"They won't use their powers against you, it is in their laws"
"Then this will be an easy victory after all," said the man standing next to Garan
"You know, this one is quite beautiful. When you are done with her I will take what is left"
"You will not win," Rinne shouted at them.
"We have already won, you are outnumbered and out-skilled," said the man.
"Who have you allied yourself with Garan, philosophers should study and revere life. Not destroy it"
"This is Akar, leader of the path of strength and the ascended are not supposed to be. We are doing the world a favour," said Garan.
"Come on Philosopher, let's get this over with. There are plenty more to kill and the hill is almost ours"
"They will fight back and beat you," Rinne spat.
Akar laughed and walked away.
"It is time that we put an end to your suffering," Garan said with a smile. "It is a shame, but I don't think there will be much left for the commander to play with"
Rinne felt the table under her tremble. Garan must have felt it to as he looked at her and snarled.
"Use your powers and I will make your death as slow and as painful as I can," said Garan.
"I am not," said Rinne. This time, the ground around them shook.
"I am warning you," said Garan, his voice shook with fear. Shouts began within the army.
"What is going on?" demanded Garan.
"Sir" a soldier pointed "Up on the hill"
Both Garan and Rinne looked up to the top of the hill. A line of people stood on the edge and the attacking soldiers were falling off as they had when Rinne was using her powers. Garan turned back to Rinne.
"You said they wouldn't use their powers," he spat.
The ascended began moving down the hill, pushing through the attacking soldiers. Rinne could see someone at the front cutting more soldiers down as much as he threw them away.
'Mavok' thought Rinne.
"Men, stop them," Garan shouted. Many seemed uncertain as to what they should do. "What are you waiting for?"
"They don't wish to go to their deaths for you," Rinne said. She allowed power to run through her and released it into the table, cracking it in half and releasing her from the bindings.
"Kill her," he shouted.
One of the soldiers began to walk towards her and pulled out his sword, Rinne was about to use her power when the soldier stopped with a look of shock upon his face. Then Rinne saw the arrow protruding from his chest. Rinne turned around and saw people emerging from the forest. The naturists had arrived.
"Garan, you are surrounded and soon defeated. You should surrender," said Rinne. Men all around had seen the naturist army and began to drop their weapons.
"I will kill you," screeched Garan. He pulled a dagger out then jumped towards Rinne. A flash of Father and Jon ran through her mind helping to push the power from her and exploding into Garan. His body flew into the air then fell to the floor with a sickening crunch.
"Anyone else?" Rinne shouted.
More men dropped their weapons as word spread that Garan was dead and another army had surrounded them. Rinne sank to her knees and breathed deeply, the tears flowed down her face and soon Mavok arrived kneeling down beside her.
"Rinne are you alright?" he asked.
Rinne nodded.
"It is over, we have won"
Rinne just nodded again and let Mavok help her up. With his arm to lean on they walked back towards the hill. Scores of men were knelt down, weapons discarded on the floor and a look of defeat in each of their faces.
"The path of strength surrendered too?" Rinne asked.
"We captured their leader," replied Mavok.
"I want to see him"
"I am taking you there now, the last of the elders are there," he said.
They walked to an area that had been cleared of bodies and blood stained the grass. Ascended stood around, armed in case anyone made a move against them.
"That was impressive," Cala's voice came from behind them.
"You arrived just in time," said Mavok.
"It looked like you had it under control"
Mavok shrugged. They passed through the ascended guard, the leader of strength was knelt down like the rest of him men, hands bound behind him and he shot a look of hate towards them. Zalon stood next to him, his expression was stern.
"Rinne, thank you for joining us. Where is the leader of philosophy?"
"He is dead," said Mavok.
"Very well," Zalon looked to Akar. "You waged a war against our peaceful community after being warned"
"You all deserve to die," said Akar angrily.
"It is not your place to decide such things," said Zalon.
"What happens to him now?" Rinne asked.
"We do not take lives willingly and we also do not use our powers upon other people"
"I had no choice," said Rinne.
"What's done is done," said Mavok.
"I do not believe it ever will be," said Zalon.
"Then what do we do?" asked Mavok.
"All the paths should meet to discuss this, the loss of lives today both elve and human should never happen again," said Zalon and he turned to an elve near him.
"Send word to the messengers, the path of God should be included. Request that they attend as soon as possible"
The elve ran off to follow the orders.
"Cala, send word to your father that we should meet, also can your people help return these soldiers to their homes and ask for representatives to journey here?"
Cala nodded and turned to Mavok.
"It is good to see you alive warrior," then she ran off.
"Come," said Zalon "We should return to the community, there is much to do and many to mourn"
Using Mavok as support, they climbed back up the hill. Men and women moved around, tending to the wounded and collecting the dead. Rinne managed to find Jon's body and fresh tears fell.
"He is resting now," said Mavok.
"And he is free," said Rinne.
"We all are," he said.
epilogue
Rinne felt numb as she sat around the table. Leaders and representatives from each of the paths waited for Zalon to attend.
It had taken two weeks for the assembled people to arrive, in that time they had buried the dead within the tunnels of the hill then sealed them shut. A large slab of stone with each of their names had been placed on the hill as a reminder of what their freedom had cost.
The doors opened and Zalon walked in followed by Mavok who had been named an elder in light of his actions to protect Unity and the loss of the other elders.
"Welcome to all of you and thank you for attending this meeting of the paths. The first since their beginning"
The room was silent, there was no love between the paths and most still regarded the elves as abominations.
"We have come together to speak of the future for both elves and humans," he said with a serious tone.
"What kind of future?" asked the new leader of strength.
Rinne had been there when this man had arrived, his name was Amor; brother to Akar who had been killed by Amor for failing the path.
"The elves have been mistreated for far too long and as proven in the battle our powers are dangerous," replied Zalon.
"You call this meeting just to threaten us?" questioned Amor.
"No, do not let anger fill your thoughts," said Mavok.
"There is no threat," said Zalon "We are offering a solution. One that will prevent this from happening again"
"What kind of solution?" asked the leader of strength.
"The elves will leave this land, all of us will go and make a new life far from the land of humans"
"Where will you go?"
"There is a city, one that was built centuries ago by the builders. Deep within the mountains that crown the world," said Zalon.
"We have never heard of such a place," said Cala's father.
<
br /> She had not returned with her father and Rinne really wanted the chance to speak to her again.
"It was abandoned when the paths were created, it stands empty though it is difficult to get to and the paths there have long been forgotten"
"How will you get there?" Amor asked.
"By boat, there once was a port, accessible by the sea," replied Zalon.
"What of those that ascend once you have gone?" asked the leader of the path of God.
"We will periodically return to collect any that have ascended into elves until then they will be treated well. That is a threat," said Mavok.
It was some hours later before the meeting was concluded. A treaty was written and signed by each of the paths, including the elves that protected all of them.
Rinne stood on the hill, watching the paths leaders leave in all directions. Before she returned to her house she walked over to the stone slab and searched for Jon's name.
"It looks like we are leaving this land, Jon, on a great adventure you would have enjoyed. They say it is the only option to ensure that we are kept safe, this is all my fault"
Rinne looked at the lake.
"At least you have a good view from here. You will never be forgotten Jon, neither will I forget Father"
Rinne headed down the hill and towards her house, wondering what would be next for her and the other elves.
Guardians
Book Two of Ascension
Chapter one
The journey across the ocean had been perilous. Out of the twelve boats that left the land of humans, only ten had made it.
Thinking about the voyage, Rinne stood on the sand and watched as others began to come ashore. They were heading for the great city of builders. A city that stood abandoned by the great builders. Built within the mountains that crowned the top of their world. It was to be their new sanctuary.
Rinne was not sure where they had landed. It was not the port that Zalon, who as one of the original builders claimed they were heading for. She could see Mavok pulling a boat up onto the shore.
"Where are we?" she asked him.
Mavok was panting from the exertion. He stood over six feet tall and was the former commander from the path of strength. He looked her with a smile.
"Well it is not where we planned to be," he replied, stating the obvious. "We need to get these boats ashore and then we can work out where we are."
Rinne nodded and headed off. Once they had pulled them up, the large host of elves walked further inland towards a thick forest. The elders called a meeting and Mavok invited her along.
Zalon looked to each of them. "Welcome to our new home," he said.
During the journey, most of the elves were silent, leaving Rinne with her thoughts. The past few weeks, her life had changed. As she thought about it, life had not been the same since she had ascended into an elve. Alienating herself from the world of humans. The appearance of Mavok had set off a chain of events resulting in the deaths of two people she cared for.
An old man named, Father had taken her in after her change. He had defied everything to ensure the ascended were safe. He was executed by the humans.
Another person’s death Rinne blamed herself for was that of Jon. The youngest known boy to ascend had been excitable and adventurous. Always asking questions and running into the thick of the action. A battle between the paths of knowledge had resulted in his death. Among hundreds of others that had died from a battle, she had brought them. More that Rinne blamed herself for. It was her actions that had led to the battle.
The elders gathered around a small fire. Rinne took a place next to Mavok as Zalon cleared his throat before speaking.
"We have made it to our new home. Not where we intended to be," said Zalon.
Mavok remained silent, the other two elders nodded an agreement.
"Mavok. What your thoughts?" Zalon asked.
"We will have to look around, make sure that it is safe. It may be a new land but for all we know there could be people here"
"The world was never mapped," said Zalon. "For all the spectacular feats that the builders accomplished. The grand library, Nature’s Bounty and the city of the builders. We never did travel the world"
"Where did the builders come from?" asked Rinne.
"Where we just departed," replied Zalon.
"So why did you build within the mountains?" Mavok asked. "If you began on the human islands”
Zalon sighed. "I am the last builder and there is no telling how long I will live so it is only right that I share the story," said Zalon. "A long time ago we lived on the land now occupied by the humans that have descended from us. Our population was booming, peaceful and civilised. Something that will never happen again"
An Elve approached them with drinks and food. Rinne felt famished and started to eat the food whilst listening to Zalon's story.
"We began to notice changes to the weather. Seismic events that shook the world and even nature itself began to wilt. Whole fields of food destroyed by disease"
"What caused it?" Rinne asked.
"We never did find that out, but it got worse. Starvation and disease followed, wiping out people by the thousands. The survivors looked to find shelter in the mountains that crowned the world. We set forth and built the city that now stands empty. Living there for centuries before the world was safe again".
Zalon ate some of his food before continuing.
"When we emerged, the world was a new. All evidence of our past had removed by nature and so we began to rebuild. That is when we formed the paths of knowledge."
Rinne noticed that the sky was beginning to darken, she longed for the softness of a bed. The last time that she had slept in one was the night before they left the community at Unity.
"Another night under the stars," said Zalon.
"We should scout the area, ensure that there are no dangers and we could find a safer place to camp," said Mavok.
"I agree. Take the people that you need for the journey. We can make camp here," said Zalon.
Mavok nodded and left the fire to round people up, Rinne ran after him. "Let me come with you," she said to him.
"It may be dangerous," he said. "Maybe you could stay here and help with the camp"
The look Rinne shot at him made Mavok smile. It was the first time she had seen him do so since before the battle at Unity.
"Well, go find us some weapons," Mavok said.
Rinne nodded and headed back across the sand to the boats where other elves had begun to unload them.
Chapter two
Mavok watched Rinne run off and could not help but smile. The girl had been through a lot, insisting upon carrying on and helping.' Maybe in a way to atone for what she believed to be her fault.' he thought.
She was powerful. Mavok would never deny it, but the lack of control that Rinne held over her power scared him. He had watched as she fought her way down the hill during the battle. Scores of men died. Their lives taken from them as they fell from her power. Then when she had confronted the grand librarian. Mavok had caught the moment she had crushed the life from him as if he was an insect under her shoe. The look of anger across the girl’s face ended the battle for many of their enemy.
Rinne would be safer staying with him. He could protect and watch over her.
Mavok walked around the elves that huddled together. Some had gone already to search for firewood whilst the rest just waited. He offered words of encouragement to those that needed it and then began to select a few to go with him to explore the area.
Nine were chosen to follow Rinne and himself. Rinne returned and handed out the weapons. Looking to hers with some confusion.
"I will train you to use that," he said to her.
"I hope I never need to use it," Rinne replied to him as she slipped the sword in a sheath clipped to her belt.
'So do I' Mavok thought to himself.
They walked to the edge of the forest, Mavok turned to the group.
"Our
task is to explore the surrounding area. It is unknown whether there are any dangers here so we must be careful"
"Are we looking for anything in particular?" asked Amy. One of the few female elves that knew how to use a sword with any skill.
"For any dangers and somewhere we can begin building our new home," said Mavok.
"What if this land is already inhabited?" asked another elve that Mavok had not learnt the name of yet.
"It is something that we will have to deal with if it comes up. We will only use force if it is necessary and powers are only a last resort," he looked at Rinne who looked away from him.
They began to walk through the forest, the leaves crunched underfoot and unfamiliar birds called from their trees. The group remained silent under Mavok's instruction, not wanting to attract anyone or anything dangerous to their presence. After an hour of travel Mavok called a halt to their march, night had settled in and only their enhanced vision helped them to see the forest.
"These trees seem to go on for a while," said Amy.
"Hold on, I will climb a tree and take a look," said Mavok.
He picked one with a thick trunk and began to climb. About halfway up he heard some scrambling behind him then turned to see Rinne pulling herself up. He stopped and sat on a branch until she had caught up.
"Thanks for the help," Rinne said with sarcasm.
"You looked like you were doing fine, why have you come up?" he asked.
Rinne looked up. "I wanted to see the forest"
Mavok smiled and they continued to climb the tree until they reached the top. Dark clouds had appeared in the sky, threatening rain. Rinne gasped as she settled herself upon a branch. He agreed with her astonishment. The forest continued as far as the eye could see right up until a mountain dominated.
"The forest is so big," Rinne said.
"Yes," responded Mavok. "It is unlikely that there is anyone living on this land"
"Why do you think that?" Rinne asked.
"The forest is wild and untouched. Across our land, we have cleared the trees for settlements and farming," said Mavok.
The Ascension Trilogy Page 8
