Prologue

Fire is the one thing that can destroy and create almost simultaneously. It can create warmth or destroy you; it can help you sustain yourself or wipe out entire cities. You might ask how I know this. I know since I was born in this fire.
I am Phoenix, the daughter of the god of fire and the goddess of war. Where I come from, dual gods and goddesses are rare. I know that both my parents want me to take their places, but it is all up to Calera, the mother goddess.
The mortals that worship them love both of my parents, Seiren and Jet. I can only hope to be as loved as they are.

Chapter One

I stood before Calera, the mother goddess, in all her glory and beauty. I felt a little inferior with my red hair and golden eyes to her gold hair and blue eyes. She had a look of kindness in them, but I knew better. This was a hearing to see what my new position would be, since both my parents would be stepping down once that was decided.

“So, little Phoenix, have you put any thought into your future?” she asked me. Her voice was soft, but there was an implication in there; one that stated if I did not pick, she would pick for me. I was not sure how I felt about that particular option.

“I would like to take the place of Goddess of Fire and War, if that is all right with Your Grace,” I said with a slight bow. She smiled. Calera shook her head slightly. “I asked what you wanted; I did not ask what your parents wanted for you, my little redhead,” she said. “This is the job that you must take on until there is a child to take your place. Is that a choice you are willing to live with for the rest of your life?”

“Mother Calera, it is a choice I am willing to live with. If I do not take the place, then who will fill the position I do not take? I do not believe there is anyone to fill it, in all honesty.” She looked at my face, and I could feel the scrutiny in her eyes. The color shifted from blue to orange, and I knew she was seeing into my soul to see whether I was lying or not. I was not going to hide anything from her. I had made my choice, but had she already made hers? I was beginning to worry that she would not take my opinion seriously.
Finally, she sighed. "I suppose I have no choice but to begin your training for the position of Dual Goddess. That is a rare privilege, and I expect you to make us all proud, Child." I bowed low to her, the Mother of us all. "Of course, Mother Calera. I will make you proud no matter what it takes. That I swear upon my name, Phoenix Jetsdaughter."
"Good. Now, you are to go to Typhon. He will begin your training, considering he is the Fire Demi-god. After you meet him, you will find Keren and Teren, the former God and Goddess of War. They are also your aunt and uncle, so treat them with respect. Now, off you go." She waved her hand, and I knew that I had been dismissed.


I met Typhon on the peak of Fire Mountain, which was the birthplace of both my father and myself. Typhon, though you would never believe it by looking at the two of us, was actually my half brother. He didn't have enough God blood in his veins to become the new God of Fire, but he did have enough to be an immortal.
He had his mother's olive skin and black hair. His eyes, however, were the same orange that my father had. Typhon's face also had the strong jaw and full lips that my father was known for. I only had the lips and hair color from Father. Everything else I was known for came from my mom.
"Ah, Little Sister, you finally made it," was the greeting I got from Typhon. I smiled; he was one of the few that I felt comfortable around. After all, he and I both had the ability to control fire with our minds. We both understood how easy it was to harm someone in anger without really meaning to.
"Hey, Typhon," I said. "What is Mother Calera asking you to teach me?"
"She wants you to be able to live and survive among mortals. You're going to be around them often, and you have to know how to interact with them. You can't just expect them to fall to their knees in worship just because you're a Goddess. They rebel against that sort of thing."
"Why would they do that? It is because of us that their lives are so easy. They should respect us!"
"They do to an extent. Mortals have about as much pride as any of us, and they don't like to show submission to anyone. That's why you can't just go down there with all your glory blazing like the sun. First off, you might accidentally set someone's house on fire. They'll hate you forever if you do that. Second, they will

rebel against you if you try and pull the "I'm a Goddess, so I'm better than you" card."
"That's not the reaction your mother had obviously," I managed to point out. "She had to respect father at least a little, right?"
"Father was gentle with my mom. He knew all this, Phoenix. I'm going to take you on a trip to the mortal world tomorrow, and I expect you to remember that you have to at least appear human. They'll trust you faster if you look like one of them." He straightened up a little, and I could tell that I was frustrating him. I could not, for the life of me, understand why I should treat the humans as if they were Gods like me. They should be treated as subjects, since we were the reason they were even alive. If it weren't for my father, they would freeze to death every winter. If it weren't for my mother, they would have been wiped out by their enemies.
"I see we have a lot of work for you yet," Typhon sighed. "Meet me here tomorrow at first light. For now, Keren and Teren are waiting for you in the Hall of Shields. You'd better go meet them now before they fly up here and drag you back by your flaming hair, sis." I laughed and hugged my big brother. "I will be here, I promise," I called over my shoulder as I made my way to the Hall of Shields. I did not tell my brother this, but the twins unnerved me. Their purple eyes and black hair was a trademark of my mother's family, but the eyes were all I could have.
My eyes were the rarest of the Gods, considering that all the other Gods had changing colors only as a result of what their power was. Mine could change at will from gold to violet. Occasionally I could change them to green, the most common eye color.


Keren and Teren were waiting on me, as Typhon had said. I sighed inaudibly; if they had heard me, I probably would have been knocked in the mouth for "disrespect." I did not feel like healing a busted lip later that day.
"It is about time you got here, Child," Keren snapped angrily. Her purple eyes were sparking, a common trait of all War Gods. I knew it was just a matter of time before they turned white and she released a powerful knock-back attack on my small frame. I hurriedly bowed before my aunt and uncle. "Forgive me," I said. "I was running as fast as I could."
"You are a future Goddess of War," Teren pointed out. "Therefore, you need not walk or run when you do have access to flight." I had to fight back a smile; Teren was the kinder of the two. He was still known for cruelty, but he was a lot nicer than his sister.
"Yes, Uncle," I said. I did not want to point out that this high on Mount Drakorin, there were no thermals to help give me speed.
"Enough of this little reunion," Keren snapped. She had folded her arms, a sure sign of irritation for her. "You are here for your first lesson. Luckily for you, it is a simple one. I doubt you could do anything more challenging, considering Jet has taught you nothing in the seventeen years you have been alive." I held my tongue. My mother was the reason I could hit a target with a fireball, knife, sword, or anything that I could hold with a blindfold on.
"You will be hitting targets. However, you must only use the energy given to all War Gods. Fire or weapons are not allowed. Understood?" That was Teren. I nodded at him and stepped forward. I found it a little harder to channel the fierce energy into myself with the two of them watching, but I made the effort to keep it strong.
The first dozen targets were hit without a problem, but when the thirteenth target made its way in front of me, I faltered. My energy was being drained much faster since I couldn't use my father's fire to balance the sheer power out.
I sank to my knees after the twentieth target, red hair dripping with sweat into my face. "I-I cannot go on," I managed to say. "M-my power i-is failing." I fell to the ground, only to have Keren pull me back up by may hair.
"And this is why you need training, kid," she growled. "You are weak. If it were me, Teren, or Jet, we could have went on for hours. What is your excuse?"
I couldn't answer; the pain of her pulling on my hair was too much to bear, and I couldn't speak with my neck stretched at an odd angle.
"Sister, you are choking the poor child," Teren thankfully pointed out before I passed out. Keren let go of my hair, and my head bounced off the floor. I slowly pushed myself up in time to hear the Hall's door fly open. "Keren, what

is the meaning of this?"It was my mother, thank Calera. "I gave you permission to train her, not try and kill her!"
"Oh, little sister, how nice of you to join us," Keren sneered. "Your little princess here can't even keep up her energy to knock out a few targets."
"She is a future Dual Goddess," Mother said. "She has to learn how to balance the two energies out. That is how she has been taught for the past seventeen years." She stepped closer to her sister, and lowered her voice. My heightened senses made it easy to hear her, however. "If I ever find out that you have hurt my child like that again," she threatened. "I will kill you myself. Now, you and Teren had better leave, because Calera has given me permission to take over her training."
"W-what?! Why in Drakorin would she do something like that?" Keren was shocked that Calera would allow my mother to train me, since most parents were never allowed to train their children.
"Well," Mother said, breaking me from my train of thought. "It would more than likely be because I know what kind of training she needs. I am the one who has been teaching her all these years, not the two of you." She turned her attention to her brother. "If you wish to assist me, then that is acceptable. I do not have to worry about you harming my child." Teren bowed, and the two of them hurried off.
Mother extended her hand to me. "My poor little Phoenix," she whispered. "Here, let me help you." I let her pull me up and help me to a bench. Then she handed me a cup of green liquid. It was what we called "Listeria," which meant "energy." It was a drink often used by my mother and her family so that they would not expend their energy in the middle of a battle.
I drank the bitter, smelly liquid and handed the cup back. "I failed you," I muttered.
"You did not fail me, Phoenix," she said. "You and I both know that using only one type of energy will tire you out faster. Your abilities stem from two types, not one. So you have to have balance, you see?"
I nodded, glad that it was my mother teaching me and not someone else.

Chapter Two

True to my word, I met Typhon at the peak of Fire Mountain a little before first light. I had, obviously, been taught to always be early when meeting someone. It shows interest.
Typhon was there waiting, of course. He knew how we both had been taught. "Looks like I beat you for once," he laughed when I landed in front of him. "I thought you hated flying around here?"
"I do," I replied. "But there are more thermals around the mountain than on the lower plains. It's easier to fly up here." Typhon nodded. Unlike the other Gods, I didn't fly by levitation. I flew with actual wings. They were bird-like and bright red, the color of my hair. I got that trait from both my parents.
My mother, known for her black, feathered wings, usually only used them in the human realms. Father, who had wings almost as red as my own, used his at all times. That was his trademark, and no one ever really complained.
"Well," Typhon said. "When we're on Earth, you might want to hold the wings in. You want them to think you're human, remember."
"I'm aware of this, Typhon," I said. I had to force myself not to snap at him; he was only trying to help me. I glanced around at the massive volcano I was standing on. The lava flowed down the sides, not harming any of the Gods below, but it formed a beautiful picture in my mind. I smiled as I watched Typhon open the portal to the Mortal World.
"What's that goofy look on your face for?" Typhon said. "Are you that excited to go to Earth?"
"Huh? Oh, I was just looking at the sunrise over the mountain here. It is kind of beautiful." Typhon nodded and held a hand out to me. I took it and we stepped through the portal.


We stepped out inside one of my father's temples. I figured it was in the Eastern Sector, since the temple had more gold and silver in it than most of the others I had seen. The East was the place where all the humans worshipped Krilia, the Goddess of Wealth, more than the others.
"Welcome to the Human Realm," Typhon said. I looked up at the statue of Father. "Yeah," I muttered. Honestly, my heart wasn't in this. I had no yearning to be in this realm. But, I sucked it up and moved behind my brother as he left the Temple.
"This is the Eastern Sector," Typhon said, stating the obvious. "The humans here know about your father, of course, but they're not as warm to him as they are to Krilia and Lox, the Gods of Wealth and Merchants."
"Why, then, couldn't we have landed in the Northern Sector?" I grumbled. "At least there they wouldn't be gawking at my red hair." I pulled my hood over my head to hide the curls, and trudged behind Typhon. This may have been where his mother was from, but I wasn't comfortable here. I wanted to be somewhere that I would be accepted and even looked at as human. This was not the place.
"You need to be somewhere that your abilities are going to be questioned. You can't expect everyone to follow you at all times. You have to be able to face opposition better than Jet."
I winced at that. My mom was known for striking down her opposition with holy dark fire that could (and often did) destroy entire villages. Yeah, Typhon had a point.
He led me to a small hut just on the outskirts of town. "This is the home of Coraline," he said. "She's the local oracle, and also the daughter of Lisera. Try and be nice, OK?" I nodded as he knocked on the door. Soon after, a young woman with hair the color of willow bark opened the door. "Typhon, come in," she said. "This must be the young Goddess." She bowed respectfully and ushered us inside. Inside, the cottage was well-furnished. It felt like a home, and that's apparently how she felt there. She began to bustle about,

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 01.10.2012

Alle Rechte vorbehalten