Legend of Guardians

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The Elven King looks at the reports that were placed before him. It is time. Time for the pilgrimage to begin. “Do we have any qualified summoners ready to go?” He asks his counsel.

“There is one in the Arabitylar family. A young woman, she is a mage as well.” The counsel answers.

“Perfect, send a message to the family and also to the human King. I know one of his sons is a mage. He will make a good protector. I cannot believe it already has been a thousand years. We will spread the word to the other nations later. I don’t want our summoner to be alone with the other guardians.” The King sighs. “I only wish there was a different way of doing this.”

~~~~~~

Caladhiel finishes up on the young patient. “Next time us some caution while exploring. It could have been a lot worse than a broken leg.”

“Cala, Cala…” A young girl’s shout is heard. Caladhiel knows immediately who it is. Only one person calls her that. The curtain is pulled open. “Atara nyare amin utu- lle. ta naa horme.*” The young girl pants and switches to common. “There is a royal summons for you.”

Caladhiel gasps, “A royal summon for me? I will be right there.” She looks at the doctor for his dismissal and takes off her labcoat. “Thank you for fetching me Kujara, shall we race home?” The grin on Kujara’s face is wide as she takes off to the house. Caladhiel waits for a few moments to give her sister a head start. She breaks into a sprint.

She lets Kujara touch the door first as she smooths her outfit. Not only is her family a mage family. It is a summoner one as well. It is rare to have a summoner who is both. They had royal visits before but mostly they deal with her parents not with her. She makes sure she is presentable before walking in.

A man in royal robes is sitting by the fireplace enjoying tea with her parents. They all look up as Caladhiel enters the room. “Milday, it is good to see you. I am glad you came quickly. I have a letter here from the king. He wants you to get ready for you pilgrimage. Yours will not be the normal one though. He needs you for a special one. With your parents’ permission of course.” He looks over at the couple seated together.

“But of course, we pledge our services for His Majesty, and that of our daughter.” The Father states.

“Don’t worry about packing too much. His Majesty will provide you with the necessities.” The man states. “However if there is anything personal you need, I will help you pack that. I recommend packing lightly, this is going to be a long trip. Primarily on foot as well.”

Caladhiel bows and goes to her room. She packs her flute, her toiletries, and her crossbow. She cannot help, but be a little nervous. She remember the bedtime stories of pilgrimages that all elves have heard. She wonders who her protectors will be.

*Mother told me to find you. It is urgent.

**********

Meanwhile, have the world away a message is received by the human royalty. They give it to King Frederick immediately upon arrival. He nods at his messenger. “So it begins. Get the Royal carriage set up with plenty of provisions. My son is going to the Elven Castle. Oh and someone fetch Kelani for me as well.”

Kelani is at the mage practice grounds. He is working on picking up his instructor. It is not going so well. “I know you can do this Prince, you have been practicing so hard. Just a little bit higher. I can almost reach the apple.”

“It would have been simpler to bring the apple to you.” Kelani retorts as beads of sweat glisten on his forehead. The door burst open and a guard enters. Kelani loses his concentration as he looks at the guard. The instructor falls on her butt.

“This better be important, can’t you see I am in the middle of a lesson.” The instructor glares at the guard.

“Sir, the King told me to come get you. It is important.” The guard bows.

Kelani shrugs at the instructor. “What can I say, I am a popular one today.” He turns to leave the room but pauses at the door. Only using his mind, he takes the apple from the branch and sets it in the instructor’s hands. “Enjoy.”

Kelani rushes back to the castle, making a stop at his room to dress appropriately. He is told that his father is waiting in the study. “Father, you wanted to see me?”

“Good, good you are here. I got a message from the Elven nation. They have requested you to be a protector for their summoner. I am readying a carriage and your bags as well. You will be protected on your trip to pick up the Summoner, and to bring her back here. I am so proud that you were selected for this pilgrimage. Now go quickly and may your travels be safe.” King Frederick hugs his son.

Kelani is excited, finally something to do. He loves being a Prince, but since he is not heir to the throne, life is a little boring. He goes to his room and makes sure the servants are packing the right things.

Kelani has some food and gathers the supplies for the next leg of their journey. It is more to keep himself busy. The ladies split apart as well. He sees Majet go into the Summoner’s room. While Syren goes towards the ladies dorm.

Caladhiel smiles at Majet as she slowly sits up. “I appreciate your concern and I am glad to see you. Please help me up.”

Kelani opens the door for the Priest as Majet is helping the Summoner. “I am glad to see you are up. There is no rush, but I know you have to summon before we leave. Priest, is she going to be alright? I never heard of a Summoner being a host.”

“It is rare, but it does happen. She may be tired after summoning her guardian. Until she has done it enough. Lady Summoner are you up for summoning?”

Caladhiel nods. “Yes I am. The sooner I do this, the sooner we can continue our journey.”

They are all ushered outside to the courtyard. The audience forms a circle around the Summoner giving her some room.

Caladhiel closes her eyes and begins to whisper the incantation. It is in the ancient tongue. She draws the mark of the guardian on the dirt with her staff. Normally this is when she will call forth the host to step into the circle, but it is her. She steps into center of the mark. Appearing to rise from the earth itself is a horse, The skin of the horse is bark like, but white. It has wings that are made of entangled branches of different woods. It looks around at the crowd before lowering it’s head at Caladhiel.

The priests and priestess are in awe as the guardian is summoned. Kelani keeps an eye on Caladhiel. It is the first time he has ever seen the majestic Guardian, but his responsibility is to keep the Summoner safe.

Caladhiel looks at Majet with her soft smile. “I am fine, and yes we should head to our next destination. Did you like my transformation? They never explained to us how the summoning will feel.”

Kelani joins the ladies. “It was unexplainable. So where shall we head to next? We can either head to the Temple by the Drow or by Spriggan. Unless you want to go to the Elven temple and make our way back.”

“I have no preference, but the first two are closer.” Caladhiel chimes in. “Although we should travel to one of the closer places so we can get stronger.”

Syren speaks without hesitation, "The Spriggan."

Majet looks to her, an eyebrow raised, "You wish to be the last?"

Syren nods, "Yes.  The transformation looks....impressive.  Amazing, even.  However, I am not yet prepared for the union.  Therefore, I would prefer to be last."

Majet looks at her with suspicious, squinted eyes, "Very well, then.  I can go next.  If the summoner looks as amazing as she did with her summons, I'm sure I'll look cool, too.  I'd better, anyway--I don't wanna look like some...some...elephant or something."

They move to take their leave of the temple, but only after they are re-stocked with the goods and the materials to continue their journey.  Happy to make progress with so little trouble, Majet wonders if perhaps, the adventure of theirs will continue to be as simple as it has been.  For whatever reason, she doubts it.

The day has carried on without them, morning drifting away as they set out to the next temple.  Syren takes the lead, scouting ahead with her stealth and her intense levels of hearing.  Majet wonders if perhaps the Summoner can hear just as well as she?  She looks over at the Summoner and the Prince for a bit--they had all been a bit quiet, thus far.  

"Lady Summoner...can you hear as well as a Drow?"  Majet asks.

Caladhiel is happy to be on the road again. The day is beautiful and warm. Syren made her recommendation and she could not be happy. She dreads going to the Drow temple, and wonders if Syren feels the same about the elves.

Syren is taking point with her and Majet in the middle and Kelani in the back. “I have a feeling that your summon form will be beautiful too.” Caladhiel tells Majet. She listens to her question. “Please you can call me Caladhiel.
All elves have better hearing than humans. However it is only in front of us. I doubt is my hearing is as good as Syren’s though. She has probably had more training for stealth than me. What about you? How did you meet her?”

Kelani keep his attention as the ladies talk in front him. He is happy that it is peaceful so far, but they have a long way to go. They are still close to the temple. Once they have more distance from the temple, he will have to be on guard.

“Our social status is a little different. I am not of royal or noble blood. Magic blood lines rival them though, especially since I am a summoner. The summoner blood only goes to the first born, so the search for my mate will be similar to one who has royal blood.” Caladhiel sighs. “No doubt my parents have fielded plenty of offers, but it will not be decided until after this journey.

As far as work, I just started working for a doctor. My healing ability works quite well for him. I also have training with my crossbow. My parents wanted me to be able to defend myself. They could have been treated like high class, but wanted to be more in touch with all people.”

Kelani stays on guard as they get further from the temple. He knows they will have some nights of being out in the open. At least he and Majet won’t have their sleep interrupted. They will also be going into territory that is heavily wooded, making it easier for foes to hide. His father tells him that this journey is important, but did not disclose why. He just told Kelani to guard the Summoner at all costs.

“She isn’t wrong. I suppose to some people it may seem like that. We can also be haughty, prone to cleanliness, and exclusive. Part of that is probably due to our environment and our lifespan. However we are much more than that. We are also creative, knowledgeable, and steadfast. I cannot wait to show all of you Zordlon.” Caladhiel smirks.

“Perhaps the Queen needed his assistance more than we did.” Kelani answers. He looks up as a guard approaches them on horseback.

“Good afternoon, His Highness requested that we step up patrols on the main road. Now I see why. You guys should be safe until the border. Although it looks like rain later on.”


Caladhiel frowns. “I hope we make it to the next town in time. It would be easier than staying outside.”