The Phoenix Queen (2/2)

"Take care of the clans?" Fina snorts mirthfully. "You sure you should be asking ME that? You DO realize what kind of massacres I'm responsible for? Shouldn't the Rehkin clans hate me more than anyone else?"

"Is this talk going to take a long time?" Dakka suddenly interrupts.

Arla and Fina look over at Dakka, who is standing awkwardly with his feet angled toward the front door. "I'll go ahead and get you guys something if you both want to stay out here and talk."

Fina sighs and waves him off. "Sure. I'll be right behind you. Just go on without me."

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With Dakka gone, Fina and Arla stay sitting next to each other. For a minute, there's a still hush in the valley, as well as a melancholy whistling sound as the wind passes through the myriad cracks in Fheldin's skull.

This whole time, Arla is thinking about Fina's question. 'Should she be trusted with leading this world, after she went on that killing spree before?'

Arla mulls it over for a minute before she answers, "Dakka once caused a lot of chaos in his youth. His grandfather did too, and HIS father after that. They all grew into their responsibilities, though."

She then looks warmly into Fina's eyes. "You've caused a lot of chaos too. However, I still believe that you'll make a good queen."

Fina furrows his eyebrows. "But… what does it REALLY mean for me and my husband to take care of this world? I imagine lying around in a palace and collecting taxes isn't that big of a deal."

Arla sighs, then shakes her head. "You never saw the scars on my husband's back, but I did. I'd see his old injuries every day whenever we'd lie down together."

The phoenix matron then looks off into the distance. "You know," she says in a low voice, "that there's an Untamed world gate about 3 miles in that direction." She then looks up at the stars. "You don't realize… this world is lush with life, full of mana, and populated by a deeply magical race. The number of aspiring god-kings and rival dragons who want to conquer this land is innumerable."

"Heh," Fina chuckles. "I imagine Dakka will be kept busy."

Arla shrugs, "Only for a few centuries, I imagine. Most of the early invaders my husband had to deal with... They all happened shortly after my husband rose to power. After he slaughtered the first couple of ambitious gods, the invasions became… less frequent, though they still happened all the time."

Indeed, Fheldin always had to hide the fact that he's a 6-Horned dragon and a Halnith-Kae. Despite being more powerful than almost any god, there were always suicidal fools who thought they were stronger than him.

Each time, Fheldin had to fight them off – all while hiding his real strength, lest he attracts even more trouble for himself.

Hence, he sustained many injuries throughout the years. (Of course, whenever it looked like he was about to lose, he just loosened the self-imposed restrictions on his powers – just enough to BARELY win.)

The Felkin matron then smiles at the greenery around them. "Fheldin was always sure to fight these battles across the World Gate. He hated the idea of any invaders making it into this world."

"Heh…," Arla suddenly chuckles.

"What is it?" Fina asks. "What's funny?"

"Well…, this world gate is about 2 miles underground too. My husband specifically dug our bedroom around the Gate. Quite literally, he'd sleep with his eyes facing the portal."

Indeed, the only reason the children never knew about this gate is because Fheldin specifically positioned the bedroom wall around the Gate. He then hung a giant painting to cover up the portal. With none of his children daring to touch anything in his room, no one ever found it.

"Yes… but where do I come into this?" Fina asks. "Sure, I could help defend the portal… but…"

"Don't you understand yet?" Arla suddenly asks. "I don't know how you got that powerful, but I've NEVER seen a person with a stronger Spirit than you. There's a lot of good to do in the world that even Dakka can't help you with."

"What do you mean?"

Arla doesn't answer immediately. Instead, she leans back, looks up, and says slowly, "Coyotes and Hawks. Wolves and Deer. Badgers and Eagles. Hyenas and Lions. Crows and Owls. There are countless blood feuds between the clans – children raised from birth to hate other children that they've never met before."

"Funny, really," Arla smiles sadly, "You'd think that a race with powerful spirits would all love each other and be at peace. Instead, their great connections make them unable to forget their grudges."

Sure, the Rehkin have eternal love for their family and clans, but they also have eternal distrust of outsiders and eternal hatred of their enemies.

"Forgiveness" is a foreign idea to the Rehkin. Despite the humans fighting in the "Eternal War" and keeping the Rehkin Clans safe from the Ant Queen's hunger... Despite all of that, it took nearly 5,000 years for the Rehkin to reach out to Haalfrin and offer to help.

FIVE THOUSAND YEARS!!

With a single atrocity creating a blood feud that never goes away, the number of Clans hating each other only escalates exponentially. Quite honestly, the only reason they haven't butchered each other into extinction yet is because the dragons are enforcing the borders.

Even still, the different Clans regularly slaughter each other whenever they meet without any dragon supervision, and the dragons can't be everywhere at once.

Arla reaches to the side and puts her hand on Fina's. "You could be their spiritual leader. With the influence of your strong spirit, you could do something for these clans that I could never do."

Suddenly, Fina's heart swells with pride, and she feels her heart becoming more sure of itself.

Yes… What Arla is saying? That doesn't sound too bad! Not at all!

Hearing Arla's words, Fina feels as if she's being appointed an important mission, and she nods vigorously. "Don't worry. I'll do it!"

"Good…," Arla nods.

In that moment, Fina can tell that the old phoenix has let go of something…

… Yes… After knowing that her kingdom is being left in good hands, Mistress Arla's last spiritual thread to this world unties itself and lets go.

Seeing this change, Fina gulps nervously, but she chooses to say nothing about it to Arla.

Frankly, Fina is planning to just sit beside Mistress Arla, in case something suddenly happened to her.

However, Arla suddenly turns to Fina and says, "Go inside. Find Dakka and tell him to bring me a blanket as well." She rubs her arms. "I'm feeling a little chilly."

Arla had never felt this cold before, so she doesn't even own a jacket of any kind.

Fina bows her head, gets up, and walks towards the door. It's best to let Arla be by herself in this moment…

Just before Fina enters the palace, she turns around and sees Mistress Arla kneeling down in front of her husband's skull, and she stares silently into those empty eye sockets.

As the palace gates shut tight behind Fina, the dim silhouette of Arla is seen – barely visible against the grey twilight of the impending night.

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"Oh, Fina!" Dakka calls over to his wife. "I forgot. You've been with Grandmother more recently. Do you know if she likes lemon or raspberry?"

Fina looks over and sees Dakka peering over a table full of pies.

"What?" Dakka shrugs nervously, "She looked depressed. Isn't it better to get her something sweet to eat?"

In that moment, Fina's head snaps to the side, and a strange look crosses her face.

"Don't bother," Fina says quietly. She grabs his wrist and pulls him towards the door. "Come with me back to Arla. Quickly!"

"What's going on…?!" Dakka asks cautiously. Something feels… off… with his wife's tone. He's not used to her being in a hurry to do anything.

"Don't mind me. Pick me up and go. Now! NOW!!"

As Dakka and Fina rush to the palace entrance again, Fina thinks, 'Fina had a feeling it would happen, but not this soon!'

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By the time Dakka and Fina make it out to Arla's garden again, the sky is completely dark now, and the flaming sun is nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Grandmother?" Dakka asks while squinting his eyes.

"Over there," Arla says while pointing forward. She then looks up at Dakka in confusion. "What? I thought dragons have great night vision? She's kneeling over by Lord Fheldin's skull right now."

"But I can't see her!" Dakka refutes her with frustration. "A dragon sees by sensing power and heat. Felkin burn hotter than any other race. She should be lit up like a beacon on a cold night like this, but I don't see her."

Fina sighs deeply but doesn't say anything. She just tugs Dakka further along.

They take a hundred steps forward, and Dakka is suddenly held back by Fina. "Stop!" she hisses at him. "You almost stumbled into Mrs. Arla!"

Dakka bends down and squints hard.

There, he sees Arla's slim waist resting on her ankles, her back ramrod straight, and her head angled down in a bow. Her long, braided hair is curled around and draped across her lap, and her 4, shimmering wings are now dull and draped limply behind her.

On Arla's heart is still, her body cold, and her face an expression of silent serenity.