The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga (27 page)

Although grateful to her father for letting her catch
up on some much needed sleep, another part of her wanted to yell at
him for putting her through such anxiety, especially when she first
woke up. Avery wasn’t sure her heart rate would ever be back to
normal.

“What time is it?” Avery asked.

“A whopping nine fifteen.” Jade told Avery, sliding
over on the couch as Avery walked over and sat down.

“So, what
are
you doing here?” Avery asked for
a third time, realizing her question had never been answered.

Jade grabbed another piece of toast off of a platter
sitting on the coffee table, “Well,” she said, taking a bite,
“unlike your parents, mine actually woke me up at five a.m. to tell
me that Gumptin had stopped by. I couldn’t get back to sleep after
that, so what else was I going to do?”

Avery snatched a piece of toast up for herself.
Satisfied with Jade’s answer and happy with the fact that she had
been able to sleep in past nine, and the possibility of training
being called off, or at least delayed, Avery let herself relax.

Avery lifted her piece of toast in the air, “Cheers,
to tardy Gumptin.” Avery and Jade tapped their pieces of toast
together, took a bite, then picked up the cards Jade had thrown
down on the table to play a round of Jade’s favorite card game,
poker.

They made it through three hands, Jade winning two of
them, before Avery headed upstairs to get dressed properly.

As they walked to the library together to meet
Gumptin, Avery marveled at how lovely Havyn was in the early
afternoon. The gigantic trees provided a cool shade, with rays of
intermittent sunlight lighting up the village in a gentle glow. All
of the shops were open, the blacksmith, the seamstress, the
grocer’s. A few children came running out of Mrs. Bott’s shop; all
carrying cinnamon rolls the size of their head.

The village was bustling with life. People were
walking in and out of shops. Ladies were standing or strolling
together, talking and laughing, some carrying baskets of laundry,
some holding satchels of food. In the distance, behind the tree
houses, Avery could see a number of men, and a few women working in
the fields.

It struck Avery that, although, she had been on
Orcatia for a week, she had never actually experienced much of it,
including her own village. Her days had consisted of training,
studying, eating, getting what little sleep she could, and the
occasional shower if she had enough energy to force herself.

After walking a few shops and houses down, Avery
began to notice how differently the villagers treated each other as
opposed to how they treated Jade and Avery. With each other, they
were warm and jovial, walking up to one another with sunny smiles,
handshakes, and hugs. Whereas, with Jade and Avery, they were more
reserved, giving the girls a polite smile, gentle wave, nod of the
head, and a ‘hello’. It seemed as if they were hesitant to be too
friendly.

Avery understood that if their previous life on
Orcatia had been anything like the past week, then she knew the
Protectors would have almost never seen the villagers. Plus, from
what Avery had heard from the few villagers she had talked to, the
Protectors seemed to be more revered as saviors than accepted as
friends.

Jade didn’t even seem to notice, but it bothered
Avery a little. Especially coming from a small town back on Earth
where Avery was use to everyone knowing everyone else. She was use
to being a part of the town and thought of as just another
neighbor. She was use to receiving the hugs, or at least an amiable
pat on the back.

To make up for the alienation that Avery considered
her past self had put her in, Avery waved enthusiastically at every
villager she passed and gave each of them a huge smile with a
lively, “Hello.”

Some of the villagers seemed pleasantly taken aback
by Avery’s exaggerated friendliness, others seem slightly confused,
but all the reactions she received from the villagers were better
than the one she received from Jade. Jade looked at Avery like she
had just grown another head.

“What are you doing?” Jade asked her.

Avery kept smiling and waving, “I’m just being
neighborly.”

“Well, knock it off, Mr. Rogers,” Jade told her,
grabbing Avery’s hand and placing it down by her side, “you’re
embarrassing me.”

When Avery and Jade walked inside the library, they
saw Bunny sitting at the large round table reading a book on
ancient runes. She was the first and only one there. A couple
minutes later Sasha and Skylar came walking through the door
together.

“What’s up ladies?” Skylar yelled, did a little turn,
then fell into the seat next to where Avery was sitting.

Avery laughed as Skylar leaned her head onto her
shoulder, “You seem in a good mood.” Avery told her.

“Avery, darling, I got to sleep in till ten.” Skylar
said, stretching her arms high up in the air, “I am ecstatic!
Nothing could ruin my mood.”

The door swung open and Gumptin came trotting in,
looking more haggard than the girls had ever seen him. He
immediately walked up to the front of the room and turned to
address the girls. Before he said anything, he rubbed his eyes,
which looked blood shot and puffy.

“Protectors,” He spoke in a professional manner,
standing up straight, voice clear and deep, “today is the day you
put your training into use.”

Sasha, who had been standing, now sat down, bracing
herself for what Gumptin was going to say next.

Gumptin continued, “Very early this morning, I
received word from a friend of mine, that a small party of trolls
was making their way to the village Lilydale. I have confirmed it,
and it appears to be true. The village is approximately five miles
from here. They are known for their production of Everlily, a
flower used in many medicinal balms. It helps keep wounds from
becoming infected. Mr. Bott uses it in many of the balms used to
treat your wounds. The trolls are most likely being sent by the
Emperor to try and destroy the village’s flower crops.” Gumptin
sighed and ran his hand through his beard, a maneuver Avery knew he
did when he was nervous or upset about something. After a small
pause, he said, “The Emperor is becoming bold. This is a test to
see how strong you are. It is said that he has sent some of his
strongest trolls for this mission. I am afraid this will not be
easy for you. I wish we could have had more time for training,
but…” Gumptin trailed off.

The girls sat in silence, not one of them even
moving. Avery hadn’t moved since Gumptin had begun talking, her
eyes fixed on a small dark imperfection in the wood on the table in
front of her, but her mind was far off and lost in Gumptin’s words.
She pictured the images of tolls she had seen in the books Gumptin
had made them read, big and nasty, with wide slobbering mouths,
carrying mallets and axes, anxious to pound her into a pile of
broken bones and bloody flesh. Avery knew it was their duty and
that they didn’t have a choice but to try and stop them. She knew
that if they didn’t do anything now, then the trolls’ next stop
would be Havyn and they would end up having to fight them then
anyway.

Sasha was the first one to speak, her voice sounding
shaky, “Gumptin, don’t tell me you actually expect the five of us
to go out there and face these things on our own.”

Gumptin shook his head, “I am sorry, but that is your
job as a Protector. Lilydale needs your protection.”

Sasha ran her hand through her perfectly done hair,
messing it up slightly, “Do you think we’ll be alright?”

The look of controlled sadness in Gumptin’s eyes gave
the Protectors their answer.

As Sasha continued to question Gumptin, Avery’s
stayed lost in her own head. Gradually, the image of herself being
pummeled into an unrecognizable pulp was replaced with an image of
the Lilydale. In her head, Avery turned Lilydale into Redemption;
she turned all the villagers into the people she had grown up with
for her entire life. Then, in a flash, the image of her being
beaten turned into an image of Cinder lying under a troll’s club.
Avery shook the image free from her mind and stood up in a jolt.
All the girls’ eyes turned to her.

“What’s the plan?” Avery asked Gumptin, “When do we
leave?”

Bunny looked terrified, Skylar kept a blank face,
Sasha looked shocked, and Jade stood in a corner, leaning against
the wall, swirling her dagger between her fingers, a small smirk on
her lips.

“You can’t be serious?” Sasha said, looking even more
shocked than before.

Avery turned to Sasha, the images of the village
being destroyed still tugging at the back of her mind, “We’re
Protector’s Sasha, what else are we suppose to do?”

Sasha opened her mouth to say something, but then
shut it, which was rare for Sasha. Avery knew Sasha was well aware
that the Protector’s didn’t have a choice. Gumptin had made it
quite clear that the Elementals, who had given them a second chance
at life, fully intended them to use that life to fight evil.

Avery looked around the room at the others. All of
them, except for Jade, seemed hesitant about the idea of riding off
to face a pack of killer trolls. The last think Avery wanted was
for any of them to get hurt; she wanted them strong; she wanted
them to believe in themselves.

“Look,” Avery said, trying to give the girls a little
perspective and maybe some fire to go into battle with, “I’ve come
to the realization that this planet has Protectors because they
need them. They need us. It’s simple…if we don’t go then those
villagers die. I’m not telling you to do this because it’s our
duty, I’m asking you to do this because it’s the right thing to
do.”

So far, what she was saying seemed to be working. The
look of terror was off of Bunny’s face and Skylar was nodding in
agreement. Even Sasha had stopped arguing and was intently staring
at Avery.

“Come on,” Avery told them, “we can totally kick
those trolls’ asses. Let’s send a message to every evil thing out
there, that killing us was the worst thing that they could have
done.”

Avery wasn’t sure that they could really kick any
ass, but she knew they had to at least try. It was the one and only
thing she was sure about since she had come to Orcatia.

“Alright,” Jade said, sliding her dagger into her
belt and pushing herself off the wall, “since we’re all seeing
things clearly now, what’s the plan?”

Sasha shook her head, she still wasn’t convinced that
riding off to possibly get killed was something she wanted to do,
but she was done arguing.

Gumptin nodded at Avery, a wisp of a smile behind his
scraggily beard, “Go home, get dressed in your battle gear, and get
your weapons ready. I shall draw you a map to Lilydale. Meet at the
stable in thirty minutes. I will have Thomas get your horses
ready.”

Skylar stood up, “Well, after Avery’s speech how
could I say no.” She laughed, trying to sound light, but failing as
the laughter cracked in her dry throat.

As they were all walking out of the library, Bunny
walked up to Avery, “Do you really think we can do this?” She asked
Avery, her face a portrait of how nervous she was.

Avery did her best to make sure she looked confident
and calm, the complete opposite of how she felt, as she stared
Bunny in the eyes, “Bunny, I’m positive.”

Bunny nodded, looking very slightly reassured.

After Bunny left towards her house, Jade, who had
been hanging back in the distance, came up to Avery, “That was a
good speech in there.” She told Avery, “I knew there was a reason
they chose you to be leader.”

“I thought it was because they knew I was the only
one who you’d listen to.” Avery joked, wanting to lighten the
unease she was feeling.

Jade laughed, “You wish!” She gave Avery a light
punch on the shoulder.

Avery laughed with Jade, and for a second her attempt
at trying to make herself feel better had worked, but after the
laughter died down Avery was left with the same pit in her
stomach.

Jade, who had always been better at reading Avery’s
moods and expressions than anyone else, said, “It was all true, you
know, everything you said in there.”

“I know.” Avery said, and unlike what she had told
Bunny, she believed what she had just told Jade.

When Avery reached her house, she was surprised to
walk in and find the place empty. She walked into the kitchen and
gazed out the back window over the sink. Through it, Avery saw her
mother and sister out in the garden. Her mother was pulling up
radishes and placing them in a basket, humming a light hearted
tune. While three feet away from her, Cinder danced around a large
leafy tree, surrounded by a circular patch of short mossy grass.
She was playing chase with their two German Shepherds, Justice and
King, as their old Great Dane, Bailey, lied down in the grass,
sound asleep.

In the distance, Avery could see her father and
another man working in the fields. Her father bent down, picked up
a bit of dirt, showed it to the other man, said something to him,
and then they both started laughing.

Avery watched as her family went about with their
lives. Each one of them seemingly happy, enjoying their day and
their work. They were completely unaware of what Avery was about to
have to ride off and do, and Avery didn’t want it any other way.
She didn’t want them worrying about her. More than anything, Avery
wanted to be out there with them, but since she couldn’t have that,
she was going to keep the image of them just as they were at that
moment. She was going to keep that image and take it with her to
Lilydale. She was going to blame the trolls for taking her away
from that image, and she was going to make sure she beat the
trolls, so that they wouldn’t be able to come to Havyn and try to
kill and destroy that image.