The Guardians

Chapter 12

Alora stretched. The civil war was in full force, bringing with it chaos and mayhem. The knight she'd forced into her service had succeeded where her former apprentice hadn't. She smiled to herself as she remembered how she'd lured the knight to her side. She'd cast a spell on two bandits to trick them into attacking her on sight and had waited until the knight had come within earshot before camouflaging her staff and activating the spell. As she predicted, he'd come riding in to save the damsel in distress, dispatching the thugs and checking to make sure she was alright. His chivalrous duty was his downfall. By the time he realized who she was, she'd said the binding spell and enslaved him. And, oh, how he fought against the collar, just as Lyra had. But the girl had begged Alora to remove it, swearing that she'd be good. That she would do as she was told. But she'd tried to escape for the last time and Kyrie had better things to do than chase after her errant little sister. There was always that defiant look in Lyra's eye. She would fight the compulsion to obey after every command, knowing it was futile to fight the pain. She'd fought the hardest when she ordered her to kill the royal family. Then one day the bond broke and Alora knew, just knew, that it had been removed. She'd never expected that someone would be powerful enough to remove one of her bindings but she hadn't the time to find out who or even where the girl had disappeared to. Normally, she would send Kyrie, but her star pupil was on her own mission at the time. So she enslaved innocent after innocent and the not so innocent and would send them to do the deed. And each one failed, death taking them before they could complete the mission. Until the knight. She never cared for his name. He was just a pawn, a means to an end. And he had succeeded where the others had failed, taking his own life afterward. It was perhaps for the best. He would have hanged for the murders of the royal family. If they didn't decide to make him suffer for it first. But she couldn't have cared less about that. Or him. She would have allowed him to die for his crime. No one would have believed that he hadn't killed them on his own accord. He would have died just the same. She didn't care about any of the lives she ensnared. When they served their purpose, they died. She couldn't risk them showing the Paladins where she now called home. Not that they would have been able to defeat her. But they were as annoying as flies. She never worried that Lyra would lead them here. She was a spellcaster, they would kill her on sight. Or imprison her. Or maybe even both. She didn't even care to learn the girl's fate. She'd been born to serve her and a purpose. Alora pushed the thoughts of the errant, rebellious apprentice out of her mind. The civil war and its chaos and mayhem were not enough. She wanted more chaos and mayhem. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair she was sitting in. Now, what would cause more chaos? Then she smiled an evil smile that made the girl in the corner shrink closer to the wall.

"Come here," she commanded.

The teenager had no choice but to obey. She crawled over to her. Her black hair was dirty and her homemade dress was ragged. She was thin with hunger. Trails where her tears had fallen streaked her face. The binding collar's faint glow burned slightly brighter at the command. All hope had fled from her brown eyes. She stopped and hunkered down next to Alora.

"Yes, Mistress," she muttered.

"Where is the Dragon Matriarch's cave?" The girl's village had housed the Cult of Sabrae, the dragon god. Alora had chosen the girl as punishment to the village for two of the men trying to drive her out of it.

"East of my village," she whispered.

Alora stroked her head and the girl flinched. "How far?"

"A league, if I recall correctly."

"You will take me to that cave. If you have spoken correctly, I may reward you. Would you like that?"

"If it pleases my mistress."

Alora rose and went to her staff. Once her fingers were wrapped around it, she could feel the tingling of the magical energy running through her fingers. "Come, my pet. We will find the cave."