Legend of The Phoenix

: TAKEN

A bird flew down with its tiny legs stretched downwards ready for landing. It's wings flapped continuously as it carefully landed and balanced its tiny body on top of the hanging line, on the compound outside Andron's house. 

Once it was perfectly balanced on the plastic line, it tucked its little wings onto its back and swept a gaze around the compound. A rooster then crowed in the distance and the little bird found himself chirping after the sound. He didn't know why he did it, it just felt right. Maybe it was because the midmorning light was just so beautiful. 

Right below where the little bird stood, Andron's mother, Martha, was busy doing her laundry. She was bending over two massive plastic basins as she scrubbed and scrubbed the dirt away. She picked one soaked garment from the basin and suddenly stood up straight, with it in her hands as the water dripped in lines down back into the basin. 

Her sudden movement caught the little bird on the hangline unawares, scaring him and off he went, flapping quickly and disappearing into some bushes. Martha then began humming her favorite song as she bend back down and continued scrubbing the garment against her palms. 

The song she was humming was called 'the hues of mountain flowers' and she had learnt it from her late grandmother many years ago when she was a little girl. It had the sweetest rhythm and she always found it playing unconsciously in her head. 

Martha finished up the pile she was washing and then moved over to the rinsing basin. She dipped her hands into the cold water and picked a soaked dress which she immediately began unfolding. 

It was then that she thought of Andron. It was already the third day since he left and he still hadn't shown up. Martha was, however, not worried. She knew by the end of the day or even the following day, he'd eventually come back like he always did. 

As Martha stood up to hang the first piece of clothing onto the line above her, something was happening on the ocean shore not far from her village. 

A massive ship with huge white sails was anchoring down on the water, a few meters away from the shore. The huge sails flapping above the ship had the unmistakable seal of The Soths from The Sothian Kingdom of the South. The seal was three circles arranged into a triangle and the head of a viper appearing from inside each circle, with the mouth wide open and fangs showing. 

A man stood on the front deck of the ship and stared quietly at the small village beyond the shore. He wore a long black cloak whose helm touched the surface of the wooden ship below his feet. His hair was dark and long and it was tied up into a bun on top of his head. He had lengthy beards and he held his arms together behind him. Draxion was First Wizard of The Royal Soth Family and he'd been sent here on a mission of grave importance. 

All the other men hurrying about where he stood were in uniform and armour. Each of their uniforms was engraved with the seal of The Soths and they all looked busy. Some were folding up the sails above the ship while others were busy lowering the anchor into the water below. 

Draxion still stared towards the land beyond the water. He'd expected the village to be bigger. Or at least to have a wall around it for security. But then again these were the wastelands of Middle Earth, you couldn't really expect much. This was going to be easy, easier than he expected. Almost too easy. 

One of the soldiers on the deck suddenly walked up to Draxion from behind and stood beside him, looking also towards the land. 

"Master, are you sure this is it?" said the soldier. 

"This is it alright... the first village on the western shore of Solia, it just looks a lot less defended than we anticipated." Draxion said and paused. He then turned around to face the soldier. 

"Prepare the row boats, we go in at once." 

"Yes sire, " the soldier said and turned to leave. 

"Shem!" Draxion suddenly called and he instantly turned back to face him. 

"Take only half the men, let the others remain on the ship and prepare for departure, we won't need them." Draxion said. 

"Of course sire." 

Shem then immediately turned around and began shouting orders at his soldiers as Draxion walked forward towards the edge of the ship. He then removed a leather container from the inside pocket of his cloak. He removed the lid and lifted it up to his mouth, taking a gulp and crunching his face at the burning taste. 

"s**t!" He said, closing the container and vigorously shaking his head as he felt the liquid flowing down his throat. 

In no time, three row boats carrying seven soldiers each, forged onto the sandy beach, not far from the village. The soldiers quickly got off the boats in the shallow water and pulled them onto the sand. They then all congregated around Draxion where he now stood, looking forward into the village. 

"Go into the homes and bring out all the women. Young and old, mothers and girls. Bring them all to that square at the center there." Draxion said, pointing at the village square. 

Some people inside the village had now spotted the Sothian soldiers at the edge of their village and they stood staring at the group, oblivious of what was happening. 

"You heard the man!" Shem shouted at the soldiers. "Get to it." 

The soldiers then immediately drew their shinning swords and forged into the defenseless village. A man appeared out of his house carrying his own sword and raised it the soldier who was now about to enter his home. 

"Don't even think about it," the man said, pointing the long sword at the soldier's face. The uniformed soldier laughed. 

He then swung his sword around his palm, walked forward and immediately engaged into the swift one on one combat. Soon after, the soldier was walking into the house, dragging the tip of his bloody sword on the ground behind him. The man of the house lying in front of it bleeding out, hacked to pieces. 

Draxion walked gracefully into the heart of the village, his long cloak sweeping the dusty ground behind him as the pandemonium grew louder and louder. Shem walked a few paces right behind him and swept a stern gaze around the compound, hearing loud screams and wails from the houses as the soldiers wrecked havoc. 

The village square had a raised concrete podium where elders would generally stand whenever they needed to address the people. Today, however, everything was different as Draxion now stood alone upon the raised podium and Shem, his guard, stood down on the steps holding his long sword in his hand. 

Draxion watched as the soldiers dragged the women, one by one and knelt them down around the podium upon which he stood. He could see his soldiers hacking down any man who stood to fight and this beautiful sight of easy victory was music to his ears. 

He'd come ready for a grand fight to get what he wanted here, he had even anticipated losing some of his soldiers, but that appeared not to be the case at all. He grinned slightly. 

Once the entire village had been ransacked and the soldiers now stood around, behind the kneeling women, Draxion paced around the podium and cleared his throat to speak. 

Martha was looking down to the ground where she knelt. Her left shoulder was throbbing with pain. It hurt bad. The soldier had literally dragged her on the ground, from her house all the way here. Her knees also hurt and she was trying not to break down in tears like the other women beside her. 

"Silence!" Draxion shouted. 

The sound of cries and sobbing immediately went down. 

"Ladies, ladies... don't cry. I'm only here for one of you and once I have them I'll be gone."

Martha didn't know she was the one he was talking about. Just like she didn't know her son had dormant magic in his blood. Just like she didn't know she also had that magic coursing through her veins and that was why Draxion was here. For it, for her. Hell she didn't even know magic existed until she saw it here, today. 

Draxion then lifted his hands together into the sky. He then closed his eyes and quietened his mind to look for the water. To listen to it, to feel it. And he did. And once he felt it on the ground below, he called to it and it heard him. The drops of water then rose instantly from the ground around where the women knelt. 

Rising gracefully into the air above them. The Solian women were so amazed by this demonstration of magic that they momentarily forgot they had just been crying. They watched in awe as Draxion gathered the floating drops of water into one huge mass right above them. As the water concentrated into one, it hardened into a massive block of ice, floating in the air. 

Draxion then directed his arms and slowly carried the ice block over each of the women's heads as they all kept staring up at it. He knew that fire would melt the ice and that was the surest way to identify which one of them had fire in her blood. 

Mosiah, on his mission from Heaven, entered into the Solian village from above to find Draxion continuing with his little experiment. When he saw the many people at the village square as he gracefully flew down, he quickly willed his form into incognito to avoid being seen. What was happening down there immediately caught his attention and he came closer to investigate. 

He looked down and saw Andron's mother kneeling down around the square with the other women but he knew he could not intervene. That was not his mission here and he couldn't even see Andron anywhere. His mission was however, not very pressing right now. How was this mortal commanding water? How did an Earthian already know magic? 

As Mosiah contemplated, the block of ice came over Martha's head. She looked up at the huge shiny block and she saw light from the star right through it. Suddenly, it poured heavily all over her. She coughed hard as some of it had gotten into her mouth and she fell onto the ground, soaked in liquid water. 

"That's her," Draxion said. "Take her." 

Two soldiers immediately walked over to Martha and chains were put onto her hands and feet. They then lifted her off the ground and placed her onto the shoulder of one of them and walked away towards the shore. Draxion alongside Shem then followed behind and soon all the soldiers disappeared from sight. 

Mosiah figured what he had just witnessed was too important for the gods not to know about. So he  flapped his white wings and instantly rose into the sky above, headed back to The City of Angels.

*********************

Andron was losing. Kennedy and Leonard were both now riding in front of him. Kennedy was leading the little impromptu race and Leonard was in the middle. 

Andron didn't particularly like losing. He, however, also didn't want to put too much pressure on his horse, Sky, because he knew it was carrying some precious and heavy cargo. So for now, he was okay with letting Kennedy gloat - loudly - over how fast he was, which was what he was doing. 

Shouting to the top of his lungs about how he was beating them both. Then, suddenly, Sky began gaining pace. At first Andron couldn't quite notice, seeing as he was still quite a distance behind Leonard. But then the distance began thinning, fast. 

It was like Sky was suddenly on some kind of jet fuel. It didn't take a minute, and Andron was galloping side by side with Leonard. Even Leonard was surprised and frankly a little disoriented as the speeding horse now actually began passing him by. 

Andron could not avoid the smile steadily growing on his face as the strong wind blew fast against his face. He felt exhilarated as the rhythm of his body galloping alongside Sky's accelerated. Speed always thrilled him. Especially now that he was headed for first place. 

He was so preoccupied with reaching Kennedy, he didn't even stop to think where the sudden burst in speed came from. 

"Andron!" Leonard shouted. From behind. "You dropped it." He added. 

Andron turned his body around, holding the leash with his left hand as he turned around to his right. Sky kept on galloping and throwing him up and down as he tried to look back. 

"What?" Andron said. 

It was then that he realized that the deer he'd been carrying was no longer on Sky's back. He then threw his gaze far back on their trail and there he saw it, lying on the grass.

Andron then immediately turned back forward and pulled the leash, hard. Sky immediately felt the mighty tug from his rider and screeched, coming to a sudden stop. 

Kennedy - as he continued relishing in his victory - turned and noticed that both Andron and Leonard had stopped. He then also brought his horse to a halt and jumped down from it, standing right beside it with the leash in his right hand, to wait for the two. 

Andron - still upon Sky's back - went all the way back to where the dead deer had dropped. On reaching it, he immediately jumped down from the horse's back and onto the grass below. He then bent down to pick it from the ground with both arms. 

He lifted it up with all his might. It was heavy, but so worth it. Ma would be so happy that he didn't bring rabbits again. So he smiled slightly as he placed it upon Sky's back and tied it down. 

He then also climbed onto the horse, moving further to sit comfortably, and the horse began strolling slowly towards Leonard and Kennedy. 

"No more running," Andron said. "Kenny has won," He added, reluctantly. 

He was now coming up to where Leonard still stood, on top of his horse. Leonard's horse had three dead rabbits hanging down from its right side, beside his leg. 

"You really are a sucker for victory," Leonard said, looking at Andron as his horse began walking slowly beside Andron's. 

Kennedy was still a few paces ahead and stood at the center of the path, waiting for the two as they strolled slowly towards him. 

"I just somehow totally forgot about it," Andron replied. 

"Didn't you hear what I just said, you crave to be number one... It's just your nature man, no wonder you forgot."

"f**k you Leo," Andron said, looking ahead. 

Leonard laughed. 

"Hate me all you like. It's who you are." 

"Whether he be a sucker for it or he craves it, no one cares..." Kennedy intervened as the two reached him. He was now also climbing onto his horse and the three horses continued walking slowly beside each other. 

"All that matters is that I won. I came... I saw and I conquered both your asses." Kennedy added, smiling. 

The three could now see their village not far ahead of them, as they bickered on about who won and who lost.

These three best friends always competed. Competing against each other in literally everything was just the only way they ever related. They tried to outsmart each other at every turn and strangely enough, this much energy kinda strengthened their bond. 

I mean, yes, sometimes the competition went a little too far and blows were exchanged, not to mention the insults and demeaning remarks. Yet somehow they always seemed to find their way back to each other. Because there always was a new adventure for the three to venture on and a new challenge to test their limits. And their friendship had survived the ups and downs all the way since childhood, through their teenage years and now to young adulthood. 

Their little disagreement today was however distracted when they noticed the devastation as they strolled slowly into their village. Children were crying everywhere. There were drops of blood on the ground leading towards the village square. There were also markings where they treaded, as if people were being dragged on the ground. 

Andron even noticed a dead body beside one of the houses. It was a man. The body looked cold and bloody, and the dead person still clasped a bloody sword. Something was definitely wrong here. 

"What the hell happened here?" Andron said, sweeping a gaze around the village. He could now see people staring at them from inside the homes. 

"Leo!" A sharp voice called loudly from a distance. A woman then came running towards the three as they rode on horseback into the village. 

The woman walked up and stood right in front of the three horses, stopping them at their tracks. She held both her arms on her waist and stared straight at Leonard. She was angry and her eyes looked swollen, as if she had been crying. 

"Where have you been all this while? I've been worried sick about you... Get off that horse," She said. 

Leonard jumped from the horse onto the ground and stuck the landing. He then began walking forward towards her. 

"Mom, slow down. I told you I'd be away for a few days... Don't you remember?" Leonard said, walking up to stand in front of her. 

When he came closer, Leonard noticed the bruises around her elbows. He quickly stepped forward and took her hand, lifting it slightly to inspect the wounds. 

"What happened to you?" He said, now getting worried. "Why are you crying?"

"We were attacked," she said. 

"Attacked by who?" Leonard said. 

"Soths, they came from the water." 

Andron kicked his horse and it walked forward to where the two stood. 

"What would Soths want with us?" Andron said, looking down at them from atop his horse. 

When Leonard's mother looked up and recognized Andron, the expression on her face immediately changed. She looked  deeply concerned and like she was about to cry. 

"They took her... The magician and his soldiers... They took your mother," She said, at the brink of tears. 

"Mom, you are not making any sense. What magician? Magic doesn't exist," Leonard said, looking at her. 

Andron didn't know what to think. What was she talking about. 

"Ma?... What do you mean they took her?" Andron said, looking down at Leonard's mother. 

"The magician... He gathered all the women to the square and he told us he was only here for one of us. Then he performed some magic and the ice melted into water over Martha's head. So they put chains on her and they carried her with them." 

Andron's heart began racing, pounding hard and fast against his chest. Although it made no sense, this woman seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. 

"Whe... When was this?" Andron stammered, struggling to catch his breath. "Which way did they go?" He added. 

Andron then quickly turned around and threw the dead deer off his horse's back. It fell onto the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust into the air. 

"That way," Leonard's mother said, pointing to the direction of the ocean. "It's not even been an hour... But what do you think you'll do, they have soldiers with long swords and you are only one boy." She added. 

Andron did not answer. He suddenly turned the horse around in haste, raising another cloud of dust all around. He then kicked it and immediately got into a speedy sprint towards the shore. 

Sky's hoofed leg stepped mightily onto a dry twig, instantly breaking it into three pieces as the horse flew by in incredible haste. The two then opened out to the sandy beach on the ocean shore. 

A cold breeze was blowing from the water towards the land as Andron screeched his horse, coming to a sudden stop on the wet sand right next to the level of the water. He then swept his gaze over the surface of the endless water as the breeze blew its way into his shirt, chilling his burning skin. 

He saw the ship, disappearing slowly on the other end of the horizon. The mighty white sails on top of the ship blowing side to side in tandem with the wind. He also noticed the seal engraved upon the sails and confirmed it was The Seal of The Soths from the south. 

Andron then suddenly turned his horse around to face the village. Maybe Ma was just at home. Maybe Leonard's mother had been mistaken. 

The horse then took off into another speedy sprint, galloping back through the thickets and into the compound of the village. He passed by Leonard and his mother alongside Kennedy, where they still stood in the clearing. The three of them trained their eyes and followed Andron as he passed beside them in haste. 

When he entered into the compound of his house, Andron jumped off the horse even before it could stop. 

"Ma?" He called, pacing about as he swept his gaze around the compound. 

He noticed the two basins out by the hanging line and quickly walked towards them. The basins still had clothes inside them. One dress was lying on the ground beside the basins and two other clothes were dangling on the hangline above. 

Andron then noticed the marks, right beside where he stood, as if something was being dragged on the ground going away from the compound. He still didn't want to accept. He couldn't. He turned around and saw that the door to the house was wide open. 

"Ma... Where are you?" He said, rekindling his hope as he now walked fast towards the house. 

Andron searched the entire house and she wasn't there. It was then that it hit him. The reality that Leonard's mother had not been mistaken and the Soths had really taken his mother. 

He walked outside and sat down on the step in front of the door, looking out to the compound.

He then held his arms onto his head and ruffed up his hair. What they did they want with her. Why would Sothian soldiers sail all this way from the South just for her. Why only her. Was she even alive right now? 

Andron sank his head in between his knees and a tear dropped from his right eye onto the ground below. He rarely ever cried but his mother... His mother was dear. Dearest. And having so many unanswered questions about her whereabouts broke his heart of hearts.