The Third Sun (Daughter of the Phoenix Book One) by Victoria J. Price

The Third Sun 

(Daughter of the Phoenix Book One) 

by Victoria J. Price 

The Lady Noor had made her way south to join a group of witches gathered around a fire in the depths of night. She rested her weapons against a splintered tree stump and took a seat beside the fire. The scent of moss and charred wood filled her nostrils, and a soft orange glow lit up seven faces in the shadows. 

“Kharsee.” Noor bowed to the leader of her coven, if she could still call them her coven.

“You are all here because you have felt it,” the old witch began, her violet eyes glistening like polished amethysts. She reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out a leaf, lustrous and onyx black in the firelight.

 “Darkness is creeping into Ohinyan,” she announced. “A seam is slowly tearing apart—one that holds the very essence of our world together.” Kharsee held the gaze of the other witches as she spoke. 

Noor listened whilst the others muttered amongst themselves. Kharsee turned the leaf in her hands, ignoring the murmurs from the group until silence fell over them. Nothing but the crackling of flames broke the stillness of the dark forest beyond.

 “Above the seam hangs a small village, suspended from great trees and endless, twisting vines. The broad leaves that cradle the morning dew are wilting, the vines crumbling and decaying. Like most of the people of Ohinyan, the villagers do not yet know of the tear in the ground below, or that from it escapes a darkness that has been hiding, deep and low beneath the earth like a foul breath. After lifetimes of waiting, the darkness has begun to seep into our world, rotting and ruining everything it touches,” Kharsee added.

The flames turned black, and one of the younger witches shot to her feet.

“Perhaps you ignored it for a while, cast aside your worries, and blamed it on the coming of the third sun. But I think you have all heard its whispers.” Kharsee ushered the young witch to sit down. Fine lines framed her eyes and mouth, but Kharsee was not frail, far from it. “The darkness tried to take hold of our world when the first sun died. We do not know why it failed. Now, the second sun is dying, and the darkness is trying to break free.”

She turned to each of the faces in the firelight, her expression calm. “What do the angels know of this, Noor? You have Alexander’s ear.”

 “Some have heard the whispers.” Noor sharpened her blade on a stone, flicking her braid over her shoulder as the wind picked up. 

“But what do they intend to do? What is Alexander’s plan?” a young witch asked.

Noor considered her response, inspecting her blade in the firelight. Alexander was exactly where he’d agreed to be, where she’d asked him to be, searching for the girl on Earth. She caught the gaze of each of the coven members around the fire, their expectant stares waiting for answers. The girl.

“The leader of angels is carrying out his duties on Earth,” she replied, her eyes fixed back on her blade. “Alexander heeded our request. We must trust him.”

“Duties?” The witch beside Kharsee leapt to his feet, hands clenched in tight fists, and his voice trembling. “What of his duty to Ohinyan? We are under attack, and yet where are the protectors of this world? Spending all of their time on Earth.”

“Enough child.” Kharsee placed a gentle hand on the young witch’s shoulder. “The angels are doing the best they can, given the situation.”      

“But Countess, there is so much we do not know—"

“So then assist the angels,” Noor demanded. “Do not sit idly by, just because the witches that came before us would not get involved with the matters of Ohinyan.”

The group murmured, but Kharsee was silent, her lips a firm line. Wisps of silver hair brushed lightly against her cheek. She locked eyes with Noor before casting her attention back to the group.

“Come now,” Kharsee said. “We are running out of time. Every witch must make their own decision: stand alone, unite with your fellow witches, or side with the darkness. In the coming months, every one of us must make a choice.”

The witches stood, inclining their heads in a respectful bow before dispersing into the forest. Noor remained beside Kharsee until the coven members were nothing but shadows amongst the trees.

“Tell me all you’ve learned, Noor.”

“I bring no good news. Attacks across the continent, mercenaries from the north venturing far away from their usual hunting grounds. Is it all connected to the darkness, to our dying sun?” 

Kharsee’s expression was unreadable, but Noor bit back at her questions. So many questions. But she could not overstep. It had taken too long to claw her way back to this point, for the privilege to sit around this fire beside Kharsee and to have any part in what was to come.  

“Everything is connected in some way or another.” Kharsee threw the blackened leaf into the fire, and it hissed and crackled as it burnt. “You must speak with Alexander, the moment he returns to Ohinyan.”

“You really think this girl can help?” Noor asked. How could one girl unite the creatures of this world, unite its people? The continents were divided; people ceased talking with creatures long ago. Most of the people had ceased talking with each other, too.

“I do.”

Noor let out a breath. “If Alexander returns, Kharsee.” She threw a stick into the fire and followed a trail of sparks, carried upwards into the canopy. “This darkness, some say it’s like a nothingness—an emptiness calling out in the night. What is it?”

“Not what, but who,” the old witch said. “You have witnessed the changes in Ohinyan.”  She gestured towards the leaf, bubbling and burning still. “He is responsible. Whispering from his prison to anything and anyone who will listen. Erebus.”

“But he must have failed before, or we would not be here now, would we?”

“There are many gaps in my knowledge, Noor, and this I cannot answer. He must have failed, yes, but at what cost? Who can say whether he will fail again? He has had many years to think of his mistakes, to spread his whispers into Ohinyan. Whilst most of our world has forgotten him, he has been waiting.” She placed a gentle hand on Noor’s cheek, her eyes flickering with fear. “Our sun is dying, and the darkness is coming. We need this girl, Noor. We will need all the help we can get. All of Ohinyan must unite, or what lies ahead will divide us all.”

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