the guardian

the guardian saga chapter 1

THE GUARDIAN
Book One: The World Beyond the Stars
Chapter One - The Wrong Prisoner
The battlefield was disappearing behind him.
James could no longer see Jane.
He could no longer hear the Count.
The last thing he remembered was Jane opening her eyes and looking toward him as the machines of Ozar surrounded his transformed body.

Then everything went dark.
The cylindrical prison shot through the atmosphere and disappeared into space.
Inside, James remained unconscious.
His enormous black body was suspended in the center of the chamber, held in place by bands of energy.

The machines surrounding him continued to scan.
They searched his DNA.
His blood.
His bones.
His energy.
His memories.

And then something unexpected happened.
One of the machines suddenly stopped.
A warning appeared across its surface.
IDENTITY CONFIRMATION FAILED.
Another machine scanned him.
Again.

TARGET NOT FOUND.
The machines communicated with one another.

They had been sent to capture Jane Cross.
That had been their mission.
Jane was the one they had been searching for.

Jane was the one whose name appeared in their ancient records.
Jane was the one they believed could interfere with their plans.

But they had made a mistake.
They hadn't captured Jane.
They had captured James. the guardian
And now they have a much bigger problem.
James slowly opened his eyes.
Everything was dark.
He tried to move.
Nothing.

He pulled against the restraints.
The chamber shook.
A mechanical voice spoke.
"The subject has regained consciousness."
James looked around.
"Where am I?"
No answer.

He pulled harder.
The restraints tightened.
A deep growl escaped his throat.
He looked down at his hands.
They were still enormous.
Still black.

Still covered by the strange armor-like growth that had appeared when he became the Guardian.
James remembered what had happened.
Lilith.

The battle.
Jane.
The Creation Stone.
The machines.
Then he remembered being taken.
"Jane..."

He tried to speak her name.
His voice came out deeper than before.
"Jane!"

The chamber trembled.
The machines immediately increased their restraints.

"Subjects displaying increased energy."
"Increase containment."
James looked around.
"Where did you take me?"
A voice finally answered.
"Far from your world."
James stared into the darkness.
"Who are you?"

The voice replied:
"We are the people of Ozar."
James remembered the machines.
"Ozar."

He looked around the chamber.
"Why did you take me?"
There was silence.

Then the voice answered:
"We were looking for someone else."
James narrowed his eyes.
"Who?"

Another pause.
Then:
"Jane Cross."
James froze.
He stared at the machines.
"You made a mistake."
"We know."

James pulled against the restraints again.
"So take me back."
The voice became colder.
"We cannot."

James's eyes began glowing.
"Then you have a problem."
The machines suddenly detected an enormous surge of energy.
Warning lights appeared throughout the chamber.

POWER LEVEL INCREASING.
CONTAINMENT FAILURE IMMINENT.
The voice spoke urgently.
"Do not allow the Guardian to awaken."
James stopped.

His expression changed.
"The Guardian?"
He looked down at himself.
Then he slowly looked back toward the machines.

"What do you know about me?"
The chamber went silent.
Then the voice said something that James wasn't prepared to hear.
"More than you know about yourself."
The New World

Hours later, the spacecraft descended toward an unknown planet.
James remained imprisoned.
Through a narrow transparent opening in the cylinder, he could see the world below.
It wasn't Earth.

Massive mountains stretched across the horizon.
Three moons hung in the sky.
Blue rivers flowed through enormous forests.
And far beyond them stood structures unlike anything James had ever seen.
Ozar.

The planet was alive.
And ancient.
The spacecraft descended toward a massive city built into the side of a mountain.
James stared.

"Where are you taking me?"
The voice answered:
"Home."

James looked toward the strange world.
"This isn't your home."
The voice paused.
Then:
"It is yours."
James turned sharply.
"What?"

The spacecraft entered the city.
Millions of lights appeared around him.
And deep beneath the surface of that alien world, something began to awaken.
Something that had been waiting.
Waiting for thousands of years.
Waiting for the return of the Guardian.
James didn't know it yet.

But the people of Ozar hadn't simply captured him.
They had brought him to the one place in the universe where the truth about his existence had been preserved.

And soon James would discover the question that had haunted his entire existence:

Why was he brought back from death?
The answer was waiting beneath the planet.
And it had been waiting for him for a very, very long time.