The Raven, the Haven, and the Craven

[Duffy]

Time and time again, the three Old Gods dealt blows to one another. Instead of blood, representation of their magic flowed down feather and frock. Hawk, one wing bent and broken behind his back shrugged off anything Rook could muster, and when he struck Clarissa between the eyes with the flat of his axe, turned his attentions fully to Phoenix. Swaddled in flame, turning more avian by the second, Phoenix threw flame lash and firebrand at the God of Cunning and gave no quarter.

Leopold approached as close as he could, ducking and dodging errant spells as they whirred and crackled overhead. He watched Rook fall backwards and disappear in a cloud of snow dust, winced, and cast aside his saber and into the ether. He watched his wife tear into Hawk’s remaining wing, desperate to hamstring the Old God and bring him down.

“What have I done…,” he whispered. His black waistcoat was glowing in the light of the fire, and his mind filled with memories of long ago, before he had abandoned his chair in the Ice Henge to life a human life by Ruby’s side. Centuries had passed since he had remembered. Millennia since they stood in their true form and fought against the fledgling Thayne.

Despite his love for his wife, as herself, they had little chance to defeat Hawk when they were divided and injured. He watched, as cruel and dangerous as it was as Phoenix turned fully into a giant bird of red feathers and sun’s rage. It cried, a shrill shriek that pierced the soul and as it rose on its rainbow wings, descended full force into Hawk and drove its peak into the Old God’s neck. Light poured from its vein, gathering in intensity until cracks formed across the god’s body. It disappeared in a radiant explosion, leaving nothing but flecks of ice and echoes behind. The shards fell to the ground and as Phoenix writhed in triumphant flames, the Ice Henge that served as Hawk’s shrine split asunder.

“Ruby!” Leopold roared.

The cacophony of swords clashing behind him, and the Ice Henge shuddering in front drowned out his plea.

“Ruby come back to us!”

Phoenix craned its neck slowly. Its eyes reminded Leopold of a volcano’s heart. They swirled and hissed and oozed. Somewhere inside those orbs screamed the woman he loved, overwhelmed by the past.

“Ruby. Ruby listen to me.” Leopold pleaded with his arms clasped together. He dropped to his knees, sweat pouring from every orifice and heart racing. “You are not Phoenix. You are Ruby Winchester. Don’t let this overwhelm you.”

A flash of lightning lit the sky as the chain reaction from Hawk’s death stirred the well spring deep below the Ice Henge. The ground trembled. Phoenix closed, it’s armoured beak blackened with ash and the blood of the enemy stopping an inch from Leopold’s nose. Leopold shed a tear, which quickly turned into a torrent.

“Please.” He whimpered. “Please, I can’t lose you again.”

In this exact same spot at the end of the war, the Thayne had sealed away the Old Gods, who raged and stormed against their prison’s bars. Phoenix and Raven had fought for days. Raven had wanted to fight, he refused to give up so easily and fall asleep to be forgotten. Phoenix wanted to dive deep into the Tap and sacrifice herself to destroy the Ice Henge. Only by offering up his power, abandoning the veil of the Old God of the afterlife had he tricked Phoenix and saved his true love.

“I’m so sorry.” Tears rolled done his cheeks and began to freeze on his beard as the magic of the Ice Henge faded. The cold wind of the snow wastes rolled through the needle like henges and reminded them what they were fighting for. A Berevar restored. A land no longer enthralled to winter’s grip.

“I forgive you,” Phoenix said with a gravelly bark.