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Chapter 28
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2024-10-29 19:42:56There was a great buzz in the kingdom of Eyrotia. Every 2 years they celebrated one of their many festivals. This year they were celebrating the festival of Fists, a festival where many of the strongest men in the kingdom came together to compete in a show of strength. The winner of the competition at the end of the 2 days festival was added to the king’s army and the members of his household were given honorary titles in their towns, titles which were lower than that of the nobles but those titles were respected. The celebration of the festival of Fists was divided into two; the first day was for merry and welcoming of the guests both gods and foreign, the second day was when the real event happened. Every two years young men all over the kingdom would gather at the King’s Seat, a large arena built by one of Eyrotia’s past kings. The legend surrounding the King’s Seat was that it was carved from rock by the hands of the king in honor of the gods. There were multiple seats of stone
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The walls Oya walked past were black and slimy, the walls rippled as though they were alive. Slime ran from the top of the walls to their bottom in big slimy gooey drops. The walls reeked of death and misery and aptly so for this was the abode of Neifler, the ruler of the underworld where ungodly and cursed souls came to rest. As she moved down the long passage that led to the center of his abode she prepared herself for the discomfort that awaited her behind the heavy black doors that were built into the walls with human bones. Oya forced herself to stay calm as she approached this door. She was the most powerful goddess, after all, the only one who could face Demeus in a battle with the possibility of winning. The doors to the gloomy interior of Neifler’s abode threw themselves open before she got to them and from within came the voices of the condemned souls, there were cries of anguish coming from the cursed souls and wicked laughter poured forth from the underlings who
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Somehow Phoenix found a way to wiggle through the crowd and found a tight space that enabled her to see the center of the arena clearly. It also provided a clear view of the seat where the royals and nobles were to sit. The cowl of her cloak was over her head to avoid being recognized by the king or queen. From the second gate a tall, broad man walked into the center of the arena, the thousands of people gathered at the arena stood and hailed him, the roar of the people was deafening. In his hand was a cone-shaped metal which he held to his lips. “The festival of Fists is about to begin.” The cone-shaped object amplified his voice so that despite the large arena his voice could be heard by all. “Strong men of Eyrotia have subjected themselves to many days of training to show their strength and to gain entrance into the royal army and we the people of Eyrotia are here to witness this.” He let the hand holding the cone drop slightly as he waited for the people to finis
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 31
Goyre resisted the urge to sigh. It was never her intention to come here in the first place but Oya had convinced her to elect herself at the council of gods to serve as a representative for the gods at the festival of Fists. The higher gods would not be bothered to attend a small festival such as this, it was only the Feast of gods that demanded the presence of the majority of all the gods. Oya had pointedly reminded her that she could use this opportunity to search for the child of the prophecy but she would rather be in her temple in the pantheon enjoying the services of the Prys. Those servants of the goddess of excess were the best in all of the pantheons in providing pleasure, not even the gods themselves could satisfy her like they do. She stifled another sigh as she looked around the arena. Humans had handsome young men, any one of them would willingly be her sex slave but they could never satisfy her. As the men at the center of the arena battled she resisted the ur
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Goyre was still dazed even when she heard her mother’s footsteps heading towards her chamber. She could already feel Oya’s powers vibrating through the walls of the temple. Her mother was excited to hear her reports about Phoenix. For the first time Goyre sent out the servants of Pyr from her temple, her temple was free from the sounds of moaning, or drunken orgies for the very first time. She sat on her metal throne and rested her legs on the stiff dragon head beneath the foot of the throne. As the goddess of the earth, she was in control of many of the elements on earth but of all the elements she could only strongly control 2; metal and wind which was why she was mostly worshipped among the hunters and miners, and for her powers in controlling the winds the seamen kept an image of her in their ship. Her temple was made entirely of black metal and all of her clothes were formed from metal. After what seemed like an eternity Oya finally appeared at the doorway of th
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“Select the dirty clothes from the trunk.” Phoenix did as she was ordered. The Festival of Fists was over and the winner of the competition was Odoi, he successfully defeated the other competitors to emerge the winner and the king had given him the honorary title as the captain of the lower army ranks and also pinned the seal of the royal army on the shoulder of his cloth. The members of the royal house and even the servants were still resting as the merriment of previous had sapped all of their energy. The celebration of Odoi’s had extended till very late in the night. But Queen Merea had woken up early, even before the housekeepers and came to wake Phoenix up from her slumber in her room. The trunk was beneath the wide window that showed a view of the king’s road. Most of the streets were empty as the people were still sleeping off the tiredness of the previous day. The only people moving about were the fishermen as they sort to catch the fishes many families would
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 34
Phoenix watched Basten from the window that overlooked the training grounds. The training ground had colorful tents erected spatially around it and in the middle of the spatially arranged tents was the main training ground where the captain stood and challenged individual soldiers to a fight. The other soldiers either watched others either watched or practice their attacks and defense with their swords. Phoenix confirmed that Basten had been honest when he said he knew Odoi as his father’s guard. He was at the edge of the sparring ground watching Odoi fight one of the captains. He was without his cloak, she had come to notice that he never work his cloak to the training grounds, instead, he wore the armor that was reserved for his smaller frame and the tunic which all the soldiers wore. He was eagerly waiting for his turn to spar with Odoi and when the time came he swung his sword and charged at the larger man. Phoenix was alone in the room from where she watched the activit
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 35
A cool breeze blew through the windows of the castle making hollow sounds along the walls. The night was not cold, it was just pleasantly cool enough that all the occupants of the palace, except the guards, were fast asleep. The night was dark and there was no moon to cast its light against the stone walls. The only sounds heard were the dogs sniffing out rats in the kitchen and the rustle of dried leaves on the stone floors. Even though the night was peaceful sleep of Barigo was anything but peaceful. In his bed, he tossed and turned beneath the large embroidered fur covers as his dreams haunted him. It was a dream he had many nights and those dreams were the reason he had ordered that Merea sleeps in the room down the halls away from him to prevent her from hearing the sounds of his groans and scream. He clutched the sheets of his bed as though he was drowning but in truth, that action was a reenactment of how his brother has died at his hands. He could see himself holding
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 36
The seer offered Barigo a stool to sit on. The seer’s house was simple, just a small space with a sleeping pallet, above the pallet, was a small collection of clothes hanging on hooks, a small earthen stove was built into the wall, there was a washbasin at a corner of the room where he washed before going to the temples for consultations. Lastly, at the center of the room was a fire that caused the smoke. Barigo sat beside the flame and buried his head in his hands as his dreams still haunted him. This was not the first time he had the dream nor the second but never once in his dream had Jumi or Merea or even Herentik and Phoenix appeared in his dream. When he raised his head he saw that the seer was watching him through bushy eyebrows. “I need your help, seer, if you keep holding the past against me I fear I may have no one else to run to.” The seer took a stool for himself. “I don’t see how I can be if any use to a murderer.” Barigo hit his thigh wi
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Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Author note
So I didn't want to make this book long. I hate writing long books! So I have decided to stop Phoenix' story here. Book 3 will be coming out soon but it might take a while because I am literally exhausted. I know there are a lot of lose ends in both Phoenix and Cleopoda's books but those lose ends will be tied in the third book since that's the final book in the series. I really feel like hiring a ghostwriter at this point because my arms and creative juices are screaming for help. Hehe. But I'll write the third book soon. Till then...adios
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 71
The crowd of people watched withdrawn breathes as Goyre mounted the podium. Basten was on his knees on the podium facing the crowd. At the edge of the execution field, his mother cried and wailed, pleading with the goddess. “My son is innocent!” She cried. “He was bewitched by the cursed princess.” Rudo held her back, his eyes blazing with hate for Merea. How did he let himself become manipulated in her web of lies and deceit in her eagerness to assume the most powerful seat of Eyrotia? How he was sacrificing his son because she declared him an obstacle to her plans. He remembered her words. “Sacrifices need to be made.” He was paying the biggest price for being on her side. Goyre fashioned a sword from her metal gown and held it over Basten’s head. She looked at the crowd gathered. “This is a lesson to everyone who stands against queen Merea. And to anyone who chooses to betray me.” She raised the sword, it caught the sun on its shiny surface. As she
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Goyre stared in horror at the realization of her terrible mistake. If she had doubts about Phoenix’s godhood before, they were gone as soon as she realized that Phoenix’s blood was the one ingredient needed to create the superhumans Uruel was obsessed with. By ingesting her blood the wolves now shared 1/8th of her powers. The fact that they had transformed into her likeness also meant that they shared her image too. Furious with herself for her mistake Goyre locked the courtyard door and headed for Eyrotia. If she could not hurt Phoenix now that her anger was still fresh then she would hurt her some other way. Merea was getting ready for the public execution of Phoenix and Basten when Goyre appeared to her. “My lady.” Goyre scoffed at her pretentious submissiveness. “The time has come for you to give the blood sacrifice I demanded in fulfillment of our agreement. Life for my help with your ambitions.” Even though the agreement had been a farce on Goyr
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“What do you mean my son is arrested for treason?!” Rudo demanded. Merea walked away from him. She had ordered the guards to throw Basten and Phoenix in the dungeon and sent some other soldiers out to look for Teo, Dan and Styx. Rudo hastened his footsteps to match hers. “It pains me to say this but your son was found with Barigo’s precious daughter,” she spat with malice. “And it seems that she has bewitched your son like she did the king. They were planning to disband from the army, it may also please you to know that it is rumored that Phoenix and her band of friends seek to overthrow the king and install her as queen even before his demise.” “Does the king know about this?” Merea stopped walking, turned to him and smiled. “He does, and he has given me the freedom to do as I like with them. The king is on my side, are you Rudo?” He looked down at the ring she twisted between her thumb and index finger. He understood her question, in fact, h
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 68
She was served food and wine but she could barely eat a bite, not when her hands and feet were bound. And she couldn’t have stomached any food if she tried. Not when she kept thinking about Uruel’s betrayal. Was this his plan all along? To lure the soldiers of Eyrotia out so that he could easily conquer the nation? Was the marriage announcement just a farce? Were the men of Eyrotia dead already? Basten? Teo and Dan? Styx? “You have not eaten your majesty, you must be hungry after my men hauled you from Uromi.” “Where am I?” The spokesman for the men, the one who had first spoken to her where she was taken to the room, replied her. “Your mistrust of us is very disheartening, your highness, considering the fact that we are your soon-to-be subjects. You are in safe hands, we have orders to keep you safe and well-fed, if anything happens to you we will be killed.” “Something will happen to me if someone doesn’t explain what is going on here,” she said thr
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 67
She fought against the stronghold on her hands. Something was sliding along her legs, soon she felt something stronger hold her legs and hands together. How had she or any of the other soldiers lost guard? They were supposed to have at least sensed the invaders! One moment she was looking at the bodies of the soldiers tied upside down and the next moment a strong hand was clamped so tight around her mouth that her screams were stifled. She saw with horror the ruthlessness of the invaders, how easy it was for them to slit the throats of the men nearest her. When they dragged her away she couldn’t see Basten or Teo and Dan but the men of Eyrotia were already aware of the attack at this moment and were fighting back. None of them even knew that she had been dragged off. After all, she wasn’t of any importance to the army or any of the men there. Would Basten know she was missing? Was he dead? Dread seized her heart at the horrifying thought. Suddenly the men’s transport
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 66
The cry of anguish rang throughout the entire kingdom. It was barely dawn when the disaster struck. The outer villages were burnt down to the ground. Men, women, children and animals, were all killed. More than that, the soldiers who had been stationed in Uromi to occupy the land for the king were killed. A messenger came running in the early hours of the morning, bloody and tattered on a tired horse. He told a sickening tale of slaughtered men. According to his accounts, the men were sleeping when a group of men dressed in clothes as dark as the night showed up and quietly slit the throats of the soldiers of Eyrotia. He had seen this on his way back from the woods where he went to relieve himself. The attacks on the outer villages were described in the same way; men dressed in black snuck in and killed everyone before burning the villages completely. “Who could have done this?” was the question on the lips of everyone. “It could be the men of Uromi seeking to take r
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 65
Phoenix stared up at the elegantly carved ceiling. There was a cold cloth pressed to her head. The servant taking care of her worked silently as she pressed the wet cloth against her forehead, returned it to the bowl of ice-cold water to wet it again but to Phoenix it felt as though every move she made was amplified by some strange powers in a hundred folds. The image of Uruel standing in the room donned in his armor after the brilliant light he had caused dimmed was imprinted in her memory. She remembered how her breath completely stopped from the shocks of one night. What was Uruel doing here and why had the king said he had intentions of marrying her? Surely there must be some sort of mistake, she thought. She started to rise but the maid held her down gently. “You must stay down, princess.” The word Princess was beginning to grit her nerves! She didn’t want to stay down, she wanted to stand up and find answers to the sudden events. “What time is i
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 64
Two days later it was announced that the king was throwing a huge feast to celebrate the capture of Uromi. In their honor a two-week celebration was announced, the celebration of the festival of Fists which was supposed to be at the near end of the year was moved up to honor their bravery. There was much to be done, a lot of preparations to be made but first, there was something important going on in the royal house. The third day after the soldiers returned Barigo invited the nobles for a small celebratory dinner and a special announcement. Phoenix dressed in the white gown trimmed with red thread at the hem Goyre had gifted her with along with the one of hold thread hemming the edge and the white slippers which she wore Patry had given her when she left the pantheon. The bright color of the dress set off the color of her eyes and hair. She was securing her veil over her hair which she packed high on her head when the door to her room opened. She turned arou
