Arcane Guardians

Chapter 1 - The Chaos After The War

ALMYRA DIONNE ALDERIAN

“Giovanni - Air Wielders — 768”

“Alderian - Fire Staters — 782”

“Mirovia - Water Users — 854”

“Trovian - Earth Benders — 718”

“Arvanee - Historians — 764”

“Astoria - Inventor — 698”

“Mendelia - Healers — 538”

The census threw the entire council room into an uproar. Everybody was speaking all at once. Some were standing. Voices kept rising. Others were already screaming and crying. It was pure chaos.

But I could barely bring myself to care at the moment. I looked at the others sitting with me in the podium, the other heads of the 7 Bone families, and swallowed thickly.

I was the only one—the only one of my age who had to ascend as a clan leader after the war. The others I trained with are still heirs. Their parents survived. Even though some of them lost a child.

Aria Arvanee was the first casualty within the Arcane City. She was alone in the cemetery when they breached the wards force field there.

Kevin Trovian was killed in the Montreal Headquarters but he made sure to take down at least half of the Reapers that were rampaging over Canada at that time.

Alice Astoria was set to be the next clan leaders of the Astorians and was viewed as the most talented Inventor of our generation. During the last battle, she was stabbed through the heart right in front of her father and lover—Creed Giovanni.

Then there is me, Almyra Dionne Alderian. I was not supposed to ascend at the age of 19. I was supposed to have more time to train and prepare myself. My parents were supposed to be with me at my investiture with my siblings smiling and laughing beside them. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

My mother was slain in the Berlin Headquarters. That was where the Reapers first did their first full force attack. Survivors said they stood no chance. The Reapers were already at the heart of the headquarters before the alarm was even raised. But they said that even then, my mother refused to surrender. She went down fighting and because of her, we were warned that the Reapers were heading for Arcane City.

My little sister, Lila, was killed in the first ambush in the Arcane City. She was only 6. She came looking for me when the alarms were raised but just when she was a few feet away, a Reaper snapped her neck in the blink of an eye. It broke my father’s heart. It broke all our hearts.

Dad was killed three days ago. We were doing so well. We were holding the forth in the Academy and were at the 6th floor of the Glass Tower when it happened. The Reapers and wraiths kept coming. It didn’t matter how 1 Guardian could take out at least 15 enemies because they kept coming. When it was only Dad, 6 other Guardians, and I left, he forced all the enemies to the elevator and took them to the roof. 5 minutes later and the entire roof of the Glass Tower exploded.

When the council symbol was raised I thought it was over. Until I got to the Hall of Deities and saw the dead bodies of my twin brothers, Aydren and Aldrin, with their hands tightly clasped together.

There used to be six of us and now there is one me.

It’s like there is a gapping whole inside of me that will never again be filled.

It is fire that runs through my veins but ever since I saw the Reaper snap my little sister’s neck, I have felt nothing but coldness inside of me, one that I fear will always be there. As my family fell one by one, my life felt like hell slowly freezing over. The last straw was seeing the twins. I nearly burnt the already damaged Hall of Deities down to the ground. It took both Master Christopher of Giovanni and Master Adrian of Mirovia to stop me and get me out of the building.

Madame Clarisse of Mirovia came knocking down my door the very next day. She told me to pull myself together because of all the clans, it is Alderian that cannot be left leaderless even for a while.

It was cruel.

My family had just been killed before my very eyes. My 9-year-old sister was killed only a few meters from me and I couldn’t even save her. But I had to pull myself together? Was I not allowed to even mourn?

Deep inside, I knew she was right. The Arcanian Race and our central city was in pieces. A clan of Firestarters cannot be left with no leader to follow. I simply couldn’t not be ready.

So here I was, filling one of the front spots of this massive room, wearing the platinum fire crest that signified a clan leader’s position.

As I stared at the leaders who could not even make their people fall silent, an incredulous laugh bubbled out of me.

It was laughable and pathetic.

Master Adrian Mirovia, who was sitting beside me, glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. I ignored him and abruptly stood up. My chair fell to the floor, creating a loud sound but it only caught the attention of some Alderians.

Raising both hands with palms facing out, I formed a circular shape before letting my two palms meet at my chest level and I chanted, “I summon the Power of Fire, the mighty element from the South. Let the Phoenix with the roaring flames emblaze before me.” Then I slid one palm to point downwards and thrusted my joint hands, that formed a wings-like shape, forward.

A huge phoenix formed by a blazing fire appeared in front of the podium. It let out a deafening cry that made every single damn person in the room fall back onto their chairs.

Then the phoenix disappeared just as quickly as it appeared

That was my familiar, an animal that represents the energy of fire within me and everybody knew that so I was not surprised when everybody turned to stare at me.

“That was…” Master Adrian trailed off with a hint of amusement in his voice. “Effective.”

I just sat back down and crossed my arms then my legs and raised an eyebrow. “Are you all gonna f*****g shut up now?”

There was a moment of silence before Master Christopher of Giovanni cleared his throat and spoke, “Thank you…Lady Almyra.”

I did not even notice it until his wife who was sitting beside him cleared her throat and sent me an apologetic smile.

He visibly paled and squeezed his eyes for a second before he corrected himself “I mean Madame Almyra.”

Oh.

The council was called to order. This time, every single Guardian sat down and kept their mouth shuts, waiting for the reading of reports to be finished.

9 Arcanian Headquarters were burnt to the ground.

The Prague Headquarters in Europe.

The Shanghai Headquarters in Asia.

The Cape Town Headquarters in Africa.

The Belarus and Oslo Headquarters in Europe.

The Florida and Los Angeles Headquarters in North America.

The Manila Headquarters in Asia and Saint Petersburg Headquarters in Europe which were both bombed just 2 weeks ago.

Master Owen of Astoria was trembling with anger and unshed tears as he spoke, “There were 1,500 Astorians before this war began and now there is only 698 of us.”

It was true. Their clan was basically decimated. When the fighting started 4 months ago, Reapers went for the Inventors first. At least a hundred Alderians fell trying to protect the Investors who were outside of the City.

“We have all suffered losses, Owen!” Master Dimitri Trovian of the Earth Benders hissed at Master Owen.

“I lost my daughter! My heir!” Master Owen screeched, banging a fist to his chest as his tears slowly started to fall. He angrily wiped them with his hand.

Master Dimitri narrowed his eyes and refused to backdown. “Have you forgotten that I also lost Kevin?”

“Are we comparing losses now?” I spoke with an edgy tone while remaining seated on my chair.

Both whipped their heads towards my direction but when they saw that it was me who spoke, they bit their tongues.

Everybody was angry and emotional but this was ridiculous.

They were acting like children! As if only they suffered losses! This war took away something from all of us. How dare they act as if only they lost loved ones!

Master Christopher quickly took control of the situation. He placed both palms on the table as he stood and addressed the entire room with a compelling voice. “We understand what you are feeling Owen but nothing can be done about it anymore. We MUST move forward. We will mourn and grieve but we cannot let our guards down even for a second. Much of the Reapers are still out there and they know that we are weaker than ever right now.”

“We ought to start with the forcefield surrounding the city.” Master Adrian spoke up. “I do not know about you but sleeping these past two days with the knowledge that the forcefields are down has been hell.”

Master Christopher nodded. “Yes, we start with the city first before moving to the Headquarters. But before that, the injured…” Then he looked at Madame Pauline Mendelia, the leader of the Healers.

Madame Pauline shook her head regretfully. “The death count continues to rise. We are trying our best but with the ICU and ER both having sustained much damage, it is difficult to attend to every emergency case quick enough. It was worse during and after the fighting. People were dying before they could make it past the doors but now, Healers are being burnt out tending to those who have the worst of injuries. We are also attending to injuries that can be taken care of traditionally in a mundane manner now to preserve our energies for more grave situations.”

“So that they don’t end up in actual graves.” Master Adrian muttered quietly.

Master Christopher nodded thoughtfully. I could see the gears practically turning in his eyes as thoughts ran through his mind. “Do you need help? We can provide you with more manpower to do the traditional methods.”

Every Guardian was trained with first aid.

“That would be a great help.” She replied, visibly sighing from the way her shoulders moved down. “We do not have problems in terms of medical supplies.”

“That’s good. The hospital is also among the priorities for rebuilding. Master Owen has already formed a team that will be working there starting today.” Master Christopher said as he activated his crest bracelet and pulled up a hologram of the current look of the St. Raphael Hospital. The entrance and west wing were both in pieces but the symbol of the Archangel Raphael still stood strong and firm at the top of the 5-story building.

Master Owen pulled up another hologram, this time it shows the blueprint for the rebuilding of the hospital and the two images were placed side by side.They began to discuss plans for the forcefield and hospital rebuilding. The Alderians were designated to help in the strengthening of the forcefield as we have always taken care of the first and last phase.

“Mourning Rites will be done citywide this coming Saturday. Families may have their private gatherings after but burying of the bodies will be done together.” Madame Pauline announced and activated her own crest bracelet. She sent us a list of all the deceased under our own clans along with the unidentified bodies and any objects found with them.

As I scrolled through the list of unidentified, I could not help but bite my tongue at the total number. 86 Guardians could not be claimed because their bodies were too destroyed. Add the 29 Guardians that were never seen again after they left for missions. That’s 115 Guardians.

“Clan leaders will release the lists right after this meeting. If you recognize someone, please report it to them immediately. If you wish to see a body in person, send in a request through your leader as well. All 7 of us will be checking the bodies for any remaining energy tonight so that we can hopefully identify all of them by Friday.” Master Christopher addressed the crowd directly again as tensions rose at the topic of the unidentified dead.

“What about those of us who wish to return to our respective headquarters?” A man from the Mirovia row spoke out. He was wearing a cast on his right arm and his right ear was bandaged.

It was his clan leader, Master Adrian, who answered him, “If you are lucky enough not to have anyone to bury, you may start returning to your headquarters on Friday. However, please do not leave the city before then.”

A woman among the small group of Earth Benders who came stood up, eyes filled with desperation and hands clutching her own elbows. “And what about the missing? Do we just give up on them?

I stared at her and saw the distress in her eyes. She looked like a woman who had nothing left to lose but it was the wildness in there that made her dangerous.

“Of course not. We do not abandon our own, even if it’s just their corpses. We will look for them to the ends of the Earth if we have to. After Madame Almyra’s investiture, trike teams and search parties will be formed and then sent out to look for the missing.” Master Christopher answered her and it looked like she was satisfied as she sat back down with more ease in her body.

Master Adrian leaned close to me and whispered, “Since you are the…sole member of the Alderian Bone Family now and you are unmarried and childless, you do realize you are going to have to name a second and an heir in your investiture, right?”

“Yes. I do realize that.”

No. I. Do. Not.

When I felt my hands began to tremble, I quickly tuck them inside my cloak’s pockets and tried to steady my breathing.

Heir.

Second.

Heir.

Second.

He—

“I do not think it is right to invest Almyra as the leader of our clan.”

Wait, what?

I immediately turned to look at whoever was that damn person that spoke and of course—of course it was my f*****g Aunt Sheryl.

“Huh,” was only what came out of Master Christopher’s mouth. He turned to glance at the other leaders around him who looked just as bewildered as he is and when our eyes met, it looked like he wanted to laugh at the incredulity of the situation but was too shocked to do so. “What do you mean, Miss…?”

“Martinelli. Sheryl Martinelli.” She had the guts to answer and I, too, wanted to laugh because what the f**k was this. “She is simply too unstable at the moment. She lost her entire family and nearly burnt the Hall of Deities to the ground while she was in the building. She locked herself in the central house for a day without speaking to anyone and nobody knew if she was even still alive in that 24 hours. Then she lost her temper so quickly just in the beginning of this meeting. She is too emotionally unstable and out of control. Not to mention, she is only 19 years old. She is too young and has not learned enough yet to be able to lead our clan well.”

There was a moment of deafening silence after that. I could feel the anger threatening to erupt within me. My palms were beginning to heat up and I knew my eyes had to be flashing orange red already as I fought for control.

Master Adrian’s iron grip encircled my wrist before I even knew I was moving to stand. His tightening hold was all the warning and grounding I needed but even if I did not stand up and tore the woman to pieces like my hands were itching to do so, I refused to be silenced.

Every pair of eyes in the room were watching me cautiously as I spoke, “Do you ever think twice before opening your mouth?”

I have lost every single family I have in the war we just won. My LITTLE SISTER and FATHER were literally killed right in front of me. 24 hours later I had to step up to be the leader of a clan of Firestarters and she thought I was being TOO emotional?

Madame Pauline spoke in a whisper but everybody still heard her. “We would all be running by now if the heir, much more the leader to the Alderian Clan had a meltdown. On top of that, you have just rubbed salt into her very fresh injuries and called her incompetent and crazy all at once but she is just sitting there fuming when she could have set you on fire right now even with just her eyes yet you think she is OUT OF CONTROL?”

Aunt Sheryl looked shocked to the core from where she was standing. I do not think she expected that I would actually talk back to her or that someone would back me. Her mouth kept moving but no sound was coming out.

“1…2…3” I whispered and right on time, her son came to her defense. Master Adrian even snorted as he watched Santi stand and hold his mother’s hand.

“What my mother means is that Almyra is in a very sensitive state and there are so many matters that needs to be handled. We are just afraid she will not be able to perform her duties well.”

The audacity of this f*****g man to talk like I am not in the room and question my abilities to deliver as the leader of the Alderians in front of a council!

Master Dimitri spoke before I could speak for myself “Boy, are you saying leaders should not be allowed to grieve for their losses? And what MADAME Almyra suffered is not just any loss but the death of her entire family.”

I held back a snicker at the way he emphasized the Madame before my name. Of course the other leaders would be on my side. They were questioning the very system of not only the Bone Families but as well as the leadership that our race has had since the beginning.

“Perhaps they are simply concerned of her age and ability to handle her grief and responsibilities at the same time, Dimitri.” Master Owen said from his seat but his gaze was trained on the table in the middle the entire time. His fingers were tapping on the table as if he was bored.

What?

I could feel my heart begin to race and palms sweat at the sudden support thrown behind Sheryl and Santi. This cannot happen. I will NOT lose the seat that my parents have worked hard to protect their entire life.

Master Adrian came to my defense next. “A 19-year-old leader is not unprecedented, Master Owen. If I may remind you, it was even your own clan that once had a 17-year-old leader during the 19th century.”

“And I know I can perform my duties as a leader not only well be EXCEEDINGLY well.” I spoke with force and even flipped a portion of my hair backwards before someone else could speak because they were all acting as if I was not in the freaking room. “After all, aren’t we all trained to be ready for anything at all times? Is it not what being a Guardian is?”

“Being a clan leader is different, girl!” Master Owen spoke loudly, as he looked at me.

I narrowed my eyes at the way he said “girl” and shrugged off Master Adrian’s hold on me to place my hands on top of the table.

“Does that mean if it was your daughter in my position right now she would also be too incompetent to take on the duty she had been training to take since she was a child?”

My mother always said I had no mouth filter and my tongue is like a deadly arrow dipped in poison.

I just believe honesty is the best policy and what comes above respecting elders is respect begets respect. They are testing my patience

Master Owen’s face slowly turned red with anger but Master Christopher interfered before the situation could get worse because no way was I backing down.

“That is enough. The clan leadership is Madame Almyra’s and as long as she does not do anything that falls under the Eight Causes for Dethronement, she will be invested to her rightful position. A challenge of leadership is always possible afterwards if ever an Alderian sees her unfit to lead their clan.”

It was true. Challenging a leader was legal as long as there are valid and logical reasons and I already knew Sheryl and Santi would prepare to do that as soon as possible.

“Yes,” The old man was still speaking. “A challenge of leadership is always possible. You would do well to remember that Master Christopher.”

I was shocked. How brave and foolish is this man to actually publicly threaten the head of the Bone Families like this?

I slowly looked at Master Christopher and noticed how his eyes turned thunderous and he was obviously barely keeping his temper in check. His wife beside him had tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Everyone was in disbelief at the way Master Owen just spoke to Master Christopher.

Jackson Christopher Giovanni is not the head of the Giovanni Clan and Bone Families for nothing. He did not just inherit the title but he earned it. If there is one leader you do not question, it is him.

Everybody knew of his father. His mother was caught having an affair with a man from the Trovian clan. His father lost it then. The Madame Giovanni and Earth Bender were exiled in an instant. Loyalty is a big thing for us, both from men and women. He lost affection for all his children and threatened to have them all denounced. There are rumors that the Old Master who used to dote on his entire family turned abusive to his children after the entire fiasco, especially the girls who looked exactly like their mother.

I remember that one time I was in the Giovanni Central House and was playing in their receiving area as I waited for my parents finish their meeting with the other leaders in the house. The then-Lady Breanna of Giovanni was speaking to a Keeper from Trovian when his father suddenly came storming to them and slapped Lady Breanna so hard. My mother had pulled me away by the time the Old Master had started his rampage. Father also dragged the children of Master Christopher, who was still a Young Master at that time, out of the room but the youngest, Danica, was particularly inconsolable.

Master Christopher rose above all of that and went through the Black Maze without his own father’s knowledge. He emerged victorious, challenged his father for the leadership position, won and took the seat as the Giovanni Clan leader.

Of course every other leader and possibly the entire Giovanni Clan was relieved. The Old Master Justin Giovanni had lost his mind. He had become a tyrant who had uncontrollable powers. He is the very reason others became even more cautious with Air Wielders than us Firestarters.

“You need not to worry about that Master Owen Astoria. Trust that if anybody would remember that it is me.” Master Christopher answered him. His voice had gotten dangerously low and the way he was staring at Master Owen was like he was staring right into the man’s soul.

The meeting was ended before things became more heated. Emotions were still running high and we could not clearly settle things with how everything was going. When I walked past Aunt Sheryl and Santi, I made sure to stare straight to their eyes but surprisingly so, they did the same.

That was a threat. One that I understood loud and clear. They were not gonna back down from challenging my authority. That shameless woman is really going after me when I have not even buried my Father and siblings’ bodies yet. But if she thinks I am gonna back down just like that then she is in for a surprise. I would rather die before I give up the council seat.

Upon arriving home, I went straight to the office with Amara and Ivan scurrying after me. Amara has been my attendant since I was born while Ivan was assigned as my Keeper right after my graduation from the Academy a year ago.

“The Financial Officer has sent in the reports about the needed budget for the rebuilding of houses. The central house will be taken care of first but thankfully, it did not sustain any major damages—

I held up a hand as I sat down on the chair my mother used to occupy, “I will foot the bill for whatever needs to be repaired here and we will take care of whatever needs to be done. Ask them to focus on the Alderians who live out of the compounds and had lost their houses. Put up a sign up list for those who need accommodations for the time being. Has the Paris Headquarters sent word?”

“No,” Ivan answered and sat down in front of me while Amara left the room, already talking to someone in her phone. “But I have spoken to Bernadette from the Bordeaux Headquarters. They are fine there and are trying to make contact with the Paris Headquarters.”

“What about Verona?” I asked as I opened the list of headquarters in Europe that still has not made contact with us since the war ended. 14 cities is still too much.

“Still radio silence. I tried to reach the Rome Headquarters but even they are not answering.”

I could not help but sigh heavily as I placed my elbows on the table, intertwined my fingers, and lightly rested chin on it.

“Hmm, that is bothersome.”

This is a problem, a big big problem.

Someone needs to go check on Italy ASAP.

I sat up straight when someone knocked on the door. Not even a minute passed when Amara entered.

“Didn’t you go see Mr. Herrero?” James Herrero has been the Financial Officer of the Alderian Clan since I was a kid. He may be 60 or so years old by now but he’s still smart and sharp.

Amara immediately nodded, one hand going to her neck and scratching it lightly. “I was on my way to him but umm…” She stopped talking and started fidgeting even worse.

What the hell was wrong with her?

“Let it out, Amara.” I said.

“The Young Master Creed Giovanni is here to see you.” She blurted out and I did not see it but I knew Ivan and I must have raised our eyebrows at the same time because why was the heir of Giovanni seeking me out suddenly?