Guardian Last (Lords of Syon Saga Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

questions would only vex and demoralize
him.
    Three of the younger mages moved off a bit to the south,
combining their energies.  The armies surged suddenly northward in a panic as a
giant wave of water rose in the already irritable southern sea and crashed down
upon them, carrying hundreds out to sea.  Just as it was with those they’d lost
to the firestorm and the archers lost beneath the ground, within moments, the
gap in the invading army’s numbers had filled again.  It was as if the enemy
had lost no one.  Meanwhile, his people were weakening with every attack they
made.  Within minutes, this army would achieve this hill.  Not long after that,
they would reach Pyran.
    The Guardian looked behind him, over the faces of the mages
as they emerged to look upon the army that rode toward them.
    So many, and yet so few.  His heart ached for them.  He
could not expect to save them, not here, not like this.  More than that, he
could not hope to save Syon if they fell here.  If indeed this was an invasion,
as he believed it was, Syon’s only hope, especially if Damerien had fallen, was
to consolidate all their forces against this invasion.  He had only one
possible chance to save any of them and to save Pyran and possibly all Syon as
well, and he did not have time for discussion. 
    Do what you must.
    He closed his eyes and concentrated all his thought and
energy, following the thin strands of power around him, binding them to his
will.  Anywhere was better than here, he told himself as he willed them all,
and then himself, away.  He only hoped the survivors would forgive him.
     
     
    If any of Cragen’s soldiers noticed the dull double flash on
the hilltop or the sharp reports that followed, they made no sign.  Those near
the front rode on, steeling themselves for more magical attacks that never
came.  Those toward the rear were oblivious to the attacks they had missed and
merely followed those ahead of them.  No one broke stride, but rode
unrelentingly onward toward Pyran.
    Ahead of them, hooves pounding through the trees and the
scrub in the dark spaces between the hill and Cragen’s forces, Damerien saw the
flash and heard the snap of air filling into a sudden void where the mages had
been, and he smiled grimly.  The mages were away now and safe––as safe as the
Guardian could make them, in any case. 
    “To Pyran, lads,” he called to the few who remained to him,
“for Syon and for your lives!”
     
     
    The Guardian ran to climb the southeastern tower of Pyran’s
city wall even before his feet were firm on the ground.  Along the battlements
he saw stacked heaps of arrows and buckets of pitch.  Good, so they were
preparing.  But below in the town, the people of Pyran still had no urgency in
their movement, as if they still believed they were planning for a contingency
that might not occur at all.
    “Sentry!” he shouted.  “Ring the bell.”
    The young man glared at him from behind his bow.  “On what
authority?”
    “I am a Guardian, boy!  Do as I say, and ring the damned
bell!  Do it quickly!  Lives will be lost with every moment you delay!”
    The sentry considered a moment, then complied.  The bell
rang across the city at least as far as the next tower.  Those who prepared
looked around at each other, then quickened their steps.  For some, there was
excitement in their eyes, a chance at glory.  For others, terror.
    A moment later, the easternmost tower took up the warning
bell with great urgency, and within seconds the rest of the bells were
clanging.  So the army had crested the hill then, and the sentries had finally
seen them.
    No sign of Damerien, he thought grimly.  Surely the prince’s
forces had been overwhelmed and destroyed, especially if they’d fought instead
of retreating, as he was sure they must have.  Ildar Damerien the Great
Liberator.  Ildar Damerien, who had reluctantly accepted the title, not of king
but of duke over Syon for himself and his