Reclaimed (The Phoenix Chronicles Book 1) (22 page)

Summer heard the splintering of wood and the rumbling of stone. She put her arms around them and felt the wielding power move from her to her friends. It pushed off her body like a powerful shield.

Everyone was gripping each other tightly. It felt like ages until all the sound stopped and there was no longer any movement.

Summer was the first to lift her head. She looked at all of her friends and let out a sigh of relief. Besides some scratches they were all okay.

Tracy coughed. “Summer?”

“Glad you guys are okay!” said Summer.

“You're on fire,” said Petar matter-of-factly.

Summer stood up and looked down at her body. Sure enough she had flames dancing around her still. The strongest part was around her hands where they were completely engulfed in flames.

She clenched her fists and then opened them. “What is going on.”

There was loud clapping behind her that made her spin around.

“The phoenix,” said Damien. “Very impressive.”

“I'm surprised you're still alive,” she answered. Over his shoulder she could see the bodies of Jasper and a few men. “And that they're alive too.”

“I could say the same.” He brushed his clothes off and seemed irritated that the white powder just kept smearing. “But now it's time you really come with me.”

“I think I made it pretty clear that I wasn't going to.”

“You did but, I'll kill your friends if you don't.”

Summer looked over her shoulder and felt her rage ignite all over again. Her friends were surrounded by half a dozen wielders.

“I refuse to lose them.” The fire around her body began to grow. “Because my brother is throwing a fit!”

She put her hands together and shot a tunnel of fire at him. Damien was taken off guard and barely avoided getting blasted.

His face contorted into some ugly mess as he closed the distance between them. With each step he shot a ball of fire. Summer easily blocked them with an attack of her own which only infuriated him more.

His moves became more quick and sloppy. Some were aimed at her and others shot off in random directions. He knew he was losing and his ego wouldn't let him quit.

Summer had always wanted sibling rivalry but, not like this.

It was then that Summer spotted the book of relics in the grass. She dove at Damien and kicked his feet out from under. He landed hard on his back as she scooped the book up.

“Good move,” he said, breathing heavily. “Too bad it won't save your friends.” He stood up straight and winked at her. “It was nice seeing you sister. I know we'll meet up again.” He looked at his wielders. “Now kill them.”

“No!” screamed Summer.

Her friends didn't stand a chance. They were exhausted and could barely move.

Summer started to run but, she knew she wouldn't make it in time.

No, it can't end like this
, she thought.

She stopped, let out a cry, and threw her hands into the air. A phoenix rose from behind her and soared through the field. It left a trail of fire as it dove towards her attackers.

The wielders didn't have a chance to do anything but, stare in awe. It crashed into them and sent them flying into the field. The bird soared into the air and disappeared like it had never even existed.

Summer stood there, her body swaying from exhaustion. She waited to make sure none of them got up before collapsing. The last thing she heard was Tracy shouting and then there was darkness.

Chapter 26

Summer blinked a few times and quickly tried to sit up. It felt like a dozen hands were shoving her back down.

“Relax!” said Tracy.

Summer obeyed and waited for the rest of the room to come into focus. The white walls, clean sheets, and the smell of rubbing alcohol was a comfort she didn't realize would give her such a huge amount of relief.

“We made it,” she breathed.

“Because of you bird lady,” said Petar.

Summer looked around and smiled at all the people surrounding her. Tracy, Petar, and Nora were all in chairs next to her bed. The elves were on her other side and a few council members stood behind them.

“Where's Ash?” she asked.

“Right here,” he answered, walking into the room. He had two backpacks slung over his shoulder and dropped them by her bed.

Summer welcomed his embrace. He pulled her off the bed and right into his arms.

“Ash!” shouted a female light wielder. “It's only been a few hours.”

“I'm okay,” said Summer, smiling at the woman. “Just really tired.”

Ash sat down in a chair and kept Summer tucked into his chest. She didn't care if she was dirty, her hair was a mess, and she probably smelled. They were all safe and she was back with Ash at the training facility.

Tolai came forward and bowed his head. “I'm sorry for what you went through. Thank you for being brave enough to take on Damien.”

She shrugged. “I had no choice. Thank you, though. It means a lot.”

“We heard you fought hard,” said Nareh. “And that you summoned the phoenix.”

She shrugged again. “I think so. I just wanted to get out of there and make it back safely with my friends.”

“This is a big deal, Summer,” said Van. “What you can do was thought to be a myth. Now we have hope.”

She could feel herself blushing. “I guess. Were we able to catch anyone?”

Nora began to fidget with her hair. “Just Zach. He admitted everything and needs to go to a wielder trial where they'll try to get information from him.”

“What will happen to him?” asked Summer.

“Wielder jail,” answered Tolai. “Hidden and protected by magic.”

Summer sat up and grabbed Nora's hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Nora smiled sadly. “It's okay. I would've found out eventually. Better now than later.”

“Summer,” said Nareh. She leaned over and handed her the book of relics. “I think this belongs to you.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged the book to her chest like an old friend.

“I fought hard for this,” said Summer. “I'm so glad he didn't get away with it.” She looked at everyone in the room and then back down at her book. “Now what?”

“We leave as soon as possible,” answered Van. “You'll be much safer in the Elven kingdom and we can help you try to translate the book.”

Summer bit her lip and looked down at her tattered clothes. She couldn’t do anything about her soreness but, at least she could get cleaned up.

As she was scanning her body her eyes landed on her arms. The vertical part of her mark that traveled down her arm now had six short, horizontal lines that went through it. She pulled back the half burned sleeve on her other arm and wasn’t surprised to find the same thing.

Everyone was silently watching her as she looked up. “What does this mean?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Nareh cleared her throat. “We’re not sure. We wanted to ask you when this happened?”

“When my friends were about to be killed and a huge bird took out everyone,” she mumbled as she traced the fresh lines.

“Another mark of the Phoenix that we have to ask our King about,” answered Van. “And all the more reason to leave right now so you can get some answers.”

Summer looked back up at him and attempted to cover her arms with the blanket. “Can I get cleaned up first?”

“Of course,” said Van, holding up his hands. “You take some time to do what you need.”

“Just make sure to stay here,” chimed in Tolai. “This place will be heavily guarded. Ash packed clothes for you so there's no reason you should leave this area.”

She looked at the two bags questioningly but, didn't want to say anything in front of all her visitors.

“We'll leave now,” said Ash.

“You stay,” she said, grabbing his arm. “We need to talk.”

Everyone took that as their cue to leave. Once the room was quiet she laid her head down on Ash's chest and closed her eyes. The rhythmic beating of his heart and him stroking her hair almost put her to sleep again but, she wanted to talk to him.

“Why are there two bags?” she asked.

“I'm going with you.”

Summer carefully got up and sat back on the bed. As she was moving she caught a look at her clothes and almost died of embarrassment.

“Ash!” she exclaimed, pulling the covers up over herself. “Why didn't anyone tell me I was basically naked?”

It looked like someone had taken scissors and a blow torch to her entire outfit. The shreds were barely covering her bruised body.

He raised an eyebrow. “You were unconscious and I couldn't move. Tracy and Petar had to drag four bodies back through the portal. The last thing they cared about was your clothes.”

“Four bodies?”

“Me, you, Nora, and Zach.”

“Oh,” she said, her face dropping. “Anyway, I was thinking that maybe you could stay here and watch over this place.”

“You don't want me to come with you?”

Summer sighed. “It's just that I don't want to guilt you into something that you really don't want to do. I'll come back.”

Ash leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “I'm going because I want to. It was easier to hold a grudge against the elves but, my dad wasn't around a lot. I'll learn to let that go if it means being with you.”

Summer smiled. “I can't say no to that.”

Ash moved to sit on the bed and made sure to keep his distance. Summer didn't enjoy being half naked and he was doing his best to make her feel more comfortable.

“Now I need to tell you what Jasper had said.”

Summer furrowed her brow. “What did he say?”

“That when all the relics were used together they can make wielders.”

“What!” she shouted, almost dropping the covers. “He really said that?”

“Yup,” answered Ash. “I don't know how it's done or how strong the wielders are. We just need to get these relics and make sure he doesn't.”

Summer frowned. “He already has some gloves. Hopefully we find the other five.”

“The elves can help translate the book,” said Ash as he gestured towards it with his head.

Summer glared at him. “I need to get cleaned up. A lot has happened in the last few days and I still don't think it's all sunk it.” She clutched the covers to her chest. “We could have died, Ash.”

He moved towards her and carefully touched her bare shoulder. “But we didn't and you're pretty powerful.”

“So is my brother,” she said, looking down at the covers.

Ash grabbed one of her hands, not caring that she was irritated when half the comforter dropped.

“Damien was different when he came here. Very lost and angry,” said Ash. “There is nothing you could have done to save him.”

“I just wish I could have talked to him before all of this.”

Ash gave her hand a squeeze. “You guys both had crappy lives. He chose to be an idiot and you're doing the right thing.”

“Am I?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “He is an evil ass but, maybe at one point he thought all his intentions were good.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “Maybe the council does have too much power. The elves might use us more than we’d like to think. He's just going about it the wrong way.”

Ash nodded. “Maybe but, he killed innocent people. It's hard to see the good in that.”

Summer looked down at their hands and ran her thumb across his.

“You're right,” she said. “It still sucks.”

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I'm sorry.”

Summer rested against the headboard and let out a long breath. She closed her eyes as the sheer exhaustion of what she went through hit her. The last twenty-four hours were mentally and physically draining.

Ash moved next to her and wrapped his arms around her body.

“Ash I'm a mess.” She had meant that in more ways than one.

“I don't care,” he mumbled.

They sat that way for quite a while but, sleep never came. Her mind was racing as she thought of all of the things they had to do.

There was a sudden knock at the door that had her almost jumping out of bed. A light wielder poked her head in and had a sour look on her face.

“You should both be resting in your own beds!”

Ash stretched his arms and ignored her. He flinched slightly and grabbed his right side.

“What's the matter?” asked Summer.

“He had three broken ribs,” said the woman. “That's why he doesn't need to be moving around or squished up against another person. We can only heal so much and his injuries were bad.”

“Ash!” exclaimed Summer. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“What for?” He shook his head when he saw the frown on her face. “A rib injury just has to heal. No reason to give you another thing to worry about.”

She rolled her eyes. “You still need to take it easy.”

“Smart girl,” said the light wielder. “I’ll be down the hall and around the corner if you need anything. Showers are through that door,” she said, pointing to the back of the room.

Summer thanked her and stood up. She stretched and groaned loudly. It felt like her body had been run over by an elephant. Every single muscle was sore. She hadn't been this bad since the first time she worked out at the training facility.

“How did you find me?” she asked Ash.

“Beat it out of Troy.”

She started to laugh until she realized he was serious. “What happens to him now?”

Ash stood up and walked over to Summer. “Same place as Zach. They both deserve it.”

Summer bit her lip. “So it was Zach who killed both of them?”

“He admitted to it. The first one was to scare you so you trained harder and Doug was an accident."

She let out a long breath and walked over to her bag. It wasn't the original one she packed but, Ash did a good job gathering everything she would need.

“I'll wait here,” he said and laid back down on her bed.

As Summer disappeared into the bathroom there was a knock at the door. Nareh stepped in and nodded her head in greeting.

"She's almost ready," said Ash.

Nareh sat in a chair near him. "I'm here to talk to you. I need you to know what you're getting into."

Ash sat up. "I think I made it pretty clear that I don't care what happens. I'm staying with Summer."

"Good," replied Nareh. "She needs her friends but, more importantly you."

"Why?"

"Summer is brave and has come a long way but, there will always be that small part of her that craves the relationships she never had as a child. She needs to be reminded that you and her friends care about her or she'll fall into the trap of her brother's lies. Do you understand?"

Ash nodded. "She's safe with me."

Nareh rested her hand on his arm and smiled. "Good. We'll see you shortly."

Just as she left Summer was coming back into the room. She took a quick shower; making sure to wash all the soot and grime off of her body.

She smiled as she carefully wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and laid down next to him. Her face fit perfectly in the curve of his neck. He pulled her closer to him.

Summer took in his scent and it brought back the memories of what he had done for her. It felt as if Damien had put her in some kind of trance and she couldn't break out of it.

What Damien had really done was prey on her insecurities. It scared Summer to think that someone could quickly sway her decisions by promising to give her the one thing she had always wanted--- family.

She reluctantly pulled herself up and gave Ash a quick kiss. “Are you ready to go?”

He sat up after her, offering her one of his rare, sincere smiles. “I am. Let's go find the elves.”

Summer put the book in her bag and shouldered it. She made sure the straps were tight because there was no way she was losing it again.

In the hall a set of guards were waiting for them. They nodded and led the two of them towards the field. Waiting near the council's tower was Petar, Tracy, and Nora. Next to them was Tolai and the elves.

“Hey,” said Tracy. “Glad to see you're out of bed.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling at them.

Summer looked at the way they were dressed. All of them were wearing hiking clothes and had packs on their back.

“Are you all-”