The Guardians of Time

Chapter One: Deliverance

*** The Hidden Planet Edin, 1977***

Members of the Temporal Warrior council scurried for their lives as pieces of the throne room walls crashed down around them. Desperately, they scattered to avoid being crushed by falling debris with the exception of one, King Aaron Kromwelle, the head of the council and ruler of the hidden planet Edin, who stood and dashed from the throne room, looking for his queen. Their meeting had been interrupted by sudden and violent attacks on the castle. The queen, Emelia, had fled from the table just before the roof collapsed and obliterated it.

"Emelia! Where are you?!" Aaron shouted down the corridor as he stood in the doorway of the throne room.

He turned to see that the room was nothing more than a gaping hole in the side of his castle; the walls that once protected them missing. He turned and looked out over his kingdom to see it under siege.

His sapphire robes and long white hair danced around him, moved by the explosions destroying his home. His face conveyed panic for his family, for his people and for the other Warriors. His light gray eyes pulsated with anger and he swore justice would come swiftly to those involved in such a savage attack.

Council members were scrambling for their lives around him. Many were buried beneath thousands of pounds of marble and granite. Aaron looked out through the missing East wall to the homes and shops of his people in the city below, vanishing under a sea of fire. People were screaming and livestock ran freely in the city streets. He watched in horror as a horse yanked free of its carriage and trampled an old man who tried desperately to get out of the way.

Fear began to consume him and he felt more determined than before to find his beloved wife. He turned and suddenly, she came through the Northern doors; the only ones still standing.

"Aaron!" She shouted out to him.

The king turned with a look of relief and started for her. In her arms, hugged tightly to her chest, she carried a swaddled blue blanket. As they met in the middle of the decimated room, he realized she had gone to the nursery.

They both looked out upon a kingdom falling victim to an unseen enemy and it was then that Emelia's tears began to fall. Like rain, the salty water flowed from her crystalline blue eyes. She turned to her husband.

"Aaron, we can't wait. I have to go. The last Seer has confirmed our fears of this attack." She looked deeply into her husband's eyes.

"The evil king?" He asked. She simply nodded in response.

Aaron reached down and pulled back the blue blanket, revealing the sleeping face of a beautiful baby boy. The baby still carried about him the smell of newborn. The king took his large finger and ran it along the baby's cheek. The infant prince rustled slightly in his sleep.

"My son, you have only lived a month and yet you have come at a time full of evil; more than one should see in their lifetime." He then lifted his tear filled eyes and his hand to his wife.

The queen held her face up, proud, staring at her husband. Her petite nose was straight and perfect; her soft cheeks flush with life. She didn't care about the damage done to her castle. There was so much love for her little boy and the powerful man that stood before her. If she was to die this night, it would be in love and with honor.

Her olive skin seemed to glow in the sunlight that filtered through the smoke. Her blue eyes shined with veracity and her long black hair was pulled up in a regal bun surrounded by a crown full of purple amethysts. Her long tunic-gown combo the same color as the jewels in her crown.

Long sleeves covered her arms and the neckline dipped just below her collarbone. The purple hooded robe she wore to complete the ensemble billowed out around her. The rolling tears from her eyes dipped into her full blood red lips. Most of what she wore was tattered and covered in holes, evident damage of having run through a disintegrating castle.