Scorched (Phoenix Chronicles Book 2)

Chapter 12: The Militia

A makeshift, rag-tag team of rebels the Militia was not. It was like its own village, spread out over a beautiful emerald green field. The grassy expanse spread for at least a mile before cutting off abruptly at a cliff's edge, opening up to brilliant blue sky. A castle, white marble and shining in the sun, stretched toward the sky along the far ledge.

"Green - it's all green," Noelle said, wonder alight in her eyes. "We haven't seen anything like this in months."

Mygel grinned, nodding. "We, uh, cheated a bit. See, winter and snow slows us down, so, we sort of got rid of it."

"Got rid of winter?" Roman asked, blinking. "How?"

"One of the Guardians here has a knack for heat. She just warms up the plains anytime snow tries to fall. Turns into rain - keeps things fresh and green." 

"There are other Guardians here?" Phoenix asked, turning to face Mygel. "How many?"

Mygel shrugged. "Not many. Handful at best. Why? You never met one?"

Phoenix opened her mouth to reply, but Finny cut over her.

"Why are we just standing here in the doorway? We need to get your mother and her men to Helena. Move, girl, move."

"Right." Mygel did a little jump and spun around to face them all. "Few rules as we come in: don't pick fights, don't blab, and don't question Helena's decisions. You're too green to be comin' in here and sassin' about. You'll earn your place, whether at the bottom or the top, over time. Now, Helena's been waiting for you. She's not going to be happy when she hears Canya got you first."

"Well I'm not going to be happy if she's feeling superior today," Finny snapped back, hands stacked on hips. Mygel paled, nodding once.

"Let's go, then."

Mygel marched them right through the center of the green field, passing smitheries, tailors, armories, and even merchant stands with fresh fruit.

"We trade, here," Mygel said, gesturing to a stand set up for selling beautiful brightly colored dresses. "You can't get somethin' for nothin', and the stands'll take money to use when they're buying material from the outside, but for the most part we make trades."

Phoenix glanced over at Noelle, who watched everything with the same wide-eyed wonder she'd had when she first left Treywick. It was strange to think she'd only been out in the world for months, not years. 

"Over there's the training field." Mygel pointed to the only area not covered in grass. A massive circle of hard packed dirt housed several men and women sparring in hand-to-hand combat. "Different groups train through the day: swordsman, archers, fisticuffs, and special gifts are the main focuses, but we're always looking for new methods of combat."

Phoenix watched as a woman took a hard left hook to the jaw, crashing down into the dirt. Maverick sidled up beside her, nudging her with his elbow.

"Looks like we've found where we'll be." He winked at her and she grinned.

"All dad's lessons finally paying off."

"Why is there a castle here?" Trey's quiet question drew a beatific grin from Mygel.

"This is the northern castle - one the Tremaines have used for centuries on summer holiday. They'd come up here to enjoy the ocean breeze."

"Isn't this kind of a dangerous place to put the Militia, then?" Abigail asked, face scrunching in disbelief.

"Well they don't know it's here, do they?" Mygel practically bounced with excitement as she relayed the tale. "It was lost to them during the great quake nearly a century ago. Those hilly mountains there used to be wide enough to let a whole procession through. When they closed up, the royals just left it be."