The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (24 page)

The eagle instantly
entranced Breanna. Even though it was still a large distance away,
she could see every detail as if it hovered in front of her face.
The eagle’s wings glided through
the
silver night sky, the
stars
glistening
off its silk wings. Its eyes were storm cloud
grey
,
contrasted
by its jade beak.

Breanna slunk out of her
tent towards the magnificent bird. She ignored the muffled
arguments from the men in the background
.
Nothing could distract her from
this gorgeous creation.

She snuck past the men and
into the high grass
,
where the dew washed against her skin and the sweet smell of
honey wheat filled her nose. As she and the bird drew closer,
Breanna could almost feel
the
silky texture of
its
feathers rubbing against her
fingers. She closed her eyes as the bird slipped into a
nosedive
,
then...

Whap!

“
Are you touched in the
head, woman?
” Eoghan incredulously shouted
at a dazed Breanna.

Eoghan’s body pressed
Breanna into the ground. The only part of his body not touching
Breanna was his head
,
and that was inches from her face yelling at her. Eoghan
cushioned her head against his forearm when he knocked her to the
ground.

“What are you doing?” she exclaimed,
heart pounding in her chest. She pushed against his body but Eoghan
was all muscle and was not moving.

Breanna tried to kick him
off her but Eoghan dug his hips harder into hers
, preventing her
from swinging her
legs up and pushing him off.

“You almost got your head taken off!”
Eoghan continued to shout.

Breanna saw a flash of
gold in the sky and watched as the bird flew away from her. She
stretched one longing
a
rm towards the bird and let out an agonizing
scream
.
"Nooooo!"

Bre tried to scramble to
her feet
,
but
Eoghan grabbed her arms and held them down in the dew-covered
wheatgrass. She winced as he squeezed harder, wrapping his fingers
around her
wrists
.

Shaking with fury and
desperation, Bre watched the bird perch on a nearby cliff. Her
anger pulsated through her veins and her eyes
welled
with tears. Before she or
Eoghan knew it, Eoghan flung off her in a burst of unnatural
strength and she was on her feet, sprinting after the
bird.

Four men cut her off with their swords
drawn. With one swipe of her hand, the men were tossed sideways,
clearing her path to the eagle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw
four large animals keeping pace with her. She knew them well. They
were her family and were consumed by the same longing she felt.
Their yearning for the bird turned to anxiety, quickening their
pulse and blood flow to the muscles.

“I need you,” Bre growled through
staggered breaths. Being away from the bird was physically
unbearable.

Bre reached the bottom of
the cliff the eagle waited on,
and
the giant bird gazed down at her with an
enticing, hitherward look. Just as Bre started to climb the cliff
wall, a violet light engulfed her body, gently restraining her
movement. The warm and comforting light eased her
anxiety
,
and her
thoughts became clear. She thought of her mother, Eoghan, and the
three men around the fire.

Suddenly, a piercing
screech from above signaled a war cry as the bird dove behind
Breanna. A black cloud trailed the eagle as it twisted the violet
light away from Bre. All thoughts of her mother and Eoghan
vanished, replaced only by
her
longing
to touch
the eagle.

Breanna spun around to see
where her precious eagle had gone
and
found
it hovering above a woman in a
silver tunic. The woman
jabbed at the
bird
with her sword. The four men Bre
effortlessly tossed aside joined the attack against the eagle.
Breanna’s rage was too intense for her to contain.

Macabre growls emanated
around her while hooves and claws dug into the dirt. “You can have
the men, but the woman is mine,” Breanna
said
to her animals.

The four animals sped off
towards the fight, each heading
to
one of the men. Breanna snapped her
fingers
,
sending
a sharp crack echoing through the night. Her clothes changed to a
black sleeveless dress with a tightly wrapped white rope showing
off her curves. Her hair turned blacker than the
night
,
and the
iris of her eyes turned snow white. Bre stared at the woman
attacking her eagle
, and
an evil smirk rolled across her face.

Lightning struck
consecutively as thunder boomed through the skies. The first
lightning strike cindered the ground where Breanna previously
stood
,
and the
second struck in front of the mysterious woman where Bre
reappeared.

Without giving
her
time to defend
herself, Bre slammed her fist into the
woman’s
jaw, knocking her
unconscious. Bre picked
her limp body
up
by the collar and threw her a few
hundred yards away. A puff of brown dust
was
the only
sign
of where the body
landed.

Bre climbed a nearby rock
and sat cross-legged as she watched her animals fight. The eagle
perched itself on her lap and dug its talons into her leg. Bre
stroked the silky feathers; it was every bit of bliss she imagined.
Power emanated from the eagle into Breanna
through
the talons in her leg.
Breanna’s power heightened her senses; she could feel the moonlight
cooling her skin, relieving the heat
of
her powers that burned her from
the inside out. She could hear the pounding
heart
of a mouse scurrying from the
battle, smell the metallic scent of blood from the woman she tossed
across the field. She could see ripples of the wind rolling across
the high grass, dancing under the stars.

The eagle tightened its
grip on her leg as a soothing female voice whispered in Breanna’s
mind,
Do you feel the energy of war, Your
Majesty? Embrace the passion. Let it fill your
heart
.

Bre closed her eyes as she
listened to the voice. She could feel her animals wage war against
the four men. She envisioned the men and could feel their pounding
hearts in her chest. Her legs tensed as if she were running then
bracing herself against a tiger attack. Her arms
were tight
as if
swinging a sword, and she knew the defensive strategy in their
minds as if
it
were
her own.

Bre was drawn to a man
using two swords to fend off her wolf and decided to influence his
battle strategy. She pictured the battle two steps ahead of time,
like a chess game
.
she imagined
the
wolf lunging for
his
throat and the man dodging the attack by
somersaulting under the wolf. A moment later,
it happened
in the fight. Her smile
was cruel as she played with each man and animal
,
controlling moves through her
imagination.

While Bre exercised her newly acquired
powers of manipulation, the night sky turned an ominous mixture of
black and emerald green. The eagle screeched in protest and dug its
claws deeper into Bre’s leg. Bre winced and drew her mind away from
the battle as her blood trickled down onto the rock, burning holes
where the blood splattered.

“Let go of my daughter!” a
jet of white light streaked through the air and struck the eagle,
but the bird refused to let go
of
Breanna.

Use your power. Feel it
bundle from the depth of your soul and charge up towards your
fingers
, the voice whispered
again.

Without
hesitating
,
Bre
urged her power to the center of her chest and kept it bundled as
it accumulated pressure
,
until finally it surged out from her palm. She
sent a stream of red light to her immediate right.

Whomever Bre shot her
power at deflected the light and sent it hurdling off into the
distance
,
casting
a crimson glow against the emerald sky. Bre was outraged that her
power was easily deflected. As
she
stood up, the eagle let go of her leg and
resettled itself on her shoulder, once again digging its talons
into her muscle.

How dare she challenge
such a powerful queen as you? Lay her bones into the depths of the
earth. Show the world no power is a match for ours!
the voice urged
Breanna
.

Breanna called all her power to her
chest. Her heart pounded in her ears as power rushed together.
However, this time she could not control the pressure. She wanted
to stop, to let go of the power, but she did not know
how.

In the distance, her
animals whimpered in pain and limped away from the men. Breanna
screamed as her ribcage expanded from the growing bundle of power.
She heard a crack and doubled over, falling onto the rock. Blood
spilt from her mouth
and
burned a smooth path through the rock’s surface,
smoldering the high grass below. The eagle took flight, hovering
above Bre’s head.

The high grass rustled and a man
rushed forward with his sword.

There was no way she could
defend herself against her enemies now. She tried to lift her arm
to shoot another red stream of light. She rolled over, arching her
back in pain. Breanna clutched her chest as her body cracked in
several places from the growing bundle of power. Her screams
were
muffled by
the
blood
streaming
from her
mouth.

Release your power. Take
your vengeance on these weak humans. Punish them!
the voice
screamed
in Bre’s mind.

Breanna tried
to control her power
with what was left of her fleeting strength. She needed to
release her wrath on her foes
,
but she was too broken. She felt her body rise
from the rock and hover over the ground.

Her clothes, hair, and
eyes returned to normal and she looked down at who she thought were
her enemies
,
only
to find
those
she
dearly loved. Her mother, Eoghan and Lysandros, accompanied
by
the
three men
she saw arguing with Eoghan earlier. They froze in panic, staring
up at Bre forebodingly hovering above the ground. Bre weakly smiled
but more blood streamed from her mouth, singeing the ground below
her.

Finally, Bre’s strength
failed her and power erupted from her chest in an explosion of red
light. It coursed out with such velocity
that
every bone in her
ribcage
broke
and
her
spine
snapped
in multiple places. The burst of power sent the eagle
crashing to the ground
,
where it lay limp against a rock.

Bre crumbled to the ground like a
ragdoll. She could barely move her head as she tried to look for
her animals. She heard a huff to her left and saw them all lying
down, unable to move.

Alina and Eoghan reached
Bre first and each grasped a hand
.
“Eoghan, do you know how to heal yet?”

Before he could respond, two other men
ran up from behind Alina.

“No, but they do,” Eoghan said,
motioning towards two men racing towards them.

“Brian! Cailean! Where did
you? How? Never mind, help me save her
.
She doesn’t have her healing
powers yet
.
Oi!
You three! I did not bring you here to stand around. Get over
here
,” Alina commanded.

Nik, Cole, and Leo did as
they were told. Cole and Nik settled themselves on Bre’s left side,
while Leo picked Eoghan up by the back of the collar
and said
, “Out of the
way, kid
.
Let
the
grown-ups
handle this one.”

Brian sat at Bre’s head
while Cailean took his place next to Alina. Eoghan struggled to
free himself from Leo’s grip
,
but it was no good. Leo walked him over to
Lysandros
and said
, “I hear
you’re
quite the swordsman
.
You can stand guard with me and Lysandros
in case
another eagle
shows up.”