CHAPTER ONE.

I got tired of people telling me where to go and who to be. No one knew me like I did- not my brothers, my sisters, or my friends. And I made sure they could see me drift, change, shape into the rebellious girl I am. Though my loyalty still lies with my Master, who has since passed, leaving me his appointed successor.

That night I killed Maxe was the night I learned who I was, and who I needed to be to get this order back to its former glory and overthrow those traitors. But so few of us remain, and those who do are well-hidden and do not want to be found.

After I left Maxe to be burned by the spreading fires, I rushed out of the village, only to see my Master dying of a thrusted blade into his heart.

I remember not being able to speak, and being the only one he allowed at his side. I tried to stop the bleeding- I really did. But it was far too fatal to survive.

As everyone gathered around to hear his last words, he said, "As is my duty as the Grand Master, now of a broken brotherhood, to appoint a new leader." I could see the others standing straighter, wiping soot off their jackets, and finger combing their hair.

The Master's gray eyes settled upon me, and he raised his right hand to place it on my left shoulder. "This girl, Phoenix, has demonstrated extreme loyalty to me, to my family, and to herself. I expect you to follow her orders as you would mine, until she too appoints the Master after her."

"A woman cannot lead," a boy scoffed. "What are the chances of us surviving now?"

I sat in stunned silence as the Master passed on, and in his grasp on my shoulder, was the famed Key.

The Key to the Vault.

This position settled within me with a sense of duty. I couldn't tell you what made me do what I did next, but as I stood, sliding the chain over my head, I said, "Men. Women. I know you don't want to follow me, but if you do not, and you try to overthrow me, I'm afraid I am now bound to this position for the rest of my life. So therefore I have the right to kill you."

A silence settled on the group, the numbers slowly diminishing as people walked off, not wanting to follow a girl.

Eventually only a small group of ten remained, and as we lifted the Master's body, I saw his daughter staring at me, clutching her younger brother's hand.

I sat in front of them, and gently pulled them into my embrace.

The boy fell asleep almost instantly while the girl sobbed into my shoulder, her tears seeping through my shirt.

I stood, carrying them and ignoring the other's offers to take them, I led the way through the forest until dawn.

"Phoenix," called one of the older women. "We must stop. The children are exhausted and need food and water."

I paused, then nodded. "Come. I will show you my home away from home, though I suppose it is my home now." I drifted northward, and they had no choice but to follow me.

A few more minutes of hiking and the hidden cave came into sight, the woven vines obvious, but that's what everyone overlooked. The obvious.

I pressed forward, pushing past the vines, down the steep slope, and into the large cavern. The small group gasped at the furred furnishings, rugs, tapestries, clothes, and pillows. The ceiling reached over a hundred feet high and a clear, pristine river rushed by on one side, a small fence barring the way so no one fell over.

A small gasp shot through the group as I lit the first torch, then the second, until the entire cavern was illuminated and the fire was lit.

I laid the children down on a pile of pillows, covering them with a bear fur blanket.

As we sat around the fire, the kids curled together to help retain warmth, Colette, the only other girl in the group, began singing, her voice soft, sweet, and sorrowful.

David, one of the younger people, pulled out his flute, blowing a soft tune to her song. I dug around a bit before pulling out a guitar, adding a slight, haunting sound to it with my own, deeper, raspier voice.

Colette, a girl of seventeen, black hair, violet eyes, and tan skin, was the very image everyone wanted to be. Rocked black, quiet, shy, and honest were things used to describe that strange girl. David, a mere boy of thirteen, was Colette's little brother and looked- and acted- the part.

As the song cascaded to an end, a familiar voice called out, "Hey, Ave! Where are you you lazy girl!"

My head snapped up and I scanned the room for the sound of the voice. "Damn you Angel," I hissed when I saw the teenage guy sitting in the shadows. I stood up and walked over to him, hauling him over to his feet.

With one arm draped over my shoulder, I helped his limping frame to the fire, where the others looked uncomfortable.

"I didn't know you had company." Colette put in softly.

"Neither did I." Laughed Angel. "I kinda live here."

"Kinda?" Sniffed Jacques, tossing blonde hair out of his brown eyes.

"Not like I can go anywhere." Angel sniffed loudly. "Hey, what's cooking?"

I sniffed the air. "Okay, I'll give you that. Probably some meat I left in the ashes."

"Whatever. Any food?" Angel asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Men and their hunger issues." I grumbled. "How many of you know how to hunt?" Everyone raised their hands. "Good. David, you pick three others for your team and go look for wood and herbs. Daemon, pick three people and go hunt. Try not to damage the pelts; winter is coming and we'll need the furs. Colette, you'll stay with me and Angel and watch the children."

Everyone broke off and did their thing. I pushed Angel's brown hair out of his eyes, which were a bright cobalt. Colette stared at the ground uncomfortably. "Angel?" She asked softly.

"Hmm?" He asked, trying to bat my hand away.

"Are you blind?"

He paused, and even his hand was frozen before it dropped into his lap. "Yes. Yes I am."

"Angel," I said sadly, knowing where he was going. "Don't. Please. I worked so hard to get you out of relapse."

"I know, my firebird, I know." He pulled me a bit closer to him and I curled up in his arms, glad to have my brother back.

"Colette, I'm sorry. This is my brother, Angel. Well, half-brother, father's side." I paused thoughtfully as those freaky eyes of Colette's flickered over to me, the vertical pupil widening.

"So you say. I can see no resemblance between you two." She coughed, spitting blood and a tooth into the fire. "Damn rebels. Always in my way."

"Wait a minute... You're a..." Angel started.

"Hybrid? Yes. Yes I am. And I can see Phoenix there has been... Enlightened with the presence of her second half."

"I don't understand. How am I a hybrid? The animal I was named after has long since been extinct!" I protested.

"And no one has been given the name you have since then either. It is a name given up only rarely, and most of the time it is earned. Johan must've seen something extremely promising when you were being trained, something special. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm not called a Dragon for nothing."

Angel eyed me curiously, cobalt eyes unseeing. "I don't think she's a Phoenix. There's no way."

"Thanks, Ange." I said sarcastically. "I'm glad you had so much faith in me."

"Oh hush up." He growled, punching my arm playfully.

Colette, whose eyes returned to their normal state, started playing with her knife. Angel was strumming his guitar, and I oiled my bow.

The umpteen children we had with us were all sound asleep, at least, except one.

Johan's daughter Lexia tugged on my shirt. "Miss," she said, her hazel eyes, one slightly clouded, wide. "Will we ever go home again?"

I smoothed her dark hair back, pulling her into my arms. "No, Lexia. We can't. Not for a long time."

"Who did it?" She asked, venom clear in her voice. "Was it the Templars?"

Damn. For a six year old she understands a lot.

"Yes, Lexia." I answered. "The Templars corrupted one of us, and that spread like ivy."

"They will all die for killing my daddy!" She squealed, and it took most of my strength to hold her back.

Colette was watching from under her hair, and then, she said, "Avery. Let her go."

I shot her a look at read You do not command me but I did nonetheless. The little girl launched for a thin branch, slashing and stabbing at shadows from the fire. "Yah!" She cried, and I smiled softly.

Angel cracked a smile, and Colette snickered.

"Come, Lexia," I said softly, opening my arms for the little girl.

She dropped her stick and rushed into my arms, sobbing and whimpering. "I just wanna go home."

"I know, Lexia." I said smoothly. "We all do. And we will, when we take back what was stolen from us. Okay?"

She nodded, and I smoothed down her dark brown hair. "It'll be okay, Lexia. I'll protect you. I'll be your sister, okay? I'll do everything I can to help you and everyone here."

She sniffed, nodding, and pulled away, heading back into the dorm room of the caves.

"Phoenix," David called as he and his group re-entered the caverns. "We're back."

"Good. Stack the wood in a neat pile on the west side of the wall and give me the herbs. I'll be bundling them and drying them."

He and his group obeyed. I sighed, gray eyes travelling towards the ceiling hundreds of feet above us. "Did you run into Daemon or his group while hunting?"

David's right-hand, Marshall, answered, "No, but we did see a storm on the eastern horizon."

I bit my lip. "Okay. I need you to go out and look for them, and tell them to come back with whatever they caught. I'm asking you to also catch whatever you can, but get back before that front hits. I don't need to lose anyone else in the next three months."

"Forgive me, Phoenix, but are you sure? It could be dangerous."

"I am well aware of the risk level, Marshall, but we are Assassins. Danger is in our middle name." I said, meeting his green gaze.

"As you wish." He, David, and the two others bowed and backed out of the cavern, refusing to turn their backs to me.

I sighed, massaging my temples. This Brotherhood was going to need some major changes before it could heal; and I was the one who was going to administer them. I just hope it doesn't go south.

Heyo. I've been told there are spelling issues and such. As opposed to telling me that it's there, please tell me what word. if 'phoenix' is spelled wrong, it doesn't come up in spell-check. I than you guys for doing this and pointing out mistakes.

Anyway, here's the technical chapter one. I'm going to go into a deeper edit later but I did skim this one. Just let me know if I should change something, like a feature of a character I might've gotten wrong that you picked up on, etc. I'm not perfect!

Thanks, people xD