The Circle of Duty

by Owen Elgie

  All of the people I was having accompany me were dressed ready for battle. They all wore the full tactical regalia I’d seen on so many of the people who fought with us. There were pieces of worked armour covering arms, shoulders, chest and back. It was all polished to within an inch of its life and I could see six reflections of myself looking equal parts amused and intimidated. They all wore a black undershirt, black combat trousers and combat boots and looked like they were just ready to take part in the most well-presented fight you could imagine.

  “Are we all ready to go?” was all I could think to ask and I was greeted by six curt nods.

  “Whenever you are sir,” Mark bellowed and the inference was clear. Concentrating my mind, I summoned the power in my head to bring a Cascade Bridge into being and linked it with the desired spot in Egypt. You don’t have to have an exact image of where you’re going, or be able to see where you want to land. Instead, you create the details of the jump point by the ‘feel’ of your intended target. The ring of crackling energy snapped into existence as I held a crude picture of the Mage sat on a pyramid in my head. Not really the most inventive but that never stopped me being effective before.

  “I’m ready now team. Shall we?” and I gestured through the magical construct with one arm as I bowed slightly.

  “Stay between us all sir,” Mark pointed out as the people he’d selected for this task fell into position around me. I felt comforted by the close protection but was still worried by what may be waiting for us on the other side of this bridge.

  15

  The gateway snapped shut behind us with the barest hint of a breath of air. The first thing that hit me was a sweeping blanket of unbelievable heat. It was like being punched in the chest as each inhalation had become at least forty percent harder. I could feel the beads of sweat forming all over my body in seconds. Maybe the grey suit wasn’t such a good idea? Squinting my eyes against the blazing sun, I looked around my surroundings, trying to work out where we were.

  My first instinct was that it was nothing like the films. In every film I’ve ever seen which included a trip to see the pyramids, everyone always ends up in the middle of the desert, surrounded by sand dunes. For everyone’s future reference, the pyramids that everyone sees on the TV are actually in Cairo proper, not the middle of nowhere. Looking around us, I could see the vastly commanding forms of the pyramids of Giza practically kicking sand in our faces as they loomed over all of us, but as I turned I was confronted by the Sphinx and then Burger King, McDonalds and at least half a dozen other company brands which can be found in any city around the world. For that delightful moment, I must have looked a picture of power and authority as I stood there with my mouth open and a slightly confused expression on my face.

  “This way please.”

  The voice had come from behind everyone, which had been some feat considering we had all been facing in different directions. Mark was the first to reach the owner of the voice, both his ham like fists burning with an angry blue fire as he slammed into the small, dark skinned man in white robes and hammered him to the ground.

  “I mean no harm to my Lord Guardian or his retinue. I am merely here as a welcome to bring you to the Mage.” His accent lilted over the words and he was almost begging for forgiveness as he spoke, never once taking his eyes off me as he pleaded, the hulking form of Mark over him giving him no concern at all.

  The other members of the group had immediately encircled me as an act of protection but it had been clear, even to me, that if this person had wanted to hurt me in any way he would have been able to do so without announcing his presence. Besides, he’d used the word retinue.

  I walked up to Mark and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

  “Let him go. He’s one of us. Besides, we don’t want to anger everyone around here with the flaming hands and armored presence.”

  Mark remained rigidly atop our welcoming committee, crouched with one hand poised to hurl who knew what at him, but the fire slowly started to die away. After another handful of breaths, Mark stood up and practically threw the tiny man to his feet. Dusting him off a little too roughly, Mark returned to his position amongst our group and we all waited.

  Our welcome finished straightening himself and bowed deeply to me.

  “My name is Ashraf and I am here to bring you to the audience of the Mage. You also don’t have to concern yourself with others seeing us. We are within the shield of the prison site so we are all quite invisible and intangible to the tourists and locals. Please, follow me.” He gestured towards the heavy stone wall of the pyramid next to us and started to move away.

  We all followed after him, my armoured bodyguards looking in every direction as they fanned around me, trying to create a living wall between me and any would-be assassin.

  We made our way quickly towards the nearest of the pyramids which happened to be the smallest of the three, and Ashraf reached out a hand and ahead of us a small doorway appeared in the stone and the blackness of the space ahead of us stood as both a welcome and a threat. Ashraf headed into the darkness without waiting to see if we were following him. Leaning in to speak with Mike, I gave him a breakdown of my fears.

  “Keep your eyes open will you. I think this could quickly become a very unpleasant meeting if we let it. We need to be sure we don’t end up in any more trouble than we’re likely to be.”

  Mike nodded and whispered back to me without breaking step or turning to face me.

  “Don’t worry bach, we’ll be fine in here but if things do start to go in an odd direction, we’ll be OK.”

  I decided that what he was telling me was reassuring despite not really feeling the level of reassurance I thought I should.

  We all passed beyond the threshold of the mighty stone wall and started into the boundless black ahead. No sooner had we all crossed through the opening, did the wall begin to reform in on itself, filling the space we had just used to gain entry. The deep sound of grating stone and tumbling sand was all we could hear as the last remaining sunlight was blocked from view. We all stood motionless in the dark. I’d been forcing myself to remain totally still as the magic worked behind us, fighting my natural instinct to run screaming for the outside world. Listening to the breathing which was coming from around me, I was the only one who was in this situation.

  All the others who were around me hadn’t even reacted as far as I could make out. I could pick out everyone’s breathing as it was uniformly calm and I could feel nothing more than a subtle curiosity as to the details of what was going to be ahead of us.

  Just at the edge of my senses I could pick out the mind of Ashraf. It was the only unfamiliar mind in the darkness, all the others being the group I’d come in with. There was no hint of any kind of duplicity or subterfuge in him, which was something I supposed. All I could make out was a slightly hurried focus, as if he was trying in vain to complete what should have been an easy task but was finding it harder and harder as the seconds passed by.

  Eventually I could make out a level of relaxation as he managed to complete whatever task had been proving so troublesome, and there was a flash of light as he called into being a diffuse glow from a small stone which rested on his outstretched hand.

  We were all stood in a small, non-descript cave more than a room of any kind, and there was nothing but bland stone making up the surrounding walls and ceiling. The floor was covered with a deep layer of sand. Looking around the space, I was reminded of the simple appearance of the opening of the tunnels down to my own underground fortress. This area wouldn’t be indicative of what I was about to find as we continued.

  “This way gentlemen, please. Follow me if you will.”

  Without further ado, he turned and headed down the tunnel which was directly behind him and started to make his way into the depths of the pyramid, the circle of his illumination radiating around the tunnel.

  The journey down was without further incident as we made our way, led by the constant pleading of Ashraf. I
could feel the decline of the tunnel and, despite my best efforts, I started to feel a little more on edge with every step deeper we took. Images of ambushes or assorted attacks filled my mind. I may have been a mighty force of supernatural horror but within the confines of the tunnel we were in, my Dragon would be useless. There was no spinning in the back of my head. I couldn’t feel anything beyond the casual, almost bored, sensations coming from the team around me so there was no rational reason for my fear but when you get down to it, I was in the dark underground. Eventually, it became too much.

  “Ashraf. How many others are here already? Are we the first to arrive? The last?” I had to make some kind of conversation to break the silence.

  “I believe that there have been several arrivals already, master.” Ashraf managed to reply in the most perfunctory fashion while still moving down the tunnel as he bowed to me.

  “So are we the last to arrive?” Please let there be others still to get here.

  “I do believe that you are the final Guardian to attend this day. I will direct you through to the audience chamber immediately. Mr. Ward was very keen that the ceremony commence at the earliest convenience.”

  Wonderful. Everyone was already here and now Leatherpants was throwing his weight around. What a fantastic start to the day.

  All I managed to say to Ashraf was a curt “Thank you” but I think that Mike and Mark could read that I hadn’t liked what I’d been told.

  Mike was fast to speak into my ear.

  “Someone had to be last in, don’t panic.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. I’m the one who is in the sights of his Leatherness. He’s got a bad impression of me as it is without me adding fuel to the fire.”

  “Don’t worry bach” said Mike. “Whatever happens, remember, I’m here to protect you,” and with that he slapped me with that familiar, just too hard clap, on the arm.

  He was right. Concentrate on what I was able to address.

  “If I’m the last one in, what have I got to do? Is this just an over-blown board meeting?”

  Mike looked sideways at me.

  “From what I’ve read, the Guardian must be seated in their official point within The Circle to form the link between everyone. Their honour guard is expected to sit at their feet in readiness should they be needed. After that, it’s just pomp and ceremony as everyone discusses what the issue of the day is. Simple.”

  It certainly sounded simple. Sit in special chair, talk about issue at hand, and leave. My mood began to lift slightly. Then Ashraf stopped, turned to face us and spoke.

  “We have arrived at the Great Audience Chamber my lord. Will you all please take your places and I will signal that all is in order.”

  Walking through the small opening which was the end of the tunnel, we all entered into a massive subterranean space which was similar to the one under Neath Abbey back in Wales. The fact that this was a huge underground room was where the similarity ended though.

  Whereas the cavern in Wales was a very basic space where the glyph decorated obelisk which was the magical lock for my own magical captive, sat alone in the centre of the room; this was at least five times the size and carried the presence more of concert hall than ancient prison. On the walls all around the cavern were huge stone carvings of Dragons of all shapes and sizes, all depicting heroic battles of a bygone age. Taking in as much of the detail as I could, I was able to see carvings of my own Dragon form fighting at different points. There were also other Dragons I could recognise so it must have shown all of the monsters who were part of The Circle. There were flaming torches to provide light at strategic points around the walls. No encroachment of modern technology in this room. Each of these torches was more the size of a double decker bus so was pulsing out a great deal of light. Despite the massive scale of the space we were in, they seemed able to pump out more than enough light so I was able to see clearly every detail around me.

  I had no idea how deeply we had travelled beneath the surface but the oppressive heat which had greeted us as we had stepped from the Cascade Bridge had been held at bay. It had been replaced by a very temperate climate which was immediately calming. I could also make out the smell of burning wood coupled with burning something else coming from the torches.

  At the centre of the room was a large ring of huge thrones carved from the very stone of the cavern. I could see, even from this distance, they were so much more than just functional seats. They all carried the same beautifully detailed carving work that was adorning the rest of the cavern and each had the feel of a seat of huge magical power, exactly what was called for a meeting of the most powerful creatures on Earth.

  The thrones formed a ring which included at the far end of the cavern, a large block dais with carved runes and glyphs all over its surface. There was a much smaller chair at the centre of the dais and it was flanked by the two largest thrones of the massive ring. That smaller chair was still to receive its occupant.

  From our vantage point, we all stood dumfounded. It was clear that we were on the edge of the walkway which led down to the floor of the space and on to where the events of the day were going to take place. This really was more than I had expected to see by several orders of magnitude. For that delightful second, I was utterly lost.

  That was until the realization that all of the thrones bar one were occupied by the Dragon forms of The Guardians of The Circle. They were all looking at me and none of them looked happy.

  That collective stare was all I needed to be able to snap back to the here and now. It seemed obvious to me what was needed so I cracked on with it.

  We all made our way down to the floor of the cavern and approached the final empty throne. Looking at it at this close range, I was able to pick out the intricate detail which had been worked through the stone. I could recognize the huge reptilian shape of my own Dragon and that of The Zarrulent, the creature of legend I had to stand guard over. We’d both been depicted in a herculean battle of some kind which I was no doubt winning. Next to the throne was a small set of stone benches which didn’t carry any of the same care or detail. This was what Mike must have meant by the honour guard sitting at the Guardians feet.

  “If you would be so kind as to take your place we will be able to begin.”

  Turning to face the originator of the comment, I knew who I would be facing but there was still the barest hope that I would be wrong.

  I wasn’t.

  Leatherpants leaned towards me from his position at the right hand of The Elder and kept that same fixed grin of his plastered onto his face. Despite the smile it was easy to see that he was as contemptuous of me as he had been before, his smile still didn’t reach his eyes. I hoped it couldn’t. Bad plastic surgery or something.

  “We are all waiting on you.” He leaned and smiled just that little bit further to go with the last comment. He was still wearing his gifted skin suit, colours writhing over its surface as he moved ever so slightly. He really must have felt himself to be untouchable if he thought he could speak to a Guardian in this fashion, in front of all of the others. I didn’t get the chance to respond.

  To my right came a very familiar voice. One I’d been missing to a much larger degree than I would have first thought.

  “Mr. Ward. Do not forget your station here. You will address every member of this great order with the reverence they deserve. Never presume to think you are at the same standing as those who are your betters.” Andrea’s reptilian Russian accent did what it always did to me and lit the fires of my animal self. It also seemed to be able to carry the ice cold threat to one of the subordinates at the same time. Looking over to her throne I was greeted by her huge Dragon form locking its grey/white eyes onto Leatherpants and holding him fixed. He responded without the barest hint of ego.

  “My humble apologies my lady. I simply wished to convey the importance of the issue of time. I live to serve The Circle, as do we all.” Another huge bow and he seemed to melt back to his station at the side of The Eld
er, that same smile still plastered all over his face.

  Watching him retreat I was struck by the fact that he was still dressed in his demonic skin suit where everyone else in the gathered retinues was decked out in their finest ceremonial armoured dress. He did have a very high opinion of himself.

  I nodded and smiled to Andrea to show my thanks, feeling that the details of our parting would be smoothed somewhat. Her Dragon face gave no signal that she had noticed my gesture. Whatever I’d done to wind her up would still need some figuring out.

  I wasn’t given the time to be able to do anything more on the subject then.

  “We are still waiting.”

  This time as I turned to face the owner of the voice who was admonishing me, I knew that there was going to be no easy exit. This time it was The Elder herself who was speaking out.

  “The Circle as a whole is in enough danger that we are all required to be here yet we are still waiting on the last member of our group to deliver himself to attendance. Is there some reason you don’t wish these sacred proceedings to commence or are you just ignorant of the situation you find yourself?”

  Andrea may have saved me from the attack of The Elders little dog but she was helpless to do anything against the questions of another Guardian. It all rested on me to stand my own corner.

  Turning to face The Elder I called together as much of my booming voice of authority as I could. I call it that but really it’s just the ability to project your voice so lots of people can hear you. I’d taught exercise classes in my former life as a fitness trainer where I’d needed to practically scream over the music we had been working out to.

  I addressed the whole room and made certain to include a glance at all of the other Guardians as I spoke.

  “Accept my apologies fellow Guardians. I meant no delay in my actions and I attend to allow The Circle to resolve the pressing issue before us. Let us commence.”