Page 178 of A Flame of the Phoenix

“It is time,” he said. Three words that struck through her like a gong.

She was led out by the chain connecting her shackles by a dark fae in front of her. The field glowed with torches and was packed full with bodies. They parted to let them through, and Tauria was pulled like a dog through the thick of her enemies who’d emerged from their tents to bear witness to the Queen of Fenstead becomingone of them.

Something of a stage was fashioned, and she was led up onto it. A fae was already kneeling as a spectacle. His head was bowed, but his shoulders shook with sobs of terror. She wanted to console him, but Tauria wasn’t pushed to her knees beside him.

She stood overlooking the endless blots of bodies blending into the dark horizon, broken only by the occasional flickering amber torch. Tauria Silverknight held her chin high. She would not let them see her fear.

Her chain was released which silenced the murmurs around the field.

These valleys had always been so tranquil. Now they were defiled, and Tauria’s soul cried at the invaders who took no care in the land they trampled and the rivers they polluted.

There had to be at least ten thousand soldiers here. There was only one of her. But they stood inherelement. The air that wrapped around her skin, caressing her cheek now, waiting for her call.

“The full moon is upon us,” Mordecai’s voice bellowed through the still night. “And tonight it shall bear witness to one of the greatest Transitions of our time. As Queen Tauria Stagknight joins us as dark fae. For in darkness, we shall triumph.”

In the eerie silence that followed, Tauria said, “Silverknight.” Taking a long breath, she squared her shoulders, and more striking than the power of Mordecai’s voice was the sound of her shackles slipping off her wrists and clanging to the ground. “My name is Tauria Silverknight, and this is my home.”

Mordecai’s eyes widened with rage and mockery, glancing from her shackles to her face. “Who released you?”

“I did,” she said.

The first dark fae to move—the one who had been holding her chain—choked as she stole all the air from his lungs with a twist of her wrist.

“You made the mistake of underestimating what I can do. You are always at my mercy. Always surrounded by not just one of my powers, but two.”

As a demonstration, Tauria touched the life essence of a root under the ground at the dark fae’s feet as he struggled for his stolen air. The root launched out of the soil, piercing through his back. He fell, suspended on the root like a spike. It took a lot more effort to use her Florakinetic ability, but her determination knew no bounds to do what she’d come here for.

“Why wait until now?” Mordecai asked, simmering with loathing.

“To make a spectacle out ofyou.To show you are nothing more than a powerless dark fae reliant on a history that paintedyour reputation. Now…you are nothing to contend with on your own.”

Tauria reached under her skirts, retrieving her staff, which she extended to full size in a breath. Then, in her next, she conjured a sharp gale of wind and sent it slamming into Mordecai.

Then she became spellbound to the wind and nature around her. Tauria was a hurricane sweeping through the field that erupted into chaos. She was just one person, but none of these dark fae had abilities, and she would fight for as long as she could, eliminating the enemy force that had plagued her land for too long.

She hoped she’d also damaged Mordecai’s reputation. That word would spread of how easily he was fooled and overpowered, and how he’d allowed Tauria to wipe out an entire legion.

At least, that was her ambition. It would sound incredulous, laughable, to most. But Tauria’s wind wrapped around necks and stole air as she danced through the crowd, cutting down everyone who advanced for her. She blasted others back from reaching her while she commanded the roots in the ground to kill others instantly. Her body quickly ached, and her skin slicked with sweat from using more magick than she ever had before, but she pushed past the warnings. She foughtharder.

Maybe she was a fool, about to be overwhelmed and cut down at any moment, but the purpose in her heart thought it was worth it. She’d run from her enemy once, leaving them to overthrow her kingdom. She owed them this for her failure all that time ago.

“You can’t fight forever, Tauria,” Mordecai yelled at her from above.

The advance of soldiers was endless, but she tuned out the high lord’s taunt.

One body at a time,she told herself calmly. Thinking of the masses would only waver her will.

Her staff twisted and spun and cut between her hands, and slowly she pushed forward. She was surrounded but not alone. So long as she had the pairing of the wind and the anguish of the nature, Tauria kept going.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but her lungs had passed the point of burning, and she knew the moment she stopped she would collapse. At some point, she thought the push of enemies became less, but the sounds of battle grew. Some of the dark fae shifted their target, and it was then she saw…

Something rammed through the throng in front of her. It made the dark fae scramble to fly to get out of the way, but many were thrown unnaturally into the air before slamming down. Even Tauria balked at the massive thing that charged right in her direction. The dark fae stopped attacking her, and Tauria’s vision peppered as she struggled to catch her breath.

Then the beast burst through the mob, causing her to stumble back, but what she saw struck her powerfully.

Tauria gasped, in complete awe as the giant white stag reared up, mighty and triumphant, declaring itself with a loud call like a horse. Its antlers shimmered silver, and Tauria knew there was something sacred about this stag. Something of myth and legend come to life. She blinked consciously, wondering if she’d fallen in battle and this was some beautiful vision.

She couldn’t explain the pull she felt when its silver eyes met hers.Ride with me,it seemed to say.

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