Lacey Thorn - Island Guardians 03 - Washed Away.doc

by Washed Away (lit)

“You didn’t want to leave,” Willow nodded, understanding perhaps more than anyone else ever could since she too had been raised by her fathers, her mother also having died while she was young.

  “Vulcan was there,” Alea whispered softly, “and I had no wish to leave him or my fathers. It is the only home that I have ever known.”

  “Are you intended for someone?” Willow asked.

  “Not that I know of,” Alea responded but she didn’t meet Willow’s eyes. “There are very few warriors in the mountains. The young ones are sent to the villages to train and the older ones are usually in the towers. My fathers let me dress as I wanted and have had the run of the land since there was none around to say otherwise.”

  “I would not want to give up that freedom either,” Willow smiled. “But it can’t be so bad there. Your bird, Vulcan, is with you. Your cousins seem very nice and you are still wearing the clothes of your choice.”

  Alea laughed at that and a huge grin split her face. “Princess Asme tried to get me to change but I refused. I got really angry the one time she tried. Then this tornado of air seemed to form out of nowhere and she did something to get rid of it. She gave me a funny look and left me alone. But she has made her sons, Bram, Finn and Tanner, my keepers. I rarely go anywhere that one of them is not around.”

  Willow knew that Alea had caused the tornado with her anger. This Guardian of Air must be very powerful indeed and the Princess Asme must have seen that as well.

  Willow couldn’t help but wonder just how much longer it would be before Alea realized who and what she was. Then she wondered if Alea had even heard of the legend. After all, the girl had grown up without a mother and probably with no other female present much of the time. It was quite possible that she knew nothing of the curse or the prophecy.

  “Do you know the story of how our island came to be as it is? Why we are at constant war?” Willow asked Alea.

  “Of course.” Alea gave Willow a funny look. “Most of the other islands were destroyed by sickness and disease and this is one of the only ones that for some reason survived intact. It only makes sense that others would try to claim it for their own.”

  “But do you know the legend of why we are as we are? The curse? The prophecy?” Willow tried again.

  “Princess Asme told me of the curse placed by the old priestess when the warriors came here. Something about having to face war because of their actions.”

  “Did she tell you of the prophecy? Of the coming of the Guardians?” Willow wanted to know.

  Alea rolled her eyes. “Yes, but please tell me you don’t believe that nonsense. You don’t really believe that four women will be gifted with powers and save us all.”

  Willow laughed and stood, her eyes fixed on the water where ships could just be seen in the distance, approaching. “I not only believe it, Alea. I am one of them. Look.” She pointed her finger to where she could just make out the approaching ships.

  “Hurry,” Alea shouted, turning to leave but Willow stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder. “We must go to warn the warriors that more come.”

  “No, Alea,” Willow shook her head. “You must watch and learn to believe.”

  With that Willow turned back to face the water and stepped out of the trees to stand on the sandy beach. She threw her hands above her head and invoked her powers, asking for the goddess’s blessing.

  “I call upon the waters flow, where I will is where you go.

  “For each who seeks to claim our shore, a wave’s caress and then no more.

  “The goddess’s blessing on my call, a watery grave for one and all.”

  Alea watched as the air swirled around Willow, lifting her hair around her and playing through the veils of her clothing with a breeze that could be neither seen nor felt by anyone else. Then as she continued to watch Willow threw her hands out in front of her like she was pushing something away and the waters began to flow back out to sea. Waves that had just crashed on shore now raced away from land, headed to the ships that they could see, gaining momentum and power as they flowed. They hit the ships with a mighty shove and Alea was amazed to see the ships disappear from sight.

  “Did you kill them?” Alea asked with awe.

  “I only invoked the goddess’s hand,” Willow told her. “It is up to her what shall become of them. The important thing to me is to know if you believe in the Guardians now, Alea.”

  “Yes.” Alea looked at Willow and fear filled her eyes as well as awe at what she had witnessed. “I believe in the Guardians and the power they possess.”

  Willow smiled, hoping that she had just set Alea on the path to enlightenment. She took Alea’s arm in hers and they headed back to the glen where the tents were set up and the warriors were probably still discussing what was to be. Had they but turned once more and looked behind them they would have seen one ship return to sight and continue on toward the Isle of Altair.

  * * * * *

  “This is the way that it must be,” Bram spoke for his father, tired of the incessant arguing that got them nowhere and wasted time. “We no longer have the manpower to ensure the widespread safety of our women and children. We must either band together in one place, fortify our defenses and stand as one,” he looked around, letting

  his gaze meet and hold as many as he could, “or we may as well hand our women and children and anything else they want over to them and save the time and effort of continuing as we are.”

  No one spoke a word. Silence descended and it was more shattering than the loud voices and chaos that had preceded it. Finally Bram’s father Prince Micah Verbani stepped up beside his son and rested his hand on Bram’s shoulder. He looked so old and worn to Bram, Finn and Tanner in that moment, and they above anyone else save their mother were gifted with a better understanding of just what it took to be leader of a people in a time of constant war and battle.

  Prince Micah was probably the most misunderstood of all warriors. He was often viewed as cold and arrogant, dominant and unforgiving, a true force to be reckoned with. But his children knew better. They knew the father who had played and laughed with them as youngsters, tossing them in the air while they screamed with joy. From their mother, the Princess Asme, they had learned of the life their fathers had once lived and how they had buried their loved ones and moved on. And it was Prince Micah who led the way, having no other choice but to remain strong despite his personal pain at burying his first wife and three young daughters.

  Now Bram, Finn and Tanner were proud to stand next to him and show their unwavering faith and support of his plan, the only plan they really had a chance of using at this point. They lost more and more warriors in battles against the ones who constantly landed on their shores and tried to take away their land and their women, the very heart and soul of all they were. Bram thought of his mother, his cousin Alea and shuddered at the possibility that they could be captured and subjected to the whims of men who saw them solely as sex vessels and breeders. No matter what they had to do, no matter what the sacrifice required, that must not be allowed.

  “When should we look to move our families to the central village and the shelter of the old Temple Palace?” one weary older warrior asked, his voice echoing in the quiet.

  “As soon as possible,” Prince Micah replied. “There is no time to lose in gathering together and setting up a new line of defense to ensure their continued safety.” He was worn out and his voice conveyed it. “If there was any other way then I would do all within my power to let things stay as they are now. But there isn’t. Four women were kidnapped from the village on the western shores just days ago.” A gasp of outrage flowed through the air. “These invaders grow bolder every day and their numbers increase too quickly to suit me. There is no other way to protect the women and children of this island,” Prince Micah admitted sadly. “There is just no other way.”

  Willow and Alea stood at the edge of the group, taking it all in. Alea leaned close to Willow and whispered in her ear, “What of the G
uardians? Are they not the only way?”

  Willow smiled at her and nodded her head. “Yes, but try explaining that to so many warriors and you will be laughed at. No man wants to believe that his fate rests in the hands of a woman,” she scoffed, “much less five of them.”

  “But you could show them,” Alea assured her. “Just as you showed me. They would have to believe what they saw.”

  Willow sadly shook her head again, this time back and forth. “You would be surprised,” she murmured. “Besides, now is not the time or place to share who I am with any but you and my mates.”

  “They know?” Alea asked, surprised.

  “Yes, from the beginning they have known who and what I am,” Willow told her.

  “And they are okay with it? They are accepting and everything?” Alea asked and was amazed when Willow nodded her head yes. “That is amazing.”

  “They are amazing,” was Willow’s heartfelt reply. “I am a very lucky woman. I wish the same for you.”

  “I do not wish to mate,” Alea stated firmly. Too firmly, Willow thought.

  “Is there something wrong with those you are promised to?” Willow inquired softly and Alea looked at her with shock. “I know that you did not tell me the truth earlier,

  Alea. Your eyes spoke the truth when I asked if you were promised to anyone. What are you so afraid of?”

  “I am to be mated with the Xandova warriors,” she whispered as if she feared somehow saying the names would conjure the men, “Drew and Sorran.”

  Willow knew vaguely the name Xandova. They were well-known warriors, mostly due to their incredible height and size. If she was not mistaken the Xandovas stood at least seven feet with most closer to the seven and a half feet range. Alea was Willow’s size, standing five feet, eight inches, so she could see where the girl would be intimidated.

  “What is it you fear the most about joining with them?” Willow asked Alea quietly.

  “They are so very big,” Alea said with wide eyes, “taller even than my cousins or even your mates from what I have heard. And strong. So incredibly strong.”

  “You have not met them?” Willow shouldn’t be surprised by this but for some reason she was. Usually a woman met those she was joined as mates with at some point prior to the joining.

  “No, but I have heard about them,” Alea confessed. “I have heard that they are incredibly rough and can be brutal in battle.” The girl’s fear was palpable but Willow could sense that there was more to it than the size of the Xandovas.

  “Alea, most men are different with the women they join with,” Willow spoke cautiously, not wanting to give false hope since she knew that some warriors were brutal to their mates. She had seen such behavior all too often in the camps that she and her fathers had stayed in, camps where mates were sometimes treated as pani and passed around to satisfy the lust of many. But not all men were that way. Her warriors weren’t and her fathers had never been that way as far as she knew. “Men can be softer with their woman, giving and accepting, gentle. All warriors are rough and brutal in battle where life and death is on the line. But try not to fear what you don’t know, Alea. It can be a waste of time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere on more productive things. Give these Xandova warriors a chance and if you see that there is a

  need for fear than you still have Vulcan and with him the ability to leave.” She nodded toward the sky where even now the bird soared high above them. Of course more than the aqua-phoen was the fact that Alea was a Guardian and as such would have the others standing beside her.

  “Yes, Vulcan can be very protective of me,” Alea smiled again, some of the tension leaving her shoulders before she took on a fierce expression again. “But I will not give up my clothes for anyone,” she informed Willow with a scowl. “I refuse to wear skirts and those tops. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Willow laughed, thinking how funny it would be to be around when the Xandova warriors met their intended mate for the first time. They would have their work cut out for them if they intended to woo her into accepting them and Willow prayed to the goddess that that would be their intention. Alea had been sheltered in the home of her fathers and had known only older, more settled warriors who lived close to her fathers in the mountains. “I couldn’t imagine you in any other clothing, Alea.”

  Alea nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, glancing back to the gathering of warriors and trying to decide what to do. “It sounds as if we will all be heading to the central village where I have been staying with my aunt. So it seems that I will be seeing you again soon.”

  “Yes, so it does,” Willow agreed, wondering how this would fit in with the goddess’s plan, for it was a certainty that it must.

  “Perhaps we will even travel together.” Alea sounded excited by this thought and Willow smiled again. They were so close in age yet so far apart in their lives and where they were. Alea seemed younger, more naïve in some ways, untainted by the chaos around them. It was a wonderful thing to see.

  “Yes,” Willow murmured, watching as her warriors and their two friends turned and headed toward her. “Perhaps we will.”

  Chapter Five

  They would all be spending one final night and then leave for the village home of the Mederra warriors in the early hours of the morn. None were really looking forward to the long journey ahead. It would be a warm welcome until the village realized that with their return they would all be embarking on an even longer journey. For it would take many months to move the people to the more centralized location as they would have to travel in smaller groups to better ensure the safety of the elderly and children. Plus they would have to include some of the animals on each trip as well as their stores of food and water to ensure that there were enough supplies when they arrived.

  Willow sat around the fire that night, listening intently to the flowing conversation between her mates and their two friends. It seemed that tonight would be used to strategize the best way to approach the village elders with the prince’s orders. It would be up to these four men to ensure that everything went as smoothly as possible and that everyone arrived at the final destination safely. Not so easy when there was bound to be dissent.

  “You know that you can count on the Savaris, the Donans and the Mederras to see that things go as smoothly as possible. Between the seven of us we can ensure that people are moved safely,” Arik stated confidently.

  “We can go in groups of four,” Alexi added. “With one of us always rotating to make up for the odd number. Either that or I am sure we should be able to come up with an eighth warrior to help us.”

  “We will see what we have when we get home,” Drago stated. “It will just be good to be there again. To see Mother and Erika.”

  “Aye,” Arik agreed. “It will be good to see my mate again as well as the children and my brother.”

  “Yes, I long for Farrah more with every passing day,” Alexi replied. “It is too long that we have been gone.”

  “Do we leave then in the morning?” Willow asked softly, hating to intrude on the musings of the men around her.

  “Yes,” Ulrik stated, pulling her into his lap and holding her close to his chest. “We will leave with the rising of the sun. If we travel quickly then we will be able to make the journey in just a few days.”

  “There is much that I can do along the way to aid in the smoothness of our journey,” Willow murmured quietly to her mate.

  “And we will make use of it,” Ulrik assured her. “There is something that we should share with all of you prior to our trip,” he spoke to Alexi and Arik.

  “Yes,” Drago added, knowing what it was that his brother sought to share with their friends and brothers in arms. “We must make sure that you understand the importance of our mate, of guarding and protecting her at all cost. Our very existence depends on her safety.”

  Alexi and Arik shared a veiled look before either replied. “Perhaps you should just tell us exactly what it is that you need to share. I
don’t think that you have to worry about either of us repeating it to others,” Alexi answered.

  “Your word first,” Drago insisted. “Your word that what is spoken here will go no further.”

  “You have my word,” Alexi stated.

  “And mine as well,” Arik replied.

  “Willow.” Ulrik looked deep into her beautiful green eyes. “It is your secret to share so I will leave the telling to you. Share what you feel you can but know that these are my brothers as well. Drago and I would and do trust them with our lives and with our families. You can trust them as well.”

  Willow nodded and looked around at each of the other two men around the fire. Drago scooted closer so that he could place his hand on her neck and offer what comfort he could to her. It was not an easy secret to share. Drago and Ulrik had just known, thus making it so much easier for her.

  Willow had grown up around warriors. She had long listened to the jokes and comments that were made about the curse and the coming of the Island Guardians. To warriors it was ludicrous to put faith in the possibility that five women would save them all. A warrior lived and died by his own abilities. He fought to protect his women. He did not hide behind them. And yet here she sat before them, an Island Guardian gifted with the power of water. And there was much that the goddess’s gift allowed her to do.

  Willow was often able to pull water out of the very earth or air if need be. But the most devastating of her gifts was the ability to pull water out of the body of an enemy. She could literally call the water from the body, killing the other person instantly. It was not a pretty way to go nor was it an easy death. She had only used it once when she was caught on her way back to the camp by a solitary warrior not from her island home.

  She had been too far from the water to call to it, so she had whispered words to invoke the goddess and bring the water to her. She had succeeded all too well, only the water that had come to her had come from the body of the man. Willow had watched with huge eyes as the water spewed from the man’s mouth, eyes, ears and nose until there was nothing but a shell left. She had been careful never to invoke that prayer again and luckily she hadn’t needed to.