Phoenix Ascendant - eARC by Ryk E Spoor

what he really was? That instant when something normal and safe and sane suddenly turns to be completely, utterly corrupt and evil? That . Imagine the entirety of nature, every tree, every beast, every insect , the very air itself being as corrupt and hostile and lethal as Kaizatenzei is pure and uplifting.”
    Rion frowned as he tried to imagine what she described. She saw a slight shiver. “If it’s that bad, I’m amazed you got here.”
    “I wouldn’t have without Tobimar and Poplock.” She nodded at the other two, walking some distance ahead.
    “So…do you love him? Really?”
    I must really believe he’s Rion, because that question doesn’t feel like an intrusion. More like Father questioning me. “Yes, I do. Really. I know it seems abrupt to you…and I guess in a way it was. He and Poplock saved me from Thornfalcon.”
    “Hm. They tell the tale slightly differently. Tobimar says you saved him .”
    “Well…both are true. If Tobimar and Poplock hadn’t arrived just in time, Thornfalcon would have…tortured and sacrificed me.” She saw no point in detailing just how Thornfalcon had obviously intended to carry out the torture, but Rion’s expression showed that he could probably guess. “Then when I got free, I guess I did save them. And then all three of us barely killed Thornfalcon. After that it took all of us plus Xavier to deal with the gateway of monsters Thornfalcon had left behind.”
    He looked at her, then shook his head again with a smile. “And they say you did it by yourself, with the power of Myrionar. My little sister…a Justiciar.” Rion looked at her armor. “But why Phoenix?”
    “You ought to know that. ”
    “Well, yes. Rebirth.”
    “And…?”
    He looked… blank for an instant, then smacked his head. “Ugh. I’m not quite…perfect, I guess. Whatever they did to bring me back. Took me a second to remember. Things are foggy…” He blinked. “But…yes, of course. You were always the Phoenix and I was the Dragon.”
    She felt a slight creeping chill. She had almost managed to forget the macabre nature of Rion’s reappearance, but this brought the disquiet back in full force. The association of Dragon and Phoenix went back to her youngest memories. It’s Rion…but is it all of him? Or is there something else there as well?
    “Does this mean you’ll be having a whole new set of Justiciars?” Rion continued, apparently unaware of her thoughts. “Dibs on being Dragon, then.”
    Kyri forced the thoughts back. No point in second-guessing. He’s still Rion. Just maybe a little…injured. “If you meet the qualifications.”
    “Oh, ouch. Am I going to have to go through all the Trials again?”
    “We’ll see. If we all live through this, I think that’ll probably qualify as trials.”
    “You’re likely right.” He looked up to where sunlight trickled in green-tinted gold through the canopy. “The old Justiciars were named after birds; you’re going for, what? Legendary flying creatures?”
    “Makes sense to me. Phoenix, Dragon, Thunderbird, Eonwyl—if I can get the blessing of a temple of Eonae, anyway—Griffin, things like that.” She made the sign of the Balance. “We need a clean start, and the old Raiments will at the least need to be reblessed and probably reforged by the Spiritsmith.”
    He looked at her with the fond smile she remembered so well, and the cold discomfort faded almost entirely away. “And reforged in the image of our old toys.”
    She realized that he was right; that set of figurines hadn’t just had the Dragon and Phoenix but all the others she had named, and more. “Oh, by Myrionar , did I actually do that?”
    He laughed and impulsively flung an arm around her, hugging her close. “Of course you did, little sister. But with perfectly good reason and symbolism even a god couldn’t complain about…and,” he looked serious again, “with the heart that a Justiciar needs. I’m not a Justiciar now—I’ve tried, but the power