The Circle of Duty

by Owen Elgie

  The Elder still hadn’t broken her stance but was quick to step back into the exchange.

  “You have pointed out here that you have been to the Awakenings of Guardians following the fall of the former to hold the rank and you were quick to highlight the fact you have worked with the Dragons as part of their training. Surely these facts will highlight perfectly that you had been placed in a position of power over the latest to answer the call, making you directly responsible for the knowledge and skills they possessed?”

  Again she was silent for that extra heartbeat as she let the point sink in to everyone. I opened my mouth to respond quickly but found myself struck dumb as I considered her point. She let my silence hang that extra beat as a validation of her point then continued where I should have been speaking.

  “You have continuously shown that you haven’t been given the requisite skills to be able to truly be effective in the role of Guardian and all it entails. You were brought into this world without any training or schooling and expected to perform in the same way as anyone else.” Now she softened her voice and spoke with a tone that of a caring parent.

  “How could we expect you to be able to do the same things we are when you have had none of the training involved? As you said, you were the, what was the phrase? The new kid on the block.”

  There were low rumbles of agreement coming from more than one point in the ring around us now as The Elder again let the silence do more damage than any words she could have used. I couldn’t argue with her logic at this point without looking like I was just being petulant, just as she said I was. Instead I was forced to remain silent which gave the impression of acknowledged guilt.

  This time the silence lasted for much longer than a heartbeat.

  The Elder continued to pace the ring around me, this time looking studiously at the floor as she paced. Now when she spoke she didn’t look up or indeed aim her attention in any direction other than at the space of bare stone floor just ahead of her feet.

  “The new kid on the block. Such an interesting way to describe yourself, don’t you think? The newest member of the group is probably as close as I can see your meaning. Am I right in my thinking of how you used that phrase?” She tilted her head up to me as she passed and I could feel more than just her eyes on me as she waited for me to respond, every other person in the cavern, Guardian or retinue alike was waiting on what I was about to say.

  I gave the only answer open to me.

  “You are correct. The newest or youngest member.” I’d hoped for there to be at least a fragment of a barb attached to the comment about age but it would appear that she was either unfazed by the advancement of years or she just missed what I was saying.

  “But you’re not the new kid on the block are you? Not anymore. Indeed, your greatest success came when you were the most recently called Guardian so, if anything, you’ve deteriorated since you became a Guardian.” She stopped walking and whipped herself round to face me squarely, jabbing out an accusing finger as she did.

  “The new kid on the block has fallen more than once at your hands recently and that has brought us to the second part of the reason I called this most holy of gatherings. I request that The Circle conduct the ancient rite of Bridging to bring this weakness in our ranks to an end. There are two calls for it.”

  The place erupted.

  There were roars of agreement, dissent, fury, enjoyment all mixed together and there was no real way of being able to pick out who was saying what.

  That said, I didn’t even know what Bridging was.

  16

  Even the Messenger wasn’t having an effect on the cacophony of noise swirling round the cavern like a hurricane in a jam jar. She boomed out to the assembled group but even her words were lost amidst the sound. There was an ululating mass of reptilian voices, roars and howls forming the main blanket of sound which was riding over the few human voices adding to the soup.

  As the cacophony continued, The Elder slowly, deliberately returned to her throne and settled herself back to review the situation she had just created. I sat, lost for words, in the centre of the sound and just stared at her. There really wasn’t a great deal I could do.

  I’d had my own monster about to climb into a display of unbridled violence but The Elder had walked me into a position that would have me set upon by every other member of The Circle. My Dragon nature was to kick off if something was going wrong and she had known that. I’d been lucky enough to have at least some level of awareness which had stopped me from going off the deep end and proving the worst point. The trouble was that I hadn’t been prepared to have to defend myself against claims which appealed to the fears of the other members of the group – regardless of the truth.

  Looking at The Elder I knew that she had created an enemy which The Circle could have a true effect on, someone she could single out who they could all take action against rather than just leave us all with the gnawing fear we were starting to lose our conflict.

  She sat in her throne and gave no hint of emotion. There was no smug grin. No pompous expression of superiority, just a blank expression, as if she had done nothing more than her duty in this situation. Leatherpants, on the other hand, was a very different matter. He was now on his feet waving his arms wildly in all directions as he screamed into the mass of noise. He was doing all of this with an expression of the wildest glee twisting his face almost to the point of euphoria.

  Whatever the Bridging was, it couldn’t be good.

  I was brought back out of my own thoughts at the same time the rest of the gathered Circle were silenced.

  The only way to even begin to describe what happened was to say that there was a sound we could all see accompanied by a flash of light we could all hear. It was beyond the senses and seemed to just be more than anything any of us could describe. And it had come from The Mage.

  He was still sitting in his own throne but he now had his left hand raised above his head. He passed his gaze over everyone before him in the same fashion as a scalding teacher to their unruly class. Everyone stopped and just focused their attention on him. As he lowered his hand slowly, The Messenger filled the silence.

  “THERE ARE STEPS WE MUST TAKE SHOULD THERE BE A CALL FOR THIS RITE TO BE CONDUCTED. WE MUST ALL REMEMBER OUR STATIONS AND NOT DECEND INTO CHAOS. ELDER. WHY DO YOU CALL FOR THE BRIDGING?”

  Leatherpants stepped forward from his place in the seating next to his master.

  “Gathered Lords and Ladies of The Circle. My master has shown that the latest bearer of the mantle of power from our stronghold in Wales is unable to deliver what is expected of him. We have all seen as Guardian after Guardian has fallen when he has been involved in the defence of the prison. This level of failure hasn’t been seen since the very earliest days of the struggle between The Circle and The Hive. My lady has shown that we need to have a more capable Guardian in position to allow us to have the strength we have all come to expect.”

  “Sorry shorty, I’m the last in my line. Nowhere for the power to go if I die so you’re pretty much stuck with me.” I couldn’t help myself. The words were out before I’d even thought about them and by the look on Leatherpants’s face, I’d just done him a favour.

  “We have a perfect example of how this young pup is ignorant of the expectations placed upon him. He will act without thinking. We all understand that the natures of the Guardian power will affect the carrier of that power but he seems to be totally unable to curtail his impulses. Indeed, he has been lusting after another Guardian without consideration for what consequences that could precipitate.”

  Now that comment really caught the room by the short and curlies. There was a palpable weight smashing into me as all of the eyes in the room were cast firmly in my direction. I could see that everyone was trying to work out who was on the other end of my attentions and it didn’t take long for the whole room to work out that Leatherpants was talking about Andrea. She had, after all been the one who had trained me and had been present
at all of the battles in Argentina. I risked a furtive glance in her direction but found that she was unmoved. She was sat utterly still and had lowered a mask of casual indifference over her features.

  Leatherpants continued as the emotion was buffeted around the room.

  “There has been no denial so he has confirmed the point. He has been focusing on his animal attraction rather than on what he needs to be doing as part of this order. We need Guardians who will give everything to the cause of the defence of our prisons rather than just following the calling of his animal self.”

  He was about to continue but I stopped him. There was no way I could let him continue this character assassination and expect to get out of here in one piece. I still didn’t know what this Bridging procedure was but by the way it was being teed up, it really wasn’t going to be something I’d encourage my friends to have done. Standing up again, I tried to give a reasoned response and make it look like I knew what was going on.

  “Is it wrong to have feelings for another person? If the enemy is successful against us, should we jump on the easiest explanation or look for the right one? How could my feelings for anyone be cause for making me the scapegoat for what is going on here?” I tried to look as sincere as possible as I spoke, using wide arm gestures to aid my point but I’m not sure that the pleading part came through the armoured Dragon exterior. Leatherpants continued.

  “Is it wrong to have feelings for another person? No, but you are a Guardian of The Circle and as such are expected to dedicate yourself to all things geared towards the protection of the human race. You must suspend your pursuit of a mate. You can’t think beyond yourself can you? As for picking on the easiest explanation, I do hope you’ve heard of Occam’s Razor. Of course you haven’t. That the simplest explanation is usually the right one. The power of logic is your undoing young fool.”

  There was another intake of breath at that last comment and even I could see that Leatherpants had just done something he shouldn’t have done. I risked another look at Andrea but she was still as calm as a glacier.

  “My lord Mage,” I said while turning to the dais at the head of the room. “I am being accused of crimes for which there is no proof other than I was close by. I am being told that what I think is wrong so I should be sanctioned for it,” now for the big risk, “and I am being disrespected by a mere functionary. As I see, a great deal of the call for my Bridging is that I do not follow the prescribed paths of The Guardians in thought or action yet I am being insulted by a servant. Do you not see the hypocrisy of this? Can’t I be allowed to prove my own innocence of what I am being accused?”

  Fingers crossed.

  Looking at Leatherpants as we all waited on a response from The Mage, I could see that I’d just caught him with a very sneaky shot. He knew that he’d pushed just a little too far with the young fool comment and he could see the issue he’d just created. If The Mage was to uphold the rule of everything within The Circle and have me ‘Bridged’ he would have to do something unpleasant to Leatherpants and I could see that Leatherpants knew it. If he let Leatherpants off the hook, then how could he hold me to the same laws?

  The Elder was utterly unmoved by this situation though.

  The anticipation in the room was growing by the heartbeat and I could sense around me that everyone was practically pleading with The Mage to give an answer to show The Circle what it was expected to believe. Eventually he spoke.

  “Gathered Guardians. We have indeed found ourselves in a situation where the enemy has been able to exert a great deal of pressure on all of us and our forces.”

  His voice was like a mixture of warm honey and chocolate but cut through with razorblades and fish hooks. He was able to project both the caring love of a parent while holding the implicit horror of what he was able to do. I imagined it felt like being an insect drawn towards that deadly blue light, only with knowledge of what that light could do to you. It just highlighted how serious this whole mess had become if the Mage was as angry as he was showing himself to be.

  “Mr. Ward has made a well-balanced case but he has not shown that there is any proof of his claims. In much the same way, Mr. Johns has been accused of a great many things which do fit the accusations but he, as a Guardian of The Circle, is subject to a great many different forces that the servants of this group must be unaware. Elder, had you made the fullness of this claim yourself, I would have ruled for you, but My Johns is correct that he is being insulted by a mere servant, even one with the length of service as Mr. Ward, so I am forced to decline the call for Bridging in this case.”

  The Elder remained motionless and her expression gave no hint of any inner emotion, positive or negative. Leatherpants on the other hand, was less able to hold his emotions in check and I could see that he was more than a little angry with the word of The Mage. He quickly turned and sat down next to the throne of his master, carrying the demeanor of the spoilt child who hasn’t gotten their way.

  The relief I felt was quite remarkable. I’d been able to talk my way out of trouble without there being the need to demolish the location afterwards. I’d prevented myself being ‘Bridged’, which I still had no idea about, and had been able to make The Elder and Leatherpants lose face before all of the gathered Guardians. Not bad at all.

  “ELDER. WHAT WAS THE SECOND CALL FOR BRIDGING?” boomed The Messenger as I was turning to sit down again.

  She, again, purposefully stood up and made her way toward the centre of the ring of thrones.

  “Gathered Guardians. My second call for a Bridging is also linked to the actions of this Guardian from Wales and I call for a swift action. The actions of this member of our group have resulted in the outcome we must rectify here. I call for a new Guardian to be called for the fallen.”

  As she said the final word of her sentence she waved out an arm in a theatrical flourish and aimed it towards one of the thrones. All eyes followed her arm and I was confronted by a hideous reality.

  Up to this point, I’d been utterly concerned with the situation I had found myself and it had seemed that every single action which had been taking place had been aimed at making me aware that I had been responsible for the problems which had befallen The Circle. At no time had I even really looked at the detail of what was going on around me. I’d seen Andrea as I had looked at her for guidance or comfort but I hadn’t looked beyond her and the direction of The Elders arm proved it to me.

  She was signaling at one of the thrones at the back of the ring in relation to the dais the Mage was sat upon. The Dragon sat upon it had had their head bowed as Leatherpants and I had been making our points and The Elder had said what she had but I’d not ever really paid any true attention to the detail. It was only now that I could see what was happening. The head was still bowed but I could now see the detail of the Dragon. The large plates of armour over the slightly thin, adolescent frame were far too familiar to me as I finally worked out that Frederico’s Dragon body was slumped in the throne.

  17

  I just sat dumfounded.

  There was nothing more for me to add.

  I’d been told that Freddy had been killed but that detail seemed to have gotten lost in the mix. I’d been so focused on what was happening to me that maybe I hadn’t thought about what was happening to everyone else. Looking at the slumped form of the young Guardian I’d been working with I realized that he had been nothing more than a boy and I had been asked to give him the training he needed to be the Guardian. My efforts had brought us to this point.

  Taking in the details of his empty form now, I could see the draining of the colour from his skin and how his musculature had sagged following his passing. The body had been arranged with as much reverential care as could be mustered for the giant frame but it was easy for anyone with the slightest awareness to see that he was dead.

  I felt sick that I’d missed it.

  I tried to hold my expression together without letting my own horror seep out. I don’t think it worked.
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br />   The Elder continued to speak into the cavern but there was no orchestrated pausing or movements. She just ran through the points.

  “This is the Dragon form of our latest Guardian victim. He fell in the defence of the prison in Argentina and understood the need for sacrifice his position called for. He was happy to give his life for the good of the protection of the human race but he was also wise enough to notice that there was an ever shrinking pool of people to choose from behind him.”

  The silence in the cavern was almost too much to bare as I sat and listened to what The Elder had to say.

  “He is survived by a sister, Maria, who is the next in line for his mantle but we are forced to re-consider our position.” There was a heavy resignation in her voice as she spoke about Freddy’s sister.

  Now I could remember all the most painful of the details. I could recall now, in all too clear resolution, the conversation I’d had with Freddy on the eve of the final battle he would see. He’d been resolute in his understanding of what it was he was expected to do. He’d been sure he must protect the human race, but he’d also been sure he must protect his family first. He’d known that he had to make certain he didn’t fall, not for the good of the population of the planet as a whole but because he knew if he did, it would be his sister who would have to take up the mantle and she was still a six year old child.

  The thought of a small child being given the power and responsibility of one of the Guardians of The Circle was terrifying. I could remember the pain and discomfort I’d felt prior to my own Awakening and the horrors I’d seen since then. I’d been woefully underprepared for what was coming but at least I had been an adult. At least I’d had enough faculty to understand what was happening. This was no world for a child.

  “Which brings us to the request for Bridging.” The Elder had turned to face The Mage now and was speaking directly to him.