Prologue

King Ryuu stood on the balcony of his once grand castle, now decrepit and forsaken after three long years of brutal civil war. The blaring of the enemies horns sounded like the jagged roaring of some terrible and hungry beast as it clawed its way into his ears. A single tear rolled down his worn face, disappearing into one of the many lines that marred his once chiseled features. The war had aged him. He was no longer the brave, proud young tenma he used to be.

As he gazed down at the scores of Phoenix soldiers trampling through the burning, crumbled ruins of his palace, he felt an overwhelming sense of loss. It was over. The war was lost and so was the last bit of hope he had so stubbornly held on to. He waited, unafraid of his fate, prepared to give up his life.

The doors crashed open and five panting soldiers rushed into the room. Their leader, the one most elaborately armored ran towards the king's silent form while the others surrounded him in a loose circle. Placing his hand roughly on Ryuu's shoulder, the man yanked him around and stared into his saddened eyes.

"Your Majesty, finally, I found you," he said. His voice was heavy with exhaustion.

Ryuu's eyes widened with surprise while his bushy eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Rei? I thought you had been killed…"

Clapping his hand firmly on the General's shoulder, Ryuu smiled with a mixture of relief and joy. The General allowed the King to briefly enjoy their reunion, but quickly interrupted him saying,

"Your Majesty, we have come to rescue you." He nodded to his men who exited the room and prepared to escort the king to the safe passage way hidden beneath the remains of the castle. "We must hurry," he continued, "Enishi's men are within the castle as we speak. You must not be killed, or the Kingdom will truly be lost forever."

The King shook his head at the General of the North.

"No, she is the future of the kingdom. Make sure that my daughter is safe before me."

"Yes, of course sir."

With that, the men were off in search of the Princess. They raced through the hallways toward her room. But when they at last reached their destination, they were stopped short by the sight of the Princess with a cold, silver blade pressed against her slender neck. A young phoenix tenma adorned in the armor of a high ranking General stood behind her with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. King Ryuu cried out in horror. He could do nothing but watch as his only daughter grimaced in pain. A single drop of blood slid down her pale skin as the dagger just barely broke the skin. The princess remained calm and brave, but her father grew angry.

"Enishi…" His voice was laced with rage.

The phoenix smiled. "So you recognized me. I'm impressed."

"How could I not know the face of the tenma who destroyed my kingdom?"

"I suppose that's true." Enishi laughed.

"Let her go," King Ryuu growled.

"Gladly…in exchange for you, of course."

"No! Fath—" The Princess fell silent as the dagger was pushed harder against her neck, causing a fresh trickle of blood to flow.

Ryuu turned to his soldiers, who would listen to any order he gave them. They looked at him, awaiting direction. Suddenly, Enishi let out a pained cry. His hands cradled his right eye as blood poured down his face and dripped from the gaps between fingers.

The Princess ran toward her father with a small dagger, red with the phoenix's blood, held tightly in her milk white hand.

Enishi's soldiers rushed to his side, but he swatted them away like annoying flies, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"After them!"

King Ryuu placed his daughter's hand in that of the General's and pushed them into the hallway. The soldiers and the Princess looked at him confused.

"Go! I'll hold them off!"

"But sir," Rei protested.

"Go," he shouted once more as he drew his sword.

The General nodded and turned reluctantly.

"Father!" The Princess knew all too well that the King would not survive.

Ryuu stared unafraid into the red and orange eyes of the phoenix tenma before him. Surging forward into the fray, he whispered to himself,

"Live long, my precious Kaoru."