Tales from the Striga Realm: Playing with Fire

Chapter 6

There was a restlessness growing in the Striga Realm.

Estrella could sense it; she was very sensitive to this sort of thing. Estrella was a petite young owl-shifter with brown hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes. Where she came from, she stuck out like a sore talon, but on top of Parliament Mountain, where she was hailed for her courage and intelligence, neither that nor her size really mattered. All that mattered was that, once involved in a battle, she was the fiercest fighter of anyone there; consequently, she was a formidable opponent for any owl-shifter to face.

Estrella looked out into the horizon. Her father once told her of the Age of the Phoenix, a time when all wrongs would be put to right and the wretched cult known as the Infernium would be wiped from the Striga Realm forever. This was, of course, before the covarde known as Veri Roiskunut killed her parents and forced Estrella and her sisters-her elder sister Trudaceia, whom everyone referred to as Trudy, and her twin Clara, who was now known as Clark-to flee their home and search for a new start. But not before Veri scarred Clark permanently-or before Estrella scarred Veri.

A soft rustling broke Estrella from her daydreaming, and within moments, she took flight, the two steel swords strapped to her wings gleaming in the moonlight. She would find Veri Roiskunut, and once she found her, Veri would be sorry she ever crossed paths with her. She would make sure of that.

*****

"HOW ON EARTH DO OWL-SHIFTERS LIKE GRAYSON, VISCOSE, AND TORI SIMPLY VANISH?!" Ruther boomed. It had been a normal day in the Royal Court until Vicente had broken in with the news that Grayson and his siblings, along with an Olivia Stemme, were gone and nowhere to be found.

"I-I don't know, sir." Vicente stammered, knowing that he couldn't have said worse words. "Of course not; you don't seem to know anything, do you?" He then stormed back and forth across the room. "WHERE IS VERI?"

"Speak of the devil, and she doth appear." Upon hearing the voice, Ruther turned around to find Veri standing behind him, looking as calm and poised as ever. "Find the four outlaws." Ruther spat. "And once you find them, bring them to me; I would like to teach them a lesson."

As soon as Veri heard this, she nodded and turned around to face Selene and Dianna behind her. "Meet me outside of the roots." Veri instructed. "I will join you in just a second." As soon as they had flewn out, Ruther, now having calmed down, began to wonder: "What about Vicente?"

"Easily taken care of." Veri replied, and with this, she motioned for an owl-shifter with whitish-blond hair and ice blue eyes to come closer. "Milana", said Veri, in a sort of coo, "why not show Ruther the progress of your training?" Milana nodded, and within moments, Vicente lay on the ground dead, his head twisted at an unnatural angle, while Veri and Milana left to prepare their two top soldiers for the task ahead.

*****

Estrella had flown as far as Fogo before having stopped. Under normal circumstances, she would have flown much further, but these circumstances were far from normal.

Below her, thousands of bright orange flowers-roses, lilies, tulips even-were gleaming in the moonlight, giving off a sort of fiery glow. These flowers weren't just in little tiny groups, either; they all made neat lines, as if they were dashing toward the center, which took on the exact shape of a... Phoenix.

Without hesitation, Estrella dove into Fogo to investigate, wondering if anyone else saw; if anyone knew.

The Age of the Phoenix was coming.