Page 17 of A World of Ruins

‘What is this place?’ I ask as the biting cold fills my lungs, and I breathe out puffs of mist.

Hira uses her staff to guide her as we reach a point where, surprisingly, the cold subsides, and there are mismatched summits made of granite. ‘Pintock Mountain,’ she says.

My foot scrapes across the ground, and I frown as dust flies into the air. I kneel, rubbing two fingertips through the dirt.

‘What is it, Miss Nara?’ Tibith whispers.

‘Ash.’

‘Here is where the ceremony of a phoenix’s rebirth occurs.’

I look up to find Hira’s sharp gaze staring at me. The fire blazing in them reflects how meaningful this place is for Aerians.

‘When a warrior goes through training and proves their loyalty to the Aerian leaders, we take them here to celebrate.’

I stand, thinking of all I have heard from Aerians over the past three months. How their allegiance is also to Solaris and Crello.

Glancing at my surroundings, I try to imagine what it must feel like to bereborn. ‘I suppose this is where you also took Lorcan.’

Hira nods and leads me towards a cave crafted within the walls of the mountain. I keep Tibith by my side, trying to figure out why Hira brought me here. If it is to remind me of who Lorcan now is, I do not need it. I have only known Hira briefly, and most of our interactions have resulted in tense silences or my impatience to save Darius.

‘Pretty!’ Tibith says hypnotically at the glimmering red gems encrusting both sides of the granite walls. I pull his paw back before he can touch anything that might break.

‘Ruby,’ Hira comments, almost amused as the reflections of the crystals bounce off her armour. ‘They are the gems of our ancestors’ beaks; they shed the jewel once they decide it is time to pass on.’

I look back at them, each one beautiful and shaped differently from the rest. Like Tibith, I am enthralled and barely hear Hira call out my name as she heads deeper into the cave. I follow, stopping behind her as we hit a dead end.

My eyes narrow. I don’t want to offend her by asking if this is all she wants to show me, but before I can say the wrong thing, she lifts a palm, pressing it against the wall. An orange glow ignites from underneath, illuminating the wall with flames as it slides open.

I blink as I walk inside with her and Tibith. My gaze roves around the enclosure. Phoenix wings are carved on the walls where weapons such as spears and swords are hanging. I glance at the crystallised ceiling, smiling as Tibith squeals with delight at every piece of treasure this place holds.

A tapestry hangs to the side of me, a piece of artwork depicting all three revered leaders of Aeris – Hira and her two sisters. I study the piece, noticing how Hira is at the centre, adorned in robes of ethereal flame – the embodiment of dawn. Beside her, Ara stands regal and enigmatic, draped in twilight hues that mirror the fading sun above them. Finally, the third sister, Col, is cloaked in the star-studded darkness of a cosmic sky. Her dark gaze holds something so mysterious, much like the constellations around her.

I tip my head to the side, the tapestry stirring a memory of what I once saw in Emberwell – a wall painting of Solaris and Crello as their hands joined to let the power of our world flow from them.

‘Nara?’ Hira calls to me, and as I turn, an instant wave of shock forces itself through my lungs when I see the two crowns resting atop plinths at the far end. One is of gold and resembles a halo as the solar flares soar outwards; the other is a wreath of starlight and crescent moons. ‘Forged from the power of a phoenix’s fire itself.’ Hira admires them as she waltzes up to the plinths. ‘They are beautiful, are they not?’

Extremely.‘When were they made?’

‘Long before you existed.’

I stare at them as if I will fall prey to a trance sooner or later.

‘Though it is rarely spoken or written about, there were always tales that someday a deity representing Solaris and Crello would be born.’ Hira goes to touch the sun crown, but her hand stops in midair, and she retracts it. ‘To this day, I remember my mother speaking of it with others. Whether it was to be avessel or resurrection, they never gave up on the hope that this possibility of reincarnation would eventually help rebuild what our world has become.’

And she believes that it can be me and Darius.

My sigh brings her gaze towards me as I shake my head. ‘I am not so sure I can help when I am so powerless.’ I stare at my palms, my lips twisting as I try to conjure some form of magic from my fingertips.

Nothing comes.

I sigh.

‘Perhaps the power of Solaris isn’t necessarily how you imagine it to be.’

I frown at her as she walks towards me, pressing her hand against my back and guiding Tibith and me out of the cave. Over my shoulder, I glance at the crowns before they disappear as the wall slides closed.

‘What do you mean by that?’ I go on to ask.

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