Warden's Path

by Heath Pfaff

  “I do too. Fending for ourselves isn’t so bad. It’s almost like we could forget our troubles and stay here forever.” I added to her musing, wondering what it would be like to do exactly that. It was tempting in a way, but what about Zarkov and Ori? My friends deserved to be remembered. If I did nothing to change the things that had happened to them, then I was failing them. I had to keep my goals in mind.

  Dreea had moved closer to me, and she leaned gently against my shoulder. “Maybe we will return someday, build a cabin, stay here and be happy together.”

  This brought a faint flush to my cheeks, but I nodded. “Yes, maybe we will.”

  “Bad news.” Korva’s voice shattered the moment as we both looked over at her. “There has been an attack on the school. We’ve been ordered to finish our trip to Jinthos and then to return to Black Mark.” Jinthos was the capital of the Farholds, the lands under the King’s Iron Will beyond the Expanse. It was the home of the school known as Second, an apt if unimaginative name for the second Warden training school.

  I blinked in confusion a moment before I could gather my thoughts. “An attack on the school? Who would attack the Warden school?” As far as I knew there was no one who would be that foolish. It was a base of operations for the Wardens, and even most of the students were well trained in combat. A regular fighting force would be at a massive disadvantage. Was it the Way? How would they even get there to launch an attack? As far as I knew they didn’t have doors like we did.

  “That was my question as well. They’re not sure who started the attack, but they’ve taken the golems, and they are somehow inside the city.” Korva seemed disturbed at this, and I couldn’t blame her. Black Mark was considered invulnerable, and the golems were created specifically to be servants of the Wardens. It was built into what they were. There was more here then seemed evident on the surface.

  “They took the golems?” I wanted clarification this. I was thinking back to my talk with Ghoul before I’d left. He’d said the golems were changing. I had a sinking feeling I knew what was happening, or at least the source of what was happening. This was the doom that Arthos and I had brought back from beyond the doors. This was how it was manifesting. “I thought the golems were little more than puppets, slaves to the Iron Will. How can someone take them?”

  Korva shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but apparently it is a significant problem. They say the city is falling into turmoil. They’re calling back all non-essential positions right now. They would have had us turn back, but we’re close enough to the other end that it makes more sense to go on.” Korva seemed a little worried. “They implied that it’s some kind of secret attack by the Way, but it doesn’t sound like something they’d do. They don’t generally attack civilians, and from what I understand the inner city is a mess. People are going crazy in the streets, killing one another, starting fires, all kinds of crazy things. It sounds bad.”

  “What good will it do for us to return?” I asked, clearly not understanding how a few more Wardens were going to make a difference. In truth, I wasn’t sure anything could make a difference. If this was like what had befallen Prosper, what could possibly stand in the way of that disaster?

  “Right now the Wardens are trying to establish a safe zone, get people inside of the school and seal up the walls, pushing out anything dangerous. It hasn’t been easy going. The students are helping, and the Wardens there are all being utilized, but things are still falling apart. They want to double their numbers. They’re certain if they can get enough Wardens in place they can secure the school, and then push out from there and take back the city.” Korva explained, though she didn't look certain either. “To be honest the plan seemed shaky at best. The messages were frantic too, lots of mistakes. It must be bad there. I’ve never gotten messages from Black Mark that were clearly so hastily sent.”

  “How much further do we have to go before we reach Second?” Dreea asked, clearly feeling some of the urgency of the situation herself.

  “We were going to stop by the Breeding Pits on the way, it’s not far from here, maybe a day, but now we’re going to cut straight to the city. That is about twelve hours if we press hard.” Korva answered, hopping back up on her kea. “And we’re going to do that.” She looked over at Dreea. “There won’t be long for goodbyes.”

  I felt a surge of anxiety as the implication of our dwindling time settled fully upon me. Dreea wasn’t going to come with us. She was going to stay and train. Soon she would be gone like everyone else I’d risked caring for.

  “I know.” Dreea said, her gravelly voice soft.

  She didn’t say much else as we mounted back up and set our course behind Korva. The woman was making quick time now, pressing the kea to a full sprint. The wind whipped past us as we flew through the maze of trees. Dreea was in front of me, and I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight to my body. I wanted to make one last plea for her to come with me instead of staying and training, but that wasn’t fair to her. If this was her decision, what say could I have on matters?

  “I’m going to miss you.” I said, speaking the words in a quiet voice against the back of her neck. A part of me wished I’d taken the time we’d had to get closer. Why had I waited? I knew part of it was that I was still uncertain on some level. Would Dreea have wanted to be more intimate with me? Did she think of me the way I did of her?

  She leaned her head against mine, turning it some so she could speak to me over the roar of wind. “I will miss you too, Lillin. I care for you very much.”

  “I care for you too.” I told her, wondering why neither of us would say what “caring very much” meant really. Maybe neither of us were ready. “I know you will be incredibly strong, an amazing Warden, but I wish you would come with me instead.”

  “It would be easier to do that.” Dreea admitted. “But then I will always be just Dreea, Lillin’s . . . friend.” She hesitated on that word. “I want to be Dreea. Just Dreea. I want to be strong enough to stand with you, not below you.”

  I kissed the base of her neck, the first time I’d ever actually kissed her, and then I kissed a bit higher, and she turned into it. Awkwardly our mouths met for the first time as Zara lead the way through the trees. The kiss wasn't good. Dreea’s mouth didn't work as human ones did, and we were both unfamiliar with this kind of thing clearly, but at the same time it was warm and wonderful and intimate, and I knew I wouldn’t forget it. It was our first kiss, and I knew in my heart it would probably be our last. Dreea might well succeed, but what were the chances we’d ever meet up again? Five years was a long time. I held to her more tightly, my stomach in knots. It was hard to lose those you loved.

  “I don’t think of you as standing below me.” I told her because it was important she know that.

  She nodded. “I know you don’t, but everyone else will. I am different. Until I can wear the fist and the flame, I will not be seen like you.” She nodded to herself. “I will become stronger.”

  I wanted to tell her that people would still see her as different. She was different, but different didn’t mean worse. I was different as well. With the tattoos on my face I was clearly marked as something different, something lesser than the others, but I simply didn’t care. For Dreea, I knew, it was important to be seen as more than just a willifen. Though there was nothing inherently wrong with being what she was. I thought it might be tied to her time with the man they called “Friend.” He’d chosen Dreea’s sister to become closer to, probably not out of any malice, but it had still happened. Dreea had felt left out, though she hadn’t wanted Friend in that way. We’d talked about it some. It had still left a mark on her. She was always trying to be smarter, stronger and more deserving of recognition.

  I didn’t have a good answer for her, so instead I just held on tighter. Our time was dwindling. In a way, it felt like approaching the water test all over again.

  We rode quietly for the rest of the day. There was little to talk about, and the dreary mood didn’t really pu
t us in a place for conversation. We skipped lunch entirely, as well as the midday training I normally did, and cut our way through to the city that held the second Warden school, Jinthos.

  14.2

  Jinthos was incredible. It wasn’t like Black Mark, the great walled city I’d come from, but that didn’t make it less impressive. The walls of Jinthos weren’t high stretching, but instead they were leaned outward, as though they had been pushed down from the inside. It was a peculiar design, and looked like it was incredibly hard to make work. If straight up put the wall at an even ninety degrees, then this wall was hanging at about sixty-five degrees. It would have been nearly impossible to climb as it was, and the top edge was covered in metallic barbs and spikes, all viciously curved and hooked, intertwined like the brambles on a thorn bush. I wasn’t sure how they held the wall at such an angle, or even how they managed to construct the thing in the first place. I could only guess that Will users had been involved.

  The wall was built in such a way that before long we found ourselves walking under it, the sky filled with the imposing stone and metal structure. This was the third most impressive wall I’d ever seen, though it might have been tied for the one around Black Mark. The one in the strange city I’d seen through one of the doors, the seamless metal one, that was still the wall that had most awed me, but this also seemed quite the technical feat. It was remarkable the lengths that humans would go to in order to keep others away.

  When we reached the base of the gate we approached a large door with armed guards to either side. The door was sealed shut, and the guards didn’t move to help us as we arrived, though their eyes did shift in our direction. They drew weapons as we closed the remainder of the gap. I almost felt an urge to do the same, but Korva held up a hand in a sign to tell me to hold my place. A moment later a surge of Will flowed from her, an intricate pattern that struck the door and passed into it. I could feel the tiny pulses and swirls of effort as they washed through the surface and for the first time I wondered if I might be able to replicate what was being done. Had my control grown to that degree? It felt possible, though I certainly wasn't in a position to try just then.

  The door was plain, solid metal with an image of the fist clenched over Everburn, our order’s symbol, etched into a metal disk embedded in the greater structure. As Korva’s Will hit the door, the disk spun in a full circle and the door clicked on the inside before then splitting into two halves, the disk attached to one of them, as it began to swing inward and open. The guards at the door stood down, returning their weapons to their sheathes.

  “Well met, Wardens.” One of them said, bowing slightly. “Your arrival has been expected. Tellitonnas is waiting for you at the Gears of Second.”

  Korva nodded. “Thank you. We’ll report there immediately.” We rode through the gate, our kea looking uncomfortable as they passed into the city. They didn’t like places like this, and I was surprised we were bringing them inside at all. I put a hand on Zara’s neck and she seemed to settle some, glancing back at me with her large bright eyes just to be certain I was confident in our path. I smiled at her, and she turned her focus forward again, taking my smile as an assurance that we’d be alright.

  The door we passed through, I realized, had been a challenge to those who would enter the city. Only a Warden could open it. Had we been imposters we wouldn’t have been able to get the gate open, and then the guards would have dealt with us. I could see arrow slits above and around the gate, and guessed that there were others hidden around the entrance, probably at least one Will user to open the gate in case of expected company that didn’t have the capabilities to do so. It was a clever system, and intimidating with the walls looming over you because of the angle they’d been built to hang. The gate would always be masked in shadow.

  As we cleared the walls I soon realized why we’d brought the kea with us. The first building beyond the gate was a stable, and even as we approached it handlers were coming forward to take care of our mounts. Korva slid from hers and handed the reins to tall man with a scarred face who took them from her while eyeing the mount carefully. The reins attached to kea were different than those one would put on a horse. They were designed to allow you to keep a grip, but they didn’t really pull on the creature. Training kept the kea in line, that and Will. Korva’s mount looked back at her, and then at the man as he started to lead it away. Korva gave the creature a nod and it went along with him, but didn’t look certain. Will binding was really the best way to be certain the kea stayed docile. Without the bond, they were always a bit unpredictable.

  Dreea and I dismounted Zara. She was clever. She’d seen the handoff of the other mount and she wasn’t happy. She leaned her head into me and gave a huff of agitation.

  “I know, I’ll miss you too, but we’ll see each other again. They’ll take good care of you here.” I assured her. To this she nuzzled me again, and then huffed louder, her great head knocking me back a little with the force of her push.

  Korva chuckled. “They were right, you really did break that one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that attached.”

  I gave a small shrug. “I didn’t mean to. I feel guilty about it.” And I did. Zara’s life was more complicated because of what I’d done, because of my lack of control.

  “See that she is well taken care of and sent back to the stables at Black Mark, alright?” Korva told the younger man who came forward to take Zara inside.

  “Yes, Ma’am. We were sending a group down the way later this week anyway.” He assured us.

  I handed over the reigns, giving Zara a last pet on the head. “Be nice to them.” I told her. “I’ll see you again soon.”

  Zara made a soft cooing sound, but she let herself be lead away, looking back at me twice as she was taken off, her eyes just a little hurt.

  “That is very cute.” Dreea said, leaning close to me so she could speak softly. Her voice was colored by an amused chuckle.

  I shot her a smile, though it was hard to put in place. Soon we’d be doing the same kind of thing. That thought didn’t make me feel good. “I don’t do cute things.” I assured her. “It was probably just your imagination.”

  “Willifen have terrible imaginations.” Dreea told me with a nod. “That was cute.”

  That did manage to make me laugh, and on impulse I leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. Dreea’s ears turned pink inside and she tucked them down. “That was also cute.” She noted softly before turning to fall in with Korva. “We should go.” She said, but her eyes held fondness when she looked back at me.

  Korva had watched the whole exchange with amusement dancing in her expression, but she didn’t say anything as we began walking towards the school. The city was well built and constructed. It was laid out in a very orderly way, as though every block had been meticulously planned. Navigating was easy, and the streets were clean. There were more guards like those we’d seen at the gate patrolling, and they all saluted us as we walked past. I’d heard of them. I recognized them by their uniforms. The Grim Guard were those from Second who didn’t quite make it to be Wardens. They weren’t killed so they, instead, became an elite guard for the city. They were very well trained, and exceptionally loyal.

  Seeing them reminded me that Ori and Zarkov would have both made fine members of the Grim Guard had they been given such an option. Instead their lives were wasted because the school of Black Mark didn’t allow for failure.

  This place, Second and Jinthos in general, seemed almost like a better version of the Wardens. Further from the Iron Will it seemed to me that the Wardens had become something more honorable and less callous. Maybe it wasn’t the Wardens that needed reshaping, but the King’s view of the world, and his insistence on his Iron Will over Black Mark. Of course, I still had much to learn of this place. I knew only what Korva had taught me on the trip, and what little I’d learned in school, which had mostly been information about the city, Jinthos.

  It was about twenty minutes before we crested a steep
hill and the grounds for Second came into view. The school was different than the one in Black Mark. For one thing, I could see their Rift training ground from where I stood. It was a place that actually existed. A massive sprawl that stretched across the middle of the school. I couldn’t make out all of the details, but I knew that training field well enough to recognize its features. This one was a bit different, but the opening hill, and the wall of tunnels were easy enough to see. I couldn’t make out the beams from where I was, and the area with the pendulums looked just like a small stretch of wooded ground from our vantage.

  “They don’t use the doors for training here?” I asked, a bit surprised at that.

  “They don’t have as many here. They have one they use for challenges, but it can’t open onto the different Rift yards. It’s not that kind of door. Rift training is handled on that course.” Korva answered. “Things are very different at this school. I think you’ll be surprised by the Wardens you meet here.”