The Keepers of Azera ( Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 9

"Oh. Okay." I sink to the ground, my robe puddling around me. James kneels next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I look at his face. His brown eyes shine with worry. "It's just..." I play with the gold pleats of the robe. Most robes are pretty uniform. Long, loose sleeves, high collar, and pleats on front. Everyone has a specific color robe for their status. Red and gold for Keepers-in-Training and Guardians, blue and silver for Keepers, green and brown for combat....you get the picture. Pants and tunics are usually worn for less formal occasion, like school or training.

"Just what?"

"The longer I stay on the surface, the more scared I feel," I say. "It's like...I can't shake off the feeling that something's going to happen."

"Callie?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me show you something," James pulls me to my feet and leads me to the glass dome. I can see the empty church two floors below. "We're not safe in the Training Base either." He pulls me to a crater. I see twisted pieces of metal inside of it.

"You told me not to dwell on the negative," I say, looking at him. "What happened to that?"

"Callie, you know as well as I do that I'm a realist. I'm sorry, but when I see stuff like this-" he gestures to the crater- "I can't stay optimistic for long."

"You were for a few moments," I point out.

"I hate keeping you in the dark, giving you false hope. It doesn't work when I try. The only reason why I didn't tell you about the war the second I heard about it because I would've lost my job and that would've meant leaving you behind."

I nod, still staring at the dark hole in the sand. "Can we go inside?"

"Maybe? I'll go check." James goes to talk to Matilda, leaving me alone. One of the little ones runs up to me and hits my arm. "You're it!" he shouts gleefully.

I tap his back. "Now you're it. No tag backs." He pouts and runs back to the peers. I watch him go.

James walks up to me. "Playing with the little ones?"

"They forced me into it. What's the deal?"

"Well, apparently we're suppose to stand around and boil away." I laugh. It is really warm out. James grins. "Yeah, funny, but that's not what she said."

"What'd she say?"

"She told me that they're doing something inside and that's why we're out here. She says that it'll only take thirty more minutes."

"So we have to stand around for another half hour?"

"Or you could play with the little ones," James suggests.

"How about you go play tag with them, and I'll watch you lose?"

"You're too sweet."

"You're rubbing off on me."

He tousles my hair and wanders over to the other Guardians. I manage to smooth it down just as Masan and Astrid come over to me. "So, what's going on?" Astrid asks.

"James tried optimism and found he preferred the flavor of pessimism more," I say, staring at the crater in the ground. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howls.

Astrid cocks her head. "The fighting's fairly close. I can feel it."

"Feel what?" Masan asks, picking up a rock and absently molding it.