Phoenix Gale

amazing cover by Yellow!

## Prologue

Quartzite stared down proudly at the militia.

The army.

An army she had amassed in secret, waiting for the perfect time to strike against the tyrant grffins.

She closed her eyes, thinking about the lives the road to victory had cost.

She paid tribute to sweet Daisy, kind Pitch, bossy Berry, and sarcastic Apple.

The griffins had taken away everything, and she hadn’t managed to bring back all the lost ones.

But they did well, Quartzite thought.

She recalled the day it all started, many moons ago.

## Chapter One

The Ashes. They were Famous’s entire life.

They blocked out the moon, out-shone the sun.

Until the griffins came.

They came and stole all the hatchlings in the fire-pools.

The seniors resting in the bubbling lava.

She remembered the shock in one senior’s eye as he was dragged away by the griffins, golden eyes wide, thrashing.

Famous winced.

That had been her father.

She shuddered.

The volcano where the Ashes resided had been stained in blood.

Famous could feel the talons raking her back, the bloodstains on her beak.

Her head swimming with the metallic scent from griffin and phoenix blood alike.

She flexed her deadly-sharp talons.

Many phoenix’s childhoods were fantasies. Hers was a bloodbath.

A sharp *caw* interrupted her reminiscing.

She turned her magnificent head to come face-to-face with the Griffin ringleader, Strongwings.

His name always made her scoff, it was pretentious and ridiculous.

Strongwings was all but scrawny, although he could kill a grown phoenix with a bite from his powerful jaws.

The anger in Famous’s eyes was reflected in Strongwings’.

“You’re in the mines, today, Famous.” The Griffins had, of course, renamed the Phoenixes to their liking. Her brother Cavern was now Watcher. Her sister Coal had been Pitch.

She shuddered in disgust but followed Strongwings, not having any choice.

Strongwings had made it clear what happened to people who disobeyed his laws.

He killed them.

He killed them all.

He killed Pitch.

And Daisy, the small, innocent hatchling who had fallen into the lava her first day out of her egg.

Famous felt like a volcano herself, spewing lava, anger, hate, loathing… and the griffins would burn, screaming in agony as they flailed around in her emotions, until they finally sunk under and never resurfaced.

If only real lava killed griffins, but like the phoenixes, they were impervious to heat. And while the phoenixes suffered in harsh climates, the griffins only grew stronger.

Famous stewed in her fury until they shackled on the rusty metal bands, pinning her to the mine’s wall.

She snapped her beak at Strongwings, but he rolled his eyes and threw her a stalactite, knowing very well she couldn’t catch it. It thumped off her aching body, although she refrained from flinching.

She strained to pick it up, gripping it awkwardly in her talons, and began scraping the nearest surface with it. She had mine duty every other day, mining for gold.

Griffins were tyrants, bloodthirsty tyrants.

She thought of how organized they had been, flying in straight lines when they had attacked, lowest rank in the front, highest rank in the back.

Phoenixes weren’t usually violent nor bloodthirsty, therefore they didn’t have an army.

*An army.*

A flash of inspiration came to her.

*An army, an army, an army.*

Those two words danced around in her skull.

“Hey! Whaddare you smiling at?” A monitor griffin snapped, tossing pebbles at her.

She stared coldly at him, but stopped smiling. The bands trapped her physically, not mentally.

She had an idea.

That night, she rounded up as many of the phoenixes as she could manage without arousing suspicion from the guards.

She passed along a message. *‘I’m making an army. Tomorrow. Midnight.’*

The message was repeated throughout the cavern, sparking excitement and eagerness from those who got it.

Famous surveyed the phoenixes watching her, and nodded stiffly.

Whispered babbling broke out.

The rumors were true.

There would be an army.

Famous just hoped it would be enough.