1 Phoenix

"It's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."

Kai despised that phrase. It didn't help that he was the first disciple of a relatively weak sect. It also didn't help that there was a massive, flaming bird glaring down from the small hill overlooking that sect.

"First Disciple! The sect master is gathering everyone at the temple!"

Kai turned his head just enough to glance down, his cold brown eyes flickering between the disciple who'd called him and the buildings surrounding them. The Crescent Moon Sect. A small, local power with a short history and unremarkable reputation. Home.

Shaking his head, Kai muttered under his breath as he started walking toward the temple in the center of the sect grounds.

"That monster has already destroyed sects multiple times our size… Even though our defensive formations are unnaturally strong, there is no chance we can repel a phoenix."

Part of Kai's mind struggled to find a way out. If they couldn't fight off the beast, could they at least run? Could they evade its attacks long enough to escape its notice?

The rest had already accepted that he, and everyone he cared about, was about to die. Even in national powerhouse sects, there hadn't been any survivors after the beasts swept over the land. Instead of looking for pointless hope, Kai started to reminisce over the past few years.

The Crescent Moon Sect wasn't just a school where he'd learned every skill he could be proud of. He'd spent thousands of hours training in the courtyard, and a comparable amount holed up in their small library. Its success and expansion had become his dream, a dream that he feared was about to be silenced.

He let out another sigh as he reached his destination, stepping past the twenty-odd black and gray-cloaked youths gathered around the courtyard.

Kai's snow-white robes swayed as he stepped into an ornate obsidian temple. Strange runes were etched all over the pillars and ceiling, familiar only to the disciples of his sect. Kai had never seen any similar ones anywhere else before.

The only person in the world who knew what they meant was the sect's founder, but he passed away over a decade before, shortly before Kai joined. Just like all of the other artifacts left behind by the founder, no one had been able to discover their use or meaning.

Within the temple, there was barely enough space within the encircling pillars for six people to stand, and the space was almost completely occupied already.

In the center of the space, the current sect master was wearing similar white robes as Kai, her long gray hair coarse from age. Four other figures stood by her side, all of them wearing various and progressively wilder colored robes. The second disciple's forest green robes weren't bad, at least not compared to the Eternal Shadow, Sunfall Blaze, Twilight Violet robes worn by the third, fourth, and fifth disciples respectively- not that any of those were actual colors.

"The beast tide has arrived… it seems my efforts in raising the five of you were all for naught. I'm sorry."

Kai shook his head and stepped forward.

"Sect Master Enla… no one could've predicted this beast tide would appear out of nowhere. If we die toda-"

"Fufufu… die? Don't be so quick to assume our loss, Senior Kai."

The fifth disciple, Halia- a beautiful brown-haired girl clad in the 'Twilight' violet-colored robes- stepped forward, five small ruby tokens dangling between her fingers.

"You decoded the founder's tokens?!"

Halia waved her hand again, the twinkling red gems reigniting the hope in the others' hearts. A wide smile surfaced on her face as she looked over the group.

"Nope! I can only speculate what these are for, but I did figure out how to activate them. Whatever they do, it can't be worse than being barbecued by that flaming bird out there though, right?"

All of the hope fell from Kai's face, but Halia wasn't done talking.

"Hey, they definitely do something. I didn't spend the last eight months researching this stone with no results."

Halia reached within her robes, then withdrew a short golden staff crowned with a similar ruby jewel as the tokens. It wasn't something left behind by the sect's founder, but instead had been created by Halia herself, using extra materials found in the sect's vault.

"Every blacksmith and materials expert I talked to claimed that they'd never seen a gem like this, but I did eventually find someone who was able to forge it. I originally wanted to give these as presents when we finished our training, but it looks like we're out of time."

Halia passed the staff over to the second disciple, then pulled out a small crimson knife for the third disciple, and a pair of earrings for the fourth disciple before putting a ruby necklace around her own neck.

All of her gifts were made from the same rubies as the tokens.

Halia reached toward her belt, pulling her sword from its sheath. Grabbing the handle of the weapon, she slowly pointed it toward the ground, revealing a perfectly sculpted ruby blade. Runes reminiscent of the ones adorning the temple they were currently in ran down the curved sword, along with a few normal ones Kai had seen in formation books.

"I noticed that some of the runes in this temple are inscribed on the tokens as well… I asked every formation and history expert in our region, but none of them recognized a single rune here. I eventually managed to decipher a couple of them on my own. I think the ones I had inscribed on this sword mean grow stronger, but I'm not sure if I understand them correctly."

After taking a few moments to admire her own masterpiece, Halia sheathed the sword, then showed off a proud smile.

As the only one who hadn't received a present, Kai felt the need to speak up.

"You hired a blacksmith to make this, right? I'm not sure why you're so proud of it."

The bright smile on Halia's face flickered to something more dangerous for a moment, but she recovered and her expression turned sorrowful.

"I really wanted to make something for you, Kai, but we're all out of time now."

That sword looks awesome... but it's just a weapon. If we somehow survive this, I'll be the sect leader someday. 

Kai bowed his head, then uttered a short apology for his rude comment to Halia. With his head bowed, he was unable to see the devious smile creeping onto her face.

"Here."

Kai felt something being pushed into his grip, and Halia's hands wrapped around his fist.

"Before we stake our lives on unknown odds… our friendship isn't worth harming over a simple sword. Take it."

Kai looked up to see Halia's tearful eyes staring into his own.

Wh- what?! She's never nice to me-

A snicker from Kai's left snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced down at the sword now gripped in his hand.

It wasn't Halia's new ruby sword. It was an old, battered wooden training sword.

"Oi!"

Halia dodged away from Kai, giggling deviously. Before he had a chance to chase after her, Sect Master Enla clapped her hands.

"Kids! I know that the two of you love each other, but please be mature right now. The phoenix is already attacking our defensive formations."

Kai's face flushed, and he automatically opened his mouth to refute Enla's words, but caught himself before he spoke.

Hmph, if these tokens don't do anything and we all end up dying, I'll haunt Halia in my next life.

"The formations won't last much longer. We might as well try using the tokens, there's no reason not to."

Edwin, the second disciple, clanked his new staff on the floor to gather everyone's attention. The group of five disciples gathered into a circle, and Sect Master Enla took a step back. She had no intention of fighting any of her students for the tokens.

-

On the border of the sect, where the massive phoenix was lazily destroying the sect's defenses. The strength emanating off of it warped the air around it, clashing with the natural energy of the world.

Something about it didn't fit. The bird was somehow unnatural- like it didn't belong in this world.

Just as it was destroying another formation layer, a faint sparkle of ruby red caught in its eye, and its head swiveled toward the temple. An intense haze of rage exploded around it, instantly vaporizing all of the defenses and allowing it to dive freely into the sect.

The massive bird shot directly at the temple, a canopy of flames destroying everything in its wake. Inside the temple, it could see five figures. Five figures holding those cursed rubies.

The white-clad figure of an elderly woman jumped out from the side of the temple, placing herself in the incoming bird's path. She, and all of the black-cloaked disciples' lives bought less than a second.

One of the five figures within the temple turned to face the bird, even as the ruby token in his hand glowed intensely. The young man's face was handsome, and his clean white robes swayed as he drew a dull, old sword and braced for the bird's impact.

The ruby flickered more intensely, but it wasn't going to be fast enough. Even if the rest escaped, at least this man's life would be forfeit-

In the last moment before the bird's beak crashed through the temple's pillars, One of the other figures moved. A beautiful girl clad in violet robes jumped in front of the other man, brandishing a sword made from that horrible ruby stone.

The bird felt the girl disintegrate as its beak slammed into her-

-

-

Kai's vision flashed in a brilliant crimson ruby light, and then there was nothing. In the last moment, he'd seen the phoenix diving in, then a flash of violet robes-

"Halia!"

Kai sat up abruptly, dusty old air entering his lungs.

"Halia, where are you?!"

Kai jumped up to his feet, his eyes frantically scanning the deserted, dark room around him. It was empty, save for a few unremarkable boxes etched with strangely familiar symbols.

Something clanked under Kai's feet as he stepped forward, and his eyes stretched in horror as he looked down.

A beautiful ruby sword lay on the dusty wooden floor beneath him, a similarly-colored necklace wrapped around its hilt.