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Simurg	By : Cynthermes Category: A through F > The Cronnex Series Views: 1283 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: The Cronnex and its characters is explicitly owned by Trewin Greenaway and no profit has been made out of this fiction.

Chapter List
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A young herbalist’s apprentice sipped his late afternoon tea as his grandfather sat beside him. “That my dear Elyn is the constellation of Orion, the Hunter. With the naked eye you can see the hunter’s belt composed of three stars but actually there are four.” Old Miermi recited to his grandson and pointed at the three visible stars perpetually aligned in the pinkish dusky sky.
“The three stars represent the three immortals right? The Absolute Astral, the Almighty Ra'asiel and the Blessed Gesryma.” Elyn enumerated the names without difficulty and his grandfather nodded approvingly.
They returned their attention back to stargazing silently when Miermi gasped in surprise. The Orion’s belt now consisted of four visible stars! A bluish white one emerged brightly right next to the golden star representing Ra'asiel. He blinked several times to make sure but there it was radiating beautifully.
“What’s the matter Grandfather?” Elyn asked astonished at Miermi’s reaction.
“Look Elyn dear! The fourth star appeared just now!” The old man vivaciously pointed his staff in the direction of the new blue gem in the sky.
“You are right Grandfather! I wonder what it’s called?” The lad of barely 14 shared his excitement and asked.
“Actually lad I don’t have a clue! From what I can remember in the ancient era it’s just called the sleeping star.” The elder herbalist answered with a sheepish grin.
“You mean it doesn’t have a name? That’s a pity.” Elyn said a bit disappointed but then his face lit up and he turned to his grandfather. “Maybe we’ll just have to name it ourselves.”
Miermi smiled at his grandson’s decisiveness but it was getting dark and he motioned the lad to return to their little hut at the hillside overlooking the port town of Jedah.
They were a few yards away from home and they could already smell the heavenly scent of cooking stew in the brazier.
“Mama is making her specialty! Let’s hurry grandfather!” Elyn dragged the old man into a run.
“Slow down Elyn! These old bones are not what they used to.” Miermi rebuked but wasn’t really angry. He moved his legs as fast as he could carry them.
They were inches away from the roughly laden stone steps leading to a wooden door when the night sky sparkled brightly as if it were day.
Both grandfather and grandson looked up to behold the most magnificent phenomenon in their entire lives! A moving sun with glittering fierce light hovered above them. They were blinded for a moment but when Miermi’s trained eyes adjusted he was able to see one of the immortals in their utmost godly form.
The blazing fire wings outstretched in contrast with the darkness of the night sky. It was a firebird soaring proudly above their heads!
Then the astonishing sight vanished just as quickly as it came like a mirage in the desert. Their mouths remained agape for a while longer before Elyn exclaimed, “Wow! Grandfather did you see that?”
But Miermi didn’t seem to hear. He knew it was a titanic firebird he saw but was there anyone among the immortals who took such form? Resolutely, the elder herbalist planned to restore his memory on the ancient era. It was common belief that when a god or goddess makes an apparition in front of a mortal, that person is up for a sacred but grueling task.
“Grandfather!” A sharp tug on his tattered surplice and he turned his attention on a pouting lad. “You’ve been staring into nothing for minutes now! Let’s go inside and I’m starving.”
The old man shook his head. Meager things easily distract young boys but then who can blame a growling stomach?
“Have you been up the hill to the ruins again?” Elyn’s mother, Mabelle with long curly blonde hair asked sweetly as she poured them bowls of steaming stew.
“We just watched the sunset from there and proceeded quickly to stargazing. Grandfather knows a lot about the stars Mama!” The boy with the same honey blond curly hair like his mother, beamed happily.
“Are you sure you picked the right profession to study, my dear?” Mabelle pecked her son on the cheek smiling back.
“Oh please Mabelle, stop teasing your son!” Miermi chided but his lips quirked upwards.
“Why Mama? Do you think I could do better if I were an oracle or an astrologer perhaps?” Elyn asked in jest as he helped himself with the hearty stew.
They were still busy eating dinner when a loud knock interrupted their mealtime bonding.
“By the Goddess Gesryma! It’s nighttime! What could it be?” Mabelle stood up from the table and hastily opened the door.
In came a stumbling man, panting and sweating.
The elder herbalist immediately crouched beside him and with the help of his grandson brought the man upright. Miermi recognized the man as the herbs trader in the heart of town. “Carsus, what’s wrong?” His eyes searched for any obvious signs of wounds or illness but found none.
“I… I came to warn you Miermi. The demons… The demons have invaded Jedah! They’re on their way here!” Carsus spilled the terrible news in a raspy voice.
“What? !” The elder herbalist exclaimed.
“Demons? ! Oh Father, what do we do?” Mabelle clapped a hand on her mouth and turned to her son who went pale in fright.
“Carsus, are there others who managed to flee here?” The old man demanded but began to gather his most prized belongings: ancient texts and scrolls, vials of potions, priceless pressed herbs and a few food stocks for travel.
Mabelle snapped out of her petrification and helped to collect things that they need for their escape. “Elyn, hurry and help your grandfather.”
“There are others but they went on ahead of me.” The herb trader answered tersely.
“Good. We all should go to the ruins. We will be safe there.” The elder man ushered all of them to leave the house now. But before they reached the door, a two-legged furry beast trampled the wood into splinters with its razor-sharp teeth.
Carsus shrieked but Miermi and Mabelle shielded Elyn with their bodies. They both drew their staffs and drew on spiritual power. If they felt fear, they won’t defeat their enemies and so they chanted together in a loud voice, “Pyres Fortes Inherta!”
Balls of flame shot out from their staffs and the beast burned with an ear-piercing screech before it could pounce on them.
All four darted to the door and merely evaded another beast before they came running towards the hilltop. Behind them, they were hotly pursued by hundreds of two-legged furry beasts.
“Don’t look back Elyn! Keep running!” Mabelle urged her son to run ahead of them.
“Hurry boy!” Carsus who was also ahead of the father-and-daughter pair tugged the boy’s hand forward.
Miermi and Mabelle were preoccupied fighting off the beasts that came from every direction.
“On to the ruins, everyone!” The elder man yelled to the townspeople ahead who have no idea what to do.
In his panic, Elyn failed to see a tree root poking out of the earth trail in the darkness. There was a full moon but its light was not enough to fully illuminate the path.
The boy stumbled dragging Carsus with him. The two males fell on the earth and the herb trader yelled when a beast lunged itself on his neck and bit. He was headless a second later and Elyn froze at the bloody sight.
The beast yelped and burned before it went for him. Mabelle had hurled another fireball to finish it off but was unable to see another aiming for her face.
“Mama!” Elyn cried in fear when his mother instinctively shoved her staff against the beast’s jaws. The plain wood snapped in two with a sickening crunch. Mabelle was now defenseless.
Miermi cast many balls of fire at the attacking beast before they could lay a claw on his daughter.
“Run Mabelle!” He shouted and the woman dragged Elyn for another sprint.
They have lost Carsus on their way to the hilltop and only three survived. They could see the broken white stones of the ruins from afar and they hurried for the sanctuary.
But the beasts were slowly closing in, Miermi noticed. They were outnumbered and his strength was fading away for using his spiritual energy for fire magic. The furry savages were quick and agile as they zigzagged through their companions to compete for a small meal: them.
The beasts were clever in their illusion dance to ensnare their prey. They were also quicker now with growing hunger and their burnt comrades didn’t scare them off a bit. Two of the low class demons jumped ahead of them and they were trapped.
Miermi and Mabelle enclosed Elyn in a circle. It could have been a good strategy if Mabelle had a weapon. But she could not use magic without a staff and now stood helpless. The ruins were a few feet away and the town’s survivors were already within the broken pillars.
The beasts were smart to block their path, the elder man mused in dismay. Who says demons have dung for brains? However they can’t deliberate on what to do forever. Several luminous green eyes were intently focused on them as one that gazed upon delicious meat. The beasts were growling and bared their teeth leaking frothy drool. They were very hungry indeed.
“Father, take Elyn with you to the ruins. I’ll play as bait.” Mabelle’s voice snapped him away from his pondering.
“No, I won’t allow it!” Miermi stubbornly refused. But his daughter was already attracting the beasts’ attention by yelling and showing provocative gestures. “Mabelle stop it this instant!” He scolded fearing for her life.
But she was determined. The furry demons were now all eyes on her. “I love you Elyn dear.” She whispered but not low enough to be unheard.
The next minute came like a blur. A beast pounced on her and the others followed. Miermi tried to get them all with his fire magic but another apparently found a liking in his staff. The wood also splintered into pieces and the old man shoved the beast along with the useless stick grabbed his grandson and ran like he never had in his life.
“Mama! No! Let go!” Elyn hysterically struggled when he watched his mother’s bleeding and crumpled body on the dark ground. There was blood everywhere in her indistinguishable form and the color black burned in his mind. Soon even the sight of her body was overtaken with dark fur. The beasts crowded around the space to feed and it outrageously raked his heart open.
When their sandal-clad feet reached the white stone floors of the ruins, Elyn cried out in his grief and shock of his mother’s death. She sacrificed herself to protect the one she loved and yet, her son felt the seed of rage blooming.
“Mama… why?” He sobbed.
Miermi watched his grandson stricken with a so sudden anguish that the only thing he could do was hold Elyn tighter.
But apparently their troubles were not yet over. Just an arms length away from the white stone several malicious and glittering eyes watched the humans now housed in the ruins.
“You don’t think they can enter a once sacred place to the goddess do you?” A shivering man in his late forty’s asked to no one in particular.
The elder herbalist surveyed the people gathered. Most of them he knew were from the outskirts of town. The survivors were people that were farthest from the town’s square. If that was the case, he could safely assume that the demons came by sea.
That doesn’t make any sense. Jedah was a little island town with a seaport. The hills surrounding the plains were thick with forests but they were not that dense to hide demons. In his younger days, Miermi often traveled the lush woodland to pick up rare herbs. There have been no reports of merchants or travelers being attacked in the forests; at least none that he knew of until he was old.
Wounded yelps from the beast returned his attention aside the broken walls of the ruins. Apparently an invisible barrier prevented them from entering. They could not go in no matter what and this fact somehow calmed the old man’s nerves. His staff was also destroyed a few moments ago and if the beasts managed to enter he couldn’t protect even his beloved grandson who continued to sob.
The survivors who were but fewer than twenty were huddled together with their remaining loved ones. Some were also weeping and the others spouting curses for the demons while a few silently prayed to the goddess for protection.
Something tugged in his mind when he saw the women praying. He grimaced. Gesryma’s reign was over and it was her counterpart’s time to reign. Yet the people continued to cling to her for guidance and protection! They have three immortals to worship and not one! He shook his head and focused on what he could do.
If he could remember correctly, this night was the Lunar Eclipse, the signal of Gesryma’s slumber. Miermi gazed up high into the dark sky and his moss green eyes were transfixed on the reddish hue that half filled the full moon. The eclipse has already begun! And when the light wanes the protection of the ruins shall fade.
There was only one thing he could do. But, he glanced at the townspeople and sighed.
Elyn had stopped shedding tears and his eyes were burning with such hatred that Miermi had to look away. “Elyn dear, set your anger aside, it doesn’t help our situation to get better.” The old man consoled him.
“The barrier won’t hold much longer, will it Grandfather?” The blond boy spoke quietly. His now dull aquamarine eyes were downcast and forlorn.
At first the old man couldn’t respond. The words that slipped from his grandson were so abrupt that he was stunned speechless. His wrinkled hand stopped in mid-stroke and he peered carefully into Elyn’s eyes. “I’m afraid you’re right my dear. We have to find out how we can protect ourselves until morning.”
His grandson remained silent again but Miermi couldn’t keep his eyes off the boy’s changing eye shape. The elder herbalist had learned in some of his adventurous travels that some demons undergo eye changes when they were caught up with intense emotions.
Elyn is 14. It must be time for some of his father’s traits to show. “Your eyes remind me of your father.” He absently told his grandson and made another quick glance at the moon then to the staggering bodies of the beasts still outside the barrier.
“What can I do to help Grandfather?” Determined slits and not round pupils bore into Miermi’s face.
“If we do this Elyn dear, will you be prepared to leave Jedah with me?” The elder herbalist asked nervously. The eclipse was almost complete and time was running freely away.
A look of surprise briefly crossed the boy’s handsome face. For a moment he was confused but observed the intense serious stare of his grandfather. What they were about to do to save lives would also be the cause to leave these lives behind. The fireballs his grandfather and mother conjured were not a sign of light energy: Gesryma’s blessing.
The magic involving fire and earth and even offensive magic itself was from the dark force. And the sole source of the powerful wizards and sorcerers was the Almighty Ra'asiel.
Gathering enough resolve, Elyn looked his grandfather in the eye and declared, “I’m prepared to leave Grandfather. I will do anything to help you.”
“Alright Elyn dear. We will perform a bit of blood magic. Are you willing to offer a little of your blood?” A challenging and bizarre question after another from the elder herbalist’s mouth and Elyn braced himself for more.
Miermi could understand the several looks of both confusion and alarm in his grandson’s face but their time was almost up to rephrase the words. They have to act quickly as he felt the divine protection waning and the beasts stopped staggering when they connect with the barrier.
Quickly the old man fished a stone wrapped with an oiled cotton cloth and held it against the moon’s fading rays. He swiftly uncovered the cloth and a pale pink oval translucent stone glowed.
“This is a dagmast stone. We have to place a drop of blood and chant Ra'asiel’s prayer for protection. Can you do it?”
Elyn already held up his rune dagger (a memento from his late unknown father) on his forefinger when he nodded at his grandfather.
The moment his drop of blood touched the surface of the dagmast stone, piercing shrieks reverberated in the ruins. At the height of the lunar eclipse the divine barrier disintegrated and the beasts pounced inside.
Without wasting more time, Miermi chanted in a different jagged tongue and surprisingly Elyn followed the words much better than his grandfather.
The effect had been totally unexpected. Miermi and Elyn continued to chant and each syllable grew sharper and more pronounced. The sound of the lizard tongue apparently confused the beasts. Their once intent hunger drifted away and some started to draw back with their tails lowered in defeat or surrender.
They were nearly successful in driving the lower demons away when one of the townspeople shouted in indignation, “So it’s true! Miermi and his family are followers of Ra'asiel!”
Elyn abruptly stopped in mid-chant. He turned to see his far neighbors disgusted and suspicious expressions.
“Maybe its you! Maybe you’re the ones who drove the demons to our town!” Another yelled in accusation.
The power source was fluctuating with the interruption and the retreating beasts began to change their minds.
“Continue Elyn! You have to chant with me!” Miermi threw a look at the disapproving glares of the townspeople. They were misunderstanding the situation. If they don’t do this together, no, if Elyn didn’t chant with him, the plea for help to Ra'asiel was too weak for a human albeit sorcerer.
“Stop old Miermi from chanting! Silence him!” They were too daft not to notice the change in the beasts’ behavior.
In the midst of turmoil, something distracted the elder herbalist from concentrating his life force to the prayer. Was it the wind? A strange melody from a flute could be heard and it was causing an odd vibration for the prayer to lose its luster.
The blond boy opened his mouth to obey his grandfather but a scream tore free instead. The beasts were faster to get to the humans than they were able to tackle the blabbering old man.
What made Miermi finally stop was the sight of other beasts scampering for his grandson. He ran in front of Elyn to shield him with his body.
But the expected pain didn’t hit and horrified bestial yelps resounded instead. The stench of burnt fur and demonic flesh pricked his nostrils and Miermi cracked his eyes open fighting the nausea.
The stench of burning death was overwhelming and the old man held Elyn in a crushing grip. For a short time he thought that they had entered Ais Dysmassia with the gory scene of human corpses and scorched beast carcasses.
But no! The human bodies were stirring and they were not dead! On the other hand the beasts were exterminated: burnt to a crisp.
A keening squawk was heard above and Miermi looked up to witness the same majestic firebird the size of a human.
The surviving townspeople had fallen asleep save the two of them. The old man eyed the mystical creature with complete amazement.
The firebird’s blazing ruby eyes fixed him a stare as well and mind touching occurred between them. “Your courage to save your grandson called me to your aid more than the prayer and dagmast stone. Cherish your loved one and we might meet again.”
“Wait! Lord firebird, tell me who you are!” The old sorcerer replied in their mind connection.
“I am called the Phoenix, Lord of Tartarus and Consort of the Almighty Ra'asiel.” The firebird broke their spiritual link after the answer and vanished in a shower of glittering golden feathers.
Elyn caught one feather with his outstretched palm and the wound on his finger instantly healed. He gasped and turned to his grandfather, “Grandfather, you’re hurting me.”
Miermi automatically loosened his hold and asked, breathless, “Elyn dear, did you see the Phoenix as well?”
“Yes Grandfather! We saw him twice!” The blond boy inclined his head side to side. He observed that they were the only ones awake.
“He said we might meet again, I don’t understand that part.” The old man said in a puzzled tone. He was still shaking from the adrenaline and the aftermath of the night sank slowly.
They were both alive but he had lost his daughter. Mabelle died sacrificing herself to give them a chance to escape. If the Phoenix didn’t come her death would have been in vain.
“Never mind Elyn dear. Let’s go back down.” Miermi saw the fading excitement in Elyn’s now round eyes. Both of them had now time to grieve.
At sunrise Mabelle’s grave was filled with dew-kissed wild roses, yellow bells and baby’s breath. Miermi and Elyn prayed silently each carrying a travel sack fastened on walking sticks with twine. The old man was set on leaving their home for a long journey to escape the trial of heresy. Jedah was filled with fanatics of the Ishman Faith. It would be dangerous to remain here after last night’s incidents.
And that flute playing in the middle of that turmoil carved an ugly spike of anxiety in the old sorcerer’s nerves. Someone had deliberately guided the beasts to their island town.
The timing had been too perfect: The power shift between the Immortals, Gesryma’s fanatic worshippers, Ra'asiel’s restless demons, the remnants of the world war… There were endless possibilities but he was sure of one thing and his gut told him to leave Jedah for now.
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