The Phoenix Chronicles: The Curse of Lustria

Chapter Thirteen: The Tower of Thunder

(NARRATED BY LEVI JAMESON)

"Rise and shine, cupcake! We don't have much time!" Samson shook me frantically until I finally opened my eyes.

"What's going on?" I mumbled groggily.

"Get up!" he urged. "You can move, right?"

I slowly brought myself to my knees and looked around. I was surrounded by all of the Brotherhood members. It was still nighttime outside, but something told me that it was no longer the seventeenth of January.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Samson offered me his hand. "Thank goodness. Lumina was about to wake you herself!"

"That would've been a sight to see," commented Major Lazar, sounding disappointed.

"What happened?" I asked in a weak voice. "Did we make it to the Tower of Thunder?"

It was Cameron who answered, his voice full of shame: "Yeah, but at the expense of twenty-nine hours. I shattered another ward, but wasn't able to absorb all of the impact like last time. As a result, all of us were knocked out. And for that, I'm sorry." He shook his head. "Anyway, we need to keep moving."

"Sorry," said Lumina, "but only a Galian may enter that tower. Should you try, the winds will carry you out."

"What crazy nationalist came up with that garbage?" he cried.

"I did," Lumina answered. "As Veronica's second-in-command and figurative Bridge to the Mortal World, I had this tower built for my mother and for her people around one millennium ago. It is a place where the high priest of Galia would go to perform rituals and sacrifices to our goddess."

"But why only allow Galians?" Cameron asked.

"Because," she answered with a weak smile, "I was, as you put it, a 'crazy nationalist'."

"Before we go," I said, stepping in, "I must ask: How did the Battle of Omenski go?"

Major Ellis answered, "It involved about as many soldiers as the Battle of Felta, but we ended up wiping out the enemy entirely. It would've been nicer had they given up and retreated when they were clearly losing, but they all fought to the bitter end. Granted, we destroyed about a quarter of their forces before they hit land, but a good chunk of the city was damaged. Luckily, we were able to get the governor out before they charred his palace with a barrage of airstrikes."

"It was definitely worse than I thought it was going to be," said Major Nick. "We suffered quite a few casualties... including eleven of our fellow Brothers: four from my division, four from Ellis' and three from Lazar's." Irenio actually sounded quite emotional, making me regret having asked about the battle in the first place.

"Even more terrible," added Lazar bitterly, "some of Irrencia's own citizens turned against us while we were helping them evacuate. They even took the life of my Lieutenant, Timothy Salvite. Since then, Jacob Palnor has taken his place."

"Anyway," Samson sighed, forcing himself into the conversation, "we'll hold our ceremony for our fallen comrades after the entire mission is completed. However, we don't have time to talk about this any longer." Blowing a bubble with his chewing gum, the Head Lieutenant pointed at Major Nick, Lumina, and me. "You three must enter the Tower of Thunder and retrieve the lyre string. Something in my gut tells me that it's at the very top, but I seriously doubt you'll be able to get up there without traveling on foot."

He pointed at the cylinder-shaped, three hundred-foot Tower of Thunder, which was made entirely out of white marble. Large bands of shining electrum ran vertically from top to bottom. Near the tip of the tower was a raging storm cloud. I had a feeling it had to do with the ward that Cameron broke through.