Kartar: The Young Guardians Series

Prologue: The Musician

It was his natural talent that had secured the Musician his high position in both the Amazonian and Gargarean kingdoms, now finally allied after decades of segregation and separation. People in both lands, equally,  wished to see his compositions and orchestras. The King of Gargareans himself had the Musician play the piano or the harp or whatever it was that the mood struck him every night, right before he retired to the royal bedchambers with the Queen of Amazons. 

The Musician was happy to do so, for it procured the long lasting peace between the long feuding kingdoms. Indeed, it was the Musician's charge when the two monarchs had been brought together many years ago. What once was a neutral, diplomatic alliance had blossomed into true love and romance and the Musician witnessed it all, right from the beginning. It had kept him busy, and it had kept his thoughts away from his previous life.

Until tonight. Tonight, his old life crept up in his memories and pressed upon him urgently. Tonight, everything was to change. He could ignore his own life no longer.

The Musician had only been thirteen years old when he stumbled from his world, Earth, into this one, named Wynd. His teen years had been lawless and adventurous, filled with new friends, dangerous enemies, and countless stories to recount as he grew older.

Kyler was his name on Wynd. It was a name he had chosen. Sometimes in the middle of the night, when there was no one to hear, he would whisper his real name to himself. His birth name, his name from Earth. He felt as though he were two men. 

His heart was broken in two pieces. One half stayed on Wynd, the other on Earth. One with his family, and one with his home. He could not bear to be away from either world, and he sat on a precipice of longing, always. He had the decision to stay or go, and he could not do either without wishing for another option. His life was either full of options, or not any at all. It was something that made him who he was, the fire in his anger, the reason behind the rage.

And now, his choices were becoming less and less by the minute.

Time in this world passed differently. 

The Musician had created a double calendar, one that showed him time on Earth next to the time on Wynd. He wanted to remember when his children's birthdays were so he could write them another letter the would not read, wrap another present they would not open. He wrote one to his wife, Annora, writing about how sorry he was and how much he missed her. How much he regretted growing their love on Earth when ultimately, he belong on Wynd.

The Musician had never cared to check his own birthday, but this year was different. 

On his dagger, his weapon as the Wind Guardian of Earth, his name, engraved on the blade, began to change. The time for a new generation of Guardians was to begin. 

The Musician had not seen the other Guardians for many years, though he had a few friends he kept close to his thoughts. The great gryphons, Agate and Arielle, were never too far away. When he would despair in his solitude, they were there to remind him of his obligations and duties. When he would forget that this day would inevitably draw closer, they were quick to show him the wars of the past, the pain caused by self imposed kings and emperors. 

The Musician often found it remarkable how brilliantly lucky he was too be in the company of the gryphons, though Agate and Arielle had been banished from their own home in Eyvindr ever since the Musician's generation of Guardians had caused so much havoc and disaster. They had not known what they were doing or who the enemy was. Their greatest failure was that they could not find their Gates to guard. After the Drift, and after losing his friend, the Warrior, the only ones he had left were the two gryphons. They were more than enough.

"The other Wind Guardian must already have been chosen," the Musician had told them a few months ago when he noticed his name changing on the blade. "Anila's birthday is ten days before my own. Her descendent must be found before anyone else finds him or her. And mine will most likely be coming from Earth, if they are not here already. Find them, Arielle, Agate. Find them and bring them to me. Their lives may very well be in danger."

And they had flown away, leaving him alone. In their thoughts alone the Musician knew of their successes and failures. They had almost been seen at times, they were far from small creatures, though they were extremely intelligent, as all gryphons are. The Musician knew they alone had the best chance to find the new Guardians.

It was less than a month later that Arielle found the boy, Eiran. The Musician was stunned to find that it was the son of one of the others. His mother and father had been friends of his before the Drift. 

Arielle told the Musician Eiran had no knowledge of his parent's history. In fact, he did not know his parents at all. He lived with his aunt and uncle, who the Musician remembered just as clearly. He wondered what had happened after he and the Warrior had stayed in Drakon and then gone back to Earth. Yes, it had been a great number of years. The boy was sixteen, seventeen in a few months. It made the Musician dizzy thinking about the lifetimes he had lived.

Agate still had not found the Wind Guardian from Earth. He told Arielle to stay where the boy was and wait for the other to arrive. He knew it would not be long before Agate found the Guardian. It had only taken them a few weeks to find the first.

It was only a few weeks after that when King Samran, Emperor of the Northern Quarter, declared at state of emergency on Beryl Island. He claimed that since the country had no reigning monarch it was his obligation and duty to seize control until the return of the king or the queen. The Musician found this most disconcerting—he knew the King in his younger years. He knew that this would lead to a conquer of the land. He would not be a regent, he would be Emperor.

Princess Meira knew they could not fight. Their army had been taken with the king and the queen. No other option was left to her but an exodus. The Musician knew this was only the beginning of the plans the King of Irela was bound to have. 

The Amazons and the Gargareans set for the Last Stronghold, where only Princess Meira knew of the location, told to her by the Council.

It took them a few more weeks to ready for their leave. They left their land, their home, their heart. The Musician had packed up his life again and readied himself to begin over again. 

They crossed the island quickly, with every man, woman, and child. They brought their livestock, their gold, their valuables and burnt everything down. Nothing would be left for the invading king. It did not take them long in their vehicles to cross the mainland. 

Once they reached the edge of the island, a great number of ships awaited them. The Musician watched with a heavy heart as the thousands of people gathered on the ships, heading for a distant place where they would then have to call their new home. 

This was the last night of sailing. They would reach the Anaian continent the next day, early in the morning, and there the people of Beryl Island would start the march to their new home. There was fear that the King would find out and that they would be intercepted, but their allies on land had assured them that no on had come... yet. 

The Musician was fearful for another reason. Agate had told him the new Guardian had been found. That was all the Musician had wanted to hear and for fear of anyone listening to the plane where they spoke, he cut off communication. He would meet them soon enough.

The Musician glanced down at the dagger again. He read the name on it, which had changed from his to this new one, a new name for the new guardian. 

He caught a glance of his own piercingly blue eyes on the reflection of the dagger. The name had to be hidden at all costs. This was the Guardian's Earth name. No one on any planet should of another's name from Earth. The knowledge could be binding and destroy the Guardian. He had not said his, or thought it in many years, but it had always been on the hidden dagger. 

The curve of the C had changed, the I's, the N, the lilting L's had disappeared. The only letter left was the A, it had been joined with another one as well, as long with two R's and a K. It was not his name anymore, but it was just as vital for him to protect the new one.

"See you soon, Kartar." 

His time as a Guardian was almost over.

It was time for her story to begin.