Aria's POV
The stranger kneeling before me could be a threat or a savior, and I have exactly three seconds to decide which.
My fire wings flare wide, flames roaring to life around me in a defensive circle. "Who are you? How did you find me?"
The man keeps his head bowed, but I notice his hands are empty—no weapons drawn, no aggressive stance. "My name is Zephyr Stormfang. I'm a rogue Alpha and phoenix hunter. Five weeks ago, I felt a power surge unlike anything I've experienced in fifteen years. It led me here. To you."
"Phoenix hunter?" The words send ice through my veins despite the fire surrounding me. "You hunt my kind?"
"I hunt corrupted phoenixes," he corrects gently, finally raising his head. His storm-gray eyes meet mine, and there's no hatred in them. Only wonder. "Dark fire-wielders who've fallen to evil and use their power to destroy. But you..." He shakes his head slowly. "You're not corrupted. You're pure flame. You're magnificent."
Nobody has ever called me magnificent. The word makes my cheeks heat with something other than fire.
"That doesn't explain why you're here," I say, keeping my defensive flames burning. "What do you want from me?"
"To offer my protection and my knowledge." Zephyr stands slowly, keeping his movements careful and non-threatening. "The Alpha King is hunting you. Not to apologize—to cage you. He thinks controlling you will break the curse eating him alive. I came to warn you and to offer my help."
Through the curse bond, I feel a spike of Caspian's determination, and I know Zephyr is telling the truth.
"Why would you help me?" Suspicion edges my voice. "You don't even know me."
"Because fifteen years ago, a corrupted phoenix slaughtered my entire pack," Zephyr says quietly. Pain flashes across his face. "I was the only survivor. I swore I'd stop that darkness from spreading. But when I tracked your power signature, expecting to find corruption..." He gestures to me, to my wings of living fire. "I found hope instead. Pure phoenix power, untainted by darkness. You're what phoenixes were always meant to be."
Something in his voice makes me believe him. Maybe it's the genuine pain when he speaks of his lost pack. Maybe it's the way he looks at my fire with reverence instead of fear.
Or maybe I'm just desperate for an ally.
"The Alpha King won't give up," I say, letting my defensive flames dim slightly. "He'll send warriors. Hunters. He'll—"
"Let him try," Zephyr interrupts with a slight smile. "I didn't survive fifteen years as a rogue by being easy to kill. And you, Phoenix Heir, are more powerful than you realize. You just need training."
Before I can respond, Ember's flame-spirit materializes beside me. "He speaks truth, daughter. His soul burns clean—no deception, no dark intent. And he's right about your power. You've barely scratched the surface of what you can do."
I look between Zephyr and the spirit, my mind racing. "What kind of training?"
Zephyr's smile widens. "Have you flown yet?"
That's how I end up standing at the edge of a cliff three hours later, my heart pounding so hard I think it might explode.
The Burning Wastes stretch out below me in an endless sea of black glass and volcanic rock. The drop is at least a hundred feet. Maybe more. Definitely enough to kill me if this goes wrong.
"I can't do this," I say for the tenth time.
"You can." Zephyr stands beside me, his presence somehow calming despite my terror. "Your wings aren't decoration, Aria. They're part of you. Trust them."
"Trust myself to not fall to my death?" My voice comes out higher than normal.
Ember, Ash, and Luna hover nearby in their flame-spirit forms. "Your wings know what to do," Ember encourages. "Phoenix fire defies normal laws. It doesn't need wind or air currents. It needs only your will."
"Easy for you to say," I mutter. "You're already dead."
Ash laughs, his flame-beard crackling. "Dying from a fall would be very ironic for a phoenix, wouldn't it? Since we're literally born from flame and ash?"
Despite my terror, I can't help smiling.
"The Alpha King's scouts will reach the Wastes within two days," Zephyr says quietly. "You need every advantage you can get. Flying gives you freedom, speed, and escape options. It makes you truly dangerous."
I think about Caspian sending warriors after me. About being captured, caged, forced to break the curse and give back the power that's rightfully mine.
Anger burns through my fear.
"Okay," I say, spreading my fire wings wide. They're massive—easily twelve feet from tip to tip—and they glow with brilliant gold and crimson flames. "How do I do this?"
"Jump," Zephyr says simply. "Your wings will catch you. I promise."
"And if they don't?"
"Then I'll catch you." His storm-gray eyes are serious. "I won't let you fall, Aria."
Something about the way he says my name makes my heart skip.
I take a deep breath. Then another. My wings tremble with nervous energy.
I am not the weak omega they threw away, I tell myself. I am phoenix. I am fire. I am meant to soar.
I jump.
For one terrifying, endless second, I fall. Wind screams past me, the ground rushes up, and my stomach drops into my feet.
Then my wings catch.
It's not like I expected—they don't flap like a bird's wings. Instead, the fire itself seems to push against the air, creating lift through pure magic. I feel the power surge through my back, through my wings, and suddenly I'm not falling anymore.
I'm rising.
"YES!" I scream as I shoot upward, flames trailing behind me like a comet. "I'm flying! I'm actually flying!"
Below me, I hear Zephyr's laugh—surprised and delighted. "Incredible! Now try moving forward!"
I tilt my body experimentally, and my wings respond, sending me streaking across the sky. The wind in my face feels like freedom. Like power. Like everything I was denied my entire life suddenly given back a hundredfold.
I can see everything from up here. The temple where I awakened looks tiny below. Beyond the Wastes, I can make out the borders of the Crimson Wilds territory. Further still, I see the Obsidian Court—Caspian's palace gleaming in the distance like a dark jewel.
And beyond that, the Outcast Hollows where I grew up. Where I suffered. Where I was nothing.
"I'm never going back," I whisper to the wind. "Never kneeling. Never hiding. Never again."
I practice for hours. At first, my movements are clumsy—I nearly crash into a cliff face twice, and I definitely accidentally set a dead tree on fire. But gradually, I improve. I learn to dive, pulling my wings tight and dropping like a falling star before spreading them at the last second. I learn to spin, to hover, to ride thermal currents for fun even though I don't need them.
By the time the sun starts setting, I can fly better than I can walk.
When I finally land back at the temple, Zephyr is waiting with an expression I can't quite read.
"You're extraordinary," he says simply.
I'm sweaty and exhausted and probably covered in ash, but his words make me feel beautiful.
"Thank you," I say softly. "For pushing me. For believing I could do it."
"I didn't make you fly, Aria. I just reminded you that you could." Zephyr steps closer. "Everything you did today—that was all you. Your power. Your courage. Your choice."
The word 'choice' hits differently after spending my life having everything chosen for me. My low status. My family's ruined reputation. My mate who rejected me without even knowing me.
"I like having choices," I admit.
"Then here's another one." Zephyr's voice turns serious. "Come with me. Let me take you somewhere safe while you continue training. The Wastes protect you now, but once Caspian's warriors arrive, this place will become a battlefield. I have a territory—hidden, protected. You can grow stronger there without constantly watching your back."
I should be suspicious. I barely know this man. But something in my gut—or maybe my phoenix fire—says I can trust him.
"Why are you really helping me?" I ask. "Be honest."
Zephyr is quiet for a moment, his storm-gray eyes searching mine. "Because you remind me what phoenixes were supposed to be before darkness twisted some of them. And because..." He hesitates. "Because no one should face their battles alone. I learned that the hard way."
Before I can respond, the curse bond suddenly flares with violent energy. Through it, I feel Caspian's rage spike so sharply it makes me gasp.
"He knows," I whisper, clutching my chest. "He knows I'm getting stronger. He can feel it through the curse."
"Then we need to move fast." Zephyr's hand goes to his side where I notice weapons strapped beneath his coat for the first time. "His warriors will come sooner than two days if he's this angry. Maybe tonight."
Fear and excitement war in my chest. Part of me wants to run and hide.
But the phoenix part—the part that just learned to fly—wants to face them.
Wants to show Caspian exactly what he created when he destroyed me.
"Let them come," I say, my wings spreading instinctively. Flames dance along their edges. "I'm not running anymore."
Zephyr's smile is sharp with approval. "Good. Because they're already here."
My head snaps toward the edge of the Wastes where the normal territory borders begin. In the fading light, I see them—dozens of wolves crossing into the volcanic wasteland. Warriors in black armor. Hunters with silver weapons. And leading them...
My blood freezes.
Even from this distance, I recognize that tall, commanding figure. That midnight-black hair. Those ice-blue eyes that once looked at me with pure hatred.
Caspian Blackthorn has come for me himself.
And he's not alone.