The Guardian Crusade

                                          Volume II

                                                      Chapter 31

Nalia looked around at the men and woman as they lined up in front of her.  Hundreds of them, some were wearing Kalica’s colours, some were wearing the Sarila blue, and some were wearing the Winnol green.  The only colour missing, Tokia red.

            “Are you sure he’s coming?” AJ asked and it broke her from her thoughts.

            “He said he would but he needed to go Tokia first, I’m hoping to get something out of Rossi.” She lightly sighed.

“He’s been known to tell a fib or two you know.” AJ said as he looked over towards his Gryphon Riders.  Nalia looked at him.

“Not to me.” She snipped and then headed over to Bussa.  AJ turned his head and looked at her as she walked away.

“How do we fare?” She asked Bussa.

“Very well Mi’lady, we are ready to go.” Bussa told her with a light bow.

“I will check with King Alexander and Queen Rayne.” She nodded.

“Where is Rossi?” Buss asked her before she left.

“The Tokia Army is on its way with Prince Nickolas.” Nalia told him with confidence but even she wasn’t sure.

“Give me the damn Army!” Nick shouted at Rossi in the King’s stone Meeting Room.

“I am not sending me Army down there just because you had a dream!” Rossi shouted back.  “You have come in here and ripped me home from top to bottom, for what? And now you want me bloody Army?! Bah!”

“Why don’t you want us to find her?” Nick asked.  “Is it because of what the Dwarves did a hundred years ago?”

“You best be watchin’ what yee say from here on out boy.” Rossi said giving him a stone cold dwarf stare.

“What happened?” Nick asked.

“Nothing!” Rossi shouted and stomped his foot on the ground.  Nick sighed with frustration and anger.  He knew he wasn’t going to get anything out of Rossi, so with one last grunt he left the room and headed down the hall towards the globe room.  He needed to get to Pomic; they had already wasted enough time getting the Army’s together. 

“Even in this world my Parents lie to me.” Nick sighed as he opened the door and entered the globe room to Hevi.  When he got there someone was already waiting for him so he could take a Gryphon too Pomic.  He could tell by the look of the guards face the man was wondering why he didn’t have an Army behind him. 

“There he is!” Howie shouted and pointed as Nick walked up to everyone.

“Where’s the Army?” Nalia asked as the two hugged.

“Not coming.” Nick said quickly and sternly.

“He still wouldn’t budge huh?” Kevin asked.

“Nope but we don’t have time to fight with him, I’ll deal with it when we get back.” Nick told them.

“How long will it take us to get there?” Leigh B asked.

“A day, we’ll set up base in the Gorge and figure out where to go from there.” Nick told her.  “Are the Hunters and Gryphon’s ready?”

“My Riders are good to go.” AJ nodded.

“We’ll send them ahead and have them scout.” Nick told everyone.

“Is Kris going with the Hunters?” Brian asked Kevin as Nick and AJ went to the fleet of Gryphon Riders.

“No she’s staying with us; she doesn’t know the area that well.” Kevin told him.  Just then the sound of Gryphon’s squawking made both men look up and they watched as the Winnol Gryphon Riders took off into the sky.

“So, here we go again.” Kevin said as he adjusted his breast plate.

“When do we leave?” Brian asked as AJ, Nick, Nalia and Rayne joined the group by their horses.

“We leave now; we’ll get a report from the Riders when we hit the forest.” Nick told them. 

The giant army with men and woman from all over Pixcadia headed towards Ashmourn.  AJ had noticed how quiet Nick had been he wasn’t sure if it was because they were about to go to war or the fact Rossi was acting the way he was, that was making his friend this way.  Avit, AJ, Rayne, Jaina, Nalia, Bussa, and Nick decided they should set up camp in the forest before the Gorge.  Camping in the actual Gorge might give away their positions. 

“We need to go over what Pixca said.” AJ told the group around him as they sat in a tent going over a battle plan.

“She asked me about You and Rayne, because of everything that had happened to Rayne she couldn’t sense her like she could us and she was worried.  She asked if you two had bonded, when I told her you had that’s when she said we needed to attack.”  Nick told them as he looked around.

“Why would it matter if AJ and Rayne married?” Kevin asked.

“I have no idea” Nick replied with a shrug.

“Could that be a key to something, their powers maybe?” Howie asked.

“What about Nali and I?” Nick said.  “Wouldn’t she want to wait for us?”

“Waiting for you to marry?” Nalia said looking at him.  “We’d be a while.” Everyone lightly snickered, even Nick until the thought that she wasn’t joking came into his head.

“Well we have pretty much gone over everything we can, battle placements and everything even though we have not a clue what lies a head of us.” Rayne said with a sigh.  “We should all get some rest, while we can.”

Everyone returned to their tents and settled down to get some sleep.  Well everyone but Rayne and AJ.  They were still enjoying their time as newlyweds plus with everything they had been through and Rayne finally remembering who AJ was they felt themselves needing to be with each other more and more.

“Are you worried about tomorrow?” AJ asked her as he brushed her hair from her shoulder and lightly kissed her skin.

“A little.” Rayne replied.  “But we are all together and the armies are behind us, we are prepared, just wish I knew what we were walking into.”

“Nick does seem a little rushed.”

“Have you notice how he has changed?” Rayne asked.

“You mean the closer we get the more…” AJ stopped looking for the word to use.  “Strong and determined he gets.”

“Yes” She nodded.  “I wonder why that is, I do not think it could be Pixca otherwise we would feel it as well, no?”

“Nalia said when they were down in the Gorge, he changed too, a lot, became aggressive and when the Lava creature attacked them, he just knew what to do.” AJ told her as his finger gently brushed along her collar bones.

“Another piece of the puzzle missing.” Rayne sighed thinking about the mess Ignis had made. 

“Well hopefully when we get to Ashmourn we’ll find the missing pieces.”  AJ replied and then he leaned in and gently kissed her lips.  When he pulled away she softly smiled at him, her fingers lightly traced the back of his long Elvaan ears, and the jewelry in his hair jingled as her fingers brushed past it.

“Do you remember what I looked like when I arrived?” AJ asked.

“Of course I do.” She replied with a smile.  “You were just as gorgeous as you are now.”

“And you are just as beautiful.” AJ smiled.

“I will never forget what you gave up for me, for this place.” Rayne told him as her eyes drifted lovingly around his face.  AJ was about to reply but he was stopped by her lips and found himself being pushed gently down as she slowly crawled on top of him, their lips never parting.

The next day everyone was up before the sun had even risen and readying themselves for a long day of death and war.  AJ walked up to Rayne as she packed up her horse, he slipped his hands around her waist from behind and gently kissed her neck, the events of last night still fresh in his mind.

“We’re going to War and he’s hoppin on the Rayne train.” Nick sighed.

“He just gave her a kiss.” Nalia said with a laugh.  “Someone want a kiss too?’ Nalia asked as she moved closer to him.

“No, I really don’t have time to fool around.” Nick said as he handed a piece of paper to Avit.

“Oh, well that is good to know.” Nalia said with a hurt tone.  “I shall be over here if you need me.” She snipped as she walked away.  Nick sighed a rolled his eyes, he really didn’t mean for it to come out like that, he just…just didn’t have the time.  There were just too many things going on in his head.

“Are we ready?” AJ asked as him and Rayne approached on their horses.

“Are you?” Nick asked as he hopped up on his.

“Yep” AJ replied with a nod oblivious Nick had saw them kissing.

“What did the Riders say?” Kevin asked.

“They couldn’t get close to Ashmourn, those Lava creatures are out, lots of them and they didn’t’ want to give away their positions or the fact we were coming.” AJ said as everyone and the army started to head out.

“Well we can expect Lava Creatures, that’s one thing we know.” Howie said with a nod.

“If I can find a hawk or bird near by I might be able to fly it over and get a better look.” Rayne said.

“That’s what I was thinking.” AJ replied.

They talked about different battle plans and filled the girls in as much as they could, AJ had to admit they were pretty calm for three girls about to go to war, and he wondered if he was like that when he came here.  Appeared to be calm but on the inside he was a mess.

The sun was no longer above them as they approached the Gorge and Nick raised his arm telling everyone to stop.  AJ looked around and made sure people had followed his direction and then turned to Nick.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“We get off here; horses can’t make it down there.” Nick told him as he jumped of his horse.  “We’ll set up a base camp below and then make our way towards Ashmourn.”

“Sounds good.” Kevin nodded as he got down.

Ladders were dropped down along the rugged cliffs of the Gorge and one by one they started to descend down.  Nick, AJ, Rayne, Nalia, Avit, Bussa, Jaina, and the guys with their wives set up camp.  Avit and Jaina went through the mass army making sure everyone new their place and procedure.

“It was a hundred yards or so ahead where we were attacked.” Nalia told AJ as the two stood by their camp talking.

“I wonder if Nick senses anything.” AJ wondered as he looked back for his friend.

“He probably does not have the time.” Nalia moaned as she rolled her eyes.

“Huh?” AJ asked confused.

“Nothing” Nalia said with a sigh.  “I will go talk to him.”  AJ gave her a light smile still confused on what was with the comment.  He looked down the Gorge and saw someone kneeling in the dirt.  As his eyes focused he realized it was Rayne and he made his way over to her.

“You should be careful Rayne; Nalia said they were attacked not to far from here.”  AJ told her as he approached her.  She skimmed her hand around in the dirt and he wondered if she had heard him.  “Beautiful, everything ok?”

“There’s nothing here.” Rayne finally spoke up.

“Yeah it’s pretty dead.” AJ said with a nod looking around at all the dirt.

“There’s no life what so ever.” Rayne told him as she looked up at him.  “I do not feel anything.” 

“Alex!” Someone shouted from behind them and they both turned around to look, they saw Nick and Nalia headed towards them.

“What’s up?” AJ asked.

“We’re going.” Nick told them as he pointed back to the army.

“Already? Maybe we should let the people rest Nick.” Rayne said unsure.

“We don’t have time.” Nick replied “They’re going to know we’re here if we sit to long.”

Rayne looked at AJ worried.  “Nick maybe she’s right.”

“She’s not right!” Nick snapped.  “I know what we need to do and we need to go now.”

“The army is ready.” Nalia said to them knowing Nick wasn’t budging from his stance.

“Then I guess we go.” AJ said looking at Rayne who’s worry about the situation had not left her face.

The people of Pixcadia made their way through the dry dusty Gorge unsure of what they would see upon their arrival to Ashmourn.  When they got to the spot where Nalia and Nick were attacked they could feel the heat from the lava invested land.

“Are those mountains?” Kevin whispered as they stopped near the end of the Gorge.”

“Yeah, the castle is in those mountains.” Nick said with a nod.  AJ looked at his friend hoping he knew what he was doing, hoping it was really Pixca he had talked to and not some mages trick.  He looked over to Rayne and what he saw confused him.  She looked tired, pale and she started to hunch as she walked.

“Rayne are you ok?” AJ asked and everyone looked at her when he asked.

“Rayne what is wrong?” Nalia asked seeing her condition.

“I am fine.” She said breathless.

“We stop.” AJ said as he put up his hand.

“What, no we can’t.” Nick said quickly.

“Hello!! Can you not see her?” AJ yelled pointing at Rayne.

“Then send her back, we can’t stop.” Nick told him.

“Darlin’ what’s wrong?” AJ asked ignoring Nick as he huffed in frustration.

“This land, this land is dead.” Rayne whispered.  “There is no life here but there is something.”

“Something?” Nalia asked.

“I do not know, something is pulling me.” She replied.

“Maybe you should go back.” AJ said to her.

“No, no I just need a moment.”

“We don’t have a moment.” Nick snapped.

“Dude fuck off seriously what the hell is your problem?” AJ snapped back at him, he was ready to tell Nick more but Rayne’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“I am alright to continue.” She said as she shot Nick a look.

“Well I’m staying with you.” AJ told her as he took her by the waist.

“Great now she’ll be a liability.” Nick sighed.

Nalia was about to give Nick a piece of her mind when the ground started to shake.  “Oh dear.” Nalia gasped out instead.

“What was that?” Kristin asked looking around as her pet tiger began to growl.

“They’re coming.” Nick said more to himself than the others.  “They’re coming everyone get ready!” Nick shouted behind them.  Just as he shouted the words and giant fireball came down sending people flying everywhere.

AJ hit the dirt ground hard and he shouted in pain when he hit.  But there was no time to moan over it and he looked around searching for Rayne.  That’s when he saw it, it was like Nick and Nalia had described a giant lava creature.  Its entire body made from lava rocks and streams of red hot liquid flowed around the cracks.

“Water kills fire.” AJ thought and then sent a jet stream of water at the giant beast.  It sizzled and crackled as it let out a loud scream but his spell only stopped it momentarily. The creature turned its attention to AJ and screamed at him.  “Shit.” AJ mumbled as he started to step backwards.  He quickly looked at everyone else who were fighting…goblins?! Looking back he saw the monster conjure another fire ball and sent it flying at him.  AJ prepared to get hit when he felt a tug and then he hit the ground hard.  Quickly he got up and saw Rayne beside him, they were inside a cave.

“You…” She paused her eyes fluttered.  “Ok?” She asked.

“Yeah but you aren’t.” AJ said worried.

“It’s the land.” She told him.  “It feels like it is taking my power.”

“Taking?” AJ thought about her words then his eyes went wide.  “Because there’s no life here so it’s….it’s taking yours?” AJ asked.

“Maybe…” She stopped catching her breath.  “Maybe this was the missing piece.”

“I’m getting you out of here.” AJ said as he went to reach for her.

“No” She protested.  “You must help them.  I will stay here, I am ok here.”

“Rayne” AJ said worryingly to her.

“Go Alex I will be fine.” She told him.

AJ hesitated at first and then snuck out of the cave, everyone by now was fighting and more lava creatures had joined the fight.  Maybe his magic couldn’t take out the big guys but he knew it could take out the little rat looking things.

“Alex!?” Someone shouted and he spun around.

“Where is Rayne?” Nalia asked.

“Out of the way, she’s fine.” AJ said not wanting to get into it right now.

“We need to head to the castle.” Nick said as he ran up to them.

“But everyone is still fighting here.” Nalia protested.

“And this is where they’re suppose to be, we need to be at the Castle, where’s Rayne?” Nick said sternly.

“In that cave…” AJ stopped dead when he saw three goblins coming out of the cave dragging Rayne behind them.  “RAYNE!” AJ shouted as he burst past Nalia and Nick and ran right for her but the loud thunderous boom of a giant lava foot coming down in front of him and stopped him dead in his tracks.  He looked up and saw the creature looking down at him, he wasn’t sure but he thinks it was the one he was messing with earlier.

Then he heard another scream but it was coming from the creature himself he looked down and saw Nick his hand on the monsters leg, purple beams streaming from both of them.  “What the hell…” AJ whispered.

“That’s what he did last time.” Nalia said quickly.  AJ reverted his eyes down the gorge and his heart sank when he realized it had been enough of a distraction for the goblins to get away, with Rayne.  The giant beast came crumbling down around them and AJ looked over at Nick.

“Why didn’t she fight back?” Nick asked.

“She can’t.” AJ said as he looked down the gorge.

“What do you mean?” Nalia asked.

“She told me before I came out of the cave that she thinks the land is dead and because it’s dead it’s taking the life from her; she could barely talk while hiding in there.” AJ said as his heart raced.

“Now can we go to the castle?” Nick said looking at the two.