Phoenix Chosen #3 (The Phoenix Guardians #3)

9. Kalistratos

9

KALISTRATOS

A iros nudges a pile of gray bits lying in the grass with the side of his foot. “Sheep dung. See? A shepherd was here with his flock. Probably grazed the land clean before moving on.”

“Then explain this,” I say, jabbing a finger at the old quiver of arrows almost hidden beneath some broken timber.

I crouch and carefully remove one of the arrows. The feather fletching is falling apart, but the shaft is thick and strong, and it’s tipped with serrated iron.

Airos crouches next to me. “That’s no deer arrow.”

He’s right. This type of arrowhead is too aggressive for hunting normal game. It looks more like a war arrow—or…

Airos and I look at each other. It feels like he and I are sharing a thought for once.

“Gods, I think you’re right about this being a hunter’s blind,” he says.

“You’re damn right I am,” I say, and we both burst out of the fallen shelter.

We need to get out of here. Where is Tyler?!

I look up and see him hurrying down the hill from one of the great rock arches surrounding this area like giants’ legs. The sun’s rays lance down into my face from behind the rock, and something cuts in front of the light. Something big. It unfurls a set of feathered wings that become a terrifying silhouette in the blinding sunlight.

“TYLER! GET DOWN!” I yell.

It’s too late—the harpyia’s attack is as swift and precise as a falcon. The grotesque creature nabs Tyler with its talons and drags him into the air.

I’ve only encountered one of these monsters once before, and this one is just as ugly as I remember, with a torso that looks vaguely like that of a decrepit human woman and the body of a great gray vulture.

Blood streaks down Tyler’s body as he grabs at the harpyia’s ankles in an attempt to break free of its clutches. It whirls around and begins to climb through the air back to its nest at the top of the rock, leaving me with a shard of time to decide. Chase it in my phoenix form? A flying battle with a harpyia with Tyler in its grip would be a recipe for disaster. But how else can I get up to them?

Airos and I sprint after them. “Make me stairs!” I yell.

“Stairs?” he shouts back.

“ Stairs! ”

We’re at the base of the rock now. Ahead of me, the ground cracks with a great tremor as stone pillars explode from the surface, each rising higher and higher toward the flying harpyia. Without stopping, I leap through the air and use my momentum to jump from pillar to pillar like a mountain goat.

It’s now a hundred feet above me and climbing faster. The monster is smart. It knows not to lead me back to its nest, and it veers sharply, climbing further into the sky toward the forest.

Airos’s pillars continue to rise ahead of me in pursuit of the harpyia, but each new pillar is thinner than the last, and as I climb, I feel them wavering beneath my feet. He’s at the limit of his abilities. Then, like branches bent too far, every pillar shatters and begins to crumble back to the ground.

As I leap for the falling rubble, I call my phoenix powers forward and stop the flow of time. I draw the short sword hanging at my waist and bound up the pathway of motionless stone, and with a single arc of the blade, slice the creature’s talons clean off at its ankles, freeing Tyler into my arms. With him secure, I hurry back to the ground and release my hold on time as I leap off the final pillar. Everything falls with a mighty earth-shaking crash.