SafeHaven

by Xander Jade

  ‘Ladies, you’ll need to address the crowd, tell them whatever you want. We’ll take him to the cabin. Meet us there.’

  “I’ll go with you. I’m not leaving him alone. We can take shifts to stay with him,” Val suggested.

  Sasha stated with emphasis, “I’ll go as well.”

  The others nodded.

  ***

  The girls were in shock, not knowing how to take the Guardian’s words. They watched their beloved being taken to the cabin. Cass scanned the crowd, checking to see their reactions to the unbelievable scene. When she saw their gaping looks, she knew they had a long discussion ahead. She walked over to Tia and Soph.

  “Let’s get the Inner Circle together before things escalate. We need to cut rumors off, now,” Cass suggested.

  “That’s a great idea, I’ll grab them,” Tia replied as she left.

  “Cass, what the fuck did we just see?” Soph asked.

  “This is beyond our grasp. If a Guardian is here, then it’s already bad. Xolras isn’t someone to fuck with. He is beyond ruthless, pure evil, and the most powerful prince of the underworld,” Cass responded, her eyes on the group of people headed their way.

  “Not to mention, our man is in the middle of this shit storm.”

  Cass nodded.

  The crowd disbanded but a few stayed to see what was going on. The Inner Circle huddled together to talk everything over. Neither Gordon, nor the weres, looked happy.

  “Somebody needs to tell me what the hell is going on. While you’re at it, tell me how the fuck my friend had white flames covering him, and somehow put a dome over your conversation,” Gordon demanded.

  The eyes of the weres glowed, telling everyone their beasts were present.

  “Where did they take our Alpha?” Rachel growled and the others followed suit.

  Damn, things were about to get out of hand, they needed to nip this shit in the bud right now.

  “Everyone just needs to calm the fuck down,” Soph growled back with her eyes glowing.

  “Yes, we have things to discuss, and everyone needs to listen carefully,” Cass calmly stated even though she was shaking with nerves.

  “Let’s carry on our conversation over by the shade of those oak trees,” Tia recommended.

  When they were seated in the shade, Soph asked, “Cass, why don’t you relay the information, since you know more about the situation?”

  She agreed and started with, “What you saw wasn’t entirely Max.”

  “My eyesight is pretty good ladies and it sure looked like my Alpha,” Sean replied, and the others murmured their agreement.

  “Yes, it was Max’s body, but the entity in it wasn’t. What you saw was a Guardian,” Cass explained, and everyone gasped in shock.

  Rachel whispered, “Are you saying that a Guardian of Giseria was here?”

  Cass nodded and replied, “Yes, but not was. He’s staying.”

  The others looked confused, so Tia explained, “The Guardian is here for Max.”

  “What?!” they all shouted.

  “His name is Nicas. He is here to guide and protect Max.”

  “Why would he come now?” Gordon asked.

  “Because the problem that is surfacing is worse than we thought. It’s not a minor demon in control, but a demon prince,” Cass said looking around at the dumbfounded faces.

  “Not just any prince, but the Demon High Prince, Xolras.”

  “Did he say what we needed to do?”

  It was typical of Gordon to ask that, always astute, and doing what was required.

  “He said to keep up with Max’s plan. Free the prisoners, unite the kingdoms, and train others,” Cass answered.

  “Okay, you’ve answered some questions, but the main thing I want answered is, where’s Max?” Gordon asked.

  The girls were silent for a few moments then Tia spoke, “The Guardian healed something within him, said his mana pool was blocked. Nicas said he would be unconscious for a few days.”

  The weres calmed down some after they knew he wasn’t in danger or hurt.

  Tavoria probed, “When can we see him? Who is watching over him now?”

  Soph had her hand up trying to alleviate any concern. “He is resting at his cabin, Val and Sasha are with him.”

  They nodded but wouldn’t relent. Marie spoke out, “Okay, we will schedule guard duty until he wakes up and can move on his own.”

  Sean agreed, “Yes, thank you, I was about to suggest that as well.”

  Marie nodded to him. Gordon closed his eyes and pressed the bridge of his nose trying to figure out what their next move was.

  “What will be on the agenda today, then?” Gordon asked politely even though his head hurt from the recent events.

  “Same as usual, train, but most importantly we need to get those walls done. I am certain we’ll have visitors very soon, and we’ll need to defend this place,” Cass said.

  The others agreed wholeheartedly.

  “The walls are the priority. I will have some of the mages get back working on the keep today, but hopefully they will be done in the next few days so they can help finishing the walls. Stan and his men are surveying the area for the merchant shops. They are also working on the town hall, the trade worker shops, guild halls, and some other little projects,” Gordon said.

  Everyone looked around to observe how the area of land had changed drastically.

  “Soon, it will be a full-blown town. I can hardly believe what my eyes are seeing, your men are doing wonders,” Soph said.

  “They aren’t my men. I’m taking care of what needs to be done and completing the requests of your Alpha. I may oversee the political shit as someone once said,” Gordon said smiling, “but these men follow me because of your man. He has accepted each and everyone here with no thoughts of getting any kind of payment from them.”

  “He is a special individual. Caring and loyal,” Cass chuckled. “I take it you’ve accepted your role as warden of this fair town.”

  He grinned. “I accepted it when he asked me, I just didn’t know at the time. He is really hard to say no to.”

  Everyone laughed and agreed with that statement. They were silent for a couple of minutes, looking around, thinking about the enormity of it all. Soon a town would be built in the middle of the woods. It was crazy to think about it.

  “Okay then, we’ll be at the cabin if you need us,” Cass said, and the group dispersed.

  ***

  The girls walked to their dwelling in silence. Reap and Herc were sitting next to the doors, not letting anyone near them.

  ‘Ladies, he is sleeping comfortably, and the others are inside,’ Reap advised.

  “Thank you, guys, for watching over him. The weres are scheduling guard duty until he can get around on his own again,” Cass replied.

  ‘Okay, we’re going hunting when they show up then,’ Herc said.

  The girls went inside and straight to Max’s bedroom. Val was there, wiping his brow. Sasha was seeing what she could do to make him comfortable.

  “How’s he doing, Sasha?” Soph asked.

  “His breathing is better; it was ragged for a little while. He’s warm to the touch. I don’t know if that has anything to do with what the Guardian did to him or not. He will need to be watched until he wakes up,” she advised.

  “We will switch out and the weres will have guards outside,” Tia said, while everyone got comfortable. They ate together in his room, making small talk.

  “I’m concerned about our love. I have found my mate after all those years looking, and now we find out he is a Chosen One of the gods. This sucks. I knew our lives would be difficult, but damn, it’s just not right.” Val pouted.

  “We all agree with that statement, but we need to be strong for him, and for our family. The timing however is shit, and with everything we need to achieve, it’s disheartening,” Sasha whispered. She sniffed a couple of times and wiped her eyes before saying, “Our life is about to take off. We need to get everyth
ing on the table, no secrets ladies. Anything of importance needs to be told right now.”

  The women glanced at each other, not knowing who had any secrets.

  “Tia, you told us a little about your family, but not the whole truth. You skated around our questions, and I would like to know the whole story right now, please,” Cass said as delicately as possible.

  Tia looked uncomfortable and didn’t respond right away. She got up to pace the room and spoke, “I already indicated I was a noble in the hierarchy of my people. I just didn’t tell say where my family fits into that and I was hoping to never have to, unless someone came looking for me.” Tia took a deep breath trying to calm down, knowing what she said would change things. She didn’t want Max to know her status. “This is harder than I thought. I’ll just say it and get it over with. Obviously, you know my father is a lord, but not that he is the lord of my people. I am the second daughter of Queen Tornelis.” Tia sat back down in her chair.

  The girls were taking sips of their drinks at this time and ended up spitting out most of them. She nodded and hung her head waiting for the yelling to start.

  “Are you saying that you’re a princess, Tia?” Val asked.

  “I knew you looked familiar!” Leena exclaimed. The wood elves were wide-eyed, the weres were as well, but somewhat put out.

  “She’s not just a princess. She’s the missing princess. They’ve been looking for her going on months, and here she is, right in front of us. Isn’t that right Princess Tornelis?” Sasha gritted her teeth.

  “Yes, I am that princess. I was on my way to meet Lord Morgan for an arranged meeting by my parents. Due to the usual political bullshit, I had to go meet with him. We got ambushed on the way to the meet. They killed most of my guards, then shipped us to the abandoned mine. Of course, the goddesses were punishing me as lo and behold, Lord Morgy got captured too. While the days went by, my guards dwindled down to none and then Max rescued us. I told the other elves to keep quiet and they obeyed. Look, I’m my own person here. Not a trophy for some lout to try and court. I had lost hope of getting out of those cages before we were sent into slavery. When Max arrived, I thought they were going to kill him, and I was surprised when he destroyed those wens. During those moments stuck underground, I felt something towards him I’ve never felt. He helped people who he did not even know. Managed to get them to safety. I’ll forever love him for his actions that day and ever since.”

  “I don’t know what to say to that,” Cass said.

  The others contemplated her monologue and responded in turn.

  Val expressed her concern, “I can understand why you wanted to keep your identity a secret, but how are we supposed to react to this news?”

  “You still should’ve told him the truth,” Soph whispered. “Now you’ve put him into a situation like we did when the other pack challenged him. When he wakes, you’d better tell him, or he might send you away.”

  Leena shook her head. “Tia, you should’ve come clean with us.”

  Tia sighed loudly, frustrated by this outcome, and nodded to Soph. “I told him when we were traveling here that I would reveal everything when I needed to, but it seems that time has come.”

  Soph cautioned, “Especially since Morgy will have told the queen where you are. Shit, how long do you think before we’re approached, and about how many?”

  Tia considered for a moment, then answered, “I’m not sure, but probably soon. Hopefully Max will be back to his old self by then.”

  “I’m not sure he will be his old self; he might be more,” Sasha advised.

  “What do you mean?” Val asked.

  “The Guardian said Max’s mana flow was blocked. If that was the case and he did those wondrous things, how much more powerful will he be?”

  “I didn’t think about that. Damn, he was terrifying before, I wonder what he’ll be like now?” Soph mused.

  “We need to get our shit together and stop withholding information. Anybody else have a secret they would like to share?” Cass looked around at the others and they shook their heads no.

  “Well right now we need to come up with a plan for the inevitable elf campaign, to prevent disaster when the time comes, and they show up at our doorstep.”

  They talked and came up with plans for some possible contingencies, then went to bed.

  Chapter 16

  The next day everyone was still talking about what happened at the sparring match. People’s uneasiness evaporated during the course of the day, and things went back to normal. Well, at least normal for them. The forges were lit at dawn, repairs done, and weapons and other creations made swiftly. Soon, they would have equipped everyone in their town, and could send out their attack force to free those who were taken.

  The castle keep was done a couple of days after the incident, and some of the trade workers broke off from the town’s buildings to start the intricate jobs inside. The life and elemental mages concentrated on the furniture, lighting fixtures, and all the facilities involved with the keep. A few of the elemental mages helped with the inside piping for water and disposal. Hand pumps were installed in the bathrooms and kitchens. They installed bathtubs against the walls with cylinders that were around 6’ high and 3’ in diameter. The cylinder was filled with lava rocks that were enchanted with heat for an extremely comfortable experience, and all that was needed was to pull a lever. When the lever was in the on position, water filled the cylinder activating the lava rocks, then as it filled, the water came out heated into the tub. All the females were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to try it out.

  The castle keep was massive, ranging 70’ in height with 12’ thick walls, and warded for safety. The keep had six levels: storage, kitchen and mess hall, guard rooms, great hall, Inner Circle level, and the lord’s level on top. The visiting dignitaries/nobles (in other words, douchebags) were to use rooms in one of the towers.

  The fortress that Max envisioned would consist of curtain walls 400’ square, 40’ high, and 12’ thick. The walls would have 50’ high rounded towers, 50’ apart from the other, and four corner towers. There would be arrow slits in the towers for archers and battlements on top for soldiers to defend their people. The plan was for a metal portcullis at the door, with a drawbridge covering the deep moat surrounding the fortress. The moat would be 20’ deep, 30’ wide, and filled with monstrous creatures. The beast mages traveled to places unknown and coerced them to go with them. Ugly but lethal fuckers. Inside the curtain walls there would be a marketplace, housing, farms, guard houses, a bailey, chapel, and other buildings in the future. A barbican would be installed to protect the drawbridge at the main entrance, forming a filter between the outside and inside of the fortress and serving as a shield. The other two entrances were to have drawbridges as well, but those entrances were somewhat hidden.

  The Inner Circle was called in at dusk to discuss the day’s events, accomplishments, and concerns. They discussed trading with the other towns and cities. Gordon and his crew sent out mages to the new lands where farms would be built. They found volunteers that would work the shops that were purchased and assigned managers that would run them. They voted on who would run the banks in the four towns as well as the one in their settlement. All associated with the shops were given houses to live in. They would pay rent with wages earned even though it was minimal coin. There were lots of happy faces when those assigned new roles left for duty.

  It was three days and counting, Max still hadn’t awoken, and the tension in the air was palpable. Everyone was concerned, and no one wanted to speak about what was on everybody’s mind. They kept him comfortable and watched over him.

  During this period of unconsciousness, something unexpected started happening; ice started to form on his body. The girls tried to heat him up, putting blankets on him. They even tried magic to warm him, but nothing helped. They started panicking. They asked the mages within the circle to check and see what was happening, but not one of them knew the cause or how to fix him. The only t
hing that kept them sane was that his heart was beating strong. Over the next couple of days, Max was encased in ice.

  The weres felt things weren’t right and wanted to see their Alpha but weren't allowed access to the cabin. Everyone in the settlement sensed something was wrong. Their leader hadn’t been seen for days and they wanted to know what was going on. The Inner Circle tried to calm the situation but were concerned themselves. Early morning on the seventh day, the ice Max was encased in cracked, and then broke apart.

  ***

  Early in the morning, Jonathan was repairing a dagger and sword when shouts came from the east. He put down his tools and walked out of the shop to see Frank, Ernie, and Bert waiting on the side of the road, talking to each other while soldiers were marching in.

  Jonathan moved over and asked, “What’s going on, Frank?”

  Frank turned and replied, “The king’s soldiers have arrived.”

  Jonathan grunted and watched the troops divide into squads and march in different directions.

  “So, it’s beginning?”

  Ernie sighed. “It looks that way.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “Not sure, but we’ll have a meeting tonight to discuss what happens if the soldiers fail to keep the town safe.”

  “Good idea. I’m going to go check on Fira.”

  Jonathan left and headed straight home. He got into the house and saw his wife at the stove, cooking. She looked over and smiled.

  “Hello, dear. A little early this morning, I haven’t finished cooking yet.”

  Jonathan nodded. “I know. I just saw the garrison soldiers marching in.”

  Fira looked over, hesitant. “And?”

  “No one has said anything yet. We’re supposed to have a meeting tonight to decide where we need to flee if something terrible happens.”

  “I’m starting to get scared.”

  He went over and put his arms around his wife, holding her for a couple minutes and trying to comfort her. After letting go, he kissed her and asked if she needed any help. She didn’t but let him help anyway. The two got breakfast done and ate together. Julie was still in bed.