The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (14 page)

The guard on the tower shouted, “Lunchtime! Everyone gather round!”

At once, the whole village stopped working. They dropped all of their tools, walked to the stream and washed up. Then, when all of the immortals were refreshed, they sat on the ground near the windmill and waited patiently for their meal, chatting amongst themselves. A few of women began serving the crowd, passing around plates of hot food with a smile and a word of encouragement and thanks.

The scene was both odd and inspiring to Azura. It was odd because she had remembered the immortals as an arrogant race—one of strict rules and regulations, of oppression and control. To see such a change in their lives was inspiring. They no longer sought luxury and pleasure, but instead indulged themselves in the everyday life of work, love and friendship.

The meals were no longer fancy, the walls no longer forged from gold and silver. The houses tiny compared to their old giant mansions. And they no longer had servants at their beck and call. But in spite of being stripped of all of these things, they were joyful. It seemed that they had finally gained a satisfaction they had long forgotten—the satisfaction of being alive. Living towards a purpose gave them hope of a brighter future.

Azura also noticed how much tighter this community was. The caste system appeared to have been demolished. The population was no longer segregated. Everyone ate together and worked together, regardless of abilities or social status.

Merdon said, “The tower bell rings once for a meal or meeting, but it’ll keep on ringing if the watchman wants to warn us of danger.”

“That’s good to have.” Azura took her place on the grass next to several others and grabbed a plate of food. “You never know what might happen here.”

She eyed her plate: a scoop of mashed potatoes, a small serving of green vegetables, an apple, and a few slices of broiled meat. It was a modest meal, but looked very appealing. A wondrous hot vapor was rising from the surface, and the flavors rose up with it, gently prodding her nostrils with feelings of ecstasy. Her hunger got the best of her. She tossed away her fork and stuffed handfuls of delicious sustenance into the abyss of her mouth. After gobbling the meal in a matter of seconds, she became aware of the stares. Azura’s eyes darted left and right.

Some seemed so interested in watching Azura eat they didn’t even take their first bite. Others were stuck in the middle of shoveling food in their mouths, but somehow stopped because they were so mesmerized by Azura’s table manners. Azura shrunk back, slowly scraping the globs of mashed potatoes off her cheeks.

Still goggling, Merdon cleared his throat. “You have quite the appetite. Shall I tell them to prepare more for you?”

Flushing red, Azura said quietly, “No, we’re in a hurry. We really should get going.”

“Oh good.” Merdon breathed a sigh of relief. “I was afraid we wouldn’t have enough food—er, I mean, where are you headed? Perhaps we can offer assistance.”

Azura replied, “We’re going to the home of the Judges. They’re supposed to have a portal there that leads back to the other dimension.” She paused. “Speaking of which, do you guys want to come with us?”

Merdon shook his head, smiling. “No, I’ll have to humbly decline. We are happy here. And there are still hundreds of our comrades lost in this place. We anxiously await the day when we are all reunited.”

“I understand. Then can you show us the way?”

Merdon said, “We’d love to, but we have no idea where that is. We have not yet seen any Judges in this place.”

“You haven’t seen them?” Azura swallowed. This land was vast in scope and the only way out that she knew of was the home of the Judges, which Sorren had told her about. She could feel this heavy swelling of anxiety within her heart. This ominous feeling was brought by the gut-wrenching thought of never being able to find the way out of this land, of never being able to return to the world of the Heroes. Would she be trapped in this place forever? Would she end up like Kale and never return?

Merdon saw the worry on her face. Sympathizing with her, Merdon patted her on the head and said, “All hope is not lost, young one.”

Through tear-filled eyes, Azura stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“We may not know of that which you seek, but another may be able to help you,” explained Merdon. “Ever since we arrived in this strange world, we’ve been exploring. We thought no one else lived in this place besides us. However, a few days ago we met a peculiar old man. He said he lived above the volcano and invited us to visit him. We have not seen him since. I believe he has lived here before us. It is possible he knows the location you seek, the home of the Judges.”

Azura asked quickly, “Where’d you see him?”

“In the woods not far from here.” Merdon gestured toward the end of the valley. “Go this way until you see a giant tree stump. At that place, you’ll come across a narrow path, one we have not tread much upon. Go there and you’ll be in the woods where we saw him.”

Azura scanned the direction Merdon was pointing at, but didn’t see anything resembling a volcano. “You said that he lives above the volcano? What volcano?”

“Curious, isn’t it?” said Merdon. “I do not know of any. But that was what he said.”

Azura sighed, gazing at the woods. “Anything’s worth a try I guess.”

“I know you are in a hurry to leave,” said Merdon. “But before you go, Liam would like to speak with you.”

“Liam?”

An old man met with them. “Greetings. You may not remember me, but my name is Liam. I was one of the elders.”

“I remember you,” said Azura. “You’re the one Darek rescued from the tower.”

“That’s right,” said Liam. “Now it is time I returned the favor. Hear my words carefully because this concerns every human. Beware of the Immortal Alliance.”

Azura raised a brow. “Aren’t you the Immortal Alliance…?”

“No,” said Liam. “We are only their offspring. Beware of the
true
Immortal Alliance.”

CHAPTER 11

You Never Know

Lying on a small bed, Darek opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling. He looked around curiously, remaining quite still.

“Where…am I?” Darek turned to the side.

Sitting at the desk was a beautiful young woman dressed in white, sipping on a cup of tea. Locks of her garnet hair fluttered in the small gusts of wind. Sweet fragrances surrounded her. When she noticed Darek was awake, she hopped out of her seat.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she said. “How are you feeling?” The woman brought over a medical scanner and examined Darek. “Is everything all right, Darek?”

“Y-yes.” Her beauty was rather captivating. Darek felt flattered she knew his name. He stammered, “D-do I know you?”

She giggled. “No, I don’t think so. This is the first time we’ve met. My name is Rose. It’s nice to meet you.” She held out her hand.

“Um, yeah…likewise.” Darek slowly shook her hand. Her skin was soft. As he stared at her pretty face, he felt a strange feeling in his stomach.

Rose continued, “I saw you win the race. Congratulations. It was amazing. I even heard rumors you were just learning to ride for the first time. Is that true?”

Chuckling softly, Darek averted his eyes. “N-no, it’s nothing special. I pick things up pretty fast.”
 
Then came a drawn out silence. Darek wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure what to say. At last he said, “You have um…a nice place here.”

“Thanks. I designed it myself.” Rose beamed. Darek gaped. Her smile was a shock to his system.

Rose studied him. “Are you okay? Your face looks a little red.” She raised her medical scanner. “But you don’t seem to have a fever. Your temperature’s normal. I wonder if the scanner is broken…” She placed a hand on his forehead. Heart racing, Darek froze up.

“Hmm…” Rose smiled widely. “It looks like you’re okay. You had a slight concussion. Nothing serious. But you might want to take it easy for a while. And you should really take better care of your body. I’ve never seen someone so exhausted after a race.”

Darek slowly nodded, though he was still speechless.

Slade entered into the room through the sliding doors. “Is he awake yet…?” Slade raised a brow when he noticed Darek was not moving.

“Yes,” she replied. “But he still seems a bit out of it.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” said Slade. “Is there anything else wrong with him? Anything I should know about?”

“Well, there is something I want to show you.”

Rose told Darek, “Please sit up on the bed.” Darek did so.

Rose motioned for Slade to come and look. She lifted up the back of Darek’s shirt.

Slade stared at his back, looking surprised. “Huh? Is that a…bruise?”

Rose shrugged. “Bruises are usually black and blue. This one is completely black. When I first saw it, I thought it was a shadow. It’s quite unusual.”

“It’s unreal,” said Slade in awe.

Darek wondered what they were looking at.

“It’s like a bruise,” said Slade. “But it has the shape of a hand.”

“Well, I was curious about it, but still…it doesn’t hurt, right?” She poked the black mark. Darek straightened up rigidly and shivered. “I’m sorry. Did it hurt?”

“No,” said Darek quickly. “I was just, um…you know…” His voice trailed off.

Rose let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. If it doesn’t hurt, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Darek looked like he was trying to say something in reply, but his voice just wouldn’t come out.

Grabbing hold of Darek, Slade told her, “Thanks for taking care of him. We’re in a hurry, so if you’ll excuse us.”

Rose smiled. “It was my pleasure.” She waved goodbye.

Slade dragged the awestruck Darek out of the room.

When they were a considerable distance away from the nurse’s hut, Slade said, “Darek, we’re out of there. It’s just the two of us. You can breathe freely again.”

Darek regained his senses after being frozen by utter bliss. “I-I can’t believe I choked like that. Man, that was embarrassing! I must’ve looked like a complete idiot!”

“Yeah, you did,” Slade said. “I’ve never seen you like that before. But don’t get bummed out. I think she likes you.”

Darek became solemn as a thought entered his mind. “Really? But I’m…a Judge. I shouldn’t exist. No one should know about us.”

Slade said, “Not that I’m happy about it, but things are changing. If we can’t go back to Lacuna, we might have to take refuge with the Heroes. Maybe our lives will return to normal. I mean, we can’t really continue on as Judges anymore. Before, it was easy. No one believed we existed. We would eliminate a criminal, the Vespars would clean up the evidence, and the Heroes would cover it up. No one suspected anything for thousands of years. But it’s over now. If people know we’re real and we can’t hide in Lacuna, the Federation will intervene. Things will get complicated.”

Darek said gravely, “I wonder if that’s supposed to happen. To lose the Judges…would the balance of good and evil remain?”

Slade replied, “There will always be something to tip the scales.”

Kyrie was waiting for them by the entrance of the giant ring around the tree.

She yelled at Darek, “I told you not to participate! You could’ve died!”

“Whatever,” said Darek. “Nothing bad happened.”

“Nothing bad happened?” Kyrie shrieked. “A sky shark attacked people! That could’ve been you! You’re lucky to be alive!”

“Could’ve, would’ve,” said Darek coldly. “Who cares what
could’ve
happened. It didn’t happen. I’m all right. Perfectly fine. So just drop it. Besides, you didn’t warn me about a sky shark. If you’d told me—”

Kyrie cut him off. “That’s because sky sharks never come up here.”

“Then why’d that one show up?” asked Darek, sounding skeptical. “Huh?”

“I don’t know,” said Kyrie. “Everyone was surprised. That’s never happened before…”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?” Darek snapped. “Were you keeping that a secret too? You thought it’d be funny to see me get eaten by a shark? Or were you trying to prove a point that you’d go so far to show me I’m wrong? That’s it, isn’t it?”

“What? I wasn’t keeping it a secret…”

Turning his back to her, he growled, “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Kyrie opened her mouth to say something, but she fell silent.

Slade shifted his gaze between the two of them, wondering what was going on. Darek seemed especially angry for some reason.

After a few minutes of silence, Slade cleared his throat and asked Kyrie, “So, did you find out anything about Lyonil?”

Kyrie said, “One of my informants did see a man with a scythe. It’s rare to see someone carry a weapon—and even more rare to see someone go to the Under Sky. That’s where your target should be.”

Slade said, “The Under Sky?”

“The region below the clouds.” Kyrie pointed to the widespread blanket of clouds that covered the planet. “The reason why the settlements are built above the clouds is because the Under Sky is dangerous. A good example of what lies below is that sky shark you saw during the race. Those creatures do not usually fly above the clouds because the air here is rather thin. The only way humans survive in the Upper Sky is by staying indoors. The houses and social centers are equipped with the means of providing sufficient air.”