Valaisha Defenders

by Lara Rose Lee

  “Remember when I surrounded the trees to suffocate the flames in the woods?” I asked keeping the shield up.

  “Are you thinking you can cover the whole village? It is much bigger than the fire. What about keeping the shield up? Your arms would get tired.” I frowned he was right, and at this point, I have no idea what all I could do with my shield.

  Then a thought came to me. “Saratoes Cave.” Bryden looked at me puzzled. “What if we gather everyone and guide them to the cave? It goes down and is big enough to hold everyone. I should be able to shield everyone as we walk them to the cave.” Bryden was slightly nodding in thought as I spoke.

  “If we could gather everyone together, this could work.”

  A huge baseball size ice stone came and bounced off my shield, then another and another. “We need to hurry the ice storm is just about here,” I said spreading the shield to try and cover the entire village. “As I hold off the storm with my shield I need you to get everyone gathered.” He nodded and flew down and began to bang on doors alerting the people and getting them to do the same and gather in the square as I held off the storm with the shield.

  Ice, rain, lightning, and thunder were all around us. I watched as people gather supplies and lanterns and such to take to the cave. The cave was about a couple of miles away so this will be interesting to fly above while the people walked below towards the cave as I keep the shield safely over them.

  I heard Bryden explaining about the shield, and many looked up and noticed me on my tayren controlling the shield around them. They were loading the few wagons hooked to caizons. Once loaded and all the people now gathered, Bryden took the lead and began to guide the people with my tayren Mystique flying slowly above keeping the shield over everyone.

  18 rough flight

  It took us over an hour to walk the couple miles with the children and elderly and wagons along with the storm slowing us down, but we finally made it, and the people began to unload the carts into the cave as the women and children with lanterns went in ahead. When everyone and animals were safely inside Bryden, and his tayren was waiting for me inside. I slowly descended towards the cave and flew inside dropping the shield behind me. Bryden rushed over and hugged me.

  “This was an excellent idea. The people are safe now.”

  “Only there are many villages? What about those?” I asked him.

  “We will have to take one situation at a time.”

  “From what direction did the storm come in from?” A thought was coming to me.

  “From over the Avalonian sea north of here.” He looked as if he too were thinking the same thing.

  I nodded. “The machine needed the sea to create the moisture to form the clouds. My theory is since it came from that direction the machine would have to be on Valaisha and since it came from the north,”

  “The islands. That would be the logical spot for them to place a weather-making machine.”

  “That is what I was thinking. We need to head towards the Greenbryer islands.” I said climbing back onto the back of my tayren. Bryden followed and again I created the shield around us as we flew north. We could feel the wind and the rattle of the loud thunder just about shaking us off. As we got closer to the sea, the storm worsened. It is quite a long way to the island and a lot of water to cross. It was getting tougher to hang on and keep the shield up. The lightning was more fierce here, and the drops of rain were huge as well as the falling ice.

  As each clap of thunder shook us severely, we had to hang on tight. “We must be on the right track,” I shouted to Bryden.

  “I agree, this is so intense out here.” He shouted back.

  Just at that moment, a shattering thunder rocked us so hard, Bryden lost his grip and fell. “Bryden!!!” I yelled, and with one hand I created a shield around him catching him just before he hit the water. Now I was trying to balance on my tayren with no hands as I had one with the shield over me and the tayrens and the other holding my husband.

  I almost fell with another sudden clap of thunder and leaned into my tayren’s neck to keep my balance. I raised my hand that was controlling the shield with Bryden up and moved him towards his tayren. As he got closer to his tayren, he grabbed at the saddle and pulled himself up on it, then leaned against his tayren’s neck and held on. “Thank you, babe.” He said loud enough for me to hear.

  I smiled, “I would catch you anytime.” He smiled back at me as we continued on our way and held on tighter so it wouldn’t happen again. As we flew, below us the sea was so choppy and rough. I would hate to think what would have happened to Bryden if I wasn’t able to catch him. I shook my head and flew on. Seeing was getting tougher to make out, so we just continued north in hopes to not pass the islands. I was grateful we remembered to stop all ship transports because all would have been lost out here.

  I strained my eyes to try and see anything on the horizon when suddenly I believe I could see an outline of mountains. “I think I see Greenbryer!” I said and noticed Bryden squinting his eyes trying to see as well.

  “I think you're right. It looks like mountains ahead.” The closer we got the more we could see. As we got to the islands, we began to see clear lavender skies, and it was then we knew this is where the machine is set up.

  “We need to be cautious; there may be members of the group here,” Bryden warned me.

  I took my hilt out of my holster just in case, and Bryden did the same. We landed the tayrens and took to walking. “Now to find where they could have the machine set up,” I whispered to Bryden, and he took my hand and squeezed it. We froze just as we heard voices sounding like they were coming towards our direction and we quickly ducked down into the thick foliage nearby. As we crouched down Bryden, protectively wrapped his arm around my waist. I strained to hear what was being said and caught the words, “The boss” and “Information.” As well as “Destruction.”

  Once they were past and their voices faded, we crept out from the brush and headed in the direction the two came from. “I wonder where they were heading?” I whispered to Bryden.

  “I am not sure, but my gut tells me we will find what we are looking for this way.” He whispered back. I nodded, and we continued until we heard more voices only they were not in motion like they were standing around and talking. We crept closer and stayed hidden among the thick brush. We could see a building and men standing around talking.

  “That must be where the machine is kept,” I whispered.

  “Hey! What you two doing here?” Our cue. We activated our swords and stood up ready to fight the men that were behind us. Bryden turned around and faced two men with laser guns aimed at us.

  “I would advise you lower your weapons if you know what’s good for you,” I said looking them in the eyes showing them I mean business.

  They both laughed, “And what are you going to do about it?” One asked still snickering.

  I smiled at them, “This!” I said as I lifted my hands and created shields around their weapons and jerked them out of their hands so fast they began to look confused and turned to run, but again I used the shield to stop them and knocked them out by banging them into each other.

  Bryden looked over at me. “You are getting good with this.” I smiled, and we ducked down before anyone else saw us. “We need to find a way to get into that building.”

  “I agree, but how?” I asked while studying the layout.

  He took my hand, “This way.” He said leading me around to back side. “There is only one guard back here.” He whispered to me. “Can you take him out with your shield quietly?”

  I nodded, “I can try.” I took my hands and created a shield bubble around the man and flung him far into the forest.

  “I bet he never knew what hit him,” Bryden said smiling at me and taking my hand as we crept towards the back door of the building. He tried the handle, and it was unlocked. He slowly opened the door and peeked in and around the corner making sure it was clear to enter. All was clear, and we snuck into the bu
ilding. We had to be careful as we could hear voices inside talking and one even laughed.

  We heard footsteps walking our way, and we ducked inside a door near us, it was a supply closet good thing for us. The man we heard walking shouted back, “Which one did you need?” He was close.

  “The blue handled one.” Came a reply. “It’s in the supply closet.”

  We looked at each other, and I looked up, and Bryden saw the hatch door above. He helped me up, and I opened the door and crawled through. Bryden pulled himself through and closed the door just in time as the footsteps were now at the door and it opened up. We could hear the man rummaging through things and yelled, “I can only find the red handled ones.”

  “They are there look harder.” Came the reply.

  “Here they are, I found them.” We heard him walk out and close the door behind him.

  We both breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close,” I said as Bryden opened the hatch door and helped me down. Then he climbed back down and slowly opened the door and peeked out. He grabbed my hand and led me down the hall. We still heard voices and laughter, and they seemed louder now. “They are getting a storm of a lifetime.” We heard one say.

  “I wouldn’t want to be there for sure.” said a second guy.

  “Yeah, imagine the new king and that lightning.” He then said jokingly shouting, “Fried King!!” Then laughter.

  “And what about that hot looking Queen, crying over her lost love?”

  “Hey, I wouldn’t mind giving her comfort, if you know what I mean?” Said the second guy. Bryden squeezed my hand tight, and I knew he was not liking what was being said.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I don’t care if she is in her forties. I would love a shot at her myself.” Again Bryden squeezed my hand so tight I thought he would break it. I gave him a look to assure him I know what he is feeling, but don’t hurt me. I indicated my hand, and he eased his hold and mouthed ‘Sorry’ to me. I smiled, and we continued to creep further on to look for the machine.

  At the end of the hall, after sneaking past the room with the two men. There stood another door, Bryden quietly opened the door and making sure no one was in there we went in. There in the middle was a machine, and it was running. “This has to be it,” I whispered, and he nodded.

  We both ignited our weapons and walked around the machine. “It must be controlled from that other room where those men are. I don’t see any controls in here. We will have to use our weapons to destroy this.” Bryden whispered to me.

  I nodded and answered. “They will hear us and come in with weapons.”

  “Have your shield ready to protect us,” Bryden said as he began to hack at the machine. It began to spark and make loud noises with each swing. I watched the door for the men I knew would come I holstered my weapon and had my shield ready. Just as the machine was destroyed and quieted, we heard footfalls running towards the door and banged the door down shooting at us, and I covered us with the shield to protect us.

  “It’s the King and Queen!!” One man shouted, and I recognized the voice as the first man.

  “How do we get out of here?” I asked Bryden as there was only one way and it was now blocked.

  “I hadn’t thought that far.”

  I looked over at him and was about to say something when the second voice said, “We have them trapped. Hey, keep the Queen alive maybe our fantasy will come true after all.”

  That did it! I began to manipulate the shield and wrapped it around the two offending men and with a mighty force I threw them hard against the far wall and out of our way. Bryden and I ran down the hall and towards the back door when more men came rushing in through the back and the front door surrounding us.

  We held our weapons ready to do battle; there had to be at least fifteen armed men. They had laser guns pointed at us, and we only had our swords and my shield. “Hun we are going to need your shield up. There are too many guns.” Bryden whispered to me. I stood straight up and disengaged my sword and holstered it again. I noticed the men looking at me funny, as I just smiled at every one of them. I began to move my hands, and they looked at each other puzzled. We happened to be near the supply closet, and there was a gap between two men, and I had a clear shot.

  I sent my shield crashing through the door destroying it to pieces, and the men nearest to the shattered door looked terrified. All the others seemed very nervous but stood their ground. The two men, I noticed their guns began to shake in their hands. Again I smiled and started moving my hands. “I would advise you, allow us to leave, that is only a small part of what my wife can do. If you don’t believe me? Go check the back room.” Bryden said indicating the back room where the two men lay dead.

  “Chad, go check the room!” One of the men ordered.

  “Yes, sir.” The man named Chad said very shakily looking at me. He turned and left to go down the hall and into the room. I could hear a commotion down there as he stumbled out the door yelling, “They are dead, they are dead!!”

  The man who ordered Chad looked at me. “How did they die?” He asked me.

  “I crushed them and threw them against the back wall,” I said not wavering from his stare.

  “Is that what it looked like Chad?” He said not taking his eyes off me.

  “Yeah, just like what she said.” He said sounding all scared.

  I kept my shield going in front of me not taking my eyes off the man who I assume must be one of the leaders here. Bryden stood there still holding his sword in position, watching the other men around us. “Let them go!” The man in charge finally ordered, and the men slowly began to make way for us to pass.

  As we got to the front door that was open, Bryden turned and added, “If you try and fix that machine, we will come back for you, and it will not be very peaceful.”

  We headed back to the beach where we left our tayrens and mounted up and took off towards the mainland. This time the ride was not as rough, it was still raining, but the clouds were not as dark as they once were. I didn’t need to shield us because the rain was light. We flew back in silence, and I was feeling remorse for the fact that I took lives. It always bothered me, but it was either them or us, and we have a world to protect.

  We reached land and decided to head to the cave and let the people know it was safe to go back to the village. We ran into Cedrick on our way. “Cedrick, what are you doing out here?” Bryden asked as we landed.

  “I noticed how the rain eased up and came out to investigate. That was alright to do? My dad is still in the cave.”

  “Of course it is. The storm is over and the machine destroyed. You can let your dad know, and between the two of you, you can lead the people back to the village.” Bryden said, “We need to head back to the Palace and see to the damages.”

  “Yes, your Majesty.” He said bowing and turned to head back to the cave.

  “I will inform Kieran that you are alright,” I added while he was within earshot of us.

  “Thank you, your majesty.”

  We noticed severe storm damage to the outside as we circled the Palace. We finally landed, and a stable hand took our tayrens to care for them. We walked in and went to cell block C where everyone was still sitting. “It is safe. The storm is over now.” Bryden said, and everyone stood up to walk up the stairs. Now the cleanup and repairs begin.

  I had the servants and maids go room to room and survey any damage and report it back to me. The power finally came back on, and we were able to see again. “We need to let Galen, and Derrik know. I imagine the storms are at its full force on Kaihu and Cainya.” Bryden was saying. “I feel we won’t be able to contact them since they don’t have power as we now do.”

  “We might have to go there personally and let them know how to locate the machines.” I stopped and was in thought. “We should not have left them to be able to communicate. Those men may have already warned the other sites, and they may have set traps.”

  “You are right. We should have destroyed any chance of
communication.” Bryden said as he began to pace the floor.

  “We need to get with the others and get a plan set to sneak in and destroy the other machines.”

  He nodded, “Which means we need to brave another storm.”

  “We should go to Kaihu first. Then we could have Rayna and Galen teleport us to Cainya.” I suggested.

  He nodded his agreement. “Are you ready then?”

  I smiled, “Ready.”

  We left to find Kieran and let her know our plans and have her oversee things here. I also informed her that Cedrick was alright. We went to the stable and had our tayrens resaddled for our flight to Kaihu.

  Again we were wearing our cloaks with our hoods up for protection from the storm. As we flew through the portal, we were met with a fierce storm already in progress. Again I had to cover us with my shield. The winds were just as severe as it was on Valaisha and the thunder so loud it was a constant battle to hang on and not fall off. The lightning kept ricocheting off my shield as well did the rain and chunks of ice.

  We finally were able to make out the outline of the palace and got to the stables and ran our tayrens inside the stone building to protect them. Before heading out, I surrounded us with my shield so we could run up the steps and into the Palace. “Rayna? Galen?” Bryden shouted as the building shook from the thunder.

  “Do you think they may have come up with the same idea we did and ushered everyone into the dungeon?” Just then a huge thunderclap caught me off balance, and I landed against Bryden, and his arms went protectively around me keeping me from falling. “That was bigger than any we had on Valaisha. The others must have been warned and created a worse storm.” I said against Bryden. Just then a lightning bolt came flashing past us and barely missed us, again the thunder sounded, and the ceiling began to crumble and fall on top of us. I quickly brought my hands up and shielded us.