Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Chapter 517: Interlude - Auri - The Phoenix Peaks I

I couldnt sleep a wink.

The wedding had been a blast! Tons of fun! Endless mango juice! Even the three grumps loosened up and seemed to have fun! Petri still had his beak waaaay up in the air, but Ra and Sasha had some good conversation with Night and a few of the older vampires!

They were so old! How did anyone get that old?!

Sashas flames were still burning strong, which was a huge relief. When I got that old, my flames would be just as pretty as they were today.

No! Prettier!

I paused a moment, examining the thought. Was I being too selfish? Too self-centered? Was I making everything about me again?

Hmmm no. It was okay to think of myself now and then, but it was good to double check.

Bah! Stupid no sleep! Dawn was only a little ways away - wed partied through most of the night - and while Elaine and Iona were clearly awake and having a ton of fun, I didnt want to just stare at myself in the mirror until the phoenixes decided it was time to leave.

Hmmm. I wondered if Titania was up yet? I should run around, see about making things a little easier for everyone, maybe get some last-minute baking in.

Apparently, there were no ovens in the Phoenix Peaks, which sounded like a travesty. Thank the gods and goddesses, when Id told Elaine, wed gone out together to the library, and read books on how to make primitive ovens. Add in Lava, and I felt comfortable sculpting my own!

Yeast and other baking supplies would be more of a challenge. At least I could make it feel a little more like home?

I hadnt even left and I was already starting to feel homesick Was this really a good idea?

I fluttered over to the smaller kitchen, and magically started to put everything together with a half-dozen well-practiced [Mage Hands]. Water, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, flour - keeping it as simple as possible today, my mind was elsewhere. I didnt want to try for a ~fancy~ loaf, only for it to go wrong because I was distracted. It was the last loaf I was making for Elaine and Iona before their honeymoon trip - what a silly name, it should be called a mangomoon, mango for Elaine, moon for Iona - and before I left.

They were going to Jurcor! Tropical sun, sandy beaches, little fruity drinks!

I thought as I stirred everything together, before I started kneading the dough.

Exercise time! Exercise day! Use the feet! Work it!

YES!

Yes it was!

I was going to meet all sorts of other phoenixes! I was going to meet others just like me! I was going to see how we lived! What life was like! I had a whole WORLD just waiting for me, that I knew nothing about!

It was a trip, an adventure. What was the point in staying home my entire life, and never sticking my beak into new and interesting things?

I half-prepared more food for everyone, half-cleaned up as I went, trying to make things as clean and nice as possible. I wanted Amber to go wow I miss having Auri here when I left. I wanted Titania to feel my absence. I wanted

I wanted to be felt. To be remembered. To leave an Auri-shaped hole in everyones heart.

I took the loaf out of the oven - where had the time gone!? - and put it on the table to cool. I used my claws to write a little Love, Auri on the bread.

The sun was starting to rise, and it was a good time to say goodbye to Elaine. I fluttered over to the door, and pushed my way in with my beak, making sure I wasnt intruding on a private moment.

They were taking a break. Good.

Hey Im going to be leaving soon. I said.

Elaine flew up, her eyes widening comically.

Oh! Let me see you off! She sprang out of bed, magically dressing herself.

It was too soon, too fast, and we were all outside as sunlight steadily marched down the mountain.

Are you prepared? Sasha asked, the owl turning his head to observe us all. After thinking a bit, he hastily added another question. Have you said all your goodbyes?

Yeah! You aint coming back! Petri squawked.

Plblblblblblbl. I did my best impression of blowing a raspberry at Petri, which infuriated the tupandactylus phoenix to no end.

He had a baaaaaaaad superiority complex, and was so easy to wind up. Just had to do anything vaguely elvenoid, and hed fly into a rage. Id started off being nice to him, before realizing he was an irredeemable jerk and I could be mean to him after all.

Now it was just hilarious winding him up.

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To my concern, he just looked smug.

Roll in the mud with them all you like. He sneered. Once you feel the beauty of the peaks youll never want to leave, and thats a fact.

Iona was staring at him with an unimpressed look, and stage-whispered what Petri had said to Elaine. The three phoenixes snapped their heads around to Iona, Petris beak dropping in shock. Ra started to laugh.

Iona shrugged.

What? Ive got a blessing to understand everyone. She casually mentioned with a slow grin.

A little fact shed asked me to keep quiet, and had never mentioned until now.

Oh she got us! Ra laughed. She got us good! Come on Petri, youve got to admit that was beautifully done.

Ra didnt actually say Petri. The phoenixes had weird names. A lot of bird noises that no natural elvenoid tongue could ever say, each one that was a complex description of various types of fires or flames. Ras was something along the lines of Radiant Midday Sun-Burning-Sacred-Oil at the Ultimate Zenith of the Warmest Summer, but with various additional connotations on how things were burning and the like.

As his public name. He had two more - one for friends, and an intimate one that was shared only with a special partner.

He was cool, so he was Ra for short.

Sasha was named after the owl whod met Elaine at one point when I was an egg - that was close, shed almost been her companion instead of me!! - and Petri was the name that annoyed Petri the most.

Fenrir came down to say goodbye, a long banner waving from his tail. Elaine and Iona both looked surprised at that. Atlas and his crew dragged themselves over, his eyes alight with the fire of anticipation.

Soon, soon, his great headache would be gone! Hed go back to a mostly normal life! With like, 200ish new levels and a bright new shiny class under his belt - tending to the phoenixes for months had been hell on the poor guard.

Id never been as bad as they were.

I shuddered.

I hope I didnt revert back to how Id been, or even worse, like the phoenixes were now.

We said goodbye for now. It was tearful and heartfelt.

Iona shot me a thumbs up, the crisp, bright red lines of her hand tattoo super neat.

You got this little pyro. She said. Youll be back before you know it, and by Selene, I am going to miss your baking. The Valkyrie patted her stomach. I dont know how Im going to avoid starving.

Yes! I was going to be missed!

Fenrir gently booped me with his nose, which sent me flying halfway across the mountain before I regained control. The phoenixes looked horrified.

That was fun! Lets do it again! I said, uncaring of how I wasnt acting like a proper phoenix or any such nonsense.

Fenrir entertained me once more, then growled low and settled down.

Elaine brought me close to her face, every word a quiet whisper but spoken just as solemnly as her wedding vows.

Six years. She said. Its a perfect number, and perfect for you. If youre not back in six years, Im going to the Phoenix Peaks myself and getting you. Is that a deal?

Yes! I said. Six years sounded like waaaaaay more than enough time.

Elaine sniffed as she nodded, and we both pretended she wasnt crying.

Im going to miss you. She bawled. Im going to miss you so much.

I tried to give her a hug with my wings. Stupid short wings! Stupid big face!

I made them just a little bigger, hugging Elaine back.

Im going to miss you too. I said.

I loved being a hummingbird. Tiny! Zip! Zoop! Get into flowers of all sizes to drink their sweet nectar! Able to slip into small cracks and go exploring! The world was an incredibly accessible place to someone my size.

The world was also incredibly inaccessible when it came to covering long distances. I had a lot of points in zippiness, so I could go super fast when I wanted to, but my pushing power was stuck at 30. I didnt have the stamina to cover long distances, and no Elaine to give me unlimited energy.

I didnt have the vast wingspan to carry me great distances, which was why Fenrir was so awesome! He could carry all of us and months worth of supplies without breaking a sweat!

He was awesome for so many other reasons, of course.

All that to say, I found myself clutching Sashas back feathers as I squinted my eyes and leaned forward into the gale-force winds from his flight. We were covering ground fast.

Half a day and we were already over Ralakar, heading north to the Phoenix Peaks.

I dont want you to think weve deliberately kept anything from you. Sasha said, and I got a little nervous. That sounded like theyd kept something from me. But the timing of you finding out wouldnt matter one way or another, but could potentially give the vampires some extreme leverage over us, so we didnt want to explain until now.

I squinted at him. This better be good I was still close enough to home that I could hop off and fly back to Exterreri. Just needed to make it to a single city, make a fuss, and get a nice Ranger team to escort me home, in exchange for a dozen levels. The first thing Petri had done upon meeting Elaine was trying to burn her to cinders, and I still held that against him.

Asshole.

As you must be well aware of, each phoenix follows after a similar bird that can be found somewhere in existence. I take after the noble eagle owl, while Ra takes after the mighty bennu heron. Exactly what offspring a pair of phoenixes will have is up to fate, the gods, the System, or the Essence of the First Flame, depending on your belief. I myself was a surprise between a pelican and a red-tailed hawk, although my mother recalled a great-great-great-great ancestor of hers mightve been a masked owl.

Yup, alright, Im following. I said. I knew phoenixes came in all shapes and sizes - because we were the best - but I wasnt aware of how random offspring could be.

Some lineages are lost. Ra said. Just gone. Ive never seen a swan. There hasnt been one in living memory. I can only imagine how beautiful shed be.

The entirety of the hummingbird line was believed to be extinct. Your presence, your existence, gives hope that we will see not only more hummingbirds in the future, but hope that many other lineages might still be out there. As such, your presence, even should you choose to stay only a few years, would greatly revitalize the community. Sasha said. It is also why we didnt want to tell you earlier. Knowing of your importance could have resulted in additional demands. I hope you dont feel like there was an unacceptable level of deception involved.

Hmmm.

Okay, it was fun to know I was extra-special! Yay! Old-me wouldve obsessed over the idea endlessly.

New-me just made a little tiara and slapped it on my head. Because I was indeed the brrrettiest princess ever.

The knowledge stuff was fine, I guess? It wasnt like it impacted my decision at all, they hadnt lied, it wasnt some false pretense stuff, just a little extra youre a bit more special than you might think. The timing was fine, better now than getting it sprung on me when I was there, and it wasnt like they waited until we were over the ocean to tell me.

Yeah, leave some eggs behind! Petri crowed at me. The rest of us shot him a disgusted look.

Why is he with us? I asked. Sasha looked like he had regrets.

Hes one of the strongest fliers, and was comfortable making the distance. Then he won the lottery of who would come with me. A method of selection I deeply regret.

We flew on, with some good natured bickering, and some less well-meaning insults occasionally traded.

Then we hit it.

The ocean.

The great ocean dividing the world into two halves. It glistened from horizon to horizon, as far as my eyes could see. Id crossed large bodies of water before - wed gone over the Sea of Stars a few times - but this was different in a way. I knew just how far it was, and it put a chill in my feathers.

So much water was just unnatural. The antithesis of life! How could so much of it exist in one place? It made no sense!

Higher. Sasha said, and my ride along with the other two phoenixes soared up, up, up into the sky, up past the clouds, up to the point where the flames making up our bodies started to flicker weakly in the thin air.

I gazed down at the ocean, not wanting to miss this view. It wasnt the first time Id seen it - Id occasionally seen it from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft when it flew over - nor would it be the last.

Largely, it was boring and dangerous, a vast blue expanse of gently rolling waves. Occasionally the wind would pick up, topping the waves with whitecaps and whipping up a howling gale, or the waves would crash into each other, making ship-killing mega-waves.

Near the shore there were plenty of sea monsters, but deeper in there were fewer.

Ooh! A pod of whales! Amazing creatures, able to live in the water like that.

Oh! Speaking of the School! There it was, floating north!

Ha! Poor Artemis, itd take her weeks to make it back!

The phoenixes kept flying powerfully over the ocean, and the light of an erupting volcano against the horizon was our first clue that we were near land again, near the northern continent.

Wed made it.

The Phoenix Peaks were in sight.