The Trinity of Heroes (I Will Protect You Book 1)

by Mason Jr. , Jared

  “I am happy you are safe, Elsie,” Lawrence said in a shaky voice. Thoughts of what he had done to Phillip and what had happened to his father and Sabre Grey flooded into his mind.

  “What’s the matter, Lawrence? You look so unhappy,” Elsie said. She tried to force a smile. She knew something was wrong.

  “I watched my father die in my arms, Elsie. Phillip killed him, and there was nothing I could do. We had just made our amends, and then I had to watch him die. After all this time, my family was finally back together and then they were taken away from me again. My mother and my father are both gone, Elsie, and I can’t help but feel responsible. If I had just covered up for Razzius that night, none of this would have happened and my family would-”

  Elsie cut him off. “No, Lawrence! Do not ever say that! You know that isn’t true! If you had done that, your mother would have been hurt forever by your actions, and you know that your father always wanted you to hold true to your values! I won’t stand by and let you do this to yourself! Lawrence Sanctus is a Knight of Haile, a force for justice, not some corrupt bastard!” Elsie’s face was wet with tears. “The man I love would never do something so evil, so depraved as to cover up for someone who took their hatred out on others. It just isn’t true! I know you better than that!”

  Elsie gripped Lawrence tightly. Her embrace shook him from his depression, reminding him of his true purpose. “Since I have known you, Lawrence, you have never given up on your dream of becoming a Knight and you certainly have never done wrong. As far as I am concerned, Razzius is the reason for your parents’ deaths, not you.”

  The two stood there for a long time, just holding each other. Lawrence knew that Elsie was right; he just struggled to accept it.

  “What happened to Phillip and Sabre Grey?” Elsie asked. “Where are they now?”

  Tears began to fall from Lawrence’s face. He could barely choke out his answer. “I watched Sabre die right in front of me by Razzius’ hands as he was trying to protect Benni. He died as he lived, a Knight of Haile. No matter how many times he told me he didn’t want to do it, and no matter how much he sounded like he didn’t care, I know deep down that Sabre Grey really loved this city. I will be lucky to ever be half the man that he or my father were.” A morbid look flashed across Lawrence’s face. “Phillip is dead.”

  “How do you know this, Lawrence?” Elsie inquired.

  “I…I…I killed him, Elsie, I beat him to death. I couldn’t stop myself once I started, I couldn’t control my rage. When I saw my father dying and thought of the harm he caused you, I just lost control. I’m sorry.” Lawrence lowered his head, feeling ashamed of his actions.

  Elsie’s tone became dark. “He deserved it,” she said.

  Lawrence smiled slightly and hugged Elsie close again. Her bruised face and messy hair and dirty skin were all so beautiful to him. She had survived and they were together. It was all that mattered now.

  Chapter 54:

  Galvan appeared in the clearing where Catherine sat silent, holding her legs as though she were deep in thought.

  “It’s over,” he said, approaching her.

  She opened her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. She was overjoyed to see him alive. She had prayed for him the entire time he was gone, and now her prayers had been answered. “Oh, Galvan, I was so worried about you. What happened to Haile? Is everyone alright?”

  “The city took major damage in the battle, but in the end, those boys managed to push evil out of the city,” Galvan responded. “Do you remember those boys I told you about, the ones who fought at the Advent of Knighthood? Well, those two boys were fighting against one of their friends, or ex-friends, and they were just barely able to drive him away.”

  Jameson poked his head out of Galvan’s pocket and said, “I’m sure glad it’s over; I have never seen an evil like that before. There is no telling when something like that will show up again!”

  Galvan looked down at Jameson. “You are right, my friend,” he agreed. “We must always be ready to defend our city.”

  His words made Catherine happy; she knew that Galvan had finally realized how important Haile was not only to her, but to himself as well. She pulled him close and kissed him passionately. She wanted to savor this moment forever.

  “There are still a couple of things that we need to do, Catherine,” Galvan said, embracing her tightly, completely.

  Their passionate embrace was interrupted by Jameson’s squeaky voice. “Don’t forget, Master, we still need to destroy the Black Swamp, permanently.”

  Galvan looked down quizzically and asked, “Black Swamp?”

  Jameson spoke in the hollow voice of Mason Hex, “It is where the Black Sangre army makes its home. We must travel there and destroy it so that they are never raised again.”

  Galvan didn’t hesitate; he looked to Catherine. “I am going to bring you to Haile. Can you wait for me there?”

  “I would wait for you anywhere, Galvan. I will help them rebuild the city while you are gone. Just promise me one more thing.”

  “What is that, Catherine?”

  “Be careful, Galvan.”

  She embraced him tightly as Galvan brought them both back to the streets of Haile. He left her and headed out for the Frozen Mountains. Galvan mounted a nearby horse and left the city. The steed raced across the lands, heading toward their next destination as a very important fact dawned on him. He didn’t know how he was going to get to the other side of the mountains. The fact that someone had been able to navigate these frozen death traps still shocked him. This new challenge loomed before him, a massive wall of ice and peril separating him from his goal.

  “Don’t forget, my little sage, I taught you how to move mountains, didn’t I?” Hex’s voice came from his pocket and cut through the still air.

  Galvan thought for a long while and then it dawned on him, he would simply blaze his own path through the mountains. After several hours of riding and walking, he arrived at his destination. He gazed up at the mountains one last time before casting a very powerful sorcery called Cleave and Heave. He traced a line directly down the center of the mountains. He watched as the lands responded to his will. The ground shifted and groaned as the mountains moved, and snow fell and avalanched to the ground as godlike creation occurred. First the land melted in a glow of fiery red. Then it shifted over, revealing a clear path for travel. After that, the dirt and rocks flowed out from the mountains creating a separation that would become known as the Northern Pass. Water ripped and raced through the Northern Pass as the ice from the mountains melted and fell to the ground. The ground was nothing but burnt grass and dirt after contact with the fiery flowage. There was now a huge fissure through the Frozen Mountains, and travel farther north could now be possible. Galvan rode on, his ultimate goal still rattling in his mind: destroy the Black Swamp.

  His horse tore its way through the fresh opening, muddy water splashing underneath its weight. It continued with haste, reaching the other side of the mountains by mid-day. Galvan knew there was only one thing he could do to destroy something this vast, something this evil. He needed to do what he had always told Catherine he would do. He pulled out his pipe.

  Galvan packed a fresh wad of twag into his pipe and proceeded to light it from a small fireball. Galvan began to walk toward the small cliffs that led down to the swamp. He made his way down a small hill and proceeded to walk on top of the Black Swamp out to the very center. He levitated just above the liquid. He heard the hisses and cries of the Black Sangres as they reached up, attempting to grab his legs. The creatures were angry that their home had been invaded by this interloper. But Galvan didn’t care, this needed to be done. He stood above the center of the swamp, his presence barely disturbing the thick black sea that he hovered over. He inhaled a deep puff of twag and looked out over the Black Swamp with trepidation. He knew full well what he needed to do.

  Jameson poked his head out of his pocket. “What are you going to do, Master? Is everything alrigh
t?”

  Galvan didn’t like the idea of damaging any of the lands. He knew how important a harmonious relationship with these lands were, it was one of the first lessons that Mason had taught him. Galvan gathered himself and looked at Jameson. “We need to destroy this place.”

  The hedgehog didn’t respond, or even wiggle its nose. Jameson just ducked inside his cloth dwelling.

  Galvan took another puff on his pipe, thinking on what he was going to do. He raised his hands to the sky and declared, “Burn!”

  Galvan watched as the clouds parted and blazing meteors of flame came crashing down to the lands, splashing into the Black Swamp. They exploded on contact, igniting the sludge that covered the marsh. Galvan watched as hundreds and thousands of Sangres reached up, shrieking in pain and splashing about in the muck as they burned to death. A couple of the beasts made their way out of the swamp, but exploded into nothing soon after. Galvan surveyed the swamp as the fireballs continued to rain from the sky, burning the lands below. He could feel the lands cry out as his sorcery continued to wreak havoc on the Black Swamp, leaving nothing but immense destruction in its path.

  The fire spread quickly, attempting to engulf Galvan who just stood there, impervious to it. He concentrated the full extent of his knowledge to create an encompassing Impenetrus shield around his body. Galvan shed tears as he hovered above the burning ooze. They weren’t for the Sangres, or for the swamp, but for the lands themselves. He could even feel a slight tapping of his power while his sorcery continued. When it was all over, nothing remained but a few lingering flames. Galvan stood in the center of the charred landscape, alone and exhausted. There was not one drop of the black ooze left; Galvan had wiped it clean from the lands. The lands to the north now lay open for exploration.

  Galvan took another drag on his pipe, hoping that his actions this day could open the world for future generations to come. He longed for a day that more sorcerers like him would come, ones who respected the lands and all they gave and taught them. He took one last look at the lands before he disappeared; it was time to resurrect his homeland.

  Galvan reappeared at the edge of the Everglen. He was immediately overtaken by a sharp chill and a harsh realization that not only had Kastor destroyed it, but he had pervaded it. He had erased everything that was once beautiful about the Everglen and bastardized it, turned it into a mockery, a testament of his sins. Galvan looked at the pond and watched as it bubbled intensely. Mangled fish floated at the top of the water, flapping their skeletal jaws, nibbling on each other’s guts. He could see several rabid animals chasing each other and fighting, yipping and growling as they sensed his presence. The once beautiful trees now wept slime and ooze from their dead branches, like drooping willows consumed by complete darkness and death. Galvan couldn’t stand the sight of it any longer; he was sickened by it.

  Jameson crested the edge of Galvan’s pocket. “Master, you do realize that in order to save this place you will need to make a great sacrifice? I know you are strong, but I want to make sure that you comprehend the magnitude of what you are about to do.”

  “I do,” Galvan replied intensely.

  “Then proceed, my little golden eagle,” Mason’s voice echoed from the hedgehog.

  Galvan knew he would need to sacrifice most of the knowledge and abilities that he had gained in his training with Mason Hex. He hoped that the energy from that sacrifice coupled with the powerful sorcery Heaven’s Soulgate: Door to Eternal Grace would allow him to regenerate his home. Galvan was ready and determined to accomplish Mason Hex’s final wish. He pushed the thought that he could lose his skills far out of his mind.

  He raised his hands to the dark sky and moved them in a semi-circular motion. “Sora, hear my words. I, Galvan Gabrielle, do swear unto you all of my knowledge, all of the things that I have gained in this lifetime.” As he moved his hands, a white light followed them, tracing the outline of a door.

  “I give unto you all manner of my being, my soul, my spirit, and should you will it, my very life.” The light began to shine brighter and brighter as he reached the end of his incantation. “To save that which was lost…”

  He paused for only a moment, reflecting on everything that had happened to him since he left home all those years ago. He thought of Haile and Alacrecia as well as those who had come before him. He knew in his heart that this was the right thing to do. He knew he must finish the mighty sorcery. “I request your presence here with me! Heaven’s Soulgate, Door to Eternal Grace!”

  Galvan’s vision blurred and he fell unconscious. He awoke to a soft, loving, gentle voice humming soothingly. It was that of a mother, a friend, a companion. He could feel a hand with the smoothest skin brush across his head as he lie there motionless. His head rested against the finest silks and was supported by a second equally gentle hand. His body felt exhausted from the spell, his eyelids would not open, his arms and legs would not respond to his repeated commands to move.

  The voice spoke, “I have heard your prayer, my child. If it is your wish to see your lands restored, then by my grace, it will be done.”

  “Ye…s,” Galvan barely mumbled out as he struggled to stay coherent. Finally, he mustered enough energy to force his eyes open.

  He was lying in the Everglen, alone, resting against a log. He still knew who he was, a good sign for him. He looked around and was shocked to find the environment as it had been before Kastor’s arrival. Nothing, not even a single blade of grass was out of place. The gardens of flowers, the crystal clear pond, the towering spiritual trees, the endless wildlife, everything was there. The only thing missing were the sorcerers who once called the Everglen their home. Galvan lamented that fact, but realized that even the grace of Sora herself couldn’t bring back the dead. Galvan looked up to the trees and watched as over one thousand blossoms budded and bloomed in profusion. A warm sensation overtook him. Galvan had succeeded, he had saved his lands. Hope for future sorcerers had returned to the Everglen once again.

  “Well, are you just going to stand there all day, Galvan?” It was Jameson; his furry companion was still with him. “Get moving, Galvan, you have a long walk to get back to Haile. Go and see about Catherine!”

  “I suppose you are right, my friend,” Galvan said, smiling. He stood up and turned to leave the beautiful area.

  “Do you think she will want to go with you, Galvan?” Jameson questioned as they walked to the edge of the Everglen.

  “I don’t think there is a single place in all of the lands that she wouldn’t go with me,” Galvan replied. He attempted to conjure a simple guidance spell to lead them through the Endless. Though Galvan’s powers had weakened, there were some things he hadn’t forgotten. He could still summon the most basic sorceries by tracing runes as he had done before. The two began to make their way deeper and deeper through the Endless.

  “I take it that means you two will get married and have a litter of sorcerer babies together. I would say about ten or fifteen ought to do it,” Jameson said playfully.

  Galvan chuckled. “I think I will start at one or two.”

  The two made their journey back to Haile where Galvan finally caught sight of Catherine. He saw her from afar, and did his best to sneak up on her as she worked to help rebuild a nearby home. As he got close, he heard her speaking to no one in particular.

  “How long were you planning to make me wait, Galvan?” She had yet to turn and face him and Galvan assumed she was talking to herself. “Just because you can cast sorceries and I cannot doesn’t mean you can just leave whenever you want! It doesn’t give you the right to keep me waiting!” She was talking louder now, had she noticed him? “You have some nerve, you know! First you die, and then you come back from the dead to save me in my moment of greatest need. Who are you trying to be, are you trying to tell me something?” He was almost upon her when he heard her say, “Because it’s working!” She turned around and threw herself into his arms.

  Every time Galvan attempted to speak she would pound her fi
st into his chest harder and harder and cry more and more. Catherine had never been so happy to see him in her entire life. She remembered her prayers that he would never again have to leave her.

  “Galvan, tell me it’s over. Please, tell me it’s over,” Catherine pleaded, nuzzling her forehead deeper and deeper into his robes.

  “It’s over, Catherine, we can go home…” He stopped himself for a moment, wondering if she would actually accept his offer. “Umm…Catherine…?”

  “Yes, Galvan, what is it?” she asked, eyes sparkling with tears of joy and love.

  “Will you…uh…you know…come with me…to the Everglen?” He managed to choke it out somehow even though Jameson was jumping about, trying to peek over the edge of his pocket.

  Catherine smiled softly. “Nothing would make me happier, Galvan. I will go with you after we finish helping these people. Haile has been good to us, we must repay the debt.”

  Galvan nodded in agreement. He knew that much work needed to be done to rebuild the trampled, destroyed city to its former glory.

  Chapter 55:

  Dearest Jerreth,

  It happened! It finally happened! Our son said his first word today, my love. You will never believe what he said. Our son’s first word was “Papa.” He keeps repeating it over and over. Lawrence and I both long for your return, my dear, and we both miss you very much.

  With all of my love,

  Elizabeth

  - A letter from Elizabeth to Jerreth, 5 P.W.

  Lawrence and Benni and the rest of the Knights carried the bodies of their fallen brethren and civilians who hadn’t survived the battle to the edge of the city and piled them just outside the gates. Their bodies rested atop a funeral pyre, built with logs, sticks, brambles and dried grass. All of the Knights who could help did so; it took several days to gather all of the bodies. Those of Sabre Grey and Jerreth Sanctus were kept separate and were each given their own pyre.