Phoenix
Phoenix (born Megan Alexander) is one of the primary protagonists of The Metalwood Saga. Beginning her journey as a ruthless killgirl in the depths of The Under, she evolves into one of the most powerful Prime Mages in history. Renowned for her unique, emotionally-driven mastery over forcefinding magic, Phoenix's actions literally shape the fate of the Earth—culminating in her legendary sacrifice to stop a supervolcano, and her subsequent resurrection from Ambarhal to fight in the war against The Twins.
Appearance and Personality
Phoenix is a tall, physically fit woman with brown hair and piercing brown eyes. Having grown up in the brutal environment of the Under, she moves with the lethal grace of a trained assassin. She has a gnarled scar on her right wrist—a haunting reminder of the childhood trauma that placed her in the Under.
Underneath her hardened, street-savvy exterior, Phoenix is a deeply emotional, anxious, and vulnerable person. Her confidence is often performative, masking the severe PTSD she carries from a devastating childhood fire that killed her family. Despite her traumas, she is fiercely protective, intensely loyal to her loved ones, and possesses a relentless drive to survive. She is defined by her capacity for love, which ultimately proves to be the key to her unimaginable magical strength.
Biography
Early Life and The Under
Born topside in the floating city of Newfris, Megan’s early life was shattered at the age of five when her house burned down. The fire was inadvertently caused by her mother, a Darkprime addict who overdosed and soulburned while holding magic. While Megan managed to save the family dog, her younger brother, Rylan, perished in the flames.
Orphaned and traumatized, Megan was cast down into the brutal, mechanical slums of The Under. She survived for fourteen years by hardening her heart and eventually joining Her Majesty's Navy, the most powerful Under Crew, led by the charismatic and terrifying Queen. Earning the undername "Phoenix," she was trained as an elite assassin (killgirl) alongside her partner and lover, Beam.
The Fall of Queen and Rise of Shock Crew
Phoenix's life changed forever during an assignment in the Den's whiproom. Triggered by panic, her innate forcefinding magic went wildly out of control, destroying the room and dropping her into the city's sewage system. Betrayed by Queen and abandoned by her Crew, she found unlikely refuge with the Gearheads, a secret racing faction led by Dust (later known as Dill).
While working as a "trashboy," Phoenix learned to harness her forcefinding magic to pilot stolen flying cars (fallcars) against the Cothellon (the Planners). During a massive city-wide riot, Phoenix discovered that her lover Beam had been brainwashed by Queen—who was secretly a Mindmaster. After a brutal aerial battle through the Transamerica Pyramid, Beam managed to break Queen's control and killed her.
Following Queen's death, Phoenix declined an offer from Planner Scientist General Orym to live topside. Instead, she chose to stay in the Under, co-founding Shock Crew with Dill. Shortly after, she gave birth to a son, naming him Rylan in honor of her deceased brother. Unbeknownst to Phoenix at the time, Rylan's father was Quynn (disguised as Eric), a ruthless Cothellon mindmaster she had briefly sought comfort with.
The Drowned Below
Four years after Queen's death, Newfris faced a catastrophic water shortage. Desperate to save her three-year-old son, Phoenix journeyed with Dill and a mysterious amnesiac named Glint (Alluin) to a highly classified, flooded facility known as The Below.
Battling the fanatical Wavelight Church and pushing her addictive darkprime magic to the limit, Phoenix successfully repaired a massive, failing forcefield holding back an entire subterranean lake. Her actions, alongside Alluin's restored Gatesending magic, saved the city from dying of thirst.
Sacrifice at Stromboli
For the next decade, Phoenix raised Rylan in the Under, attempting to swear off magic due to its addictive, deadly nature. However, a violent clash with Waller Crew forced Phoenix to use her magic once more, accidentally destroying another floor and dropping her, Beam, and Rylan through a Cothellon gate.
They emerged on the ruined surface of Earth, captured by the human Remnant and their Warlord, Zel. Drawn into a brutal war between the Remnant and the traditional Eldrim elves, tragedy struck when Beam was fatally shot by an elven arrow. Overcome with grief, Phoenix used her magic to heal Beam, pulling her back from the brink of death.
The battle culminated on the volcanic island of Stromboli, where the Remnant's true leader, Magona (Cariel), attempted to trigger a supervolcano to wipe out the planet. Pushing her magic past all known limits, Phoenix enveloped the erupting mountain in a colossal forcefield. She channeled every emotion in her soul—fear, anger, pity, and joy—into her metalash, reversing the eruption entirely.
However, channeling the energy of the Earth was too much for a mortal soul. Phoenix was soulburned. She died instantly, her body crumbling to ash and merging with a ghostly Soul Tree that temporarily bloomed across the island.
Resurrection and the Final War
For five years, Phoenix's soul wandered the ethereal dimension of Ambarhal, where she communicated with the celestial device Xyclami (Guruthos) and unlocked the full potential of her soul.
When the ancient locks on Ambarhal were broken, Phoenix was resurrected onto the physical plane as a fully realized Prime Mage. Reunited with her now fifteen-year-old son Rylan—who had become an unimaginably powerful "superuser" interfacing directly with Xyclami—Phoenix discovered a world on the brink of annihilation by the wrathful Anubis gods, The Twins.
Wielding a magical fireblade gifted to her by Beam (now estranged and leading the Lusvunub Remnant), Phoenix battled Nelenor at the Salt Spires and fought off hordes of resurrected Shadowslaves in the ruins of Ilyrion. Alongside new allies like Trey (Tarathiel), Arra, Elanil, and her new romantic partner, the elven bladedancer Imra, Phoenix stood against the ultimate architect of the universe's misery: Orym.
In the final confrontation above the hidden city of Gondor, Phoenix chose peace over absolute power. Following the deactivation of Xyclami and the end of magic, she settled in the floating city of New Paris with Imra, finally finding the topside life, love, and sunlight she had always fought for.
Powers and Abilities
Emotional Forcefinding
Phoenix was originally Aligned to the Scholar Aspect (Ash/Hemlock), specifically utilizing metalash for darkprime forcefinding. While standard forcefinders simply create inert white energy bubbles, Phoenix inadvertently discovered that she could weave her raw emotions directly into the magical particles.
- Firebubbles (Red): Fueled by fear, anger, and anxiety. These bubbles are wreathed in flames and allow Phoenix to fly at incredible speeds, ram through solid skyscrapers, or incinerate enemies trapped inside them.
- Icebubbles (White/Blue): Fueled by pity or cold determination, capable of neutralizing mindmaster magic and instantly freezing the air.
- Lifebubbles (Green): Fueled by pure joy and love. Phoenix utilized this rare form to bring Beam back from the brink of death and to completely restore her own body.
Prime Mage
Following her return from Ambarhal, Phoenix's soul was completely unlocked, granting her access to all Seven Aspects of magic simultaneously. Even without drawing on her emotions, she could channel lightning, mistweave illusions, and heal wounds. She demonstrated unprecedented fine-tuned control over magic, capable of breaking forcefields down into individual particles of light.
Weapons and Equipment
- Pinblade & Steelstring: As a Navy killgirl, Phoenix was highly trained in close-quarters combat using a short pinblade. She frequently utilized a steelstring—a retractable, hooked cable—to perform acrobatic "rafterruns" through the Under.
- The Fireblade: An artifact sword gifted to her by Beam during the final war. The hilt was constructed of darkprime ash, granting Phoenix an inexhaustible supply of forcefinding magic. She could channel any of the Seven Aspects directly through the metal of the blade, turning it into a flaming sword, a frozen blade, or a conduit for healing energy.
Key Relationships
- Beam: Phoenix's first love and killgirl partner. Their relationship was intensely passionate but marred by trauma, betrayal, and Queen's mindmaster manipulation. Following Phoenix's death, a grief-stricken Beam abandoned Rylan, causing an irreparable rift between the two women when Phoenix resurrected.
- Rylan: Her son. Phoenix was fiercely protective of him, constantly trying to shield him from the violent realities of the Under and the corrupting nature of magic. She ultimately died to save his life on Stromboli.
- Quynn (Eric): Rylan's father. Phoenix briefly sought comfort with him in the Under, unaware he was a ruthless Cothellon Master Monitor. She later "killed" him by stabbing him through the chest when he revealed his true nature, though he survived.
- Imra: Following her resurrection, Phoenix met the elven bladedancer Imra. Bonding over their shared feelings of being "the strong one" in their past relationships, the two fell deeply in love, eventually moving to New Paris together.