The Phoenix's Mark Book 1: Dogs of War

Chapter 2

I held my stomach as I ran, not looking back to see if the beasts were still following me. I didn't have to. I heard their heavy footsteps and panting coming from behind me. I knew they were there, and I had to keep moving. I felt the blood dripping through my fingers and down my side. I turned my head to see the red staining my jeans as it dripped from the open wound. A mistake I should never had made. As my attention was drawn from where I was headed, an upsticking root grasped my foot, pulling me to the ground. My face slammed into the dirt, which was harder than it had seamed. I slowly lifted myself from the ground, slowed from the sudden shock. I felt burning in my lungs as I gasped for air. I didn't have time to stop. If I did, I would die.

I began to approach my house. I wondered if my mother was okay, or if they already found where I was living without following. I tripped again, landing harder than I did before. I stood again, trying to run. It was too late. I felt claws in my back, as the dark creature landed on me from behind, throwing my face forward into the dirt. I looked up as the rest of the dark, shadow-like creatures tore through the walls and roof of my home, getting to my parents inside. They pulled my mother and father from our house, and threw them to the ground in front of me. I felt a hand grasp my neck as someone pulled me up, lifting me in the air.

"Well, well, well," I heard a voice from behind me say. I thrashed in the unknown man's grasp, trying to break free of his hold.

He finally dropped me long enough to turn me around to face the man who had been talking. The beasts had all vanished, leaving us with only their masters' company. "You thought you could escape me, did you?" The hate in voice was extravagant. "Nobody can escape The Order." He pulled back the hood of his robe to reveal his face. His eyes were black and full of darkness. His hair was just as dark as his eyes. His long robes were black with red triming. "Our dogs have your scent, as they always will. If you run again, they will find you. You cannot avoid your destiny. I hope you said goodbye to your mate." He smiled wickedly.

"Fuck you, Oria," my father snapped at the demon.

He pulled his hand from the long sleeves of his robe, planting it into my father's heart. A loud, high-pitched screech escaped from his throat as he began to burn from his own body heat. Fire flew from his body, before retracting and disintagrating him instantly, leaving only a pile of ash and embers. The way a phoenix always dies. Oria pulled a small vial from his robe and poured the liquid over the embers, putting them out.

He did the same with my mother. My anger began causing my blood to boil. I screamed, allowing a blast of fire to escape my body, throwing the man who held me backwards, and lighting him on fire. More of Oria's followers surrounded me, charging at me with their blades ready. I defeated them within a few minutes. If they were demons, I would've had a much harder time killing them, and probably would've ended up dead. Oria doesn't like working with demons, because he can't control them. I looked around, to try and find him. As I imagined, he was gone.

"Laurence," a voice called, pulling me from my memories. I turned to see my foster mother sitting next to me. I drifted off on the drive, unintentionally.

"What?" I asked, sitting up in my seat, rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes.

"We're here," she answered, motioning to the house of the driveway they were pulled into.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and grabbed my bag from the backseat as I approached the house. It was larger than the last one we had, and I expected it to be just as barren. When she unlocked the door and pulled it open, I peared inside. To my surprise, it was loaded with furniture. There was a large, flat screen television mounted on the wall with an X-Box 360 plugged into it. Looking around, I nodded my head in approval. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. "Does that mean you approve?" she asked from behind me, seeing my expression.

"Its better than I expected," I told her. I turned to look at her. She held a countless number of bags in her arms. I smiled somewhat as I took a few of the bags from her hands and brought them upstairs to my room. I threw open the door, and saw it was decorated to my standards, strewn with posters and decorative figurines. I turned to her as she entered the room behind me, having already taken her stuff to her room. "They're pretty good," I complimented, referring to the underlings that deviated the house for us, as I threw myself onto my bed. The main theme of my room was dragons. There were many posters scattered across the wall, as well as figurines on the glass shelves that took up an entire wall. The bed even had a comforter with a large dragon on the top. The room also had other things a teenage boy would need. The shelves also contained a countless number of books. I had a television on my dresser. I began to unpack my stuff and place them where I desired them to be. After I was finished, I joined my guardian, who sat on the couch in the living room.

"What's up?" she said as I flopped next to her.

"Nothing really, kinda hungry," I told her.

"You wanna go out and get something to eat?" she asked, smiling warmly.

"I'd love to," I assured her, smiling back.

We pulled up to the parking lot of the restaraunt. I looked out the window to read the sign. I didn't know where were headed, because Caroline had refused to tell me. "Golden Corral," I read aloud. "Great choice," I said, smiling at her. The wait of the line was longer than usual, because it was a Saturday. After we got a table, Caroline placed her purse down and stood to grab a plate. I sat for a minute, trying to decide what I wanted.

I finally stood to get my food, deciding whatever I see that looks good, I'll throw on my plate. When I rose and turned, I stopped in my tracks. The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one I had been looking for.