Noble Fire: Tempest

Do you want to know what it’s like to race through the stars, to be so high up that the ground is nothing but a distant memory? Do you want to go so far that you could touch the faces of the gods? Do you want to be a god? I’ve been there. I’ve had power like the Immortals, each breath swelling within me, igniting fire in my veins. Every heartbeat egged me on, each moment growing more intoxicating. Am I a God? No, my name is Lanen, and I am a Phoenix.
         The Earth is alive. She has a spirit, a heart. She has life. And she is powerful. No being living now or in times to come will ever match her power, nor has there ever been one. She is the ultimate. There are those who wish to take her power, to drain the life from her and gain dominion over the elements and the earth. In times long past and almost forgotten, she fended off those who challenged her, banishing them to an eternal exile. However, the battle drained her strengths and she went into a long slumber.
         Feeling her slip into her dream state, the elements Fire, Ice, Wind, Darkness, Light, and Earth knew she would be vulnerable should another dark adversary arise. Fearing what should happen if the sleeping spirit were overcome, the elements forsook their status as passive elemental beings and were reborn as elemental phoenixes, powerful, able to protect the spirit in the earth. For centuries they guarded the sleeping spirit just as they’d intended. But eternity seemed to pass for them and soon, they took to dark activities, terrorizing villages, ruining kingdoms, demanding sacrifices.
         A group of extraordinary mages witnessed this destruction, this mayhem, and took it upon themselves to find a way to put an end to the madness. They confronted the mighty elemental phoenixes, battling with them for eight straight days. Near dusk on the ninth day, finally, the mages overcame the phoenixes. To ensure that the phoenixes would not wreak havoc on the human race again, the mages combined their powers and turned the elemental phoenixes into humans.
         However, the mages’ powers were not enough to do away with the beasts completely. They were only strong enough to contain the phoenix spirits inside human bodies, to cage them. As a result, the phoenixes began new lives as humans, feeling emotions like humans, needing food and water like humans, bleeding and even dying like humans. But they were not human, not fully. Though the beasts lay deep within, almost completely sedate, there were times when they could break through. At moments of peak emotion, the phoenixes would burst through the mages’ barriers and transform their human bodies into the great leviathans they were before they were caged.
         Does the life of a phoenix sound like a dream? Perhaps. However, to live the life of a phoenix is a curse. When the mages caged them, they blended the qualities of the immortal elements and the mortal qualities of humans. In doing so, they doomed the phoenix sprits to an eternity of rebirth in human form. And so here I am. The year is 2010 and my spirit is over three thousand years old. My name is Lanen and I am a Phoenix.




         Ellis was late. Her philosophy was always to be stylishly late, keep people waiting. She said that way, they didn’t know if you were truly interested in them and therefore, they tried a little harder. Well, at least most. But I wasn’t a date, not really. She was like me. She was cursed. Ellis Andrews, at least that was her name in this life, was the Water Phoenix. And today, we were supposed to meet at Le Eile Coffeehouse. Normally the six of us didn’t do this kind of thing, meet like this. We hung out, that’s what we did. We were all eighteen in this life so we cruised the mall, checked out local bands, went to the movies, crashed parties; the ‘normal’ teenage stuff. It was rare that you’d ever find one of us without all the rest. It was rare that I would be seeing Ellis alone. But recently, I’d been having this overwhelming feeling like something wasn’t right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I could tell that something was different, about the air, the water, the way the ground shifted under my feet. I had to know it the others felt it too. But I’d start with Ellis, simply because she was the easiest for me to talk to.
I drummed my fingers against the edge of the table I was sitting at, watching out the window for her. Running a hand through my thick brown hair, I sighed. I closed my eyes and tried to count the times we’d been reborn. Personally, I’d lost count somewhere in the final years of the Renaissance. I smirked. Those were good years. Such life, such freedom it seemed, compared to what we’d been through up until then. Besides, who else that was living now could boast that they’d met DaVinci? My mind flashed to the Second World War. Matt and I had served; Matt, the Fire Phoenix, had been ready and raring to go. Matt’s adrenaline levels are always off the charts, but we all know it’s because of his element. Aaron would have served too, but he’s got a perpetual attitude problem. The Phoenix of Darkness tends not to play so nicely with others. As for me, I’m the Phoenix of Air, and well, with Aaron not going, and Matt so hell bent on it, I tagged along to keep him out of too much trouble. In that life, Ellis and I were married.
         Young love, that’s what they said. Our names weren’t Ellis and Lanen then, no. They were Alison and Michael. This memory made me smile. Ellis, next to Brandy, the Earth Phoenix, is the most gentle of us. Besides, she’s an amazing cook, always was and most likely always will be. I still get cravings for the pies she used to make back then. Yes, we’d seen some hellacious times. We’d been in Africa at the time Apartheid was finally done away with. We’d marched with Martin Luther King Jr. We’d helped Jane Goodall with her research. Some of the most brilliant minds and most compassionate hearts were people we’d spent time with, gotten to know. The amazing part is that we remembered it, all of us. We remembered everything from yesterday to the day we were first trapped in human bodies.
         Suddenly, my nose was tingling with the smell of roses mixed with, what was it? Lilacs? Yes, that was it. Roses and lilacs, those were Ellis’ favorite flowers. My eyes didn’t open as I felt the movement of metal through the floor; I knew that Ellis must have been sitting down.
“You know Ellis, just because all the minutes in forever are ours, that doesn’t mean you can be however late you want.” I teased, a smile spreading across my face.
“Sorry Lanen, that spaz of a Pomeranian that my mother calls a pet was having a fit because I didn’t leave the television on. The thing was barking so much that when I pulled out of the driveway, the neighbors looked at me like I was an animal abuser. I got half way here and felt so guilty…”
“You went back and turned on the television?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Close. The radio. Takes less energy and it’s still noise for the little ankle biter.” I could hear the amused smile in her voice.
Now I opened my eyes, waving a hand dismissively.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re never on time anyways.”
I caught her glare out of the corner of my eye as I flagged down a waitress and ordered a tall, black coffee.
“Look, it’s not like this is life or death.” She scoffed at me.
She wore a look of light annoyance on her face, which then turned to curiosity.
“It isn’t a life or death thing, is it?” She leaned in over the table a little, waiting for my answer.
“I don’t know. I told you, I don’t know what the feeling is. It just feels like… something’s off. Not right. Can’t you feel it?” I asked her.
On the one hand, I sincerely hoped that I wasn’t the only of us to feel it. That would mean that I wasn’t just going crazy. On the other hand, I desperately hoped that nothing was wrong. To tell the truth, I liked my human life, my friends, my family. I didn’t want to ruin all that now with the need to run off and fight. I watched Ellis’ face, searching for any change, any sign that she knew what I was talking about. Her pale blue eyes were even paler, something that happened when she was deep in thought. Her sleek blonde hair that reminded me of sunlight hung just lower than her shoulders and as she nodded, bobbed up and down.
“I can’t place it, can’t say for sure what it is, and it’s not a huge feeling, but,” She shook her head, at a loss for words, “I don’t know, it’s like leaving home thinking you forgot to do something but you don’t quite know what it is.”
I nodded, agreeing.
“ The little things, they all feel different. The flow of the air, the tread of the ground, even the water tastes different.” I told her.
I noticed her shift uneasily at my mention of the water and I sighed.
“Aaron mentioned something about the night feeling more still, being quieter. It was a couple weeks ago and I didn’t think anything of it then, but…”
She didn’t finish that thought. Instead, she crossed her arms across her chest, almost hugging herself. Her eyes cast themselves to the floor of the café and then back up at me.
“Why did you want to meet me alone? Why not the others too? Or why not someone else?”
I knew that question would come. I shrugged.
“Because, I had to know if I was the only one feeling like this or not, and I didn’t want to scare the others.” I told her.
“Oh, so it’s better to just scare me, huh?” She laughed lightly.
We always teased each other. We’d had our love. Our romance. But that was past, long gone, dead and buried. Now we were like brother and sister. The waitress came over with my coffee and I smiled at her, thanking her. She smiled at me back. She was nice and had a great smile and I decided she’d get a good tip from me.
“Well, whatever this feeling is, I don’t like it.” I sipped my coffee.
“Me either. I mean, we’re…” She nodded and I caught her meaning.
We were powerful, able to look out for ourselves. That’s what she meant.
“But it still scares me, the thought that after all these millennia someone would try to attack the spirit of the earth.” She leaned back in her seat and ruffled her hair gently.
I sipped my coffee again and sighed too.
“I know… I’d at least feel a little better if we could control out powers at will, but they’re only ever strong enough to be useful when we’re pushed to the brink.” I shook my head.

         Ellis and I sat in the café for nearly an hour and a half, talking about the possible explanations for this feeling. We came up with a few, but only one was reasonable: trouble. My coffee down to the dregs and having lost all its warmth, and Ellis looking completely lost in thought, I stood up, offering her a hand.
“C’mon let’s get out of here.” I suggested.
She took my hand and I pulled her out of her chair, to her feet. Pulling a ten-dollar bill from my pocket, I tossed it on the table. I was generously over tipping, but I didn’t care. Ellis wrapped her arm around my waist and leaned her head on my shoulder as we walked out of the café and down the street. I wrapped my arm around her as well and supported her as our footsteps matched pace with one another.
“It’s probably nothing, Ellis.” I told her quietly.
I didn’t think that was the truth, but I didn’t want her worried, or worse, scared. She didn’t answer and I knew she was battling with herself inside on whether or not to believe me. We moved past small trees, planted to make the street look nicer, past people, both young and old, and past tons of different shops. I noticed we were headed in the direction of my house and I realized that our feet must have been unconsciously walking us there. We hung out there a lot, all six of us, and after a while, being at my house had become like breathing. Between Bailey’s Books, a small bookstore that was great for finding murder mysteries, and Dover’s, a Mr. Fix-It wonderland, there was a gap about three yards wide. This was the alleyway shortcut to my house. Turning down the semi-lit way, I could see the traffic whizzing by on the street on the other end. There were two industrial garbage bins to our left and a rusty fire escape leading to the roof of Dover’s on our right. As we passed the garbage bins, the first one rattled, a loud groaning noise coming from it.
         Ellis and I both jumped, separating defensively, in case we had to fight now. Being caught off guard was not something we usually let happen. The bin continued to rattle and make groaning sounds. As the lid of the bin flipped open, banging against the metal front, an arm emerged from the depths of the dark container. It was a human hand. Soon, the body that was attached to the arm was popping out as well. With a smack and a grunt, the man who’d caused the thing to rattle fell out onto the concrete. Looking at me with slight uncertainty but more than mild relief, Ellis edged towards him.
“Hey, are you okay?” She asked.
He shot off the ground and was standing before her in the blink of an eye, swaying ominously. He was wild eyed, scruffy, covered in grime, and wearing a hole infested trench coat. I noticed he had a fingerless glove on his right hand, his left hand bare. He lurched towards Ellis slightly and twitched a little. I stepped closer, anticipating an attack from the seemingly bewildered man. Before either Ellis or I had a chance to say or do anything, wild, terrified screams erupted from the man’s throat. He rushed at us; Ellis pushed me hard to the left, narrowly dodging him herself. He was running towards the end of the alley that we had been walking from, screaming the whole while. Something obviously had him shaken.
“D-D-D-Demon!” He cried.
Wait. Demon? Normally, I’d have let him go. I wasn’t heartless, but I wasn’t about to run after him just to see if he was okay. But he’d said, or rather, screamed the magic word. I looked over at Ellis and then back in his direction, he was almost to the alley’s end. Our powers may have been almost completely locked away, but we could still use some of our magic, and so I held out my hand and spun my wrist in the man’s direction. A small little whirlwind leapt and danced in front of him, moved towards him, and picked him up off the ground about five feet. I brought it closer, him in its grasp. The wind had nearly reached us when I set him down gently and dismissed the small cyclone.
         Half out of his wits and wide eyed, the man looked up at Ellis and me.
“Demons!” He cried, placing his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, rocking back and forth.
Ellis knelt down next to him, touching his shoulder lightly.
“We’re not demons. But you mentioned something about one before? Did you see one?” She asked.
I recognized that tone. Ellis had the voice of an angel when she was trying to calm someone. Each word sounded like it was dripping with honey. The man continued to rock back and forth, going faster as Ellis spoke to him. He was mumbling to himself, but it was gibberish and I couldn’t understand. Ellis shook her head and sighed, moving her hand from his shoulder to his chin.
“We won’t hurt you. We’re,” She looked up at me, “We’re looking for that demon that you saw. So we can kill it.”
What was she doing? My eyebrows furrowed and I rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me once more and nodded. The man’s eyes opened, his rocking stopped, and his hands came away from his ears.
“You’re what?” He asked.
“We’re trying to kill it.” She repeated.
He looked at her skeptically for a moment and then nodded. He relaxed and took a deep breath, shaking his head. I said Ellis was gentle, I never said she was pure.
“It was… was horrible. Ernie, from the train tracks, and me we were in the park, near the gazebo. We heard, heard this sound, like metal scraping metal. And the smell… there was this smell, like sulfur…. And iron!” He started to tell us about what had happened to him.
As soon as he described the sound they’d heard, I began to have a clue as to what he and Ernie had encountered.
“I told Ernie it wasn’t a good idea to go chasing after something that sounded like that, but Ernie was always stubborn… he walked clear out into the bushes. And then all I could hear was him screaming. I wanted to go help but I… I froze. That’s when the screams stopped. And everything got darker. Not my vision, no… more like… like everything was under a black fog, a haze. It was so cold… and then, out of nowhere, there were these eyes… like blood. Bloody red eyes… the eyes of evil!”
After his last statement, he fell back into a nervous daze and began to rock back and forth again.
“Those eyes! Eyes… like the Devil’s! Eyes…” He shivered, “No body, just eyes… bloody eyes….”
Before Ellis or I could stop him, he bolted up and was running towards an end of the alley. I didn’t force him back this time, I knew enough. Ellis looked up at me worriedly.
“Lanen…” Her voice was quiet and deep, thoughtful.
“I know Ellis. Eyes the crimson color of blood, a scream like metal. It’s a Vale demon.”
“Looks like that feeling was dead on. Something is definitely wrong. The other’s have to know about it.” She told me.
“Yeah, they do.” I nodded.
Vale demons. Particularly nasty things. They were the main reason for the unexplained disappearances in the wildernesses of the world. They usually remained dormant, sleeping until they needed to feed. But that only happened every hundred years or so. And they stayed to the unpopulated areas, the woods, the deep caves, anywhere humans wouldn’t tread in great numbers. The only reason I’d ever known a Vale demon to come out of hibernation early was if it felt a major shift in the balance of power. Vales were sensitive to energy and a major spike for either side would be like blasting a foghorn next to a sleeping baby’s ear. And when Vales were awakened early, they were usually very grumpy.
         I shook my head as Ellis stood up, facing me.
“I’ll get the others. We’ll meet at your house at midnight. Your parents’ should be asleep by then, right?” She asked.
I nodded, but I was only half there. My mind, now on end that we’d found out there was a Vale demon on the loose, was flying to every possible reason it could have been disturbed. Maybe its resting place had just been disturbed by construction, or foolish hikers, or maybe an excavation. Possibly. But the timing was just too close to when the feelings had started to be a coincidence.
“…. Do something.” I heard the last bit of Ellis’ sentence.
“Sorry, what? I was thinking.” I apologized.
“I said that we’ll have to decide where to go from here, all of us together. Even if the Vale was just disturbed by something else, we have to do something.”
“I agree. Go get the others and I’ll see you at my place.”
And without another word or glance, we ran to the end of the alley and each went a separate way, Ellis towards the dance studio where she knew she’d find Brandy and Rachel, and me towards my house.


         Matt ran a hand through his hair, sprawled across my bed.
“Well, what are we waiting for then? We know how to find Vale demons, why aren’t we out tracking it?” He asked.
“I agree with Matt,” Aaron nodded, leaning up against my door, arms across his chest, “I’m up for killing something…”
I shook my head at both of them.
“Sometimes guys, it’s better to ask questions first instead of blazing in and killing anything you can. We need to know what we’re getting into. Not all Vales are solitary. This one could be with a mate, or a pack… it could be disoriented, or just pissed off. We need to know what’s wrong…” I told them.
I was sitting backwards on my chair, leaning on my arms folded across the top of the chair.
“But not at the expense of people, Lanen.” I heard Brandy’s voice.
I looked over to where she and Rachel sat, curled in my planet chair. I watched as Rachel nodded, not saying anything. She was thinking, I could tell. Her eyes were glossy, unfocused. She had a tendency to retreat into her mind whenever she was contemplating the big things.
“I think they’re all right, Lanen. We already know of one death caused by the Vale, there could be more. And if we don’t act soon, there will be for sure.” This time it was Ellis’ voice.
I was a little shocked that she was disagreeing with me; we were normally on the same page. My mouth hung open for a few moments before I shook my head.
“Look, guys, I understand this thing is dangerous, but it isn’t worth rushing in and one of us getting hurt.” I retaliated.
“Lanen, it’s what we do. We have the ability to protect the world from things that would normally terrorize it. Besides, we’d just be reborn.” Rachel finally spoke up.
“Fine, let’s say that one of us dies while we’re trying to take this thing out. Whoever it was would be reborn, you’re right. But that would be in five years, and then we’d spend who knows how long trying to find the reincarnation. We couldn’t afford to wait until they turned four so they could remember where to find us.” I protested.
Aaron scoffed and I caught him shaking his eyes closed.
“What?” I asked, a slight edge to my tone.
“You’re outnumbered, Lanen. You’re the only one who wants to wait to go after this thing. That’s the end of this discussion; we’re going after it. Tonight.” Aaron walked towards me and stopped next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged it off.
“No. No, we’re not,” I argued, “It’d take you forever to find it, it’s got the whole suburban area and the nearby cities to roam around in.” I reminded him.
We lived in between two cities, both huge and really populated. Not to mention the sewers and the abandoned buildings. It could be anywhere. Aaron scowled at me, his eyes narrowing.
“Who the hell died and left you king?” He asked, obviously pissed off.
“No one, but I’m not gonna sit here and do nothing while you guys go after a feral demon in the middle of the night!” I told him, getting closer to him.
Aaron’s attitude and my complete and total desire to keep my friends safe spawned a few clashes over the long time we’d known each other. We were both used to this. Rachel got out of the chair and made her way in between us. Looking at both of us, she put her hands up.
“Guys… knock it off. Lanen, you’re right, we need to know a few things. We need to figure out why it woke up. We need to figure out if it really is connected to the things…” She looked around the room at all the others, “The things we’ve been feeling. Because if it is, then we’ve got bigger problems than just the hunt tonight. You stay behind, hop on the net, and search the databases for any construction projects, anything that might have disturbed it. If you get any leads, follow them until there isn’t anything left to follow.” Rachel nodded.
I sighed. I glared at Aaron and saw that he was glaring at me too. Then I looked down at Rachel and smiled, nodding.
“Alright, Rachel.” I agreed.
She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me. I saw Aaron’s eyes widen and fire burned in them as he watched Rachel and I hug. And I knew why. Aaron had always had a thing for Rachel, and being who he was, he was dark, moody, and the extremely jealous type. I think maybe I kept hugging her just to piss him off, but eventually she pulled away, smiling at me.
“Good boy.” She patted my cheek.
I didn’t mind that she’d just treated me like you would a loyal pet, Rachel was practically innocence incarnate and it was hard to be mad at her for anything. Matt sprung up and hopped off my bed, walking over to my bedroom door. He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, turning back and looking at everyone. My Russian Blue named Kaiser rushed into the room, purring and waving his tail in the air. He circled around my feet and rubbed his head affectionately against my shin. Brandy slid out of the chair and walked past Matt into the hall without a word, as did Ellis. I saw her look back at me apologetically, but I shook my head. She didn’t really need to apologize. Aaron glared at me one last time as he left the room and plodded down the stairs. It was just Rachel and me now.
“We’ll be careful Lanen,” She smiled, “I promise.”
I nodded, hugging her again. This would be the first time any of us would fight something like this without the rest present. True, I was the only one that wouldn’t be there, but nevertheless, one of us would be missing.
“As long as you promise.” I told her quietly.
I let her go and she too slipped out of my room, joining the others and finally walking down the stairs. I knew they’d left when I heard the door open and shut. I moved over to my window, pulling back the curtain and watching almost sadly as I saw the five of them move down the path that led to the sidewalk. They piled into Ellis’ car and sped away down the street. I was left behind. Sighing, I went to my computer desk, sinking into the soft seat in front of my computer. I turned it on, the screen lighting up and booting up.
         It felt like no time before I was hacking into the databases of big construction companies, weeding out the useless information from the useful. There wasn’t much I could use really; most of it was statistics on daily revenue, annual incomes, and employee performance. I even managed to pull up employee evaluations. You’d be surprised how interesting some of this stuff was. But not useful. I worked late into the early hours of the morning, stretching and yawning from time to time, but never budging from my chair. As I checked the clock and saw that it was three in the morning, my heart sank. I hadn’t found a single lead yet. I rubbed my eyes and cracked my neck, deciding to give it one last try, sifting through one last database, a company called Carlyle Contracting.
         I’d just about given up on the whole thing when I noticed a new building project on the outskirts of the suburbs. It was near a place called Eagle Lake, a favorite Summer hang out of just about every person I knew in school. The database page listed the project as being a lake resort. I smirked to myself. Sheer dumb luck? Maybe, but then again, I always was good at getting things done. I printed the page, not needing directions after having been there so many times to swim, camp out, even have parties, and headed out. As I came down the stairs, the eerie blue glow of the television caught my attention. It was low and I could barely hear the voices, so I knew my father must be in the living room watching late night sitcoms. My mother had never been one to stay up late, and whenever she did, the television was cranked up so it could be heard even through my closed door.
         I grabbed my car keys off the key rack and slipped on my coat, the night being cold and my car’s heater being broken. I managed to get out the door without being noticed and hurried across the lawn so that if my dad did notice I was gone he’d have less time to stop me. Before I could blink, I was sitting in the driver’s seat of my beat up rust bucket that Rachel, Brandy and Ellis had named Trusty. I pushed the key into the ignition and listened as, thankfully, the car started without too much noise. I was headed at fifty miles-per-hour down the street pretty soon, despite the fact that it was a suburban area with lots of side streets. I should have gone slower, but my mind was racing with hope that I’d found something that could tell us why the Vale had woken up.
         The lake was a thirty-minute drive from my house on a normal ride, but the lack of traffic at this time of night let me arrive at my destination in fifteen. Pulling onto the gravel at the parking area near the lake, I could see where the tearing down of trees had already begun to make way for the resort. Yes, I was almost certain now that this destruction of nature had woken the Vale, but I need to be sure; I needed proof. Turning off the car and getting out of it, I hiked to the edge of the lake, looking at my dim reflection in the water. There was only the moon for light here and the moon wasn’t full so it wasn’t very bright. I needed to find a place where the Vale might have been resting, a dark spot, probably damp, and not easy to spot unless you knew what you were looking for. I scanned the area, looking for anywhere that the creature could have been sleeping. I moved around a little, a few feet from the lake, a few more. I wasn’t finding anything, nothing at all, but I couldn’t give up. I crouched down and looked around, trying to see if there was something low to the ground that maybe I was missing. That’s when I saw it. Almost completely flat to the ground there was an opening in what looked like a boulder. But it was not. It was an underground cave. I moved towards the opening carefully, wondering if the creature had a mate or a group. If I wasn’t careful, I could end up being eaten by a hungry Vale. Or worse. Possessed by one. I scooted up to the opening, lying on my back. This was going to be a tight squeeze, but I could fit. I slid into the hole and felt my legs drop, hitting a wall. I pushed in a little more and dropped about eight feet to the ground. My legs buckled from the fall and I landed on my knees, but I figured it was the least of what could have happened. I looked around the place, seeing nothing. It was too dark. But I could fix that.