged feathers didn’t do much but the constant barrage was quite annoying. The semi-holy attribute of mana gave a bitter aftertaste. When Malonis's pillar of light hit me the holy power tore right through my wing making me lose balance for a split moment. ‘Master?!’
Moving slightly on the mountains which were nothing more than rocks beneath my feet. After Malonis sent another pillar of light at me I felt a barrage of them hit me coupled with laughter like he was proud of something. Imra, Imkli and Harmon the three princes shot spells along with their sisters and parents the king most notably was laughing the loudest. The only two not laughing were Lyra and Imkli, he just looked awfully ill. Deathly so.
‘Humans. They make me sick.’ I groaned out. The tramonic blood in my system had become stronger since taking on this form which made my spells more powerful along with making me more durable from attacks. ‘So that’s where the black tint comes from’ The tint of black mixed in the blood seemed to actually be from my tramonic genetics not my cure. In response to the constant barrage of spells, I slammed my claws that were attached to my wings onto the mountains and then back into the air with the force that should accompany nine-hundred-foot wings. In my Phoenix form, I screamed out trying to replicate a dragon’s roar yet my own roar was more of a violent deep sound like a growl. At this, everything froze. Deep blue lightning spat out from my maw similar to a dragon’s breath just as my back became lined with my own golden fire. All holy spells from mages, priests even the royals halted to the point of being able to hear my echoing scream.
Reeling my body forward towards Riel’s capital amaranth I stared down at the mordid’s descendant with a deathly hate in my eyes. He fell onto his backside in horror along with Malonis who watched my wounds heal from the barrage he had sent but something also changed inside me. I could feel the weight of my throat. Clenching my jaw feeling my vocal cords reverberate inside my throat as I coughed inwardly.
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“I suggest keeping yourself in your borders would be wise. Never come for my home! Never try and take Rosa if you want to live o’traitorous descendant of mordid!” I growled in a tone befitting of a queen. Without skipping a beat, I flapped my wings flying into the air above the clouds. Lyron sat bewildered, the priests formed the shape of a cross on their chest. The citizens and others in attendance just stood in horror. ‘Black Phoenix huh. Maybe I shouldn’t use this form and keep it a secret from everyone for now.’ I thought flying through the air directly towards Camelot and Chernobyl which sat just out of view beyond my sight.
Roaring again seemed to quake the earth less than when I was clutched onto the mountains. I had to admit though its currently brief, It’s exhilarating to feel the power that is now held in my hands Phoenix form or no. When the roar eventually became silent, I landed with a wobble at the helm of Camelot ruins just before the keep. Quickly shifting involuntarily from my Phoenix form to my humanoid form, there was some discomfort as my body when back to its natural pain not to mention the fuck tons of pain.
…
“Fuck I’m tired.” I said staggering through Camelot’s ruins directly towards the half-shattered throne on the white marble dais. Gracing my hand across its surface I twisted turning my back to it and reluctantly lowered myself to sit on it yet. Just before I did sit on it, I lifting myself back up. I taking a few steps back off the dais to look at the once-shiny golden throne that had a dragon and wolf statue on either side of it.
“I’m not ready for that just yet… I need to figure out who I’m meant to be and recover what I had lost from so long ago.” I tried to fix a smile walking further from the throne altogether. Taking a deep breath gripping my spiked crown in my hand I spoke again looking back one last time. My heart thumped heavily, my eyes widened seeing the ghosts of all the knights of the table that stood by my side so long ago. “Tristan. Gawain. Geraint. Percival. Galahad. Merlin. Bedivere.” I paused seeing my knights all smile even bowing to me but one spoke.
“We await your return, your majesty. Ready or not.” Percival spoke placing her hand on her chest, her ghost even went so far as to kneel to me slowly followed by the rest.
“I’ll return in time.” I responded to her trying to keep the tears from my eyes.
“We won’t stop waiting just like the last five thousand years, waiting for our reincarnations to remember these lives.” Tristan smiled as they faded from my vision back into the world of the dead. Just like me, they reincarnated though, some faces and personalities seemed similar or familiar. Tristan was no doubt Corvus by just the way the scruffy young kid looked compared to his peers and Percival seemed to take the look of Anne. Only the knights and I knew Percival hid her true gender which thankfully never became common knowledge.
“We will stand by you to eternity’s end. My master and queen rias pendragon.” For the first time I heard Percival speak from the heart in both lives, speaking the name of my current life. Catching a glimpse of her and everyone’s reincarnations a smile formed on my face. Tristan was Corvus and Percival was Anne no doubt about it yet, I had to let them figure this out for themselves. Now realising I had two goals in my head leaving the ruined keep. Ghosts of the civilians knelt or bowed their heads to me. Their Smiles or faces full of tears filled me with emotion, without realising It became clear my emotions were turned on for the first time since my father died.
I wanted to look back but… I knew that if I did I wouldn’t leave this place. “I’ll let the sky fall. Let the worlds crumble to rebuild what I’ve lost.” I monologued under my breath walking through ruined street after street towards the entrance of the castle city gates, taking detours or whatnot. Each street of ruined shops, houses coal miners or places of work had ghosts standing watching me. They knelt or, bowed some even placed their right hand on their left peck with their head lowered.
Reaching the entrance of Camelot I saw three figures and a bond waiting for me. My mother stood beside Corvus and Talia, my mother’s axe hung off her back as always. Her brunette auburn hair braided into a Nordic knot, commonly worn by sentinels. Beside my mother stood Talia wearing her queen’s guard assassin uniform with two blades crossed over the back of her waist, her hair tied into a ponytail with a few strands hanging either side of her face. Beside her stood Corvus the dark elf-human hybrid, my best friend and the reflection of Tristan.
He was one of many friends, I could rely on in both lives. His dark complexion was a bit of fresh air compared to its ice-cold pale skin in my previous life nevertheless I didn’t let it bother me. Unlike my mother and Talia, Corvus wore dark leather armour of elven design aligned with green stitching. Green material with the elven tree of life embroidered into the fabric hung from the waist elegantly I must add. His hair though long yet scruffy matched the style plus the personality of Tristan wholeheartedly.
“The king has called for a subjugation of all beasts in Chernobyl. It’s been commanded by Imra and his two brothers…” he paused as I looked back one last time seeing all the ghosts fade from my vision entirely. “Rias what should we do?” He whispered making me come back to my senses.
“Trista- ah no. Corvus did he say that?” I asked in return looking at my best friend who seemed to look confused. I stayed silent for a second still gripping the spiked crown in my hand. This was noticed by my mother and Talia simultaneously both offering their questions. My mother’s question was more concerned with the crown in my hand.
“We know what you are but no one else does. We need to keep it a secret for as long as possible.” My mother said placing her hand on my cheek. The gesture was soothing. “Will you still go after her even now?”
“I-I… yes I will.” I hesitated to answer at first remembering my past life but even then I couldn’t change my answer of wanting to kill the maiden. Now I wasn’t going to look for her and fulfill my revenge that way, instead I’ve now decided to bide my time. To wait essentially. Become stronger before I kill her. I want to make it feel better when I do eventually kill her. “For now, let’s focus on this subjection of all beasts. Obviously, he didn’t fucking listen.” I said looking to Luna who snickered.
Talia stepped towards me looking almost straight into my soul asking me one single question that I responded to pretty much immediately.
“Will you transform into that Phoenix again?”
“Nope. Nor can I do it at will… it has a process to it.” I said in return looking towards tris- no Corvus for help. He shook his head and began to stroke Luna’s fur gently which she liked a hell of a lot. Then I explained to all of them that I only transformed after I realized who I was. Something id did figure also was seven out of the ten kingdoms were formed by the knights who betrayed me and sided with mordid.
Nevertheless, potential allies included The queen of the moon Medea, the nine-tail Astyria and the queen of powder Obunaga, are three figures who could be important allies just like another.
“Even if we want help from those three, we need to keep the secret of who you are an actual secret.” Talia said looking deep into my eyes. She was right though we couldn’t just go around announcing who I was now as that would cause a catastrophe especially me being able to shapeshift into a continent-sized black Phoenix if I chose to be that size anyway. As Talia dropped her hands she looked around and something panther-shaped jumped out of her body startling all of us even Luna was a bit phased.
“It’s okay this is Ironwitch, she is my guardian beast.”
“A spiked leopard. Very metal I must say.” Luna said placing her right paw over her nose and assessing the guardian beast before us. A large five-foot-tall creature with two tails and spikes covering its back towards its spine. Her black fur was sleek and smooth like a calm open ocean with no depth to it, purple eyes shared through its bond with Talia.
Before we could continue with our chat, an assassin came down onto my head with a forearm-sized blade. It seemed he thought he could win by using his speed to try and kill me which was his loss. I sighed inwardly rift-stepping behind my current position, pushing him to the ground with my left foot buried in his neck just with enough force to not snap his neck instantly. He twisted even tried to use spells but none of it worked which was a surprise to everyone.
“So spill it, who sent you?” I asked pressing down on his neck as my right eye and crown started to glow with a slight golden hue. The golden fire rune on my back burned slightly as I infused heat into my boot that slowly made the assassin’s skin char.
“He sent me! He didn’t think you would live Ludwig’s-!” His words were suddenly cut off as an arrow shot directly through his heart from above. Two more no four more assassins were above us all wearing Mordid’s crest along with Wolfgar’s crest underneath.
“Who’s next then?” I asked turning my head to the assassins, my right eye glowed as I summoned red death to my hand. All the assassins vanished without a trace of their existence. From the fluctuations in mana, they only became increasingly difficult to find after a certain distance was crossed. “Who sent them?!” I asked myself. From what I could summarize it was likely either wolfgar or mordid.
“Why am I not surprised?” A sigh left my lips seeing a note that was left on the ground from the assassins that vanished. ‘Do not attack. Just assess the current situation’.