Seeing the different colored orbs dance into the night sky, Sheut couldn't help but frown. The souls, now released from their tormented prison, didn't just ascend; they seemed to have been completely cleansed. They were pure, radiant motes of light, utterly expunged of any lingering feelings of guilt, fear, or anger. Or any of the unpleasant feelings that should have been clinging to them from their time within the Dread Lord's consciousness.
The blue flame they had created, the "primordial fire," had done more than just sever the shadows. It had scrubbed them clean. It didn't just separate the souls from their captor; it seemed to have purified them of their experiences. Sheut had seen souls ripped from the clutches of darkness before. They always carried scars of life, lingering wisps of terror, faint echoes of their torment. But these souls were pristine, as if they had never known suffering at all. It was an unsettling, profound thought. The power they had wielded was not just a tool of liberation, but a force of absolute, fundamental purification.
This shouldn't have been possible.
Sheut knew the limits of his own abilities. A demi-demon's ability to enact True Death could unravel a soul from its chaotic corruption, but it couldn't erase the emotional imprints, the memories, the scars of a life lived and ended in terror. Those were the fundamental building blocks of one's person, a part of its unique pattern. For a soul to be so utterly and completely clean... it was a feat that even a demigod of the highest power rank would find virtually impossible. Even for them, it would be a tedious, soul-sucking process that would take centuries to accomplish.
A wave of profound realization, mixed with a chilling sense of awe, washed over him. This wasn't just a matter of combining their magics. This was something else entirely. Was this possibly due to the bond he shared with Adah? Or maybe the 'third occurrence' that the Queen spoke of. Queen Nandi did explain that it was not just a connection of minds and emotions. It was a synergy of their very essences, a fundamental force that was giving birth to a power unlike anything the world had ever known. The blue flame they had created was not just a tool; it was an act of creation in and of itself, a fire that didn't just cleanse but purified to the most fundamental level.
He looked at Adah, a look of utter astonishment on his face, a silent question in his eyes. "What have we created?" He suddenly remembered his purpose. "Wait, if I'm emulating Adah's flame and she's fueling it, I'm sure given enough time, she would be able to do this on her own, since it is her own power."
As Sheut was pondering the nature of the flame, he noticed what appeared to be light balls of fire of all colors and sizes headed their way. The colors ranged from red, orange, blue, purple, and every color of the visible and non-visible spectrum. It was a sight to behold. As they got closer, the entire area was being lit up by their radiance. Sheut was finally able to make out what they were.
"Flaming birds!" he exclaimed. "No... the aura emanating from them is more majestic, more ancient." Sheut focused his eyes. "Fire birds! Those are lesser phoenixes!" he shouted out loud, a sense of profound awe and wonder filling his voice.
Flaming birds and firebirds are often mistaken for one another, but they are two distinct species, separated by an elemental chasm. Flaming birds are simple elemental creatures, born of pure mana and forever bound to their raw, untamed form. Their existence is a cycle of manifestation and dissipation, and they are incapable of true death. Firebirds, however, are the storied descendants of the legendary Phoenix, a profound life-bearing being of both creation and destruction. While firebirds share their ancestors' ability to resurrect from their own ashes, they possess a finite number of lives, unlike the immortal Phoenix.
A potent mix of awe and foreboding washed over the group. The creatures soaring toward them were not a threat, but a living tribute to the power they had unleashed. They were drawn by the raw, untainted energy of the blue flame that Sheut and Adah had created. A flame that hummed with a resonance only an ancient power could produce. It was as if the primeval song of the Phoenix had echoed across the ages, calling their kin home, beckoned by an irresistible force like a moth to a flame. The air thrummed with their approach, each beat of their wings a testament to the miraculous, terrifying power that had been born.
They circled the skies above Adah, performing a beautiful acrobatic dance as if they were welcoming royalty or their ancestor. The light show was mesmerizing, capturing the gazes of anyone who could see it. The fire raining down from the lesser phoenixes didn't burn the ground or plant life. Instead, the fire seemed to nurture every living thing that they touched. The withered trees that the necrotic ichor of the undead had scorched began to sprout new leaves. The blackened ground, once a testament to death and decay, became a fertile loam, and small, vibrant flowers pushed through the dirt, their petals unfurling in a silent, joyful bloom.
Even the caravan guards and civilians, who were still tending to their wounds, felt the transformative power of the rain of fire. Their minor cuts and bruises began to heal, and the mental fatigue that had settled in after the battle began to lift, replaced by a profound sense of peace and tranquility. It was as if the ancient, life-giving essence of the Phoenix had reached out, mending not just the world, but the souls of those who had fought so bravely to protect it.
The smaller firebirds continued their graceful, burning dance in the sky, their forms a kaleidoscope of scarlet and gold. As their tribute soared, a single, magnificent firebird descended upon Adah. This firebird was much larger than the rest and adorned with feathers of shifting, iridescent colors. It came to a silent hover before her, its eyes a molten amber, and spoke not with a voice, but with a clear, resonant thought that echoed in her mind alone.
"Greetings to the heiress of the Fire-born," it telepathically communicated, its tone carrying the weight of ages. "I hope our tribute was to your liking, my liege?"
A cold jolt of surprise and confusion shot through Adah. She had created the flame with Sheut, a fire that felt primal and wild, yet this creature spoke as if it belonged to her. "The Fire-born? What do you mean?" she asked, her voice a hushed whisper, her mind still reeling from the unspoken conversation. "I don't even know what you are."
The firebird's mind-voice was filled with a gentle, patient sadness. "My liege, we are the children of the Flame. And that," it paused, its gaze shifting to the profound blue fire they had created, "is the primordial fire. The first fire, the source of our creation. It has been dormant since the end of the Last War, and we have searched for its return for millennia."
Sheut, a silent observer until now, stepped forward, a mixture of awe and realization on his face. "Adah's ability to also command shadow..." he murmured, not to the firebird, but to himself. "It was the connection between us. It acted as a catalyst."
"So you're saying that the combination of my mana, my very essence, and Sheut's... did this?" Adah asked, a shaky kind of wonder in her voice. "We didn't just create a new kind of flame. We rediscovered something ancient?"
"You did more than rediscover it, my liege," the firebird's voice thrummed with reverence. "You have rekindled it."