The Guardians

Chapter 33

Kalmin crumpled the missive in his hand, anger flaring. How dare Arlan think he could threaten him into submission! He didn't know who he was threatening! First Sari and Arlan tear the country apart with their civil war, then he nearly wipes out the Guardians of Veloce and calls them traitors. Since they heard that a handful of Guardians had escaped from Arlan, they all had hoped that Lyra had survived. One of the Paladins had brought a wanted poster with the likenesses of the escaped Guardians. That hope had disappeared from the hearts of many of his men when they saw her likeness was missing but a few, Kalmin included, still had hope that she'd escaped altogether. Talish had become an angry man after he finally accepted that his best friend was dead. He still hadn't removed the black band from around his arm. Kalmin never expected him to. He would wear it until his own death. Kalmin still hadn't taken the band off his own arm. The black band his fingers touched now. Thoughts of Lyra and his feelings of failure to her caused him to pull out a parchment and write an answer for Arlan. He would not bow down to the man responsible for the deaths of so many innocents and of his best Paladin. He would die first. He sent his missive off, knowing he could have possibly just signed his death warrant and made an enemy of the most powerful man in Veloce. He was going to take a stand against the tyrant in honor of Lyra. He only hoped it didn't cause the deaths of his men.

~~~

Daylen's heart sank at seeing the abandoned keep at Halmont. Seven bodies lay in the grand hall. Six belonged to Arlan's men. The seventh he didn't know but his body was lain respectfully in the middle of the floor. There had been a fight here and Daylen was sure that the man's companions had lain him so. The young man ascended the stairs and searched the rooms for any sign of life. In one room, he found signs of someone, or someones, having taken refuge in the keep. Judging by the discarded blood-covered clothing and bandages, someone had been badly injured. They must have come here to recover. But he had come here for a purpose: to find Faeren's private journal. He knew where to find it. While he'd never actually joined the Guardians, he was privy to Faeren's office due to the shared secret they had carried. He was sure the journal held the answers he sought. He found his office and went to where the hidden safe was and pushed the combination of stones to open it. To his surprise, the safe was empty. Either Faeren had passed the journal on to someone he trusted or someone else had known where to find it. He could only pray that Faeren's journal didn't fall into the wrong hands, namely Arlan's. Daylen was lost once again. He needed to find those Guardians who'd escaped from Arlan.

~~~

The Guardians buried five of their brothers, all of whom didn't survive the night despite Will's tireless attempts with his salves. Saren's fate was still in the gods' hands. Lyra spent a good part of the day administering to the assassin. His condition seemed to be improving, thanks to Will's salves. But Lyra could see, despite the power she harnessed within her, she could do no more for him. And after hearing of what Saren had told his sister, she suspected a spell that she did not know. She tried several of her most powerful counterspells hoping that one of them would reverse the effects.

"I've done all I can, Neve," she said as the sun was beginning to set the sky on fire. She rubbed her shoulders.

"Will those counterspells work?"

"I hope they were the right ones. I can't tell what spells were used. If any were used."

Neve looked down at her brother, worry etched into her face.

Lyra placed a hand on her arm. "Now we can only wait and pray that his own strength and willpower are enough."

Saren's strength had kept him alive all this time. Lyra could only pray it didn't fail him now.