S.A.S. - Book one: Secrets (Rewriting)

Chapter Six: Surprising Truth

Red woke up at the same time as Flame early in the morning. They came back to the camp to find everyone still asleep. Jack was laying on a bench, Frill was tucked away in a tree, and Fern was on a sleeping bag, along with some others. Flame and Red both crept over to where Fern was sleeping, careful not to wake anyone else. Red shook her awake.

"Hmmn hm" she groaned, waking up and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Red? Flame? Where'd you two run off to last night?" she asked, staring from one to another.

"Well..." Red paused. He couldn't tell her what they had really done, but he hated to lie. "We went to check the village" he finished.

"If you say so." Red could tell she didn't believe him, but he was happy she didn't press any further. The three FoxCraft went and woke up the other Chiefs, Commanders, and Generals that were sleeping with Fern.

Fern led the way to a large tent in the center of the camp. It had patterns stitched into the side, pictures of swords and animals. Red, Jack, and Flame entered last. The Guardians had to plan the next move in this growing war against the Council.

The tent had a large circular table in the center of it. A lantern hung over it, casting strange shadows on the sides of the tent. Chairs made a ring around the table, one for each Guardian.

One of the chairs had a silver moon on it. Another had a lion's head, and two others had orange circles. The four closest to the entrance had different symbols as well. One a flame, one an orange gem, one a golden blade, and the last one a heart. This stood for Flame, Red, Jack, and the First Chief Guardian.

Traditionally, battle planning and combat was forbidden until the sun was up. Even the Council followed these rules, which was why they didn't attack the night before. Each of the Guardians stood talking to each other, continuing this tradition.

When the sun came up, everyone went to their places and sat down. For a second, all the Guardians were silent, and then Red spoke.

"So what are we up against?" he asked, looking from one to another. He couldn't help if he didn't know how to.

Commander Fern was the first one to answer. "Well, those clay monsters you faced last night are only the start of a small super force created by the Council. Then, we have their Husks." She shuddered as she finished her piece, as if even saying the word pained her.

Red understood why. Husks were deadly creatures created by combining one's spirit with a dead dragon's bones. This created small dragon-like beings with skeletal forms and sharp knife-like claws. It trapped the spirit of the dragon within this form until the owner gave it up or until the owner was killed. They couldn't breathe fire, like the old dragons, but they were skilled trackers and always found their prey. Red had a run-in with one while in the market and he had hoped he never had to face one again.

Flame looked just as worried as he felt. If we're going to beat one of them, we're going to need a lot of help. Fern listed off a few more things. Mines, artillery shells, the royal army. Red now knew just how bad of a situation the refugees were in.

"Well, first of all, we need things to combat these" Red said to the Guardians after Fern had finished. "There's no hope to survive if we can't even combat them."

"Well, our soldiers heard what you yelled to Jack, about cutting off the head on those clay soldiers, so that's dealt with." Fern looked to the two Generals. "Any ideas?"

"The Husks are the hardest thing for us. They're already dead so we can't kill them" one of the Generals said, thinking hard. "But, if we can isolate them from the magic, maybe the souls trapped inside could aid us."