《The Gurdians of Smoke》


 Prologue

    One thousand years that''s how long he''s been gone, no matter how many times that thought plays in his mind it never makes time move quicker. Once a guardian graduates he or she stops aging, so that the deity they belong to gets better use of their guardian, the guardians nor the Gods get to choose their other half which can lead to some unpleasantries. For instance being sent away or not receiving a mark or both muck like he was, his Goddess despised him with her entirety so as to keep him away for as long as she could she posed him with an impossible task, his task was to defend humanity.


    At first the job was clear and he fought demons for hundreds of years on behalf of humanity but her request was to broad, the job kept changing at first it was demons, then dragons, then monsters, and for a while their was peace but like a gust of wind  it ended as soon as it came. Soon humanity turned on itself, he had to kill the very humans heprotected and here lied the true challenge, for as many rebellions and barbarians army''s he put down more sprung up. Then a treaty was declared once and for all, the humans decided that one of the conditions to said treaty was that he would be imprisoned for war crimes.


    This was why he sat in a prison cell chained to a wall deep beneath the earth, of course he could break out at any time but that would mean more death and would threaten the peace he fought for. He would sit here until he was needed again or his Goddess called to him, as unlikely as that''s was he often wondered what his Goddess was doing or how his fellow guardians were, his power was great even though he was unmarked he wasn''t often offered positions from others Gods and Goddesses which he gave the same reply" until my dying breath I shall serve my Goddess final command".


    Three more years passed, three more years of absolute silence then he heard the sound of armor clinking down the granite staircase. Humans, he thought they forgot about him after all the time that''s passed, it appears he was wrong. The door opened revealing three armored guards carrying torches, they were wearing a different crest then he remembered but the guard in the front was holding a letter. This kind of letter belonged to the white city which can only mean one thing his Goddess had called for him, in reality he thought the sun would die before this happened but it appears he was wrong. The guard opened the gate to his cell and unlocked husband chains then he was handed the letter" this came for you sometime in the morning was orders to release you at once sir".Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    After reading the letter everything became clear a summit was being held which requires every God and Goddess to be their along with their guardian, if a deity didn''t bring their guardian it would be seen as a great disrespect to the holy council. This realization pained the guardian alittle since it had been along time since he felt pain then again it''s been awhile since he felt anything. The guard handed him a sword to be more precisehis sword, the sword he took to every battle, every trench , and every war for the last one thousand years.


    The sword he held in his hand was covered in the dried blood of his enemies, along with his armor which was once a dark midnight black now appears maroon in color. He left the prison and transversed the halls of the great castle people stepping aside as he passed whispering to each other, knights hands on their swords ready for the slightest movement though there was nothing they could do, nothing armies and demon lords haven''t tried. As soon as he exited the castle and passed the market place then he was met with open doors that led out of the kingdom.


    Every Deity has their own kingdom that''s they rule over separate from mans world each kingdom was like a different planet, each guardian held a talisman that brought you to their kingdom. He pulled out his talisman and focused energy in the talisman and in a flash of light he was back in his Goddesses domain.

 Chapter one

    It had been so long since he was last here, being back in his Goddess domain was almost incomprehensible. The last time he stood in this courtyard was one thousand years ago when he left for his impossible task, his Goddess was Aval the elvish war Goddess. In all reality she will be furious with him because he allowed himself to be captured by humans, he made his way down the hall as he did Aval''s servants scurried out of his way.


    They seem confused by his presence had it been so long that they forgot about him, it is likely seeing as his name probably wasn''t mentioned much in the last one thousand years. He arrived at the throne room, he was nervous a feeling long since forgotten as he pushed the large doors open he could feel the presence of a God. He walked into the throne room and went to Aval''s throne, he kneeled before his Goddess " your grace, I have answered your summons and once again I am at your command".


    The response he received definitely wasn''t what he expected " your drenched in blood, what happened?". He expected yelling or insults at least, this was not expected but of course only Aval could surprise him.


    " Protecting humanity proved to be a difficult task, one that never ended". He looked up to see Aval boredom a clear expression on her face, at most she was asking out of curiosity not concern which was to be expected.


    " A never ending task? I''m sure a more capable guardian could have handled that task more efficiently". There was a jarring truth about that statement, one she might of already know. Out of every guardian he was the most capable and she knew this, she didn''t like him that much is clear and she never will as if it needed to be said.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He knew how the summit would go, they would present a problem and the Gods would nominate their guardians to go fix said problem as to prevent the Gods from being needed. More often then not the summit problems were suicide mission''s, he was always nominated first. Him and a handful of other were sent out and he was always the only one to make it back, many guardians despised the Gods for the way they are treated which makes me wonder what they thought this position was.


    " As always you are correct your grace, when shall we travel to the summit ". Once again he looked up to see the peerless pearl that is Aval, he made eye contact and Aval hates eye contact. Aval got up from her throne and sauntered over to him she put one hand on his breastplate.


    "My dear Aeden have you forgotten your place" with a gentle push Aval sent Aeden flying back, Aeden hit the door behind him so hard they came down. It had been so long since he last heard that name he had forgotten what it was, guardians don''t have names as soon as they join the academy all they have is a number. Gods can give their guardian a name, from what he can gather the name belong to the guardian before him. Aeden got up and kneeled before her once more as this was what she expected, Aeden had unyielding loyalty and was a man of dedication this fact drove Aeden''s very existence so he would protect Aval until he died.


    " Your grace, I apologize please forgive me" Aeden would gladly sacrifice his life so Aval could survive and she knows this, it might even be why she dislikes him so.


    " The summit is tomorrow, we leave at sunrise and you better not embarrass me at the summit". She exited and he followed as she walked through the halls Aeden followed closely behind until she arrived at her room she opened the door and closed it behind her, there Aeden stood back facing the door on alert.