The Rise of The Phoenix

Prologue “Tell me the story again daddy! The one about great grandpa Prometheus and the phoenix! Pleeease!”, her father Valin, the king, chuckled to himself and responded, “okay Auraelia, okay, but just this one story and then straight to sleep, it’s late enough already my dear.” Valin pulled a chair from the desk at the far end of Auraelia’s chamber and positioned it beside her bed. As he sat the chair creaked and the small girl giggled as she got comfortable under her sheets. “Ready?” Valin asked. “Yes daddy!” “Alright then, it all happened a great many years ago before even your mother or I were born. What the legends don’t say is that the eagle that tortured great-grandpa Prometheus was the size of a small dragon and had the power to summon and command all eagles. The great Hercules knew he could easily take care of the eagle to free Prometheus on his own but called upon the 10 tribes of the world to help free Prometheus from his bonds. However, only 3 of the 10 tribes vowed to help Hercules, the other 7 tribes said, ‘a strong demi-God can help himself; he doesn’t need us.’ But what they didn’t realize was that Hercules was really giving them was a chance to thank Prometheus for the gift of fire he stole from Zeus. The 3 tribes each sent 2 of their best warriors accompanied by the kings themselves to assist in the rescue. Together Hercules and the tribes freed Prometheus. It was a great battle and the warriors fought hard to be able to free Prometheus. Great granddad Prometheus was proud of the 3 tribes bravery, valor, and loyalty so he decided to reward each tribe with a gift. To one he gave the gift of the land. Their crops were to never fail, and their land was to always be lush and beautiful, the most powerful of their people could even manipulate the earth below them and anything that came from it. To the next, he gave the gift of the waters. Their people could breathe underwater and would always find the sustenance they needed from any body of water, the strongest of their people could even become one with the water. For the last tribe, our tribe, he called a Phoenix down from the heavens. A very old bird that was ready for rebirth. The bird perched on Prometheus's arm and at his command, burst into flames and its ashes fell to the ground. Prometheus bent over and scooped up the ashes, spat on them, and rubbed them between his hands into a paste. He christened our tribe with the Phoenix ashes and gave our tribe the power of the fire. He told us that we were always the fiercest tribe, ready for any battle and our gifting should reflect that. Prometheus and Hercules left the tribes and everyone went back to their homelands with their newfound giftings. Our tribe was so pleased with our gifting we name ourselves the people of the phoenix”. Valin lifted his hand and caused the air above his palm to combust into a small ball of flame, “such a beautiful gift.” Auraelia stared at the flame as her eyes started to droop. She nodded as she snuggled into her blanket as she was lulled into a deep sleep by the gentle flicker of her father’s flame.