chapter 5

"Come eat." Qnalka said. The man turned his head and whispered. "I don't want to."

"Don't be foolish, you have starved yourself to the point where you are on the brink of death. If you don't eat then you truly will die."

"I'd rather die than make you happy."

"You don't mean that, do you?" she asked as she stared at the man.

"I... I do!"

"No you don't, death is not something so simple that you would rather face it than be alive. You have no idea how scary death even is. The dry feeling in your throat that can not be quenched by water no matter how much you drink, the cold sensation of death creeping up your body despite the fact that you are next to a fireplace. Death is scary. It is definitely not something to scoff at." Qnalka stared at the man. Her eyes was only filled with pain and sorrow. As the man stared back at her he saw the bags under her skin.

He then took a glance at the food. "Fine! I'll eat."

Qnalka's face lit up almost instantly. A giant smile formed on her face. She pushed the table closer to him and gave him a plate.

The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the man chewing and munching on his food.

"How was it?" Qnalka asked him. He had eaten just a tiny portion, enough to keep him going for a few days.

"It was good, thank you for the meal."

Qnalka smiled and pulled the table out of the room and locked the door. It had been the first time in 6 days that he had eaten. He had only been drinking water so she was happy to see him eating properly.

She went to the kitchen and wrote a letter. She then tied it to the leg of a crow that was at the window.

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Mara was currently on top of her horse who was in a river. The river was deep to the point where only its head was above water. Had it been a normal horse they would have drowned as they were not the same size as the horse.

After quite some time of travelling Mara decided to name her horse. She named it Fargan. It was a term that a friend of her's used to use. It meant Reliable.

They finally came onto shore and continued on their journey. Once a top a hill Mara brought Fargan to a stop and looked into the distance. She stared at a volcano in which lava had already erupted and was going down it's sides.

"Close. I'm close."

***

Mara had reached the volcanoes peak. She had managed to avoid the lava easily by walking on the ground that had no lava.

As she got closer she could feel it. The reason why she had come all this way. A powerful presence. Even when she was approaching earlier on she could feel the aura from the volcano from a long distance out.

Mara held Fargan's reins and pulled him after her. She stood at the peek and looked down at the inside of the volcano. Inside it was lava, but that was to be expected. In the middle of the volcano on a giant rock sat a bird.

A magnificent giant bird. It had bright red feathers and a long red colourful tail that was on fire. It was currently asleep, tucked away in its nest.

Mara was happy but did not smile. She didn't smile. It was not her thing. She unsheathed The moon Carver sword. It was the sword that she had before commissioning the dwarf for Hell bringer.

She jumped of the edge and fell face first downwards. She raised the sword above her head and aimed for the neck of the Phoenix.

SHIIIK!

The moon Carver sword cut through the Phoenix's neck only halfway. The reason being was that it woke up midway and shook the sword out of its neck. How it did that Mara did not now nor did she care!

"INSOLENT HUMAN! YOU DARE TO ATTACK ME!" The Phoenix bellowed as it spread its fiery wings rising and showing its magnificent figure.

"...."

"HUMAN, TODAY IS THE DAYYOU DIE AND THIS PLACE SHALL BE YOUR GRAVE!"

"How amusing, a pigeon is threatening me." Mara said.

The feathers on the phoenix stood on edge as quite a few of them fell of its body. The Phoenix puffed out it's chest even more and fire came out of its nose.

"HUMAN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE? YOU CALLED ME A PIGEON! YOU DARE TO COMPARE A PRESTIGIOUS BEING SUCH AS MYSELF TO A COMMON BIRD!"

Mara tapped the moon Carver sword on the floor. "People with a huge ego and grandiose beliefs are often prone to self praise but they usually do not live up to their own words."

The temperature of the volcano was increasing significantly as the Phoenix's body grew more orangish. It flapped its wings and gusts of hot wind hit Mara.

"YOU SHALL DIE!" It roared.

"I bet you taste just like chicken." Mara said as she ran towards the phoenix, her sword in her hand charging like a wild boar. The phoenix moved its wings and a giant wall of flames rose up from the ground.

Mara sliced through the fire creating an opening right through it. She raised her swords only to find that the phoenix had disappeared from its spot. Mara quickly looked to the side and quickly located the phoenix who seemed to be flying away as it carried its giant nest in its mouth.

"Your not going anywhere!" Mara said as she ran forward before stopping abruptly. She slashed her sword in to the sky aimed towards the phoenix. A purple energy in the shape of a crescent moon left the sword.

It quickly reached the phoenix cutting of its legs completely. The flames on the phoenix abruptly changed from orange to blue as the bird fell from the sky. It screeched but made sure not to drop its nest.

Blue flame covered the stump of the leg where it had been cut of. The blue flame moved around for a bit before revealing the talons and the legs of the bird.

'Regenerating with fire, as expected. I guess the rumours as true." Mara leaped high up into the air and came down with her sword outstretched.

The sword plunged deep into the back of the Phoenix. Although it was the back Mara knew her sword had struck the heart of the Phoenix.

She then removed her sword and jumped of the bird with the fiery body. She then cut of the left wing of the bird as it struggled to stand and thrashed about. She cut of the other wing before finally cutting of the neck.

She stared at the corpse before climbing on top of it placing her sword right above its skull. She placed the sword and carved out the skull exposing the brain. She didn't bother moving away from the blood that splattered on to her.

Finally after removing the skull of the bird all that was exposed was the brain of the Phoenix. It's brain was fascinating, it was on fire. The fire was quickly dwindling so Mara reached into her cloak and pulled out a small container. She placed the brain inside it and then walked to the nest. 4 small eggs lay there. They were slightly smaller than ostrich eggs but still for such a giant bird to come out of something so small. She also placed them in the container next to the brain.

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Hey guys, author here. Please tell me your thoughts of what you think of the book so far.