The Chosen

by K. J. Nessly

  Time to try and make new friends.

  “I’m sure Destiny is nearby,” he whispered quietly, then, before a very startled Kathryn could reply, he sat down. When she didn’t sit down immediately, he turned to her, smiled, and nodded to the space next to himself. Almost reluctantly she sank down, rather stiffly, next to him, observing him with wariness in her eyes.

  Oh yes. They were going to get along just great. Just like old comrades—old comrades with large swords and a several generation blood feud against each other.

  He handed her a piece of fruit. From the cautious manner in which she took it, he half expected her to test it for poisons. He took a bite of his own fruit and then addressed the group. “Well since we’re supposed to get to know one another and I’m your leader we might was well start with me.” Oh stars above. Was that the best he could come up with? He definitely needed to brush up on his public speaking skills.I should have paid more attention during debate and communication class.

  Well, there was nothing he could do about it now but continue doggedly on. “My name, as Lord Geral told you, is David, my gift is wind control. I dislike dancing, especially the waltz, and I love to run.” That didn’t come out half as bad as he’d feared he reflected, as he bit into another piece of fruit. As he had hoped his comment about the dreaded waltz, at least in the eyes of the young men, brought some laughs. Turning to Kathryn he said, “Your turn.”

  Kathryn looked like she would prefer to swallow fire.

  Oh yes, David thought, we’re going to have great times. Who had he insulted on the Council to be saddled with such a second-in-command?

  “I’m Kathryn, as Lord Geral already told you,” she began in the taut tone already all too familiar to David. “My gift is water control, I’m not a diplomat, and love to climb.”

  David could only too swiftly agree with her lack of affinity for diplomacy.

  Next in their group was a girl named Amy. “Hi, my name’s Amy,” her voice was light and fun and David decided he liked her already. “My power is fire control. I’m not very good at archery and I love horseback riding and swordplay.”

  David’s old roommate was next. When David had watched his family enter the council room he had been elated to see the blinding blond hair and energetic eyes of Luke come into focus, and if the fist pumped into the air was any indication of Luke’s opinion, he was just as happy as David. “My name’s Luke, my gift is earth movement, I prefer a sword to diplomacy, and I love fencing.”

  “I can personally assure all of you of that.” David spoke up. Everybody laughed… everybody except Kathryn. David began to wonder if she even had emotions, he had yet to see her smile.

  David turned his attention to the next person in line, a small shy girl who shared Luke’s brilliant hair color, but whose eyes were gray instead of a vibrant blue. “My name’s Jenna,” her voice was quiet, but surprisingly strong. “My gift is healing, I’m no good in a battle confrontation, and I love to read,” she blushed a little as she admitted her love of books.

  Not wanting her to be embarrassed David said, “I love reading. We’ll have to compare favorite books some time.”

  It was not known outside the Guardians, but in truth there were few true “super warriors” as both commoners and nobility referred to them. All Guardians could fight extremely well, but those who could be deemed a “super warrior” were rare, and as the generations passed were becoming rarer still. Many Guardians were several mastery levels above the level of the best trained knights, but some, especially healers or those gifted with the ability to sense emotions, were simply average fighters who used their gifts to heighten their abilities. David intended to make sure that everyone in his family was recognized for values that went beyond their fighting skills.

  Kathryn watched in silent, grudging,surprise as David confidently took charge, making sure everybody felt wanted, needed, and unembarrassed about who they were.Perhaps he wasn’t a bad choice as a leader, she thought as she took a bite of fruit.

  As the group gave a quick description of themselves, Kathryn dedicated herself to memorizing each.

  Leia, a tall brunette who appeared to be her own age, could talk to animals but feared water, something Kathryn couldn’t understand.How could anyone fear water? She asked herself as David assured Leia that having an irrational fear did not make her weak.

  Kathryn wondered if that was true, her own irrational fear was so fanatical it sent her, quite literally, into panic mode—a state in which she would prefer it if no one ever saw her in.

  “My name’s Matt,” a cheerful red haired, freckled boy who looked about David’s age, piped up. “I enjoy cooking and my gift is the influence of small creatures.” Every nuance of his body suggested a beet sugar overdose; he hadn’t stopped fidgeting since he sat down, if she didn’t know any better she might think that ants had crawled into his tunic.

  “What kind of small creatures?” Luke asked.

  Matt looked confused. “What do you mean, ‘what kind of small creatures’?”

  Now it was Luke’s turn to frown in confusion. “I mean can you only control small creatures like mice and rabbits or do you mean small creatures like baby animals?”

  The redhead shrugged. “Small creatures…ah, um, little, ah small...interpret as you will.”

  “Never mind, Luke,” David interjected with some humor over Matt’s bumbling definition. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know the details once we reach our region.” He turned to the next girl in their group, an older girl named Cassandra who, judging from the way she kept her arms wrapped around her knees in front of her and hunched her shoulders to make her appear smaller, was going to be the shy one in the family. She did admit that she preferred Cass to Cassandra.

  Cass could use telekinesis, but was helpless around fire. Noting that her hair matched Matt’s, Kathryn couldn’t help but wonder if they were related.

  Rachel could also control wind, but wasn’t very good at archery. Kathryn didn’t need to know Rachel to see that the tall blond was outspoken and vivacious; her mannerisms indicated an experienced public speaker. Her tone was firm, clear, and modulated carefully…as if every inflection had been a study in her mind before it had been spoken.

  Elizabeth was a girl in Kathryn’s age class who could move the earth, but feared heights. Kathryn had observed Elizabeth in a few mock political situations, noting that she was one of the few trainees who could debate nearly any professor and end the victor, and knew instinctively that Rachel and Elizabeth would end up acting as the diplomats for the family. So far, the people assigned to her family were surprising her in the idea that she might be able to tolerate living with them. That changed the moment the next girl opened her mouth.

  Natalie could control fire but hated being alone. As she talked she tossed her perfectly styled blond hair over her shoulders, leaving one lone strand to frame her face which she promptly started twirling around one finger, laughing ridiculously at anything one of the boys said. Kathryn bit back on a groan. She recognized her. Natalie had been the biggest flirt in school. Unfortunately she’d also proved to be exceptionally good at intelligence gathering. Kathryn had worked hard to stay off Natalie’s radar at school. Living with her was going be torture.

  Daniel could sense emotions, but hated making quick decisions. Noting his tall frame and wavy brown hair, Kathryn guessed that Daniel would make an impressionable nobleman at court, grudgingly, had to include both David and Luke in that assessment as well. Lindsey, a girl who was every inch Natalie’s twin in personality but complete opposite in physical appearance, could control light but was also afraid of water. Since the two were already becoming fast friends, Kathryn made a second mental note to avoid both of them as much as possible. The last thing she needed was for Natalie and Lindsey to start trying to get to know her. Tyler, the oldest of the group, was also a healer but hated playing the part of a nobleman, hated any sort of playacting.

  At least there’s someone in this group I might ge
t along with, Kathryn thought as she remembered the few mock political and social settings that had been put on by the instructors—remembered how much she had hated pretending to be what she wasn’t.

  After the introductions had been made, small conversations started up as various family members conversed with each other, trying to get to know each other. Kathryn talked minimally, preferring to listen and learn more about the family she would now have to learn to live with. Admittedly, most of them didn’t appear too difficult, Natalie and Lindsey were probably the only two she would need to be careful around, but she was all too aware that first appearances and impressions were easily manipulated. She would withhold her final assessment until they’d lived together long enough for everyone to show their true personalities.

  High above, a movement caught her eye and Kathryn’s heart soared as she recognized Destiny.

  Apparently David noticed as well for he suddenly said, “We have one more family member that needs to be introduced.” He raised his voice to carry over the several conversations.

  Eventually everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

  “I thought there were only supposed to be fourteen of us,” Natalie said once everyone was quiet.

  David nodded. “True, but the Council forgot one member who is very important,” he looked over at Kathryn, who was a bit confused until he motioned ever so slightly towards Destiny. Immediately she understood—he wanted her to share Destiny with the group. She glared at him. No way.

  “Well, who is it?” Matt asked.

  David looked at her and raised an eyebrow, a movement that reminded her so much of Lord Jasse that she relented and reluctantly let out a high whistle. Instantly Destiny leaped from her perch and soared down to her outstretched arm. She picked up a piece of jerky and fed it to Destiny who gulped it down in one swallow.

  Astonished gasps and other exclamations of delight rippled around.

  “That is so cool!” Natalie gushed as Destiny perched on Kathryn’s arm.

  David turned to Kathryn. “Would you like to do the honors?” he asked.

  Kathryn turned to her friend. “This is Destiny, her gift is her amazing eyesight she stinks at diplomacy and loves to go rock climbing.”

  “Rock climbing?” Cass asked in confusion.

  Both David and Kathryn nodded and David said, “It is the most amazing thing you will ever see.”

  Kathryn briefly entertained the idea of hitting him. In the face. With a tree branch. Or maybe with the entire tree.

  “How on earth does an eagle climb?” Natalie asked.

  David looked a Kathryn. “Would you and Destiny be willing to give a demonstration?”

  Kathryn looked at Destiny, wanting nothing more than to disappear, but she could feel the eager anticipation of the group. She nodded reluctantly, although she felt like she’d rather jump off the cliff without Destiny than perform.

  Amy turned to David. “Do you know what the ceremony tonight will entail?”

  Graduations of other Guardians were open affairs that anyone in the school could attend and everyone in the group had attended at least two since coming to the school. But watching the ceremony and participating in it were two completely different scenarios. Especially since they were going to be the first full family to graduate in at least a decade, if not longer. In more recent years, the Council had refrained from retiring entire families and instead began rotating in new members to replace those killed, injured, or otherwise rendered unable to fulfill their duties. The abrupt change from graduations of two or three individuals to a full family made David wonder what had occurred to prompt the Council to commission an entire new family, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

  Others added their questions to Amy’s, regarding the ceremony. David held up his hand. “I know one thing. We have to choose a name for ourselves.”

  “A name?” Tyler asked

  This time Jenna spoke up. “Each Guardian family takes a name to identify itself. Usually they’re names of magical creatures, but more common ones have been used.”

  “The Council doesn’t do that?” Matt asked.

  “No, they just like us to think that they do so that we don’t spend our days dreaming up fancy names when we should be focused on our studies.” Someone snorted derisively at her explanation.

  David nodded. “We have to announce our name tonight, or more accuratelyI have to announce it. Anyone have any suggestions?”

  “How about Phoenix?” Cass suggested.

  Matt shook his head, “There’s already a family named Phoenix in Merdea.”

  “What about Griffin? Luke called out.

  Soon everybody was talking at once, until finally, Jenna suggested a name that brought everyone to standstill.

  David looked at her. “I like it, how about the rest of you?”

  “There has got to be a family with that name already in service,” Tyler protested.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “No,” she replied firmly. “The last family with that name was retired seven years ago.”

  Matt squinted at her. “Did you swallow the clerical records or something?”

  Elizabeth shot him an affronted look. He gave her an innocent look in return. At least that was what he probably attempted. To David it appeared more like a “do not trust me with anything having to do with fire or sharp objects” grin. So that was a check in the “probably going to burn the house down” and a check in the “will probably kill you in your sleep if you offend her” categories. Oh, and the “outrageous flirt” category. Natalie was the second to last person he’d wanted in his family. He was completely missing the target today for people he wanted in his family. He could only hope Matt and Kathryn would prove his initial impressions wrong. He didn’t have any hope for Natalie.

  Clearing his throat before things went too far between Elizabeth and Matt, he looked pointedly at everyone. “Yay or Nay?”

  It was unanimous.

  Luke spoke up. “Are you sure you don’t know anything else about the ceremony? As our family leader, shouldn’t the Council have given you an in-depth lecture on what’s expected for our graduation since it’s going to be different from the ones we’ve attended?”

  As near as David could figure, the change in policy had come about because there simply weren’t as many gifted students as there had been a hundred, or even fifty, years ago and the Council was hesitant to throw fourteen new and inexperienced Guardians into the fray when they could be placed in more experienced families where their chances of survival were significantly higher. It wasn’t a horrible policy, in fact he was willing to bet that it significantly reduced the number of lethal mistakes a new Guardian might make if he was mentored by seasoned and experienced warriors. Still, he couldn’t quite ignore the niggling thought at the back of his mind that there was something prompting this change to a full family graduation.

  Before David could reply Elizabeth cleared her throat. “It’s a two part ceremony,” she began. “First they will present us with new uniforms and announce our region of service to the rest of the school. The second half of the ceremony takes longer. During this part we will each be presented with new weapons to be worn with our new uniforms. After we have been presented with our weapons we will each be masked in the ways of the Guardians and handed a torch. Each of us will then place our torch on a special metal tree, eventually lighting up the whole.”

  “Where did you learn that?” Luke asked.

  Elizabeth gave him a funny look. “The library of course. Where else?”

  Luke raised an eyebrow at her. “Why would you be lookingthat information up?”

  “Aren’t you ever curious?”

  “Sometimes,” David put in dryly. “But he usually hits it over the head to get it to stop harassing him.”

  “Hey!” Luke protested.

  “What is so important about a tree?” Tyler asked suddenly. “It’s on our uniforms and part of the ceremony, but I can’t remember any of the instructors ever expl
aining what the tree meant other than the fact that the symbol has been handed down through the generations since the Guardians’ inception.”

  Before Elizabeth could answer, Rachel spoke up. “A tree is the symbol of family. You will each have a specific place for your torch; which you will be shown earlier. Some of you will represent the roots taking the form of all that holds the tree standing. Others will represent the branches, the ones that nourish the rest of the tree. Kathryn’s torch will end up being the trunk of the tree and David’s the top. Our flames represent all that holds the tree together.”

  Everyone stared at her in amazement. Luke grinned broadly. “Do you spend your afternoons in the library too?”

  Rachel shrugged. “Actually, I figured it out during tactics instruction.”

  Luke stared at her in bewilderment.

  “Right,” Matt piped up dryly. “Because that makes perfect sense. You must have had a different instructor than I did.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “It makes sense if you think about the progression.”

  The two boys exchanged a look. “Progression?” Luke finally ventured.

  Holding up one hand, Rachel began to tick her points off on her fingers. “First class of the day is history where we learned about the legend of the first family of Guardians. The second class of the day is science where we, on that day, learned about botany and how plants live. The third class was tactics where we discussed the legend of the Great War and how the fabled first Guardians broke tradition and killed the Wanderer leader together, as a team.” She spread her hands and gave a smile. “After that I kind of just…I don’t know…understood.”

  Luke and Matt were staring at her, eyes wide. “That settles it,” Matt said firmly. “Youdefinitely had different instructors than I did.”

  From the looks traveling around the circle, David could see that a few people doubted Rachel’s explanation. He himself wasn’t completely sure of the history behind the emblem, but in his mind her explanation made sense. The one to champion Rachel and her explanation was the last person he expected through. “Rachel’s correct,” Kathryn spoke up.