The Guardians: Book One of the Restoration Series

by Williams, Christopher

  “Arch-bishop? What arch-bishop?” Flare asked, confused.

  “The battle at the gates was almost over. Most of us, the defenders I mean, were scattered or dead. The mercenaries from the eastern wall had joined in the fight. They had taken the eastern gate and trapped us between the two groups of attackers. I was fighting in the courtyard near the western gate, when I heard the chants of ‘Telur’ coming from the east.” Her eyes got a distant look as she spoke, “You should have seen it Flare. An army poured through the eastern gate, an army of Telurian soldiers. Heather reached General Andatell, and returned with his army.”

  Flare got goose skin as she relayed her tale and his eyes got misty thinking of the soldiers who didn't get to see the hoped for army.

  Kara paused for a moment, “Flare, I know that the goblins would have slaughtered us if they had won, but I will have nightmares from the way our army slaughtered them. The loss of life was horrible.” A tortured look crossed her face.

  “Kara, how many defenders did we lose? Which of the other guardians survived?” Flare asked quietly, needing the answer but terrified of what he might hear.

  “The other guardians will be okay. Aaron’s leg was broken by a giant’s hammer, but it will heal in time. Trestus was stabbed high on the shoulder, but that also will heal. The rest of us have minor injuries.” She stopped talking and then, as if just remembering something, she added, “Oh, Enstorion woke up and he should be fine.”

  “And what about the rest of the defenders?” Flare asked, relieved to hear about Enstorion and that none of the other guardians had died.

  Kara got up and slowly walked toward the end of the bed. “Flare, I am not entirely sure of the numbers, but I think that some sixty of the soldiers survived relatively unhurt. Another twenty or thirty of the soldiers survived the battle, but I think their survival is temporary. They were maimed or severely hurt, and I think that their injuries will be too much. If they do survive, I don’t know what kind of life they would lead.”

  A soul ripping remorse settled on Flare. “I failed them. My god, I have failed them.” His eyes teared up, memories of Murleen flowing over him.

  Kara turned on him with such ferocity that it startled him. “You stop that right now. You led these men better than could have possibly been expected of you. You helped these men to hold this fort under impossible odds for a lot longer than we should have. Stop with the poor me attitude.” Her voice softened and she sat down on the bed next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, “Think of the sixty or so soldiers that did survive, and think of all the lives that would have been lost if the goblins had gotten through the fort. You have saved countless lives, and you have nothing to feel sorry about.” She watched him for a few moments. “Flare, a wonderful blessing has been bestowed on us. The lives that were lost were the sacrifice that the gods required for this blessing. Don’t ruin the memory of those soldiers by pitying them, rejoice in their memory.”

  ‘The lives that were lost were the sacrifice that the gods required for this blessing!’ Those words troubled him; they reminded him of the words he heard about the gods demanding a sacrifice. He didn’t have any time to think about it though, because at that moment the door opened.

  The door opened, and in walked General Andatell. He looked every bit the battle hardened general. His hair was shoulder length, and rather unkempt. He had a smile on his face, and the smile started to put Flare at ease. He had a leather-hard face, with a scar that ran from his left eye to his chin.

  “Hello, Sergeant. How are you feeling?” The general asked.

  How did he feel? He should have been dead, but he was healing quickly. He felt queasy to his stomach, at the thought of admitting refusing to follow a direct order. He swallowed and said, “Better, sir. I should be ready to return to duty soon.” He surprised himself with how good he actually sounded.

  The general chuckled, “Well, let’s not rush it.”

  “Yes sir. Uh, general, can I speak with you in private for a moment?”

  General Andatell seemed a little surprised, but nevertheless he nodded toward the door.

  Kara was also taken aback, but she glanced from Flare to General Andatell, and then left.

  “All right Sergeant, what’s this about?” The general asked, just as soon as the door closed.

  Flare took a deep breath. ‘I don’t have to do this, maybe nobody will ever know.’ But he dismissed that thought. “Sir, it is with deep regret that I must inform you that I refused a direct order from Colonel Holt.” A look of surprise crossed the general’s face, but Flare continued. “We arrived several days early, and when the goblins appeared, the colonel ordered me to turn my troops over to him. He was marching out to fight them, but I refused. I still had two days before the day I was ordered to turn the troops over to Colonel Holt. I used that to justify my refusal.”

  The general watched Flare for several moments, as if studying him. The look on the general's face had changed from surprise to something else. What was it? It almost looked like amusement, but that couldn't be it, not when a soldier admitted to disobeying a superior officer. The general took his time in responding, and the waiting was unimaginable.

  Finally, the general spoke, “Sergeant, while I understand that you may feel guilty about refusing a command, I think that you must not understand what you have done here. You have saved an untold number of lives by refusing that foolish command.” He paused, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

  A faint glimmer of hope rose in Flare at the general’s words. He tried to not get his hopes up too far.

  The general smiled and continued, “I would not recommend that you make a habit of refusing to follow an order, but it is the responsibility of each soldier to judge an order, and not just follow blindly. Most of the time, a soldier does not know everything that the officer knows. In this case, you refused to follow a stupid order and saved the lives of many innocents.” Andatell placed his hand on Flare’s shoulder, “Besides, you're a hero now. I don’t think that I could do anything to you, even if I wanted to.”

  Flare was stunned. He had expected several possible different responses to his admission of rebellion, but praise had not been a thought that had crossed his mind.

  The general stood to his feet, and moved to the door. He stopped and looked back at Flare, his face turning grim. Or was that mirth in his eyes? “Now that I think about it, I guess there is something that I can do to punish you.” The general paused as if considering the punishment. “Yes, I think that it will be a fitting punishment for you.”

  Flare was confused by the general's abrupt about face. The punishment couldn't be too bad considering his earlier statements, but what did he have in mind?

  A broad smile broke across the face of General Andatell, “A general is granted certain liberties and one of those it the ability to promote a soldier on the field of battle, and that is exactly what I have decided to do.” General Andatell reached for the doorknob, “I must be going now. I have to check on the status of the repair to the wall. You get your rest,” The general paused and smiled at him, as he stressed his last word, “Lieutenant.”

  ‘Lieutenant?’ Flare thought to himself as the general left the room. I disobeyed an order, and I get a promotion. Waves of relief rolled over him as he realized that he would not be punished, but instead would be rewarded. ‘I guess I need to disobey orders a little more often.’ Flare chuckled to himself.

  In spite of the excitement of the general’s visit, Flare’s mending body required healing. He soon found himself slipping back into sleep, and released himself willingly.

  Flare spent several weeks recovering his strength. His fellow guardians visited him often, and brought him news of the rebuilding of the fort’s defenses.

  All the guardians were troubled by the events that had befallen them at the fort, but only Trestus seemed truly haunted. He seemed quieter than usual, and Flare’s concern about Trestus grew each time he saw him.

  Enstorion visi
ted only once. A brief visit where the elven magician sat coolly regarding Flare. His gaze starting to make Flare uncomfortable. “So Enstorion, how are you feeling?”

  “Better,” he adjusted the way that he was sitting, crossing his long legs and leaning back in the chair. “I'm tired a lot, but that will pass with time.” He nodded toward Flare, “Your stomach's almost healed up. How did you manage that?”

  Flare shook his head, his brow wrinkling at the same time. “I don't know.” He had told the same to the other guardians when asked this question. Some of them, led by Kara, pronounced it a miracle and said he should be thankful. He was thankful, but he desperately wanted a clearer explanation.

  Enstorion didn't stay long, but at one point, he had nodded at Flare. “Some pretty amazing things happened over the past couple of weeks, and I don't just mean your healing. Any ideas on how so many fortuitous things happened?”

  Shaking his head no, Flare studied the elf, and Enstorion left shortly thereafter. But there had been a gleam in his eyes when he had asked that gave Flare pause. Could he know or suspect something? Of all of them, Enstorion alone might keep his secret, but then again, Enstorion might also be the first to sell him out.

  After ten days, Flare was finally allowed to leave the room, albeit over the very loud objections of Kara. There was some pain and soreness from his injuries, but he refused to show any sign of soreness as Kara insisted on going with him. If she even suspected that he was still hurting, she would have ended any and all of his excursions.

  He limped through the streets of the fort toward the makeshift gate. It was a bright sunny day, and the light hurt his eyes. The signs of the battle were still very evident. The streets and even some of the buildings were tore up, even though a hasty attempt had been made to patch the battle scars.

  Other soldiers and merchants walked the streets. Some nodded at Flare, but most ignored him or watched him with guarded looks.

  "Kara, why do they look at me that way?" He asked.

  "Well, a lot of them are in shock from what happened here. I mean the trades people expected to die. And then miraculously they are saved by the arrival of the army. Then they look at you, and you should be dead, but here you are. Alive and well." She shrugged her shoulders, "They just think that you should be dead."

  He didn't respond, but kept slowly walking toward the western gate. When he reached the gate, he almost didn't recognize it. Hundreds of soldiers swarmed over the remains of the gate and wall. An amazing amount of work had already been done to clear away the rubble, and now the soldiers were shoring up the walls. The area in front of the gate, where the final battle had taken place, had been completely cleared of any sign of battle. 'That doesn't make any sense,' Flare thought. 'It looks like they are closing off the entrance.'

  Seeing the confused look on his face, Kara spoke, "There wasn't any way to make a makeshift gate quickly, so General Andatell ordered the entrance to be temporarily sealed. Once everything has been secured, I expect that the craftsmen will build a new gate. They are only leaving a small passage wide enough for one rider on a horse to get through."

  Flare watched as the damage that been inflicted so quickly was slowly repaired.

  Over the next week, Flare continued to survey the fort by getting out and walking the streets. At first, even a short trip would wear him out, but as time went by his strength slowly returned. The soldiers and merchants also got used to seeing him around the fort, and he noticed that they regarded him less and less with scared looks.

  Scouting patrols, sent out to search for the invaders, found numerous bodies. The invaders had fled, and General Andatell's troops had pursued them and massacred those attackers that were too slow. The bodies of the attackers had been heaped into great piles and then burnt. The fires had burned non-stop since the battle, and they stilled burned.

  The hardest trip Flare had taken was to the graveyard on the outside of the eastern wall. New graves were everywhere, as soldiers and townspeople alike were buried with honor. He wept at the massive number of dead. He could not help but feel responsible. He went to the graveyard once, wept bitterly, and then promised himself that he would not go back. The dead were to be remembered with fondness and their sacrifices praised. He had to stop blaming himself, he knew, but it was easy to say and harder to do.

  "Flare, have you seen the progress on the wall?" Atock asked at dinner. About half of the guardians were sitting at a table against the wall. Trestus was absent, but that was becoming the norm, as he seemed to prefer to be by himself lately. Aaron was there, his leg had been set by Kara, and he could now walk with the aid of a crutch, but it still pained him and he had it resting, propped up on a chair.

  "Yes. It's coming along quite nicely." Flare said, taking another bite of bread. "Have any of the scouts found any more goblins or whatever?"

  Enton was in the process of raising his cup of ale to his mouth, but he paused with it halfway raised. "Just the bodies of those that were injured in the battle. They haven't found anymore in the woods," he answered. "Of course, the troops don't go too far away from the fort. Besides the goblins, there are a lot of dangerous things in the wilderness."

  Flare wondered at the complete disappearance of the attackers. "Are there any signs of how the invaders just disappeared? I mean, they just can't vanish."

  Aaron glanced over at Flare, "Well, maybe they can," he said. "I mean they proved that they have some powerful magicians on their side."

  Something about Aaron's answer disturbed him. "Maybe. But why would you use magic to transport the whole army to outside the fort. If you can transport a whole army like that, just transport them to the east of us, and you can march all the way to Telur."

  "Unless they were more interested in taking the fort," Atock said. His comment cast a bothersome air over the dinner table.

  Heather swallowed a bite of venison, “Actually, there are quite a few tracks leading away from the fort.” She paused and wiped some meat juice from her chin. “With the arrival of the army, the attackers fled in their separate directions. It looks like whatever kept the peace between the different groups collapsed, and they started fighting as they fled.”

  “Besides,” Mikela added, “Magicians can't transport whole armies. It's just not possible.”

  Flare's eyes narrowed, “What of Zalustus, or any of the other humans that were with him?”

  Heather shook her head, “We haven't seen the first sign of their escape. There were some signs near the attackers' camp, but after the rout at the gates, they seemed to have vanished. It's almost as if they all flew away.”

  Heather's words cast a pall over the group. Her mention of flying reminded them of the way Zalustus had escaped. The group ate in silenced, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts.

  Flare was asleep in his room, when a knock on the door drew him from his slumber. A young man stuck his head in, but Flare didn't recognize him. “Sir, General Andatell had summoned you and the other guardians to appear before him as soon as possible.”

  Flare pushed himself up from the bed. Sunlight was peaking from around the edges of the curtains that covered the window. He frowned at that, he seemed to have adjusted to sleeping late during his recovery, but that would have to change and change in a hurry. It was rather difficult to sleep late and be in the army.

  Pushing those thoughts from his mind, he moved toward his wardrobe, a soldier didn't keep a general waiting, but they also didn't answer a general's summons by showing up in a nightshirt.

  He met the rest of the guardians at General Andatell’s make shift office. None of the guardians had any idea why they were being summoned, but they were all arrayed in the best uniform they had. Although given the ordeal they had endured, none of the guardians looked very sharp.

  Flare briefly inspected his fellow guardians, and then turned to the general’s secretary.

  “We are reporting as ordered.” He said to the young man sitting at the desk. The general’s secretary looked like he couldn
’t have been more than sixteen. ‘How many soldiers just like him died during the siege?’

  “Wait here and I will see if the general is ready to see you.” The young man said, getting up and entering the office. He was gone just a moment, before he returned and opened the door. “This way please.”

  Flare entered first, followed by the rest of the guardians in the single file.

  General Andatell was seated behind a desk, sifting through papers. He looked up as the guardians filed into the room.

  The guardians lined up at attention facing the general.

  The general stood up and walked around the end of the desk. He stopped and leaned against the corner. “At ease.”

  The guardians relaxed only slightly, as they were all a little nervous.

  General Andatell paused a moment, and then he said a little more forcefully, “I said at ease soldiers.”

  Flare took the not so subtle hint, relaxed his stance, and turned his face toward the general.

  “It’s time for you to return to Telur. The king himself has summoned you.”

  There were several audible gulps from the guardians. Flare felt his stomach getting a little queasy at being summoned before the king. His thoughts ran wild briefly, before his attention returned to the general.

  General Andatell was smiling at the nervousness being displayed by Flare and his fellow guardians. “Relax.” He said in a calm manner. “The king is summoning you to reward you for your service to the kingdom. You are heroes, and will be treated as such upon your return.” He spoke quietly hoping to put the soldiers at ease. He paused for another moment, and then spoke directly to Flare, “Flare, Are you ready to make the return trip?”