OathBlade (Wattys2015)

56. Out of Reach*

The fire lit at the center of the feeding grounds burned high and hot while the group sat round it, relating the details of their situation to the dragons as they ate. They allowed Isandel to partake and he did so happily, remaining in his dragon form as he tore pieces of meat from one of the carcasses to swallow them whole. Misani fed from a nearby berry bush while the others cooked portions of the beasts brought back from the pack's hunt. Elery felt the weight of anger and regret settle in her stomach as she told them of Taelin's betrayal and the method through which Celestine coerced others to help her. By the end of her tale she was weary of speaking and wished she could simply lay down and rest in silence.

The brown dragon grumbled softly. "The older generations know more of the phoenixes than we young dragons do. They warned us of what comes of a phoenix who refuses to purify herself through the fires of death and rebirth, but I'd not thought their powers could be used for such foul ends."

Elery frowned. "I care not the reason, I only know that she has set her sights on ravaging my people and threatens to bring our world to an end. Whatever good she may have been in a distant life means nothing in light of the atrocities she commits now."

"We do not speak to absolve her of blame," the dragon said. He sat beside the brooding dragoness and pressed his flank to hers. "Nothing can undo what you've said she has done. We young dragons know nothing of her crimes, but to hear that a creature of her brilliance has fallen so low pains me."

Elery realized she had painted Celestine as evil from the moment of her creation, though she recollected a part of Isandel's story which contradicted the idea. "I wish she had never come to Leria," she murmured, staring into the fire.

"I've no doubt you do, but she is here nonetheless," Isandel said. "She would not have come here if her own world had treated her kind well. Like us, the phoenixes were hunted. And even if she hadn't been hunted her tender heart couldn't take the wars fought over such foolish matters."

"Why would she be hunted?" Cylphi asked.

"For her power to resurrect the dead," Misani said.

Elery's lip curled. "The people from whom you escaped wished to harness this wretched power?"

"No, you do not understand," Isandel said. "Lore existed of the phoenix's legendary ability to bring the dead back to life. Not as shambling corpses devoid of what they once were but as whole beings. They could revive anyone regardless of the manner of death. Or so it was believed. As many things that seem too good to be true, the story was an exaggeration of the phoenix's ability to trade its ever-renewed life to bring one being back from the grasp of death. The wound did not matter, and if the cause of death was an illness it would be wiped clean. The body would be remade and the soul woven back as though it had never been extinguished. The only limitation on this ability was time. Bodies long-since dead could not be revived. All that was required was a spark of aura and the person would be brought back at the cost of the phoenix's life."

Everything has a price, Elery thought. She crossed her arms. "Then where do these corrupted powers originate?"

"Over time a phoenix becomes tainted," Isandel said. "Pain, anger, and fear all swell within the creature until it becomes unbearable. Most burn themselves out only to be reborn from their own ashes, creating a phoenix who will eventually repeat the cycle countless times through eternity. Some, however...they cannot let go. They cling to hope, and that hope becomes a twisted thing in their minds. They do not wish to risk their lives to revive those they love and so they harness their power in a more corrupt fashion. Make no mistake, that which dwells in these corpses is nothing more than her aura. Though it is separate from her now, if she were to die the aura would be extinguished as well."