“Yes. Who are you?”
“I’m Gregory. I’m one of the councilmen.”
“Are you anything like John?” I asked, not bothering to hide the distaste in my eyes. I needed to work on hiding my true thoughts or none of the rogues would try to turn me to their side.
He laughed. “You’re very forward. We need more like you. To answer your question; no, I’m not a traitor. I was a guardian here, and I hold my vows sacred. I would never give up on the magi and narys outside these walls. Our job has always been to protect them no matter the cost.” He shrugged. “Sorry. I get worked up thinking about the way The Guardianship used to be. Things have changed a lot.” He looked away, lost in his thoughts.
“Why are you here?” I finally asked.
He jerked his head up and his eyes met mine. “To help you.”
“How?”
“I’ll fight beside you. I’ll also help you with your wild magic. I know you’re having trouble controlling it.”
“How do you know?” I knew the council was aware that I had wild magic, but Kellan wasn’t supposed to tell them how powerful it was, or that I couldn’t control it.
“I know where you get yours, and I can guess how strong it is. I can help you control it if you want.”
“Do you know my mother?”
“So you think you get it from her,” he said slyly. “I wonder why?”
“It’s a guess,” I said.
“And a very good one. Yes, I knew your mother at one point. You remind me of her. I have been keeping an eye on you. I think you’re almost ready to learn more about her and her magic.” He turned to walk away.
“Wait, don’t go,” I said.
“Your mate is coming. We’ll talk again soon. I’ll contact you when you’re ready,” he said and disappeared. I looked around, frustrated.
“Who were you talking to?” Ian asked as he walked up to me.
“Some councilman named Gregory.”
“Be wary of him. He was a great guardian and he’s a good councilman, but he’s sneaky and powerful. Almost as powerful as Kellan. Maybe even more powerful, but he’s been happy to sit in the background. I’ve never been able to get a good read on him.”
“He says he knew my mom and that he’ll help me when I’m ready.”
“Did you tell him you’re ready?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t get a chance to before he said he would contact me again when he thinks I’m ready. Then he disappeared.”
“Yeah, he can be a bit dramatic.”
I sighed and walked through the compound with Ian. “Do you think he actually knew my mom?”
“He may have. The ages line up. You should probably hear him out, but not alone just in case next time,” he said seriously.
“Ok,” I agreed, laughing at his protectiveness. “What did Kellan have to say?”
“He thinks everyone on John’s side has left. There were a few people that took off in the middle of the night and haven’t returned. He’s going through the remainder of the people here to see if he can find any ties to the rogues.”
“What about the demons? John was the traitor, right?”
“We don’t know who it was, but John is the obvious answer. We don’t know why he would side with demons though. We need to meet with your dad again. I have some questions for him, and so does Kellan.” I looked at him questioningly. I wasn’t sure I wanted Kellan to meet my dad yet.
“We need to know what he did to Mr. Blake, and if he can get here again. He seemed to think he was protected from being pulled back to Vammoriel. He was living here a long time, probably keeping tabs on The Guardianship. He was good. We had no idea such a high level demon was here. Kellan wants you to go see your dad tomorrow to find out what he knows.”
Kellan didn’t want to leave The Guardianship in case it was attacked again, so he wouldn’t be coming with us, but he had given Ian a list of things to ask my dad. I wasn’t going to argue. I would take any reason to go spend more time with my dad. He was really helping me, and I liked him even if he was a demon. My dad was waiting when we arrived at the warehouse.
“How are you here? We didn’t summon you yet.”
He laughed. “I don’t need to be summoned. I can jump between our realms whenever I want. It does take a decent amount of energy though.”
“So, if you’ve been able to jump here, why let us go through the process of summoning you?”
“I wanted you to feel like you were in control in case you were scared of me since I’m a demon. Plus, it takes less energy when you summon me.”
He walked over to me, stopping a few steps away, and opened his arms. I didn’t hesitate before I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around him.
“This is a much better hug,” he said to me. I had to agree. The air hugs were nice, but it was much better to finally give my dad a real hug. Ian stood off to the side and let me have a minute. My eyes were slightly wet when I lifted my head to look at my dad. He gave me a kiss on the forehead. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. I’ll make up for it now, if you’ll let me.”
I nodded, too emotional to talk. He seemed to pick up on it and let me turn away to gather my composure. Ian walked up to him and shook his hand.
“I never thought I would see a day like this. Demons and guardians working together,” Ian said.
“Anything for Serena,” my dad replied. “And I don’t want the wrath demons taking over.”
“We need to know what happened to Mr. Blake,” Ian said.
“Who?”
“The demon that you helped pull back to Vammoriel. Is he contained?”
“No. He escaped before we could capture him. His king has given him strong magic in order to get away from us. It’s not uncommon for kings to give their best warriors extra magic, but this Mr. Blake, as you call him, was given much more than usual. I think he has been given magic from not just the king but also from a few of the princes.”
“Is that bad?” I asked, coming to stand next to them.
“Yes. It is only done on rare occasions. Princes rarely work together on anything.”
“Why not?”
“In Vammoriel, each prince has his own domain. He only answers to his king. When princes work together, it can signal a problem to the king. If too many princes were to unite, they could overthrow their king. Kings rarely allow their princes to form alliances for that reason. If the wrath king is allowing this, he must feel he is in a great position of power to keep the princes from turning on him. It must be because of the war that is brewing. He must have promised his princes more territory over the human realm to keep them in line.”
“What does that mean for you and the other pride demons?” I asked.
“War. We’re preparing now, but it won’t be an easy fight. We need to work together to stop the wrath demons. They have many magi on their side. They all want to rule the human realm.”
“We can’t let that happen,” I said, thinking about the people who would be killed.
“I’m trying,” my dad said.
“Can’t you talk to your king? See if he can stop it?” My dad glanced to the side quickly, but I saw it. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
“He’s the pride demon king,” Ian said slowly. “Aren’t you? That’s why you have so much power.”
I looked at my dad. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re the king. That’s why you said you had to get back to Vammoriel instead of staying here. You had to control your princes.”
“Yes, I’m the king. I didn’t want you to find out yet.”
“Why not? What does it change?”
“For me, nothing. For you, everything.”
“What?” I questioned. I looked at Ian as understanding dawned in his eyes. I was still clueless.
“No,” Ian said. “You wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t try to use our relationship.”
“What are you talking about?�
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“Serena, you’re a princess of Vammoriel. By blood. The other kingdoms in Vammoriel would love to get their hands on you to use as a bargaining chip. Your father could force you to marry one of the princes to secure his throne.”
“Dad?” I asked.
“It’s all right, Serena. I would never ask you to leave the human realm, but Ian is right. Many demons would love to get their hands on you. That’s why I sent Molly and the other hounds. She’ll protect you or die trying.”
“I thought you said you were summoned here when you met Serena’s mom. How could anyone summon a king of Vammoriel?” Ian asked.
“That was before I was king. I was one of the princes then, and the summoners killed many powerful magi to summon me. Too bad they weren’t prepared for what they called.” His eyes turned cold.
“How are you king now?”
“When I got back to Vammoriel after leaving your mother, my domain was in turmoil. I had been gone for a while, and the other princes were trying to incite my demons to usurp me. Even the king of the pride demons had chosen a demon from my domain and backed him. The king and I had never gotten along. He gave too much leeway to the wrath demon king. I gathered all my demons, and we marched on the king. He was no match for me. I had gained a lot of power during my time in this realm. The other princes think humans are weak, but I learned a lot from them.”
“Like what?” I asked when he stopped talking.
“They may have weak bodies and no magic, but they are cunning and ruthless when something they care about is in danger. And they never stop fighting. No matter how many blows humans take, they always get back up. Their determination to win helped me in my fight with the king. Your mother’s magic also helped. We shared magic a few times, and her wild magic made me stronger. Even though I couldn’t use it, somehow it strengthened my own magic. It took years to win the fight with the king, but eventually, I killed him and sent his followers to the farthest reaches of the kingdom.”
“And you took over?”
“Yes. Demons value strength and winning. I had the strength to win. All the pride demon princes bowed down to me. I have kept our kingdom strong since then. We pushed the wrath demons who were encroaching on our domain out and built better defenses. That’s why the wrath demons want you,” he said, looking at me. “They could control me if they had you. I’m the most powerful king. Without me the other kingdoms would fall. I’m sorry that they’re trying to use you.”
I could hear the sincerity in his voice, and I forgave him with a small hug. “What do we do now?”
“Mr. Blake will come back for you. I’m sure of it. It may take him a week or two, but he’ll be back. Your rogue guardians will want to fight you before you’re able to put up better defenses too.”
“Kellan is already working on that,” Ian said. “We’ll have new protections in place by tomorrow.”
“It won’t be enough,” my dad said. “Here.” He handed me a blue vial and gave Ian another one. “I had these specially made for you. They will protect your compound. You must each stand on opposite sides of the compound and break the vials simultaneously. The hellhounds will help. Their howl triggers the spell. It will block anyone who doesn’t belong from going in.”
“What if we need to bring guardians in from other areas? Will they be blocked?”
“No, they need someone who is allowed in to walk them in. Holding their hand or arm is sufficient contact to bring another being in.” He stopped talking and appeared to be concentrating. “I have to go,” he told us. “We’ve had a sighting of Mr. Blake. I’ll let you know if we get him. Get back to the compound, and trigger the spell I gave you.” He leaned down and hugged me. “I’ll see you soon.”
He disappeared, and we left the warehouse. We didn’t talk much in the car. I was lost in my own thoughts, trying to come to terms with my dad being a king of Vammoriel. It would be cool if it wasn’t the demon realm. I didn’t want to ever go there. I was becoming ok with my dad being a demon, but I didn’t want to be in a realm full of them.
I asked Ian what he thought of the information my dad gave us. He wasn’t happy Mr. Blake was missing, but at least he was in the demon realm.
We needed to tell Kellan about the vials before we used them. I trusted my dad, but Ian said we needed Kellan’s permission first. I agreed to tell him, and we headed to his office as soon as we got back to the compound. His office door was shut. Ian knocked on it and waited.
I paced the corridor. I wanted to use the vials right away so we couldn’t be attacked. I was anxious, knowing we were easy targets. The protections Kellan put up after the demon attack wouldn’t keep the rogue guardians out. The rogue guardians knew the spell, so they would be able to counter it and allow demons in.
After a few more minutes, Kellan’s door opened, and a guardian walked out. I didn’t remember his name, but I had seen him at the crypt, so Kellan trusted him.
He nodded at Ian and me and then looked down at Molly. I had become so used to her presence I didn’t even realize she was with me. The guardian nodded to Molly too and moved down the hallway. I heard Kellan tell us to come in.
“What have you learned?” he asked after the door was shut and we sat down. Ian explained everything my dad told us. We pulled the vials out to show Kellan. He put his hand above them and whispered a few words. The vials glowed for a second, and Kellan frowned.
“They will protect us, but there’s a fail safe in the spell, letting someone access our compound. I can’t tell who.”
“My dad?” I guessed.
“Probably. I’m sure he’ll want to be able to get to you if something happens.”
I waited while Ian and Kellan discussed our options. They finally decided to use the vials, but they would put extra protections around the compound too. We left soon after that and waited for Jabari at Ian’s cabin.
Ian told Jabari the plan and then left to go to the back gate of the compound, which I didn’t even know about. Jabari went with me to the front gates. We waited outside for Ian’s call. The guards eyed us, wondering what we were doing. Ian called, and I grabbed the vial.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes. Wait. Are one of the hounds with you?”
“Yes. There’s one here. Break your vial on three. One.” I placed the vial on the ground in front of the gates.
“Two.” I raised my foot.
“Three.” I slammed my foot down onto the vial, and Molly howled as it shattered. I could hear another hound howling in the distance. A blue light shot up from the ground and spread out on both sides of me. I watched the blue line continue to follow the wall only a few feet away from it.
Eventually, I couldn’t see the end of the line anymore. The blue light flared, and then lifted over the compound encompassing the whole area. It flared one more time, and the color disappeared. Molly stopped howling and walked to the gate.
“Was that a protection spell?” one of the guards yelled down.
“Yeah,” Jabari yelled. “A powerful one.”
“Good, I hope it works.”
Thurron
I spent the next few days preparing myself for a fight. We knew the rogue guardians would try to fight us eventually.
We heard more news from The Guardianships around the world. The losses were not as bad as we assumed. Less than fifty were killed, and around eighty were wounded and out of commission for weeks, if not longer. There was even some news from guardians that made it out of the captured compounds.
I was at the training grounds waiting for Ian to finish a meeting with Kellan when Councilman Gregory walked up to me. “Walk with me, Serena?” he asked.
I looked around for Ian, but he still wasn’t here. Molly strode over and leaned against my leg. I reached down to pet her and shrugged at Gregory. Molly was with me, so I should be fine.
We walked away from the training fields. “What do you know about my mom?” I asked when he remained silent.
“She was a good frie
nd of mine when I was younger. Before she had you, we trained to be guardians together.”
“Do you know where she is now?”
“The last time I heard from her, she was going to Enchantria. I lost contact with her after that. I didn’t even know she had a daughter until you came here. You look a lot like her.”
“Why doesn’t anyone else know my mom if she trained as a guardian?”
“We were stationed at a different compound, and she never finished training. She found a clan that she wanted to join and decided to leave The Guardianship.”
“Why?”
“Her magic was very strong and hard to control, just like yours. She could do simple spells, but intricate spells were too hard. Her wild magic took over, and the results were not always good.” He grimaced. “The clan was going to help her learn to control her magic, and then she was going to come back, but she never did. I figured she didn’t want to be a part of The Guardianship when I stopped hearing from her.”
“Can you tell me how to get to Enchantria?”
“All I know is you have to use wild magic. Besides that, it’s a mystery. Most magi look at Enchantria as a legend. Very few can get to it since they don’t have wild magic. And even those that do usually aren’t strong enough. You’ll have to figure that out on your own I’m afraid.”
“So, what can you help me with?”
“I came to teach you a little trick your mother used when she was learning to channel wild magic.” He came to a stop beside a bunch of flowers. “Your mother always picked a flower before she started using her magic, and she channeled it through the flower. She used to tell me it helped her separate the wild magic from herself when it tried to take over.” He leaned down, picked a flower and held it out for me. “Here, try it.”
I looked around. “Here?”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. There was no one near us, and it didn’t really matter anymore if people saw me use my magic, as long as I didn’t lose control of it.
I closed my hand around the flower and let a small amount of wild magic run through me. I pushed it into the flower in my hand and was surprised when I felt the magic shift. It felt easier to control. I raised my other hand and created a ball of light in it. The orb glowed a delicate blue color. I let the magic go and took a deep breath as the orb disappeared.
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