Embers of Love (Book 1)

Part 1: The Choosing

"Underestimating a commander is a problem, underestimating a Phoenix is a mistake."
Chapter 1, Section 1: The Phoenix Pamphlet

Chapter 1

I have to say goodbye to Eleanor today. After she committed an unspoken rule, we were banished to Acril from our home, Eglela, and mount Phoenixes and hoped to survive. After being cashed with scars down our cheeks to our knuckles, we are forced to ride the dark birds. But these birds do not choose well and very well may just flame us as soon as we spot one.
In the population of Epria, there is a college named Claemarth College of Fliers. We border a nearby city called Zoclen, which holds Moxia Dragon College. I fucking despise those lizard looking creatures and their asshole riders they hold. I will kill every one of them. I swear it on my life, that school will burn in front of my eyes, and I will watch and laugh.

✯✯✯

I begin packing my bucket bag for my journey. Spare clothes, a hairbrush, toothbrush, wraps, a medkit, and some books. I especially pack a book called The Peryyies of Ranarry. It's a little story about mythical creatures called Peryyies who survive in a school named Ranarry. They ride gargoyles who set everything in stone. My mother gave it to me before she crossed Balustrade. I always thought it was real, I hoped to ask her, that wish cannot come true now.
My mother looked similar to me, long brown hair, flowy and soft as well. Her beautiful violet eyes glistened in the sunlight. Her skin was porcelain and clear. I'm her mini me. That's what my dad always told me. Fuck I'm going to miss them.
"Hey Vic, dad sent me in to help pack your bucket bag," Eleanor barges into my room.
She runs over and embraces me into a hug. I'm going to miss this. She starts searching through my bag like I packed axes and mallets in there.
"Why do you have so many books," she says and raises an eyebrow.
"Incase I have free time," I respond, never keeping my eyes off of her fumbling with my bag.
"Oh little one no," she dumps all my books onto the ground, including The Peryyies of Ranarry. "In that school, you'll never get free time."
She down at the daggers in her bucket bag and pulls a couple out. When she is doing that, I rush over to grab The Peryyies of Ranarry and stuff it back into my bucket bag.
"If you start wobbling, drop the bag, I'd rather it be your thing other than you," she whispers in my ear and drags me out the door. "The earlier the better, you don't want to be stuck with no crew."
She starts rushing me over to the spire where the Balustrade is held. She rushes to the doors and pushes them open.
She waits with me before entering the gates of the Balustrade. So I don't feel alone. To Enyo their souls fall when they fall or  die in wars against dragons. Today I am not going to seek Enyo. She can get my life, my body, my damn soul when it's my time. But I will not die today.
"Are you okay Vic?" my sister rustles my thoughts. She hasn't stopped asking me if I am okay since we walked into the base of the spire.
We start walking farther and farther in the line. Well, if there was any chance of running away, it's gone. My mind only has one thing swirling through it taking over the pool of memories, every step we take, one more person is walking across a line of metal either leading to perdition, or someone bound to die when we get looked upon by the immortal phoenixes. Hellfire.
As my mind continues to swirl, someone soothes their fingers of the scar that marks me a traitor. I quickly bat it away and reach for a blade sheathed at my left thigh and reach it up to the intruder's throat. I look around at everyone in awe and some people scream and run just to get hauled back by my fathers guards. Babies. I hear a quick gasp from the man in front of me.
"Come on kid! I was just lookin, give it a rest," the man cooed and winked at me. Sick bastard.
"Touch me again and I'll give you," I push Eleanor away, who is trying to get between him and the blade, "this same scar on your dick."
Suddenly, a woman screams and sounds of bootsteps come hoarding into the room. The guards. As I'm busy looking their way the man puts his arms down from his surrender and gently slides his hand down my breasts, to my waist, and finally my inner thighs before making their way back up to my waistband.
I turn my attention back to the old man who seems too distracted by my fucking body that I make a small slice at his throat. Not deep enough to kill him, but definitely deep enough that blood trickles down his neck.
The man drops his hands from my waistband and runs away screaming and holding his throat. Just before the guards barge in, I sheathe the blade away back at my thigh. They burst into the room quickly searching for suspects of his assault. Then they walk up to Eleanor and I.
"Your majesties, have you seen anyone here who injured that poor man running and screaming?" the guards question, looking us dead in the eyes.
I almost break into a giggle before Eleanor saves my ass, again, because just before this, I tried killing someone behind us for bullying her.
"No sir, my sister and I were just simply talking when we heard screams and cries from an old man! All we saw was him running away," she pouts. Gods, her acting is good.
No one dared to speak up against royalty. So the guards just nodded, bowed then marched away as we ran to the gates to catch up in line.
"Survive Vic, I'll meet you when you move past third year, '' Eleanor promised as she stumbled away as I crossed through the gates.
Every scarred being must walk through a tunnel to make sure we can withstand walking and being near a phoenix. The walkway is narrow and goes for a mile across a fire pit. Every July 21st, we walk across and hope to not get burned. They place flames underneath the path so they know we can walk across it.
"Oh, and Vic!" Eleanor called out.
"Yeah?" I questioned. She has a hint of worry in her dark eyes. I always thought they were black, and that's what she always says anyway.
"Once you make it across the flames, meet up with your sister!" she yelped, her silver hair falling soft just above her shoulders.
I didn't respond. I'm almost positive she forgot that she is a deputy now and cannot speak with me. Although, I cannot blame her since our sister graduated from our college, Claemarth College of Fliers. My other sister, Ava, has longer hair than Eleanor, but shorter hair than me. At least, that's what I remember of her. She has a good 6 inches on both of us and Eleanor has a good 5 inches on me, making me the shortest of us. I begin walking up the staircase the Balustrade lays atop of. I can just feel the flames. Making it the hottest day of the year helps none at all either. All I hear is the voices of soon to be fallen people and the chosen ones, and the screams of falling people.
I have my hair in a tight bun in the middle of my scalp. I'm not risking it falling in my face when I'm walking across. My sister always compliments me on my looks. They are really nothing too special. But she says how unnatural it is that my eyes are violet. Just like our mothers. She had just given birth to me before she walked across this damned hell pit and slipped. Dad had also been walking along it when he saw her and almost fell off himself when the dark flames consumed her. We had been taken care of by our maid at the time. Our father, when he got back, forbade us from walking across it so we wouldn't risk the same fate.
"Hey I'm Ivory! What's your name?" a female spoke, intruding my thoughts.
Eleanor and Ava told me, before they left, to make allies, not friends or enemies. And to stay clear of our biggest enemy, Axel Caddel, the banished one. He's a second year this season. He practically ran across the Balustrade without slipping once. Ava and Eleanor shimmied across it and gave me their hand-me-downs so I wouldn't fall off. Ava gave me fireproof leathers from her green phoenix, Bennu, sheddings. Practically making me not to burn to death or be cut anywhere I go. And Eleanor gave me her boots and titanium armor to wear under my uniform that was handed to me by the fliers.
"Uhh hello?" Ivor, or whatever her name was, beckoned. At least I think that was.
I looked up to see a tall female with long hair tied into bubble braids, stare at me with questioning hazel eyes.
"Oh, I'm Victoria, but you can call me Vic," I answered, my nose twitching with discomfort.
"You're the King's daughter, correct? I'm sorry princess, I'm Maddox Hart," the boy's eyes widened as he bowed. He has short brown curly hair falling just above his eyebrows and dimples popping out when he grinned at me.
"Yes but no need to call me princess, I'm just a normal female. The full name is-"
"Victoria Snow, we are well aware," A voice bickered behind me, "Im Jace, but you won't need to remember the name, you'll be ashes before the quarter."
Voices giggled behind me at his statement mocking my foolishness.
"You're a little short to be a flier you know?" Maddox articulated.
"Well aware Maddox," I grumped, trying not to show that I'm fucking pissed.
We slowly made our way up the spire to the Balustrade with Jace and his little minions bickering behind us as we make it to the top. Fuck. Out of the corner of my eye I see the one. It passes by swiftly darkening the sky for a second until it's out of sight. Someone screams and falls off. Oh gods.
I'm really not surprised that we could see him from half way up the spire. That damned phoenix is three times as large as any other and the gold flurrying off his wings as he soars feels like meteors or the end of the world.
As we continue to walk up, I ponder on how many people will die this year. Roughly 20% of people die walking across. And five people fell off these spiral steps last year. That's mainly because the steps can only hold one person in a row, not two people side-by-side. But so far, I've only heard about one person falling before we got here, and two people fell when we walked in. We have divine lights scattered throughout the spire making it nearly pitch black.
"You guys want to know something?" Ivory tests.
Apparently, everyone likes invading my thoughts today.
"Not really," I mutter.
"Well," she pulls a scroll from the straps of her armor, " I don't really know what it is! It has a bunch of old writing that I can't read!"
My eyes widen. Slipot. That's one of the languages I can speak. I can't let her die with that scroll. She'll get killed on sight if anyone else sees that.
"Put it back in your pocket and don't let anyone see it," I whisper.
"Why, you think I'll live long enough to use it?" she fires back
"No, but I think you have a better chance of living if you put it away!" I argue.
Her eyes bulge and she carefully slips it back into the place she got it from. Most people around us look to see what's happening. Someone tries to get closer and their foot slips off the edge. He flails his body around and grips onto the edge. Curious bastard. His left hand slips and he falls off. A bang comes to the center of the spire following a couple of screams. Make that four people who died in this thing.
Everyone looks at me. I just place my hand on my hip, wink, and keep walking but up to my place in the line.