“Do these guys have a sense of humor?”

“Slender Men in cowboy outfits?”

“Pretty much!”

It had gone to plan so far. Kat warped them to the Dark Temple the next morning. It caused some jumping, but a quick explanation and some cute baby antics on Kat’s part cooled things over. When they emerged, they walked into a town straight out of a Wild West movie, outside some obvious magic elements.

And the Guardians.

That was the word in Wonder’s mind, so that was what he used. And indeed, to him, they looked like tall, faceless, white beings that were almost porcelain. In sometimes corny cowboy outfits. But there was this strange aura of death and danger around each of them.

However, Wonder quickly learned, he was actually not getting it as bad as everyone else. He didn’t mind getting close to one of these Guardians, but everyone else went a little extreme in avoiding them. It earned him a few curious looks from the Guardians, but then they went on their daily business.

Acryoa said, “Wonder, if I may ask something?”

Wonder said, “Shoot, Acryoa.”

“Have you summoned one of these before?”

“Uuuuuuuuh, not that I’m aware of, anyway. Why? Think it may relate to the fact I’m not freaked out by these guys?”

Acryoa rubbed his chin. “Everyone else is in terror. There is an aura that pretty much is equate to pure evil destroy you in the most painful way imaginable.”

Wonder said, “Oh, I’m used to that shit. Never go to Earth, Acryoa.”

After that conversation, the gazes turned sympathetic.

***************

After a lot of talk and sightseeing (and yes, buying some sand-cows and sand-calves), it was decided to wait a few days before moving on. Considering where they were heading, weapon upgrades were a must. As well, Wonder was curious about what Beasts wandered the mines.

Of course, it did not end up that simple.

Wonder was woken up by a familiar staticky roar he hadn’t heard in nearly three months. Wow… only three months…

Wonder sat up, looking around. Rose stayed asleep and clinging to his waist. Wonder looked outside the nearby window. There seemed to be more Guardians than usual. But nothing to indicate panic.

Wonder almost flipped over when all of them, as one, looked towards Wonder.

There was no doubt in Wonder’s mind. They were looking directly at him, even with a supposed lack of eyes.

Suddenly, there was a message: All Guardians in Talcini have transferred Mastership to you.

Wonder jolted awake. “What the…?!?”

He quickly slipped out of his husband’s arms, kissing his head. He then ran out. Everyone was still dead asleep.

Why am I the only one awake?!?

Wonder opened the door to the nursery. Even Kat was deep in snooze mode. Wonder quickly messaged him, hoping his god self was still answering: Kat! What’s going on?!?

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

-Error-

ERROR?!?

Wonder quickly ran downstairs, throwing a robe on. As he suspected, there were even Guardians here. All silent and just staring.

What the heck?!?

“SOMEONE GIVE ME A FUCKING SITREP! WHAT’S GOING ON?!?”

Still dead silence.

“Sir.”

Wonder yelped and spun around. “Acryoa!!! Dude, heart attack!!!”

He panted, then blinked. He realized he hadn’t seen Acryoa among the sleeping. He said, “Acryoa… why are you awake?”

Acryoa shifted his PJ collar to indicate the metal band around his neck. He tapped it. “Priority override. If our master is awake, so are we.”

“Uuuuuuuuh.”

“The others are fine. Most of the messages were checking on you.”

Wonder said, “Well… you see the situation!”

He waved around. “Everyone else got hit by the Sandman or something, and I suddenly get a memo that the Guardians transferred Mastership to me! Any ideas?”

Acryoa rubbed his chin. “Sir… Wonder. Honest question.”

“Oh fuck, bad one. Shoot.”

“Your bloodline. Does your family have any history of great magical or summoning power?”

Wonder said, “What? No… wait.”

He suddenly thought back. “Fuck… back when DNA testing was a fad, I found I had two bloodlines which could match up with what you’re saying. One side of the family had a strong direct line to the Native Americans, who were often marked as close to nature and with spiritual powers. The other side of the family had some strong, but looser, ties to Celtic culture. A bloodline closer to the gods, so we might have some magic on that end. Sadly, finding out more meant money, but we did find some super-long—distant Native cousins who offered the Tribe Ritual…”

He then realized the Guardians were really listening to this bit. He said, “fuck… these are spirits my Native ancestors would have called.”

Acryoa nodded. “Yes. Or at least, I suspect so. Something must be going wrong with the other Masters, so they are sending ownership to the ones with an older contract…”

“People of my Tribe and their bloodline.”

Wonder groaned, rubbing his neck. He was now kinda glad he secretly did a digital version of the Ritual. He didn’t know if it counted or not, but still.

“OK. OK… Guardians!!! Whoever is not needed to directly guard the perimeter, children, or medically inclined or deal with the crisis we’re dealing with, go home!”

The Guardians, as one, bowed their heads and vanished. Only two remained in the inn’s lobby. One with a sheriff’s badge, and one dressed like a Native shaman.

Wonder walked up. “OK, guys, one of you should at least have the messaging system. What’s going on?”

Sheriff was the one to answer, “Rogues. They all killed our Masters and their families in one swift stroke.”

Wonder almost vomited. Even kids…

Wonder shook himself out. He said, “I’m guessing they, or whoever hired them, expected full chaos.”

Shaman bowed his head. “If you were not here, Light of Wonder, we would have simply vanished with our surviving mates and children.”

Sheriff said, “But it is a rumor that if our masters and contracts vanished, we’d ‘get revenge’ on the town.”

Wonder said, “So an urban legend that is full of crap. Lovely.”

He rubbed his neck. “OK. Any ideas on who is causing this?”

There were shrugs, and then the two Guardians spun. Wonder summoned his bow. “They’re attacking!!!”

All four of them ran out. The streets were now empty, outside the random citizen who was sleeping. Wonder said, “What’s with the sleep spell?”

Shaman said, “We think the Rogues have a Guardian of their own, or a powerful Mage. We have Mages of our own trying to undo the spell, but most are concentrating on evacuation.”

So these guys are still taking previous contracts seriously.

Wonder said, “Good. I want to say keep them asleep, but we may need backup.”

“I’ll tell the Mages to concentrate on awakening those who may give us support.”

“Good. Acryoa?”

Acryoa got the hidden question. “Problem is, it’s hard to say who this is. Could be Oracle City. It could be a local Tribe. Or it could be just some asshole looking for riches.”

Sheriff said, “Rogue attacks are common. The mines do have gold in them. It’s this widespread attack that’s…”

Wonder nodded. “They wanted to get the army out of the way. Which most likely means a lot of people.”

They rounded the corner, and it confirmed Wonder’s suspicions. To his surprise, it wasn’t the Oracle Army or a Lightwraith Tribe. Rather, it was a bunch of…

“Bandits? Are we in a Wild West movie or something?”

Someone raised a gun, but Wonder already shot it. Acryoa said, “This is biz…”

“THERE YOU ARE!!!”

The high-pitched voice made Wonder’s blood run cold. “Oh no…”

He turned.

And right behind him was his sister.