This got some agreement from the crowd of officers.
“Saint Rae sent down a trusted subordinate to secure the safety of a border city that had potential spies and connections to the elves. The elves have stood by, watching our wars, looking for an op- portunity to attack us for years. They wish nothing more than to
come across our borders, to take what is ours, kill our families and rape our people. We will not let them.”
Woods tapped on the table to emphasize his point. He looked at General Fysher.
“We must take control back from these brutal people and free our own. Laisa has rebelled. Their corruption knows no bounds. They have turned on Radal and the human race. We need to return and assert control back over the village!
“Would it not be right to get rid of this threat to our rear?” Woods said, getting acknowledgment on his side.
He wants me to agree to allow a unit from the army to slaughter a human village. Does he not know how people will react? How will they think with the army’s first move to destroy a village on our side instead of even attacking the enemy? If I go against the church, it splits the military. If I go with it, I can never get away from them. I need their support and their saints in the fight ahead. I have been kept up- dated on Laisa. Led by goblins, the people are united and better than before. All of the people have a voice and have increased in prosperi- ty. Even the intelligence agents tell me that the village isn’t a threat to stability, just wishing to maintain neutrality.
General Fysher felt as if he had cut out a piece of his flesh.
“Of course we should remove this disease. Though, I only have soldiers. I believe that a representative from the church to guide would be for the best.” General Fysher looked at Woods.
With the church leading this genocide, then it will be hard for people to pin it on us and the military. We need to have the people’s support. There are already talks of uprisings and we have famines be- fore the war has started. If we lose their support, our rear lines will be on fire. Don’t they care? Do they think the Lord of Light will just give us food?
“The other races will never learn,” Letanya, the other saint said. She was still young, in her early twenties. When she was but a
teenager, she had led forces of the church and the army across the border, acting as a spy and then turning the towns and cities inside out. It had gained her the position of saint as she ruthlessly killed any and all beast kin she could find. “I’ll lead the cleansing.”
Woods looked to her and patted her shoulder. “The church could not ask for a more devoted daughter.”
His eyes fell on Fysher and he saw the darkness in his eyes.
Fysher had passed, but Woods had effectively taken command of the entire force along the line’s border.
Chapter: New Haven Harbor
It had taken five days to enact a Guardian Tribunal, adding new judges to the ranks of the Guardians. They had dropped below the southern tip of Ilsal and rode the currents and the wind northeast toward Radal.
“Remember to keep your hoods up the entire time. Humans are not allowed to roam freely here,” Claire said.
They all nodded. Claire and Anthony held Tommie’s hand. With his smaller stature and his cloak, it was easier to hide him as a child.
They walked down the gangplank to the dock, where people were moving goods to and from the warehouses along the shore.
Anthony scanned the area. He saw Ramona and her cubs with Damien and Claire’s mounts. Damien had a mount that looked close to a bear while Claire’s looked close to a tiger.
They got on their mounts and headed into the harbor.
The harbor was covered in a low fog, making it hard to look around and see others. Anthony heard chains in the distance and whimpering as a whip cracked out.
He started to move his mana, ready to strike.
Claire came up next to him. “We need to get to Ascen. We can’t be discovered here.”
Anthony looked at her and retracted his mana. As the fog cleared, they could see lines of slaves being moved toward the ships. They were all different races, including humans. They wore rags and were beaten and weak, with dull eyes as they moved forward. Only the crack of the whip changed their eyes to fear.
They passed, Damien leading the group.
“Slavery was abolished in the first year of the Guardians being created,” Anthony said in a low voice to Claire.
490
“It was, but it came back. The humans needed a labor force to work their fields and their cities. It reduced the races in their eyes to that of something less than human. It divides the people: those who wish to abolish it once again and those who use it constantly. Other races will fight with everything they have not to be captured because they’ll be turned into slaves. No one cares what happens to them once they have been bought.” Claire’s eyes flashed as she gripped her reins tighter.
Anthony fought his instinct to charge down and cut those chains off and cleanse the city of slavers and the darkness that hid within the harbor town.
They continued through the city and to the main gates.
“Halt! Where are you going? Transport is restricted within Radal.” A guard blocked their way through the gate.
“We’re on a pilgrimage to the Church of Light in Ascen,” Damien said.
“To Ascen? There are a number of bandits in this area,” the guard said. “It makes for hard work to protect everyone, don’t you think?”
There was a flash of silver as Damien passed the man a small pouch.
“I hope this can ease the burden.”
The man weighed the bag in his hand and smiled as he put it away in his vest. “That’ll do nicely. Watch out for trouble on your way.” The guard moved to the side. Anthony didn’t miss how he looked at Aila and Claire, the dark hunger in his eyes.
They passed through the gates and headed out in the early morning fog toward Ascen.
They passed a fair distance, going past the fields where there were slaves already starting their day’s work.
Anthony looked back to the wall, seeing a light stop flashing. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he said in a raised voice. “Be ready for an ambush.”
Black smoke trailed off his hand, falling on the ground and shooting off in different directions.
Everyone had their weapons ready as they pushed forward. “There are a group of bandits up ahead at the curve in the
road. They’ve put a log across it. They seem to be waiting for you,” Solomon said in Anthony’s ear.
“Bandits? Love a good bandit bashing,” Anthony said.
***
Arlo shifted again, trying to get comfortable.
“Will you stop moving around,” Five Fingers growled. “Sorry.” Arlo winced.
Five Fingers continued to look at the road, checking her arrows behind her head, thinking of how to draw and fire them.
She thought she heard a branch breaking behind them. “Will you be quiet back there!” she hissed-yelled.
They were wise enough to not talk back.
“Not a morning person, I see,” a voice she hadn’t heard before remarked.
She turned to find a knight standing there. She could see through his helmet he was so close, seeing the skeleton head with glowing fires in his eyes.
“A nap should do you well!”
She fell over and started trying to backpedal. He grabbed her foot and Arlo’s foot, dragging them closer.
How the hell did he get so close!
The fist smashed into her face and darkness surrounded her.
She came to a bit later. Looking around, she appeared to be in a courtroom. She looked at the people to her left. They were most-
ly unconscious still. The ones to her right were pale, looking at the ground, unable to look anyone in the eyes.
“Autumn Dramaer, you stand accused of banditry. Are there any other crimes you would wish to admit to?”
“I killed some people—about fourteen, I thin
k. I tortured one. I have stolen more times than I can count. I have cheated people out of money as well.” Five Fingers looked at the people sitting in front of her in horror.
How can they make me speak the truth?
They rapid-fired questions at her, pulling everything that they could from her. At the end of it, she could only let her head fall down in shame. She had forgotten some of the crimes she had com- mitted; now, hearing them all listed out, she was confronted with them all once again.
She felt the eyes of these people burning into her, people from all of the races. Looking at them, she felt a reverence for them in her bones.
“As punishment for your crimes, you will be bound. You will not be allowed to harm anyone, including yourself. You may only fight in the defense of yourself or others around you. You will hunt out other bandits and meet with them. Once you have searched out all the corrupt individuals you know, anyone who could possibly have committed a crime, you will then become a guide for caravans. You will take them across the lands. You will only accept payment in the form of enough for food for guiding the caravans, and one day off in the destination. You will take the longest routes and you will learn other routes as you do so. You will wander these routes if you do not find a caravan. You will do so for sixty years, upon which you will report to a Guardian.”
A hammer fell and purple light formed into chains around her hands and sunk into her skin. She tried to get the chains away from her hands but she was unable to stop them. They fused into her skin
and she felt compelled to carry out what she had been punished with.
She was compelled off the stage as another bandit was picked up and stood in front of the judges.
“Where are the people we were supposed to attack?” Autumn asked the others who had been sentenced.
“They started this and then headed off,” one said.
“Your sentences have been passed out. Go and carry them out,” the goblin judge said. With a wave of his hand, the bandits all start- ed jogging in different directions.
“What’s happening? I can’t control my body!” one yelled.
All I can think of is the other bandit camps I know of. Why would they want me to go there?
***
“Don’t we need to be there for the sentencing?” Aila asked Antho- ny.
“Nope,” Anthony said.
“Once you call up Guardian’s Judgment, a Guardian can take the place of his race’s ancestor, or they can veto and allow someone else to take the role. This way, a Guardian can call down judgment and continue fighting if they need to.” Claire filled in the rest.
Anthony started to whistle a happy ditty as he rode ahead. Aila moved closer to Claire. “So what about that thing, search-
ing out others who have committed crimes?”
“Did he teach you anything?” Claire seemed to read her mind and she shook her head. “Of course he didn’t. Well, when you call down Guardian’s Judgment, the Guardian’s Bindings—yes, their naming scheme is pretty damn simple—can be used to root out corruption. With the Agents of Chaos, it was hard to find one per- son, let alone many of them. We used Guardian’s Judgment to con- vict the guilty party, then we would let them go, have them search
out the others that they thought were guilty as well. When they did, then the bindings would activate and Guardian’s Judgment would occur once again.”
“I thought that a Guardian needs to be there to call down Guardian’s Judgment?”
“No, it just really needs a host, someone to acknowledge that there is a bad person in the area and then, using their power and the power of Dena, they can enact judgment once again. People are the key to starting a judgment. That is it.”
“So how come there are no people with bindings now? There had to be people with the bindings in the war, right?” Aila asked.
“Yes, but the Drafeng themselves cannot be affected by the bindings. We can get the truth from them and pull information, but the bindings will be consumed by them and turned into power. It is part of the reason that we kill them usually. In the years after the war, the Church of Light and the Agents of Chaos led a purge, killing those who had Guardian’s Bindings, turned popular opin- ion, said that they were the minions of the Lord of Light. They erased others with their own power. They must have had hundreds of convicted criminals on their side right from the start. They used contracts and their chaotic power to bind them, making them com- mit crimes again. Now there are few or no bindings remaining.”
“What about the bindings that were placed on people with Anthony’s actions?” Aila asked.
“With the bandits, they will spread across Radal, contacting every group that they know, charging them. Corruption is rampant within Radal so the bindings and Guardian’s Judgments will spread like wildfire.” Claire smiled. “The Agents of Chaos wanted to cor- rupt Dena, turn people on each other. They did well, but it is now kindling for the Guardians to reassert control over.”
Aila rode in silence for some time. “Can it really reach that far?”
“It can, and farther. Ascen wasn’t the capital of humans in the past. It was the headquarters of the Guardians. There were people from all races who visited. Though its position was important. It rests on the key ley line of Dena—the source of all power within the world. When it was controlled by the Guardians, we reached across the world.”
“Well, have the Drafeng won then? They control the power of Dena?”
“They control the headquarters and probably have a lot of their people inside, but a few Drafeng aren’t enough to control the ley line. They would need to build a massive converting tower and it would take decades or centuries for them to draw out the power of Dena, consuming it all and powering their people. As soon as they do, though, they’ll release chaotic power across Dena and people will know that something is wrong.”
“Well, what are they doing then?” Aila asked.
“The tower is linked to the Guardian fires. The Drafeng are master manipulators of power. They were able to remove the wills of the Dena ancestors and use the power of the ley lines to create saints. Saints are essentially Guardian-powered fighters, but they have power without any strings attached to it.”
“How have the beast kin lasted so long if they don’t have saints then?”
“Humans are weaker than the beast kin when it comes to war. You might have heard that most of the humans don’t get powerful familiars. There are a few of them that like fighting, but once their master is killed, it can take centuries for them to reform and find another master. If they don’t get stronger than they were before, then they will be much weaker the next time they reform, until they reach the point where they are destroyed and wiped out. The beast kin are naturally stronger with their bodies and they have their clan spirits.
“Most people think that spirits and familiars are similar. Very wrong. Familiars, for the most part, operate on a servant and mas- ter relationship. They use their master’s power to get stronger. They carry out their bidding.
“Familiars can also be forced to submit, but only the weaker members. The beast kin cannot make the spirits submit. It would be like trying to kill your ancestor. The spirits pick which of the clan they want to give their power to. They work in harmony with the beast kin—the ancestor teaching the younger generation, lend- ing them their power in battle. Spirits gain power from the clan’s sacrifices or the host’s power. When defeated in battle, the spirits are greatly weakened, but they will recover with time in their clan’s sacred land, the power of tributes increasing their strength.”
“So there are lots of humans with crappy familiars and limited power, but then the weakest of the beast kin is stronger than them, though it takes more time to groom them?” Aila said.
“Pretty much. And then the saints balance things out. Give the humans an advantage.” Claire rode for some time as Aila digested everything. “Though the humans don’t know what they’ve given up yet. When they become saints, they do gain the powe
r of Dena but inside, the power of chaos is converting them. Their thoughts be- come more erratic and they become more devout to the Church of Light. It wouldn’t take much for the Drafeng to convert them into powerful chaotic beasts—mindless killing machines that seek only to consume and follow the Drafeng’s orders.”
“So what are we going to do?” Aila asked.
“We’ll break into the tower. We’ll kill the Drafeng there and then we’ll set things right. Take back control over the ley lines and restart the Guardian’s fires across Dena,” Claire said, her voice filled with rare emotion.
***
After some time traveling the dirt path, Anthony dropped back to Claire, who was in the rear of their group.
“You know that they’re going to figure out soon that the Guardians are back,” Claire said.
“I know you would have done the same.”
“I wish I was as sure as you. I’ve seen so very much in this world, but I have waited. Waited for the time when chaos is about to come back to start fighting back.”
“Why wait till the very end?”
“There were no Guardians left, just me. I built up people’s strength in the dark, I understood what the chaos agents were do- ing. I only had one shot to wake everyone up. I didn’t want to mess it up so I needed to gather power.” Claire looked away, ashamed, or hiding something.
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