Gorinthians (49 page)

Tesimor finally realized
that Fortismor was growing irritated. “Are we going to be joining
one of those hosts?” Tesimor asked in distaste. Fortismor felt
Tesimor focus on the large stone giants that Jerard had
constructed.

“
No. We will be commanding
the army in our natural forms.” Fortismor had no desire to become
part of one of the crude constructs below them.

“
When do we leave?” Tesimor
asked, still focusing on the sea of roughly-built stone
giants.

“
In five human days.”
Fortismor hated time. It was another weakness around which mortals
governed their lives. “The weather elementals will be joining us on
the third day. The forest surrounding Chasel Ri’ Aven must be
burned to clear the path for the army.”

---

Captain Jorbran stood in a
large office inside the Elder’s Citadel, tapping his foot
impatiently. He had been cooling his heels for over an hour,
waiting for Elder Stanton to return from his council meeting with
the Presidency. Elder Stanton had been the Guardian’s First Counsel
for nearly two decades. Most of the Elders that had held the First
Counsel position only kept the title for four years before
transferring to the Border Council. A Guardian’s loyalty first went
to the First Council, and then to the Border Council, followed by
the Presidency. After Chasel Ri’ Aven was established, the first
President of the Elders had insisted that a Guardian’s loyalty
needed to be to a person who understood combat and strategy, which
would not always be the case with the incumbent President. A leader
that lacked experience in the field of combat and warfare would
inevitably make bad decisions that resulted in more bloodshed than
necessary.

Captain Jorbran jumped
slightly as the door behind him crashed open and hit the wall hard.
Elder Stanton stormed into the room, his face a thundercloud. He
was a powerfully-built man, standing a head taller than Captain
Jorbran. He had an air of command that radiated around him. A room
always seemed smaller than it was when Elder Stanton was in it. He
had dark brown eyes that seemed capable of seeing every detail in a
room before blinking twice. His clean-shaven face bore several
small scars on the cheeks, and above his left eye. He had been one
of the only Guardians alive to come close to besting Tarya
Selindria in hand-to-hand combat. His short-cropped, brown hair was
streaked with gray at the temples. Elder Stanton still spent
several days a month at the Tar Ri’ San practicing with the
students. He liked to keep his own skills honed, as well as find
perspective Guardians.

Captain Jorbran saluted
smartly, trying to keep his face expressionless. He had never seen
Elder Stanton lose his temper before. He usually had one of the
most tightly controlled tempers among the Mountain People. It did
not bode well that something had set him off.

Elder Stanton walked swiftly
around his desk, pulling a chair out with more force than might
have been necessary, before seating himself. The large man took a
few deep breaths to calm down. Captain Jorbran could feel the
frustration spiking around his aura fade away as the Elder took
control of his emotions. Finally, he looked up at Captain Jorbran,
his face as calm as a glassy lake. “I apologize for the rude
entry,” Elder Stanton said calmly. “What have you to
report?”

“
Guardian Scout Lawrence
found the first wave of the enemy,” Captain Jorbran replied curtly.
“They are using what Terrance told us were Elementals to clear a
path through the forests. Some of the Elementals are large twisters
made of fire. Some of the others are just regular twisters that
suck all of the debris out of the damage path. They will reach the
boundary above Lake Town sometime tomorrow evening.”

Captain Jorbran felt a chill
run down his spine as he recalled the look in Guardian Scout
Lawrence’s eyes when he recounted the destruction caused by the
Elementals. Seeing the enemy had obviously shaken his
confidence.

“
I want your Strike Squads
to line the most probable paths for the Elementals with rootsnare,”
Elder Stanton ordered, watching his eyes carefully. “If rootsnare
does not dislodge the Elementals from their hosts, then try using
spirit-thorn.”

“
Yes, sir,” Captain Jorbran
agreed. He shifted slightly under Elder Stanton’s intent gaze,
hesitating to ask the main question his men had begged him to
ask.

“
Go ahead and ask Captain,”
Elder Stanton said with a brief smile, as if he already knew what
the question was.

“
Some of the men were
wondering if Tarya Selindria was going to return for the battle,”
Captain Jorbran said slowly. “I think it would be good for moral,
if nothing else.”

“
I am afraid I do not know
the answer to that question, Captain,” Elder Stanton replied with a
sigh. “I would not count on it though. I believe she has left
Chasel Ri’ Aven forever.”

Captain Jorbran stared at
the other man in shock. Tarya Selindria had been teaching in Chasel
Ri’ Aven for so long that the Tar Ri’ San would not be the same
without her. She had taught almost every living person in Chasel
Ri’ Aven. For her to be gone was almost as bad as losing the
Chasel.

“
I know how you feel,
Captain,” Elder Stanton looked at the wall behind Captain Jorbran,
where a silver sword hung that Tarya Selindria had made herself.
She had given it to Elder Stanton as a gift on the day that he
nearly bested her in hand-to-hand combat. “It will take some time
to get accustomed to Chasel Ri’ Aven without her.”

Captain Jorbran had heard
that Elder Stanton was one of the students that had become enamored
with Tarya Selindria. It did not happen very often, but the
students that worked with her more usually fell prone to the idea
that she really did not want to be alone. She was very good at
persuading people to keep their distance if they became too
infatuated.

“
Is that all, Captain?”
Elder Stanton asked with a raised eyebrow.

“
Yes, sir.” Captain Jorbran
saluted and made his way out the door.

Various messengers and
Elders filled the halls of the Elder's Citadel. The messengers
raced through the halls with a single-mindedness that would have
made any military commander proud. The Elders in the halls were
either deep in conversation with other Elders or lost in their own
thoughts. Elder Fadoris walked past without seeing him, her plump
face creased with thought; she was usually very clear-headed. Her
husband was on the Border Council and he had made a special trip to
the border to help prepare the Guardians for the upcoming
battle.

The halls of the Citadel
were sparsely furnished, adorned only with furniture that the
Elders felt was necessary. Waste not, want not was their favorite
motto. Another commonly used motto was, Pride in possessions, will
become an obsession. The citadel was several stories high. It was
the only entrance to the cave, which led to the Chasel. The
founders of Chasel Ri’ Aven set the valley up with a city to act as
a first guard to the Chasel, while the Citadel had been set up as
one of the last lines of defense. Captain Jorbran had heard rumors
of some of the defenses that existed within the walls and floors of
the citadel. Under the right circumstances, the halls he was
traversing would become a death trap to anyone in them. Some of the
most talented Gardeners had designed the stone walls and flagstone
floors. It was entirely possible that the flagstones under his feet
could swallow him if they chose, or that the walls would emit
poisonous gas. The rumors regarding the secret defenses of the
citadel ranged from semi-believable, to outrageously impossible.
When he had asked Tarya Plato, who taught Defensive Rajan
Compounds, about the rumor, the old man told him that he would pity
anyone left inside the citadel should it enter defense mode. Tarya
Plato was not known for his tender-heartedness.

“
Captain Jorbran!” a low
feminine voice called from behind. Turning, Captain Jorbran almost
grinned before catching himself as Guardian Scout Lestriana jogged
up to him. Lestriana had the lithe body of a cat, as well as the
grace. Her face was not quite pretty, but it came close. Her blue
eyes were flecked with sparks of orange around the pupil, enhancing
her cat-like appearance. Her nickname among the Guardians was Leo
Lestriana, a name that she accepted with pleasure. Twigs and dirt
covered her shoulder-length, blonde hair. Mud also caked her
knee-high, black boots, leaving a trail of dirt clods winding back
down the hallway from where she had just come. She wore the
customary drab-gray outfit of the Guardians. She carried only a few
daggers and a small blow dart with poison darts. The scouts always
traveled lightly, carrying only minimal weapons.

“
Leo,” Captain Jorbran
acknowledged her when she finally caught up to him. He still
struggled to keep the grin from his face. Leo had been on the watch
that missed seeing Lendel, Cha’le and Li depart Chasel Ri’ Aven.
She and Renrik, the Guardian who shared her watch, had been the
brunt of most of the jokes among the other Guardians ever
since.

“
Sir, one of the Gardeners
sent me to find you,” Leo said quickly. “There is a stranger in the
Rajan Gardens.”

Captain Jorbran was suddenly
much more alert. “In the Gardens, you say? Did you see the
stranger?”

“
No,” Leo answered,
speeding up to keep up with Captain Jorbran as he began trotting
toward the Gardens. “The Gardeners said there is a man in the very
center of the South Garden, sitting on the Stump.”

Captain Jorbran cursed
silently to himself as he ran. Terrance had warned the Elders about
the Gorinthians using the Gardens as a source of power to invade
hosts, but if it was an outsider, then he must have slipped past
the Guardians. As Captain Jorbran passed the guard detachment at
the front gates of the citadel, he called out to one of the guards.
“Gather all of the Guardians that you can find, and send them to
the South Garden!”

He did not stop to explain
and thankfully, the guards obeyed without trying to question him
further. As he ran, he felt them reach out with their
yar
and stroke the
resonance of the alarm chimes that hung on the citadel wall. A
moment later, a low tone just within the range of hearing began to
emanate from the chimes. Within a few seconds, the tone had grown
so loud that the houses throughout the street were shaking from the
vibrations. People began popping out of the different buildings,
peering up and down the street for the source of the alarm. It was
only used once a year as a drill, and it had already been used this
year. As he and Leo sped down the street at a dead run, people
began calling out to him. He ignored them. As he neared the gate,
he spotted several Guardians that were running to the city
walls.

“
Follow
me!” Captain Jorbran barked, using his
yar
to enhance the vibrations from
his voice. The Guardians immediately changed course from the tower
next to the gates and began following him toward the Rajan Gardens.
It had been a long time since he had run this far, and his lungs
were burning by the time that he reached the outer edge of the
Garden. Most of the Gardeners had already evacuated the gardens.
They stood around the edge of the boundary peering toward the
gardens as if they expected to see something. Captain Jorbran
spotted Dedran, the Director of Operations for the Rajan Gardens.
Making his way over to the tall, dark-haired Director, Captain
Jorbran slowed down to catch his breath.

“
Dedran, what is going on?”
Captain Jorbran asked urgently. The Guardians that were following
him pushed close so that they could hear his reply.

“
There is some kind of
apparition at the Stump,” Dedran responded in irritation. “It looks
like a man, but it is insubstantial. I thought it best to have
everyone leave for now.”

Dedran had been a Guardian
for several years before moving into the field of Rajan research.
His broad shoulders had come from long hours of sword practice and
hand-to-hand combat.

“
I have summoned the other
Guardians,” Captain Jorbran informed him, studying the Gardens with
interest. Only Gardeners could enter the actual gardening compounds
because only they were trained to understand the dangers within the
gardens. “There are a few among them that are adept at
soul-binding. Once they arrive, we can try to capture the intruder.
You should have your Gardeners go home for the day.”

Dedran appraised him with a
slightly raised eyebrow. “How do you propose to get to the center
of the Garden?” he asked coolly. “You will never come out if you go
in without a Gardener.”

Captain Jorbran frowned,
trying to keep the doubt from his face. The Gardeners often claimed
that anyone entering the Gardens without a guide would never
return, but Captain Jorbran had always thought the claim nothing
more than an extra precaution to keep the curious out.

“
Very well,” Captain
Jorbran said after a long hesitation. “Whom will you
send?”

“
Myself,” Dedran responded
immediately. “I won’t send one of my gardeners into danger they are
untrained to handle.”

“
Ornico is here,” Leo
called out from the back of the circle of Guardians.

Captain Jorbran looked up
to see the short stature of Ornico pushing through the throng of
Gardeners that were making their way down the path that led to the
city. He was one of the most adept Guardians at soul-binding, the
ability to snare another spirit with your
yar
.