I shot up from my slumber in a cold sweat. My head pounding from an intense headache.

I looked around, quickly scanning my surroundings. I was standing in the ruins of a completely destroyed fort. Not a single wall still stood of the structure. Only broken stones and dirt remained. By the looks of it, the destruction was not recent. This fort must have been destroyed decades ago.

I saw my family lying nearby and sighed in relief. I checked on each one of them carefully. They were still asleep, soaking wet from the endless rain, but alive and unharmed. That is what is important.

“I hate telepaths,” I mumbled as I clutched my head and sat on the wet stones. Most of the pain was radiating from my right eye. The half-awakened talent I locked in there must have tried to resist what I had just experienced, but there was no way such an immature talent could stand up to a being like that.

While I was still trying to suppress the pain, my family started to wake up. My father was first. He woke up with a start, jumped to his feet, and drew his sword, all in one smooth motion. My mom also leapt up in fright, putting her hand on the hilt of her blade, but examined her surroundings first without drawing it. Charly and Donte both woke up much more normally, clutching their heads from the headache I knew they were feeling. Even in the rain, I could see Donte was crying.

“Where is that blasted bear?” My dad shouted, swinging his sword around, as he examined his surroundings.

“W-what just happened?” My mom asked, “Was that all a dream.”

“An illusion. Everything was fake, even before we entered the fort,” I replied, picking myself off the ground.

“How can an illusion do that. I saw… everything. My entire life was laid out like a book. What was that bear?” My father asked, lowering his sword.

“The one thing Demons hate more than humans. That was a Guardian,” I replied.

“Guardian?” Charly asked.

“What is a guardian?” My mother echoed.

“A Guardian is a being of immense, but limited power. Guardians claim to exist as protectors of a realm. They are beings who keep the balance from tipping too far to one side, and are usually born from a great tragedy.”

“What do you mean limited power? That was the most powerful being I have ever faced.  I could not do anything to it,” My father asked.

“All guardians follow a set of absolute rules. This one was claimed to be a guardian of judgment. It used telepathy and illusions to read our past, then judged whether or not we were evil. Even if it wanted to kill us, it could not do so as long as we were not judged guilty. Trust me when I say, this guardian really wanted us dead.”

“You have seen these things before?” My mother asked.

I nodded. “The entire eleventh division is made up of Guardians. There are two others I know in this realm as well. There is a guardian of knowledge past the sea in the south. He had some type of time-based ability I could never figure out, but he could only use it to protect knowledge from being lost. There is another in the east. A guardian of nature who protects the forests and animals. She had some sort of healing ability. Not all of them are telepathic like this one was.”

“There are more of those things?” My father exclaimed, “How come I have never seen one before?”

“Four hundred years and millions of undead, and I only found two in our realm. Guardians are extremely rare. They are also usually created from animals and have little love for humans. So, they do not like to interact with us much unless it involves their duties.”

“Shouldn’t we try and recruit them? Just this one guardian was incredibly powerful. Three could greatly impact our war against Envy,” My father asked.

“We do not have to recruit them. When Envy invades, they will move to protect the realm with or without us. As I said, Demons hate guardians, and likewise, Guardians hate Demons. They are natural enemies. When the time comes, they will act.”

My father nodded, then sighed and slumped against a pile of rubble. “I still cannot believe this one rifled through my mind like that. I could not do anything to stop it. I… I saw my mom and dad again… It has been so many years I nearly forgot what they looked like.”

“I saw my mum again too,” Donte said, still in a daze on the ground. Tears were running down his cheeks. “I still miss her so much.”

My father hesitated for a moment, then placed a hand on Donte’s shoulder. “I know what you are going through. Trust me, I know. When my parents were killed, I wished every day that I could see them again, even if only for a single moment. Nothing will ever change that. The loss will stay with you forever, but it is up to us to honor their memory. They were our parents. They taught us and raised us. Every action we take is a reflection of them. It is up to us to prove to the world that they were good parents. Do not cry for them. Stand up tall and show the world how great they were.”

Donte wiped away his tears after a few moments and nodded. He stood up, looking up at the sky. “I will. Mum, you were the greatest, and I will prove it to everyone.” He then turned to the rubble of the once great fort and bowed. “Thank you, guardian bear, for letting me relive those memories. You let me see her again, and I will never forget that.”

My father smiled proudly, then also turned towards the ruins and bowed. “Thank you.”

Donte started humming a song as he turned back to our wagon, parked in the middle of a rocky field. I recognized the song. He taught it to us the other day, as one of his mother’s favorites.

“Wren, are you ok?” My mother asked, “You look pale.”

“Just a headache,” I replied, looking at the ruins. Memories of what happened here were still fresh in my mind. They overlapped with Aurielle’s childhood and caused me to shiver. There was no way I could make this right. In some ways, I wish the Guardian had killed me. At least then I would have been able to repent.

My mind filled with dark thoughts when I felt a pair of warm arms wrap around me from behind. My mom’s hug instantly dispelled the anguish in my heart.

“I do not know what you saw in there, and I will not ask you.” My mom said softly. “No matter what it was, I love you, and I am here for you.”

A warmth welled up in my chest as I turned and hugged her. Tears welled up in my eyes and I cried loudly, without holding anything back.

“It’s ok… It will all be ok,” My mom said, holding me tightly.

The two of us stood there in the rain as I cried. I am not sure for how long she held me, but she never once complained.

“It is all my fault,” I said through the tears, “So many people suffered and died here because of me. What am I supposed to do?”

“You keep moving forward, no matter what,” My mother replied, “I do not know what happened here, but must remain strong. Live so that no others suffer the same fate.”

I pressed my face into my mom’s wet shirt, trying to stifle the cries, but failed. It was all too much for me to take in. I was supposed to be better. How many other tragedies like this one happened simply because I could not be bothered to care about what I left behind.

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Soaking wet and sullen, I climbed into the wagon and commanded the stallions. I did not want to stay in this place one minute longer than I had to.

The wagon splashed through the mud of the mountain road. My mother tried to get me to cheer up by playing the mercenary game with her, but I was in no mood to play. It was only many hours later, long after the sunset that I was finally able to force a smile when Nox crawled into my lap and started purring.

“Since when were you so friendly,” I said skeptically while petting Nox.

Nox looked up at me with big round eyes and meowed pathetically.

“What do you mean, hungry?” I replied, “You are undead. You do not have to eat.”

The tiny kitten meowed again, rubbing his head against my shirt. He purred loudly and started acting cute.

“Fine, but only one piece,” I said, reaching for one of the compartments where we stored our food. As soon as I unlatched the drawer, Nox hopped out of my lap and in one quick leap landed in the small pile of preserved meats we bought for the trip.

Everyone started yelling as the cat made himself at home in our rations.

“Get out of there right this instant!” I yelled, moving my power to take direct control of Nox. However, as soon as my flames flared inside of Nox, they vanished, like a rock dropped in a well. My flames were swallowed in an instant.

I tried again, this time trying to take control of the flames in his collar, but once again the moment I tried to control the cat the flames simply vanished.

“Huh?” I remarked, stunned for a moment. This was something I had never seen before. It was almost like Nox was eating my flames the moment they appeared. Without the flames, I could not control him.

My dad picked up the kitten by the scruff of its neck, and tossed Nox to the side, causing him to mewl angrily despite the piece of jerky still in its mouth.

My dad scolded the kitten, but given the content look on Nox’s face, I knew he had not learned his lesson.

I picked Nox up curiously. I gathered a larger mass of flames in my hand and pressed them against his fur. They seeped into his body where they linger for less than a second and then simply vanished.

Nox started purring loudly, a hungry look on his face.

“What is going on?” I mumbled curiously, “Where is the energy going?”

“Is something wrong with Nox?” My mother asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. Another flame appeared in my hand. This time I fed the flames into Nox’s body in a steady stream. I felt carefully as the flames moved, trying to understand what was happening.

The flames entered his body and flowed like normal for less than a second before getting sucked into the kitten’s stomach where my connection was lost. Only the barest minimum remained in its bloodstream to keep it alive.

“Curious, and curiouser,” I mused, “What exactly is happening inside your body?”

Nox meowed again, begging for more flames. Fascinated by something I had never seen before, I decided to continue feeding the cat everything I had. However, even when I completely emptied out the flames in my own body, it was not enough. Nox still wanted more.

“Is he going to go on a rampage?” My father asked, eyeing the cat suspiciously.

“Unlikely,” I replied, “The collar is still functioning. He cannot exert any power without going through that. It is most likely a side effect of the experiment I did with him the other day when I fought that Demonkin. I will keep an eye on him though. I have no idea what is happening to him right now. Not being able to control him is worrying. That has never happened like this before.”