The frigid winds howled through the Silverspire Mountains as Kaito and his party trudged along the treacherous, snow-laden paths. The message had come abruptly—a fiery streak tearing through the heavens, a celestial body crashing somewhere deep in the mountain range. Ignisia, the legendary phoenix, had fallen.
Kaito tightened his grip on his cloak as he climbed a jagged ridge. The higher they ascended, the thinner the air became, their breaths turning into white mist. Beside him, Seren’s eyes flickered with arcane energy, scanning the environment for magical fluctuations. Liora moved ahead, her wolfish senses attuned to anything unusual, while Elara kept close, shivering from the cold despite the thick layers she wore.
“It should be close,” Seren murmured, consulting the scrying orb in her palm. “The energy signature is fluctuating, but it’s unmistakably Ignisia.”
Liora sniffed the air. “I smell burning… and blood.”
A pang of unease settled in Kaito’s gut. A wounded phoenix was no trivial matter. Even more concerning was the thought that something—or someone—had managed to bring down a creature of myth.
“Let’s move,” Kaito urged.
They rounded a cliffside, and the crash site came into view. A vast crater marred the once-pristine mountainside, molten rock sizzling in the snow. At the center of the impact zone lay a colossal bird-like creature, its plumage flickering with embers. The mighty phoenix trembled, one wing twisted at an unnatural angle, its golden-red eyes half-lidded with exhaustion and pain.
Elara gasped. “She’s beautiful… and she’s hurt.”
Kaito stepped forward cautiously, but before he could speak, dark tendrils of energy crackled around the phoenix’s leg. A metallic snare, inscribed with glowing runes, was clamped onto her limb, siphoning her power. The bindings pulsed ominously, tightening with every movement the creature made.
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“A hunter’s snare,” Seren hissed. “An advanced one at that. Someone wanted her alive.”
The phoenix’s eyes fluttered open, locking onto Kaito’s with a weary, pleading gaze. He could feel her voice reverberate in his mind.
Free me… the darkness stirs…
Kaito wasted no time. Summoning his Worldweaver magic, he extended his hand, golden threads of energy weaving toward the snare. As soon as his magic touched the bindings, a violent backlash erupted. A wave of shadowy force lashed out, nearly knocking him off his feet.
“Kaito!” Elara cried, steadying him.
He clenched his jaw. Whoever had crafted this trap wasn’t an amateur. If conventional magic wouldn’t work, he needed a different approach.
“Seren, try an ice incantation. If we weaken the structure of the snare, I might be able to unravel it.”
Seren nodded, her hands glowing with blue light. Frost crawled along the metal, causing it to crack in places. Kaito focused, weaving his threads into the gaps, tugging at the intricate bindings.
With a final burst of energy, the snare shattered, dispersing into harmless shards. Instantly, warmth radiated from the phoenix as her energy surged back into her form. Her feathers blazed to life, and she let out a resounding cry that echoed across the mountains.
Ignisia rose to her full height, shaking off the remnants of her imprisonment. Her luminous gaze softened as she regarded Kaito and his companions.
You have my gratitude, Worldweaver.
Before Kaito could respond, the ground trembled. A ripple of darkness pulsed through the crater, as if something buried beneath them had stirred.
“Did you feel that?” Liora growled, her ears twitching.
Ignisia’s expression darkened. The Voidspawn stir beneath the world’s crust. Their slumber grows restless. This was no accident…
Kaito’s heart pounded. If Voidspawn were awakening, Elderhaven was in greater danger than he had realized.
The phoenix extended a wing, plucking a single shimmering feather from her plumage. She placed it in Kaito’s palm, and an instant warmth flooded his body.
This is my gift to you, Worldweaver. A Flame Feather. It shall shield you from fire’s wrath when the time comes.
Kaito bowed his head. “Thank you, Ignisia.”
She let out one last piercing cry before soaring into the sky, her fiery wings illuminating the twilight horizon.
Kaito turned to his companions. “We need to get back to Elderhaven. If the Voidspawn are waking, we don’t have much time.”
With urgency burning in their veins, they began their descent. The true battle was yet to come.