Read Online Flight of the Phoenix by Melanie Thompson - Free Book Online

hands over the second globe. “The pire say he took to the air and got away.”
    The ship slowly turned. Bryn watched as the sea life gathered to fight Priest gradually dispersed. “Maybe he’ll think twice before he attacks your ship again.”
    Tures nodded. “Possibly, but he seems obsessed. It is as Lazarus told me when he asked me to take you wherever you wanted to go. He told me to place my ship at your disposal. I resisted,” she shrugged. “It is my ship. But then I met Sam.”
    The look she cast Sam spoke volumes. It seemed to Bryn that Tures returned Sam’s feelings. The pair had fallen deeply in love. “How long will it take us to get to the mouth of the Congo River?”
    â€œWe should arrive in three days if the weather holds. We ride beneath the surface so high seas are usually no problem, but serious storms can still cause delays.”
    â€œThree days,” Fenix said. “Three days and we’ll be on our way upriver to find Kivunjo and the dagger.”
    Tures nodded. “I shall accompany you to the Mountains of the Moon. I need to acquire more fuel and Lazarus instructed me to watch over Fenix.”
    Bryn’s eyes opened wide. “You still speak to him?”
    â€œOf course, and he also speaks to Fenix. Didn’t she tell you?”
    Bryn turned and glared at her sister. “No, she most assuredly did not and I don’t believe you. Fenix would confide in me. She’s always told me everything.”
    Tures shrugged. “Believe what you wish. It matters not to me.”

Chapter 9
    Pain ate into Draak Priest’s side but he ignored it. He flew across the water toward Gibraltar and an ancient castle on the side of the Rock where a crumbling tower had sheltered him on many occasions. As he slowly circled the Rock, he tried to numb his mind to the constant haranguing of Cardinal Malenfant.
    â€œYou fucked up, Priest. You had the ship. You should have prevailed. Your quarry was inside that undersea vessel. We should have finished both of them off so we can get on with finding a suitable victim for torture and a most delicious death. You can’t do anything right. Why-oh-why are you so incompetent? I get one chance for a corporeal life and it’s in you. You’re a bumbling oaf, Priest.”
    On and on Malenfant’s complaints and recriminations continued without pause. Priest landed on the tower and morphed back into his human form without answering the annoying voice echoing inside his head. If he were to go completely insane, who could blame him? The wound on his side leaked blood and foul ichor. He could smell it. Dragon blood mixed with human blood created a kind of suppuration found nowhere else.
    He tore a piece off the bottom of his robe, made a crude bandage and pressed it against his side. The pain was nothing to him. As an old man, he’d suffered far worse just trying to climb a steep set of stairs. His knees were now those of a young man. The pain in his side would soon grow less as his body healed. He’d obtained youth only to have his joy destroyed by the creature Malenfant.
    He descended the circular stairs to the base of the tower and entered a small room through a door set into its side. The door was very short. He had to duck to enter. The interior of the tower appeared to be more of the ruin, broken blocks of stone and filth. But a hidden door in the floor was soon uncovered and Priest descended deep into the rock. The darkness was no obstacle. He could see as clearly as if it were day. The stair led to a narrow passage traveling even deeper into the rock. It opened in a massive cave located under the old castle.
    Priest had sheltered there often in his lengthy past. A cot and a table sat in one corner. Priest sat on the rickety cot and thought. He would try to sleep and then continue to follow Bryn and her sister when he was rested.
    â€œYou’re not going to sleep, are you?” Malenfant