"Please don't leave me. Without you, I have nothing left." I said with despair in my voice while tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Live on, Kellan. We will always be with you in your heart."

—

As I woke up from my dream I noticed I was sweating and completely awake.

'Why does this nightmare keep haunting me!" I whimpered as I started to cry.

"I can't get a single night of sleep without being reminded of my failure. How can I call myself a knight if I couldn't even protect those closest to me?"

As I was leaning forward the tears fell on my legs. After a few minutes, I tried to calm down again and looked up and out of the open window.

Wiping the tears from my eyes I noticed a fresh breeze blowing through the open window. Even though it was summertime it was always refreshing to wake up to the cool air before the day would get progressively warmer. Taking a few deep breaths calmed my emotions and my thoughts moved to the present.

Looking outside the window I knew it wouldn't be long before the town would start waking up.

"I better get my ass out of bed. Need to get my morning routine in before I get to work."

Sitting on the edge of the bed I used my fire magic to turn on the small firestones that were inside little lamps on the wall. As they activated, they illuminated the room with a soft orange glow. I picked up the small painting of my wife and daughter and gave it a soft kiss.

I guess we lived to die another day, I guess. I thought to myself.

About an hour later, I finished my workout and headed out to the guards' house. Meanwhile, the sun had risen above the horizon and the night was quickly turning into the day. As I was walking around the town I saw more and more people come out of their houses to start a new day of labor.

It's all just survival, isn't it? Everybody is just trying to survive. Nothing more.

My thoughts turned a little dark as they often do in the morning. Seeing the reality of life that much clearer after having been through the darkest parts of it myself, does twist your perspective a little.

Nevertheless, these people do rely on the guards. Can't let them down.

"Hey, Kellan. Good morning!" Someone called out to me while locking his door.

"Good morning," I said while carrying a gentle smile.

"Kellan, my man. How are you?" Another person asked while he waved.

"Good, good. Ready for another day!" I replied while waving back.

This was the usual routine while walking to the guards' house. People would be waking up and going about their business. Meanwhile, they would start greeting me as if I was their savior, though there is a small truth to that.

Many years ago now I moved to this town after hearing guardsmen left the town to fend for itself. After losing my wife and daughter I had nothing left and helping this town gave me at least some sense of purpose. I guess my wife and daughter would not want me to sit still. So moving here is probably the only reason I didn't end it all yet.

Reaching the guards' house I saw I was the first there. I unlocked the door and walked towards the wall with the daily schedules.

"Hmmm, today we are going on patrol. Right, time to prepare some things before the rest comes in."

While carrying weapons and armor from the vault to the main room, the other guardsmen start arriving.

"Hey there, Kellan. Up early again I see?" Max said as he walked through the door.

"Yeah, I woke up early today," I replied as calmly as I could.

Max laughed, "What else is new."

I chuckled, knowing he already knew what was going on but didn't want to bring it up for my sake.

Max was my second in command and I could always trust the guy. Always here first before the rest and he and I could read each other like a book. This was one of those friendships where you didn't need words to understand each other.

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The total number of guardsmen I had recruited over time was about 20. With those, there were enough people who could rotate shifts throughout the week. After everybody arrived we went through the usual briefing of the day.

"Ok guys, Today I will be going on patrol in the region and see if there is any new movement from the bandits after the incident 2 weeks ago. We will be going on patrol with a party of 6.

If your name is not in the following list, you will be on your regular assignments."

At the sound of the word 'Patrol', you could hear the sighs from some of the guardsmen.

I know guys. I would also rather stay at home looking at the small painting of my wife and daughter. But give me a freaking break, ok. I thought with irritation in the back of my head.

"Max, Jake, Leo, Owen, and Finn. You guys are with me."

The moment I mentioned their names, they stood up and walked to the table with all the gear and got ready.

It must have been about 30 minutes when the guardsmen from outside came in.

"Sir, there are 2 people outside saying they were involved in the incident 2 weeks ago and they thought you might want to hear their account of the events."

hmmm. 2 people? I had to think for a minute.

"Wait, are they recovered already?" I asked the guard.

"I guess so?" he replied cautiously.

"Tell them I will be out soon."

"Certainly sir." The guard turned around and walked out.

Seems Jack did a great job getting them back on their feet this fast.

I put on my armor and the other 5 guys stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder, ready for us to leave.

"AAAAHHHH!!!!" came a woman's scream from outside.

"Did you guys hear that?" I called out.

All the guards agreed and we started running outside.

I flung the door open and saw 2 Ignisarians run away from the guards' house.

Hu? What is going on? I thought as I started looking in the direction they were running.

A group of people was gathered not far from the central plaza. There were 2 people lying on the ground and a group of about 8 people seemingly intimidating the crowd.

"Guards, with me," I shouted while running towards where the commotion was.

When I got closer I noticed the group of 8 people consisted of bandits. Without delay, I called out my commands.

"Bandits ahead. When we arrive, surround and capture!"

Reaching the location I stopped and yelled out a warning as loud as I could.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!"

Everybody jumped from my loud voice and the bandits were visibly confused for a split second. Meanwhile, the guards were already behind them.

From my right, I saw an Ignisarian girl drop to the floor to help a woman who was recovering from a fall. On the left, I saw the Ignisarian boy kneeling down near an elf boy who, to my surprise, was Lucian.

What is he doing here? Were the bandits after him?

The girl who was helping the woman started running towards the boy on the right. Before she passed me, I stuck out my hand to stop her. She looked at me with a surprise starting to grow across her face.

It took me a couple of seconds before I realized who this girl was.

"Zephyria?" I asked suddenly.

"Uncle Kellan?" She questioningly replied.

"Let's talk later. First, we should get him back to the guards' house. I want to get your statements on what happened here and 2 weeks ago." As calmly as I could, I proposed the course of actions.

With a smiling face, Zephyria nodded.

"That's probably a good idea."

I looked at the other Ignisari getting up while carrying Lucian.

My god, it really is Zeph! I could hardly keep my joy contained.

Just knowing these 2 are here means I haven't lost everything.

We started walking back to the Guards House and as the bandits were escorted to the jail cell, I walked to the interrogation room with the 3 kids.

—

"With that, I think I have everything. Thank you for your cooperation. I have your accounts of today and 2 weeks ago. I will be discussing further actions with the rest of the guards." I said as I pushed my chair back and made my way to the door.

These guys have been through a bit just now. So I decided to give them the room to catch their breath.

"You are free to go when you want. If you need some time you can stay here as well. I have to return to my other duties so I can not keep you company."

As I walked through the door, I wanted to ask my nephews if they would care to have a chat with me.

"Zeph and Zephyria, please come to the guards' house again around 8 tonight. I should be all done with work by then. I would love to talk with you again and catch up on things."

They both nodded and Zephyria asked about someplace to spend the night. Grabbing a coin from my pocket with a sigil on it from the guard's house, I threw it to her.

"Take that coin to the Aquamarine Inn. It is a small inn that you can find if you walk back to the central plaza and walk further to the east along the river. It should be on the left, edging the river. Tell the innkeeper that I sent you and show her that coin. She will know what to do."

As I walked through the door I looked inside and stopped one last time.

"Ow and one last thing. Lucian, go with them. I don't want you wandering the streets tonight, nor do I want you at your own home."

And as Lucian agreed, I went back to the main room.

—

The rest of the day was mainly filled with doing the paperwork. Though it was hard to keep my mind on the job knowing my niece and nephew were in town.

Who would have thought that those 2 would be here.

Suddenly I started to feel bad for not being at their side when they were brought in while in a critical health condition.

I should've been there for them. What kind of Uncle am I? My sister is going to kill me when she hears about this.

As I started to have trouble reading what was on the papers, I noticed that it was already getting dark outside. The sun had just dropped behind the mountains, casting a dark shadow over the town.

"Guess I will just pack my stuff and wait for them outside."

But while saying that, I noticed the room was already empty. I opened the front door and saw Zeph and Zephyria walking towards me.

"Hey, good to see you," I said full of energy, excited to finally see some family again.

After a quick bit of small talk, we agreed to go to my house.