The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (6 page)

“We
must go at once to meet with Mistress Kana,” she said with ever-mounting
anticipation.
 
It is happening just as she had said it would.
 
She felt a rush of wild excitement and
passion surge through her body.
 
I will get what I want and save many of the
elves from the ill fate that awaits those who will not follow me
.
 
General Yukio will be by my side, and then I can go to work on changing
the destiny of the elven nation.

“Why
are we meeting with an elemental?” Yukio queried cautiously.
 
A feeling of great trepidation coursed
through his body at the prospect of meeting with a guardian face-to-face.
 
“Have we been invited to meet with her
ladyship?”
 
He did not know what to think
at this point.
 
He had let his curiosity
override his common sense.
 
He realized
that the princess was anticipating marrying him and that together they would
become heavily involved in altering the elves’ destiny.
 
He had always been in control of his life and
took comfort in knowing he could still use his power against this powerful
princess if events got out of control.
 
How could I have been so blind
?
 
All I
had to do was delve deeper into her thoughts instead of touching so much on her
feelings.
 
I should get out of here.

“She
is expecting us and is rather anxious to meet you,” she said excitedly.
 
There was no point in blocking the mental
intrusions by the general.
 
By allowing
him access into her mind, he would be more willing to follow her to Mount Quang
for their meeting with the Mistress Kana.
 
“General, there is no point in the both of us pretending that you do not
have strong magical abilities which allow you to enter a person’s mind.
 
I have let down all of my defenses; feel free
to probe my thoughts and feelings.”

A
brief look of annoyance crossed his face.
 
How does she know so much about me
and my abilities
?
 
He quickly hid any
display of emotion and closed his eyes.
 
Once his eyes were shut, he reached out with his magic to locate Kira so
he could probe her mind for the truth.
 
He first touched the cords of her emotions.
 
He found out right away that she needed him
and that she cared more for him than for anyone else.
 
He could also sense her deep and abiding love
she had for the elven people.
 
When he
prodded these sentiments for the elves to the surface, he understood their
plight and felt the desperate need to assist the princess in changing their
fate.
 
How is she doing that?
 
Why
should I care what happens to the elves?

As
he delved deeper, he came across a discussion she had had with the guardian
Kana.
 
He quickly understood why they
must go to meet with her and why he had such strong feelings for this elven
woman whom he had just met.
 
He still
thought it unsettling that Kira knew so much about him.
 
Through his probing, he found that she gained
most of her knowledge from this guardian.
 
Why does a guardian choose to
interfere when they have vowed to never get involved with the races
?
More importantly, why has she included me
in the farce?

He
lingered a few moments on these thoughts and then opened his eyes.
 
He saw Kira looking right back at him with a
sensuous grin.
 
Her eyes did not hide her
intent, and she moved closer to him.
 
She
knew that he understood now and would not turn back.
 
Their future together was only beginning;
they would become so powerful that none would dare question their union.

As
General Yukio and Princess Kira emerged from the northern end of the Black
Forest, Mount Quang came into view.
 
It
was a beautiful mountain covered with trees frosted by fresh snow.
 
There were many places that appeared to be
habitable.
 
They looked at one another
with loving eyes as they took in the beauty of the moment.
 
They had traveled together over the past few
days to reach the base of Quang.
 
The sun
was beginning to disappear on another day, and the sky was beginning to turn a
reddish purple color.
 
It was a truly
beautiful scene.
 
In the morning, they
would climb the mountain to the predetermined location for their meeting with
the powerful elemental, Kana.
 
It would
be a day that they would never forget.

They
used the last few moments of the waning light to set up camp within the
protection of the northern trees.
 
Kira
moved her hands in waving motions as she worked her magic.
 
Every night she threw out a magical barrier
to protect them from attack and to warn them of any danger that was drawing
near.
 
This night was clear, and the
stars were bright in the sky above.
 
They
lay together for a long while staring up at the beautiful heavens while holding
one another in a tight embrace.
 
The air
from the mountain was clean and fresh after a recent snowstorm.
 
The general still struggled with why he was
still here with this elf and was even more befuddled by the fact that he longed
for her.

They
woke early the following morning with a burning desire to reach their
destination as soon as possible.
 
They
were anxious to begin their new life together and to work on their plans for
saving the elven race.
 
As they sat side
by side taking in the tranquil scene, they were abruptly interrupted by a sleek
black raven approaching them through the air.
 
At first they did not know if the bird was flying at them, but as it
dived down toward the ground, it became clear it was heading right for
them.
 
The dark bird came up short and
landed right in front of them without being harmed by Kira’s magical barrier.
 
It looked directly at Yukio with great
expectancy in its beady black eyes.

The
general instinctively knew that the raven was attempting to communicate with
him.
 
He had never attempted to
communicate telepathically with a raven before, so he did not know what to
expect.
 
As he reached out with his magic
to touch the bird’s mind, he could sense the urgency of the message it was
carrying.
 
Once he had established a
connection with the bird, he saw flashing images coming at him in rapid
succession.

The
general winced as the images flew at him.
 
He simply could not process that much information at the rate it was
coming at him.
 
He used his magic to slow
down the images.
 
Once they started
coming at a more reasonable pace, he understood perfectly who the bird was and
what it was trying to tell him.
 
This was
a messenger from the guardian Kana.
 
The
messenger had been sent to give them precise directions to the meeting place
and to bid them welcome.

“This
is a messenger from our mysterious guardian friend,” the general
explained.
 
“This raven bids us welcome
from his master and asks that we follow him to the predetermined meeting
place.”
 
Yukio did not go into detail
about the numerous images that he saw because it was still unclear to him what
they all meant.
 
He had no idea why he
saw scenes of horrific battles and of personal betrayals.
 
He could not comprehend their meaning at the
moment, but he would discover their meaning when he had the time.
 
He was extremely adept at solving puzzles
like these and would not rest until he understood everything.

As
the morning gave way to midday, the sun burned brightly in the clear sky above
them.
 
The temperature was not as hot as
when they were at the lower altitudes.
 
They had been following the raven for a couple of hours now, and they
were still no closer to this secret meeting place.
 
Yukio had used the time to describe the
meeting place in greater detail to Kira.
 
There was a massive waterfall that fell over a hundred feet into a deep
pool of green water.
 
This place was
enclosed in a veranda of beautiful trees and vegetation.
 
That was where they were heading.
 
The guardian would surely be waiting for them
there.
 
However, Yukio did not tell the
princess that he saw Kana in the images he was shown by the raven.
 
The elemental did not have a solid form, or
so it seemed.
 
She looked like red and
grayish-white mist swirling together by the bank of the eerie pool that was
their destination.

The
general’s thoughts were interrupted when the trees began to thin out and
revealed the scene Yukio had just finished describing.
 
They looked up at the impressive waterfall
and instinctively knew that everything was going to be different.
 
They followed the falling water to where it
smashed into the clear green pool of water rimmed with ice.
 
Somehow they had not heard the stream that
they had been following.
 
They were even
more bewildered at how they missed the raucous sound of the falling water.
 
They had been caught up in their own thoughts
that they missed all of the signs of the end of their journey.

Princess
Kira’s eyes sparkled as she looked for the elemental.
 
She knew that no one had seen one for
hundreds of years.
 
They used to travel
the lands of Tuwa without any trepidation, but something had happened centuries
ago to drive them into seclusion.
 
As
Yukio looked at the place where he had seen the misty form of Kana, they both
started at the appearance of a beautiful creature.
 
She had long, fiery-red hair with eyes that
pierced the soul.
 
Being in her presence
was both terrible and awe inspiring.
 
The
powerful elemental before them gestured to them to come out from under the
cover of the trees.
 
Yukio did not like
giving up his cover; it made him feel vulnerable.
 
Internally he was still struggling with why
he was here.

As
they approached, a powerful wind came up from behind them and lifted them into
the air.
 
They hung suspended right in
front of Kana.
 
They had a brief moment
of terror rush through them, and then all at once they were at peace.
 
The guardian smiled pleasantly at her guests
as though this unwanted suspension should have been expected.
 
Once they felt comfortable again, they both
carefully put up mental barriers.
 
It was
never wise to lower them for too long, regardless of whose company you were
in.
 
Yukio worried that he may have kept
them down for a moment too long, so he employed his strongest barrier in the
form of a mind mirror.
 
This is basic in
what it does; however, it requires vast amounts of energy and skill to
employ.
 
He quickly searched for an alien
presence in his mind and found none there.
 
He breathed a sigh of relief.
 
She must trust us
.
 
Yukio felt a pang of uneasiness at this
thought.

“You
are here at my request,” Kana stated without wasting another moment.
 
“I have seen your destinies, and they are
intertwined with one another and with the elves.”
 
Her voice was smooth and yet intense at the
same time.
 
It mesmerized the pair to the
point of total submission.
 
A glazed look
came over their eyes, and their minds were blissfully at ease and defenseless
once more.
 
She told them many things and
spoke, at times, in a language not familiar to them.
 
They reached a point where they were aware
again after what seemed to be hours of listening to the guardian.
 
The elemental had released her control over
their minds so that they would remember this part of their meeting on a
conscience level.

“It
is clear that you two are to be united as elf and man.
 
Your union will be the catalyst for saving
the elves from annihilation.
 
Also, new
friendships will be formed between races that were once enemies,” the tall
guardian stated confidently.
 
She seemed
to be glowing now as they looked at her.
 
They simply could not take their eyes off her. They began to panic again
at their lack of control.
 
She spoke some
more words they did not understand and cringed at the power they had when she
uttered them.
 
As she was speaking,
clouds formed overhead and freezing rain began to fall.
 
This apparently symbolized the washing away
of their previous lives and the beginning of their new ones as her servants.