[STORY] Phoenix Rising - Chapter 1 {ORIGINAL}

Phoenix Rising by Vijay Kakani
Chapter 1
Magic Discovery v1

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Since then seven years have passed and it has been a peaceful time. The husband, wife and their maid were were enjoying the lovely times together. However, all of that came to a drastic end on a day in midsummer when an event occurred that changed the life of Lakshman Reddy forever.

“Good morning, Lucky,” Lakshmi, Lakshman’s mother, greeted her son cheerfully.

“Good morning, mum,” Lakshman replied as he looked around.

He arrived at the dining room to find his mother serving food to his father. Indra,hisfather, spooned the food into his mouth from the plate with gusto. Lakshman sat on the chair and his mother placed a plate with food in front of him.

A moment later, their maid, Mariana, placed a wooden cup with water filled in it. She then laid a spoon beside the plate which Lakshman picked up and started to eat the food with.

“Delicious!” he said as he happily ate the food.

Indra laughed and said “Naturally! Your mum is the Number One Chief in the world!”

“Oh… you embarrass me,” Lakshmi said, smiling happily at her husband’s compliment.

“But it’s the truth!” Indra said, pressing on. “Reminds me of the past when I first met you while adventuring. Our entire group couldn’t stop eating everything you made for us and always wanted seconds and thirds!”

“Ah, that takes me back,” Lakshmi said and she looked into the distance as if remembering the past.

“Adventuring? You and mum adventured, dad?” Lakshman asked as he paused between eating.

“Oh, right. I didn’t tell you, did I?” Indra said and smiled before saying “I was fifteen at that time and an apprentice to the Sword King by the name Darian Ronald, an accomplished warrior.”

Then he spoke of their first meeting. Apparently, he was apprenticed to Darian Ronald, a Sword King, notorious for vanquishing demon beasts. They and other apprentices journeyed across the world and that was when they concidentely met Lakshmi and her master.

During that time, Lakshmi and the apprentices went monster hunting to improve their skills. However, fearing something was wrong. He got to them and witnessed their group being overwhelmed by many monsters.

In a flash, Indra put his sword skills to the test and destroyed the monsters. After rescuing them, he escorted them out of the dungeon and into safety. That was when he took a liking to Lakshmi as being resilient, even in the face of danger.

“After that, we did say ‘We’ll meet again!’, but never thought we’d meet in the same way five years later,” Indra said reminiscently.

“I couldn’t believe it myself, but, I’m glad we met.”

With that, the two of them hugged each other. The maid looked on with a smile on her face while Lakshman made a puzzled expression.

“Mum… dad… what are you doing?” he asked them.

“We’re hugging, silly,” Lakshmi said with a smile as they separated.

“But… why?” Lakshman asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Oh… It’s because we love each other,” Lakshmi said while grinning and looking a little embarassed.

Lakshman made a puzzled expression and looked down at his empty plate he just finished. Then he looked up at his parents once more.

“Do you love me?” Lakshman asked curiously.

“What?! Of-course we do!” Indra said in a shocked voice.

“Then… Can I hug you then?” he asked curiously.

“Oh, come on…!” Indra said in a disbelieving voice.

“Lucky, don’t be so shy... Course’ you can hug us,” Lakshmi said with a sweet smile on her face.

He moved from his chair and hugged his parents. For a few seconds, they remained like that and the warmness generated by the hug caused Lakshman to smile.

Then they separated as their maid picked up the empty plates before returning to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Indra and Lakshman headed outside for their training.

“Since we just ate, let’s do some light exercises,” Indra said.

“How dad?” Lakshman asked curiously.

“Stretching!” Indra said firmly and explained to Lakshman what he needed to do.

They stretched their arms and legs for half an hour. Then they did light jogging around their house ten times. After finishing, they breathed lightly.

“Ok! I think that’s enough of a warm up,” Indra said in a satisfied voice. “Lakshman, you swing your sword up and down twenty times with both hands. Then take a break and do it again for another twenty times. Repeat this cycle, ok?”

“I got it!” Lakshman said, nodding his head vigorously.

Indra walked over to where two swords were leaning against the wall. One was a steel bladed sword while the other was a wooden sword. After picking them up,he walked backand and handed the wooden sword to Lakshman. Then he walked some distance away and started swinging his own sword.

Lakshman marvelled as he watched his father swing his blade with unbreakable rhythm. Lakshman started swinging his wooden sword up and down for twenty times. Then he took a break and watched his father before repeating this cycle.

After an hour, Indra stopped his training and looked tired. He looked over at his son and made a surprised expression. Lakshman was breathing easily as he continued to swing his wooden sword twenty times after each rest.

That was when Indra sighed and decided to end the training.

“That’s enough, Lucky,” Indra said.

Lakshman stopped swinging and looked at his father with a curious expression on his face.

“I think that’s enough practice for one day,” Indra finished.

Indra walked over to him and Lakshman handed the sword over. After leaving them against the house, they sat on the steps leading to the entrance of the house. They looked into the distance, but all they could see were grassy fields. It was a beautiful day with few clouds and the sun shining brightly above.

“You know, Lakshman,” Indra said a few minutes later.

“Yes, dad?” Lakshman asked.

“Well… it always amazes me with how easily you can swing that sword. Even your stamina surprised me.”

“Thanks dad…” Lakshman said in embarrassment.

Indra grinned at his son’s obvious embarrassment and continued speaking.

“It’s truly interesting… Even I couldn’t swing that wooden sword when I was your age.”

Lakshman smiled and said “I think with dad and mum, I am a combination of you two.”

“You don’t say!” Indra said, laughing and clapping his son on the back.

Just then, they heard Lakshmi’s voice from within the house.

“Indra! Come in for a moment. We have some things to discuss.”

“Oh boy,” Indra said as he jumped to his feet. “I wonder what this is about.”

When he left, Lakshman looked out into the fields and rose to his feet. He was bored sitting around. With training over, he wanted to do something to pass the time.

He asked his mother about her opinion and she said “Go read those story books or something.”

Oddly, he wasn’t that interested in reading the stories. It’s probably because his activeness wasn’t enough to let him sit calmly and read a book. Instead, he found another hobby; climbing trees.

He often climbed up trees his mother grew and sat there overlooking the grassy fields that seemed to stretch as far as the eye can see. Ever since then, climbing trees has become a hobby for him when he feels bored.

Today was no different. He was bored. Lakshman didn’t want to go sit down and read a book. Reading those letters from books somehow made him even more bored. So, he decided on climbing up the tree he thought of as friends.

He rose to his feet and walked towards the tree. It was an impressively tall tree that grew a fruit he enjoyed eating. The fruit was sweet and tasted great.

“Up we go,” he muttered.

Lakshman quickly climbed up the tree and sat on a branch which gave a shudder. He sat there and stared into the distance. Even though it felt boring to read the book, it somehow wasn’t so boring to sit on that branch and stare into the distance. It felt relaxed to sit up in the tree than anywhere else.

Suddenly, a shout came from the entrance to the house. Glancing at the entrance, he saw his father looking up at him with a surprised expression on his face.

“Lakshman, what do you think you’re doing sitting up there?” Indra asked, half-laughing.

“It feels relaxing, dad,” Lakshman replied honestly.

“That’s good!” Indra said with a smile. Then he said “But get down here. We’ll resume your training.”

“Really?” Lakshman asked eagerly. “That’s cool!”

Indra turned and walked away to fetch the two swords. In the meantime, Lakshman attempted to get down. The branch he sat on shuddered and suddenly cracked.

He felt himself falling and soon he crash landed onto the ground. Then he heard another loud crack as his legs hit the root of the tree and he was suddenly filled with intense pain. Lakshman started crying as he lay there with the pain, making him blind to everything around him.

“What?! What happened, Lucky?!” Indra shouted as he ran over to his crying son.

Hearing the wailing sound of his son, Lakshmi ran outside. Seeing Lakshman collapsed at the root of the tree, clutching his legs. She quickly ran towards him, closely followed by the maid. The Reddy family converged on the crying Lakshman as he held his legs as they gave him unimaginable pain.

“Stay still, Lakshman,” Indra said as he held his son and shook his hands off his legs. Then Indra looked at his wife and asked “What’s wrong?”

With his family around, Lakshman stopped crying, but he still had tears in his eyes and a pained expression on his face. Lakshmi made hand movements, feeling his leg, but each time she hit a certain spot, Lakshman only howl loudly in pain.

She sat back and clapped a hand over her mouth. Indra suddenly became worried as his voice couldn’t keep its cool.

“What?” he continued to ask his wife. “What’s wrong with his leg, Lakshmi?”

However, it was the maid who answered.

“Young master’s legs are… broken.”

There was silence and Lakshman looked like he was going to cry again. This was bad and they knew it. Lakshman broke both of his legs when he fell and landed on the root of the tree. Along with the pain, now he has to bear the consequences of his actions of not being careful.

He felt hopeless as he felt limpness from his broken legs as if he couldn’t move them without causing a ridiculous amount of pain.

“It’s alright, Lucky. I’ll fix you right up,” Lakshmi suddenly said in a soothing voice.

Lakshman looked at his mother’s calm words and, for some strange reason, believed in her words. He watched as she pointed her hands

“Oh, spirits of light. Bestow upon this fallen one the lost strength to stand up once again. Healing!”

As she cried the last word, her eyes flung open and a bright glow of light covered his broken legs. Lakshman made a pained expression as if something was stinging his legs. The light was bright as it glowed for a few seconds before vanishing.

Lakshmi sighed and smiled as she said “It’s all healed now! Try getting up now, Lucky.”

Lakshman did feel the difference. He no longer felt pain coursing through his body from his legs. Rather, it felt normal. With the help of his father, he gingerly placed weight on both of his legs and, to his surprise, rose to his feet.

Lakshman couldn’t believe that his broken legs were working like normal. It was also as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Then he looked up at his mother and smiled as he said “Thank you, mum.”

Suddenly, he was hugged by Lakshmi. She hugged him happily with a bright smile on her face.

“You are such a worry!”

“I’m sorry,” Lakshman said, but everyone laughed and he somewhat smiled afterwards.

The rest of the day went smoothly without him getting another injury. The next day, things were the same as usual. Lakshman exercised his body and trained with the sword. His father is now training him till evening instead of mid-afternoon.

Apparently, Lakshmi realised he was feeling bored and requested additional training time from Indra. Indra easily agreed since he wanted to train his son a bit longer and continue his own training as well.

Then, one time, he sat idly at the entrance to his house after training. Indra went inside to get them drinks after a long hour of exercising and training.

Suddenly, he noticed a tail bobbing above the fence in front of his house. Then a cat appeared at the gate of his house. He quickly walked to the cat and sat down before staring at it. Both the cat and the boy sat still and stared back at each other.

This staring contest continued for a few seconds. Looking all over the cat, he suddenly realised the cat was sitting strangely. Upon close inspection, he noticed one leg was bleeding. It looked like this cat got hurt doing whatever it was doing.

“Oh… you’re hurt,” Lakshman said in a pained voice.

He wished he could help the cat, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know anything, but using the sword. He wondered if he should bring some milk for the cat. At that moment, he remembered yesterday’s events which were not It’s not easily to forget.

The event of him breaking both of his legs from falling off a tree and landing on the tree roots. He closed his eyes, trying hard to remember what happened. After he broke his legs, his mother came and spoke some strange words, then a light appeared and his legs were fixed.

“What were those strange words mum spoke again?” he muttered, trying to remember.

He thought for a moment and finally he remembered. Lakshman opened his eyes and looked down at the cat once more. He tried making a reassuring face as if to make the cat feel safe.

“Stay still,” he said as he raised his hand. “I’ll fix you up. It might hurt, but it’ll be over soon. So, stay still.”

He wondered if the cat understood what he said. He did not have much of an interaction with the animals of this world sohe was not sure. Suddenly, the cat made a soft purring noise and remained still and silent as it stared at him as if it was telling him it understood.

He nodded at the cat and closed his eyes and stretched his hands out and aimed at the cat’s wounded leg. Then he began to say the words his mother used on him yesterday.

“Oh, spirits of light. Bestow upon this fallen one the lost strength to stand up once again. Healing!”

Suddenly, a glow of light appeared and the cat made a startled noise, but it didn’t try to escape. It did, however, make a pained expression. For a few seconds the light persisted before vanishing and all that was left were him and the cat.

“Ok!” Lakshman said excitedly. “Try putting some weight on your leg. I hope it’s fixed up.”

The cat gingerly started to stand. For a few seconds,the cat shoot slightly with each attempt. Then, the cat stood on all four legs like it always should have. The cat meowed happily and jumped into his lap and licked his hand in appreciation.

Lakshman laughed happily in triumph as he looked down at the cat cured of its injured leg. Then he thought it’s best if the cat went home thinking it’s family might be worried for its safety.

“Off you go now,” Lakshman said.

The cat purred softly as it rubbed against his leg one last time before running off towards the gate.

“Make sure not to get hurt again!” Lakshman called after it.

The cat meowed one last time before disappearing to the left. He sighed and stood up and dusted off the dust gathered on his clothes. He felt happy to have helped a cat from having to suffer for the rest of its life on its damaged foot.

As he turned around, he saw his father standing at the entrance of the house. He wore a shocked expression with his round and wide open.

“Lucky… did you just use… magic?” he asked.