The Guardian Chronicles: The Shadow Alliance

StoneKeep, The Grandmaster, and Peaceful Moments and Dark Victories

Chapter Twenty: Stonekeep

    Far to the east of Wayland, was an area of the Wildelands famous for majestic mountain “islands” that jutted up from the sea of grass around them. The mountains were tall, with steep white sides and flat tops covered in trees. The Guardian capital and fortress Stonekeep was one of these.  It had a beautiful garden on the top that surrounded a large lake. The garden and lake was all that made it look different than the other mountains from the outside. But on the inside it was completely different from almost anywhere else in the world.

    In the middle of the fortress, where the heart of the mountain had once been, was a wide plaza that went from the top all the way to the bottom. Stone bridges connected the forty levels on either side of the plaza with each other. Eight waterfalls fell from holes along the edges of the ceiling into a still lake on the floor of the plaza. From there the water trickled down into the caverns under Stonekeep. It was assumed that the water then made its way back up again, but no one was sure how. But, however it worked, the Guardians and the Confidants were thankful for it. The water was fresher than normal and had many other strange properties not seen in water elsewhere. This water had a strange sheen to it, almost as if specks of silver and gold where in it.

    The corridors and doorways were cut out of the rock and were large enough for even the Dragon Guardians. The rooms and chambers on the upper and middle levels were all on outside walls and all had a wall of floor to ceiling windows. Most of the upper level rooms were living quarters for the Guardians, their families, Students, and event the Confidants, if they so wished. On the top two levels were training facilities. There was a mysterious cavern there called simply the Cave and it had only been visited by a few Guardians. It was a strange place that reacted differently to each Guardian who came there.

    The middle levels were taken up by the Healing Chamber, the Teleportation Chamber, the Renewal Chamber, and the Guardian Archives which was one of the most extensive libraries in the world. The Archives were the home of the most enigmatic group of Guardians, the Scholars. They dressed in dark brown robes and carried the Kainan blade; but like the healers they rarely used them. The Scholars were the smallest group of Guardians and the most misunderstood. Many thought they should be abolished and their members sent into the general Guardians population, but those who thought that did not understand how truly extensive the Archives were.

    In the lowest levels were the offices and living quarters of the higher ranking Guardians. They were also home to many storage chambers where much of the wealth of the Order was kept and several powerful artifacts that could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Only a few of the Elders held the keys to these places. On the edge of the lower levels was a small stable with twenty stone stalls and a small teleportation platform. The Guardians rarely used horses and the few that were there were usually owned by the Confidants.

    When Edras, Adara and all the others teleported in, they were all scanned by a living force field that completely surrounded Stonekeep. He never let anyone in who was not a friend and some thought he could not be broken through. He had spoken to certain individuals in the past, but not for a very long time.

    None knew the true nature of his life, save the Elders, and none knew where he had come from. But it was rumored that one of the Tannenbar had made him, but which one was a mystery. The creature’s name was Reathan, no one knew if the creature had named itself or if someone else named him. He was shrouded in mystery.

    He studied each traveler in Anselm’s party. He hesitated when he saw Rale; he felt the hate and ignorance in the young man’s heart. He nearly stopped him from entering, but he knew that forgiveness could always be given. Rale could be redeemed, Reathan sensed that, but he also sensed that Rale’s heart was swiftly turning to stone and soon no compassion would move him. Salvation could always be had; it was always only a breath away, no matter the fall.