Sovereign Sentinel

[image error]Chapter One

Rory sat on her bed and watched as her mother folded clothes then stuffed them into boxes labeled, “Rory’s Clothes”.  Her mother’s expression was a pallet of rioting emotions, her movements precise and speedy as she folded article after article of clothing. Like Rory, she was trying her best not to cry. After all it wasn’t every day that your only chick left the nest.

“Mom it’s going to be fine…I’m going to be fine. It’s not like I am moving too far, I’ll only be a couple hours away.” Rory said trying to placate her mother’s harried feelings.

For all the forced bravado that Rory had infused her voice with, her mother wasn’t fooled for a second. She knew Rory was just as turbulent in her feelings as she was. Her headstrong daughter was just hiding it better, but then that was typical of Rory. She heaved a huge sigh, glanced up from what she was doing, and reluctantly accepted that her precious princess wasn’t a little girl anymore.

“I know you will do just fine on your own honey. It’s just I hadn’t expected this to happen so soon is all. You are only seventeen after all.” Her mother said sadly.

Rory swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood to give her mother a reassuring hug. As her mother returned the embrace Rory felt the transition of leaving home and being on her own was the hardest and scariest thing she’d ever have to do.

That reluctant goodbye had been just weeks before she found herself where she was now; her back plastered against a cold brick building at the end of a dark city alley. She was terrified and desperately tried to calm her racing heart as she took in the scene unfolding before her. She’d known him as far back as she could remember. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Nathaniel had a second life hidden away from the reality that was their day to day routine. Nathaniel was privy to all her dreams and desires, but above all else he had full knowledge of her secrets. Rory was no average seventeen year old girl. Oh no! She was able to bend light to her will and guide the air around her. If she got the notion to blow a bully four blocks down the street… she could.

Rory just couldn’t seem to summon the control needed to do either right at that minute. No matter how hard she tried, her body just wouldn’t respond. She was, for the first time in her life, petrified with fear. Up until that moment, as she stood in garbage heaped high against the alley dumpster, she’d thought she’d been aware of everything that was Nathaniel. She and he had been best friends since before she’d been in grade school. But here they were trapped with seemingly no escape.

The snarling of the cloaked figures that had cornered them was unnatural and completely otherworldly. Nathaniel brandished a long, saber that seemed to shine with golden flecks in the pearly cast of moonlight. The weapon pulsated with a power that could be felt but not seen. When Nathaniel sliced the air between him and the cloaked figures, the attackers retreated the slightest bit. Rory realized they feared this weapon Nathaniel had pulled out of thin air. He had placed himself between her and the threat they now faced.

“Just give us the girl and you can leave with your life still intact.” One of the cloaked figures said.

Nathaniel lunged toward the one that had spoken and the cloaked figure dodged him with a grace that was so eloquent, it was intimidating and  completely terrifying. That intimidation reflected clearly in Nathaniel’s eyes, but still he stood his ground.

“Or you can just do this the hard way.” The cloaked figure chided.

Rory watched, frozen in fear, as the cloaked figure and Nathaniel circled each other in a dance that hummed with lethality.

“Cease and return to the reliquary grounds. Leave me to deal with this unworthy excuse for a Sovereign Sentential.” The cloaked ringleader ordered of his underlings.

The other three cloaked figures dissipated into a charcoaled mist that blew down the length of the alleyway and disappeared at its mouth. The remaining cloaked figure slowly pulled back the hood of his cloak. His features were human but set in a face that was of odd texture and gray in complexion. His eyes glowed with a violet intensity above a sharp elongated nose and lips set in a thin line of unwavering determination. He seemed regally graceful and emanated malicious intent.

The two men regarded each other, both gaging and awaiting the precise moment of opportunity. When the man lunged Nathaniel was ready to receive. The two grappled along the moisture slicked pavement never once losing their footing. Every movement, every sound, every facet of color moved in slow motion as Rory watched her best friend fighting for their lives. The two rebounded off the brick walls and met one another’s assault in midair. Nathaniel’s adversary had managed to grab hold of him by the throat in the exchange of blows. Nathaniel was then slammed to the ground with a crippling force. He struggled against his assailant unable to budge the man’s grip and was quickly losing his ability to breath.

As he looked into the purple orbs that were his killer’s eyes he saw the slightest of movements over the man’s shoulder. Rory had, on silent feet, come up behind him. Nathaniel saw the green glint of light bouncing off the glass beer bottle just a millisecond before she brought it crashing down upon his attacker’s head. The man blinked in sudden confusion and then his features took on a hardened expression as he looked over his should at Rory. It was as if the blow hadn’t fazed him in the least.

“Just give me a second my dear, I need to finish what I started here and I will be right with you.” He said in a chillingly calm voice.

The shift in weight that it had taken to advert his attention was just enough for Nathaniel to reach the dagger sheathed at his side and lodge it deep into the side of the man. His attention snapped back to Nathaniel in shocked disbelief. The look of death was etched to his face like a name chiseled to a tombstone. Nathaniel threw the man off of him and before the body could make contact to the ground it exploded into the same fine charcoaled mist Rory had seen when the other three had departed.  Only this time it settled to the ground like snow flutters from the sky. The dagger clabbered to the pavement where the body would have landed. Nathaniel retrieved it, sheathed it, and got to his feet.

Rory harbored questions unspoken in her eyes. Nathaniel sighed knowing he could not get around explaining what had just happened. Reaching down he picked up his saber and it disappeared with a flash of light into his hand. Rory stood there and gawked at Nathaniel like he’d grown a tail. She was positively speechless, Nathaniel could see that.

“Rory I didn’t want you to find out like this. It was supposed to be after your heritage and purpose were revealed.”

He took a deep steadying breath. He was pretty sure that the next bit of what he had to say was going to make her wig the hell out!

“Rory you’re royalty, and not just any royalty, but pivotally, important royalty. Your parents sent you here to keep you safe from the Survarian rebels. I’d love to get more into detail but we aren’t safe here.”

He grabbed her by the arm and steered her down the ally and out onto the sidewalk of the semi busy street. Rory was practically running just to keep up with his long legged stride. A thousand questions were ricocheting through her mind as they clipped down the sidewalk going to… god knows where. She broke free of his hold and had him spinning around to look at her like she’d lost her mind.

“What do you mean royalty, Nathaniel? I don’t even remember my parents. I was orphaned when I was eight months old. My parent’s plane disappeared over the South Pacific? I was adopted when I was like a year old… remember!”

He realized he had gone about the situation all wrong. Rory was not one to sit idle and wait patiently for answers. She would demand to know the entirety of the story right now, regardless of the danger that could be lurking close by. He spotted a coffee shop across the four lanes of traffic and with her hand in his, all but pulled her across the street.  He swung opened the door ushered her through and then steered her to the back most booth.

After they were seated Nathaniel pulled his necklace out of his shirt and held the egg shaped pendant in his hand. The pendant hung length wise at the end of a gold box chain. The two halves of the pendant were separated by a thin layer of gold, making it clear that it had two halves. After he surveyed the area and was content no one was watching, he turned the separate haves of the pearl pendant in opposing directions. Rory felt a static like sensation shimmer over her skin. He put the pendant back inside his shirt and looked at Rory with resignation.

“It’s an illusionary device. I put up the illusion of us deeply immersed in a study session. You know because that is precisely the one thing no one would ever interrupt, Teenagers studying!”

He chuckled to himself finding his words humorous, but he was alone in the lighthearted gesture. Rory stared him down with an icy look of contempt. One glance at her less than amused expression had him sobering and taking a demeanor of seriousness once more.

“The fact that Survarian rebels actively sought you out and were successful in finding you means that you have come of maturity. This world has two specific coinciding realities. The Physical science driven realm which is what we see as modern day earth. Then there are the legends and myths this world is so fond of but completely unaware that all the, “Imaginings” are not just tall tales from past ages and forgotten times. They are also reality within this world.”

Rory was quite sure that Nathaniel had knocked a few screws loose back in that alley. Then she saw everything again in vivid detail. The shadowed figures, the swirling dark mists, and the purple glowing eyes, that were truly more of a violet than purple. She felt the truth of his words hit her like a bat striking a ball. Nathaniel waited patiently as Rory digested what little he’d said. He’d known Rory her entire life. He’d been three when she’d been born. His father had been her mother’s Sovereign Sentinel, and he had been destined to be Rory’s Sentinel from the day of her birth. It was his duty to keep her safe and out of the hands of the Survarian rebels. He’d known this all along. With her eighteenth birthday only three weeks away, she had one week remaining on this plane before her return to the plane of her origin would be imminent. He had planned to tell her about all of this then.

“So what are you saying that witches and wizards, vampires and werewolves, unicorns and griffins are real? I know that I can bend light and manipulate air, but we already came to the conclusion that I am just able to access more of my brain function than your average human. Or at least that is what I believed until I saw you produce a damn saber out of your hand. What about your lightning fast reflexes and unprecedented fighting skills Nathaniel? Let me guess that is a result of you having higher access to the deeper recesses of your brain, right?!”

It was clear that he had better give her all the answers and fast because Rory had the slightest tendency to be hotheaded and would leave in a split second if he did not deliver a solid explanation in a timely manner. Even though Rory had been deprived of a royal upbringing, she still had an infuriating tendency to possess the high and mighty attitude. Seeing he had no other option, Nathaniel leaned in and relayed the truth as fast as humanly possible.

“Not so far in the past all humans walked the same path of evolution. More than 9,000 years or so ago there was a fork in the evolutionary progression. Two realities had peacefully coexisted until then. There were the science and logical theory minded humans and the humans who were more spiritually minded and able to draw from energies around them. Up until then the two aspects of the human mind had worked together in equal measure. As time wore on, dominance in one aspect or the other started to become evident in more and more individuals. The respective groups started to gravitate toward those who were likeminded. Eventually there were enough distinguishing differences between the two groups that conflict was unavoidable. Caught in the cross fire were those that still wielded both aspects equally. They carried the brilliance of the technical mind, harbored within the Logically Scientific and the mystical properties found in the Spiritually Adept.

The Spiritually Adept were able to call upon the aid of their mystical animal brethren and creatures. The brilliant minds within the Logically Scientific had relied on their superior comprehension of the more physical elements to come up with a means to counter the mystical attacks and eventually gain an effective offensive strategy. The world was in utter chaos. The different branches of humanity had lost sight of what had bound them together in the first place, not their differences but their similarities. The few that retained both aspects of humanity banded together and were able to divide our world into two parallel planes; the plane of Magical Relevance and the plane of Scientific Relevance. The two branches of evolution were secured and most were happy with the arrangement. Over time knowledge of the opposing planes fell to the stuff of legends and myths. This plane is driven by the evolution of technology while the plane of Magical Relevance is ruled by the evolution of magic.”

“So let me get this straight. This is the plane of technology and the Plane of Magical Relevance is the plane of all things magical? Nathaniel what the hell does that have to do with these Survarian Rebel people that attacked us, and with me being royalty?! I mean seriously have you seen me lately? You are going to be hard pressed to convince me that I am royalty!”

Nathaniel reached across the table and took Rory’s hands. She cast her brown eyes down to their inner twined fingers and brought her gaze back to his face. He had been her lifelong companion, had defended her honor on many occasions and had absolutely never approved of any guy who had ever shown interest. He had guided her in her times of uncertainty and now as she looked into the endless depths of his jade green eyes, she finally saw him for what he truly was, her devoted and loyal guardian.

“Rory you have to understand that for every force that champions peace, order, and harmony there is an opposing force that wants the exact opposite. Your family is the bridge between the magical and the technological, because you are both. You are almost eighteen and near maturity. Nine days after your birthday it will be the winter solstice and also a full moon, something that does not happen often. Your powers of mind and spirit will become fully evident during the lunar festival. The catch is you have to be on the throne of rites to see the metamorphosis through. You are the next in line for the crown. The Survarian Rebels will not want this to happen because it will ensure that your family remains as the single balancing force between the planes. There are those on this plane that are good as well as those that are not. In your home plane there are those that walk in the light and those that dwell in the dark. The Survarian mission is to control both planes. Your family keeps them in line. But if you are not on the throne of rites at the appropriate time then an heir will be undetermined and as soon as your parents die the Survarian power will grow strong enough to seize control. Trust me when I say, that’s not good for anyone.”