Timothy lay there in bed, trying to get to sleep. He looked over at his little brother, Fred, who was sound asleep. Timothy smiled at the sight. He knew nothing would wake him; nothing short of a noisy thief anyway. He lay there, watching his brother and the ceiling.
After a few hours of failing sleep, he decided to get up out of bed and go to the kitchen to get something to drink. He got a cup and went out to the spigot to get some water. After filling the cup, he went back inside as he started drinking it. The cool water felt good on his throat as it went down.
Timothy went back to his bed and lay down, putting his glass of water on the bedside table. His eyes started getting heavy after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling. As he was giving in to sleep, he felt a cold feeling at the back of his mind. ‘What’s happening?’ he thought.
He tried waking up but it didn’t work for some reason. All he saw was the backs of his eyelids. He was getting confused more and more as the failed attempts to wake up increased. Then he heard a voice that seemed to be all around him.
[Sleep child,] the voice said to him in a calming voice. [No one will hurt you. Just sleep and you will be safe.]
Timothy noticed it was a man’s voice but he didn’t recognize the sound of it. He didn’t think it would hurt him though so he relaxed and fell asleep.
* * * * *
The wolf smiled as the boy gave into the spell. This was his tenth house this week. His plan was foolproof: kidnap the children to draw out the dragon who is in the village; she’s been a thorn in his group’s side for too long now. And when she shows herself, his allies will spring their trap. Then, they’ll be free to do what they want in the forest.
Once he put both boys under the ever-sleep spell, he entered the house and picked both children up by the backs of their shirts. Once he got them, he jumped back out the window and ran into the forest with his catch. The villagers were making this too easy for him. Five people have already seen him do it. It was only a matter of time before the disappearances reached the dragon’s ears. The wolf disappeared into the forest with the children. This was the last night these boys would be seen by anyone in the village for a long time.
* * * * *
In a mountainous region hidden from the rest of the world; a week later.
A cave where six people that look to be in their thirties are gathered, sitting around a campfire with a small red dragon perching on the shoulder of a man who is wearing green silk clothes as he reads a message on a piece of parchment. After reading it, he lets out a sigh before throughing it into the fire.
"Illiya has died. The Shadows confirmed the Silver Wind's body," the man said with a sullen expression on his face.
"Are you sure, Earth elder?" a woman wearing a cream colored dress. "She's only been in that forest for 50 years. We sent her there because she was strong enough to survive longer. What enemy could have gotten the better of her?"
The Earth elder just shrugs his shoulders before speaking "They don't know, Light elder. They do know it was hunters though."
The cave falls silent for what seems like minutes before a woman in a black dress speaks up "Maybe they lured her into a trap. We all know she loses sight of things when children are involved...even if they would only belong to one race. It could be possible that she caught wind of a string of kidnappings in a village there, caught them in the act and followed them into the forest where they sprung their trap on her. Do the Shadows know the group that did it?"
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"Sadly, no," the Earth Elder said. "They must be a newer group. According to the Shadows, they only took human children so they didn't think to persue them. They're only trained for information gathering, not fighting so they made the right call. Sorry Shadow Elder."
The Shadow Elder only sighs before a man wearing red silk clothing spoke up, his brow furrowed "More than that: who can we send next? All the other capable Guardians are out in their own tasks. Any other prospects aren't even close enough to being strong enough for that place."
All of them are silent before a child sounding voice came from a woman in a deep blue colored dress "Well, the strongest isn't here right now but he should return in a few years." She looks over at the three men to her right: the Earth elder, the man in red and a man in gold colored silk clothes "You three know who I mean. We're the ones who trained him: the Orphaned Guardian." When the other three looked like they were about to protest, she spoke up again "Trust me: I don't like how he was the first one who came to mind either. He's practically a son to us and doesn't look all that strong when compared to the others but we all know that he isn't weak in the slightest. I mean: he's even got a human form." She then looked squarely at the man in red "Beat you in a fight to earn our permission to do so as well, Fire Elder. Besides," she looks back at the fire, "all of us here knows how he is when he returns from his tasks. Seems making people he grew close to forget about him makes him sad. He's going to need a distraction...especially when he finds out Illiya died. She was like a older sister to him."
"You mean IF he finds out, right?" the Shadow elder asks
The four shake their heads in unison
"Oh no," the man in gold colored clothing says, "it's definitely a 'when he finds out,' Shadow elder."
"What do you mean, Air Elder?" the Light Elder asks, just as confused as the Shadow Elder is they the four elemental Elders' reaction "And just who is this Guardian?"
The four look at her and laughs, having forgotten their student's way of thinking.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to laugh," the Fire Elder asks "But it's no wonder you haven't heard of him. Do you remember that wizard that caused trouble for the dragon clans in the plains a few years back? The one who was using magic to revert them to primeval states?"
The Light and Shadow Elders both shiver a little before nodding in unison
"Yea. That guy was nuts. He even managed..." the Shadow elder trails off as she realizes where the four of them are going with this "...wait, you mean to tell me that he's the one who killed him? Why didn't he tell anyone? He'd be more well known and a celebrity for just that alone. That wizard got a couple of Messengers before he was taken out."
The four elemental Elders stay silent before the Earth Elder speaks up "Because he doesn't ever look to be famous. He only cares about helping as many as he can within the bounds of the Laws. And since he managed to get cursed as a result of the battle, add onto the fact that he looks at it as only doing his duty, he doesn't look at it as that much of a big deal."
"What's the curse?" the Light Elder asks. "I could-"
"He doesn't want it dispelled," the Water elder said, cutting her off "Not even you would be able to dispell it as it's a part of his body now. He's stuck it it for the rest of his life. Don't worry though: it's not a deadly curse, just an annoying one, as he put it."
"And it's not up to us to tell you what it is," the Air Elder says. "He can tell you if he wants to. Anyway, we've spoken enough for the day. We'll tell him when he returns."
The others nod before they all stand up, the Water elder putting out the fire. Before they leave, they all transform into dragons: a ruby red, a golden yellow, an emerald green, a dull sapphire blue, a dull cream, and a dull amythest. These six dragons are the Elders of Guardians who oversee training and deploy Guardians to where they are needed.
[Well, we shall see each other whenever we need to convene,] the Fire Elder says. [Good luck in training the young ones that have chosen this path.]
They all nod as they start walking to the cave entrance
[You as well, Fire Elder,] the others say in unison.
With that, they all leave the cave and fly in different directions, each one with the same thing on their minds: two were curious, the other four were worried. All these thoughts were for the young Guardian they decided to send to that dangerous area of the world.