Chapter 1
**I WILL POST EACH CHAPTER AS SOON AS IT'S COMPLETED. YOU ARE MY EYES SHOULD YOU SEE ERRORS OR HAVE THOUGHTS THAT MAY MAKE THE STORY FLOW BETTER PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS**
The prophecy mentioned in book 1: The Fire Within!
Unexpectedly 3 meet they shall. Upon thine meeting, great power will awaken, unmatched to any for the flame will be able to wield elements unlike any Windbornes’ before her for she will truly be one of a kind. When the Eagle and the Panther do choose to fight, only then will the Phoenix come to light.”
Chapter 1
Ash
Falling to my knees upon the damp grass next to Sofia’s limp, unmoving form, I reached out to touch her, but my hands hovered over her body, hesitant to what I might find should I do so. I had watched in shock as Sofia’s body had gone lax and then collapsed in on itself, slumped to the ground unmoving.
Hovering above her was the combined entities of Phoenix and Alcyonides or as Sofia referred to the being, Cyon. Ice and fire enveloped the massive bird. The entity had just annihilated Charlie who had wanted revenge against our world, Tenebrosity, for having taken her only child away from her back in the fourteen hundreds.
After we sorted out that Charlie had an Immortal Charm that had kept her alive through all these centuries because a normal shifter though having a longer lifespan than a regular human being, shouldn’t have been able to live through seven centuries of time! We sought an Elder witch who just so happened to be a friend of Blake’s father. Makayla, who told us how we could destroy the charm by pressing it against another Immortal Charm. Thankfully a vampire friend of Sofia’s parents, Astrid had the other remaining charm!
We tried to come up with a plan to get Charlie’s charm but to no avail. But then as luck would have it, Charlie cast a spell to control Sofia’s body and lured her out of her house in the middle of the night. And even though Sofia knew how to break the spell this time around for yes, there had been another time prior where Charlie had attempted to lure her out, Sofia argued to allow Charlie to bring her to her because it was the only way any of us would be able to get close to Charlie without her suspecting anything.
So, Blake and I conceded and let Sofia continue onward with the two of us following behind her in the shadows. Once Sofia found herself standing on a worn down, barely stable, front porch of a home that appeared to be abandoned, Blake stayed nearby in the shadows while I rushed back to Sofia’s home to call her parents and let them know what was going on.
Astrid teleported everyone to Sofia’s home within the Nest and then over to where Blake stood guard in the shadows. As we tried to figure out a plan of attack, we heard Sofia scream out in pain and all thoughts of plans were thrown in the wind as we rushed through the abandoned home and out into the backyard where we saw Sofia sprawled out on some kind of white stone altar!
Without thought I rushed straight for Sofia but found myself slamming into an invisible barrier. Fuck! I shouted Sofia’s name in frustration hoping she can hear me, letting her know we’re here. In horror we watched as Charlie plunged a dagger into Sofia’s chest! I swear I felt a piece of my soul leave my body as the blade was buried deep inside her. It felt like it took forever but Makayla finally shouted out that she had broken the barrier and then Blake and I were at Sofia’s side, lifting her up and off the stupid stone table. We moved to a darkened area of the yard and then suddenly Ja-ja was at my side telling me and Blake that we needed to extract the blade from Sofia’s body so that she could heal herself the way a Phoenix can.
I wasn’t able to bring myself to remove the dagger and thankfully Blake was a bit braver than I was for he took hold of the handle and yanked it out in one swift move. Panic wanted to take over as Blake and I stared at Sofia’s still unmoving form. Nothing was happening making me question Ja-ja as to why. He told us to be patient and a few seconds later our patience was awarded as light began to glow and grow brighter and brighter from the puncture wound.
The light emanating from Sofia’s body becomes so bright that Blake and I have to throw an arm over our eyes and turn our heads away so as not to go blind from the brightness. Suddenly an explosion of light so strong it throws me and Blake backwards, knocking us off our feet comes from Sofia’s body.
My head hit the ground hard enough that I ended up blacking out for a moment but when I came to, I couldn’t believe the sight hovering over me! Sofia stood over me a light somewhere in between the color of flames and ice clung to her body but that wasn’t the crazy part. Massive wings protruded from her back! She looked like an angel sent from the heavens. To say she was beautiful wouldn’t do her justice. She was the essence of pure light!
Commotion raged on behind us and after I got to my feet, we rushed forward to join the others as they fought to stop Charlie. A question I will have to ponder another day though is how Charlie was able to harness magic and utilize the elements enough to be able to send bolts of lightning at us. Shock blanketed my mind as Sofia managed to save me from the attack and to my utter amazement, Donovan, Blake’s dad, threw himself in the path of the one meant for his son in turn sacrificing himself to save Blake!
I didn’t have time to dwell on all that for a moment later Sofia and Charlie were in a battle to the death. Frozen to the spot I stood, I could do nothing more than watch the majestic essence that was Sofia as she threw whips of fiery flames at Charlie. In my chest it felt as though something was changing both within myself and with Sofia. I could feel her rage and anger but there was something more... Like Sofia was losing herself to her shifter essence.
Both mentally and verbally I yelled for Sofia as the threads of our bond seemed to be severing rapidly, I could feel each thread snapping, breaking apart. I’m not sure if Blake was experiencing the same sensations but I could hardly breath let alone move to see if he was okay.
When Charlie was nothing more than a pile of ashes floating across the night sky, I watched as Sofia crumpled to the ground bringing me to where I am now kneeling on the ground next to her body.
**
Blake
“Oomph!” The air was knocked loose from me as I flew backwards. A bright light had begun to grow inside of Sofia and kept getting brighter and brighter and then suddenly an explosion erupted from within her? That’s the only explanation I can think of having happened. The burst of whatever knocked me, and Ash clean off our feet and sent us flying backwards where we both crash landed to the ground below.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Sofia standing over me and to my complete and utter surprise, she was glowing. Like a freaking glow stick, GLOWING! She proceeded to help me to my feet and then we made our way over to where Ash had crash landed. By the time we were standing over him, Sofia had grown wings! Stars above she looked like an angel. Well, an ice-white, fiery angel but an angel none-the-less.
Just as Ash stood, a commotion ensued behind us, and we turned to see Charlie fighting against the rest of our friends and family. We didn’t hesitate to jump into the fray, but as we neared, Charlie turned her focus on us and somehow released lightning bolts aimed straight at us. Sofia was closer to Ash and managed to get him out of harm’s way, but I wasn’t going to be so lucky. I saw the lightning coming straight for me and though I dove out of the way the lightning bolt was still going impact a portion of my body. Until my dad leapt in front of me!
I rushed to his side, but I knew it was too late for him. He took a few ragged breaths in and released each on slower than the last. And then he was gone. My heart wrenched and a grabbed at my chest in a hope to ease some of the pain and then I was momentarily sidetracked as whips of fire lashed out and I saw Sofia was taking Charlie head on!
While Sofia fought Charlie something began to shift within her. I could feel the change in me as well. It’s like my heartstrings were being pulled taught, stretched and just about to snap in half. “What the fuck?” I mutter in anguish and then Charlie was gone, floating ashes drifting through the sky. To my horror, Sofia suddenly slumped to the ground and flying in the night sky above her was what I imagined a combination of Sofia’s Phoenix and Alcyonides would look like should the merge into one mythical creature...
