The Circle of Duty

by Owen Elgie

  “I have asked that the child Maria be brought here so we will be able to complete the process as quickly as possible to restore the full power of The Circle. I’ve selected a member of the household in Argentina who will be able to take her place and their family line will continue to serve as Guardians from this day onwards.”

  There was movement from the base of Freddy’s throne as his assembled retinue made their way forward, carrying the crying form of Maria. They were being followed by a tall, heavy set man with dark skin and beady black eyes. He was stripped to the waist but looked like he was wearing a fur coat thanks to the swirling black hair which covered his entire upper body. He must have been the replacement The Elder had spoken of. As he moved forward with the rest of the group, I decided purely on instinct that I didn’t like him.

  I tried to be as covert as I could manage but I’m not certain that the results quite reached the heights I’d been aiming for. Leaning down as much as I could without drawing attention to myself, I whispered down to Mike.

  “What’s going to happen to her?”

  Mike looked up and gave me a curt shrug. If he didn’t know, what hope did I have of finding out without re-establishing the fact that I was still no more than the petulant child that Leatherpants had been painting me as. Surely Mike knew something.

  “You don’t know anything? At all?”

  This time it was obvious that others had heard. The Messenger responded so there was no chance of me escaping the finger pointing because of my lack of knowledge.

  “THE CHILD WILL HAVE THE POWER OF THE DRAGON REMOVED FROM HER BODY AND FROM HER FAMILY LINE. THAT POWER WILL BE GIVEN TO HER REPLACEMENT AND THE CIRCLES STRENGTH WILL BE RESTORED.”

  I could feel the level of petty frustration which was being casually thrown in my direction but I didn’t care. I wanted answers. In for a penny…

  “Thank you Messenger.” Keep the decorum in place. “But I’d come to that conclusion on my own. What will happen to her after this has been done? What will happen to Maria?”

  The Messenger looked at me quizzically.

  “SHE WILL DIE, OF COURSE.”

  I was on my feet and across the space in the centre of the cavern in a fraction of a heartbeat. I stopped astride the group of soldiers from Argentina and roared down at them, showing them and anyone who would listen that I was in no mood for games.

  Snorting out a small jet of flame from each nostril, I thrust out my right hand.

  “Give her to me. Now.”

  The guards beneath me stood petrified as I bore down on them, unsure what they were expected to do. Huge roars and screams were erupting around me as the other Guardians took my movement as being the insult to their customs I had intended it to be. It was bad enough for me to have to stand by and watch as Dragons or soldiers died in huge numbers because of what we were all doing but there was no way I was going to let a small child simply be killed because of the needs of the Circle. It was practically a sacrifice.

  “QUIET!” The Messenger boomed into the noise but this time everyone did as they were told. Silence returned but I kept my attention on the people below me. I wasn’t going to let this happen.

  “What do you intend to do? How do you intend to resolve this situation where everyone wins?” It was the first time Andrea had spoken to me in what felt like an eternity. I still hadn’t moved but now my attention was being split between the people beneath me and the pale Dragon which was edging its way towards me across the stone floor. She continued to speak, her voice pitched low as if she was trying to soothe an angry dog.

  “This is a very rare process which hasn’t been performed in generations. None of us in The Circle would want this process to be conducted unless in the gravest of circumstances. What is it you are planning on doing to help her?”

  I still hadn’t moved but Andrea was now directly in front of me.

  “Anthony. If she is taken from here without us acting in some way to resolve this problem she will be driven mad from the energies trying to take hold in her. If we perform the Awakening for her, she will become the next Guardian and will be expected to fight in the protection of everything.”

  She lightly touched my face and I could feel a familiar cooling strength there. It really was the other half of me, Fire and Ice. Andrea lifted my face away from the gathering below and we stared into each other’s eyes.

  “Both of these options will leave the Circle much weaker and we will be less likely to be able to defend what we must. Would you see this child torn apart by madness or sent into battle against the horrors we have all seen? And in doing so, risk the entire population we are all sworn to protect?”

  We stood still looking at each other and the conflicting thoughts swirled in my mind as I tried desperately to find a way that we could get out of this situation without destroying The Circle or a small child. I knew that Andrea was speaking with dispassionate logic and she was right in everything she said but I also knew that she was still wrong. Despite the logic and reason she was able to call on I could see that there was still a flaw in what she was saying.

  Speaking directly to her, not the rest of the room, I answered.

  “You’re planning your actions with the starting point of The Circle and the protection of the human race as a whole. Surely the protection of the human race should start with one child?”

  I blinked and lightly touched Andreas face, feeling safe that I was that close to her again.

  I leaned closer and, from this distance, could finally see through the armoured exterior of Andreas Dragon to the pain and conflict she was feeling. Her glacial surface was covering a turmoil which was similar to my own. The only difference was she was held so strongly by the dogma of obedience to The Circle that she was trying to argue for a point she had a doubt about.

  I had to continue now that I could see that there was even the barest of hints that I could stop this horror. Raising my voice, now was the time to speak directly to each and every other Dragon in the cavern.

  “We can’t just play the game of numbers can we? We are all in a position to be able to protect something which is pure and good. We cannot just cast aside what we are trying to protect just because it is getting inconvenient. There has to be another way to resolve this situation.”

  There was silence from the other Guardians, broken only by the occasional shifting of weight across the stone thrones. I had had an effect on everyone, now all I had to hope for was that it was the effect I’d been aiming for.

  The Mage raised his arms above his head and the attention in the room was pulled from me and to him. From behind me, Andrea gave my arm a gentle squeeze and I could hear her backing away to resume her place on her throne. I didn’t turn to look at her. I just stared on at The Mage, still keeping myself between him and the group bringing Maria.

  The silence continued. And continued. Around us all, I could feel the expectations of all of the gathered members of The Circle, Dragon or not.

  And still The Mage waited. His eyes slowly worked their way around the people in the cavern, as if taking in the details of everyone one at a time.

  Finally his eyes fell on mine and didn’t move off to anyone else.

  “Young Guardian.” His voice was calm and gentle as if speaking just to soothe me.

  “The great order has existed for millennia and has seen so many things which should never come to pass. If you search through your own shared memories you will no doubt be able to find any number of atrocities which have been committed to enable the whole to continue.” His shoulders sagged as he considered his words, possibly remembering more terrors done in the name of the good of humanity.

  “We are all here to maintain the whole of the human race and that indeed does start with just one child.” He was looking down at Maria now and his face showed that he too was feeling sick at the road the events of the day had taken him.

  He shrugged slightly and continued.

  “But what is to say that this is that one child?
We are here to safeguard all the children who don’t even know we are here. To protect all of the families, all the people who make up this world of ours, from the brutality of what The Hive masters and their forces will do to them should they gain strength over us. We must at no point forget that this mighty force must be maintained or we risk the end of the human race. I’m sorry, but The Bridging will take place now.”

  I roared at him with all the frustration I could muster and hunched down to prepare for the inevitable attack he was going to unleash.

  But it never came.

  Instead he just looked down at me with an expression of concern on his face.

  “Would you kill me to protect this child? Do you really believe that your actions will help to deliver what is best for the whole?”

  “I will not let anyone just kill someone because it is inconvenient to what they want to do. We have to be more than that surely.”

  The Mage at least seemed to consider what I was saying, and nodded once. Was he going to back down?

  The slithering cold force which wrapped itself around me and pinned my arms and wings to my body and my legs together instantly rendered me immobile. I could also feel the most gentle of tendrils creeping up and around my snout, forcing my mouth closed.

  The speed of the attack had caught me utterly by surprise but I could recognize the power which was gripping me tightly. It was the same as had pulled me back from a suicide run of my own at the last battle in Argentina.

  The Elder was out of her throne and was casually weaving her arms ahead of her as she controlled the power which was keeping me prisoner. He face was an emotionless mask as she made certain that I wouldn’t stop the proceedings any longer and inch by inch she nudged me back towards my own throne, eventually depositing me back there and securing my arms and legs to the stone with a power which was far too strong for me to break. I did thrash a little to test the magical strength but it soon became clear that brute force really wasn’t going to do the business. The Elder looked at me as I finally subsided against the futility of what gripped me and instead of the expected contempt, this time I swear that I could see, just for a second, the barest hint of regret in her eyes.

  From behind The Elder, the small group of people from Freddy’s estate started to hurriedly move forwards again. Hairy was still staring at me as he moved on, shepherded by the Head of House. I don’t think that he was expecting to have to fight his way through warring Guardians on his way to taking up power.

  They all bowed as they reached the designated spot and The Elder spoke again as order returned to what was happening.

  “After this outburst my lord, I bring to your attention the child in question and the man who I have chosen to replace her and her line in everything we are. What is your ruling in the matter of the Bridging before you?”

  Again, there were no flourishes or grandstanding as she spoke. There was no well-rehearsed stage craft as she delivered her question. There was still just the bare facts presented to The Mage and the group of Guardians around her.

  The Mage looked over both Maria and the newly chosen Guardian. He seemed to consider the details of each of them before he spoke, his eyes lingering on Hairy.

  “Present yourself to this gathering of The Circle. Are you prepared to stand as one of this mighty order in the defence of the entire human race?”

  Hairy wasted no time in giving his answer.

  “I am Franco Morales Blanco and I am ready to accept the mantle of power which I have been chosen to bare.”

  His voice was a rolling deep and heavily accented but already carried all of the immediate authority that a Guardian should have. He was obviously familiar with the details of what was going to be expected of him and he would be more able to control the forces which he was going to be the master of but, through all of the detail and the power he was already able to wield in this place, I still didn’t like him. And he was called Franco Blanco.

  The Mage considered his words and took three seconds to make his decision.

  “The Bridging will be granted and will happen immediately.”

  There was no chorus of roars to greet this decision.

  None of the other Guardians made any more fuss at the seriousness of what had been decided than a brief agreement and a nodding of heads.

  I had been returned to my throne which had become a great deal more uncomfortable since I’d last sat in it. I could feel that I was being shown another level of what the Guardians are expected to do and where I sat in the pecking order of the group. The collective power plays disgusted me and it was nothing I wanted to be involved in. I couldn’t shake the taste of rot from my mouth and my stomach felt like there was something very sharp and angry trying to crawl its way out and it didn’t seem interested in using my mouth. I wasn’t looking at anything in particular but Mike finally started to speak to me.

  “They’re right you know.” His voice was as cooling as could be expected and I could sense a level of apprehension despite his best efforts to conceal it. He obviously thought that his words were likely to set me off again and he wasn’t keen on being the focus of my anger. As the ceremony had moved on, at least The Elder had released the bonds holding my mouth closed.

  “They think they are.” My response was meant to show that I was under control and my monster was contained but I could feel that my grip still wasn’t as good as it could have been.

  “I can understand what has to be done. I can see that, at first glance, there isn’t another way out of this issue but there has to be more available than just we kill her. There has to be more thought to options rather than just doing what has always been done.”

  Mike continued, “Every single decision is based purely on what is best for The Circle. None of us are anything more than parts of the whole so if we need to be replaced for the good of the group, then so be it.”

  His words were the absolute truth and with a purely clinical mind, they made perfect sense. The removal of a weak or broken part was needed to maintain the whole. But it still meant that people were being treated as nothing more than machine parts. It was the clearest example of someone being discarded without the thought which should have been reserved for a human being.

  I felt sick.

  I needed to get out of here fast.

  “What have they got to do to finish the Bridging? Are we likely to be out of here quickly so we can go home? I can’t be here anymore.”

  Mike looked up at me and shrugged again.

  “I have no idea but I think that it will be done quickly. The Mage did say it would happen immediately so fingers crossed.”

  I shrugged back, feeling a numbness of my very soul creeping out to touch every part of me. The life of Maria was going to end and all I could think of was my own need to go and hide in my estate. The sheer functionality of what was going to take place was all that was left.

  “Fingers crossed indeed”.

  18

  It turned out that Mike was right.

  For a mighty casting which was only enacted in the direst of circumstances, there was precious little which appeared to be needed to get things moving.

  The Messenger and The Elder had arranged those people required into a very misshapen triangle at the base of the dais. The massive corpse of Freddy was laid out at the very base of the dais, directly below where the feet of The Mage would be as he stood surveying what was taking place. As the elements of the ceremony were arranged, he had returned to his own throne to await the commencement of events. At two points roughly twenty metres from the dais and from each other were stationed the proudly ram-rod straight form of the Guardian elect, still with his shirt off and his body hair sweater on display, and the shuddering shape of Maria, curled into the fetal position as she tried to protect herself from the unseen forces attacking her.

  Around the cavern, all of the other Guardians simply sat and watched as the ceremony took place.

  The Messenger called us all to order.

 
“GUARDIANS. THE MAGE REQUESTS THINE POWER AS PART OF THIS ANCIENT RITE AS WE PROTECT OURSELVES FROM WEAKNESS. DO THY DUTY AS CALLED BY THE MAGE AND WE WILL BE REFORGED.”

  A solemn silence remained as she finished speaking and all of the gathered Dragons prepared themselves for whatever was about to be asked of us all.

  The Mage stood from his throne, straightened his robes and took paces enough to take him to the edge of the dais, looking down on the forms gathered beneath him. Raising his arms to shoulder height he started.

  “Guardians. I require a sample of your powers to be able to open the locks of what is needed. Give to create a shared power.”

  His voice was more serious this time, carrying an increased threat but also an increased care. He was able to make sure people did what he asked them.

  From his outstretched arms launched a wobbly glowing triangle. A gentle yellow glow was emanating from it as it drunkenly drifted towards the centre of the cavern, holding its position before all of us, bobbing like a willow the wisp. Everyone looked on and stared as there was the briefest of seconds where everyone stopped, unsure of what they had to do next. People may have read up on the event before they’d come to Egypt but when something like this actually takes place, no-one wants to be the one to make the mistake.

  The two Dragons on either side of the dais were the first to stand up. They had just vacated the two largest thrones in the cavern and they both looked as if they were supremely confident that they were doing exactly what was expected. That said, they also looked as if they were supremely confident that if they had made some form of error in the correct procedure, they wouldn’t be called to task about it. The two giants were covered in all manner of horns and spines, plating and absolutely implicit menace that anyone with a different opinion than them would think twice before bringing their thoughts to the table.

  “My lord Mage.” The Guardian on the right of the dais spoke first and sounded like his voice was an explosion rather than a sound which should come from a person or animal.