Chapter 2: The Phoenix
They had been walking for days, but there was no sign of the phoenix. Hugh was increasingly more agitated, and the other men avoided Lycirion. Lycirion’s wolves were looking too, but they had searched most of the forest without any luck. On the seventh day, Lycirion looked up into the sky and murmured, “Please Great Phoenix… I need you.”
The continued to walk for a few more hours, when suddenly, the land dipped of into an unexpected cliff. Lycirion glanced over the edge to see a huge bowl filled with big beautiful plants with fruits and flowers of all kinds. In the center sat a huge regal bird, which was about the size of thirty battle wolves stacked on top of each other. Its plumage was grand and reached out in what looked like fire. The bird seemed to be staring directly at Lycirion, and he had no doubt that this was the phoenix.
Hugh seemed to appear beside him and glanced into the bowl also. “Is this the phoenix?” he asked.
Lycirion could only nod, astounded at the pure size of the thing. How rude! Lycirion froze at the sound of a feminine voice in his head. You never comment on a woman’s weight. You should know that, Lycirion!
“You’re the phoenix?” Lycirion asked experimentally.
Of course! What, do you normally hear voices in your head? She made a strange chuckling sound.
“No.” Lycirion told her bluntly.
“Lycirion? Who are you talking to?” Hugh asked, sounding concerned.
He didn’t bother answering. “Please, Great Phoenix, this man is a sorcerer from the Kingdoms… He needs your help. Can you speak to him?”
She laughed again, Of course not. You’re special. I don’t normally speak with humans, and I’ve certainly never spoken with a human quite like you before. I can’t put a talon on it… It’s like you’re more open than the other humans. More receptive.
Lycirion looked at her plainly for a moment, then finally said, “Fine, I’ll translate then. Can you understand him?”
Yes. But don’t you want to talk more about…?
“Another time. Hugh.” Lycirion turned to the sorcerer.
“You know, I’d rather you call me Foxe than Hugh, please.” He corrected.
“Fine, Foxe, tell the phoenix about your problem.” Lycirion said.
“So you can speak to him, then?”
Lycirion nodded and added, “Her, you mean.”
Foxe laughed nervously, “Oh. Well, Great Phoenix, where I’m from there is a terrible illness which has infected most of the population. No one had died before I left, but it is only a matter of time. I would greatly appreciate it if you could give us some of your tears to help us heal our people. Of course, we will give you anything you please in return, including year-round protection from all who dare enter your realm.”
The phoenix nodded her head slowly. I would be happy to do so, but…
Lycirion translated, “She says, ‘I would be happy to do so, but…’”
I can’t just cry anytime I please. You will have to make me cry.
“I can’t just cry anytime I please. You will have to make me cry.’” Lycirion finished.
Foxe glared at Lycirion angrily, “Are you making this up? Is this a joke to you?” The phoenix let out a sharp screech from her perch and flapped her wings.
He’s not lying, don’t be a brat! She shouts.
“He can’t hear you.” Lycirion tells her.
She sighs. I know.
There was a pause “…She really said that?” Foxe murmured eventually, his eyes fixed on the bird.
“Yes. We’ll have to make her cry... somehow.” Lycirion lowered himself over the cliff edge and dropped agilely into the bowl. Foxe followed less gracefully with two big pots in hand. The two approached the phoenix carefully. She allowed them to climb upon her chest and rest there.
“How do we…?” Foxe handed a pot to Lycirion.
Talk about something sad.
“She says to talk about something sad.” Lycirion relays to Foxe.
“Sad…? Okay, how about this? Once, I had a beautiful mare, and-.”
“No. Talk about the people with the illness.” Lycirion suggested.
“Oh. Well. Right now there are four hundred people at the school, there would be a lot more, but all the students haven’t arrived yet. They should be soon… Anyway. I’m the healer of the school. I am the most powerful healing mage that is known at the academy. Yet, my wife was the first to come down with the illness. I thought I could handle it, but it was my own arrogance that lead to the spread. Now, there are many good people. Friends, family, that are infected that might die, and… it’s all my fault. I-I don’t know what to do…” He took a deep breath, “My nephew caught the illness through my carelessness about a week after my wife caught it. I hadn’t been watching him closely and… well…” Foxe swallowed, “It’s painful to see the ill people just lying there, y’know? Especially the children, and, goddess, when I left my nephew was so weak, he could barely move, his skin was thin as parchment, and I could do nothing for him. I don’t want him to die, he doesn’t deserve this, none of them do… But I brought this on them, I let things get this bad, and, and what if I can’t save them? What if my wife, and my nephew die?” Foxe is the one who looked near to tears. He was almost startled when four huge drops fell into each of the pots.
There! Don’t cry! I’m glad I can help. She said.
Lycirion told him what the phoenix said, hoping to stop the potential waterworks. It was not exactly the thing he was best at, dealing with emotions.
“Huh? With respect, how are four tears supposed to heal everyone?”
Just dilute it with water silly. It should be enough for five hundred people. Phoenix laughed softly, but you should hurry home. My tears will quickly lose their potency.
“She says you can dilute it with water and it’ll be enough… She also says to hurry because the tears will lose their potency.” Lycirion explained. Those words spurred Foxe into action. He scrambled up the bowl and sealed the lid of the pot tightly with magic. Lycirion followed at a much more relaxed pace. “Thank you, Great Phoenix. I hope we meet again.”
Oh, we will. I’m sure of it. She chuckled. Very sure.
“Lycirion! Hurry up with the tears, please.” Foxe called urgently. With a soft sigh, Lycirion climbed the bowl and handed the pot over to Foxe, who sealed it carefully as he had the first. He then turned to the men in armor, they had dismounted their horses and they watched Foxe and Lycirion expectantly. “We have the tears. Everyone will be saved.” He said simply.
There was a rise of excited cheers. Many men hugged each other, some hugged Foxe. One man even hugged Lycirion. “Thank you, young one. With this, my dear sister will be saved.”
“I did it for a reason.” Lycirion answered stiffly, quickly stepping out of the embrace. Lycrion had to brutally squash all his instincts to attack when being suddenly held in such a way, even if it was harmless.
The men eventually clambered onto their horses and took off at a much faster pace, leaving the servants and Lycirion to sprint after them. The servants were quickly exhausted, but Lycirion had an inhuman amount of energy, and he sprinted alongside the horses. Well, granted, the horses weren’t exactly running, but it was still impressive.
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Somehow, it only took them three hours to return to the village. Lycirion contributed that to the phoenix’s magic, and he wondered what it was like to have something so convenient. It was already nightfall, and the men were prepared to run through the night, but the leader ordered them to rest for the sake of the servants. Rather suddenly, Lycirion realized that there were no women in the group. He looked among the servants and the men in armor, but there wasn’t a single one.
Lycirion had insisted that no one stay in the huts, so the men were sprawled out around fires on thin bedrolls. Lycirion sat beside Foxe, who was reading a book quietly while chewing on some bread. “Foxe.”
“Hm?”
“Why aren’t there any women among you?”
Foxe turned to Lycirion. “Well, they’d be a burden, not to mention, distracting.”
“Burden? Distracting?” Lycirion was stunned. He knew that some of the men in other villages thought women were ‘distracting’ in battle (especially the more competent female warriors), but never a burden. How did an entire group of men think that way? Lycirion had been taught from a young age that women made the best warriors. They were often more flexible and had a higher pain tolerance.
“Have you not gotten to the age where you see women that way? How old are you?” Foxe glanced at Lycirion curiously.
“Around 15 winters.” Lycirion answered.
“Really? I thought you were 17 at least!” Foxe laughed. “You’re pretty intimidating for a 15 year old.”
“In my village, children start training at 5.” Lycirion told him coolly.
“5? Wow. So the rumors about the barbarians really were true.” Foxe muttered under his breath. Lycirion ignored the words.
“Why do you think women are a burden?” he asked instead.
“Huh? Well, they are just too weak to handle these sorts of things.” Foxe seemed to wince at his own choice of words. “Of course, that doesn’t make women useless or any such thing, but they are better suited for other jobs, you see?”
Lycirion shook his head and swiftly interrupted, “No, women make the best warriors.” Foxe just shrugged. He glanced back down at his book, then back up to Lycirion.
“Lycirion, can I ask you a question?”
Lycirion frowned, “Depends.”
“What happened in this village?”
Lycirion’s face was schooled into a mask of coldness. “There was a battle. I’m the only one who made it.” He sighed, “Well, me and the wolves.”
“Yeah, about the wolves… how do you command them?”
“I’m stronger and they know it. They will listen to me because of that.” Shikra chose that moment to lay by Lycirion’s side. Lycirion laid a possessive hand on the wolf’s side.
“He seems to like you, though.”
“Wolves don’t feel love. I can never forget that. They would not mourn me if I died.” Lycirion thought of La’ram. “They mostly fear me.”
“Really? Why do they fear you?”
“They attacked me before once. I killed about twenty of them then. Well, Shikra wasn’t born yet.”
“They attacked you? Why?”
“The previous Wolfmaster had died, and there was no apprentice. To be fair, I picked the fight.”
“Was it after the battle…?”
“Yes.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Four winters, perhaps.”
Foxe stared at Lycirion in awe. “You killed 20 wolves when you were 11?”
“Yes. I wasn’t as good at fighting yet, but I was skilled enough. I mostly lacked experience.” Lycirion got a distant look in his eyes, not that Foxe could see it underneath the helmet.
“Oh… well, I’d like to get some sleep if you don’t mind.” Foxe felt the oppressive silence in the air and attempted to escape.
Lycirion grunted and stood up, “Till morning then.”
“Till morning…” Foxe spent his last waking hours wondering if it was normal for a child to be able to do that, even here.
{The next morning}
“All right, that’s it. We’re ready?” The leader asked his men. There was a few grumbled agreements scattered among them. “Then we’re off.”
“Hold on a minute… We have to wait for Lycirion.” Foxe said.
“Look, Foxe, you can’t control this operation anymore. Now that we have the tears, your part is done. We need to get back to our families. So just sit there and look like a doll.”
“But-.”
“Where are you going, Foxe?” Lycirion seemed to appear from nothing.
“Back to the academy of course.”
“Did you forget our deal?”
“Deal?
“You were supposed to teach me magic. Didn’t we have an agreement?” Lycirion showed his cut glove with a scowl.
“Oh, well… aren’t you coming to the academy with me?”
“No. You will teach me here. I don’t want to go to the academy.”
“Why not?”
“My place is here. With the wolves.” Lycirion motioned broadly.
“No, I must go back to my wife, she-.” Foxe stopped, seeing no softening in Lycirion’s face(or at least, the part he could see), “I have a duty as a healer, so I must return as soon as possible. You understand that I can’t stay here with that job there, right?
Lycirion sighed as if dealing with an irritating child. “When can you come, then?”
“Um… well, I don’t think I could ever come here. I would need knights, and a healer’s job is never finished and…” he trailed off with a weird nervous sound.
Lycirion nearly jumped at Foxe and slit his throat for daring attempt to break a Blood Oath, but he restrained himself thinking of the binding spell he had been subjected to before. Instead, he began to contemplate the idea of going to the academy. Perhaps he could learn more powerful magic there? That would be a plus. But, he would have to leave the wolves, he knew how people tended to react to wolves. Besides, they would hate being around a lot of people and he wouldn’t be able to control them well. By the time he got back… the wolves will have surely moved on or forgotten him.
On the other hand, what would be good about going to the academy? What could he get besides magic? An idea entered his mind. What if he got himself a wife? A woman who was strong and would bear many powerful (possibly magic-wielding) children. He never wanted a woman from another village, because that would be too much trouble, but a woman from the Kingdoms… that might just work. The two of them could bring his village to its former glory. Maybe there would even be other men and women willing to join him as well. If he found enough powerful warriors… The ideas were really churning now and a small smile formed on Lycirion’s face.
“All right. I’ll come with you to the Kingdom’s Academy.” With that and a nod mostly to himself, Lycirion dashed away. He quickly ran to Berasien’s hut and grabbed a couple of his favorite books and assorted useful items. He tossed them into a discarded bag with a few spare blades of differing shapes and sizes which he wasn’t wearing right then and came back to Foxe. “Let’s go.”