The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (5 page)

General
Yukio reared back and flung his sword with both hands at the wolf nearest him
after his failed attempts at mind control.
 
The red-bladed sword buried itself to the hilt right between the beast’s
fierce eyes.
 
His men sprang back into
action just as the wolves began their attack.
 
Both sides were fighting with a fury that filled the air with fur,
blood, and the piercing sounds of death.
 
The general retrieved his bloodied blade and began such a furious
assault on the wolves that they began to back away.
 
The Nairian soldiers formed a circle again
with their backs to one another as their leader went ballistic.
 
Ten of the gigantic beasts lay dead or dying
at their feet as the remaining predators continued to creep away.

There
were about twenty of the blood-red beasts left, so now there was one man for
every wolf.
 
The general looked over his
shoulder at his stalwart men and gave them a devilish grin.
 
It all happened in a blink of an eye.
 
One minute the wolves were preparing to
pounce again, and the next they were sniffing the air as though they had lost
sight of their quarry.
   
It was as
though the Nairians had vanished into thin air from the wovles’ perspective.
   
Their heads snapped back in the direction
of where the men had been standing in a circle.
 
They were looking in the general direction where their meal should have
been and saw nothing.

Move toward the water, slowly.
General Yukio projected this mental
command into the minds of his troops.
 
The general did not understand who was hiding them from the beasts. He
had been planning to do something much different than this.
 
The soldiers were so focused on
self-preservation that they began to move toward the water under the belief
that their general had actually spoken the command audibly.
 
As they edged away, there was an explosion of
fire that incinerated three of the wolves instantly.
 
Fire and debris began flying in every
direction.
 
The wolves were howling in
pain and shock.
 
Yukio took advantage of
this unexpected opportunity.

“Kill
them all!” bellowed Yukio out loud this time.
 
He and his men charged the confused beasts and tore them to pieces.
 
Fire continued to come from the north, which
provided the Nairians the edge they needed to finish off their enemy
quickly.
 
The smell of burnt flesh and
fur permeated the now still air.
 
The
smoke swirled high up into the clear afternoon sky.

As
the smoke thinned and the flames died out, the men could see a tall, slender
figure walking toward them.
 
Dead wolves
lay all around the bewildered soldiers.
 
The general ignored the stranger and quickly sought out his troops to
make sure everyone was still there and in one piece.
 
No one had been harmed.
 
Yukio was proud of his men and their
success.
 
They had taken on a breed of
gigantic wolves and had won decisively.
 
The big question now was who the person was that had interfered.

As
the mysterious figure continued to glide toward the exhausted group, it became
clear that it was a woman, a female elf to be exact.
 
She had a brilliant gold and silver crown on
her head that glinted and shimmered as she moved into the sunlight.
 
She seemed to float toward them because of
her exceeding grace and fluid movements.
 
She seemed to be glowing white as she approached the men, who were still
huddled together in a small circle back to back.
 
The men held their collective breath as they
realized that it was this delicate being that had provided them with the
perfect distraction during their battle.

“I
am glad that you are all safe,” the elegent elf said softly.
 
Her eyes were fixed on General Yukio.
 
She swayed gently side to side as she floated
to a halt right in front of them.
 
“It
was lucky for you that I was walking along the edge of the forest on this fine
day.”
 
She was smiling as she said this,
which had a soothing effect upon the men.
 
It was a reassuring smile that made them forget their recent deadly
battle.
 
They did not want her to stop
talking; it was like drinking water after traversing a scorching-hot desert.

“We
are indebted to you, milady,” the general said with a bow.
 
His men quickly prostrated themselves before
the powerful elven princess.
 
They did
not know why their general bowed to this elf. He never bowed to anyone
including queen of Nairi.

“Please,
do not bow before me.
 
I merely provided
assistance in a battle that you were going to win without my help,” she said
with hushed tones as she gestured for the men to stand.
 
“I am Princess Kira, daughter of King Tiranidrol,
ruler of the woodland elves of Renshaw.
 
Please gather your horses and follow me.
 
We are not safe out in the open.”
 
She motioned for them to hurry as she looked around furtively.
 
She had an anxious look that clearly
indicated that they were still in danger.
 
They glanced at their general, who quickly nodded to them that they
should do as she said.

They
hurriedly gathered up their horses that had gone further north away from the
wolves that had attacked and were off with the elf shortly after returning with
their steeds.
 
The general picked up the
princess with one of his massive arms and had her ride behind him.
 
They sped off quickly into the interior of
the forest in the opposite direction of the dead and dying wolf pack.
 
Men were usually not permitted into the
confines of the forest, but their situation was one of need.
 
Princess Kira assured them that they were not
in any immediate danger from the elves.
 
They really needed to focus on putting some serious distance between
them and their attackers before stopping for a rest.
 
After what seemed to be hours of traveling in
a northeastern course, they came upon a small clearing where the princess
called for a halt.
 
It was obvious by now
that they were no longer being pursued.

“We
are truly grateful to you for the timely assistance you gave us back there,”
General Yukio said with a gracious smile.
 
“Do you know what happened to the men I sent to the Elgore Bridge?”

“They
were waylaid by the very beasts you killed.
 
None of your troops survived the ambush,” she reported sadly.
 
She had a very sincere look on her face that
made it clear she had truly wanted to help their dead companions.
 
“I am sorry that I was not able to help them.
Their deaths will be avenged.”
 
The men
had never witnessed an elf being nice or even polite to anyone of a different
race.
 
Their interactions with elves had
always been terse at best.
 
She looked as
though she truly cared about them. That made them all very suspicious and downright
nervous.

“We
are indebted to you for your kindness.
 
We know that men are not welcome in the forest without prior permission,
so we will be leaving now.
 
We do not
wish to inconvenience you any further.
 
We will report to Queen Thejar of your selfless actions and will return
with a reward as a token of our gratitude,” the general stated with a slight
bow.
 
He knew that they were trespassing
and that their presence was being watched by unseen eyes.
 
This
forest has eyes…I must get my men out of here. I do not know what this
treacherous elven princess wants with us.

“General
Yukio, send your men back to report to your queen the events that have
transpired.
 
She will need to know that
the southern wolves are migrating north.
 
I request that you stay here with me,” she said without any hint of what
exactly she meant by her strange request.
 
“I have matters I need to discuss with an emissary of the race of men,
and you are the perfect candidate.”
 
She
waited patiently for his reply with an unfathomable look on her smooth face.

“Commander,
please lead the men back to the queen and report what has taken place.
 
Make sure you tell her about the wolves and
let her know that I will be returning shortly with a more detailed report,” he
said with a grin.
 
“Let her know that I
am meeting with a member of the elven royal family and that I will return as
soon as our meeting has ended.”
 
He could
see a smirk creep across the face of his commander and gave him a quick
wink.
 
The commander understood that
political issues were not the only things these two would be discussing.
 
The soldiers saluted their general and then
spurred their horses toward the northern edge of the forest.
 
They wanted out of the eerie woods as fast as
their steeds could carry them.

The
princess and the general silently watched as the soldiers galloped off through
the trees.
 
After what seemed to be
several minutes, they turned to look at one another.
 
I do
not understand it, but I know that my destiny is bound to this man.
 
I feel that without him I will never be whole
as long as I live. What’s wrong with me?
 
More importantly, why am I following the advice of a guardian?
 

The
general easily read her thoughts and smiled.
 
She is just as confused as I am;
maybe that is why she is not bothering to shield thoughts from me.

“What
exactly did you want to talk about, Milady?” Yukio questioned slyly.
 
“I do not think that it is politics or the
safety of trade routes along the Blaine River.”
 
He was smiling smugly now.
 
He
knew what she had in mind from reading her thoughts.
 
He could also tell that she did not know that
he had the ability to read minds, which was working to his advantage.
 
He liked using that particular ability
because of the edge it gave him in any situation.

“Well,
you already know why I asked you to stay behind.
 
I thought you were gifted with stealing
information from people’s minds,” she retorted playfully. “Remember, I have
magic as well.
 
Just because I do not
possess the same abilities as you does not mean I do not know when my mind is
being probed.
 
You have met my father
before, haven’t you?”
 
She was toying
with him now.
 
“He told me that you were
able to block his probing attempts the last time you two met.”
 
Why am
I taken by this man?
 
How does he fit
into my plans?

The
general was turning slightly red with anger at what he perceived to be mocking
words.
 
He had no idea that she knew so
much about him.
 
“So, I guess there is
more to this chance meeting than meets the eye?”
 
There was no denying the attraction he had
toward her. He was a man after all.
 
She
was more beautiful than any woman in Nairi, and he had never met the likes of
her in all of Tuwa.
 
Logic and reason
said that what he was thinking and feeling was irrational, but he could not
deny what he was beginning to feel for this elven princess.
 
Why an
elf…they are so infuriating.

“Do
you not sense the special bond that has formed between us already?
 
I have known for some time now that we would
meet, and I have also known that our destinies were somehow inextricably
linked,” she said with a sultry tone in her voice.
 
“I know all of this because one of the
guardians revealed these glimpses of the future to me.
 
She knew that our union was vital to the
future of the races.”
 
She had a lustful
look in her eyes as she stared the general down.
 
She moved closer to him as she spoke.
 
He could smell her sweet fragrance and sense
her burning desire.
 
Our union…what is she talking about?

“So,
what do we do now?” he asked quizzically.
 
He was taken aback by what was happening and how fast things were
unfolding.
 
He instinctively knew that
they would end up together somehow, though he did not know how or why it would
happen.
 
The elven laws regarding mixing
with other races were strict, and the punishments for violating them were
severe.
 
That was not what concerned him
at the moment; he was too intent on what was happening.
 
It was as if he were dreaming a dream that
would vanish the second he questioned what was taking place.
 
Still,
why am I thinking this way?
 
I vowed to
never love again.
 
Who is manipulating
us?