Guardian (Part I): Last Winter

Chapter 23: Finn

The sun had turned orange and gold with the sunset by the time we made it to the village south of the Ice Serpent Canyon. It was called Dormanine, and it was still standing, even though it was out in the middle of a flat, barren field of snow. It would be an easy target for Lost, or a monster of some kind, but it was still here. There must have been someone or something protecting the small town, and doing a great job of it. I was happy to know that there was at least one town outside of Valedon, Idrasyll, and Cordinshire that wasn't completely destroyed. The people living there didn't seem afraid of whatever may have been beyond their village, but they still weren't leaving the town's limits.

"These people must have great trust in whoever's protecting them," Mom guessed, as we entered the village through the archway.

"I know," I agreed. "You think it's a Guardian?"

"I don't know," Mom answered. "It could be the boy I just helped kill King Aizekus in his world. Actually, no. He would be giving off an aura of his own."

"Who was he?" I wondered. "A Guardian?"

"No," said Mom. "I'm not entirely sure what he was. I at least think he was human."

"You think?" I questioned. "What makes you think he wasn't?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Mom answered. "He spoke strangely, he fought strangely, and he said everything like it was etched into his mind, or something."

"Sounding a little dramatic, Mom," I jested.

"Well, that's how I remember him," Mom argued. "He's your age, his name's Mikael, and he's weird."

"Mikael," I whispered. The name sounded familiar to me from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. It had to have been someone I've met, especially if he was similar to a Guardian, as Mom said he was. I had no idea for sure, though. I had either met someone named "Mikael", or knew someone who knew him.

"Are you hungry, Finn?" asked Mom.

"'Hungry' doesn't touch it," I groaned. "I'll take anything to eat."

"I'll get us whatever I can afford," Mom promised. "But you wait outside."

"Alright," I complied. Mom went into a small restaurant on the edge of town, and I was much too hungry to not do as she said. I waited for her. I felt my stomach growling, and my mouth watering at the thought of eating something decent. Everything in the Ice Serpent Canyon was either frozen, spoiled, or rotten. Eating anything from there would have killed me.

"Are you a Guardian?" someone suddenly asked. It was a little boy in a heavy coat to protect from the cold. A feeling of immense terror was coming from him, and he sought out a Guardian's help. Something was wrong.

"Yes, I am," I responded. "What's wrong?"

"My parents and my sister are being held in our house by bad men!" the child screamed. "You have to save them!"

"Take me to them," I said. The small child led me through the streets of Dormanine. He must have led me straight to the center before taking me into a small house. I put my hand on his shoulder to keep him outside, then approached the door to the building myself. I slowly pushed it open, seeing the boy's mother, father, and sister on the ground, all with blood draining from cuts in their throats. They must have been clean kills. I didn't see any sort of defensive wounds on them that they would have sustained if they had the chance to defend themselves. They were killed quickly, and silently. I could only imagine how the child waiting outside for me to tell him what happened must be feeling. His parents and his sister had their throats cut. It would be too much for him to handle, and I wouldn't let him see his whole family dead. Besides that, it was out of my hands. This would have to be a murder investigation, not a monster hunt. As I turned around to leave the house, I felt something crash against my back, and I was sent out of the house, rolling on my side on the grounds of the plaza. After one last roll, I quickly jumped to my feet with my aura blade in my hands. The child that led me to his house was dead, a stab wound in his chest, and there were six men standing over his corpse. There must have been a seventh one, since I was undoubtedly kicked out of the house, not thrown out with an aura blast of any kind. All of them carried swords with black blades, but they wore nothing more than thick jackets and pants. It didn't matter if they had protection or not, though. They killed an entire family. I wanted nothing more than to punish them for it, but I was a Guardian, not an officer of the Military Police. I faded my aura blade.