The Guardians

Chapter 35

The Great Mother sighed. Her children were suffering at the hands of Arlan. Between him and Alora, the people were becoming hopeless. They cried out for a hero, for someone to save them from the cruelty they were enduring. The God of Storms, Raiden, could see her distress but she refused to allow him to comfort her. She had to find a way to ease the fear of Alora her chosen Champion had. The woman had suffered at Alora's hands but her will had remained strong. She knew she had the courage to stand up to the sorceress as she had done it once before. But to stand face to face, toe to toe with her former mistress froze her. Gaia had faith that she would find it in herself to do as was prophesized of her. The Twins approached her.

"Great Mother." They bowed their heads to her, speaking in unison, her light and musical voice harmonizing with his heavy and deep one.

"Rise, my Twins. Speak what is on your mind."

"We come to speak of the one called Saren, a Guardian of Veloce who refused to leave his brothers to their fates and drew attention to himself to cover for his fellow Guardians," Morrigan said.

Gaia knew him well. Many prayers had been sent on his behalf. The man was strong-willed but that willpower was waning.

"He is a strong ally to the Champion," Thorn added. "His gifts will serve Aiden and Lyra well in their mission to unite the kingdom."

The Great Mother turned from them. She knew they had visited Lyra the night before, the Moon Goddess, Selene, having seen their exchange. The Twins wanted her to succeed as much as the Great Mother herself did. Finally, she turned back to the Twins.

"I will save Saren as you and so many of Lyra's companions have asked me to. You are to keep an eye on Lyra and Aiden. Guide them when you can but keep with our duties. When she is ready to face Alora is the end of your interference. That is something she must do on her own."

"Yes, Great Mother," they agreed in unison.

~~~

Saren didn't seem to be improving but he wasn't declining. His fever refused to abate and was raging despite Will's salves. Neve was losing hope. Orin had just taken the watch and Lyra had just checked on them. Neve shook her head at the other woman, a wordless confirmation that he was still the same. Both Lyra and Will had tried so hard to save him, but Neve was beginning to fear that their efforts were in vain.

"Please, Great Mother, hear my prayer," she whispered. "Please do not take Saren from me. He is all I have left. I do not know if I can bear to lose both my brothers within months of each other. Hear my plea, Great Mother."

She held her now twin's hand. Her heart still ached at the loss of their triplet. Jean was the most adventurous of the three and had been in more scraps than the other two. Their parents had struggled to make ends meet but the taxes that the lord they worked for levied on them broke them. With three young mouths to feed, their father had to work in the shop they owned and the fields, while their mother manned the shop at all times. But that income was not enough to pay their taxes and feed their children, thus they fell behind. Neve remembered the day the guards had come for their parents. The lord didn't care that three children would have no one to look after them. Saren stepped up to care for his siblings after their parents had been sentenced to the pillories. He tried his best to keep Neve and Jean from seeing their parents like that. He even snuck food to their parents until he was caught. Because the pillories were not made for children, Saren only received a lashing and sent on his way. When their parents were finally released, they were never the same. Their father became an angry man and an outspoken member of the community, protesting the high taxes and the treatment of the villagers. Their mother became a shell of herself, flinching when their father tried to touch her or come near her. It hurt him to see her like that. He treated her like a fragile flower. Neve never understood why until after the three of them had joined the Shadeaux Rouge. Saren had finally confessed to her after they were sent to kill the lord that had destroyed their family. Their mother had been assaulted by the guards while they were in the pillories, she unable to fight back, and their father unable to protect her. Saren had arrived as they were having their way with her and had attacked them. He tried so hard to protect his siblings. Their mother had shut herself off from everyone and wasted away. After her death, their father's protests increased, leaving Saren to be forced to grow up much too quickly. Their father was in and out of prison and the pillories for years before the lord grew tired of him and had him publicly lashed to death. Saren struggled to keep what was left of his family together. Jean took to pickpocketing. But Saren was determined not to allow Neve to sell her body. Shadeaux Rouge became their saving grace until their guild master betrayed them in an attempt to save himself, his daughter, and grandson from the gallows. So instead of the three of them taking a trip to the gallows, they claimed that Saren, Jean, and Neve had killed an ambassador, right down to bribing the constable. The triplets hadn't even been in Citori at the time of the assassination. Even then Saren tried to protect them. She squeezed her brother's hand and pushed away the memories. They hadn't been able to save Jean, their goofy, fun-loving, and sometimes annoying middle brother, and it broke her heart to know that the three of them wouldn't run together anymore. She didn't know what to do if Saren gave up. A tear rolled down her cheek as she brought Saren's hand to the opposite side.

"Don't give up on me, Saren. Not now. Not after everything we've survived. Please, my brother. Don't give up."

Neve heart a soft footfall she did not know and looked up. A woman came towards her. Her dress was the color of the fall leaves and looked as if she were cloaked in the stars themselves. Her skin was dark and she couldn't quite make her out in the darkness. Neve reached for her dagger, ready to defend herself and Saren from the intruder. Then she wondered how she'd gotten past Orin. The scent of rain grew stronger the closer the woman drew to her.

"Stay your hand, Neve," she said in a both youthful and experienced voice. "I intend neither of you harm."

"How do you know who I am?"

The woman smiled. Neve could see her eyes clearly. She had never seen eyes so clear or so blue in her entire life.

"I know much, Guardian. I have come to answer your prayers."

"Do not mock me."

The woman touched her cheek and Neve flinched back. "I mock you not. You have nothing to fear from me. Saren has been your rock since you were children. You have always looked up to him, the eldest of the triplets. You have admired his strength since your parents' fall from grace, even more after their deaths." The woman lifted Neve's head and wiped away the tears that were falling. She didn't know how this woman knew all of that, but it was true. Every bit of it. "I will not take away your rock and the only thing left you feel is worth living for."

Neve watched as the woman went to her knees. She placed both of her hands on the side of his. She exhaled and pressed her mouth to his. Then she inhaled deeply. She exhaled through her nose and then inhaled again as if she were drawing his fever into her. She saw a small glow that was gone as soon as it appeared and made Neve doubt she'd even seen it. Finally, she straightened and blew into her hands. She made a movement as if she were crushing something between her hands.

"It is done. He will live. The sorceress' poison and curse has been lifted."

Neve placed her hand on Saren's cheek and found his skin was cold compared to the fire that had been consuming him for Gaia knew how long. His fever was broken.

"Thank you," she said as she looked up. Only to find the woman was gone. She looked around her for any sign of the woman. "Whoever you were. Thank you." She looked to the sky. "Thank you, Great Mother, for granting your favor upon Saren. Thank you for whomever you sent to answer my prayers. Thank you." Her face was wet with tears of joy. And she didn't care if anyone saw.