As the phoenix, Sorin’s feathers were golden flames, like solar flares. As an eagle, Sol’s coloring was russet, bronze, copper, and bright, flaming red. Like the Philippine eagle in modern times, he had a crown of feathers at the top of his head, not quite like a Phoenix’s crest, which was more like a Mohawk. Sol’s crown of flaming feathers was circular, as if he truly wore a crown as the King of raptors.
His eyes, however, were exactly the same. Pure, bright gold.
In Beast form, his eyes weren’t murky, opaque and almost entirely black. They seemed more lucid when he rolled them toward Ben as if to check that he was still there.
He seemed more himself in eagle form.
Ben looked down at the terrain and felt a pang of…recognition. Of course, he’d covered some of it over the past weeks, but it was more than that.
Somehow, he felt as if he’d been here before. As if he’dlivedhere before.
Even the citadel in the distance seemed familiar beyond his recent visit there with Zai. It looked different than the hazy memory he couldn’t clearly recall.
In his mind, there was the elusive vision of ivory towers and walls, where today, the citadel was still mostly gray rock. He’d seen some of the newer additions when he was there with Zai, but in his mind, there were images of a much more impressive stronghold, almost like a castle, made of glistening white stone.
The location in the mountainside was the same. The foundation of the citadel was the same as well. The mountain itself hadn’t changed. But the surrounding villages that Ben now had an aerial view of were different in his mind versus what he took in with his eyes.
In those hazy memories, he saw a much more advanced Dark empire.
There were larger towns surrounding what he would call a capital city. This was the beginning of Ashlu’s rule, but what Ben saw in his mind’s eye was the height of civilization.
Or perhaps the zenith before the end.
Before the Fall of the Dark Empire and the rise of rudimentary human civilization.
But why wouldhesee any of this? Could it be because of the strange link he had with Sol? Could he somehow be seeing some of Sol’s or Sorin’s memories? Did that mean that Sol would survive the Challenge somehow?
Ben’s brain hurt from thinking so hard, and after such a dizzying death fall.
He shook his head to clear it. He needed to stay sharp now. He couldfeelthe momentousness of what was about to happen.
Before long, they approached the citadel.
Ben saw that a stretch of flat terrain was reserved for the Tournament, nestled in a valley between jutting mountains.
As they drew closer, he could see paired-off opponents and group battles, clustering and clashing together like militant ants. It looked like a prehistoric gladiator arena, just much bigger in scope and scale, and with less boisterous crowds.
This was a serious business, clearly. These were fights to the death, to win the right to become the Dark Queen’s Consort. Not for entertainment.
They landed some distance away under the cover of tightly packed treetops in the surrounding forest. From there, they would trek to the Tournament on foot.
As Ben slid down from Sol’s back and joined Zai and Sin off to the side, the raptors seemed to be communicating amongst themselves.
He couldn’t understand what they were saying this time, unable to hear Sol’s thoughts, but he could guess from the other raptors’ gestures and aggressive wing flaps that they were not pleased by the orders their King had issued. In the end, they obeyed and took off again with a few gusty flaps.
Meanwhile, Sol transformed into human and pulled on the clothes he’d apparently tucked away under those thick feathers as an eagle. Without a word to the rest of them, he set out in the direction of the Tournament grounds.
Ben, Sin and Zai could only follow.
“Did you hear what they said to one another?” Ben asked Sin as they lagged slightly behind Sol’s brisk, purposeful strides.
“The King told his warriors to go back to the aerie,” Sin replied. “The female is in charge. In fact, just as you surmised, she will be in command for the foreseeable future.”
Ben could practically hear the frown in Sin’s weighty pause.
“He told them not to await his return.”
“Fuck,” Ben spat.