Rise of the Phoenix (The Imperial Saga Book 1) by Anne Winchell

Author:Anne Winchell [Winchell, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winchell Studios
Published: 2022-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

Heavy clouds shrouded the sky, looking like it could start snowing as Tahirah followed Mr. Townsend and Ari, but it was clear for now. She wasn’t controlling the weather at the moment, since she was weaker than usual now that she was shielding the castle. It was unlikely she could do both. It was incredible that Khalid had managed all those years.

The short stretch of land surrounding the castle was mostly flat, though snow heaped around the castle walls. Her breath crusted, and her nose stung; normally she would enjoy being in the cold like this. But not when she had to learn about guns. The only thing she wanted to do outside was create her dragon eggs, not be near the weapons that had killed so many.

When it came time for her to hold a gun, she touched it as little as possible, dangling it from her fingers. Mr. Townsend took her hand in his and planted the gun firmly against her palm. She shuddered.

Luckily, it was a small gun, not the large gun Ari was learning to use. His dad helped her aim towards the wooden target with concentric circles painted in red and white, and gave her some instructions that she barely heard. All she could hear was the blood pounding through her veins, a susurration against her ears, all she could see was the blood on the ground as her mother pulled her away from the bodies of the people she’d known all her life, blood as red as the rings on the target. She saw her best friend running towards her, then her face erupting into slivers of flesh as a bullet tore through it.

“Tahirah.” Mr. Townsend’s voice broke through the memories. “It’s okay.”

She came back to reality with a start. He had taken her gun and put it somewhere. He embraced her. Luckily, she wasn’t crying. Just frozen in place. She took a deep breath and shivered. There was a reason she hated guns. The memories were just too strong for her.

“Try again.” His voice was low but firm.

Had he not seen her reaction? But he stared right back at her, then grabbed her hand and forced the gun into it, careful to keep it pointed at the target the whole time. He helped her get set up again, and she waited for the memories to overwhelm her. After a long time, he told her to fire. She did, surprised that her memories hadn’t crippled her. Then she stared at the gun in her hand. Why hadn’t something bad happened?

Mr. Townsend gazed at her intently. “Did you even see your shot?”

“Oh, was it bad?” She didn’t care if it was. She didn’t want to be doing this, anyway. “I wasn’t really looking.”

It didn’t matter. She had fired a gun and was okay. Her memories were right there, about to surface, but they hadn’t.

“Try again, Tahirah.” He gestured toward the target. “Let’s see how your second shot goes.”

He didn’t help her set up this time, but it wasn’t hard with the small gun.

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