The Occult Of Thysia

The steely sword “Astra” pierced through several enemies who were on the line to attack the kingdom of Phoenix. Astra, wielded by its owner, Phyla, who looked at the green, shiny armored attacker with a blank look as she cut his arm from his body, like she was butchering a dead animal. This was her reaction to most of the attackers as she cut through them. She was used to all this violence, and this battle wasn’t any different.

Phyla sat next to a tree, dripping with sweat, and she took deep breaths. She struck Astra to the ground and looked across the battlefield with about two thousand men from both the sides, laying across, dead, reeking with blood. It was a disgusting sight, but that didn’t seem to bother Phyla, for all she cared about was getting back to her castle.

Phoenix was a kingdom with king Tricius ruling over for about 5 years, which had seen countless battles, all for the sake of gaining power. The kingdom was famous for its prosperity, brawny warriors, and, of course, solid magic spells. Yes, I said magic spells and yes, there were witches and wizards. King Tricius was a powerful king with over ten battle experiences, and had earned the title “The Son of Paradise”. Everyone, especially Phyla, loved and cherished him and wanted the best for him.

Phyla didn’t tend the wounded, didn’t check on her army, nothing but headed straight back to her castle.

Phoenix kingdom gave a separate castle to all its king’s protectors. Protectors were the warriors right below the king who ruled separate groups of the army. The army groups were categorized as close quarters, mid field, extensive range, reinforcements, and health divisions. Phyla headed the close-quarter division, Nedo, captain of the mid field division and Zowan, the head of extensive range division and these three were known as the 'triumphants'. The reinforcement division was led by captain Morray and the health division by Yvanna.

The unsympathetic Phyla soaked herself in some warm water at her personal hot spring in her castle. Her castle, “The Forbidden Mountain”, was on top of a hillock, surrounded by a forest, and was feared by the citizens of the kingdom. Well, mostly they feared the owner of the castle rather than the castle itself, for phyla wielded a serious and fearsome look, with a black Smokey eye and two red gemstones stuck on the wings of her eyeliner, which enhanced her hazel color pupils. She had an egoistic attitude and a habit of brushing her chest length, shiny burgundy hair behind her shoulders each time she looked down on others, but what was most fearful about her was her aura. Pitch black.

Auras were the atmosphere around a person and were divided into 3 categories, namely light, moderate, and dark, where light being the most joyful, charismatic and angelic characteristic of a person and dark being absolutely demonic and vengeance filled. Light and dark, being extreme, were the rarest to find in the kingdom.

“Ah! What a day. I need to strengthen my stamina.” Phyla had fought over seven hundred men all alone. She slipped back into her red-black glittery gown after fighting in a tight pants and heavy armor all day.

Oribell, rejoicing, came running to Phyla and started spinning around her. Oribell was a seven-year-old dog. She was the only thing Phyla could call as something “joyful” in her life. Never in her life has she ever felt a tad bit joy in her existence and Oribell was the only thing that gave her a meaning to live. You do not always have a reason to go on, but you can search for a meaning or a reason to live. Phyla found her reason when she was ten years old. The day her father got executed. It was the most terrible thing. Phyla was brought up by her father and her father’s execution changed her completely. She was a brave, happy and a fun-loving kid who loved playing with her father, but after his death, she was still brave, but she turned from a bright colored child to the darkest living person. Oribell was gifted by the king to Phyla to replace the darkness in her.

The messenger crow, Kaage, flew into Phyla’s room through the window, battling the post-war winds atop the hill as she combed her hair. The messenger crows were sent from the king’s palace to all the protectors’ castles to convey information. They were also used by the protectors for their personal communication. “Another post-war assembly?” said Phyla, rolling her eyes, exasperated. Kaage stared at her. Post-war assemblies were held to honour the dead soldiers of Phoenix. The palace burial ground, filled with dead fighters, was laid in straight lines with Poppy flowers on their grave, containing all the members of the army, including the protectors, the king, the queen, and the family members of the fallen.

Half a day after the war, Phyla attended the assembly, standing in front of her division, listening to the high wizard performing his enchantments to help the dead souls to heaven. Or so they say. “Just another battle for the territory.” She thought to herself as she looked at the sky, as the magic charms seeped into her ears.

Phoenix had a long history of wars and battles. Phoenix had a serene beauty with a huge, beautiful, and ornamental Palace where the king resided, surrounded by the waterfalls, rivers and other castles that glittered under the moonlight. The Aurora castle was only second huge to the palace, but dominated the palace in beauty, for it displayed the aurora lights every fortnight. The castle shimmered in the night sky, as though it was made up of turquoise-colored diamonds. Owned by the mid-field battle division head Nedo, the castle would get surrounded by the visitors every two weeks, to see the lighting and sometimes to attend the ball. The Humming castle was resided by Zowan. The castle was famous for generating a humming sound in every room that would calm the minds of the people living in it. The castle had a sanctuary that allowed the citizens to worship. Zowan was known for having the coolest personality in the entire kingdom. Guess the humming chambers do work. Morray and Yvanna had two separate stone castles, nothing great except being built on the banks of the river Katharos, facing each other. Last and the most loathed castle was the Forbidden Mountain, where Phyla lived. The castle was eerie, like a dungeon, but glistened in red and black. Dark color lovers would love the castle.

“I don’t know if living in a beautiful kingdom is a blessing or a curse,” Declan initiated the conversation. Somehow, he never felt threatened by Phyla or her attitude. He seemed to like her the way she was. “I don’t know how many more battles and wars are to come just to capture the land. I mean, we are strong. Can’t they see it’s useless to keep attacking?” He was never threatened by her, but he sure had no courage to have small talk with her, often ending up saying meaningless phrases. “Living in Phoenix is both a blessing and a curse. For some reason, you seem scared. If so, then you don’t deserve to be the junior head of the close-range division.” That blank look never took off from her face since the battle started. Phyla never entertained Declan’s attempt in getting close to her, or anyone for that matter. King Tricius was the only person she respected or will ever respect, or so she thought. She looked up at the night sky again. It was clear, and all stars were shimmering, and she wondered if all the dead ended up as a star. That’s when Kaage appeared in front of her with a note. She looked at Tricius and observed that his messenger crow Karaas also brought a note for him, and Tricius peeked a look at Phyla. A note for both from Jesper. The most awaited piece of information. Phyla’s look changed to a smirk.