Guardians of Rhea (6 page)

Philip answered. “The Governor represents our
people to our Senate back home. In some situations, especially
military ones, the Guardians are given full autonomy.”

“How do you know about our political
structure?” Henry asked.

“I've done my research,” Leon said.

Some Guardians in the room exchanged
concerned glances.

“No matter,” Philip said. “Sara, make any
preparations you need for the journey. You are to leave as soon as
possible.”

Within the hour, Sara was in the armory
placing some flint in her backpack.

Arthur stood by. “Did you remember to pack
your weather gear?”

“Of course,” Sara replied, putting the
backpack on. She equipped a talon on each wrist and tested them to
make sure the blades extended.

“Here,” Arthur said, handing Sara a halo. He
grabbed a bow, collapsed it, and attached to Sara’s pack.

“Thanks,” Sara said, then putting on a small
hip quiver with arrows. She put one foot against a table and
buckled a holster with small throwing daggers around her thigh.

“Ready?” Arthur asked.

Sara quickly checked to make sure she had her
equinox. “Ready as I'll ever be.”

Leon waited with several Guardians by the
main gate as Sara and Arthur approached.

“You know,” Arthur began. “Even though you're
new, I can't think of anyone better to send than you.”

Sara thought Arthur was trying to comfort
her. “I'm not
that
nervous.”

“I mean it! You've got the attitude, the
training, and...well, not much experience, but a little is better
than...”

“Hey, look at Leon,” Sara said.

“What about him?”

“Sun is out, and his hood is down.”

As he came up to Leon, Arthur said.
“Vesuvians don't like sunlight. Let me guess, a birth defect?”

“You could call it that,” Leon answered.

“Are you sure?” Sara said, sarcastically.
“Most Vesuvians would die in an instant.”

“I assure you,” Leon said. “I'm a
Vesuvian.”

Arthur signaled the guards to open the gate.
“Leon, this had better not be some kind of trick.” He turned to
Sara. “See you soon.”

“Thanks,” Sara said. “Okay, Leon, lead the
way.”

Arthur watched as Sara and Leon went on their
way past the gate. “Wait!”

Sara and Leon turned.

“Here,” Arthur said, holding out his custom
equinox.

Sara was surprised. “Arthur, I can't.”

“I'm not giving it to you. I want it back
when you return.”

Sara hesitated, but took the equinox and
holstered it. “Thanks, Arthur.”

With a final nod, Arthur returned to the gate
and had it closed.

CHAPTER TEN

“Isn't there a road or path we can take?”
Sara asked, making her way through the brush as she followed
Leon.

“No,” Leon answered. “We have no need for
them, and they would only show you humans where to find us.”

“Then where are we going?”

“By nightfall we should reach an outpost. We
can stay there until tomorrow.”

“And then where?” Sara asked. “The
Netherworld?”

“No. We have to go to Vesuvia and see the
Council. They need to know what's going on, and they’re likely
upset that I haven’t returned yet.”

“Vesuvia? We're actually going to Vesuvia?
That's your capital, isn't it?”

“Kind of, it's the only city we have.”

“Just one city? It must be huge to hold all
of your people.”

“Yeah, compared to what humans have here in
Rhea. But I guess it's not really fair since we've been here for
ages and you humans made your first settlement...what was it, a
little over a hundred years ago?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Sara answered. “A
hundred and fifty years, I think.”

“No way,” Leon said. “It can’t be older than
me. I remember seeing the first human settlers.”

“What?! You don't look a day past
twenty-five.”

“I’m a hundred and forty-three.” Leon said.
“And you?”

“I just turned twenty-one a few weeks ago,”
Sara said. “Do all Vesuvians age that slowly?”

“Pretty much,” Leon said, breaking several
small branches in his path.

There was a brief moment of silence as Sara
continued to follow. “How old do Vesuvians live?”

“Good question. No one really knows.”

“You're telling me no Vesuvian has ever died
of old age? How is that?”

“Well, the oldest one is maybe two thousand
years old.”

“So every Vesuvian that came before him died
of unnatural causes?”

“Yup,” Leon answered. “And please don't ask
me to explain all the different ways a Vesuvian can die. But I can
tell you the eldest Vesuvian to ever live, an Orlok, died shortly
before humans first stepped foot on Rhea.”

“What's an Orlok?” Sara asked.

“One of the Vesuvian Houses, and now that I
remember, an Orlok can be younger than me and still look ugly as
sin. They start out fine, but they go downhill fast.”

Sara laughed. “That bad, huh? How many Houses
are there?”

“Seven.”

“That's it? Which one do you belong?”

At that moment Leon stopped in front of a
narrow, five-foot deep ditch with a small stream running through
it. He hopped down and extended a helping hand to Sara.

Ignoring the offer, Sara hopped down as
well.

Leon shrugged and skipped over the narrow
stream before making a scarcely believable eight foot leap up to
the other side of the ditch.

It wasn't until Sara crossed the stream that
she realized the difficulty of the obstacle in front of her.

Leon knelt down and again extended his
hand.

This time Sara accepted, and with a quick
pull by Leon, she was up on the other side of the ditch. As Leon
turned to move on, Sara gripped his hand tight and pulled. “Which
House?” she asked.

Leon gently pulled away. “All of them,” he
said.

After several hours of travel, Sara and Leon
came to a small clearing and stopped.

Sara was becoming exhausted. Stretching her
legs, she could see several small buildings across the clearing,
and noticed dusk was fast approaching.

“There's the outpost,” Leon said, still
looking as fresh as when they journey started. “You can rest up
there.”

“Leon, you're not tired?” Sara asked.

“Not really,” Leon answered, walking toward
the outpost with Sara close behind.

“I hope your beds are comfy.”

“Just let me do the talking.”

When they reached the outpost, Leon knocked
on the door.

A small peephole slid open and a male voice
with an accent spoke. “What you’s doing here?!”

“I’m escorting this human to see the
Council,” Leon said.

“What's the matter? Ya lost?”

“The human needs rest.”

The peephole slammed shut and the door
opened. Standing before Leon was a grungy-looking man of similar
height, with braided hair down to the shoulders. Sara could see
both of his arms were covered with tattoos. “Come in,” he said,
stepping aside.

Leon entered and quickly looked around. “You
alone?”

“Yeah,” the Vesuvian guard said, and then
sitting at a table with cards laid out.

Sara entered, making sure to stick close to
Leon as she examined the dimly lit room.

Leon pointed. “The bed is right over
there.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, then walking over and
sat at the edge of the bed.

Leon sat across from the guard, who was busy
playing with the cards.

“What’s the Council want with a human?” the
guard asked.

“Not much,” Leon said. “With everything
that's going on, they want to see if they can help.”

The guard laughed. “Help? Them?”

Sara ignored the insult.

“I take it you haven't met many humans,” Leon
said, watching the guard play. “They're full of surprises.”

“I'm sure,” the guard said.

Sara sat, rubbing her legs, though never
taking her eyes off the Vesuvians.

“How far have you gotten?” Leon asked of the
game. “I've never been able to win.”

The guard stifled a laugh. “Everyone knows
that. You still got the fastest record for using all your moves at
Nella’s Pub.”

Sara noticed Leon shift as if he wasn't too
comfortable, and that made her uncomfortable.

“Tell you what,” Leon said to the guard. “Why
don't you take the night off? I'll cover for you.”

The guard looked at Leon for a moment. “You
got no bloody argument here.” He stood up and walked out.

Leon walked to the door and locked it.

“He wasn't too friendly,” Sara said.

Leon shrugged and lay on a bed across the
room.

Sara lay down also. “I thought you weren't
tired,” she said.

“Sleep saves energy,” Leon responded.

Sara yawned. “Good night, Leon.”

“Good night,” Leon said before dozing off for
several hours.

At some point in the middle of the night,
Leon began to constantly shift in bed, making small grunting
noises. Before long, he woke sitting upright, sweating and out of
breath. He looked at Sara, only to find her staring at him. She was
halfway out of bed with her halo in hand.

“Bad dream?” Sara asked.

Leon wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“Yeah.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The sun had just risen when Sara and Leon
left the outpost.

“If you don't mind, what were you dreaming of
last night?” Sara asked.

“Nothing really, just fighting old battles,”
Leon said, leading the way into the forest. “I think it's my turn
to ask a few questions.”

“Go ahead.”

“Where did you humans come from?”

“Our land is called Gaia. It's a beautiful
place. We have every type of terrain and weather you can imagine.
The land stretches forever in all directions. New Haven is
considered a medium-sized city over there.”

“If you have so much land, why did you come
here?”

Sara paused. “I'm sure there's still a lot of
land in Gaia that can be settled, but most of the cities were
getting crowded fast. People began to think the only way we would
survive is by expanding. We’ve settled a few islands at least, but
nothing that comes close to Rhea. If it were vacant, we’d probably
have a dozen cities here instead of three.”

Both of them suddenly stopped at the sound of
some rustling.

“What was that?” Sara whispered, drawing her
equinox.

“Trouble,” Leon said grabbing his staff,
twisting one end and unsheathing the nearly two and a half-foot
long blade inside.

“What kind?”

“Four arms and big teeth. That kind.”

“A Rhean Monkey?” Sara asked.

“If that's what you wanna call it,” Leon
said, without even a second to dodge what he just described.

The Rhean Monkey came swinging at him
feet-first from the side of the tree. Holding onto the tree with
its two left arms, it roared at Leon.

“Look out!” Leon shouted, pointing above
Sara's head.

Sara ducked just in time to avoid the
three-clawed hand of another monkey. She drove her equinox into its
eye and brought it crashing down.

Leon was just about to swing his sword at the
first one when it suddenly leaped at him along with a third from
behind. He stabbed the first one through the heart, killing it
instantly. The other, however, got a good hold of him, slashing and
tearing with its claws and biting down on his shoulder.

Leon growled in pain as he reached back and
grabbed the monkey. With his incredible strength, he pulled it off
and threw it hard against a tree.

The monkey staggered, unable to recover
before Leon sliced its head off.

“Leon, are you hurt?” Sara asked, watching
any wound on him quickly heal.

“I'll be fine,” Leon answered. “Stay on your
toes. These things usually travel in groups of about a dozen.”

At that moment Sara realized several monkeys
surrounded them. One suddenly roared, setting the others in a
frenzy.

Leon didn't wait. He ran at one and stabbed
it through the ribs. Another jumped at him. In an instant, Leon was
behind it, impaling it through the back.

Sara was amazed at the speed with which Leon
was able to dodge. Four monkeys began to close in on her fast. Not
wanting to get surrounded, Sara quickly ran towards one, thrusting
the equinox into its neck. With no time to pull the equinox out,
she grabbed the halo and swung it, slicing a second down the
middle.

Leon used his incredible speed to intercept
one of the monkeys and slice two of its arms off, before slashing
its neck.

Sara quickly pulled the equinox out of the
monkey’s neck and hurled it straight into the last one's chest.

The monkey instantly dropped dead on its
back.

Leon scanned the area using his Vesuvian
senses. “I think that was all of them.”

Sara retrieved the equinox. “Better not lose
this. Arthur will kill me.”

“How are you?” Leon asked.

“My heart's pounding.”

“We have to move. Vesuvia isn't that much
further.”

After several minutes jogging, Sara asked.
“How often do you run into those things?”

“This is only the second time I’ve ever had
to kill one.”

“Only the second time?!”

“Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't
normally travel this slowly through the forest. I would have just
run away if I was alone.”

Sara was beginning to get winded. “Yeah, I
saw how fast you moved. That was insane.”

“'Insane' is walking through this
forest.”

“What can I say? I trained for it.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m
hardly impressed with human survival skills. Sometimes it just
seems like desperation.”

“Okay, slow down,” Sara insisted.

Leon stopped. “Sorry.”

Sara took a few deep breaths. “You're like a
machine or something. How do you not get tired?”