Fire And Steel (The Merryweather Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

shadows.
          Still feeling that dark gaze upon him, Faux turned and closed the door.
     
     

CHAPTER 4
          Brandon stood in Highgarden's weapons room, staring hard at the curved blade in its fine glass case. The Phoenix glittered dangerously in the display light, catching and holding Brandon's gaze. It called forth vivid memories of how it had felt in his hand, the scorching power that seemed to coarse through the sword's grip and into his body. 
          The stone in his right hand seemed to pulse with warmth and Rok's voice spoke up inside his head. "An ancient blade. Strange to find it in the keeping of the last of the Stormlords.”
          "What do you know of it?" Brandon whispered aloud. 
          Rok said nothing for a long moment, a pregnant silence that felt thoughtful, before replying. "Once, when the gods were young and not the weak broken things that they've become, the Phoenix walked among them."
          "The Phoenix was a god?"
          "No. Not a god. The Phoenix was a force beyond the gods of men. It held itself apart, a wild and uncontrollable thing.” Was that anger in Rok's tone? Or grief? "Too powerful to be allowed to roam free, tinkering with the destinies of man. So all of the gods of man and beasts came together and bound the Phoenix."
          "Bound it?" Brandon narrowed his eyes. "How do you bind a god?"
         "With fire and steel." The god said in a hard voice. "And blood. Oceans of blood."
          Brandon stared at the sword, at the intricate designs worked into the hilt and pommel, at the light rippling along the blade like liquid flame, and he felt cold. "But why bind it at all? Was it evil?"
          "Good and evil are human concepts, Storm Son. There are things in this universe, in all universes, that are beyond judgement. Beyond all laws." Rok spoke the words, but didn't sound like he completely believed them.
          "Then why are you bothering to help me?" Brandon asked. "That seems more good than evil to me?"
          Rok chuckled. "Gods can become bored just as easily as humans, little man."
          Brandon was quiet a moment. Then said. "You still haven't told me why the Phoenix had to be bound?"
          "The Phoenix was unpredictable." Rok answered. "And more powerful than any single god or goddess had any right to be. So it was bound and hidden away."
          "Bound inside the sword?"
          "The Phoenix is the sword." Rok said.
          Brandon sighed. He stepped closer to the glass and rested his fingertips against the glass. He was learning quickly that these gods of his father's were grand-masters of double-talk. There were countless shades and nuances to everything they told him, rendering what they said almost pointless. He asked. "What happens if the Phoenix gets free?"
          "Depends on who frees it. The prophecy is pretty vague about the fate of all of the worlds if anyone other than the Reclaimer releases the Phoenix. It might very well destroy reality."
          "The Reclaimer?" Brandon felt the name was familiar, it tickled at his memory, like a name on the tip of his tongue. "Where have I heard that before?"
          "The prophecy of the Reclaimer is an old one, boy. The oldest on this world and many others."
          "And the Phoenix is part of this prophecy?"
          Rok chuckled inside of Brandon's skull. "If there is one thing that human beings and the Pantheon share, it is an unhealthy pre-occupation with prophecy. It is said that the Reclaimer will release the Phoenix, binding its soul to his own."
          Brandon was quiet for a moment. He thought of his mother and father, dead and buried, and his anger flared white hot. The light on the blade seemed to flash, mirroring the inferno within Brandon's heart. His voice was cold when he asked. "So, when is all this reclaiming and binding supposed to happen anyway?"
          "Who knows?" Rok said from a vast empty place