Flight of the Phoenix

[Kali]

"Oh, come on!" Kali let her shoulders sag. The universe seemed determined to kill her today.

"Don't move!" The spear was thrust a little closer to Kali's nose. Unlike the guards of the arena, the village guard wore black uniforms under chainmail tunics. Their helmets were round metal caps with pointed tops. And their spears were tipped with iron.

After all the time on the training grounds, Kali could spot the difference in quality. The weapons of the arena were deadly, of course, but they were made to have a certain flair to them. To be flashy and exciting.

These weapons were made purely for functionality.

Made purely to kill.

Unfortunately for the guards, Kali had already rode two monsters to freedom today. Something as trivial as a spear could hardly phase her now. "Do you mind?" Kali batted the spear away with her wing. "You can put someone's eye out with that."

To Kali's surprise, the rat guard backed away a little. Even if the other six continued to level their weapons at the bat, they seemed... nervous? Afraid? But that couldn't be right. Who would be afraid of her? She was just a bat.

Slowly, Kali became more aware of her surroundings. The concourse was full of beasts gathered in a half circle around the arena, their numbers swelling into 'mob' territory and barely contained by the guards.

The Northvale villagers did not look happy.

In fact, they looked the opposite of happy. They looked enraged.

Beasts of all species shouted curses at Nire and threats at the guards. Slaves, masters, free beasts, just a while ago they had been in the arena shouting praises at combatantents, now they were calling for Nire?s head on a pike.

At first, Kali couldn't fathom why. And then she saw the rapidly disappearing rump of Bessie disappearing around the corner, quickly scuttling down a street among screams of terrified beasts, and being pursued by a fleet of village guards.

"Oh,? said Kali aloud. She could see why the villagers would be angry about a giant spider rampaging through their backyard. Or a giant beast eating snake... or a stampede of boars running through their markets.

Or slaves escaping the arena.

Indeed, the villagers had just as many reasons to be angry as the guards had to be afraid of the strange, exotic bat creature that fell before them.

Afterall, she was the mysterious Banshee and just as monstrous as any of the terrors coming out of the arena.

Honestly, Kali could get used to beasts being afraid of her.

"Really? Are we really going to do this now? Monsters are running loose, the slaves are going free, and the arena is collapsing and you are really concerned with the bard?" She paused. The arena was flooding. Once the place crumbled, the flood waters would spill out onto the concourse, maybe even take out the buildings around it.

The bat glanced to the crowd of beasts, angrily demanding answers from those inside the arena...

Kali tried to stand up suddenly. She gasped as the rat pushed her back down, shoving the butt end of his spear into her chest.

"I said stay still, monster!"

"You don't understand! You need to listen! You are all in danger! We are all going to DIE!"

"Be quiet."

"No! Listen! The arena is flooding and now the whole place is coming down! If we don't get out of here we-" The guard forced Kali back to the ground, pinning her as he drove the butt of the spear into her belly.

"You?re jests have little humor to them jester. Now be quiet or I?ll start using the bladed end... " He pushed the spear butt deeper into Kali's guts to drive the point home.

"You. Are. In. Danger!" The bat leaned up, despite the guards attempts to silence her. "You are all going to die! The arena is going to flood! You need to get out of here!"

By now, the bat's words started to gain the attention of the crowd.

"Do you really think we cannot see what you are up to? We are in the middle of a slave revolt! Monsters are running rampant through the city, beasts are dying, Nire is nowhere to be seen and you are just trying to distract us from catching your escaping friends!"

"I believe her."

Even the bat hesitated as the guards behind her turned to the new voice. She could see it on their faces, first came the shock that a beast got past the guards at the crowd, and then... nervousness as they saw who was talking. Kali seemed to shrink as she recognized the beast.

The rat gulped. The beast before them was a shadow of his former self. His eyes sunken and he had lost much of his muscle, and yet he stood before them completely unafraid of their numbers. It took the guards a second to regain their confidence. "Who do you think you are? Get back behind the line!"

The cat's eyes narrowed, tail twitching behind him as he stepped forward. "Who am I? I am Trask. But you know me as the Crimson Tiger. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

And he was not alone.

"Or perhaps me?" Komi was just as fearsome as the wildcat next to her.

Turning their spears away from Kali and towards the wildcat suggested that, yes, the guards had heard of them both. "You don't want to start trouble here, Mr. Tiger." The rat began, "This doesn't concern you. If you interfere, Nire will hear of it and-"

"Nire is a fool,? the cat hissed. "He is a liar who would send his own mother into the arena if he thought it was funny, but that one..."

Kali felt her heart race as Trask the Crimson Tiger pointed at her. The last time she saw him he was bleeding out from a knife wound to the stomach, begging to be given an honorable end.

Did Kali survive the snake, the hawk, the spider, only to be done in by the wildcat's revenge?

"That one is? kind. She is not an escaped slave trying to fool you." No beast is more stunned than Kali. "She is whimsical, and scatter brained, but she spared me in the arena. She would rather risk Nire's punishment that kill a fellow gladiator.

"She is no liar. If she says we are in danger, you listen to her."

"Touch a hair on her and you answer to me,? the stoat added with fierceness.

Kali couldn't help but smile, even if only faintly. Everything she did seemed to turn to ash, but knowing that she had made at least one good decision along the way, made everything worthwhile.

The guards however still seemed unsure. Even in the presence of two famously brutal warriors, the guards seemed reluctant. Their hesitation frustrated Kali, every second they wasted looking for direction from an unseen commanding officer was a second less these beasts had to live!

"If you don't believe them, then believe me."

Kali wasn't sure how to feel about the arrival of even more guards, these ones wearing blue. Once exiting the arena, the guards made a beeline for the bat. Worse yet, the beast in the lead was easily recognizable as Drake.

Old enemies were just coming out of the woodwork right now, she thought.

"You work in the arena, right?" The rat guard asked. "Is this slave telling the truth? Did Blasio really flood the arena?"

"What do I look like, the beaver?s keeper?" the fat fox looked angry, and wet. His fur was soaked to the bone, but his eyes were ablaze with anger. He lacked the intimidation of others when Trask stepped between him and Kali.

"Dragon."

"Tiger."  The two eyed each other warily before the fox shot daggers at Kali.

The bat gulped. She tried to ignore the irony of the situation as she stepped closer to Trask. "D-drake! Y-you got out of the armory quickly..."

"I should hope so. I wasn't about to die trapped in my own armory, no thanks to your traitorous hide. You left us there to drown."

?I tied you up in a room with pointy objects! I think that deserves a lot of thanks!?

Stepping between them, the rat guard interrupted. "Drown? So the arena is flooding?"

"Do you think I bathe in my armor?!" the fox threw his arms in the air. "The whole place is coming down!"

"And the slaves?"

"Forget the blasted slaves!" The fox growled again. "The arena is lost and if we keep wasting time here, the arena will take us with it!" He turned to the rat again, "Well? What are you waiting for? Get that crowd to disperse."

"But... the guard captain..."

"Do I look like I care two figs about your captain? Now, rat. Do it NOW!" The rat snapped to attention. He gestured for his fellow guards to follow him.

As Drake ordered his own beasts to get the wounded to safety and help disperse the crowd, Kali once again marveled how the universe was rewarding her for her good deeds. If she had let Inkpaw kill the fox... If she had killed Trask...

Maybe Thray had a point about mercy, after all. All the beasts they spared, the snake they freed and how they saved Bessie...

Kali paused, tilting her head to one side. Well, one bad idea out of several good ones wasn't too horrible.

"Drake... Trask. I can't thank you en-"

"Don't." The fox wagged an accusatory claw at the bat. "The only reason you are still alive is because my house is just down the street. Getting my family to safety is my priority. But once this is all over, I'm going to make you into a rug."

The fox pushed through them. He dropped the battle ax against the stone pavement on his way past the crowd. Kali's ears flattened. Losing a friend was hard, but she took comfort in knowing that he was at least alive.

Once the fox was gone, Komi softened her face towards the bat. "Kali, are you..."

Without warning, Kali wrapped her arms around the stoat, squeezing her tight. To her surprise, the stoat hugged her back just as tight.

"Kali," she said, "The others. Why are they not with you? Did they get out okay?"

Kali's voice choked, admitting, "I don't know." She didn't even have time to think about them. Were they dead? Were they crushed by the debris? Did they drown? She saw the spider practically crush poor Rose. Were Inkpaw and Baxter really... r-really... "I don't know. Bessie attack us and we got separated. What about Min and Fable? Where are they?"

Komi looked stricken. She glanced away from the bat, unable to meet her eyes, "Tavin is getting Fable to safety. I only came back because I saw you fall."

Kali blinked. "Tavin is getting Fable to safety?" Suddenly she pulled away from the stoat, "Where is Min? why isn't she here?"

The silence spoke volumes.

"No."

"Kali, she..."

"No," tears began to form at Kali's eyes.

"A pillar crumbled on our way out and Tavin was underneath it. Min pushed him out of the way but she? she didn't make it out of the way in time, Kali."

Kali felt the energy leaving her. After everything that had happened, to lose yet another friend to the growing list of beasts who have perished at this horrible arena, Kali was ready to finally give up. To finally break down and cry. She deserved that at least, after all she had been through. There were no more beasts to inspire, no more terrified faces to calm down, no more broken hearts to help comfort. Surely Kali could finally crumple into the poor, hurt bard that she was, right?

Unfortunately, the universe never gave her the chance.

Without warning, a pair of heavy paws grabbed both the bat and stoat, shoving them roughly to the ground as Trask shielded them with his own body.

A looming shadow passed over the wildcat, its talons barely missing them all as it swooped back into the air with a deafening cry.

Right, thought Kali. There was still one more monster to slay.

And this one brought friends.

Beasts scattered as Thunder circled above with owls following close behind.

"Mum!" Tavin shouted from the crowd.

"Get back! We will handle this." Using the spear to support herself, Komi got up before hoisting Kali back to her feet. "That goes for you too. Run and hide. We will take care of this."

"We will?" The wildcat raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not doing this on my own!" Komi protested, offering her spear to the feline. "You were willing to stand up to armored guards to protect Kali, surely a few feather dusters with claws won't be a problem?"

The cat regarded the spear with disdain. "Keep them busy. I'll get my own."

"W-what? No! There's no time!" Komi called out to the departing feline. A moment later, the owls attacked.

There was no order to their attacks, they just dive bombed the stoat at their leisure. "Kali! Run!" Komi shouted one last time, spurring the bat into motion. She turned her back on Komi as the owls descended around her. Their hoots and screeches filled the air as Komi did battle, and the bard found a hiding spot.

Again.

Kali was running away from a monster, again.

She was running away while her friends picked up the fight to protect her. To save her. To die... how many had she lost so far? Could she even count them anymore?

The bat gritted her teeth, coming to a halt halfway in the street. She turned back, watching as Komi ducked and weaved under talons and beaks trying to tear at her flesh. The bat then glanced to the other end of the street where Trask marched his way towards the village guard beasts. The vermin were busy trying to get the crowd to disperse.

"Your spears. Give them to me,? he demanded.

"W-what?" the rat guard stammered as the Crimson Tiger grabbed ahold of the spear. Securing the weapon in both paws, the cat heaved, pulling the spear up and over his head like a club and sending the rat flying through the air like a catapult.

An owl let out a surprised squawk as the rat collided with its side, knocking it out of the sky.

The spear was thrown, striking another owl in the back that was trying to flank Komi.

The other guards watched in horror, each eagerly handing the cat their weapons when he turned around, thrusting his paw out expectantly.

"Trask!" Kali shouted as she ran. "I need a weapon!"

Raising both eyebrows in shock, Trask hesitated. His gaze turned skyward at the hawk still circling around them, waiting for the owls to weaken his prey. With the flick of his wrist, he sent a spear at the bat. She leapt into the air, catching the shaft with her feet.

"Finish the fight this time, or Thunder will finish you."

Kali nodded solemnly before ascending.

"Kali! What are you doing? Get back here!" Komi shouted before thrusting her weapon into the belly of an owl.

Cracking his neck and clutching a spear in either paw, the Crimson Tiger joined the battle even as more owls descended upon them.


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Thunder looked down at Kali and laughed. Hovering in the air, he bellowed down to her. "How nice of you to save me the trouble of hunting you down. And look, you brought me a toothpick, too. How kind."

Kali scowled. This was by far the worst idea she ever had. Both wings throbbed with pain and fatigue now, not just her wound anymore. "Come closer and I will show you just how kind this toothpick will be to your face, ya bird brained idiot!"

The bird however only continued to hover, slowly working his way around the bat. "You really are new to this, aren't you?" he smirked, "What is the point of this folly? Why throw your life away at my talons?"

Kali gulped, glancing at his already bloody talons. With all the slaves escaping the Crater, Kali figured that she would not be his first meal tonight. "For my friends." She held the spear tighter in her foot paws. "The longer I keep you busy, the longer they don't have to deal with you."

The hawk tilted his head to one side, as if looking through Kali. His grin widened. "I see you finally found your spine. Good." The smile faded, "It's about time you put on a worthy hunt..."

Folding his wings closer to his body, the bird fell quickly, far more quickly than Kali thought he should be allowed to. Instinct told her to drop as well, but experience taught her that such a move would only cause her to fall into the bird on the way down. She banked to the right instead, the air flowing off of the passing hawk ruffled Kali's fur.

There were plenty of birds of prey in Kali's homeland. Owls, hawks, other creatures that liked to make a meal of her people. Their defenses against such fowl were limited to flight and escape. Afterall, nature blessed their enemies with talons, not them.

A few brave fox-bats would join the guard to protect travelers and merchants. Those rare breed of fools would train themselves to go hunting after owls, the braver would become legends among her people.

Kali... She would have been regarded as a banquet feast.

And yet here she was, picking a fight with her natural enemy. One who easily turned back around with a graceful summersault to come eat her face off.

Kali chirped before setting into a dive. The chase was on. If she could give her friends even five minutes to deal with the owls before Thunder came back to finish them off, Kali would say her sacrifice was worth it. With the shadow of Thunder quickly catching up to her, Kali hoped she could give them even one minute.

She wouldn't have been able to outrun Thunder even in her prime. Not in a fair chase at least. Kali turned suddenly for the streets, causing the bird to slow down as it turned to follow her. She ducked low, inches away from the pavement before turning again down another street. Glancing over her shoulder Kali saw Thunder lazily stretch out his legs, letting his his claws spark against the stonework.

Coming to another bend in the street Kali tucked pulled up, veering hard to the sky before landing on the wall of an inn and rebounding towards the bird behind her. She aimed his spear for his heart, but caught nothing but feathers as he glided past her.

She screamed as his wing beat her across the side, she barely managed to keep herself from being knocked out of the air. A surefire death sentence.

Thunder only laughed, falling back onto Kali's tail as she veered upward for height. She banked backward again once she cleared the city, aiming for another joust with the hawk..

Kali's thrust missed again, but she recoiled quicker this time, spinning and swinging her spear like a club. The spear connected with the bird but only as Thunder knocked it out of the way, retaliating with a quick swipe of his claws.

The bat gasped as her flesh opened across her chest. She broke off the assault, turning for one of the red rooftops below. Tossing the spear from her feet to her wings as she landed, Kali still took a step back as Thunder landed in front of her. The look of fire in his eyes, his terrible smile, it reminded her of those old stories about dragons.

"Thunder!" Her pleas were as shaky as the way she held her weapon against the bird. "You dont have to do this. You don't have to be a monster."

The bird smirked, "Have to? Silly creature, you know nothing of how the natural order works. I am the hunter, you are prey. Nire understood this. He lets me hunt the runaway worm-beasts, and those who try to break in to his nest. Anywhere else and I would face an angry mob with arrows and slings for doing this."

Behind them, the sun set for the last time on the arena. Walls began to crack, starting from the foundations and spreading across the sides.

"Nire is finished! He can't protect you anymore. It's OVER."

"Yes." The bird?s smile faded. Behind the bird, an arena watch tower collapsed into the street below. "And that is why I will take pleasure in killing you..."

Ears flat and her heart racing, Kali let out a shout before thrusting forward with her spear. At the last moment she dug it into the wood, using it to pole vault herself up and over the bird. She could feel the cord to her lute pull tight from the momentum until she landed on the other side of Thunder.

The bird turned in time to see the shaft bury into his chest.

If only Kali had the strength to drive it deep, it may have killed him.

As it was, Kali only succeeded in making Thunder angry.

Leaving the shaft behind, Kali ran for the edge before dropping into a glide. She flew for the setting sun, towards the crumbling arena.

Back on the roof, Thunder screeched. Grabbing the spear with his beak he tore the weapon from his flesh. His eyes frantically glanced about the city before settling in on the departing form of Kali. Growling deeply he crushed the spear with his beak.

Kali didn't need to look behind her to know that Thunder was closing the distance. She just needed to make it to the arena before her lungs finally gave out, before her sore arms finally stopped moving. Aiming for a window she tucked herself into a tight ball, gliding into the arena as Thunder glided over.

Hitting the unstable floor inside, Kali kept moving, dashing across the hallway and leaping out the window on the other end. Not a moment sooner did Thunder appear in her vision, narrowly catching her with his talons as he came in from over the top of the arena.

She screamed. Turning for the arena seats.

The Crater by now was living up to its namesake. The pit was filled to the brim with water. The constant flow of current into the arena made the waters churn violently. Cracks in the walls became wide divides, separating the stone and causing entire sections to fall.

Weaving in and out of support columns, the audience section they were in lurched to one side as the foundation gave way. The level above them began falling down, threatening to trap the pair. Kali gave all that she had left to pull out of the grandstands before they collapsed on top of her.

Kali lost track of the bird. She figured it would be too much to hope for Thunder to be crushed by the debris, but she had yet to be so fortunate.She was well and truly spent by the time she reached the top of the arena. Her left wing felt like it was going to fall off.

Pushing herself to the limit, she glided for the top ramparts of the arena, where the storage house was. It amazed her that just this morning, she had killed a pine marten up here. Now the entire wall tilted to one side, threatening to fall upon the city beyond. The water, still gushing up from the center of the arena began to spill out of the middle levels, flooding hallways that would surely take it out into the concourse area.

Kali could only hope the Northvalers outside heeded her warning.

Kali came in for a landing at the open doors of the storage house and nearly collapsed. By now, she more than made up for her lack of exercise since leaving her home land. Her heart was threatening to break out of her chest and her knees buckled under her weight.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Kali threw herself into the piles of supplies now rendered junk rolling across the floor. She dove through banners, she tossed tapestries aside, she threw shovels and pitchforks behind her, becoming frantic as she struggled to see in the room with only a single oil lamp still lit to illuminate it.

"There!" Kali emerged from the pile of rugs, her wing wrapped around her prize. Now she just needed one more thing and she might actually survive this battle.

"Yes. There you are..."

Kali let out a yell as the bird reached in through the door. She panicked, throwing the jar at Thunder and breaking it across his beak. It's contents splattered across his face and shoulders, stinging at his eyes. He hissed, reaching in once again to grab Kali by the leg.

She fell backward, landing on her lute.

"No!" She cried.

She reached with her wing tip, desperate to grab the one object that would save her now right as the bird caught her.

His claw wrapped easily around her waist and squeezed, pinning one arm against her body. Kali felt herself hoisted into the air, the arena wall collapsing the moment they left.

"You are a most troublesome creature." The humor was gone in Thunder's voice. He began to squeeze and Kali could feel his talons piercing her flesh, digging into her hips and side. "Look at what you have done!"

Kali felt like she was going to hurl, dragged along like a rag doll as the bird continued to rise high above the arena.

"Look!" Thunder demanded. "Look at what you have done to my home!" The arena looked so far away now. The final parts of the arena were starting to collapse in on themselves. The rising water was spilling out into the city around it, as if a giant lake had appeared in the center of Northvale.

"You ruined everything. You and all those worm things you call friends. But don't you worry, I'll deal with them soon. I'll devour them slowly, like you." The bird chuckled, "And then I will move on, to another village, to another town. I will renew myself... like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I will live on as legend while your bones bleach under the sun."

Thunder's talon dug just a little deeper into Kali's side, causing her to scream. The bat fought off the pain, forcing her eyes open and grinding her teeth. "Y-you have it w-wrong, Thunder. You are not a phoenix."

The pair ascended higher into the sky. Thunder gave the bat another squeeze with his talons, a smile forming at her sounds of pain. He finally looked down to see her dismay, her fear and her anguish.

Instead all he saw was the fierce determination behind her eyes, "You are not going to rise from the ashes. You are only going to BURN." It was then, just a little too late that the bird saw the oil lamp that kali held onto desperately with her wing.

A savage yell bellowing from her lungs, Kali swung her weapon with all her might. With a resounding crash the lamp broke over Thunder's beak. The bird gasped as glass was broken over his face, and when the small fire had caught the sticky oily substance Kali had thrown at him only moments before, he screamed.

It was the most awful sound Kali had ever heard. The once mighty hunter reduced to such fearful wailing. The frantic beats of his wings only fueled the flames as the tiny flame fed upon the oil, spreading across his body.

The bird spiraled downward, the flames visible from all of Northvale, like a meteor streaking across the sky.

And still clutching Kali in a vice like grip.

She pounded her wings against his talons, struggling to wriggle her way free. Again and again she beat her wing against his leg, even biting into his claw. The bird only held firm as the ground rushed to meet them.

The flaming bird crashed into the middle of the arena. The stone work of the Crater finally gave way, entombing Thunder forever as the walls collapsed onto each other with a resounding splash.

Waves of water spread outward into the city, carrying with it the last remnants of the arena. It's tapestries, its trophies... and one badly seared and broken lute...