by Ford, Lizzy
“Healers fix the body, not the mind,” her mate said.
Jenn slumped at the table as they talked on around her. Her gaze went to the door where her baby slept. She got up without finishing her meal and escaped into the room where Talia was. Jenn’s tension fled from her as she picked up the small child and hugged her close. She tugged off the necklace around her neck, the one marking her as the last in her father’s line. She slid it over her daughter’s head, giggling when she saw how big it was. The symbol was her father’s pride and joy. He was the first of his bloodline to earn one, and the coin-shaped pendant was new and bright.
“This belongs to you, my Talia,” Jenn whispered. “You’ll grow into it.”
As much as she hated her life, she loved her Talia. Jenn’s gaze went towards the main room of the dwelling. No doubt, the family still sat around discussing how to fix her. They’d done the same when she found out she was pregnant, locking her in a room until she gave birth.
For your own good, they’d told her.
Looking at her daughter, she was grateful for the one part of her life that brought her joy. Talia awoke at her movement, her eyes as large and dark as Jenn’s. Her hair was short and curly, too, unlike the blond, blue-eyed father that’d all but raped Jenn on their mating night.
For your own good, he’d told her.
She’d never let him touch her again, but once was enough for Talia to grow in her belly.
Jenn touched Talia’s soft skin, smiling. Talia smiled back then tried hard to grip the pendant, fascinated by its shininess. Jenn laughed softly at Talia’s chubby hands trying to grasp the bright bauble. Talia caught it finally and held it up.
“It’s yours. I wanted to give it to you, in case I …” Jenn’s throat grew tight as she looked at her little girl. “I have to go, Talia. I want so much more than this. For both of us. I’m going to the mortal world. I’ll save my coin and find us a home there. I just … I can’t stand it here. I want us to have a chance.”
Talia played with the pendant. Jenn wiped the tears that formed. Her whole body hurt at the idea of leaving the little girl. At least Talia would have a family to care for her until Jenn returned.
“I might be gone awhile, Talia,” she said. “I want you to know I love you. I’ll think of you every day and I’ll come back for you. I promise.”
Jenn set Talia back in her roughly hewn bassinet and rifled through the trunk containing the family’s possessions. She pulled out a rusted dagger and the best pair of boots she had. She had little else in the way of possessions, aside from the necklace around Talia’s neck.
With one last look at the bassinet, Jenn left the room. The family ceased talking as she appeared.
“I’m going to the Guardians,” she said firmly. “I’ll return for Talia.”
Her proclamation startled them in to silence. She left before anyone could shut her up again in a room, running once she’d closed the door to the hovel the two families shared. Exhilaration filled her as she raced down the street. She’d done it! She’d escaped them at last!
She’d build a new life in the mortal world and kidnap Talia if necessary to get her child away from her family. Her daughter would grow up loved, not tolerated, in a world wide open with possibilities. There was no way to move up or improve life in the immortal world, but Jenn heard tales of the mortal world. It was wild and free, and Guardians could stay there, if they chose to.
Hopeful for the first time in her life, Jenn glanced up and stopped.
The sun was red. She stared at it. She’d thought it cloudy, for there was little light this morning. Even the red sun couldn’t dampen her mood. She ran all the way to the Guardians’ barracks and stopped, awed.
The barracks were plain but sturdy, made of stone. She walked through the gateway and imagined herself as important as the White God walking into his palace. The bailey was clean, the stables large and well-built. She joined a line of mostly men in front of a low stone table. Each received a scroll with information on their first day of training and assignments. She fidgeted as she waited.
“Lots of women signing up,” one of them said behind her.
“They heard how the White God’s mate slept her way to the top then landed a god,” another snickered.
Jenn glanced towards them. Even their words did nothing to suppress her excitement. She waited until it was her turn to receive her scroll.
“Jenn,” she said, stepping forward.
The seated Guardian looked down his scroll, gaze lingering on a name. He reached under the table for one of the scrolls.
“Mind manipulator. You tested high. Your quarters are in the third building. Training starts tomorrow morning at dawn.”
Almost shrieking in excitement, Jenn snatched the scroll and ran. She’d passed the first two buildings before she remembered to look around her. She entered the third and walked down a hallway. The barracks was loud with chatter from other new Guardians. She walked room by room, seeking an empty one, and finally found a room that didn’t seem taken.
Jenn entered and set her few belongings down on one of the beds. She instinctively reached for the necklace no longer around her neck. Her hand fell away, and she sat on her bed, startled to see someone else was in the room. The boy looked to be around ten with blond hair and cold, steady blue eyes.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Jenn.”
“Hi,” he replied.
“Do you have a roommate already?”
“No.”
“You’re young to be here, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know they let girls in.”
“They do,” she said with a smile. “Special ones, anyway.”
“I’m not special.”
“You must be, if you’re here.”
“I should be dead, like the rest of my family.”
“But you’re not. I’ve heard the stories about the mortal world. You’ll see. You’ll be glad you’re alive.”
“I’m here because my master told me to be here,” the boy said stubbornly.
“Who is your master?”
“Damian. He bought me off the auction block.”
“I don’t know that name. You’re fortunate to be here.”
“I wouldn’t have been on the auction block if my family wasn’t slaughtered!”
Jenn cleared her throat, not sure what to say. The boy’s eyes flashed. The ground beneath them moved suddenly, a low rumble that made the beds shake. The walls stayed.
“It’s been doing this all morning,” the boy said. “Maybe what happened in the country is happening in the city.”
“What happened in the country?”
“War,” he whispered.
“There’s no war right now,” she replied.
“I saw it.” The look on his face made her want to hug him and ease his fear.
“The earth rumbles sometimes,” she said. “You want to sit with me? I’ll protect you.”
The boy hesitated then left the floor where he sat and joined her sitting on the bed. The earthquake grew more intense. Jenn wrapped her arms around him. He remained tense at first before letting her pull him to her.
“Not so bad now, is it?” she asked.
“It’s worse than before.”
She almost sighed, not sure what to tell the boy. The shaking of the earth grew worse, until the walls began to tremble. Jenn took the boy’s hand and led him out of the building into the bailey area. The other new Guardians were gathered there as well. The boy crept closer to her, and she sought some subject to discuss that would calm him.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Dustin.”
“Don’t worry, Dustin. I’ll take care of you.”
He said nothing, his blue eyes darting around their surroundings. There was a crash, and one of the barracks collapsed. Jenn eyed it uneasily. The earth bucked, and two more buildings went down. The walls around the bailey began to crumble. Jenn grabbed Dustin’s hand and pulled him through the cro
wd, out of the enclosed space where the walls crumbled. She gazed at the city around them, startled to see buildings collapsing everywhere she looked.
Her heart sinking, she looked in the direction of her home. She couldn’t see the poverty-stricken section of the city.
“Stay here, Dustin,” she told him. “You hear me? Right here. Don’t go in any buildings.”
Scared, he nodded. Jenn released him and ran down the street, startled when the shaking ground knocked her down. She hurried to her feet and continued, heart racing as she ran through the city towards her home. The closer she got to the overcrowded, poor part of the city, the more people jammed the streets, shoving against her in an effort to escape the collapsing buildings.
Weaving in and out of people, Jenn made her way to her street and froze. Almost every dwelling on the narrow, crowded road was in pieces. Panic built as she forced herself forward. She stopped finally in front of the dwelling that had been hers. Her mother and father-in-law sat in front of the crushed structure, hunched over while their sobs reaching her ears.
Jenn approached as if in a dream, struggling to stay on her feet with the earth’s shaking.
“Get out!” her mother shouted as Jenn stopped next to them. “You did this!”
Jenn glimpsed the black curls of her daughter’s head as her mother tried to push her away. She gasped. Talia’s head was split open, her lifeless eyes staring at the sky.
No. Jenn couldn’t look away, couldn’t register what had happened.
Her mother made it to her feet and flung something at her. Jenn caught the necklace a moment before her mother began beating her, screaming. Too shocked to react, Jenn let her, until the earth bucked again. A crack split the street, swallowing her father-in-law and her little girl. Horrified, Jenn’s mother dropped to her knees, sobbing.
“Coward!” she shouted at Jenn. “You did this, you coward!”
Jenn stared, the image of her lifeless daughter falling into the chasm replaying over and over in her mind.
“Jenn!” another voice filled with fear cried.
Jenn turned woodenly, the world around her making no sense in her state. She vaguely recognized the blond boy. He wriggled through the crowd to her, looking past her at the chasm and the woman sobbing beside it.
“C’mon, Jenn!” he urged. “Please!”
She took one step then another, not understanding how her body could move when her mind couldn’t. Her steps went faster. Dustin darted in front of her, pushing his way through the crowd. He didn’t go the way they did but cut through an alley towards the center of the city. Jenn struggled to keep up, to breathe, to make sense of the world around her. She kept her eyes on Dustin, not knowing what else to do.
The little boy cut through the central square, where neat stone walkways hedged by vibrant grass wound around the familial obelisks marking the bloodline and succession of each noble house. She stopped and looked around, searching for the one that her family served. She trotted through the square until she found it and crouched beside it to see names at the very bottom, the names of the nobles’ servants.
Jenn, Finian, Talia.
The names of her mate and her daughter were written beside hers. Jenn stared at them numbly then dug a hole in front of the monument with shaking fingers. She deposited the necklace into it and covered it.
“Jenn, come on!” Dustin shouted, darting through the obelisks towards her. “We have to hurry! My master is waiting for us!”
“Where are we going?” she managed at last, stumbling after him.
“The mortal world.”
The ground shook, and she caught him as he fell. He bounded away again, back through the crowds. Jenn focused on keeping up with him. He ran through the city and into the apple orchard on the side of the city she’d only seen once, for peasants didn’t go there. Half the orchard was on fire while the other half rained delicate pink-white blooms from the apple trees. She looked around, astounded by the beauty of the orchard, then realized she’d lose sight of Dustin once he crested the hill in the center of the orchard.
She ran faster to catch up to him and saw the small group at the bottom of the hill. She didn’t recognize any of them. Dustin ran up to the young man Jenn assumed was his master, and the golden eyes at once told her who this Damian was. Only the sons of a White God had eyes the color of amber!
She moved forward. Someone stopped her, and she looked up, barely registering the face of a tattooed man with long, dark hair.
“She’s coming with us,” Dustin proclaimed. “Damian, please.”
Shifting her attention from the tattooed man, Jenn rested her eyes on the young man, who glanced at her after Dustin spoke. His eyes were red as if he’d been crying, and his clothing was streaked with blood. He nodded.
“Jenn,” said the tattooed man, whose hand was on her arm, and she looked back at him. “Yes, you’ll come with us.” His look said he knew her, though she’d never seen any of them in her life. Another woman lay on the ground near the youth named Damian, her shapely figure, porcelain complexion, and auburn hair indicating her beauty even in her sleep.
“Go, Damian,” the tattooed man said.
Jenn looked around, wondering where they were going. Fire still raged at one end of the orchard, filling the air above the trees with black smoke. Damian struggled to lift the woman at his feet then carried her towards a tree. Jenn gasped as the two of them disappeared.
“C’mon, Jenn,” Dustin said and took her hand. “We’re Guardians now. We’re going to the mortal world.”
She went, walking towards the tree without knowing what to expect. Suddenly, she fell, just as quickly landing in a field with waist-high grass and a bright yellow sun overhead. Dustin hopped to his feet and ran to join his master.
Jenn looked around, disoriented again. The ground behind her made a sucking sound, and she scampered away, staring at the swirling earth. It spit out someone else from the immortal world then slowed to a near stop. Finally, another body came through, this one bloodied and battered. She recognized the tattooed man. He landed next to her and was still.
“Jule!” Damian exclaimed. He hurried to the unconscious man’s side. “Is he alive?”
Jenn knelt beside him and pressed her fingers to his neck. She nodded. The youth with the golden eyes sat back and looked around, appearing overwhelmed.
“Only an Other could hurt an Original like this,” he whispered.
“The portal closed,” one of the others said.
Jenn looked to where the vortex had been. Damian inched towards it, planting his hands on the ground.
“Gone,” he whispered. “We’re stuck here.”
The small group exchanged looks. The mortal world was raw and new, but there was no magic in it. Jenn felt worn from the inside as her internal magic tried to connect with that of the world. Her movements were heavy and awkward. The longer she sat, the harder it seemed to get up.
“Damian, what happened?” Dustin asked.
“I don’t know,” Damian replied, looking lost.
“That,” another voice said, “was the Schism.”
Jenn faced the newcomer, surprised to see a small, grandfatherly man with brilliant green eyes standing near them.
“Are they all dead, Watcher?” Damian asked.
“The only Guardians in existence are now in the mortal realm, and you are now the White God.”
More words were exchanged, but Jenn heard none of them. The memory of her Talia falling into the chasm returned, filling her thoughts. Crippling pain began to take over her mind and body. She closed her eyes and pushed it away. Not including the man Damian called Watcher, the man called Jule was the only one of the group older than her, and he’d be lucky to survive the day.
She’d gotten her wish. She was now a Guardian in the mortal world. The people around her—the White God she was sworn to serve as a Guardian—needed her. There was nothing she could do for Talia, nothing that remained of the immortal world.
“Wha
t do we do?” Damian asked Watcher.
“You must fulfill your duty to the humans. There are many Guardians assigned to this world already. Gather your Guardians and battle the Black God,” the Watcher said. “You are all that stands between him and those who live in this world.”
The youth looked lost again. Jenn pitied him but couldn’t bring herself to speak, not when she, too, barely understood what was going on.
“I’ll protect you, ikir,” Dustin said.
“Thank you, Dusty,” the youth said and ruffled the boy’s hair. “I guess we need to find a … a new home.” His eyes went to the still man in front of Jenn. “Jule will know what to do when he wakes up.”
Jenn glanced down again. She didn’t want to say it, but the bloodied immortal didn’t look like he’d wake up for quite a while, especially if there was no Healer among the survivors. She felt the sudden urge to run again, as far as she could from her past, Talia’s death, the bleak future of the White God and his Guardians. She wanted to sprint until her body gave out then wait for her death to come. She deserved nothing less than to die broken and alone after what she’d done to her baby.
Her gaze went to the unfamiliar horizon as raw pain began to replace her numbness. She would run until she died or until someone killed her. She’d be at peace then, with her daughter.
The Watcher drew her attention as he bent. He peered at the Original Immortal curiously then looked up at her. His eyes were brighter than the moon, greener than any gem she’d ever dreamt of.
“Your fate is with the White God, Jenn,” the Watcher said.
Duty, honor, courage, selflessness. The familiar words in her thoughts were chanted in a voice that wasn’t hers. Somehow, they lessened her pain again, as if the strange figure before her wrapped them in magic before placing them in her head.
“Do you understand?”
Duty, honor, courage, selflessness. Her pain faded, and she drew a shaky breath as the tension in her chest loosened.
“Yes,” she said in a hoarse voice. “I understand.”
Duty, honor, courage, selflessness. The pain was gone.
“Ikir, we should find shelter,” she said to Damian.