Samson and Arish knelt with the priests as he, Elena, and Saayna walked up the steps to the dais. Leo suddenly remembered how the Eternal Fire had lashed out at him and burned his leg. The white-hot pain. His hand trembled, but Elena squeezed, offering him strength as the high priestess blew into a conch, the single, clear note reverberating through the room.
Together, they knelt as the fire snarled.
“Great One,” Saayna sang above its crackles, “we come to serve You. To uphold peace in the holy land.” She spread her hands out wide and flung spark powder into the pit below them. The inferno snapped, building in strength. Heat buffeted Leo, but he ground his knees into the stone floor and pressed his hands together. “We ask You to bless the new bearer of Your kingdom. To lead her down the Agneepath.”
Leo threw his remaining lotus petals into the fire. It ate his offering with relish. He could hear the flames almost purr in joy. The Phoenix watched from above, wings frozen in forever glory, beak gleaming, eyes raging. Despite himself, Leo shivered.
“From the father, the heirloom of the desert.”
Leo bowed as the high priestess lifted the crown from his head. The Featherstone pulsed as if in tune with the dancing flames.
“From the heir, the blood of her youth.” And with a silver blade, she pierced Elena’s finger. Dark beads of her blood dripped into the Eternal Fire.
“From the keeper of the flames, the bone of truth,” the high priestess said and withdrew a tiny black bone from her sleeve, throwing it into the flames. The Eternal Fire growled, the heat growing stronger.
“With these offerings, we bring a new dawn to Your kingdom,” the high priestess finished.
She lowered the crown onto Elena’s brow. Leo scraped ash from the dais floor and cast it upon Elena. She did not cough nor shirk. She simply stared into the flames, her body steeled, her eyes fierce; she was his daughter, and her reign would be long and true. He was sure of it.
“Now, take what is yours, Daughter of Fire, and rise as Elena Aadya Ravence, the new Phoenix King.” The high priestess beckoned, and Elena extended her hand toward the pit. The fire curled around her hand, but she did not tremble. She withdrew a single flame and rose.
“Rise, Queen Elena,” the priests said. “Take on the Agneepath.”
The priests threw ash upon the dais. Leo still knelt and looked to his daughter. The fire silhouetted her shoulders and the crown on her head. She needed to give the command for him to rise. But as Leo waited, Elena took the conch from the high priestess. In her other hand, she cupped the flame.
“I will walk the Agneepath,” Elena said and blew into the horn.
The sound, steady and strong, filled the chamber. It vibrated through Leo, stirring him with the hope—pure, innocent hope—of a kingdom long and true, a kingdom in which every man could find peace. Yet the song also rattled his bones. It made him feel small and insignificant.
The Eternal Fire roared, and Leo looked up. The flames arched over him, and in them, he thought he saw the faces they had taken, the lives they had claimed. He saw Elena, blowing the horn—and then a loud blast ripped the air and threw him onto his stomach.
Leo gasped. Blood was pouring from his nose. Pain splintered up his neck. For a moment, he lay dazed as the walls shook. The rumbling grew louder, and he realized it was not rumbling at all, but the sound of steady explosions and pulse fire. His kingdom. His home.
Leo struggled to his feet, his mouth tasting of blood and ash, as the flames grew longer, larger. Saayna lay crumpled on the steps of the dais, but Elena stood, the horn still in her hand, the flame in the other. She turned to him, her eyes wide. Above them, the Eternal Fire laughed. Leo reached for her as Elena beat back the flames. She spun, and the flames bent away from them, howling.
But then the mountain shook and the ground tilted. She lost her balance.
“Elena!” he cried.
The inferno bucked, laughing.
And then he was falling, falling, the fire rushing to claim him.
CHAPTER 33
ELENA
When the Phoenix rises, the Holy Fire will lay claim to the sinners. The desert will eat its transgressors. Only the true shall survive. Only the blessed few shall be forgiven.
—fromThe Prophecy of the Phoenix, transcribed into written word by the first priests of the Fire Order
No!” Elena screamed.
She felt the flames ripple; felt the sheerforceof the Eternal Fire as it fought against her. She tried to push it back as she lunged for her father, but then the fire beat her back with such fury that she tumbled down the dais, landing on her back. Her crown skittered into the shadows.
“Father!”
She saw him fall into the pit, heard the flames sing, felt the power pulse through her body as the Eternal Fire swelled. In its cackle, she heard him howl.
