"Bigbird, tell me what happened?" Auren asked, his eyes still clouded with confusion.
His breath came shallow, his body tense as his memories lagged behind the present. The last thing he remembered was Aurelus crushing both his arms as he landed, then driving his sword straight through his heart.
He could still feel the phantom pain of that strike. The sensation of ribs cracking, lungs collapsing, his chest burning with the taste of blood.
After that came the strange encounter with the angel Gabriel, who spoke of some so-called "side quest," and then darkness swallowed him whole.
The next time Auren opened his eyes, everything had been flipped upside down. Somehow, he was still alive, standing again, but the world was not the same.
Now, in the quiet recess of his mental space, he faced Bigbird—yet not the same phoenix as before.
Bigbird had changed.
