The Guardian Chronicles: The Shadow Alliance

A Little Cell, What Peace Hides, Rarzgar, and Empty Room

A Little Cell

    In Swaintown, they had put Adara into a small cell in the dungeon, they untied her and pulled the hood off, and then they threw her in. The cell had one barred window at the very top of the cell and a bit of sunlight came through it, but only enough to cast the very center of the cell in light. She then realized that if sunlight could come through, so could the rain. A wooden bench with a dirty white sheet on it was her bed. The waste chair was in the opposite corner and, thankfully, it was relatively clean. They locked the thick metal door behind her; it had a barred window towards the top and a tiny door at the bottom of the door for sliding meals through. Adara pounded on the door and it barely even moved.

    “Let me out! You can’t put me in here!” She yelled. She was only answered by laughter. But she kept yelling and pounding anyway. After a few minutes she realized she was not getting anywhere, she looked up at the window and knew that it was too high; she checked the walls to see of there were any loose bricks, but she could not find any. She was completely trapped, absolutely imprisoned; she had never faced anything like this before.

    She sat down on the wooden bench and pulled her knees to her chest. She hugged her knees tightly, how could she have been so stupid! Trusting that Garund! She did not even know him but she had let him trick her and lie to her. She felt tears begin in her eyes, but she fought them; she was not going to sit there and cry.  

    She suddenly saw an image of Noxx in her mind. She saw his eyes and his hair, she smelled him and she heard his voice…it was like he was there with her. Her heart began to ache. She wanted him there. She screamed in her mind, Noxx, you idiot! Where are you! I told you to save me! So…please hurry…oh Noxx…I’m so scared…where are you when I need you? She closed her eyes and buried her head between her arms and knees, she had never felt so alone or wished he was there so much. She rubbed the scar on her cheek and wished it would tingle, but it did nothing.

    She looked up at the little window above her and wondered if Noxx was thinking of her. She smiled at the thought…of course he was not thinking of her. After she had acted why would he? A shiver went through her and she held herself tight.

What Peace Hides

    Rychid and Rale appeared in a flash of light on a little hill that overlooked the bustling capital of the nation of Trathorne. The city was named, after the fifty seven kings who had ruled it and Trathorne, Raorne. That name had been borne by every king of Trathorne and a Raorne sat on the throne that moment.  

    The city was built in fourteen circles, each one got a little smaller the closer they were to the castle in the center. Each circle was surrounded by a huge black stone wall that was nearly as tall as a mountain and each had enormous red steel gates that were as tall as the walls. The city was nearly impregnable. The city was home to millions of citizens and around it was an even larger area of slums. The city was the heart and soul of a nation that had caused the whole world to tremble in the past.

    “Why are we here, Master?” Rale said looking down at the city.

    “I believe, my beloved son, it is time to tell you of what is about to happen. This nation will soon be the focal point of a storm. It will be a small thing at the beginning and few will notice it at first. But then…it will explode!” Rychid said, his eyes wide in a maniacal expression.

    “But…there has been peace for such a long time…and the Lenorans…the Dragons, the other members of the Grand Alliance; they will not let that happen…” Rale said unsure of his own words.

    Rychid laughed bitterly, “The Grand Alliance? I ask you, what is so grand about it? They will be gone in a year; the moment coming will rip them apart. They will differ on what to do and each will want to go his own way. This peace has made them all so weak. They all rot from within.” Rychid laughed, “They will fall, you see, they will fall…everyone will fall who does not bow a knee. Oh…you should see it; the army the Mancers are making…it is glorious beyond words. There are so...many.” Rychid shook his head and smiled cruelly, “There is no land in this world that can stand against it. Not Scova, not Harbinea, not Farland, or Onolbain, not the lands across the sea, or in Tahkemis, or Hiozara, not even Lenore or Lukasha; nothing will stop what is being prepared. All of this…Noxx, the Guardians, Adara…” He shook his head again, “Just a warm up, only a tiny skirmish. At the end of it, the Guardians will loose their greatest member and the Pathers will be at their throat. Relish it, my son; you see the last days of the Guardian Order and all who stand with them. And it is all my doing.”