Vice and Virtue

Chapter - 9

When I opened my eyes, I could see myself traversing the damp woods, gently tucked in between Snow’s jaws, in which she graciously retracted her teeth. Her long strides and her silent steps on the uneven ground, painted with leaves and the occasional rotten fruits, was like hypnosis to me. I was still traumatized by the events I have witnessed but I sensed a certain nostalgic feeling of being carried out of harm’s way, helpless, thoughtless and incapable of acting human. I was completely awake, yet my vision was that of the past.

Back when I was still human, everyone above the age of fifteen were drafted into the allied nations army. Their position was decided by a small practical test based on their physique and psyche. Each one of us was taken as close to death using the help of a virtual system that allowed one to experience death in every possible scenario from suicide to being part of a gruesome serial killing. They tested our decisions and our reactions and appointed us to the positions we were best suited. I was drafted into the special corps, whose job was to infiltrate the enemy’s base and sabotage everything crucial for their survival under 12hours. Theo was part of the corps with me and that was how we got close to each other, close enough to call ourselves brothers. I saw the same scenes I had seen when Theo carried me in his arms, somewhere in Europe. I was shot in the leg, when I was caught while I worked as a spy in Iraq. Imprisoned and tortured for days, I nearly lost the will to live. All the harsh training I went through, gave me the skills but not the will to live through something like that. It was Theo who came for me when the war was in its final stages. I watched the burning rubble from the destruction caused by each side, all the corpses scattered across the roads and all the sorrow and despair caused by the foolish works of humans on the faces of mothers who lost their children and orphans who lost their parents in the war. I saw the phoenix fall to her doom from the dark clouds above, lightning danced around her smoldering flames, the violent winds and the heavy downpour wrapped around her, mourning her death, while the basilisk tightened its grip on her. Its size didn’t matter because it coiled around her body, incapacitating her of all movement and with all its might, bit her neck at which, she let out her final dying shriek, loud enough for all her followers to hear her death throes.

Renae was riding on Snow’s back, looking straight ahead but glancing at me from time to time. She was still bothered by what happened, her anger is quite stubborn but she always had a crystal clear judgment. My upper body, along with my right arm and both my legs up to the knees rested in Snow’s mouth while my left hand swayed freely in the air. We nearly got back to the village but I still was stuck in my pathetic state. Jason and Theo worked together now, the phoenix was certainly dead and we don’t know if she could be reborn again, after all, we never knew if she could be reborn as in the myths of the past. These thoughts just endlessly swirled in my mind. We reached the village by noon but it was still dark and cloudy with a light drizzle. The whole area was deserted. I was a bit sane by the time we reached the village. As Snow walked slowly through, I felt a bit broken but I knew I had to hold myself together if I’m to get answers. ‘Put me down, Snow. I’m alright now.’ I patted her nose as I glanced towards Renae. She ignored me even when I called for her. I knew I made a mistake but it was something I would have regretted if not done. Snow didn’t bother listening to me either, she kept her pace, grunting at the desolated houses and the empty roads.

Snow spat me out as soon as we got Lauriel’s porch but she was long gone by the time we reached her house. She left the stove on and her garden half tended, indicating that she rushed out somewhere. Renae got down and lay down on the couch, covering her eyes with her forearm. Snow tried to get inside but she was just too big, so she sprung onto the balcony from outside and made herself comfortable there. I pulled myself of the ground and started to walk clumsily around the village. All the footsteps were towards the coast. Before I even bothered to think about it, I knew what happened here. If I’m to be hopeful, this situation wouldn’t change the order of thing in this region or the phoenix tribe would just grieve their loss without instigating a war against the other tribes or The Order. At the core of the village, a stone statue of the phoenix in all its magnificence, felt depressing to look at. The once proud and powerful being leaving behind the question of her rebirth and I just stood there, in front of her statue, alone with a fleeting sense of desperation, just stood there for hours together, till the stars shone bright in the clear night sky.