The Song of a Phoenix

Chapter 1: Outbreak

October 1994. Licentia, Eastern Crathenia

  "We have bombed Iythia and Arden, some of your most important cities, killing several high-ranking government officials. We give you two choices, Crathenia: give us Verethen or we shall wage war upon you. Our forces are ready as ever, so tread carefully. You have one week to decide."

  What a great lunchtime, I thought. The entire orphanage froze in horror and shock, too terrified to make a sound.

  "God save us," Miss Tremlett, one of the carers, muttered anxiously. "Who do the Crathenians think they are? Itramians lived in Verethen for centuries and they massacred our people because the Council decided that it's rightfully theirs. Such fools."

  "Assuming everything is controlled by some being up above," Mr Darley, our new teacher, replied. "If God does exist, we wouldn't have to go through all this. Haven't we already suffered enough?"

  Mr Darley was far by my favorite teacher. Unlike our previous teacher, who got fired a few months ago, he actually made our classes enjoyable and never favored any student in particular. He also treated me like an actual person instead of an outcast, in contrast to most of the other adults here. If anything, I'm grateful for his arrival.

  I looked around the room. Most of the younger children didn't even bother to clean up their stuff— they were all huddled together, crying their eyes out. Fred, my younger brother, was sobbing on the floor.

  I placed my hand on him. "Fred, what can you do about the war? It's not like crying will help."

  "Katarina, manners!" Mr Lowe, the headmaster, exclaimed.

  Rosalyn, my friend, knelt down next to him. "Look. I know it's hard, but the Crathenians most likely wouldn't attack our city. After all, there aren't any soldiers of the Order stationed here."

  Sometimes I wonder how Rosalyn seemed to get along so well with everyone. She was like a mother to the younger children, loved by all of them and taking care of them the way a parent would. She had perfect manners, a perfect attitude, and a perfect personality that even the carers liked her for it. I was the complete opposite of her to them— impolite, rowdy, and unladylike. That's why they never adopted you, the adults always told me. They expect a well-behaved child, and so do we. You're fourteen now, Katarina— you should know better. How Rosalyn thought I was a good friend, I did not know.

  "No... can't... breathe..." Fred replied. "Dizzy..."

  Rosalyn frowned, as if processing everything she'd just heard. "Fred, did you come into contact with anything weird today? Eaten anything unusual? Or maybe you're just sick. Katarina, get him some warm water. I'll get a carer to look after him."

  He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. I smelt an odd chemical stench in his breath.

  Fred was lying on a couch by the time I got back, Rosalyn by his side. I wish I never saw him— his face was pale from who knows what, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips dry and somewhat purplish. I could tell that he was definitely not healthy. "Is he sick?"

  "I—I'm so sorry..." Rosalyn stuttered. "I can't do anything."

  "What are you talking about? What happened to him?"

  "I had him talk to a carer while you were away, so we got Miss Clarence here since she was a nurse and she said he..." she pursed her lips, hesitating to say the words. "It was some kind of chemical. That was exactly what she said. It's fatal. He won't survive."

  "What? No! Fred!" I threw my arms around him, giving my brother one last embrace. Mischievous, cheeky Fred, who always made my day brighter. Fred, who was annoying but still someone I loved. I grew up with no parents and was hated by almost everyone in the orphanage. How could my brother leave me just like this? What could've done this to him? "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you. Please, just tell me you're alive. Please."