"One," he raised a finger up to emphasize his point. "Luther didn't get his way with us. If he did, he would've taken you, and the rest of us would be dead. Two, it was not your fault. What you might call stubborn, I call it compassionate. You care about others unlike many people and that is a gift, not a flaw."
"But —"
"No buts, Rachel. Stop blaming yourself. It was not your fault. If we are to share the blame, then we are all at fault. Why didn't the key Guardians detect that Aviona was not who she claimed to be? Why couldn't I hold my own in the fight since I am a skilled fighter?"
I shook my head. "You can't blame yourself."
"Exactly. You can't blame yourself either. Now stop worrying, you'll give yourself wrinkles before you get old enough to have them. And please, stop avoiding me. The last few days were unbearable without you to keep me company."
I smiled and hugged him. "Thank you. No more avoidance."
"Good, because I need a partner in crime right now. Help me get up."
I released my hands from around his neck in alarm. "What? Why?"
"Because I'm tired of this room. If you were in my shoes, you'd be tired too. I need to see other places in the temple before our departure. The nurses won't let me walk alone. But if they see you with me, they won't complain."
"I knew you were buttering me up for something," I teased.
He threw me a wink. "You know it. Now get up, let's go."
I stood up, and Brandon stood up with me. I made sure to examine him so I would be certain he was as fine as he claimed to be. It turned out he was fine, although he favoured his left leg where a beast had clawed him. Hopefully, it would fade away very soon.
There was no nurse in the medical room when we stepped out. Thank the Goddess for small favours. As we walked around the temple, we saw different rooms and passed some keepers on our way. The keepers gave us a hello before continuing whatever they were doing or wherever they were going. One of the rooms we saw was the sanctuary of the Goddess, where people go to worship her. Another room was the kitchen where the keepers' foods were prepared. We even saw a little garden in the temple's compound.
We passed the private chambers of the Goddess, and when Brandon suggested we go in, I disagreed and steered him away from the chambers.
"Trust me; you wouldn't want to go in there."
If he thought I was acting weird, he didn't comment on it. He only threw me a look, and I was grateful when we walked past the chambers. I couldn't repeat my earlier encounter inside the chambers so soon. In fact, I would be happy if I never entered the chambers again. We came to a place where the houses were clustered together. Keepers walked in and out of the houses.
I turned to Brandon. "Where do you think this place is?"
He shrugged. "Only one way to find out."
Before I could say anything, he dragged me to a male keeper who had just walked out of one of the houses. "Where is this place?"
The keeper looked from him to me. "It's the Keepers quarters."
"Thank you," Brandon said before once again, dragging me away. He grinned at me. "Now, you know what that place is."
I rolled my eyes. "You didn't have to ask that man, you know. Why did you?"
"Because you were curious."
After that, we walked back to the medical room. We met a nurse there who asked us where we had gone to. I told her we had gone strolling and that Brandon, to my knowledge, was fine now. She agreed and shooed me out of the room so that Brandon could rest his leg. I left the medical room and walked towards my room. I was close to my room when someone blocked my path. Mistress Adele.
"Rachel, you've been scarce these days."
I bit my bottom lip, not knowing what to say to her. "I ... Yes."She sighed. "What happened with Aviona was not your fault. I can tell you are blaming yourself."
After the encouraging words from Brandon, I now knew that what had happened was not my fault, and I told Mistress Adele so. "I know. Brandon told me the same thing."
"Good. I trust you will stop hiding from us. Master Philip said he saw you peeping and hiding like a thief."
I blushed. Damn Master Philip. "I'm sorry."
She waved off my apology. "It's okay. Have you heard we're departing tomorrow morning?"
I shook my head. "No, I haven't."
"Well, now you have. Get ready." She left after that, and I entered my room, packing my things for the journey tomorrow.
The next morning, I woke up very early, grabbed my sword and other items. I arrived at the temple and made my way over to the stables where our horses were kept. When I arrived at the stables, the other Guardians were already there, readying their horses for the journey ahead. Alec pulled me into a hug when he saw me.
"Good of you to finally stop hiding and join us, Rachel."
I groaned. Did everyone know I had been avoiding them?
It took me fifteen seconds to realize Brandon was not at the stables with us. I panicked. Had the key Guardians deemed him unfit for traveling? But he was already healed. Well, almost. "Where is Brandon?"
"Right here," a voice said at my back. I turned around to find Brandon walking towards us with some bags in hand. I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him.
I gestured to the bags he held. "What are these?"
"Food for our journey. The keepers gave them to us." He walked over to the key Guardians and handed the bags over to them. Master Philip and Master Charles strapped the bags to their horses. When the key Guardians had confirmed that the horses were in good condition and that we had taken everything we needed, they instructed us to mount our horses. We were just about to set out when a keeper ran over to us. From his laboured breathing, I could tell he had been running for a while just to catch up with us.
"Stop," he shouted. "You all need to go back to the temple."
It was Master Charles that spoke. "Why?"
"The vessel of the Goddess has a message for the Guardians."
Oh shit. Did we have to go? I didn't want to have a repeat of what I had gotten from Susan the previous day. I thought I was past that already. I was so dreading going back there. I sighed and came down from my horse like the others already did. We followed the keeper, who led us to the private chambers of the Goddess. He left after showing us the location of the vessel. Something I already knew.
"Welcome," Susan greeted us when we entered the chambers.
"Thank you," Master Philip, always in charge, said.
Susan gestured to the mat across from her and told us to sit. Since the mat wouldn't contain us all, the key Guardians sat while the rest of us stood at their backs. Susan looked at me, and I stiffened. I didn't want her to act like she knew me or tell the Guardians what she, or rather, the Goddess had told me before. I hadn't finished wrapping my head around her words. To my gratefulness, she only glanced at me before looking at Brandon who was standing beside me. She stared at him for some time and I began wondering if I was the only one who noticed. Brandon must have noticed, too because he shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
Susan took her eyes off him and stared at the key Guardians. "How was your stay in the temple? I hope it was good."
"Yes, it was," Master Philip replied. "We were just about to depart when a message came that you requested our presence."
"I had a vision from the Goddess." She began. "A bloody war is coming. A warlike you have never seen before. Many will be killed and many will kill. I hope you all are ready. Prepare yourselves more than you have ever done. Anyone who slacks or isn't ready enough will die. The beasts are vicious things. They show no mercy. Luther blames the Guardians for his exile. He would stop at nothing to see you all dead. He wants revenge. Revenge on the Guardians." She glanced at Mistress Adele and something flickered in her eyes. Something I couldn't put a name to before it disappeared. She glanced at Brandon again before looking away. "You all need to be strong for each other."
Her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head, and she closed her eyes. At first, I thought th
e Goddess was about to take over her body again, but it turned out this was different. The Goddess wasn't making an appearance. Susan had another vision. Her body shook like a leaf as she said her next words. "The Goddess said to tell you she loves you all. You're all her children." Her eyes opened and they laid on Brandon. "Brandon, son of Ivankov."
Brandon stilled beside me. "How did you..."
"I know many things, boy. I see you in my visions. The Goddess said to tell you this: Being a Guardian is not of the abilities or strengths, but of the heart. You have the heart, Brandon. You are as much a Guardian as every other Guardian." She glanced at me before looking at the key Guardians. "I'd like to speak with Brandon alone."
We all stood up and left, going back to the stables to wait for Brandon. When five minutes passed, and he wasn't back, Mistress Adele asked me to go check up on him. I walked back to the private chambers and raised my hand to open the door when I heard Susan said, "And Brandon?"
The footsteps I had heard walking towards the door stopped. It was like they had finished talking, and he was about to go when Susan remembered something.
"Be there for the one you love. She'll need you very soon, more than ever."
My hands froze mid-air. Was Brandon in love with someone? I didn't have time to process the information before I heard him resume walking. I abandoned my mission and hurried back to the stables. I felt like I had eavesdropped, even though I clearly had not. I had just heard it by chance. I felt it was something Brandon wouldn't have wanted anyone to here. It wasn’t even ten seconds after I came back to the stables before Brandon appeared.
In silence, we climbed our horses and embarked on our journey with everyone deep in thought.
Chapter Three
Throughout the journey back to Lupert, I couldn't stop thinking of what the Goddess had told me. She had said a huge responsibility was going to befall me soon. What responsibility had she been talking about? I couldn't think of any position I was meant to hold. Who was the ‘she’ who held the position for me? I was only close to a handful of females, and none held any position I envied. I was happy being just a Guardian. Maybe it was a female I didn't know? Like the Queen? I snorted at my own thought. I had never seen the Queen and there was no way I was going to be the Queen unless I married a prince. Our kingdom didn't have a prince. The King and Queen only gave birth to a daughter, a princess. So that option was ruled out unless it was the Queen of another kingdom and that didn't appeal to me. In fact, I had never thought of being a Queen and now with just the thought of it, I didn't want to be a Queen. I enjoyed fighting very much, thank you. A Queen didn't fight.
The Goddess thought I was a wonderful woman? A fearless warrior? I didn't think so. Maybe the wonderful woman part – I did think I was wonderful sometimes – but definitely not the fearless warrior part. I wasn't fearless. I had my own fears. During the battle, I was always thinking, would this be my last battle? I was always scared of the answer to that question. After the battle, I was thankful I was alive and safe. That wasn't the way of a fearless warrior, right? A fearless warrior wasn't scared of anything or anyone. But thinking about the upcoming war, the war Susan had asked us to be prepared for, I couldn't help but be fearful. Luther was a formidable enemy.
"What has you thinking so hard?"
I turned to find Alec watching me carefully. I shrugged at his question. "Nothing much. Just thinking about the message the vessel had given us from the Goddess."
He grimaced. "Yeah. I think that's what everyone has been thinking about since we left the temple."
"Can you blame them? She did say many would be killed." As the words left my mouth, I realized that on some unconscious level, I had been thinking of those words. Many will be killed. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't know that a lot of Guardians would die in the upcoming battle, just as many beasts would die too. Would my friends be among the mortally wounded? Would I?
I thought the Goddess had meant to reassure and encourage us with her words, but they were doing the exact opposite. I knew we were all worrying.
I glanced at Brandon, who had been silent since we left the temple. He hadn't spoken a word to anyone. Had he been thinking of himself as not part of the Guardians? That was rubbish. The Goddess was right. Brandon did have the heart of a Guardian. Not only the heart, even the abilities. He was a skilled fighter, a very good fighter. He was better than most and could defeat my ass in a battle anytime, any day. The only person I didn't know if he could defeat was Master Philip, and that was because Master Philip was more experienced than him. If there was ever a fearless warrior, it would be Brandon.
He raised his head and caught me staring at him. I forced a smile to my lips, and he offered me a small one in return.
We arrived at Lupert the next day during dinner. Unlike the boys who were famished, I wasn't too hungry, so I went to my room first to freshen up and change my clothes. When I came back to the dining hall, everyone was already eating. My friends were gathered together talking, although they looked tensed up.
"Hey," Liz pulled me into a hug when I took a seat beside her. She released me and looked at me. "I heard what happened. Are you okay?"
I knew what she was asking about. It concerned Aviona, aka Luther. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. How were things here?"
She shrugged and took a bite of her dinner. "Nothing much happened. We have been practicing like crazy. Master Nathan informed us that we were all going to fight during the battle. With Luther back, there will be too many beasts, and none of us could afford to be idle."
My eyebrows raised on their own accord. "What? But some people are not ready yet. You've never even been in a battle, Liz. What are you going to do?"
"What else? Fight. I'm already in the fourth stage of learning. I knew it was about time I would be required to fight." She said it with a bravado I knew was false. Alec must've noticed it too because he wrapped his hands around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.
"Hey. It's okay. You have me," he whispered to her. She nodded and smiled at him.
I looked at Arthur and Fredrick. They had both nodded at me when I had come down to the dining hall, but other than that had remained silent. They just continued to eat their food. I glanced at the empty seat beside Fredrick. Brandon's seat.
"Where is Brandon?" I asked.
"I haven't seen him since you people arrived," Arthur said.
I frowned. Where was he? I stood up from my seat to go find him, but Liz stopped me with a hand on my arm. She pointed at my food. "Ain't you going to eat?"
I shook my head. "I'm not hungry." Truly, I wasn't.
Fredrick grinned. He stretched his hand across the table and took my plate of food. The boy loved food a lot. "Well, with the war coming, I need to eat as much as I can. I need all the strength I could ever have."
Liz said something to him, and he laughed. I didn't hear what she said because I was already walking out the door. I searched everywhere I thought Brandon would be. His room, the stables, the training room. He wasn't in any of those places. I went to the back of Lupert. There was a tree in a hidden place. If someone didn't look well, they wouldn't see anything. I had seen Brandon there a few times before. That was where I found him now. He sat on the ground with his back and head resting against the tree. His eyes were closed.
"Rachel," he murmured when I came.
I wondered how he knew I was the one standing beside him. He hadn't opened his eyes when I had arrived.
"Are you going to keep standing, or will you sit down?"
I rolled my eyes and sat on the ground beside him. I could tell something was bothering him. He looked very deep in thought. I wondered if he was thinking of the girl he loved and frowned. It seemed I was frowning a lot these days. I chastised myself for caring if he was in love with someone or not. With an upcoming war, I shouldn't be thinking of who Brandon loved. It was none of my business. Really? I subdued that stupid thought. Truly, it wasn't.
I think I was also lying to mysel
f a lot these days. I sighed.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked casually. "What did the vessel of the Goddess say to you?"
"Nothing much. She just told me how the Goddess considered me one of hers and how I should be very prepared for the fight and after it. Something about a huge responsibility or something."
My heart skipped a beat. The same huge responsibility the Goddess had told me about. "Did she say what the huge responsibility was?"
He shook his head. "No. Only that I should embrace it when it comes."
Chapter Four
For the next few weeks, the Guardians trained intensely. We trained as we had never before. We trained for fourteen-hours each day. We went to sleep late and woke up early each day. There was no time for idle things. We only trained, ate, and slept. That was the routine. And we did it every day. The key Guardians were intense with us. We trained without fail and only rested for a few hours. I was exhausted every time, but I didn't complain. In fact, no one did. We all knew why the key Guardians didn't want us to let our guards down. Just like the vessel of the Goddess had said, anyone who wasn't ready enough or slacks would die. It was as simple as that.
"If the upcoming war wasn't so serious, I would think the key Guardians were trying to kill us," Liz groaned one day at lunch.
Arthur chuckled, but it soon turned to a grimace. "My entire body hurts like crazy."
"Your body only hurts? My body is dead from all the training," Fredrick said.
Uh," Liz muttered. "I hate Luther now more than I ever did."
At the mention of Luther, my mind thought of him. I wondered when he would strike. He had been silent ever since the journey to the temple. There had been no sighting of him or his beasts. It was like he had vanished off the surface of the earth as if he was tired of the fighting and killings and had decided to end it. But I knew better. The key Guardians knew better too and that was why they trained us hard. It was the calm before the storm. Luther was not one to give up on his revenge. He was preparing something big.
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