The Phoenix Born goes on sale in less than a week!!!
Yesterday, I teased the entire first chapter of The Phoenix Born! But since we all know the book is told from two different perspectives, I only thought it was fair to give Rhen a little bit of the spotlight too!
The second chapter is pasted below :)
Don't forget, The Phoenix Born is available to pre-order now!
~~~
2
RHEN
~ THE GATES ~
Rhen had only one thought on his mind—finding
Jinji.
Okay, two.
Finding Jinji and the army of phantoms he had seen in the
dragon's vision. Correction—the unstoppable army of phantoms he saw wipe out
thousands of men in the blink of an eye in the dragon's vision. That army. And
it was coming back. Soon.
"Come on," he whispered into the ebony scales
blazing beneath his fingers. The wind whipped against his cheeks, hot from the
flames encircling him and his dragon. It felt odd to think of them like that—as
a rider and a dragon. To Rhen, they felt as one. One breath. One body. One
soul. The wings pumping against air felt like Rhen's limbs. The snout always
ready to breathe flames could be his own mouth. And they shared something else
too—one mind. A mind forever changed.
Every time he closed his eyes, Rhen saw them. The people
burning in his flames. Their pain was a part of him—it cut straight through his
heart. Their cries still haunted his ears, and even now, he heard their howls
in the wind. Rhen had made a promise to himself and to his dragon—never again.
And he meant it. From now on, he was Rhen. Just a rider and nothing else. No
allegiances to anyone aside from the beast below him, the woman he was trying
to find, and the entire world he was trying to save. All people, not just some
of them.
The peak of the Gates stood out against the clear-blue sky
ahead. Pure ivory. He had no idea what waited for him there. Had Jinji found
the shadow? Had she defeated it? Had she been defeated?
Rhen shook his head—he would know if she were dead. He would
feel it in his gut. Yet still, he pushed harder, flew faster, unable to deny
the doubt and fear building in the back of his mind.
He had left her.
Rhen had left her.
He had found his dragon, realized what it meant for Rayfort,
and he had vanished almost without a second thought. Sure, Jinji had left him
first, alone in that boat. Sure, she hadn't woken him to fight the shadow with
her. But still, what if?
Rhen knew Jinji was strong, stronger than he was. He trusted
her to be able to take care of herself. She didn’t need him, no matter how hard
that was to admit. But he loved her. They hadn't said it, but he knew it deep
within his soul. And the idea that she might have needed him, that he wasn't
there for her, terrified him more than anything else could.
Rhen brought the dragon down in a giant swoop, landing hard
against the white stone courtyard nestled into the mountains.
"Stay here," he murmured as he slipped from his
dragon's back, stroking his side gently in parting. Unlike Ember, his unruly
horse with a mind all her own, Rhen had no doubt his dragon would listen.
"Jin!" he yelled as soon as he was inside the
castle walls.
Silence answered.
"Jin!" he tried again as he raced up the steps,
taking them two at a time. But the castle appeared deserted. No bodies. No
blood. No weapons strewn across the floor. Not even a chair tipped over or a
curtain hanging out of place. The entire space was frozen in time. If Jinji had
fought the shadow, it wasn't here.
But still, Rhen continued exploring, weaving in and out of
rooms just in case he had missed something. Some sign. There was a dining area,
bedrooms, living quarters with a fireplace, what appeared to be training rooms
with desks and books. The more he wandered, the more intrigued he became. What
had this place been used for? It was half a palace and half a guardhouse. There
was even a courtyard that grew plants. It was overgrown and wild, but it held berries
and foods all the same.
He found his way to a balcony near the top tower, and he
looked out, spotting his dragon resting in the courtyard below, stark ebony
against so much white stone. As though sensing his eyes, the dragon looked up,
lifting his long neck, turning a red pupil on his rider in question. Rhen
didn't even have to speak, as soon as he thought, come, the dragon was already unfurling his wings and lifting into
the sky. As he neared, Rhen perched on the balcony rail. And then he jumped, not
a single doubt in his mind that the dragon would catch him. Their bodies were
one, always sensing where the other half would be at any moment.
As they flew higher, aimless at the moment, Rhen looked down
at the mountain peaks below. Four openings spotted the stone, so unnatural. One
was empty, but the other three held slumbering bodies just waiting to be
awakened. One a silvery blue, one a dirty evergreen, and one so close to the
color of the white stone Rhen could hardly make the body out—the air dragon, he
was sure.
Rhen knew where Jinji had to have gone.
She was searching for the riders. She realized he had left
her, and she went searching for the riders without him. Maybe the shadow had
never been here after all. Maybe that had been needless worry all in Rhen's
head. Maybe she had been fine all along.
A nagging doubt in the back of his mind couldn't be ignored.
Something had happened. Rhen was sure of it.
And he intended to find out what.
"Do you know where she is?" he whispered to the
dragon.
Rhen didn't need to explain further. They changed directions
almost immediately, wings sweeping in a large arc, heading south. Rayfort, he
realized. Of course, she was in Rayfort.
As they flew, Rhen let his fingers brush over the rocky
scales beneath his skin. Almost like coal, ebony black and rough to the touch,
burning bright at the edges, revealing the inferno always raging within his
dragon's core. Even now, without trying, a trail of flames lit up the sky
behind them. Rhen pulled the fire beneath his skin, bringing the blaze to his
hands and yanking the heat in, letting it fill him up.
"You need a name," he said suddenly, releasing the
flames. The wind carried them back and blew them out.
The dragon didn't pause his flight, but Rhen felt
uncertainty stir to life in the back of his mind, a foreign thought and yet a
familiar one.
"Yes, you need a name," he repeated, patting the
side of the dragon's neck with his hand the same way he would Ember, soothing
the beast, making a connection. He enjoyed talking to his animals as though
they were people, and no animal had felt quite so human as the one beneath him
now.
Leaning down, pressing his whole body against the dragon's
neck as though in sleep, Rhen listened to the heart beating deep within the
animal's chest. The sound echoed in his own heart. And while Rhen couldn't say
for sure, the dragon felt male, felt just like an extension of Rhen himself.
"How about Blaze?" he whispered.
A disgusted growl purred from the dragon's snout releasing
hot flames that smacked Rhen directly in the face. Maybe he's more like Ember than I thought, Rhen mused, sitting up
to think.
"Coal?" Rhen questioned, noticing the rocky scales
beneath his hand.
The dragon dropped suddenly at a sharp angle, making Rhen
lose his seat for a moment, suspended in air. He grabbed on tight, raising a
brow.
"A simple no would suffice," he muttered and
adjusted in his seat. "Okay…okay. Let me think."
It has to be strong,
Rhen thought.
Reading his mind, the dragon gave a subtle approval. Rhen
tried to push the beast out of his head for a moment.
And grand.
The dragon shot a little flame into the sky, flying faster
with excitement. Rhen was on the right track. He thought back, mind unwittingly
brought to Rayfort, to the damage Rhen had done on the back of this dragon, to
the flames that had engulfed the enemies of his city, an unstoppable force.
They had come from the sky, blazing down like a raging inferno, pouring flames
across the battlements.
"Firestorm," Rhen said suddenly. "How's Firestorm?"
Rhen knew what the dragon would do a moment before he did
it, so he held on tight, sinking low as the wings flattened against his
dragon's side, sending them racing toward the sea below. Right before they
slammed against the crystal water, the dragon changed directions, spreading his
wings to flatten out and skim along the surface. And then they surged up as a
thunderous roar erupted from his throat, sending a ring of flames in front of
them, filling Rhen's vision. They flew directly through the fire, blue sky
disappearing as angry orange and reds consumed his vision.
"Firestorm!" Rhen yelled, laughing, unable to
contain the adrenaline pumping through his system.
When they broke through the bubbling cloud of fire, he saw
Rayfort on the horizon. Immediately, his mood deteriorated. The city was a
reminder of a memory he wanted to escape. No more than an hour or two had
passed since Rhen had left Rayfort behind, and he had hoped it would be longer
before he would return. But there was nothing to do but face it—face the damage
he had forced Firestorm to do. The grass around the city walls was scorched
black. The sea was littered with ships that had been burned apart, melted away
to almost nothing. Bodies blackened and charred were everywhere, and Rhen's skin
crawled knowing his actions had killed them all. He would spend the rest of his
life trying to make up for that fact.
"Let's land, boy," Rhen whispered, patting
Firestorm's coarse side.
They came to a stop next to something Rhen never thought he
would see, a small boat resting in the courtyard of the castle, far away from
the water.
Jinji.
He knew there was no other explanation. She was here. She
was the only person in the world who could carry a boat so far from the harbor.
And that wasn't all. Rhen had spent almost two weeks on that very boat, aware
that every gust of wind against the sail carried him farther from his family,
from his people, leaving them to their doom as the Ourthuri surrounded the
city. He would recognize that boat anywhere.
"Prince Whylrhen," a guard called.
"Lord of Fire," another shouted.
Rhen closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. He
could no longer be the savior his people believed he was. Soon enough, they
would come to realize that too.
"Just Rhen," he said back, turning to the men as
Firestorm dropped to his belly and laid his head on the soft grass. "He
means you no harm," Rhen called, noticing how they stared at the dragon
with fear in their eyes. "Just leave him be. He will cause no trouble.
I've come to find Lady Jinji and to speak with my brother."
"They're in the throne room, sire. They have been for
over an hour."
Rhen needed no other prompting. He ran through the halls,
stopping outside the throne room just long enough to realize it no longer had a
door. Strange. But then he took in
the scene inside. Two women were collapsed against each other, a heap on the
ground, and Rhen knew exactly who one of them was.
"Jin!" he shouted, racing forward, dropping to her
side and placing a hand to her head. It was feverishly warm and, behind closed
lids, her eyes shifted back and forth, ticking rapidly.
"She's been like this for quite some time," a
familiar voice muttered with concern. Rhen glanced up, noticing Cal for the
first time. The man was one of his dearest friends, yet he was hardly
recognizable. Cal, who always followed the rules. Cal, who always looked proper
and put together. That same Cal was now covered in grime, cheeks stained with
long dried tears, and his eyes were filled only with concern. But not concern
for Jinji, Rhen realized, following the line of Cal's arm to the fingers
holding a womanly hand, preciously cradling her burned skin.
I did that. Rhen
shuddered. His concern for Jinji had tunneled his vision, but now his eyes were
wide open. The woman Jinji held in her arms was barely recognizable. All of her
skin was bubbled red and raw, burned black in certain places, angry and
scarred. And Rhen's fire had done it.
He wanted to throw up.
Then he noticed her olive skin and long onyx hair, the faint
remains of tattoos on her burned arms.
"The princess?" he whispered.
"I found her floating in the water," Cal murmured,
voice scratchy and sore.
Rhen glanced at his friend. What had happened in Rayfort
while he was gone? Cal had never even met the princess, and now he was watching
her like his life would go with hers if she died, like the fate of his heart
depended on her large eyes opening once more. But watching his friend, Rhen
knew it was not the time to ask.
"Lady Jinji said she could heal her," Cal
continued, voice growing more hollow. "She held her and for a few minutes
it looked like she was getting better, but then Lady Jinji collapsed, and the
two of them have been like this for longer than I care to admit."
"Where did you disappear to, brother?" another
voice called. Whyllem. Rhen watched as his older brother stood from his spot on
the throne, a smile spreading over his cheeks. "I thought you of all
people would want to stay to celebrate the victory. After all, you're the one
who won us the war."
"This was no victory," Rhen said harshly, running
his hand over the princess's burned arm. How many others looked like her? How
many others were in pain, dying from his flames?
"Our enemies are dead. I would call that a
victory," Whyllem said, peering at Rhen strangely, with concern.
Rhen just shook his head, brows pulling together. "They
weren't our enemies, Whyllem, not really. You don't understand, not yet. But
you will. You all will."
"Rhen—"
"Stop," he interrupted, sensing Jinji stir beneath
his palm. A small sigh escaped her lips, and her hand clutched the princess's
tighter, as though she was struggling to hold on. Rhen cupped her cheek, unable
to stop himself. Her features relaxed as though sensing his presence. The
wrinkles in her forehead smoothed, and her full lips unpursed. "Leave
us," Rhen continued, speaking to Whyllem alone. "Bring the baby and
the women back to their rooms, celebrate victory with the men if you must, and
then go out and assure the city that their king is alive and well, that the
family of Whyl has survived. It will give them hope to see your face—it will
help the healing process begin."
Whyllem paused. Rhen felt his brother's eyes boring into the
side of his head, and he could guess what he was thinking. That Whyllem and not
Rhen was the king regent. That he was the one who was supposed to give the
orders. That father and Tarin would be disappointed to see Rhen act this way.
That the people of Rayfort would want to see their Lord of Fire too. But
Whyllem didn't need to say a word. Rhen knew all of that already. And for the
first time in his life, he didn't care. All of the concerns that normally would
have filled his head were gone, burned away by the fire. He had far more to
worry about now.
Instead of speaking, Whyllem left, and the rest of Rhen's
family followed behind—his mother, the queen mother, his baby nephew. He
watched them go, knowing that the divide perpetually separating him from his
family had just grown that much wider.
And with his eyes near the door, Rhen finally noticed
another person in the room. A person whose face Rhen never thought he would see
again. Older. More bedraggled. But the same—Jin the boy, somewhat grown up.
Rhen jerked back, brows coming together in confusion.
If Jinji was in his arms, Jinji the woman, how could she
also be standing over there, hidden behind her magic?
"Who are you?" he said darkly.
The man watched Rhen with an equal amount of distrust, and
his eyes fell to the spot where Rhen still held Jinji's cheek. "I'm
Janu."
Rhen's gaze narrowed further. "Who are you really? Janu
is dead. The Lady Jinji told me the story of his death herself."
"She is not the
Lady Jinji. She is Jinji of the Arpapajo people. And she was
misinformed."
But before Rhen could answer, Jinji sat up, wide-eyed and
gasping for breath. He brought his arms around her, pulling her close. And
without truly realizing it was him, she sensed it, curling into his side,
breath calming the longer he held her.
"I'm here," he whispered, "you're safe."
He kissed her forehead, still sensing the eyes of her
alleged brother watching them in fury.
"Rhen," she said weakly. But then her eyes closed
once more, and she fell over Leena's body.
"Jin." He shook her shoulder gently.
"Wait!" Cal exclaimed, hand clutching Rhen's arm
to halt his actions. Rhen followed his friend's eyes, noticing for the first
time that the princess's skin was transforming. The heat blisters were
shrinking. The ripples of melted skin were smoothing out, returning to their
normal tan olive color. The tattoos encircling her arms were being painted back
on. Different this time, Rhen couldn't help but notice, as the image of a
dragon with wide wings appeared on her bicep, followed by crashing ocean waves.
Rhen's brows drew close together, and then he smiled as the realization hit.
Leena was the next rider—she had to be. Why else would Jinji be drawing dragons
across her skin, branding her as such? Their fates had always been mysteriously
tied with this woman, and it made perfect sense that she would be the next one
called forth to wake a dragon—the water dragon, judging by the tattoos Jinji
spun. Within minutes, the princess was transformed back to the beautiful woman
he remembered her to be.
Jinji sat up, wearily this time, completely exhausted, blinking
with some confusion. In her lap, the princess opened her eyes and rolled to a
seated position, far more energetic than the woman who had just healed her.
Leena ran her fingers up the smooth skin of her arm, marveling, before looking
at Jinji with awe.
"Thank you," the princess said, nearly breathless.
Before Jinji could respond, Leena noticed the fourth person in their small
circle. In a heartbeat, her arms flew around Cal's shoulders, hugging him
tight. Without any hesitation, he reciprocated, pulling her close, eyelids
crushed together with emotion.
Rhen glanced at Jinji, smirking. She shrugged, unable to
contain a little smile of her own. And then it was her turn to fling herself
into the arms of a man she loved, and Rhen responded whole-heartedly, bringing
his arms fully around her thin frame, enveloping her completely. Her lips
pressed gently to a soft spot on his neck, bringing a sigh to his lips, and he
stood without letting go, so her whole body pressed tightly against him.
Before Rhen could place the kiss he so eagerly desired
against her lips, a cough broke her attention. Jinji shoved herself away,
turning with wide eyes.
"Jinji?"
"Jin?"
Both men spoke at the same time. She cringed, shoulders
bending just slightly inward, but enough for Rhen to notice.
"Rhen, my brother Janu. Janu, the friend I told you
about, Rhen." Neither man offered a hand, but instead eyed each other
warily. The use of the word friend
hung in the air, unsatisfactory.
"So it's true. He's really your brother?" Rhen
asked. Jinji bit her lip and nodded but didn't say more. "How?" he
prompted.
Almost immediately, he saw the wheels in her head begin to
spin, and it put Rhen on edge. He remembered that calculating stare, the one
she used to use as Jin the boy, full of mysteries. But since finding out she
was really a woman, he hadn't ever seen Jinji so careful with an answer. They
never lied to each other, not anymore. But maybe they did now. And only one
thing had changed—Janu.
"I'll explain later," was all she said. And then
she hurried to Leena, pulling her away from Cal and ushering her from the room.
Over her shoulder, she yelled, "Follow me."
The three men had no choice but to listen or be left behind.
They listened—Cal first, then Rhen, then Janu trailing behind. In silence, they
traversed the castle, not stopping until they were back through the front door,
a few feet from the dragon slumbering on the grass. Rhen stepped forward,
placing a hand to Firestorm's snout. Immediately, his red eyes opened with
curiosity.
"What do you need us to do?" Rhen asked, already
suspicious.
Jinji ignored him, turning instead to the princess.
"Leena, this might sound crazy, but I think deep down you've always known
you were meant for something more. And this is it. Rhen can explain when you
get there, but a war is coming, and you will be on the first line of defense.
We need you to become a rider, we need you to wake your dragon, we need you to
help save the world."
Through the entire speech, the princess never lost her
serene expression, her royal composure. Instead, her eyes darkened with
excitement. "I dreamed of this," she spoke softly. "I thought I
was dying. I thought it was the end. But then I had a vision of a molten dragon
made of crystal ice and flowing ocean waves, and I knew somehow I would be
saved. You saved me. I'm ready for what comes next."
Jinji wasted no time. She nodded, pleased with the response,
and turned to an open spot beside Firestorm. Holding up her palms, the air
before them all wavered, rippling with unseen currents, and a moment later, a
large birdcage appeared, made of solid stone, something that couldn't be burned
by fire.
Rhen watched with surprise. They had barely been apart for a
day, but it seemed like Jinji had aged far more than that—her powers were much
stronger than he remembered, and her confidence at wielding them was complete.
Who was this woman standing before him? What was she hiding?
"Rhen," she said, spinning, golden flecks
sparkling in her irises.
"I'll take her," he answered, not needing Jinji to
actually ask the question.
She stepped closer, bringing her hands to his biceps,
holding on tight while her beautiful brown eyes stared up at him, wide and
trusting. "Take her to the water dragon, tell her what to do, and then
come back to me. There is so much I need to tell you, so much that needs to be
done."
"I have much to tell you too," he responded, mind
thinking back to the vision his dragon had shared, to the army of phantoms that
would rage across the land. Did Jinji know what the future held? He knew
without asking that she did. He could sense the fear in the back of her mind,
the urgency associated with the dragons. For now, he would listen without
complaint, would help, but when he returned he needed some answers.
Jinji held his eyes a moment longer before glancing toward
her brother. She looked back at Rhen. Back at her brother. Wavering, biting her
lip. And then she acted before Rhen could even respond, jumping up to press a
quick kiss to his lips, over before he knew it had begun.
But even after Rhen had climbed onto Firestorm's back, after
the princess had nestled into a comfortable spot in the cage, after he lifted
her into the air to make for the Gates, he couldn't rid his thoughts of Jinji's
short kiss. He couldn't fight the nagging sense that her goodbye held something
deeper, something more permanent. The warmth of her touch stayed on his skin,
haunting him with an unspoken farewell.
~~~
The Phoenix Born goes on sale November 17th!! Woohoo!
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