Phoenix13: Redemption (Phoenix13 Book 2)

Part #12: The Thirteenth Hour: Chapter One

Chapter One

Kalligan awoke to a feeling of crushing airlessness. Gasping wildly, he pushed himself onto all fours. He was shaking violently. His heart was in his throat. His lungs felt as if they'd been glued together; it took several deep, panicked breaths to open them back up. By the time his vision readjusted and his hearing came back, he was beginning to realize that he was freezing cold. Fresh snow brushed against his hands. He shifted back into a crouch, wiping frozen powder on his borrowed Defense League pants.

"Zephyr. Are you okay?" Neveah's voice spoke behind him. He stood up, turning to face her. She was standing beside Roxanne, who was sprawled out, limp and sleeping peacefully, on the ground. All around them were strange rectangular gray stones; some stood in pairs, supporting a third slab between them. Others had toppled or been lain flat on their sides. Together they formed two circles, one inside the other. The outer was a full circle, while the inner was more of a horseshoe-shaped half circle. The tallest slabs were about three times Kalligan's height, standing like stern, silent sentinels above him. One structure at the front of the outer circle consisted of four towering upright stones supporting three massive horizontal slabs; through the middle of the three doorways they formed, two distant, lone-standing rocks could be seen. They stood side-by-side, twin soldiers silhouetted against the eastern horizon. It was an ancient place of mystic and ritual, standing alone in the middle of the seemingly endless moorland. Kalligan could sense the power thrumming through the age-old rocks.

"I'm fine," Kalligan said. He stared around, eyes wide and mouth half-open in awe. He felt faint, but other than that, he was unscathed. "Neveah, where are we?"

She tilted her head. "It's called Stonehenge. A place of worship built across 1,500 years and completed during the Bronze Age."

Kalligan blinked. "Which nation?"

"Oh, it's not in Monterra," she replied. Her tone was light, casual. As if this wasn't the craziest thing Kalligan had heard all day. "It's in the land formerly known as England. Over the eastern ocean."

"England," Kalligan repeated blankly. Holy shit.

"Actually," Neveah continued, seemingly oblivious to his utter shock and disbelief, "its purpose is considered a mystery, but I know that it was you and Kyros who had it built. I remember it well. As if it were yesterday, as you modern people like to say. Although you were known by different names then." She paused, looking pensively around at the ancient stones. When she returned her attention to Kalligan, there was a small smile on her face. "I'll be right back. I'm going to return Nikki Renn to Nathandra. It isn't safe for her to stay in Varadrín." Before Kalligan could do more than open his mouth, she had disappeared in a flash of white light. Even after she was gone, her small, knowing smile lingered in his mind's eye.

Kalligan stood unmoving for a long time after Neveah was gone. But then he heard Roxanne mumble something in her sleep, and realized he should put her somewhere more comfortable. Kneeling beside her, he shook her shoulders. She didn't respond. Tentatively, he pressed two fingers to her throat. Thud. Thud. Thud. Her pulse was slow but strong under his touch. Standing up and bending over, Kalligan wrapped his arms around Roxanne's limp form, hoisting her upright. Half-carrying, half-dragging her across the stone circle, he settled her beside one of the tipped-over rocks. Brushing snow off of it with his bare hands, he pulled her up onto it. He tucked her fur-lined parka tighter around her. There. Nice and warm, he thought.

Behind him there was a sound like air being suctioned from a plastic bag. He sensed rather than saw Neveah reappear. A moment later, he heard her almost imperceptibly light footsteps approaching.

"Did you find Nikki?" he asked.

She stopped beside him. He glanced at her, and saw her gaze—now a beautiful shade of brown—fixed on Roxanne. "Yes," she said absently, "she wanted to know how you were. I told her not to worry. And then I took her to Nathandra. She's safe with her grandparents. I spoke with them for several minutes. They said they'd take care of her. They love her very much."