by Owen Elgie
Mike answered my frustrations.
“Everyone in our whole group, the world over, acts in a very certain way as is expected depending on their station. Since the very beginning of the conflicts, there have been so many different strata to who and what we all are. That has allowed us to be able to give and take orders and not have any weakness in our ranks.”
He leaned forwards and gripped my arm and in an almost conspiratorial tone added, “Can’t have armies disobeying their orders can you?”
“That’s true but the attitude I’m talking about is wound up through everyday life. Every single person we’ve come into contact with since I came round in Freddy’s estate has been on edge when they’ve had to be in the same room as me let alone actually speaking with me. I’ve told you before that I will treat everyone with the respect that any normal human being deserves.” I sighed and fell back into the comfort of the chair, staring blankly out of one of the windows.
Beneath me I could feel the subtly building vibrations of the plane’s engines as they were being wound up to push us into the air. There was barely any noise leaking into the cabin as we started to move quickly down the runway. Mike continued.
“Did you treat the cabin crew of this plane with the respect that any normal human being deserves? Just because you don’t want anything of what they were trying to offer, does that give you the right to scream at them to leave you be?”
Silence hung in the air as the plane surged skywards.
“I am very sorry for my behavior sir” said Mike straightening his posture in his seat. “If you so wish I will deliver a very serious punishment when we return to the estate.
I shook my head as I considered his words. Talk about shining a bright light on someone.
“That won’t be called for Michael,” I told him. “You’ve done exactly what I asked you to do when I did exactly what I was fighting against. It looks like you’ve listened to me even if I was too pig-headed to listen to myself.”
We reached out and shook hands.
“Please continue to tell me to act like a person not Lord of the manor.”
We both leant back into our seats and started to relax. I then half twisted around and shouted to the cabin,
“Everyone. Please all come here.”
The attendants were all in position at my side in seconds but they were all on edge.
“Anyone fancy watching a film? It’s a long journey."
10
Hours later we touched down in Cardiff airport. I took in a deep breath of the air of home before I eased down the steps of the plane and boarded the sleek Aston Martin which was waiting for us on the runway. We sped through checkpoints and hastily opened gates without stopping and were soon out onto the open road, accelerating through the traffic without the barest hint of slowing. No passport control or customs for us. I was sure that I needed to be more 'anti' the ease of our passage from the plane to the open roads but I was just too tired to summon up that much anger.
I sat in the back of the car and relaxed as Mike coolly pushed the car through the empty night roads and made short work of the tarmac between us and the estate. I felt drained of all energy from the journey we had just completed so was glad that I had someone else to do the driving back ‘home’. I was more surprised that Mike felt he would be able to do the driving despite him having been on the same journey as me.
“Don’t worry bach. I’ll get us home. Just means we won’t have to drive our chauffeur back after he’s dropped us off. Good sense all around.” He then slapped me on the arm a little too hard as way of encouragement and gave me a big grin.
After that, the decision had been made and as I sat in the back of the luxury car I was confronted by the pure white pony-tail that Mike wore as the only one of his features I could see, his gaze steadfastly on the road ahead.
We moved without hindrance down the transportation veins of the country. I let my gaze tumble hazily out of the car as we sped past night shrouded details of the countryside. I could comprehend the position of the passing towns and villages but didn’t let my attention focus on any of the details. I saw them as just being singular entities rather than collections. Each was sat resting during the night, waiting for the onset of the new day. We continued our journey and every place we passed seemed to watch me go past in return. I sleepily watched them and I swear they all looked at me with trepidation and regarded me with the suspicious sideways glance of those watching the man they know to be guilty of an unspoken crime.
I hadn’t even registered that I had fallen asleep until Mike turned onto the small track rather than road which led through the tightly knitted mass of trees which created the vast natural wall around the whole estate. I had felt a little exposed when I had first had the details of the estate described to me. No solid brick walls or castle architecture at all despite the threat which was massed against us. Instead, just a magical shield and an enchanted wood. Despite the fairytale connotations, there was more defensive power coursing through the environment around us than could be bettered by a huge stone structure. Lloyd had almost been proud of the fact that no-one even knew that there was a mansion inside the woods. The stone wall would have announced our presence, the woods were naturally camouflaging. I smiled sleepily to myself as I remembered my former Head of House. He’d helped me into the madness of what I was a part of but he had done it with the same casual feeling about life that I enjoyed.
Every member of the house had liked Lloyd a great deal.
So had I.
Now, though, he was just a memory. He had fallen during the battle at the mansion a few months earlier, making sure that the Guardian of, not only the estate but also of the whole human race, had been able to fight back the creature which had broken free of the prison it guarded.
He had done this by passing what life force he had left to me when it looked like I was going to be bested by The Zarrulent, the creature I was guarding. That transaction had resulted in a huge surge of power for me which helped me push the beast back into its prison and survive the conflict but it had meant that there was nothing left for him.
He’d been dead before he had fallen to the ground.
I sat up straighter and rubbed at my eyes.
“Are we back?” My voice was that croaky version of itself we all get when we first come to. Mike's ponytail didn’t move as he replied.
“Almost there bach. Another ten minutes and we’ll be pulling up at the front door. I’ve called ahead and there will be someone to meet us.
I relaxed back into the seat and blinked my eyes in an attempt to complete my waking. I wasn’t sure I needed to have anyone actually receive us as we arrived but was also barely awake. Whatever time it was I’m sure anything that could be done to minimize the amount of work that Mike had to do was a bonus. That said, it wasn’t like we were carrying hundreds of bags were we?
After several more minutes the car emerged from the oppression of the wooded driveway out into the open air of the estate courtyard and grounds. The night was draped over the entire open area with what little light there was fighting a battle of its own. There was a huge tidal wave of illumination spilling out of the mansion itself, casting a yellowing glow over the steps to the door, the gravel driveway and the surrounding flower beds and planting. It also covered a fair proportion of the front of the house. The shadows were still there trying to push back against the light but it looked that, up to this point, the light was winning. Beyond the immediate façade of the building, the lights strength was waning.
The gravel of the courtyard area before the house snaked back and away, moving deep into the darkness and towards us. The individual lights of the driveway took on an almost runway-esque appearance as we approached the house. The roadway we had to maintain was clearly marked and Mike was able to keep a swift speed through the night towards the house.
The final piece of illumination which was within the boundary of the trees could be seen off to the right as we travelled. Smalle
r lights than lined the driveway were gathered around the base of a huge grey obelisk of stone. That stone was in stark contrast to everything else within the lifestyle of the master of the house. Every other detail of the location was one of wealth and station but not that. It had been blasted from the ground during the battle we had all fought here and was all rough edges and random angles. It was bathed in light but I knew without looking what it symbolized and had engraved on it. I had carved a single word into the surface of the stone, REMEMBER.
It was my thanks to those who had fought alongside me when they had been called to but it was also my way of thanking everyone who had fallen in support of the Guardian throughout time. I had been shown how members of The Circle had honoured the fallen Dragons but also how they had never honoured anyone else. Thousands upon thousands of people would have fallen in service to this cause over the years and they had all been ignored.
I had always wanted there to be a feeling that there was no-more value in the Guardians death in battle as anyone else’s. The stone and the crater it loomed over, was my memorial to everyone who had fallen in service, Guardian or not. Each person who had died in that battle had had their name carved into a stone coin which had been cast into the pool at the base of the crater to mirror the memorial of the Guardians.
There was a coin in there with Lloyds name on it.
I missed him.
Mike hadn’t turned to look at me but he spoke as if he had.
“Get some sleep when you get in bach. Rest up and we’ll be able to take stock tomorrow. We’ll give them all a good send off.” He’d known what I was thinking about.
I let my head rest against the window as we covered the last few yards towards the front of the house. I let my eyes focus on nothing as we travelled. More names were going to be carved for the pool. We may have only lost four people in the latest battle but those four still hurt.
“Does it get easier?” I asked the question almost of no-one and didn’t really expect an answer. Mike returned one anyway.
“You’ve lost more than a handful of staff since you were welcomed into The Circle. From what I’ve heard of the past Guardians, they all viewed us underlings as being expendable so they wouldn’t have cared about how many people they lost. I think it means that the more pain you feel for the fallen troops you have commanded, the closer you are to being an actual human being.”
I smiled at the thought but also at the fact that Mike had agreed with me, been holding the same feelings as me. Equality rather than bowing and scraping.
Pulling up outside the house I could hear the crunching sound of the gravel under the tyres of the car. It immediately snapped me back to the here and now.
Spread around the entrance way to the house were five people who were all dressed in immaculate business attire. Four of them rushed forwards and practically attacked the car as we came to a halt. There was one to open the boot and retrieve the bags, two to open the doors and aid Mike and I as we disembarked the car and another was hovering around the driver’s side, apparently waiting to take over from Mike and take the car back whence we had come. The final member of the greeting party still stood at the top of the stairway at the main door, casually watching over the activity. I could recognize Mark’s silhouette even before I had left the car.
Mike and I were quickly ushered towards the house.
“Welcome back to the house, sir,” rumbled Mark as we climbed the stairs. He gave us both a bow that was uncalled for and, even if it had been, was far too deep. He straightened and stared out into the middle distance as he waited for the correct response from me.
I rolled my eyes and tried to remember what I had to say. Protocol was expected but I was tired.
“Thank you for receiving me. It is good to be back,” coughed Mike under his breath as he cleared his throat. I nodded and he smiled to himself as I repeated the phrase, doing my best to infuse it with as much power and authority as I could.
The rest of our welcoming committee quickly hurried into the house and vanished from sight.
“Are you well sir? We have all been very concerned about your health,” continued Mark. He nodded a bow towards me as he completed his sentence. The official tone and ordered demeanor remained.
“I’m all good, don’t panic. A little jet lagged but nothing major wrong. You?”
“I am well sir. My injuries were dealt with and I was able to return quickly to service.” Mark stood stock still as he spoke and showed no emotion on his face.
Odd. I hadn’t seen him this uptight since we’d first met.
“How is everything here? No problems with me away?” I asked the second question with as healthy a dose of sarcasm as I could muster, the house and estate would probably do better without me about.
“Every member of the house has performed well in your absence but we are very glad of your return sir.”
Mark had been learning to be less official around me and had been starting to show signs of treating me more as a person rather than just a member of his ruling class. His lack of emotion and adherence to the ‘correct’ wording for each question and response now was more than a little strange.
Time for some subtle probing to get to the bottom of things.
“Are you sure you’re OK? You seem a little tense. What have I missed?” See, subtlety and hidden meaning.
If anything, Mark straightened even further, practically shaking all of the muscles in his body as he held himself rigid. “We are very glad you have returned sir and I must only apologise for the extra demands of your time but we have guests who have requested your presence when you arrived.”
“Who are they?” I didn’t have the first idea of who was here but they were obviously causing a fair amount of stress in my staff.
Mark remained statue still but dropped the very slightest pleading glance down at us both.
Guests? It was daft o’clock in the morning at a secret magical fortress. Who wanted to see me? Looking at the obvious discomfort being exuded by my giant general and getting nothing more than a slight shrug from Mike, I didn’t have a great many options.
“Right then. Lead on so I can speak to whoever it is so we can all get some sleep.”
11
Mike and I were led quickly down corridor after corridor, passing by various rooms which had a full complement of people hurriedly trying to look both busy yet invisible. Furtive sideways glances greeted me wherever I looked and we were keeping far too fast a pace to have anything good waiting at the other end.
“This is looking a little serious,” I whispered to Mike as we both worked to keep up with Mark.
“Indeed. Just act like the Lord of the manor until we know any different. This could be very serious.” Mikes response made the situation even worse. What was going on?
Mark silently led us through the estate but I could feel that he was taking us towards the library that I had had my first magical training in with Lloyd. I had had the door to the power at my disposal opened to me in that room. It was all rich woods and leather, every square inch of it was a clear show of wealth and power which had nothing to do with magic or spells.
I think that’s why I hadn’t been in there since that very first night.
I could feel something strange though as we closed on the room. Any tiredness I had been feeling was quickly being replaced by apprehension.
With each hurried step I could just make out a feeling of ‘something’ as I went. There was just something, off, like that nebulous sensation in a pitch black room that you get when you know that there is someone in there with you. And we were moving towards it.
Rounding the final corner, the weight of perceived awareness had grown to quite uncomfortable levels but I was given some explanation of why. Ahead of us were two armoured guards who made Mark look something akin to a Munchkin extra from The Wizard of Oz. They both scraped their heavy helmets against the ceiling of the corridor outside the library which I could estimate was roughly twice my height. Twel
ve feet plus then. They were covered in a similar form of armour as the guards that had accompanied Leatherpants in Argentina. Heavy chain mail, luxurious fabrics and highly polished metal were all over them and they looked like they were bursting at the seams, slabs of barely controlled muscle forcing against the battle dress.
We closed the distance to the door to the library and they both snapped their gazes onto us. They made us all stop in our tracks just with that withering look and I just knew that my usual brand of greeting and humour would not be appreciated. Mark introduced us.
“The Lord of the Estate, Master of Fire, Anthony Johns and his Head of House for the attention of the Messenger.”
They both inspected us silently for an eternal five or six seconds until they had deemed us to be acceptable, then one leaned down and gripped the handle of the door in one of his giant hands and pushed the door open to bid us entry.
Easing past him I could only estimate that my own fifty inch chest was only a third of what he was, even without the armour. His biceps looked to be a better match to my chest. Whoever was inside my house wanting to speak to me was incredibly well guarded. Trying to maintain what little of my composure I had left, I hesitantly made my way into the library. The feeling of unease grew with each step.
Ahead of us, the large stone fireplace was filled with a welcoming fire. It popped and crackled in a way that conjured up feelings of Christmas and cozy nights in log cabins. The other features of the room were as I remembered them. Wood and leather, wealth and luxury. The leather chair that I had managed to bridge jump out into the depths of the wood had never been recovered; instead it had been replaced by a new chair. The match of leather was perfect, of course.
The door was pulled shut behind us and Mike and I had been left alone in the room. Who were we supposed to be meeting?
