Subject: [FFML] (ffml)(Shizen)(Ch.1)
From: "Go Shizen no Megami" <gumbi_sama@hotmail.com>
Date: 4/12/1999, 2:53 AM
To:

Chapter One

3321 A.M.P

De Ja Vu

For more than three thousand years, the heiress to the powers of the Shizen was trained as a high priestess, learning how to use and control her powers for the salvation of Aquearia. Being an immortal, Rowan required an immortal teacher, so Christy's own teacher from millennia before was summoned once more to train a child of the Shizen.

Through the centuries, war after war was fought on Aquearia, yet the Forbidden Valley was never penetrated by anyone. Only those races that lived within the valley left and returned, leaving the Forbidden Valley a land of living legends in a world of people that no longer believed in the old myths

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"C'mon Chyou! Why can't we go outside the valley today? I've never been outside before, I need to know what is out there if I am going to save it some day." Pulling her teacher along behind her, Rowan eagerly starts heading towards the path that lead out of the valley and into the kingdom of Phaedra.

"What are you talking about you bubble head??? I've taught you everything that you need to know about life in the outer realm. Silly girl, we were talking about their wars a couple of days ago. You even stated that they were obviously ignorant about the ways of the universe if they fought over everything." Giggling at the absurdity and the ignorance of the statement that Rowan had made a couple of days past, Chyouchyou sat down on one of the many elaborate marble benches that had been crafted by dwarves over the centuries.

"Of course you started giggling and went off topic like you usually do after I told you that." Temporarily disgruntled over the memory of Chyouchyou laughing at her, Rowan scrunches up her nose and twists her lips to display her displeasure. "Please, can we go? It's obvious that I don't know what I need to about the outer realm. Please, Chyouchyou? If not for the educational experience, I need to get out of this place to preserve my own sanity. C'mon-"

"Alright! I'll make a bargain with you. If we go outside today, you cannot tell Christy or Darion. We'll take five hours and visit the town on the other side of the pass. Now promise me, you will not tell your brother or sister that we left the valley."

"Great! Let's go then!"

"No, you promise me first. I know you, Rowan, you won't do anything unless you are forced to promise. Say it, Rowan, promise me that our trip will be a secret."

Lowering her head in dejected compliance, Rowan mumbles her promise to not tell either of her siblings, then grabs Chyouchyou's hand and commands the wind to bring them to the Phaedrian border of the Forbidden Valley.

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"Rowan, put your hood up!" Whispering frantically as they approached the border gates into Phaedra, Chyouchyou started regretting that she hadn't yet taught Rowan how to change her appearance. "You have to cover your hair, Rowan. These people have never seen silver hair before, let alone the robes of a high priestess in several centuries. Keep your eyes to the ground! Damn this is going to be difficult, I should have taught you how to change your appearance!"

"Calm down, Chyou, you've taught me almost all that there is to learn. I'm sure that I could change what I look like if I had to without even thinking about it.

"Oooooooooooh, be quiet! When we walk through the gates with your head down, don't say anything or make eye contact with anyone. Now stay HERE!" Walking off to acquire passports, Chyouchyou starts mumbling about her own stupidity at bring her pupil here, let alone her pupil's ignorance in general.

Completely ignoring her teacher's commands, Rowan continued to stare across the gate to the busy little town, yet somehow she remembered to pull the hood of her cloak over her head and tuck in her hair. While looking at the cafe across from the gate and wondering what the smells were that came from it, a group of armored riders came up to the cafe and dismounted, causing a temporary stir in the town square. "Such power is displayed by those men, their auras are those of importance, especially the one in the center of the group."

Keeping her eyes on the group of men on the other side of the gate, Rowan began to approach her teacher with a curiosity of the men that made her shake with the need to know who they were. Before she reached her teachers side, a gust of wind blew back Rowan's hood, leaving her floor length, silver hair free to whip around in the wind.

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Turning around as if looking for the person who would cause a gust of wind, King Trystan of Pheadra is drawn by the sound of a child's voice imploring his mother to see something that interests him. Not only was the child's interest captured by the sight on the other side of the crossing gate, but all of the people who were passing by as well. A woman in a rich, dark blue cloak with silver stars flooding from the bottom of her cloak and reaching to the top was frantically trying to pull her several feet of silver hair back into the hood of her cloak. A look of enchanted astonishment came over Trystan as he continued to stare at the mystery on the other side of the gate.

"Silver hair," Trystan thought to himself. "What race has silver hair? William," turning around to ask his second in command, a High Elf from the Forbidden Valley. Trystan observed the stance of shock that has over come his friend. "William, what's wrong? Is she someone that you know?"

Receiving no response from his shaken friend, Trystan begins waving his hand back and forth rapidly in front of the elf's face, only to have his arm thrown back by a spell from the highly focused elf. "What was that for?"

"Look, my lord, our High Elf friend is here as well," coming out of his own trance, William points to the figure in the green cloak talking with the guards at the crossing gate. "I haven't seen Chyou in years, will you please excuse me for a moment, my lord?"

"Of course not, I wish to speak with, my lady as well. She is bringing an unknown species into my country, I want to know who she is."

"That woman in the blue cloak is not of an unknown race, my lord, but of a forgotten race."

"What do you mean forgotten?"

"That is not for me to tell you. Either Chyouchyou, that young woman, or the High Priestess of the Shizen will tell you. If we are lucky, we will not have an encounter with 'The Guardian.'

"I cannot believe her foolishness, bringing the girl out of the valley was a mistake with all of the Ahkmet activity in this area!" With that, William dismounted from his horse, his king hurrying to catch up with him, and strode across the rode to where Chyouchyou was purchasing the passports for herself and Rowan.

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After attaining the required papers for the day long sojourn into the town, Chyouchyou grabs Rowan's arm and starts pulling her down the street at a hurried pace.

"Slow down, Chyou! I want to see what we're passing!"

"We have to hurry, there are a couple of my friends following jogging over here, and I would appreciate it if they did not catch up with us. Goddess preserve me, why do I let you talk me into these things? Come, you need to walk more quickly."

"The town market, Chyou, if you are so eager to escape, we can lose them in the town market. C'mon, it's this way."

"Fine, just move faster than you are, I know that you can move faster than this, especially when there is something that you want. I swear, sometimes I think that you are still thirteen. Pick up your feet, child! It would be nice if you acted your age more often. Woo! Not so fast girl, my cloak isn't long enough for me to float, unlike yours."

"Alright, I'll carry you then," scooping up Chyouchyou and tossing her over her shoulder, Rowan lifts a few inches off of the ground and floats across the road and around the corner into the town market.

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"Bloody, thrice-damned, son of an inflatable Dark Elf goat!" The whispered explicative erupted from an astonished Trystan. "The one in the blue cloaked scooped up Chyouchyou and went around this corner a few seconds ago, they couldn't have gone far. Do you see them Will?"

"Of course I don't see them, but I can find them, the same as you can. In fact, I'm surprised that you haven't sensed it yet. After all, you hunt down all dark magicians and can sense every type of magic." Laughing at Trystan's surprised face and the cunning of the girl that he had helped to raise little more than two thousand years ago, William cast the spell of location and brought up a concealing barrier around the two of them.

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"Now that we are away from those two, we can sit down and I can introduce you to what the people of the outer realm call food." Looking around the market, Chyouchyou spotted a small cafe on the other end of the market and heads in the cafe's direction.

"You mean the protein that humans require for their bodies to run efficiently? Why would I need to meet food, it isn't even alive?"

"Bubble head, you are going to eat food, not MEET food. YOU wanted to learn everything that there is about the outer realm, well, you are going to learn to eat. Besides, I have a craving for some tea and some form of chocolate."

Tilting her head to the side, Rowan looks at Chyouchyou with an expression that shouted "you're insane!" "You make think that I am strange child, but food is actually very addictive, when I was your age, I ate everything that I could."

"You have never eaten anything while you've been in the valley. Why haven't you?"

"That's because, like you, I don't require food to survive."

"I know, but we could have brought food to the temple."

"Can you imagine the stir that THAT would cause? All of a sudden there is being food transported into the valley, I'm sure that would have given us a few militaristic and royal visitors at the entrance to our valley."

"True, but we could have used magic to transport it to the temple. You know, take the food out of the town's other entrance and then transport it from there."

"Good idea, Rowan! I'll ask your sister later if we can do that," giggling with the possibility of a steady source of chocolate, Chyouchyou grabs a menu from the stand near the door and begins to chant the word "chocolate" over and over again as she plops herself down at a table hidden behind an alcove of potted trees. "Let's see, what should I give you to eat? It must be chocolate, not meat or fruit, it must be chocolate. Although something salty is starting to sound scrumptious at the moment. No, must stick with chocolate." While deep in her concentration of the menu, Chyouchyou failed to notice the waitress come up to the table.

"Chyou. Hey Chyou!"

"Nani?" Peeking up warily over the top of the menu, Chyouchyou raises an eyebrow to make the appearance of a surprised question complete.

"There is a very nice lady standing behind you with a tech pad in her hand."

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me sooner? We'll have everything on the desert menu that has chocolate in it please."

"Uuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm, yes, Mam. Would you like something to drink as well?" A little shaken at the size of the order that the hyper green haired elf had ordered made her a little nervous about how much these tow people could actually eat. Starting to lightly tap the computerized ordering pad, the waitress nervously asks Chyouchyou "are you going to be needing something to take home any of this in?"

"Of course not," Chyouchyou said with mock outrage, "we'll be sitting here for at least an hour, and between two of us, I think we can manage to finish it very quickly."

"Alright, Mam. Would you like these to come out as they are done being prepared, or would you like everything to be brought out at once?

"Bring out what you have done, then bring out the rest as when they are ready, please."

"Oooooooooookay." Disappearing into the front door of the cafe, the waitress gave an excited hop and tittered to the other workers about the large order she had just taken.

"Chyou, who were those men that were following us? The short one seemed familiar to me, but I don't recognize him. The other one though, he holds a lot of power doesn't he?"

"Aaaaaaah, so you can recognize something from old subconscious memories. That is a very accurate observation about the other man too. The one you recognized is William, he helped raise you until you were thirteen, but he left the valley and hasn't returned since. I go and visit him occasionally, along with a few of my other friends? The other-"

"He's an immortal?"

"Of course he is, William is also a High Elf like myself. Now, the other man with him is very important politically speaking. He is the king of Phaedra."

"NANI?!!!!!!!? Why would you want to avoid those two, you go and visit them once a year?"

"I think William recognized who you are, and was probably going to berate me for bringing you into the outer realm with out Darion. Trystan, on the other hand, has no idea of your existence."

Remembering what it was that caused William and the king to notice Rowan a few moments ago, Chyouchyou's temper immediately flares. "Didn't I tell you to keep your hair in your hood!!!!!? Goddess preserve me, I was about to kill you! Not only did you draw attention to yourself, but you drew enough of it to get William's and Trystan's attention as well!"

"Calm down, it's not like they can find us now."

"Yes they can! They just walked past the cafe, and I have the distinct feeling that they are looking for us. Gee, I wonder WHY Rowan! Fortunately, they are continuing down the street. To be safe though, I will collect the bill, and we will transport everything to the park on the other side of town." Turning to watch the two men continue down the street, Chyouchyou abandoned her chair and hurries into the restaurant to pay the build and collect her cash of chocolate treasures.

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"Chyou has just left the table," Trystan continued to look forward down the road once he felt Chyouchyou's presence leave the immediate area of the cafe patio. "I think that our goal has been reached for the moment. Shall we go back and investigate, William?"

"I believe that we should, my lord." With a twitch of the elf's fingers, both Trystan and William were standing behind the figure in the night sky cloak.

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Rowan knew they were standing behind her, she could feel their presence and wished that she could just disappear for once in her long life. "Chyou, I could really use your assistance here," sending a mental plea for help, she could only hope that Chyouchyou would burst out of those cafe doors in the very next instant. When Chyouchyou didn't immediately come, Rowan knew that her thought had been blocked by the elf standing behind her.

"May I be of assistance gentlemen?" Rising gracefully from her chair, Rowan turned and stared into the bright yellow eyes of the High Elf. "Personally, I do not like having holes burned into the back of my head. The least you could do is pull up a couple of chairs and sit down, William." Pulling back the hood of her cloak, Rowan openly acknowledged that she was the one that both men had seen on the other side of the crossing gate a few short moments ago.

"I thought that is was you, my dear." Pulling up a chair to sit beside her, he reaches out to run a hand through her hair, but thinks better about it and pulls his hand back to his side. "Why have you left the valley, girl? Have Darion and Christy let you out of the valley before with only Chyouchyou as your guard?"

"You forget your manners, William. Are you not going to introduce me to this countries king?" Looking up at the man before her, she quickly draws in her breath at the sheer beauty of the man before her. "He's beautiful, William, I've never seen anyone so beautiful before." The man before was as tall as her brother, perhaps a little less than six and a half feet tall, his midnight black hair falling to his waist and his rich, dark blue cloak resting on his broad shoulders matched the sensual color of his rakish eyes.

Just then, the sound of a hissing animal came from the door way, and Chyouchyou exploded out of the door way and grabbed Rowan, making both of them disappear into the air. The only remanent of their presence was a glowing piece of parchment on the table.

"Shit! We shouldn't have cornered the girl." Reaching for the parchment on the table, William was beginning to reel from the hostility that radiated from the paper before him. "Well, my friend, I have the distinct feeling that we are no longer allies of the great High Elf Chyouchyou. What do you think?" Before he was through asking his question, William had flipped open the wax seal and began to read the flowing script of his life long friend.

"I thought so, we have just been formally warned to stay away from the girl unless we want a war on our hands. Chyou says that she will kill you if you ever look at her pupil like that again. Wait, you were LOOKING at her? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, HUH??? YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT GIRL!!!!! Shizen preserve me! This boy needs to gain control of his second mind. You're determined now aren't you? Great! Now you are going to do everything you can to see her again aren't you? AREN'T YOU?!? YOU, Trystan, will be the death of me. ME, someone more than a million years old! That's it, we're going back to the castle!"

"What did you expect me to do? I've never seen silver hair before."

Blowing a puff of air out of his nose in frustration, William gives his king a look that screamed "Oh really?" "You attract every female in your country and you enjoy that fact. You also hunt down every woman that "perks"your interest. From the way Chyou says that you were looking at her "pupil" you're probably already planning on turning this town inside out. I can't blame you either, from the way she was looking at you I would say that there was a natural invitation there. She's never interacted, with other people before though, that much was obvious in the way that she was acting in the street earlier." Now lost in thought, William starts thinking out loud and unknowingly begins giving Trystan the information that he wants and needs.

"This was Rowan's first trip to the Outer Realm, of that I am certain. Christy and Darion don't know that she isn't in the valley either, other wise Darion would have probably killed you and bodily threatened my well being. Damn! Doesn't Chyou know that the Ahkmet are in this area? They have probably felt Rowan's presence and have sent Guardians on their way here. I can't believe that Chyou was this stupid! Hopefully, they have returned to the valley by now. No harm has been done, except for the possibility that Rowan is now most likely very interested in the male species.

"I swear, Trystan, you were set upon Aquearia as a curse for your people!"

"What did I do? It's not my fault that I look better than everyone else, besides, I wasn't the only one looking."

"Come, we must go back to the inn and tell M to prepare for a possible attack from the Ahkmet Empire."

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"But, Chyou-"

"Don't 'but' me, Rowan, you KNOW better! You are supposed to leave if that ever happens!"

"But they weren't a threat Chyou, you KNEW THAT!"

"No, William was not a threat, but Trystan was. If he ever comes that close to you again, get away from him. He isn't someone you should even be talking to. You are too far above his station. The only people you are ever allowed to talk to are your siblings, high priests and priestesses, and me. No one else, Rowan, you may not talk to anyone else!"

"That is an ignorant thing to do, not talking to anyone else except for those people I already know. How am I supposed to learn about the outer realm if the only person I can talk to is you, with your convoluted views!? You haven't even lived in the outer realm before! I can't believe you!" A look of disgust that couldn't be hidden came over Rowan's face. Casting a concealing spell, she disappeared with a stream of flame that fell to the ground and extinguished itself.

"Damn! Rowan, come back here right now!" When she didn't come back within five minutes, Chyouchyou transported herself back to the temple to tell Darion that she had brought Rowan to the outer realm and that Rowan had run off by herself.

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"What do you mean you don't know where she is?!" Yelling so loud that the domed roof of the temple appeared to be shaking, Darion went into a fit of rage at the woman who had taught both himself and his sisters, then attempted to calm himself down only to be assaulted by memories of his sisters death three millennia before. "Chyouchyou,"squeezing each word out through his teeth, "did you not know that there are always Ahkmet troops waiting near every entrance to the Forbidden Valley, just waiting for Rowan to leave the valley?"

"No, my lord, I was not informed that the Ahkemt were still a threat to my lady." Bowing her head with shame at what she had let happen and now fearing to show the anger on her face that was reflected towards Rowan, Chyouchyou turned her back to Darion and started heading towards the chamber doors. Calling over her shoulder, "shall I call the Guardian Order of the Valley together, my lord?"

"No, a military force of that size seen leaving our valley would alarm the other countries around us. I will take the Silver Phoenix Guardian retrieve my sister who so foolishly decided that she is old enough to do exactly what she wants."

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"I can't believe her, telling me who I can and cannot talk to. HMPH! I'll talk to whom ever I need to. Besides, what can happ-" Grunting in surprise as she was pegged with a leather ball in the stomach, rage fills her eyes as the thought occurs to her that someone would want to hurt her. Looking up, she see's a group of children standing a few yards away in the park watching her. When a little boy starts forward from the group with tears in his eyes, she feels sorry for what was obviously an accident.

"Here you go, it's okay, I know that you didn't mean to hit me with the ball. Go on, go play" Shooing the boy back to his game, Rowan makes her way to the three tiered fountain in the center of the park and with absolutely no grace, plops down on the marble rim, trailing her fingers in the clear, cool water.

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"William look! She's sitting at the fountain!"

"What? What are you talking about? Oh, the girl you mean? You sound like a giddy school boy. Stop it, you're frightening me. Besides, I wouldn't go after her right now, Chyouchyou is most likely keeping an eye on her from a door way or somewhere near by. Take a bit of advice, Trystan, forget about her. You'll never be permitted to even touch her."

"I'll 'never be permitted to touch her'? That is certainly interesting, I've never been denied by parents a girls parents or a woman. This gives me a challenge for once."

"This is not a game Trystan, do not make it sound like one! She is above your station, do not tempt the gods to eliminate you!"

"Ah, one of your mythological beings that you tell me about all of the time. I don't believe this! If they did exist, William, wouldn't they have "saved" our world centuries ago? All people have been warring for centuries! Doesn't that warrant as a need for salvation? No, it doesn't matter right now, we we'll talk about this latter. Besides, if she really is one of your myths, what can it hurt if I only talk to her? Surely there isn't any harm in socializing with someone."

"Trystan stop and listen to me! If you draw her to you, will you be prepared for the consequences? You would have to marry her, protect her from all of your enemies - most of all the Ahkmet - and live with the fact that she and the children she bares will be immortal. Will jealousy over their immortality consume you, Trystan, or would you be willing to leave when knowing that your family could not unless they were killed? How would you protect them once you died, Trystan? Who would rule Phaedra after you die? Tell me these things, Trystan."

"I don't need to answer you, William, because from the way you're talking, it sounds as if I would never have a chance. Stop worrying. All I'm going to do is talk to her. After all, you know that I am not interested in being married." Looking directly into his friend's eyes, Trystan does his best to convince his friend that what he had just said is true, but William could still see that Trystan was more than drawn to Rowan's ethereal appearance and playfulness.

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"Danger," Rowan frantically thought to herself as the hairs on the back of her neck raised with vibrating fear. "There is danger near by, but I cannot loca-" at the exact moment that Rowan raised a shield around herself, she went flying into the air along with what was left of the fountain she had been sitting on. Before she could stand up, the king of Phaedra was standing over her, trying to foolishly protect her from something that he couldn't see but somehow he knew where it was.

"I thank you for your assistance, Your Highness, but I believe that I am more capable of handling this than you are. Please evacuate as many people from that area as possible."

Talking to Rowan while facing the direction that the attack came from, Trystan can't believe what he just heard. "What?!? You were just hurled a hundred feet through the air, obviously you are injured and I will protect you until William can transport all of the people out of danger. That blow must have knocked sense out of you. I swear, some women are just saucy bit's a bagg-"

"If you would stop talking for a minute and look at me you arrogant ass, you would see that there isn't even any dirt on me and I am standing up without any assistance!"

"Wha-" Trystan never finished his question, for Rowan, with an inelegant snort, transported him to the outer edges of the park.

"I told you to leave her be, Trystan. She'll take that Guardian apart, and if she doesn't, either her brother or the Empress of Ahkmet will." By the time William was done with his sentence, one giant metallic head the size of a two story building was falling to the ground. "Do you see what I mean?"

"How in Ethos did she do that?!? She doesn't even have weapon! William, is this what you meant by saying she was above me? Great Shizen preserve us if she ever turns against us!" His eyes nearly popping out of his head, Trystan watches as giant metallic arm suddenly appears and flies over a few buildings to land on the main road of the town.

"Well," said William, "aren't you going to call your Guardian and help? There is more than one of them you know." Starting to chuckle at his friends shocked face, William slaps the contractible calling device for Trystan's Guardian and pushes his friend towards what has become a grave yard for dismembered appendages of Guardians near the outer wall.

Snapping out of his shock, a look of suave confidence comes over Trystan's face. "I believe that I shall "assist" the fair maiden as soon as I find where my Guardian landed."

"I don't care what it is you do as long as you don't swing a that massive sword at HER." Pointing towards the blue cloaked figure hurtling whirl winds, fire balls and giant spikes of ice at invisible enemies from a roof on the west side of the park. "Go find your Guardian and help!" Looking up towards the cliff that surround the Forbidden Valley as Trystan sprinted around the corner to see where his Guardian landed, William noticed a very large, silver Guardian flying very quickly -- along with dodging flying metallic appendages -- towards the park. "Well shit, I think that ALL of us should vacate the premises, now." With that, William raised an arm above his head and made a quick circular motion, making every spectator of the carnage vanish in the flap of a humming birds wing.

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"KISSA!" Guiding his Guardian closer to the tree level, Darion dodged another flying metallic arm then pushed his Guardian to move even faster towards the town and his sister. "I knew Sevearian would have Guardians waiting for Rowan to leave the valley!"

By the time Darion reached the town, there were pieces of Guardians every scattered every where in the park, along with completely demolished buildings and melted puddles of metal which he could only assume were at one point Guardians. "Where are you, Ro? You have to be here somewhere, I can feel you." Looking to the left of a still glowing puddle of metal, Darion sees his sister kneeling on the ground clutching her stomach and favoring her left arm.

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"Darion," whispering to herself as another flash of pain shoots through her body. "Darion, help me!" Now weeping from physical pain and mental exhaustion, along with the pain of severe injuries, Rowan tried to gain her feet, but only managed to land on her knees, holding herself up with one arm.

"Rowan, are you alright?" Leaning over in the giant armor, Darion scoops up Rowan with one of the monstrous metal hands of his Guardian. "Who did this Rowan? Who attacked you? Was it the Ahkmet?

"Behind you!" A female voice sounded in front of Darion and he immediately jumped to the side just as red Guardian revealed itself and fired a shot from the scream gun that was built into the arm of the Guardian, completely incinerating the enemy Guardian.

Gulleting a Guardian from behind, a glorious blue and silver Guardian appears on Darion's left side. "Hello, M, fancy meeting you here, Dove."

"Shut up you skirt sniffing bastard and help scare the left over trash away!"

Preparing for flight if necessary, Darion shielded Rowan more and defensively by putting his sword in front of himself preparing to block an attack from either of the new Guardians in front of him. "Who sent you to do this?"

Both of the other visible Guardians turned towards Darion's and just stood there looking at him as the rest of the enemy Guardians evacuated the area. Trystan was the first one to respond to what he felt was perhaps one of the stupidest questions that he had ever heard. "What do you think? Would we let down our cloaking shields if we were your enemies?"

"I wouldn't put it past the Empress of Ahkmet or Sevearian to break a code of honor such as that," not waiting for a reply, Darion's Guardian took off into the air and started heading back towards the Forbidden Valley.

"What the - that's it, I am going after him! I am tired of those people just taking off whenever they want to!"

"What are you talking about, my lord?"

"A story that I don't have time for right now. Come on, M, if I know Selket, she'll have a second squad of Guardians waiting right outside the town walls." With that, both the King of Phaedra and his most prized general take off to follow the silver Guardian and the girl.

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"Darion?" Whimpering from the pain in her side, Rowan rolled herself into a smaller ball inside her brother's Guardian's left hand. "I don't feel very good, my arm is bleeding and so is my side. I'm cold too."

"I know, just hang on, well be back in the temple soon. I promise we'll be back home soon. I swear to you that I will not let you die, my solemn oath. Now promise me, Rowan, promise me that you won't die on me."

"I promise, Darion."

"Good, now be quiet and relax, we are almost home."

While talking to his sister, Darion didn't notice the five Guardians that rose out of the forest and started pursuing him. The instant when Darion felt the presence of the enemy Guardians, he heard a loud report, then went hurtling to the ground as a net enveloped his Guardian.

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