Read All of Book 1: Here
Esmun walked down a cobblestone street. His blue sword glinted in the afternoon sunlight, drawing the people’s attention. Eyes were constantly on him. Esmun continued down the road, watching the people in front of him go about their daily lives. He always found it funny how the people would react. First, they stop what they’re doing and stare, then turn and continue with what they were doing with a renewed vigor, thinking if he saw how hard they were working, he would forget that he was being stared at. Finally, as he passed, the people would shift into a pattern of watching him and working until he was out of sight. Esmun found the pattern funny. He watched as people walked into and out of stores, watched as they walked or rode their animals down the path. In the everyday life of regular people, Esmun caught himself wondering what he would be doing if the Creator didn’t choose him. He probably would have gotten a job at his town’s potion shop, with the lovely old man who sold courage to the cowardly, strength to the weak, and powers beyond a person’s ability, all stored in a nice glass bottle and adorned with a price tag around its neck. He stepped off to the side as a man led two creatures down the path. The six-legged creatures struggled under their heavy load, muscles rippling under their rust red, leathery skin, panting, their forked tongues hanging in the air, and the flaps in the side of their neck opened wide, trying to release as much heat as possible. Esmun smiled at the older man driving the creatures.
“Don’t work them too hard, Magi,” he said. The man looked surprised to be spoken to, and he slowed and bowed to the boy.
“Yes, Guardian.” He said. Esmun bowed back and continued on his way. The streets were full of people, shopping and working, going about their lives. Esmun could smell freshly baked bread, mingling with the smells of cooked meat, flowers, elixirs, and so many other things.
“Hey kid, how would you like a pair of goggles that light up any room or a ring that tells you when a person is nearby.”
Esmun turns to the voice behind him, a portly, bearded gentleman in the green robes of an enchanter gesturing him into his shop. Above the man’s head, the sign names the building as ‘Astrue’s Enchantments.’
“A young man like yourself is probably the defender of his family.” the man continued, “I have a bow that finds Idemoni for you or a monocle that shows you the intentions of strangers.”
Esmun smiled.
“Magi Shopkeeper, Astrue, I suppose.” He said.
“That’s right, son, Astrue, the best enchanter the world has ever seen,” Astrue said.
“Magi Astrue, I understand how enchanting clouds your vision as you become more experienced,” Esmun said.
“That is true, son; now all old Astrue can see is shapes and colors. That is how you know I’m the best in the business.” the man responded.
“Thank you, Magi, but I have no need for your relics. I have my own. Perhaps the color and shape will stand out to you.” Esmun said. He took his sword off his belt and held it flat across his hands, blade pointed away from the shopkeeper. He could see the man’s face light up.
“The Blue Guardian, I presume, I apologize, Guardian, I cannot compete with the Enchanters of old, that sword is superior to anything in my shop,” he said.
“Do not apologize. It was a mistake. An enchanter’s eyes fail him a lot.” Esmun responded, resheathing his sword. Astrue nods and bows to Esmun, who bows back before continuing on his way.
He had barely walked a yard before he heard an argument around the street’s corner.
“Stay back!” A female voice cried.
“Please.” a different voice pleaded, “don’t make a scene.”
Esmun walked towards the voices, his pace quicker than before. However, he broke into a full sprint; when he heard the next word, the first voice cried out, a word that stopped everyone in their tracks.
“Idemoni!”
Esmun rounded the corner, sword out. He concentrated and thought.
“We have a possible Idemoni, Human. I’m engaging now.” He thought
“Alright, Esmun, be careful. I’m nearby,” Warinot’s voice echoed through Esmun’s head. Esmun slid to a stop. In front of him was a woman who looked terrified, and a large man, his eyes glowed, and behind him, through a broken window in the house, the Guardian could see a golden orb with blood on it.
“Update, we have a taulaga user, just did a strength sacrifice, engaging now.” he thought.
“Guardian!” the man said, his voice deepened as he seemed to grow larger in front of the boy, “you called a guardian.”
Esmun turned to the woman.
“Get behind me, Maho,” he said, the woman scurried behind him.
“Please don’t hurt him. He’s my brother.” she pleaded.
“I’m not planning on hurting him,” Esmun said. He turned his attention to the man. “Magi, calm down, you don’t want to fight me, and I don’t want to fight you.”
The man growled, his eyes glowing brighter. Esmun gulped and stood at the ready.
This guy made one intense sacrifice. If he doesn’t calm down soon, he’ll lose all reason.
“Guardian! No, no no.” the man growls.
“Magi, fighting is a bad idea. You are surely going to lose. You don’t want that. You don’t want the Idemoni label.” Esmun said. Big mistake, at the mention of the word Idemoni, the man entirely lost his mind. Charging the boy, he yelled and swung a powerful fist at his head. Esmun ducked and watched as the man’s hand went clean through the wall of the building next to them. He scurried to the side and tried to sweep the man’s leg out from under him. When his foot made contact with the leg, nothing moved.
“This guy juiced beyond belief.” he thought, concentrating he asked the other Guardians to hurry up. The man grabbed the Guardians leg and spun, smashing him into the wall. Esmun stood quickly and kicked him in the gut, following it up with an elbow to the face.
“I don’t want to use my sword,” Esmun said, still trying to reason with him. The man responded by headbutting the boy and throwing him through a window. Esmun laid on the ground, staring at the shattered glass in the window frame and feeling his back begin to bleed. The man glared in at him, then turned his attention to the citizens who had stopped to watch the fight.
“No, no, no,” Esmun muttered. Pulling himself to his feet, he looked around for anything that would turn the monster’s attention back to him. His eyes fell on the golden orb, and the gears in his head spun. The sphere must be attuned to the man. That’s the only reason he’s as strong as he is, years of practice with the single taulaga artifact.
He picked the orb up and drew his sword.
“Etiuca,” he muttered to himself. He felt his sword vibrate and saw it glow a little. He hurried to the window and called out, “Oh Magi Idemoni!”
The monster turned to look at the Guardian. Its eyes widened when it saw the orb in Esmun’s hand.
“Watch this!” he said. He tossed the orb in the air and swung his sword down at it with all his might. He knew if he cut the orb in half, it would sever the connection and destroy the monster’s power. He looked up to see the Idemoni standing over him with a smirk, then looked down to see the orb on the ground, still whole.
“Well, that sucks.” Esmun sighed, then he got shoved through a wall. His plan had worked, and the monster was now entirely focused on him. Hooray.
Esmun switched his combat to focus on his blade, stabbing and swiping. He knicks the monster and forces it to fall back. He sees the orb resting on the floor near the window and rushes for it. Just as he’s about to reach it, he is grabbed and spun around. The monster places one large hand on Esmun’s neck and squeezes. The Guardian felt the air catch in his throat as he was lifted from the ground.
Suddenly a glowing blue wolf appears behind the man. It quickly sinks its teeth into the man’s leg without a sound. The man howls as he collapses to the floor. Esmun drops and stabs into the orb, severing it in half. The wolf vanished into the air as the man shrunk back down to normal size, his eyes stopped glowing, and he regained his mind. He breathes heavily and looks at Esmun in shock.
“Guardian?” he asks, worries beginning to rise in his voice. Esmun picks up the two halves of the orb and holds them up.
“I’m sorry, Magi. You’re under arrest,” he said. The man simply nods and deflates, all the fight draining out of him as the realization he was caught sinks in. He stands as Esmun grabs his shoulder.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he mumbled.
“I know, I know, nobody ever does,” Esmun responds. He binds the man’s arms and leads him out of the house. The woman is crying, and everyone on the street looks nervous. Esmun noticed he was walking with a slight limp and tried to correct it. The last thing people need to see is the Guardian injured by a simple taulaga practitioner. He had faced much worse than a middle-aged man on blood sacrifice steroids.
The other Guardians were there. When they saw that Esmun had taken care of the problem, they busied themselves with crowd control. Fremont held back the woman, who was trying to rush to her brother’s side. A wooden cart was led up to the area, guards making a path. The back of the carriage was opened, and the man was ushered inside. The guards took over as the Guardians group up.
“Thanks for getting here so quick,” Esmun said sincerely. Each Guardian had a large area of Areothiel to cover, so each converging on the point was impressive, to say the least.
“You seemed to have handled it well,” Fremont said.
“I don’t know. I had to use my summon.” Esmun responded, referring to the blue wolf that saved him from the Idemoni. The other Guardians nod in understanding.
“Can you walk?” Bao asked, approaching Esmun, ready to help. Esmun nodded, and the four began the trek back to the temple.
“So, who is this guy?” Warinot asked.
“Middle-aged dude used a blood orb to pump himself up before getting caught by his sister,” Esmun responded. The Guardians nodded. He had to be addicted. These sacrifices leave you feeling weaker and weaker until you can’t last one minute without using the orb. The man thought he could control himself with his sister in the house but lost himself chasing the next high.
“He’s lucky, probably will get off with just Rehab,” Esmun said. He stumbled a little, and Bao reached out to steady him.
“We should hurry. He has a lot of glass in his back,” Bao said. The Guardians pick up their pace as they head out of the city and up a hill. The Temple of the Book appears on the horizon. The gate opens as the Guardians enter the safety of their home. Esmun was ushered down a side hallway by Bao into a medical room. Esmun sat and turned as Bao began taking out bandages and ointment and began removing the glass and dressing his wounds.
“Thank you, Bao,” Esmun said. Bao nodded as he continued. It had been a very interesting patrol.
Chapter 8: here
Will Fall Writings 