Chapter 43

“With victory in his wake, the Guardian did defend.

And with his mission done, skyward he would ascend.”

Chief Justice Resin, year 2004

Fire

Smoke covered Capital Grove.

The first sound of gunshots echoed off the skyscrapers that surrounded the sanctuary. Sanctuary? Kimberly thought. This doesn’t feel like a sanctuary now.

The scene before her seemed like it was straight from a horror movie. Trees engulfed in flames. Chilling screams of thousands of angry and injured people. The smell of smoke in the air.

She looked to see where the sound of the gunshot had come from, and quickly wished she hadn’t. The teenage boy with the flamethrower lied dead on the snow from a bullet wound in the neck. Kimberly raised a hand up to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to erase the memory.

“What have I done?” she asked aloud. She turned around to Marissa, Ryker, Eland, and her uncle Norman and repeated her question. “What… have… I… done?”

Their eyes went to her, to the carnage behind her, and then back to her again. A couple opened their mouths as if to answer, but no one spoke.

Life lied to me, she thought. Or I just imagined the whole thing.

Mob members broke through the Enforcer’s defenses, wielding rods and plastic poles. “Kimberly Groves!” a man shouted, pointing up the hill at her. “The prophetess! Get her!”

“Run!” Norman shouted.

Filled with dread, Kimberly let Marissa pull her deeper into the Grove for safety. Norman still pressed a bloody palm against the back of his neck as he ran alongside. Kimberly looked back; the mob members—most of them irate men and women her age—were gaining on them.

“To the Tree!” Eland shouted.

Kimberly imagined what those people would do to her if they got a hold of her. She ran as fast as she could. The deep snow made it difficult. She nearly tripped twice but barely maintained her footing. Why are we running to Life? she thought. She won’t be of any help!

Ryker, the slowest of the group, stopped running. He turned around to face the dozen mob members. “What are you doing?” Eland asked.

“Stop!” Ryker shouted, raising his hands to his sides in peace. “Leave her alone!”

The young man at the front pushed Ryker out of his way without so much as a word. Another mob member shoved Ryker against a tree. He stumbled and fell to his knees in the snow.

Kimberly screamed out for Ryker, but continued to run with all the strength she could muster. Norman and Marissa ran behind her, placing themselves in the line of danger for her. Kimberly looked ahead, where Eland was running. The Tree of Life’s massive branches could barely be seen through the snowy mist. A peculiar light glowed in the distance. She didn’t know why they ran toward Life, but there wasn’t any safer place to run.

“Get back here!” a woman shouted.

“You’re dead!” another yelled.

Norman grunted in pain.

“NO!” Marissa screamed, followed by the sound of her falling into the snow.

Kimberly shrieked in terror, fear taking control, not daring to look back. Uncontrolled tears filled her eyes, blinding her as she ran.

A martyr, she thought. I’m about to become a martyr. They’re going to kill me.

She heard fast approaching footsteps from behind but was too late to react. A fiercely strong hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her backwards. She crumpled into the snow on her back, the wind knocked out of her.

A man she didn’t recognize looked down at her with a furious expression. She opened her mouth to scream but still couldn’t breathe.

“Kill the prophetess!” another male voice shouted.

Kimberly felt a sharp pain in her ribs. Someone had kicked her.

“Get away from her!” Marissa said somewhere nearby.

Instinctively, Kimberly raised her hands over her head, still struggling to breathe as a dozen Seculars surrounded her. A metal rod struck her wrist. Shoes kicked at her face and stomped on her chest. She was numb to the agony; an overwhelming amount of dread and fear drowned out all other senses. This is a nightmare! she thought. Let it end! Let me die!

Then, the excruciating pain overcame the fear. Her face was swollen. A few ribs were broken. Her wrist felt shattered. The only bone left to break was her skull.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM!” a voice demanded.

Kimberly thought she heard a crash of thunder nearby, but she was probably growing delusional. Her attackers screamed in shock as they fell to the snow. They scrambled to their feet and ran, footsteps fading in the distance.

Kimberly lay there with her eyes closed, frozen by pain. Her mind felt fuzzy. Her consciousness slipping.

“Is everyone okay?” a man asked, his footsteps approaching.

His voice…. Her mind couldn’t connect where she’d heard it before.

“Kimberly!” Norman said worriedly.

Kimberly refused to move. Moving meant pain. Opening her eyes meant pain. And the fear… it hadn’t completely subsided yet.

She sensed a gentle prod from something cylindrical on her forehead. Suddenly, a wave of shivering cold washed over her, starting from her forehead down to her toes, followed by a surge of meltingly, warm relief. The pain seemed to vanish in an instant, as if she’d been drenched in some sort of magical healing water, and the pain washed off her body.

“Stay here,” the man said. “I have to stop this war while I still can.”

A strong gust of wind blew over Kimberly.

Startled, she sucked in a breath of fresh air and opened her eyes. Marissa and Norman looked down at her with awed expressions. “Are you okay?” her uncle asked, offering her a hand to sit up. She took it.

“Yeah,” Kimberly said. “I am…” She stretched her wrist, torso, and neck. “I’m… fine. How am I fine? I should be dead.”

Norman and Marissa turned their gaze to the side. Kimberly followed.

Her rescuer had gone.

“Who…?” Kimberly tried to ask.

Norman opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

“I… think he’s…” Marissa paused, considering what she was about to say. “No. How could that be?” She blinked her eyes several times, as if trying to keep a grip on reality. “I don’t even believe in the Guardian… but this….”

“The Guardian?” Kimberly asked. “That was the Guardian of Magic?” A thrill of hope filled her heart. It completely contrasted the utter dread she’d felt just a moment ago. He did come! Life told the truth! “That would explain how he healed me!”

Yet, Norman and Marissa didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm. Marissa, Kimberly understood, would be slow to accept it because she was a Secular. But, Norman…

Her uncle swallowed, looking pale. “I believe… you’ll have to see him for yourself, Kim.”

✽✽✽

Oliver was home!

But home was on fire…

And Kimberly was nearly beaten to death by a bunch of Seculars. What was going on?

Future Oliver’d mentioned that the Seculars won the lumber debate. So, why then are they trying to burn down Capital Grove? he thought. Aren’t there plenty of other forests to level? And level, as in cut down trees and use the wood to build useful things, not burn them to the ground!

He flew toward the fires on western edge of the grove. He shivered as he flew. Although his well-layered robe was ideal for winter, the cold was biting.

The violence below was terrible. It wasn’t as organized or as deadly as what he’d seen in the Age of War, but the people fought with a similar passion. Secular mob members pushed and shoved the Enforcers away, so they could get to the Arbolers and beat them senseless. A couple people had flamethrowers. It was pandemonium!

Time to make an impression.

✽✽✽

Kimberly and the others rushed back the way they came, taking long steps in the deep snow. They saw Ryker leaning against a tree. “Kim!” he said. “You’re okay! How—?”

“The Guardian,” Kimberly said, barely able to believe it. Her prophecy came true!

“He’s here?” Ryker looked excited until he saw Norman’s uncertain expression. “Is he not?”

“I… uh… don’t know,” Norman said.

“What? How could you not know?” Kimberly asked. “He healed me! How could he not be the Guardian?”

Norman was about to answer, but then stopped himself and shook his head.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ve got to see this.” She ran toward the top of a hill. It gave them a perfect view of everything on the west wall. The fighting progressed; the Seculars slowly pushed the Enforcers and Arbolers backward. A couple rows of trees burned. No one had stopped the remaining two flamethrowers. Gunshots rang out occasionally. Not from the citizens; only a few Enforcers could own a firearm.

“Where’s the Guardian?” Kimberly asked.

“There,” Marissa said, pointing up.

Raising her vision, Kimberly could see him in the distance. He flew in the air!

He spun a staff—a wooden staff—in a blur around himself and then, suddenly, a flash of lightning split the sky. A crash of thunder followed, causing everyone in and around the Capital Grove to shudder.

The fighting stopped.

Kimberly gasped. That lightning bolt originated from the Guardian’s staff. Magic! she thought in awe. Real magic!

The crowd looked up at the man floating in the air, completely stunned. He was difficult to see in the dark. Several drones zipped toward him, illuminating him with their spot lights and filming him from every angle.

The sight was too remarkable for Kimberly to contain her excitement. This was it! The fourth Appearance! It occurred later than expected, but it was really happening! And she was blessed enough to see it with her own eyes! The world would completely change now that the Guardian of Magic was here. The Seculars would have to admit their beliefs were wrong and rescind the lumber debate verdict.

The Guardian rotated to where she could get a good look at him from the front. He had brown, straight hair. A strong stature, though short. And his face had an angled chin that looked… familiar. Almost a little like…

Her smiled faded.

“Is that…?” Kimberly looked at Marissa, unable to finish her question. Marissa was already looking back with the answer written all over her face: a confused grimace. “How—?”

“I have no idea,” Marissa said.