《The Guardian》 Chapter 1 The Guardian Chapter 1: Watcher In the beginning I had full recollections of memories. Snippets of a time pass that was my own before I was alone in the blackness, a loving family, wonderful friends, a career I loved, and countless other things. I remembered my death as well, when I became ill, the hospital, and crying family and friends, but it was harder to recollect the more time I spent within the blackness. Wasn''t there suppose to be a heaven? Or was this my hell for the countless sins I''ve committed over my life, but I never had much faith to begin with. Time was meaningless here. I had no need to sleep or eat, and each moment within this blackness was static. There was nothing to tell time, no sun, no moon, only complete and utter blackness, and then there was me within this world. I had no voice to speak, to form sounds that could escape into this world, I only had my thoughts, but that too was getting murky and harder to comprehend. I knew I was vanishing, my whole being erased into nothingness. I didn''t know If i was willing to accept this fate. To fight against this destiny and my dissipating self. I remember the face of my loving wife that I forgot the name of, my wonderful parents who loved me, and my very beautiful children my wife bore me. I had a good life. Maybe, just maybe this was a time of recollection, to fondly remember all the people in my life before I move on to the next place. Yes, I had a wonderful life. I remembered, and remembered fondly, and then I forgot. A light birthed into existence within the blackness. I had no eyes to see, but I wasn''t blind, I could see the light pulsing blue, and red, and a whole spectrum of colours before it dimmed. The light reminded me of stars within the night sky, but unlike the countless billions this was only a single light. I was attracted to this unknown phenomenon. My every being fluttered towards the light. I wasn''t sure if it was me, or the light that made me like this. Maybe it was a new stimuli within this static world that attracted me. The light never brighten or dimmed the closer I came to it, and it never moved away or came closer as well. What was this light? How was I suppose to interact with it when I had no physical body? I wasn''t sure what I was, did my thoughts only exist within this world? Did I have a spiritual body? I wasn''t sure about anything, so I just winged it. My essence, my very being wrapped around this light, and then the light exploded. I had an overhead view of a landmass. That landmass contained a forest that stretched until a black fog obstructed my vision, and I couldn''t see pass this fog, no matter how hard I tried. Within this forest was creatures of various degrees of height. Male and female creatures that was bipedal. The creatures wore fur clothing, and settled into wooden huts. The creatures resembled something I couldn''t remember. Humans. I remember now, I was human too. Why was this happening to me? What was I suppose to do? The only thing I knew was that I was a part of these people, and so I watched them live their daily lives. The first thing I noticed was I could see what they see. I couldn''t see any other living beings unless they have seen it first.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The community was an agricultural village. They grew their own food, and occasionally have meat the hunters bring back. The hunters that left the village would travel into the black fog, and I would notice that portion would remind visible even after the hunters returned to the village. The village was governed by a chief, and an elected group of elders, the women were the gatherers, and caretakers, and the men hunted and worked the fields. It continued like that for years, and the village prospered. I noticed I had a power over them. I could influence them to do what I wanted, but I couldn''t directly interact with them. I couldn''t tell the hunter where game was, but I could point him in the right direction, but I didn''t tell them which direction game was, I didn''t involve myself with the community at all because I was merely content with watching. Then one day just before the start of winter the hunter encountered something else, it was a creature that resembled a wolf, but this creature had no fur on its body. A black carapace covered most of it''s body and parts of its head. It''s tendrils ooze a liquid like substance that burned the ground it walked on. It hissed, and killed a few of the hunters when it was finally killed, stone arrows and spears sticking out of its body. I was memorized by the bizarre creature''s appearance. ¡°Just what is this monster?¡± One of the hunter said. They examined it, and from their eyes I could see skin underneath the carapace. The hunters tried to remove the carapace but was unable to because the carapace was tougher and denser than their stone knives. The carapace reminded me of iron, but I had no way to tell the hunters that. Hisses interrupted the hunters'' examination, and then from beyond the hunter''s sight and the black fog, another creature emerged, and then another until there was too many to count. Fear gripped my heart. I knew I was happy with just being a watcher, but I didn''t want to hunters to die like this. I watched unable to do a thing as those creatures ripped the hunters to pieces. The visible piece of land disappeared as the last hunter died, and the creatures disappeared from my sight. I returned to the village. I filled the chief with a sense of alarm, my essence filling him, but he ignored it. Unsure if it now old age that gave him that feeling. The chief decided it was now time to step down and entrust his position to his successor. I tried everything to influence him to notice the incoming danger, but the chief ignored all my warnings. The sun was setting when the creatures finally appeared near the village. The creatures hissed and poured into the village, and they easily slaughtered everybody. If only I influenced them to build walls, but I knew they wouldn''t listen. If only I tried harder to make them notice me. If only I tried harder than just being a watcher. Maybe things would have been different. I watched men, women, and children die. Escape I yelled. Nobody listened. But they finally heard me. I was nothingness once again. Just what were those creatures? Why did they have to die? Why couldn''t I tried more? Why was I content with just watching? I... let them all die. - - Chapter 2 The Guardian Chapter 2: Once Again When I opened my eyes, countless creatures swarmed around me. The creatures resembled worms, and had multi-legged bodies. The worm''s carapace was black and there was a shine to them that reminded me of metal reflecting in the light. In the center of the worm swarm was a something called a hatchery that resembled an octopus. It was immobile as each leg was burrowed into the ground to make it stable, as movement would ruin it''s production capabilities to produce more worms. I realized I wasn''t physically among them, but more was like a spectral, and I could see and feel every creature that was there. The swarm''s collective thoughts slammed into my being, they wanted one thing and I instinctively knew my purpose that moment. They wanted to feed. - - - I missed my little humans. I missed watching them, but my mistake cost me their lives. I had fallen into stagnation because I was content with watching. Now I was alone again alone within the blackness. This was my punishment. I had thought this world was like my former world where it was safe and the worst someone would suffer was a bear attack. I had been wrong. A light burst into existence. This light resembled my old light. This time I observed it closely. I could see a forest in the light and it felt like looking through a keyhole. I went closer and enveloped it with my essence. The world exploded into being. A human village laid in the forest, it was tiny compared to the village I had watched before. It reminded me when I first began watching them, was this world a different world? Or was it the same world as those creatures? I had no idea. This life was slightly different unlike my last life, the chief had a different title, he was called the Reverent. Since the first chief, and every chief after him I had filled them with my essence, and I forced them to feel my presence. They couldn''t see me, or hear me, but they could feel my energy and my emotions. The village changed as well. With my urging and danger the Reverent built walls around the village and set up security outposts at each entrance of the village. There was three in total. One was pointing towards north. The same direction the creatures from my last life attacked from, and south and west. In the village I watched them. I watched them clear the fields, I watched them gather fruits and herbs. I watched them prepare for the hunt. I watched the hunters hunt in the forest. And then I urged them to go deeper into the forest, I needed to see how far the forest extended. It didn''t happen right away. The hunters had an instinctive fear of the unknown but slowly the black fog extended beyond my past life''s range. Then finally the hunters escaped the forest. A vast plain greeted them. The hunters had never seen anything like this before. The hunters returned and told everybody of the sights they seen. The hunters continued to hunt in the forest, and didn''t venture much into the plains. Even after generation passed, the hunters continued their way of life. Time continued to pass, and more farmers preferred the vast land of the plains rather than the forest. It was easier to plant and grow food without clearing acres of land like within the forest, and a small outpost settled into the area.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A change also occurred in the village. The villagers discovered a way to shape and mold iron with an outdoor forge. They called them ironsmith, but to me it was just blacksmithing. The ironsmith could only forge simple tools such as arrowheads, spear heads, and daily utensils like cooking pots and pans. This created a need for more resources. Iron veins were constantly scouted within the forest but barely few were found. Mostly towards the mountainous regions where the forest lay. I found myself attached to a single villager. I wasn''t sure when I noticed him, but I guess it started when he ventured into the plains to farm the lands. The plains carried some dangers but life was easy behind walls. Goblins and smaller creatures constantly harassed the farmlands, and the occasionally dangerous troll or two would pass by. Then one day that farmer stumbled across a troll going through his lands. It chased him for days across the plains until he swam across the river that separated the plains from the mountains. I tried my best to keep him safe but the river''s current dragged him far down before he could safety reach the other side, and he had injured himself. That farmer was the first to meet another bipedal species. It was awkward encounter at first. They could see each other as some sort of intelligent creature that could think and feel. The farmer spoke to them in his language and they replied in a different language that he couldn''t understand. The bipedal creature the farmer encountered resembled humans a lot. The only difference it seems was their ears was pointed. At first the farmer had thought he had returned to civilization but the clothing they wore was completely different from the fur and cotton clothing outpost people wear. It was more natural, it resembled leaves and branches, but was tightly held together to form makeshift armour. They carried bows and spears. They were scouts I assumed, but they didn''t attack the farmer. Instead they helped him and led them to their village. There was more forests when you went closer to the mountains, and that''s where they entered. The people the farmer discovered was more in tuned to nature than he had thought. The people lived in wooden trees, and didn''t cut down trees to create walls or more space, instead they thrive with nature. Their leader called themselves the ''Umpriel''. - - - ¡°Alexander,¡± he pointed to himself. He watch the shirtless male point at himself. ¡°Nandanay,¡± The man resembled his people a lot, and he wasn''t sure if they were really a different species, but that nudge or feeling at the back of his head confirms they aren''t the same. Alexander wasn''t sure but that feeling was always with him since he was born, maybe it was just his instinct, but that was what helped him survive that troll attack. It had guided him and showed him which path was safe to take. Alexander sighed, and wondered what he got himself to. He was a young farmer just into his young adult years, and he was just about to ask the girl of his dreams to became his wife. Now he was in some unknown land, with unknown people, and no way to return until he was healed. ¡°Humes¡± Alexander pointed all of himself. Indicating his race. Nandanay looked at him confused. ¡°Alexander Humes?¡± Nandanay pronunciation was off but at least it was progress. ¡°Home,¡± Alexander said. He pointed to the village. Alexander was inside a tree truck hovel with the leader Nandanay and his two bodyguards. The furniture was made from wood and he wondered how they made them. It seemed it wasn''t build from logs cut into boards but was grown into that shape. Alexander spent the entire day exchanging words with the Umpriel leader, and made some progress. He had somehow gotten it through that he was in trouble and needed a way back home, and the leader agreed to shelter him until he was healed and safe to travel home. - - Chapter 3 The Guardian Chapter 3: Growth I watched the farmer settle into the nature village. The Umpriel people welcomed him warmly. I was fascinated at the Umprians way of development. Their technology was more in tune with nature than my people. They grew everything they needed, from chairs, beds, to even weapons like bows and spears. Their diet mostly consisted of berries and herbs but they would occasionally eat meat as well. Just not as much as my people. There was thousands of Umprians living within that village. The farmer stayed in the village for a few weeks while he waited for his leg to heal. In that time he and the leader learned to speak to each other with very basic words, and mostly used gestures to communicate. The farmer grew to love their nature loving characteristics, but like all things he had to return home. The Umpriel people held a banquet for the newly healed farmer, and after a hearty farewell the farmer began his journey home. The journey home took longer than expected because he had to take detour to safely cross the river without being dragged down its currents, but once he crossed the river it only took five days until he reached home once again. The farmer told the people at the outpost about his experiences with the Umpriel people but nobody believed it. It sounded absurd that a group of people lived in trees houses, and that they grew their own furniture from seeds. After this ordeal and being ostracized for it the farmer never mentioned it again. I watched the farmer life sped by, people eventually forgot about his crazy tree people idea, he married the love of his life, and had children to love. I watched him grow old, the Umpriel never appeared once in his lifetime, but he knew the truth that they existed. The farmer eventually passed away. It was a heart-wretching but loving moment while on his death bed, being surrounded by his children, and his children''s children. The outpost eventually turned into a village, and the original village in the forest became larger, with proper tools from the ironsmiths they started building better home, and storage units for housing foods and tools, and with more diverse jobs this created a need for currency, and a primitive alphabet system for storing data. All this created an economic system of trade between the village in the plains and the village in the forest. The plains for their more abundant food, and the forests for its tools and wood. I was presently pleased with the growth of my people. I have learned they started calling themselves the Humes. The village in the forest was called Cradle, and the village in the plains was called Sunchaser. The people from Cradle started scouting further down south until they hit a huge wall of ocean that blocked their path from travelling any further. All this time not once had any of my people have made contact with the Umprians. The most my people came to see was the uncrossable river with its daunting river currents, but during this time they learned to fight smaller creatures and large trolls and goblins that threatened them at both Cradle and Sunchaser. This also created adventuring parties that explored the plains for its wealth and jobs posted by the people. Another building also came into existence with the creation of the adventurers was the adventurer''s guild. It served as a local hub for adventurers and performed administration and paperwork as well as posting tasks needed by the people. One day a new Reverent in Cradle inherited the post from his father. This Reverent was different from most of previous Reverents, this Reverent was greedy for wealth, his mind consumed by the use of the gold coins for luxuries. He charged enormous taxes upon Cradle, and this created a rift between Cradle and Sunchaser because goods purchases suddenly spiked. The people became dissatisfied but was quieted by Cradle''s military might.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. I was honestly mixed over this. On one hand the high taxes by the Reverent created the ''Reverent''s Guard'' that policed the village in and out which was good in my books because it reduced crime, and on the other was the trouble and fighting that was bound to happen when dissatisfaction boiled over and of course the dissatisfaction eventually boiled into a rebellion, and massive fighting broke out in the streets. Production came to a shrieking halt in Cradle, and the population sharply declined, some refugees moving to Sunchaser, some moving into the wildlands to build a new life, and most fought for the injustice of the Reverent. The rebellion lasted a month until the Reverent was betrayed by the ''Reverent''s Guards''. The leader of the rebellion took over the post of the Reverent, and peace settled in Cradle to rebuild what was destroyed. Multiple villages popped up into existence after this time. One village settled near the ocean south of Cradle, and two villages settled in the forest, and another one in the plains by the unpassable river. Since the rebellion of Cradle, Sunchaser became the most populated village in the Humes territory. I watched all this happen, but once again I didn''t do anything to stop it. This was a counter-production to the ideal to help develop their growth, but I knew this was a form of growth. Without the decline of Cradle more villages wouldn''t have came into being, and the Humes wouldn''t have spread their territory further to the edge of the known world. I still needed to explore more of this land if whether those creature existed in this world, and as well as develop trade with the aloof Umprians, who even after all this time hasn''t made contact with any of my people. - - - The adventurer Letto stabbed the goblin with his sword, and an arrow flew over him and hit the goblin that was about to hit him while he was prone. ¡°Thanks Lydia,¡± Letto replied. Lydia was their party''s archer. There was also one more party member named Rain. Rain was their scout, he mostly used daggers as his primary weapons. ¡°Next time don''t stabbed them when there''s more than one enemy idiot,¡± Lydia replied. ¡°Hey! Don''t call me an idiot, idiot!¡± On the tree branch Rain watched them, and smiled fondly at them. They were his childhood friends from Sunchaser. He closed his eyes and felt the guide tell him there was no more danger around him. He also didn''t spot any more goblins around them. He jumped down and landed near them. Rain wasn''t sure but most scouts were taught to trust that instinct at the back of their minds. It was helpful when they weren''t sure what to do. He was taught that it was there since long ago, since the days of the hunters that populated Cradle''s past. ¡°I don''t see anymore goblins, I think that''s all of them,¡± Rain stated. ¡°I think the mission said there was nine?¡± Letto questioned. ¡°There was ten,¡± Lydia sighed. ¡°One, two, four, seven, ten. Yeah that''s all of them,¡± Letto grinned. ¡°Well let''s go back to Coldwind, and report mission success!¡± Coldwind was the village near the ocean, it was a small village but the view was beautiful when you go to the beach. ¡°Let''s go back,¡± Rain replied. Lydia agreed as well. The sun was setting and it was dangerous at night within the forest. - - Chapter 4 ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Chapter 5 You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. - - Chapter 6 The Guardian Chapter 6: Shift The newly-priest and archer was eventually saved by passing adventurers. The Archer decided to retire the adventuring life as she could never hold a bow again. The priest retired as well but for different reasons. The former scout was my first champion. I could now whisper to him, and he could hear my voice when he was praying. This was the first time someone could hear my voice, but it wasn''t perfect. It was hard to speak low enough without damaging him as my whole being was to large for him to handle. The archer retired to her home town at Sunchaser, and she eventually married another former adventurer and had children of her own. The priest settled down at Coldwind and started a new service for injured adventurers and villagers. This changed the world as I knew it. Massive amount of people hailed him as a new saviour for his magically powers and many villages wanted him for his services, but he stayed in Coldwind and taught many new priests his skills and trade. The priest started calling themselves the ''Union in the Rain'' in honour of their master who taught them the skills and prayers of their new occupation. Eventually my champion succumbed to old age as everyone did in the Humes territory. He never married and didn''t have any children, but he had many disciples who loved him, and as well as his many worshippers and those who revered him. The adventuring parties started inviting priests to join their adventures as well, this sharply reduced the death rate mortality. Coldwind eventually become a harbour town due to its close proximity to the ocean, and they started building small galleys and fishing boats. With more ships in the waters, the oceans that became impassable became new territories to explore and many became captains to find new lands and possibilities down south. Eventually a large change occurred in Sunchaser. Due their massive population and control over the lands the government changed to that of a monarchy. The self-proclaimed king was a noble who craved more power. The noble convinced other nobles and started an uprising to uproot the former Reverent system. Many people lost their lives during this upheaval. Through all this changes within the Humes a thought occurred to me. A thought that wouldn''t leave me no matter how much I ignored it. The question first formed at the back of my mind when I observed the farmer, and became more prominent during my champion''s life time. What exactly am I? Why am I guiding these people? What was exactly my purpose to this whole scenario. In the beginning I remembered my first people. The ones I let down. I had watched them for thousands of years as they lived in stagnancy, while the Humes people only had hundreds of years in their history. I remembered the creatures they encountered and wondered why I haven''t discovered them yet. Maybe this was a different world, and this wasn''t the same as my previous world. I only knew one thing, and that was to keep guiding my Humes into their future. - - ¡°Did you hear what happened in Sunchaser?¡± ¡°You mean the rebellion? And the self-proclaimed king?¡± ¡°Yes that one, I hear our Reverent has form an army to fight the king and return control over to Sunchaser''s Reverent.¡± Goodwyn sighed, and he leaned against the wall. For months now the people only been talking about the rebellion in Sunchaser. He didn''t needed to be reminded about the conscription he was forced to be under. Why did he had to join the patrol group in the first place anyways. It was suppose to be an easy job, just guard the gate at WhiteCurrent, and drink meads at the pub at night. He was the first ones to join the Reverent''s army because he had military experiences within the patrol group. Goodwyn sighed again and let the gossiping men through the gate. All day Goodwyn stood at the gate, and almost all the people he let in was talking about the events within Sunchaser. Well it was the biggest town with the highest population in the known world. He couldn''t even imagine all those people, so many people more than the tiny WhiteCurrent he had grown up in. At the end of the day he switched with another guard and he signed out for the day. ¡°Hey Trisdan, Michael!¡± Goodwyn entered the tavern. At the corner of the room Goodwyn could see two of his patrol member buddies. He sat next to them and ordered his alcohol. Trisdan was ordinary looking, but he was good friend to Goodwyn, he had known him since childhood and they had joined the patrol group at the same time. Michael was more gruff, and he kept wearing the armour worn by the patrol group. Goodwyn couldn''t remember a single time when he had seen Michael without it. Goodwyn sighed and took a chug out of his mead. ¡°Hey Goodwyn, still upset over the conscription? Why you even sad about it? Its an honour to fight for the Reverent and restore peace to Sunchaser,¡± Michael laughed and slapped Goodwyn''s back. ¡°I just can''t imagine it. In a few days time we''re expected to march to Sunchaser and do battle. What if we die right away you know?¡± ¡°I''m sure we''ll do fine,¡± Trisdan replied. ¡°After all, we''ll be fighting with the Reverent''s Guard at Sunchaser.¡± ¡°That doesn''t make me feel any better, but its no use complaining. We''ll be treated as criminals if we don''t go,¡± Goodwyn stated. Michael laughed. ¡°That''s the spirit, let''s drink!¡± A man burst into the tavern covered in blood. ¡°The town''s under attack!¡± He collapsed. Everybody in the tavern froze. A million thoughts ran through Goodwyn''s head. Who could be attacking WhiteCurrent? This town was the furthest from any civilization. Sunchaser and Cradle being the most heavily trafficked. Michael, Trisdan, and Goodwyn sobered up. Goodwyn pulled out his short sword, and left the tavern, he left the man to Trisdan to tend. In the streets the world was pandemonium, men and women screaming and running for their lives, and buildings were starting to catch on fire. Thankfully the tavern was close to the gate, and he could see fighting happening within the destroyed gate.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. A large troll roared into a group of his fellow patrol members. Goodwyn immediately noticed something different about this troll from previous trolls he had encountered in the past. This troll was covered in armour he hadn''t seen in his entire lifetime. The armour looked crude, and didn''t fully covered its body. It didn''t wear a helmet, and carried a large mace. A single swing was enough to pasteurize a man into paste. How did the troll reach the gates without alarming the patrol group that patrolled the plains? More armoured trolls entered the gates from the outside. Goodwyn paled. ¡°Michael, we need to inform the Reverent, and mobilize the army!¡± Michael nodded. ¡°We''ll send Trisdan! Let''s go help!¡± Goodwyn paled even further. He was hoping he was the one to inform the Reverent but Michael had sent Trisdan on his way. He was dragged by Michael to the gates. No no no no, Goodwyn''s thought were in turmoil. It was suppose to be an easy job! Nothing ever happened in WhiteCurrent! The armoured troll looked even scarier up close than afar. He could see Micheal''s charge into the group. Micheal''s strength sure was crazy that he could cut into the flesh of the troll. Most members of the patrol group couldn''t even do that. Goodwyn then noticed something about the trolls. It seems they were wearing choke collars. A thought entered Goodwyn''s mind that moment. Were they captured monsters? - - Trisdan ran. Every second wasted meant another members of the patrol member was going to die. It didn''t take long for him to reach the town hall in the center of town. He forced open the doors and entered, since it was night, there wasn''t much people inside the building. Just people that did paper work with candle light. ¡°The town''s under attack! We need to ring the bell and mobilize the army!¡± This set off a chain of events and the building became busier. The Reverent himself came down after he had ordered the ring of the bell. ¡°Whose attacking us? Is it Sunchaser?¡± The Reverent questioned. ¡°Your graciousness, trolls broke through the east gate and are currently attacking the patrol members there, we must send backup at once!¡± At this moment, more members of the patrol unit entered the town hall, ¡°South gate is under attack by armour trolls!¡± ¡°North gate is also under attack!¡± ¡°West gate as well!¡± The Reverent paled, this seemed like an invasion but when did Troll ever seem intelligent enough to do something like this? - - Goodwyn watched Michael''s body get pasteurized. Immediately he vomited the contents of his stomach. Three trolls and the patrol members laid around him dead. A single troll remained upright. This troll walked up to Goodwyn. He could see its yellow eyes watching him. He couldn''t move, he knew he needed to run but he couldn''t move his body. His body wouldn''t listen to him. A warm liquid stained his pant ignorant to him. The troll lifted its massive club over its head. This is it, he thought. A series of grunts stopped the troll from swinging its mace. From beyond the destroyed gate, man-sized creatures walked in. This creature made the troll step back, and the troll lowered its eyes. Massive amount of the creatures rushed in, breaking anything in their way. Goodwyn sat in front watching it all. The creature walked up to him and lifted him up to his feet by his neck. Goodwyn noticed the man-size creatures were taller than him, most of them about six feet tall. ¡°Humes weak! Orc strong!¡± It yelled into its face. Goodwyn paled, this thing could speak the Humes Language! - - Amelia closed her eyes and offered up a prayer. Men and women sat in various places within the building. A large window was on the roof that let sun light inside. In the center of the floor was a pictogram that depicted the first priest''s journey. It showed a man, dressed in robes, and two others beside him, and a large bear in front of them. Amelia was a priest from Union in the Rain, the first religion formed after the first one passed away. The Union''s goal was spreading the teachings of the Priest Rain, who taught healing magic, and various other light magic to benefit Humes. Amelia crunched her eyebrows. She was never proficient in prayers like some of her peers, and she was constantly scolded for it. They were taught most of their magic came from the source, and prayer and the teaching was the only way to increase their powers. It was even said once you were powerful enough you could even hear the whispers of the source. Of course Amelia wasn''t powerful enough to hear the whispers, and the most she could do was minor heal and minor shield, two of the lowest level light magic there was. Most of the time, or almost all the time there wasn''t a feedback whenever shes prayed. She would pray and then she wouldn''t feel anything, but today was different. When shes prayed today, there was a sense of urgency, almost like it was a warning. Several of the younger members could also feel it too and wondered what was happening. This had never happened before. The older priest with higher powers were different, they experienced fear, even the head priest had to leave the room immediately. ¡°What happened?¡± Someone said out loud. Throughout the day this urgency never left their minds, the head priest went to go see the Reverent and explained the situation. The Reverent only prepared his army but didn''t mobilize them, as he was unsure what this meant, but he too had felt the urgency. Amelia spent her day praying. The elder priests was to distracted by today''s events to have classes. During that entire time not once had that sense of urgency left her. It stayed constant and grew stronger when the day''s end was nearing. It was night when they found out what was causing this urgency. Amelia was ushered out and was informed she was assigned to the accompany the soldiers that was heading to the east gate with another priest a level above her. The priest''s name was Furer and was her priest commander. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± Furer said. Amelia watched the soldiers running by, and civilians being order to retreat to the town hall. Amelia nodded. ¡°I never been in a fight before, I haven''t even tried joining an adventure party too.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, just stand back and use your heals when you need them, and don''t get in the way of the soldiers. Our job to heal any that''s injured and cast whatever magic that needed. What magic can you do?¡± ¡°Minor Heal and Minor Shield,¡± Amelia whispered, her face slightly red. She had been a priest for over a year now, and she still have beginner level magics under her name. Most priest had at least Heal or Boost by now. Furer sighed, ¡°OK, just use only Minor Heal for now, as Minor shield won''t do anything to stop the Troll''s attack.¡± Amelia nodded, and Furer gestured for her to follow him. He led her to the military''s commander in charge of the eastern gate. As they neared the eastern gate, they could hear the intense fighting on the streets. The soldiers had made makeshift barriers in haste, but what surprised Amelia was they were told they were under attack by trolls, but clearly they were being attacked by a different race, one with the technology to make swords and arrows. Chapter 7 ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Chapter 8 The Guardian Chapter 8: Decisions I warned my champion to regroup with the others. He was outnumbered where he was currently positioned. I watched him cut a path through the Orc horde, I was pleasantly surprised the larger Orc let him go. The larger Orc simply watched him leave. I started focusing my attention to all the other gates in the town. I frowned when I noticed most of the soldiers were being pushed back by the Orcs. The Orcs were simply superior when it came to combat, but the Humes had something the Orcs didn''t have, and it was the Priests. Any injured soldier was healed and they returned to fighting, but as more time passed by, the Priest started healing less and less, and more casualties began building up. The outer region of the town was controlled by the Orcs. The inner region was still relatively safe. The eastern gate was the only area that wasn''t taken over by the Orcs. My champion playing a massive part in the defences with the help of the soldiers. - - ¡°O mighty being, lend me your power! Minor Heal!¡± Amelia chanted the words, and a light enveloped the man in front of her. The wounds stopped bleeding but many bruises remained. The soldier picked up his sword and returned to the front line after he thanked her. Amelia started chanting again to heal the next soldier waiting to be healed. She let her eyes wander to the streets. She could see the houses that was torn down, and many planks being used to obstruct the Orcs from swarming them. She could see many bodies on the ground that was killed, both Humes and Orc kind, and there was the scent of blood that overwhelmed her. But her eyes constantly returned to the man that was holding many Orcs at bay. He held so much strength, most of the regular Orc-kind was no much for him. Who was he? How did he obtain so much power? Why was there so much of the source in him? Her mind was burning with curiosity, but she knew her priorities. Healing the injured was her first duty. Amelia sighed when her mana ran out. She walked up the group of Priests that came after she and Furer arrived here. The Priest with the most mana recovered stopped mediating and replaced Amelia as healer. She could see everybody was curious who this man was. Most of the priest constantly looking at him. ¡°Furer, do you know whose that?¡± Amelia interrupted the mediating Furer. Furer sighed. He was also curious about him. ¡°There was man called Trisdan who came to me injured, and it seems like he knew him. He mention his name was Goodwyn,¡± Furer noted that the man Trisdan sounded completely surprised. ¡°Goodwyn?¡± Amelia turned her gaze to the man fighting the Orcs. He let out a battlecry, and the surrounding soldiers glowed a pale light. To her it looked like a minor shield spell but the minor shield spell could only affect a single target, and she even heard the stronger shield could only target a single individual as well, but it seems his shield could affect the soldiers surrounding him. All this time the man was at the front lines, and never once retreated to the back to receive a healing spell. The man wasn''t a priest, Amelia knew that right away. All priest couldn''t fight with a sword and shield, most priest needed their hands free to direct their spells at the target, and some preferred carrying maces or staved but was used as a last resort. She never heard of a priest by lifting up his sword the effect of his magic could spread around him. - - Goodwyn parried the sword aiming at him with his shield. He countered immediately by slashing the Orc with his own short sword. He took a step back when another Orc replaced the drying Orc. This repeated constantly. His eyes wandered to the destroyed eastern gate, and he could see the Orc known as WarBane. It hasn''t joined the battle yet but Goodwyn could see it was barking out orders. Sweat formed on his palms. His cowardly nature was telling him to run. He wasn''t meant to be chosen. The essence flowed through him and this steeled his resolve. He couldn''t leave, not when his fellow comrades needed him. He turned his head and watched the soldiers battling the orcs around him. He shouted a battlecry and he felt his mana building up within him. A pale light surrounded the men around him. The spell he used was a minor boost to defence, and increased movements slightly. ¡°Sir Goodwyn! We have orders to retreat into the Inner Region,¡± a nameless soldier yelled at him. Goodwyn frowned. This meant all of the outer region was controlled by the orcs and this position was under threat of a pincer attack. Goodwyn nodded, and they retreated deeper into the city. The Orcs stopped attacking that moment. - - I watched the Orcs stopped attacking when they gained complete control of the outer region of the town. I wondered what they were planning now. The soldiers in the inner region used this time to regroup and build up proper barricades. Most of my attention was on the invasion in WhiteCurrent. Since it was night the Humes in other region was either sleeping, or spending time at the taverns. Sunchaser was the most active. There was many tiny skirmishes happening within various parts of the city. The city was completed divided in two, but I needed them to stop and see the situation within WhiteCurrent. I had warn the priests within the churches, and let the Reverent feel my warnings. The self-proclaimed king wasn''t close enough to me that I couldn''t let him feel what I wanted. The Orcs'' break gave time for the people of WhiteCurrent to form a plan, I could feel everybody''s unease and tension. Most of the civilians gathered within the town hall but it wasn''t big enough to hold everybody, so they had to use the surrounding buildings as makeshift housing units until a proper plan could be planned. Within the town hall upper floor, a meeting was being held by the Reverent, Nobles, government officials and the higher members of the Union in the Rain. My champion was also invited to this meeting as well. ¡°Why is this person here!¡± I could feel the noble''s outburst filled with anger. Most of the nobles murmured confused at an unknown person would be invited to such an important meeting. ¡°That person is someone who has touched the source,¡± the head priest replied. ¡°Bah! This meeting is to discuss the Orc''s invasion! Not to discuss your religious ideas!¡± The noble replied. ¡°Enough! This person here has distinguished himself in battle. It is his right to be invited to this meeting!¡± The Reverent said. The nobles quiet down.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°We have send diplomats to speak with the Orcs but the Orcs only sent the heads back. It seems like we can''t discuss this peacefully,¡± the Reverent frowned. ¡°This is first contact with an intelligent species! Is war the only way out?!¡± ¡°You know how powerful their armies are! They pushed our soldiers all the way into the inner region!¡± ¡°We''re trapped! We need to escape!¡± ¡°We should send word to Sunchaser! Or Cradle!¡± ¡°We keep fighting! That''s the only thing we can do now!¡± ¡°Have you seen how powerful their armies are? They even control large armoured trolls!¡± ¡°We have to do something!¡± Everybody in the room started yelling and shouting. I could feel their panic settling deep within them. My champion was frowning. I could feel he was tired and exhausted from his earlier skirmish as well. I soothed him, and whispered something to him. ¡°Hold on...¡± My champion muttered. His words stopped all the arguments within the meeting. ¡°What do you mean hold on!¡± Some noble yelled at him. ¡°The only thing we can do is brave the storms, hold on to what we have! And send word for reinforcements at Sunchaser!¡± My champion yelled back. ¡°We are trapped within the town and have no chance of escaping in a large group, but we can send an elite force to break through the siege and send them to Sunchaser!¡± I felt proud at my champion, I could only told him to hold on, but he knew what I wanted. I have already warned Sunchaser, but they needed actually words for reinforcements to be sent. The question was, would Sunchaser actually sent reinforcements when its in civil war. ¡°Will you be a part of this elite group sir Goodwyn Hielbright?¡± The Reverent questioned. ¡°You are our strongest hope in bypassing the Orc''s Forces.¡± The Head Priest agreed. ¡°I agree, and we must do it right away. The fastest we send out word the faster reinforcements would arrive.¡± The nobles started agreeing as well. My champion clenched his fists. ¡°I will join the elite squad, your Excellency,¡± my champion bowed at the Reverent. ¡°We will form the elite squad right away, go prepare while we discuss defences,¡± the Reverent dismissed him. - - Goodwyn sighed. He left the meeting room, and was sent into the armoury to prepare himself. He grabbed a longer sword this time as his short sword was too small in the fights against the Orcs. He looked at his worn out shield. He couldn''t believed that he actually fought and helped his fellow soldiers. Would Michael be happy for him? ¡°So its true. War does change a man. What happened to the coward Goodwyn?¡± A teasing voice said. Goodwyn turned around and smiled. ¡°Trisdan, I was hoping I would be seeing you. I''m being-¡± ¡°Sent out?¡± Trisdan cut him off. ¡°I was also invited to join the Elite Squad as well. And I heard that you''ll be taking command of this squad. The other members are coming even as we speak.¡± Goodwyn nodded, and stared at his shield. ¡°I wanted to be the one to inform the town hall that we were being under attacked...¡± He closed his eyes. Trisdan watched him. ¡°I wanted to hide, I was so frightened when I saw Michael die. His eyes begging me to help.¡± Goodwyn could clearly see Michael get pasteurized by the troll''s club. ¡°I wanted to run away so many times when I was fighting the Orcs. To save only myself...¡± Trisdan continued to watch. ¡°But I was saved. It gave me power to become stronger. To help those around me.¡± Goodwyn opened his eyes and clenched his fists. He picked up a larger iron shield, and put away the worn out shield he was using before. ¡°I am the Champion Paladin now Trisdan. I will light the way for those people that are scared or helpless. I will bring hope to the people of WhiteCurrent.¡± Goodwyn replaced his leather armour with iron armour. This armour had better protection than his previous one. Most people couldn''t even afford it. It was the strongest armour currently in existence since the creation of the chain mail. Trisdan preferred chain mail for more mobility, and he grabbed two daggers to replace the short sword he was carrying. Three other people entered the room at this moment. Goodwyn noticed them immediately. Two priests and a warrior he realized. ¡°Hey! Your that guy! I saw you at the eastern gate!¡± Amelia placed her hands on her hips. ¡°You were so powerful! How did you do that!¡± Amelia pestered Goodwyn with questions. Furer sighed. ¡°Don''t mind her sir Goodwyn. She''s excited she recently received a level up to her priest skills.¡± ¡°I''m Amelia! And that guy there''s Furer! We''ll be your priests on this journey!¡± The warrior introduced himself as well. ¡°I''m the warrior Heterio, ranked A adventurer,¡± ¡°Hello I''m Trisdan and this is Goodwyn, if you didn''t know already. We''ll be leaving shortly. This is an extreme urgent quest. I''m sure you were informed about what we''ll be doing right?¡± Trisdan asked. The three nodded. ¡°OK Good. Goodwyn and Heterio will take lead at first through the Orc forces, the priest will be in the center and I will be in the back. Then once we''re out in the plains I would replace with Heterio and take lead point. I''ll be performing as your scout when on the plains, got it?¡± "Exactly as Trisdan said. That will be our plan." Goodwyn smiled. Trisdan had always been a natural leader. Everybody nodded and started preparing themselves. The soldiers had helped prepare them, and gave each member of the Elite Squad a horse to ride on. - - Amelia was happy she got to meet the hero of the eastern gate. Without him the Orc forces would have pushed them back, and many soldiers would have lost their lives. He was a hero born from great tragedy. Now she was the same team that decided the outcome of WhiteCurrent and her people. Now wasn''t the time to bother him with question. She had an important job to do. She was happy she had received a power up to her skills, without those skills she bet would wouldn''t have been considered for the Elite Squad position. They prepared themselves. From on top her horse she could see the Orc forces to the gates that led to the plains. This was the hardest part, but they had a plan. When the fighting resumed they would use back alleys and side roads until they reached the main gate to the west; where it held the least number of Orc warriors, and break through to the outside. The sun''s horizon was beautiful she realized. As if this was any other day. The sunlight hit her face, and she closed her eyes. The Orcs and the armoured troll roared into the skies and they started charging at the makeshift barricades. The Invasion had resumed. ¡°Let''s go!¡± Goodwyn yelled. His horse underneath him neighing.