The Chronicles of Phoenix Bloodheart I: Turning Red

Chapter XXVIII: Red

Phoenix springs from the shadows, a flash of red shrieking with a battle shout so piercing and sudden, it is enough to sow panic around the room. Her screeching voice echoes off the rocky walls with fury, with venom. Falkor closes his mouth. The Steelfeathers stop in their tracks as the red-haired elf lunges towards Norros, who barely has a moment to turn his head and loosen his grip on the goblin, letting her dead body fall to the floor.

Norros stretches to avoid Phoenix's violent sword stroke, before thwacking her sword hilt away with his palm, knocking the weapon onto the floor. In a blind chaotic rage, Phoenix punches the leader with spite and hatred, then follows up with another strike, crunching her fist into his temple, knocking him out cold. He is sent sprawling, landing near the injured Steelfeather and the mage, who turns towards Phoenix as she picks her sword up from the floor and growls at him.

The woman beside Django dashes towards Phoenix, followed closely by the Steelfeather with the broken nose, while the other three looking for Falkor turn to one another apprehensively before shuffling over to her with uncertainty. Phoenix continues her attack on the mage. He casts a quick spell which is nullified by Phoenix's dark iron in her pocket. The ginger elf moves to swipe at the mage, who steps aside. But Phoenix's jab is a feint, and she instantly returns with a proper strike towards his head. Her rapier goes straight through his left eye and halfway into his head, blood and gunk spurting everywhere. The Steelfeather lets out a bloodcurdling scream, which is cut short as Phoenix removes her rapier from his eye socket and kicks him with her heel square into the wall, before thrusting the sword into his neck and withdrawing forcefully, making sure of his death.

In this moment, Phoenix may well have been Bwonsamdi himself. Death is swirling around the room and the elf is the instigator now. The woman who heavily wounded Django is now upon Phoenix and swings her sword towards the red-haired elf, who is glaring back at her, incandescent with fury. Phoenix parries the blade, but the other three Steelfeathers approach her from behind, while the elf with the broken nose moves into the corner and raises his sword, forming part of a circle that surrounds her.

Everything Django has taught Phoenix, all the training, the advice, the encouragement, comes down to this one moment. She is outnumbered five to one and, even now, so close to her blind rage, knows the odds would usually not be looking good. But she is not alone.

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The monster of Draenor, Phoenix's best friend and outcast of his orcish clan, Seven, stumbles down the steps, breathing heavily and struggling to keep up with the one he loves.

He sees her near the far corner of the room, moving her sword faster than he has ever seen, deflecting blows with ferocity and wounding her assailant with a stab to her arm. The four others around her, while cautious, move to attack too. Phoenix turns at the last moment and instinctively falls to the floor near the injured woman, quickly turning the movement into a cartwheel. She carefully tilts her sword at the last moment to balance along the contours of the floor so it doesn't drop. She ends up on the other side of the table, near Django's dying body, creating distance between the five Steelfeathers.

Three of them start to run towards the ladder to approach the other side of the table and cut Phoenix off, but clamber into Seven along the way. He snarls and guts the one closest to him with a mortal strike of his dagger. The other two, startled, step back, but Seven offers no respite, grabbing one and throwing him into the wall with full force, shattering the elf's bones. The third cowers and steps back.

Seven uses this moment to glance at Phoenix once more, who is now battling with the woman again. Her attacks force Phoenix to deflect them, but the Steelfeather keeps moving forward, forcing Phoenix back towards the other corner, beside Seven's bed. The elf with the broken nose also advances towards her. Seven leaves the cowering elf and rushes towards his accomplice. As soon as he does so, the elf scampers underneath the table, joining the Steelfeather with the broken leg.