In the days of nothingness, which not even an immortal mind can fathom, a Being came into this dimension and set Creation into motion with a word. So the Universe was born. The plane which it resided followed the course of nature, which is as old -- or older -- than Time itself. From these primal gases, planets were born, developed, and died. Stars arose and collected the dust from the births and deaths, drawing to them a system. New planets were born and from there on in, life was given its due.

It so came a time that God passed one planet and saw that it was as close to His mind as what He had envisioned for this Universe. Pausing in His journey throughout His creation, He passed a hand over the world, breathing the spirit of life into its flaming surface. Volcanoes erupted as one, tossing lava that no earth could contain into the ozone-free air. Gasses leaked in great qualitites, but God saw that this world would be destined for great things; He passed His hand over one lava pool. Dipping His hand therein, He molded from the primal substance an egg.

**You who are Firstborn of this new world. You will hold it, keep it, guide it through its ways. You are the Guardian of this world, and soon, you will be the Guardian of all My worlds. Unto you, I bestow immortality. By the Fire that gave you life, you will be indebted to it; it will be both your power and your means of sustaining your immortal life.**

Carefully, God let the egg slip back into the lava, knowing that no harm would come to the being within. The egg bobbed once, and split along its length, there in the molten blood of his world. This caught the attention of God, Who did not think that the egg would birth so soon. From the egg rolled a wet form, nearly indiscernible from the blood of the planet. Before the eyes of God, it sank beneath the waves of lava, never to surface.

God was saddened; terribly so. He had hoped the creature would survive. But, perhaps it would. He had bestowed immortality on it -- immortality linked to the very fire that it had sunken into. Turning His eye from this world, He passed through the space of the Universe to visit the others that had been created, to see what their secrets held.

When God had left the egg, its contents had slipped into the waves of earth's blood. Eons passed, and the life that God had given the world bloomed forth. From the lava, almost 2 billion years since it's birth, it rose from the fire. But, this creature was not sexless -- it was male and of a race that would spawn legend after legend long after on this world. The time in the lava had given him height that no other of his kind would match. For there would be others -- but he did not know that; nor would he, for eons later.

Far on the outskirts of the Universe, God knew of his return to the surface. He flew through space and came before the child of flame. Unsteady as any newborn, though he had lived through more lives than any ever known, the bird -- for bird it was -- looked upon the face of God with stunning eyes. Eyes that were bright white and shaped as a diamond.

**You survive.**

The bird blinked, confused. His mind was not childlike, but he could not grasp why this Being would think that he would not live. "I live."

**You, the first of this world,** God continued. **Do you remember the words I spoke to you upon your conception?**

"I am the Guardian, my God. Is that my name?"

**Nay, child of fire and flame. You are to be known as Solarius, born of the blood of this world.**

"Solarius." The newly-named bird rolled it over on his strangely forked tongue. "And what am I?"

**You are born of fire, therefor am fire. Others will be of your kind, but not of your race. You are Vahazayan, Bird of Fire. The Guardian of the Universe.

**Phoenix.**

This last word was spoken with a deep incantation. Solarius felt it roll over him, in his heart and in his blood. He was Phoenix -- Vahazayan. He was the Guardian of all God's creation, the Universe.

For eons later, Solarius traveled the solar systems, encountering beings that had evolved long before his planet's birth. And by the end of his tenure, they no longer existed -- nor did their worlds survive. He met countless races in all forms of evolution, and many passed on without meeting the other. Life and death, triumph and failure, he witnessed them all. And through his journeys, he learned wondrous things, mainly in the development of his own unique powers. He was taught in all the realms of magic and science, from the innate mage-energy he possessed, to telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, and many more. And wherever he went, legends of a tall golden bird with eyes that shone as white as the inner core of fire, who breathed flame and never died sprouted up.

It was Solarius who created the Whavehole, his first major use of the talents he'd honed. Before this, he had used his ability to transform his corporeal body into that of total living flame -- all feathers, skin, internal organs and ivory-colored blood, they all were turned to fire. Through this, he traveled the worlds; but such was exhausting, leaving him in a state of sleep for days on end. Thus, the Whavehole was born: an amorphous blue sphere that transcended the natural laws of space. It possessed the power of speech and could be used by more than one and commanded for different locations all at once. The blue marble-like corridors extended both width and height to accommodate anyone who wished to use it.

Through these means, Solarius traveled, setting wrongs and championing worlds and people in danger. But he was but one lone Phoenix and the Universe was vast. He encountered those of his kind, but they were not Vahazayan as he was. The majority were small, smaller than he and of different shape and culture. Some were of one color, others were of many. This caused Solarius to feel the weight of his 4 or so billion years, for he had certainly lived far longer than they. And he had none of his own kind to be with, no female to companion with -- though he was far from lacking in that area. The ability to shapeshift, or Change, was also innate in him. He took companionship if he found it, but one thing always left him feeling sad and despondent when he had to leave (aside from the fact that they were not immortal or Vahazayi). To have children was denied the golden warrior.

And so, after his years of knowledge, he returned to his home world and found that it had altered drastically from the lava-torn newborn that he had left. It was like no other world he had visited: great oceans and landmasses, the signs of new life teeming in the seas. There was no life forms yet to sustain the 20-ft Phoenix, so he departed once again, only to return a few million years later, and stayed for good.

In those years, more life sprung about Solarius; he hunted well of the great fish and reptiles. But loneliness still hung in his heart. He had to leave this world often to answer the cries of the people of the Universe, but evil cannot but put down by just one lone Phoenix.

One day that lived forever in his memory, he awoke to giant bonfires spurting around the land of his mountain lair. More than thirty or more in total burned. In the center of each, lay an egg -- an egg as he had once come from, so long ago. From those eggs hatched the dawn of the Vahazayi, and their names rang with power: Archive, Griffin Talon, Starguard, Haze Hawk, Firesky, Icemoon, Thunder Tiger, SkyRage, Grey Arrow, Sulphur, StarMist, Desertflare . . . and many more. They were divided into three groups, based upon the shape of their heads: Eagle, Hawk and Falcon. All sported the diamond-shaped eyes that Solarius did, but their's were grey and tinted; their legs were long and black, like his, but the talons were silver instead of crystal. The crest number eight and they possessed silver wing-claws, one to a wing -- as he did.

He raised them all like the children he could never have, and they came to call him Lord, though he really never felt the sort. He taught them their language, the Phoenix tongue, and the languages of the current populations that they protected. To all, he became Solarius Aran'fay, Lord of the Phoenixes, the First One.

Wars were never likened by Phoenixes, but they fought to keep the peace for all walks of life. They had the ability to see the right and pick out the wrong among factions. But wars also bring casualties, and some of the original Phoenixes were killed through their intercourse. Now, a Phoenix is immortal and rightly so, but they are bound to fire. Without the purifying might of fire, within twenty minutes of a grievous blow, a Phoenix cannot be revived through it. Tactics and strategy were devised to combat wounds taken, but even through that, some fell.

More Phoenixes were birthed in that time, and their numbers swelled to over 150,000. So many, yet not even their quickness could keep them from a well-aimed shot. Solarius was overwrought with a way to stop the deaths of his people. On a journey to a dying world, he encountered one of the last of a race, a Dhi'cysidae. The Dhi'cysidae had devised a way to enchant stones and jewels to make the wearer impenetrable -- save for a direct blow to the object. Only ten of their kind at a time were able to do such a thing, for the art was exceptionally secret and no one knew who was a Jeweler or not. Many races strove to copy their means, but all failed.

From that world, Solarius brought their greatest Jeweler, Mech'kechar, to Earth. Soon, Phoenixes began sporting war collars of immense power, each as unique as the immortal wearing it. Ranks in the Army were emblazoned upon the face of the collar; healers, empaths, and typeleaders also had special device on their collars to denote their standing. There were few Phoenixes who chose not to enter the Army, and they became Guardians of Earth, standing watch while the rest went off to combat.

The wars they fought were global, sometimes interstellar, and their battles' names lived on by those who lived, and the Phoenixes: Rinchini Pass, Fallen Oak Gorge, the Emshin War (which lasted nearly 100 years), Kren'daer Valley, and so on and so forth. Battles upon battles, wars upon wars. Peace was always waiting when they returned, victorious as ever. Vahazayi do not go into battle knowing that they will win -- they do not think that, for there may come a time in which they lose.

Of the many wars, two live forever as the most vicious, most tasking of them all: Cal'va'nin and Shurithrar . . .

The Cal'va'nin War, circa 900,000,852 years ago, as humans reckon time:

The world of Cal'vani was wrought in slavery, torn between factions, among other things that mark the passage of a people and a death of a planet. While they certainly could have eradicated themselves, Solarius saw that there were still innocents among them -- innocents who had heeded the words of the Phoenix Oath, and strove to bring the immortals to their aid. (The Phoenix Oath is ingrained in most sentients, but to grasp it and use it requires dire, dire need and just cause. It is a chant for the most part, as well as being the motto of the Vahazayi.)

Solarius led his people into battle, as he always had. But the Cal'va'nin were strong, resilient and weapons'-savvy. They had developed energy weapons along the lines of most advanced societies, so the Phoenixes were not naive to their sort. But they had developed one other thing with their munitions -- the ability to break through the barrier of Mech'kechar. It was a lucky shot by a prototype that killed the Eagle-Head Tuathar, considered the Third Phoenix born. They were saved, however, by the weapon exploding, thus preventing more deaths.

The Phoenixes rallied around Tuathar, but by the time they had reached him, his death was well over the twenty-minute span. Not even the power of Ver'raft Falcon-Head, considered the greatest Healer and Empath to the Vahazayi, could bring him back through fire. The telekinetics, under the command of Griffin Talon Hawk-Head, searched far and wide for the weapon's components, to bring them back and destroy anything that would lead to another built.

Yet, the Cal'va'nins persisted, managing to hide the parts from the eyes of the telekinetics, and developed three of their weapons. Long stretched the war, and more than Tuathar perished to the bolts of the Cal'va'nin. It was a fateful day that Solarius stood high upon the ruined fields and valleys of Cal'vani. It was on that day that the Phoenixes had managed to breach the walls of the remaining Cal'va'nin stronghold and more than three thousand Falcon-Heads were barraging the gates as he did stand there. Fire, beak, talon and magic battered long hours upon the hold of Fhraefhri.

So follows the account of Larath Eagle-Head, the red-gold Wing Major, as told to Archive Falcon-Head, with details supplied further by captured Cal'va'nin:

For how long Lord Aran'fay stood upon that mound, I do not know. His legs seemed molded to the tor, a great golden beacon that every Vahazayi could see. It gave my Wing elation to see our Lord there, always within sight and mind. "Vahakayah!" we cried, more to Solarius' effect than to boost our own strength. He seemed more the Lord then than at any time I had fought for him.

While I was occupied, somehow he slipped away. No one quite knows where he was called to, but when I brought my Wing back to camp that eve, he was no longer there. I was told, later, by this captured soldier how it all came to be. It seems that the Cal'va'nin lord called Solarius from the tor, to a treaty hearing. Why he left and why he did not call for guards, that is not known, either. Perhaps he knew of what was to come, perhaps not. The Cal'va'nin were famous for their devices, and any one could have penetrated his mind -- though that was impossible, Solarius' mind was like the Universe, untouchable.

The soldier we have here captured was witness to the act. He says that the lord spoke at length to Lord Aran'fay -- of peace with us and the setting free of slaves and mending of their ways. Solarius was not fooled for a moment. He could read the face of the lord and took his words for false. That was when the guards pulled weapons and fired upon him. More than a dozen times they fired, tearing through the spells of Mech'kechar, tearing through the body of our Lord.

I don't know how, but even in his pain, Solarius managed to slay them all, save this one we have. Him he sent to us, for he was so weak, not even his powerful mind could reach for us. I flew on fire to his side, but he was far too gone for the pyre -- like Tuatha, Riven, Blademoon, Vison, all our good friends and brethren. It was with a heavy heart that I tried to comfort him, but he was slipping from me like the blood from his veins -- oh, the blood!

"Major Larath," he said to me, "you have come."

"Aye, my Lord. Lord -- what can I do for you? How can I ease your pain?"

He did not seem to hear those words, instead, he turned his eyes to me and said: "I have been watching you long and hard, Larath Eagle-Head, fosterson to Jia and Creath of the Tarazayi. You have embodied all the qualities of a leader, from how you command your Wing, to everyday life. It is you whom I called here on the last vestiges of my strength.

"You are my successor, Larath Grawn'fay, you are the Lord."

I could not believe my ears. "No, no!" I begged him, pleaded with him to take that from me, but he didn't.

"I am placing the last of my power within my medallion," he continued, eyes beginning to dim in the light. "Take it with you to Earth and keep it always. One day, it will be needed." He pulled the chain from his neck and handed the sun-shaped pendant to me. As you can see, I wear it now, still glowing with his blood. I will wash it later, but not tonight.

"I pass on, Larath, but not without the knowledge that the Vahazayi live on within your care."

Thus ends the account of Larath Grawn'fay, Second Lord to the Vahazayi.

It soon came to the attention of many that Earth would no longer be able to support the Phoenixes. This was concluded based on several reasons, the most important of all was that Earth was evolving. They had seen the signs and hypothesized the rise of great beasts and other such creatures that should be allowed to develop without the intervention of themselves. It was said that this planet, too, would give rise to humans, but that had been the sole prediction of Solarius, and no one but he knew it.

Scouts were sent to the far reaches of the Universe in order to seek out a new home for the Vahazayi. Planets that were in no danger of spawning sentient life were sought after, as well as good climate and abundance of food. In much the same way, they sought out a world for the dragons that had come to live with them. These creatures, refugees from a war-torn world were led by the mage Zenith Aquanight, soon to be followed by his successor, Mage Kaevonteror Zenith, the Red Terror. But their tale is one for another time. Scouts found a world for the dragons well enough, but they still had not found one of their own. Years passed and so Earth evolved before their eyes. Continents and creatures abound, it was getting harder and harder to live a normal life. One never knew if he entered his cave to find a sleeping giant or a mound of primordial ooze seeping in.

One day, a scout returned with great news. He told of a world in a distant galaxy, blue oceans and wide plains. It was like Earth, he said, but bigger and full of the space Phoenixes craved. Third in a system of five planets about a glowing sun, it was perfect. Lord Grawn'fay sped with him to see if this was true, and in a matter of weeks, it was decided that this world would be the new home of the Vahazayi. Christening it "Phoenixia" for lack of a better name, the firebirds packed up and took all their belongings to this planet. They left Earth in the care of the Tarazayi, the Ice Phoenixes, whom Solarius had created. They would be the lifeline between Phoenixia and Earth, and Earth's guardians.

The Shurithrar War, circa 60,962,500 years ago, as humans reckon time:

Phoenixes were not infallible, as shown by the death of the First, of Solarius Aran'fay. But even after that day, the Phoenixes continued to give support and aid to those in need. Little would they expect another change in the ranks.

The Shurithrar were on the edges of evolution at the time that Cal'va'nin fell. As the millennian wore on, they too developed the technology used to search the stars; but their meeting with other sentients did not go as well as most. Shurithrar were long of face and walked digitigrade, one could say they were equine in appearance. But they possessed canines and their skulls too short of muzzle to make only a passing comparison to the Earth creatures. Pacifists for the most part, they fell under the influence of a race that even Phoenix-memory has lost to time; or they had no given name at all.

On Earth, the call was received by Lord Larath Grawn'fay and the first Army wave was sent per reconn. The news they brought back was devastating: destruction in mass volumes that broke nearly every law they had come across. It was decided then a full-scale involvement was to be taken. White-red King Eagle-Head was a mere soldier, only as high a grade in the ranks as corporal. He was known for his acute sense and mage talent, which placed him in the section of the Army devoted to powerful talents such as his. He was young (barely 200,000 where his colleges had two thousand times the experience), energetic, wide-eyed, open to any and all ideas and a unconscious leader. He, like many of his age-group, believed Solarius as a god -- and some claimed that Solarius answered back from beyond the realms. The immortal who had died was immortal once more.

This was to be King's first combat and he was more than eager to show himself before Lord Grawn'fay. He threw himself into his work, aiding in more raids on the enemy than any other in the Mage Battalion. Many said that he had the eye of Larath, but little did they know how much of an eye Larath had on King.

So came to pass a battle not unlike that Solarius had faced the day he died. Larath led the front, cruising on the leading edge of the Tech'mondarh. The fighting was fierce, as fierce as any recent battle in the memory of the Phoenixes could be. They took hard hits, losing only six in the initial Tech'mondarh wave. Four were rebirthed, the other two were not recovered. It was said that the sentients drained the corpses of blood in order to become immortal themselves. But drinking the blood of a Phoenix will not make you immortal -- it will burn you, as that is what makes them the creatures of fire they are. Many sentients died horrible deaths as a result, twisted and rigged in many ways before death claimed them, holes in their skin and protruding from their stomachs.

Larath landed with five Wings at his back, ready to take the frontal assault. They met on the ground, head on with the sentients. It was a primitive tooth-and-claw battle, with the Phoenixes using their magic, and natural weapons against the sentients' energy guns and swords. Somehow, and no one really knows how it was done, Larath was separated from the Wings. Surrounded on all sides by sentients, he fought as only benefit a Lord of the Phoenixes. Calling for the help of the Mage Battalion, he went under and in the process, lost his collar. But the one thing that remained -- possibly extending his immunity for what would happen next -- was the Medallion of Solarius.

And as fate would have it, King Eagle-Head answered. Blowing away sentients with both flame and levinbolts, he reached the pile that held Larath to the ground. But, as Larath had found Solarius that day, so, too, did King reach Larath at the end of the term of rebirth. Ivory and sentient blood littered the ground. The battle had been won, yes, but at the cost of their beloved leader. Many of the Phoenixes on the grounds that day knew only Larath as Lord, had been brought up by Tarazayi fosterparents and had learned of Solarius Aran'fay only through lore.

So is the account of Sergeant Jhreken Hawk-Head, first Wingleader upon the scene, as told to Archive Falcon-Head:

The corpses were many and they were but few. It was hard to believe that Lord Grawn'fay and Corporal King defeated them all. Most importantly, how many bared the marks of King's mage-energy upon them. And to think, we questioned him at his Naming day.

Ver'raft was far away, so I had my field healer, Clowith Falcon-Head attend to Lord Grawn'fay, and I attended to King.

"Go away," said Grawn'fay, waving us away with one bloodied and shredded wing. His claws on both wings had been severed, and now only leaked sluggishly. "My words are for this corporal alone, and not you." He lifted his head with King's aid and looked at me. "You, sergeant, you stay. A witness is in order."

With a command, I sent the troops back, going over even the head of Colonel Swailcain himself, who had appeared. Scraping aside bodies, King and I positioned Grawn*fay on a tarp that one of the sentients had been carrying. He turned to King and spoke words that to this day, send chills up my spine and ice into my serl:

"I have watched you long and hard, King Eagle-Head, fosterson of Feliana and Hrethvoldar Nmesrath." He paused and smiled through the pain that was in his eyes. "So, too, were the words spoken to me by Solarius Aran'fay. You, King, you have caught my vision as no other. I knew that when I saw you, my tenure would be coming to an end, for one of your power and one of mine, there can be no two of the same."

"Lord?" King queried. I was as dumbstruck as he, for the words of Grawn'fay were but gibberish to my ears. "I do not understand you. We shall heal you and win this war."

"Don*t you understand what you were taught, King Arex'fay?" Lord Grawn'fay barked at him, spittle and bits of flame shooting out of his mouth. "I'm as good as dead! My pyre is unreachable, I am naming you Lord! I would have bestowed it upon you with better ceremony, but I'm dying!" He coughed and pressed a pinion into his heart. "You are the new Lord of our people, King Arex'fay. Take this Medallion -- it was gifted to me by Solarius and so shall you wear it. You are Lord."

King took the Medallion, but from the look on his face, it was as if the Sun burned him as no fire could do. "I do not want it, Lord."

"You will take it, you stubborn fool!" Larath spat again; I had never seen him so sarcastic, so volatile, but I suppose when one's tenure on this plane is closing, I would be testy, too. "You are Lord." A sigh racked his body and his tongue lolled from his mouth.

"Lord Grawn'fay!" I called, trying to coax life back into him. King's wing slapped me away.

"Leave him, sergeant," he said, authority coating his words as they had never done before. So came to pass the death of Larath Grawn'fay, and the rising of our new Lord, King Arex'fay.


Thus ends the account of Sergeant Jhreken Hawk-Head.

So comes to pass the immortal race. They prosper under King, and are as influential in the Universe as they always were. Their numbers range now among over 350,000 and there has been no war of global scale to tip that balance. They will remain, until the day that evil is vanquished, and they, too, will live the life of the mortal soul. But, as it is, evil is always among us, so shall the Phoenixes live on.

As they are wont to say,

Am'nelli Berinshah.

Copyright 2002 Melissa Hartman. Do not copy, alter or redistribute.