The landscape was completely barren. It was dead, distorted by the war that had ravaged the land for over fifty years. The grass was brown and dead under her feet as she ran down the wasteland. The smell of gas and blood still lingered in the air as it became more difficult to breathe. From her to the horizon there was nothing the army running towards her. She did not stop to examine who was after her, but in a world that cursed her existence, it could have been anyone.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKcGixhQ0k
The sun was hot on her back. Without a single tree or even a cloud in the sky, it pierced her skin like one thousand needles. Her mouth became dry and her blonde curly hair stuck to the sweat on her back, slowly restricting her movement. There was nowhere to hide. It was even pointless to run as the army began to surround her from both sides.
Despite how hopeless it was Cassie Honoura continued to run. Dust flung into the air as she skidded across the unstable ground. The army came closer and closer as Cassie’s dry mouth began to stagger her breathing. Unable to move any further, she came to a halt.
“Grab her!” She heard one man bark.
“We need her alive!” another ordered.
Cassie attempted to catch her breath while she looked around to find an opening. Just one hole in the army’s defences, that was all she needed to escape. Her dark brown eyes darted from one side to the other. She became weary as she struggled to find a way to get away. The only thing she could do was use the magic she had been gifted with. The power to control water. However, with the desolate and dry landscape, it was a power that would almost be impossible to use.
Without warning a large man from behind pushed Cassie to the ground and held her arms behind her back with one hand. The other held Cassie head to the hard earth. She was trapped, so completely bound that she could not even move to make out the details of the man who attacked her. She could do nothing but feel the tears swell up in her eyes as they placed her in chains.
Minutes turned into hours as the soldiers forced her to walk. Cassie gasped for air as she walked down the desolate plains. The overbearing heat and dehydration made her vision blur and her head spin. She walked behind the soldiers, her chains chaffing her wrists. Her feet burned as the sand squelched between her toes. The soldiers had taken away her shoes to stop her from running away. She could feel the blisters forming on her heels. The pain was almost unbearable, but once she tried to stop, the man in control of her chains pulled on them and forced her forward.
“Keep it moving scum. You damn Phoenix.” They would say.
Cassie wanted nothing more than to cry, but she was so dehydrated she had no spare water left in her body for tears.
“Someone please save me…” She kept muttering under her breath. However, no matter how many times she prayed or begged she knew that no one was coming. That she had no chance.
Cassie began to hear screams in the distance. At first, she thought she was heading towards some kind of torture camp. However, as she continued to walk forward, she noticed something odd about each and every yell. They were all men, and they all sounded as if it was the last noise that escaped their mouth.
She was suddenly pushed to her knees. She could feel her chains loosen, which could have given her the chance to escape but after walking in the endless desert, her limbs ached too much to move. The hot sand sank into her shorts.
“Hurry up and kill her before they get us!” She heard a man yell.
Cassie looked up as a soldier walked up to her. As he shook with fear, he placed his sword at her chest. His eyes were filled with hate as he stared down at Cassie. She became paralysed with fright. Her death was approaching. There was so much more she wanted to do with her life, but the rage of war was about to make her another causality to its already large death toll. She closed her eyes as the man raised his sword.
Then there was a yell from in front of her. A bloodcurdling scream that made her ears ring. Smelling the sickeningly sweet smell of blood, Cassie opened her eyes. The soldier in front of her fell to a heap on the ground.
Cassie blinked in amazement. A girl stood in his place, with her purple hair drifting in the wind and sparkling in the sunlight. Shocked by the girl’s sudden appearance, Cassie glanced around her. All of the soldiers who had surrounded her were on the ground, no longer breathing. Cassie turned her attention back to the girl. She had hair like the night sky and bright green eyes and was quite young, hardly older than fifteen. Cassie found herself staring at her sword that glowed with a black coloured aura.
“A Phoenix…” The girl said staring blankly at Cassie. “Are you okay…?”
Cassie said nothing but nodded. She watched as the girl turned away and began to run away, disappearing into the desolate landscape.
It had been a whole year since Cassie had cheated death on that fateful day in the desert. Since then she had been training to become stronger. She joined to Magical Liberation Council as a soldier and began fighting for the greater good of Le Alba. As Cassie was sixteen, she was finally able to awaken her power as the Phoenix Arcana of Justice. The MLC told her that her Water Elemental Magic and ability to reveal the truth was unrivalled, which was probably why she had received an invitation to join an elite special force. An army created by allied Shadow Beasts which was specially made for Phoenix class warriors.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIlmWoVPc6
With a nervous stomach, Cassie walked through the streets of Phoenixia, the ancient city that Phoenixes used to call home. She wondered just what Phoenixes she would meet and what kind of people they were. She looked at her reflection as she passed each building. As the letter had asked, she had arrived in her Phoenix formed which was called Divination. She couldn't get used to her pale blue hair and diamond shaped pupils, it was almost like she was a completely different person. She also wasn't used to having her tail visible as she usually hid it, in fact, it made her more nervous. Phoenixes had been living in secret for so long that it was strange for them to come out of hiding. Cassie could help but feel concerned about what was ahead of her. Most of all he wondered if she'd meet the girl who saved her that time. The young girl left before Cassie had the chance to thank her. She wanted to meet that girl again, but all Cassie could remember about her was her purple hair, green eyes and her Phoenix mark on her right hand.
Cassie swallowed the thought and looked around at her surroundings. It was quiet, but she could sense frightfully powerful auras nearby. Cassie was uncertain about her abilities, the thing she feared the most was that she that she was out of her league. Being surrounded by people with monstrous power definitely made her feel uneasy.
Cassie stopped when she heard beautiful piano music drifting through the breeze.
"Is that... Canon in D?" Cassie wondered, knowing the song well.
She looked towards the building it was coming from. It was the same building she was told would be the first meeting place for the Phoenix army. Enchanted by the sound, Cassie entered the building. She followed the sound as it echoed through the building. She climbed an old wooden staircase and through a long hallway to stand in front of a large wooden door. After hesitating for a brief moment, she opened the doors and entered the room.
The sunlight that drifted from the room that Cassie had to briefly shut her eyes. Once the glare had vanished, she opened them she found a girl sitting at the piano at the far end of the room. Much to Cassie's surprise, the girl had mid, length purple hair. Cassie recognised her instantly as the girl who had saved her a year ago. She watched in amazement as the beautiful girl smiled as she played each note. Even when the song came to an end, Cassie couldn't help but stare at the girl. Noticing that Cassie was there, the girl turned to her. Her stunning green eyes glowed in the sunlight.
"Good morning," she muttered as she stood from her seat. "Was there something you needed?"
Cassie was so enchanted by the moment she could speak, and all the negative thoughts vanished from her mind. She began to think that maybe, just maybe there was a chance for the world to become better, that she could do something to save Le Alba. However, at that moment she didn't realise that things were going to take a turn for the worse. That true despair was about to begin.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2nOOsEnVz
