CHAPTER 1:
“Seek not to understand the ways of the divine,
for their plans are beyond mortal ken.
Trust instead in the wisdom of the ages,
and let it light your path.”
-Excerpt from The Book of the Phoenix-
Malakai crouched hidden in the shadows of the grand cathedral, the towering stone walls of the Church of the Phoenix looming above him. The air hung thick with silence, disturbed only by the curling tendrils of incense smoke. Shafts of multicolored light filtered through the stained glass windows, painting the interior with an ethereal pastel glow.
He had thought that joining the resistance against the Dragon Knight would give him purpose, a chance to prove himself worthy of the title of chosen one bestowed upon him since birth. But their devastating defeat at the hands of the Dragon Knight's general had shattered those illusions. Malakai had watched helplessly as his comrades fell, cut down like wheat before the scythe. The few survivors scattered to the winds, seeking whatever shelter they could find.
For Malakai, that shelter was the very Church that had raised and trained him. It was a gamble, he knew. If the Dragon Knight's forces prevailed, they would surely come for the church, the heart of the resistance. But if their army managed to turn the tide, then the church would be the safest place for Malakai. And if they lost... well, then it wouldn't matter where he was. There was nowhere else in the world for him to run.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the nave, jolting Malakai from his thoughts. He shrank further into the shadows, his heart pounding in his chest. It couldn't be the Dragon Knight, not already. But as the figure rounded the corner, Malakai saw the glint of dark armor, the billowing of a rich purple cape. The Dragon Knight himself, standing before Malakai in all his terrible glory.
"Malakai," the Dragon Knight said, his deep voice rumbling like thunder, shaking the very foundations of the cathedral. "I didn't expect to find the chosen one running away like a rat."
Malakai scrambled to his feet, hands trembling at his sides despite his efforts to still them. "What do you want?" he managed to ask, his usually confident voice sounding small and weak in the cavernous space.
The Dragon Knight took a step forward, his armor clanking with each measured movement. "I want to know why the chosen one, the great hero destined to defeat me, is hiding like a coward in this church."
Malakai felt a flush of shame at the accusation, but he forced himself to meet the Dragon Knight's piercing gaze. "I'm not a coward," he said, his voice growing stronger, tinged with the defiant pride that had always driven him. "I'm just practical. There's no point rushing to an early death in a fight I can't win."
The Dragon Knight paused, tilting his head slightly as he considered Malakai's words. "You're right," he said at last, his tone unreadable. "You never stood a chance against me. But still, you are the chosen one. You have a duty to fulfill."
The Dragon Knight's hand moved to the hilt of his sword, and Malakai tensed, ready to dodge the coming attack. But the blade remained sheathed, at least for the moment.
"You leave me no choice," the Dragon Knight said coldly. "If you won't face me as the chosen one, then you will die as nothing more than a man. A man too afraid to embrace his responsibilities."
In a flash, the Dragon Knight drew his sword, the blade gleaming viciously in the cathedral's dim light as he lunged at Malakai. Reacting on pure instinct, Malakai snapped his whip forward. It cracked through the air and wrapped around the Dragon Knight's sword. For a split second, Malakai thought he had gained the upper hand.
But with a deft twist of his armored wrist, the Dragon Knight wrenched his blade free, sending Malakai's whip flying uselessly aside. The fire sputtered out against the cold stone floor.
Malakai cursed under his breath and dove to the side just as the Dragon Knight's sword cleaved through the air beside him, missing him by mere inches. Sparks flew as the blade skidded along the cathedral floor. Rolling swiftly back to his feet, Malakai drew his own sword, the grip still feeling awkward and unfamiliar in his hand.
The Dragon Knight advanced with precise, deadly movements, his blows raining down with ruthless efficiency. Malakai parried the first strike, shockwaves reverberating painfully up his arm from the brutal impact. The Dragon Knight's raw strength was staggering, far outmatching Malakai's own. He knew he stood no chance against his foe in a contest of brute force.
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"Why are you doing this?" Malakai growled, ducking beneath another whistling cut. "What do you hope to gain?"
"I do what I must," the Dragon Knight intoned, his eyes flashing coldly behind his menacing helm. "The Phoenix's power has grown too great. Its influence, too far-reaching. The world's balance must be restored."
The relentless assault continued, forcing Malakai steadily back. He parried frantically, his breath coming hard and fast, every jarring impact sending fresh spikes of agony through his burning muscles. A desperate thrust from the Dragon Knight nearly skewered him - Malakai sidestepped just in time, the razor edge of the blade passing so close it sliced through his tunic and drew a thin, stinging line of blood across his ribs.
"You think killing me will change anything?" Malakai snarled, frustration and rising panic clawing at his throat. "I'm just a man - I'm not the Phoenix itself!"
"You are the Phoenix's chosen," the Dragon Knight retorted, unrelenting in his assault. "While you live, misguided zealots flock to your banner, throwing their lives away for a false cause."
Their blades crashed together again as Malakai barely deflected a punishing overhead cleave. He staggered back a step, racking his exhausted brain for any advantage, any way to turn the tide of this hopeless battle. What good had a lifetime of relentless training been, if he was doomed to die here, alone and powerless at the hands of the Dragon Knight?
"And what of the Phoenix's duty?" he demanded raggedly, fighting to keep his blade up as hacking blows rained down. "Its divine mandate to preserve the light? To protect the innocent?"
The Dragon Knight let out a harsh bark of mirthless laughter. "Innocent? There are no innocents in this war. Your 'divine' Phoenix's gifts have brought nothing but destruction to this land. You are too young, too naive, to understand the suffering I have witnessed. The Phoenix is a scourge that must be cleansed from this world."
He lunged forward with blinding speed, and Malakai reacted a fraction too slowly. Agony exploded through his body as the Dragon Knight's blade found its mark, the uncaring steel sliding between his ribs with sickening ease.
Malakai stumbled back with a ragged gasp, his hands flying to the wound. He could already feel the hot rush of blood welling up beneath his clutching fingers as he crumpled to his knees.
The Dragon Knight loomed over him, his sword poised for the final strike. "Now, chosen one," he rumbled, "you will die knowing you failed your precious Phoenix. May whatever gods you believe in have mercy on your soul."
Malakai squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable. His last thoughts were a tumble of terror, regret, and furious defiance at the idea of dying here on his knees, helpless and unmourned.
But the sword never fell.
Malakai cracked one eye open, gasping and shaking, as he heard the Dragon Knight's footsteps retreating across the flagstones. Through the haze of pain, he saw the executioner's dark figure striding with grim purpose toward the cathedral's altar, where the essence of the Phoenix itself resided.
Lifting a fearful, warning cry was beyond Malakai at this point - it was all he could do to keep breathing as he watched the dreadful scene play out before him. The Phoenix, perhaps sensing the malevolent presence that approached it, began to stir. A sudden rush of searing wind filled the cathedral as it spread its incandescent wings. Even from where Malakai lay bleeding on the floor, he could feel the blistering intensity of the semi-divine entity's flames.
But the Dragon Knight was prepared for the Phoenix's fury. As a wave of searing fire blasted toward him, he lifted his shield, and the dark metal seemed to drink in the flames, absorbing the attack that should have reduced him to cinders.
The Phoenix let out a piercing, bell-like cry of distress. In his fading sight, Malakai could only make out a roiling mass of flame, feathers, and holy wrath battling against the Dragon Knight's inexorable advance.
At the heart of that struggle, Malakai's fading senses picked out the Dragon Knight's voice, chanting words in a language that sounded impossibly ancient. It took Malakai's sluggish brain a moment to realize it was some sort of binding incantation. The Dragon Knight was actually trying to cage the immortal essence of the Phoenix.
It shouldn't have been possible. No mortal should have been able to shackle a being that was the force of death and rebirth incarnate. And yet, with a final flare of light and a wailing shriek that shook the very stones of the cathedral, the Phoenix fell - not slain, but sealed away in a prison of the Dragon Knight's devising. Its flames died away, leaving only drifting embers and ashes.
The Dragon Knight's dark figure loomed in Malakai's blurring vision as he approached, something glowing with an unearthly light clutched in his gauntleted hand. Some final fragment of the Phoenix's power, Malakai realized dimly, now trapped in an arcane prison by its greatest foe.
He tried to lift a hand, to summon the strength for one last futile attack, but his body had finally betrayed him. The chill of the cathedral floor seeped into his bones as he lay in a slowly spreading pool of his own cooling blood.
The world went gray at the edges. Sound faded, muffled like Malakai's ears were packed with wool. He was distantly aware of the heavy tread of the Dragon Knight's boots as the towering figure stepped around his broken, gasping form.
A flash of pain, blindingly bright, seared through the encroaching fog. For a single, delirious instant, Malakai thought it was the Phoenix—a fraction of its stolen power rising one last time to reignite the fading embers of his life.
This fire, if it was a fire at all, held no comfort, no solace. It was an illusion, a final mocking flare from his dying mind. The real world was cold. Empty. And in the end, it was the unassailable chill of the void that swallowed him down into a yawning abyss.
Distantly, as if from an unfathomable distance, Malakai registered the screaming of the man who had cut him down. He tried to turn toward it, but darkness was rising up to drown him, and he lacked the strength to do anything but let it drag him under.
His last fading thought as the numb cold consumed him was that, in the end, the Dragon Knight had been right. Malakai, the chosen one, had failed. He'd proven himself unworthy of the Phoenix's faith. And now, it would fall to someone else—perhaps someone he'd never know—to carry on the fight.
Something cold slammed into his neck - the shadows closed over him, and Malakai knew nothing more.