I'm a Guardian, Sree thought.
It had been several days since her... episode, but the fact that she was part of a group of ancient warriors hadn't settled in yet. Why her? Why not her sister Myra? She was the one who sacrificed herself helping others, not Sree. Sree was always the quiet one. The one who stayed home. The hushed, shy daughter.
God, why me? She prayed, silently. Longing for an answer.
Nothing.
No answer.
No reassuring voice.
No blinding celestial light.
No deafening thunder booming across the sky proclaiming the specificity of why God had singled her out of literally thousands of other individuals.
Nothing.
Sree sighed, slightly disappointed. She knew loud, obvious signs weren't how God spoke, but she still prayed for an answer.
The past several days had flown by in a rushing blur. Myra, their father, and Sree hiked over dozens of hills at the start of their departure from Erarld. Their father wanted to arrive at this mysterious Urih as soon as possible, so they spent the whole day strolling across the low grasslands of the Southern Isle. They took breaks, but not long ones. The next night they ate and rested. Dawn woke them up to another day of their arduous journey, and so they continued. Each day they repeated that cycle. Walk. Eat. Walk. Sleep. Walk.
Sree didn't mind the work, it provided her order and peace amidst the chaos that had become her life, but it all passed by in painful silence. Even though she usually enjoyed the quiet, the perpetual ignorance of her father infuriated her. He hadn't said a single word about that night. No explanation of what had happened to her. Each day of their journey she thought he would explain the bizarre event, but he said nothing.
She glanced back at Myra, who seemed lost in her thoughts too. Sree, deciding not to interrupt her sister, strode up to her father. She would get answers even if she had to beg for them.
Striding ahead of him, she placed herself directly in his path, turned to face him, and stood with her hands on her hips. She stared up at him, her eyes telling him she wouldn't budge. He looked down at her and groaned.
"Well. I knew this was coming."
She didn't break eye contact.
"Ok. Emergency family meeting," he hollered to Myra. Her eyes perked up, and she hurried over and plopped on the ground, staring up Sree and their father. She patted the ground beside her and the two followed suit.
"So..." Myra said, breaking the silence, "Um... family meeting... huh?"
Sree continued staring, her arms now crossed. Her father opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.
"You're a Guardian?! I'm a Guardian?! What happened back at the house, what's so special about this 'Urih' place, and who was that woman in my dream?"
He sighed, "Well... she warned me this would not be easy."
"Who did?"
He leaned back on his palms, gazing up at the few clouds that glided on the blue sky.
"Your mother."
Our mother? Sree glanced at Myra who looked equally perplexed.
"She knew about... you?" Myra asked. "Your powers?"
Their father sat up and looked at Myra."When your mother and I got married, we made a promise to never keep secrets from each other. So yes, I told her." His eyes glazed over, as if lost past, "She didn't believe me at first, the story of the Guardians had faded away long before our time, but eventually, she came around."
"Didn't you ever use your gift?" Sree asked, bringing her father back to the present. "To convince her?"
His eyes darkened. "When I was a boy, I had vowed to never use my gift ever again." His eyes fell to the ground as they filled with grief. "But after your mother's death... I made another vow. I promised to protect both of you two at any cost." He looked up at his two daughters and they saw the fatherly love in his eyes, burning like fire, ready to scourge anything that would harm them.
Sree felt her father's love edge away the resentment she held in her heart.
No, she thought, I NEED answers.
"Why—No, HOW am I a Guardian?" she asked.Her father leaned forward.
"Ever since Aldrus Gyus, your—"
"Our great-great-great-grandfather." Sree waved her hand, "Yes. We know."
He gave a pained smile, "Yes. Well, ever since his time, our family has comprised an unbroken line of Guardians. Something never heard of before."
"Then why," Myra joined in, "Has no one heard of them? A constant line of Guardians isn't something you can just ignore."
"But it is something you can hide," her father said, "And that's exactly what our family did. We hid our gifts for three centuries."
"Why?" said Sree.
Their father closed his eyes and Sree could see the pain hinted in his expression.
"There's a part of the story I didn't tell," he said, "After the battle, the people were more than happy to welcome the Guardians into their society. But, two-hundred years later, with the first generation gone and no direction, Guardians turned a blind eye to God's plan for their gifts and delved into their own selfish desires. They stole, destroyed, and murdered. Overthrowing ancient monarchies only to replace them as ruthless tyrants. A few went insane and slaughtered villages full of women and children. The whole Isle gave up hope, and the people turned to despair."
Their father's words pulled Sree and Myra closer, interested in, and yet repulsed by the story he unfolded before them.
"The Guardians continued on this path for many years. Then, suddenly, their gifts disappeared."
"What?" Sree's brow knit. "How?"
"People didn't know why. One moment, Guardians were causing social upheaval and committing unimaginable atrocities, and the next, they were powerless. Human." Her father opened his eyes and gazed up at the sky. Dark clouds drifted close-by, a storm brewing. "The people of that time didn't have the answer, but Aldrus did."
"Our—" Myra started.
"Your grandfather." Their father turned his eyes away from the brewing storm and looked at his daughters.
"His gifts... they didn't disappear?" Sree asked.
"No, they didn't." He leaned onto his knees and stood. "Of all the Guardians at that time, he was the only one who followed his God-given plan. So, God allowed him to keep his gift and took all the others."
The dark clouds had drifted over their heads and a light drizzle misted the air.
"Aldrus went into hiding, the last Guardian. The story which society tried to cover-up lived in him. He told his son." Their father picked up his pack and slung it over his shoulder. "Who told his daughter. She told my mother, and she told me. And now I pass on the story to you." He looked at Sree. "Each one in the line have been Guardians, themselves."
Sree was speechless. This whole story... forgotten? How? An unbroken line of Guardians?
And I'm one. She thought. I'm—
"Do you hear that?" Myra shot to her feet.
Their father tensed. "What? What do you hear?" He asked.
"Like... rumbling." Myra pointed over a hill a couple yards away. "Over there."
Sree slowly rose to her feet. It was raining harder, and the cool water drenched her hair and dripped down her fair skin. She heard nothing... but she felt something. A rumbling, and it reverberated throughout her body. All over, she felt vibrations prick her skin and raise the hair on her neck.
"Something is coming this way," she said.
Their father dropped to his knee, unslung the pack over his shoulder, and dug through it. Eventually he pulled out two flint stones. "Find dry wood," he said through the now pouring rain, "Hurry."
Myra and Sree scrambled to the circle of trees around the meadow. Sree arrived there first and plucked up a dry branch under the shade of an oak tree.
"Got one," she yelled to Myra. She raced back to her father and thrust the branch before him. He plucked it from her hands and quickly wrapped a piece of white cloth around the end. Sree looked over her shoulder and saw Myra hurrying back. She was soaking wet from the downpour and her hair clung to her cheeks. Sree felt a sudden warmth from her side and turned to see her father holding a lit torch. He had drenched the cloth in oil and was getting to his feet. The rain threatened to quench the flame, but somehow, it resisted. And instead of sputtering out, it flared brighter.
"Behind me," he ordered. Myra and Sree obeyed. They hurried behind their father, slipping on the soaked grass beneath their feet. Sree turned and saw three dark shapes move over the hill. Storm clouds blocked out all sunlight, making it difficult to see through the downpour.
Soon, the shapes came into view. Men on horseback reined their animals in front of the flaming torch. Sree saw one man, his face lit by the orange light. Scruff covered his chin, poorly grown, and a hunger flickered in his eyes as he looked her up and down.
She shuddered and pulled closer to her father.
"Lost?" The man grunted.
"We were just passing through," her father replied, his voice tight.
Myra held on to Sree as the other two circled around, cornering them in. Sree quickly scanned the belongings of the vagabonds, a trick she learned in one of her books. The one with the scruffy beard wore a sword on his leather belt, the other two with short knives. Their fur coats dripped droplets of water which ran off the dirty coats of the horses.
"We'll just carry on our way," her father said, his gaze landing on the man's sword as his grip on the torch tightened.
The men chuckled.
"You can carry on your way," the man said, "We'll take the girls."
One of his companions grabbed Sree's arm, and she screamed.
Fire exploded around her, singeing the dirty hand that gripped her arm. The thug roared and pulled his hand away from the red tempest that separated him from Sree. She looked around and saw that fire circled around her and her family. Myra reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer, away from the man. Sree and her sister gazed around in awe at the flames that had created a swirling wall, protecting them from the thugs. She glimpsed at her father. He raised the hand holding the torch high, the other at his side, flames swirling around it, but not burning his skin.
"I think we will continue on our journey. ALL of us," he said.
The thugs struggled to control their horses as they whinnied and fought against their masters, wanting to get away from the burning fire. Sree stared at the man who had grabbed her. He looked at her, that hunger drifting in his eyes. But fear getting the better of him, he turned his beast and hurried away. His companion followed suit. The last one, the man with the scruffy beard, hesitated and then spurred his horse, following his comrades.
The rain fell harder and drenched the flames, putting them out. Sree turned to her father and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw his eyes.
They burned fiery red, mirroring the flames he had controlled. His face was taut as he glared at the back of the scoundrel. Sree brushed Myra's hand off her shoulder and flung her arms around her father, crying. He ran his fingers through her wet hair and pulled Myra into their hug.
"I will always protect you." He kneeled down and looked into his daughters' dark eyes. "Always."