I am having such fun writing Sentinals Origins | Part One that I thought I’d share one of the chapters. Here’s a chance to get to know Captain Guerlaire a little bit. In the Sentinals series he is more of a myth, but now we get a chance to know the man himself!
This is a draft version, subject to change and has yet to be professionaly edited, so please excuse typos and grammar issues that still linger.
The scene is set in Guerlaire’s office in the Lady’s Palace in Vespers. In the future the city is called Old Vespers, but in this time three thousand years previously, there is only one city called Vespers.
Teaser Chapter
Guerlaire glanced at the report on his desk and jotted down a few notes in his pad. He checked one of the files spread out on his desk and frowned. Leaning over, he tugged a map of Vespiri closer. The central portion was well notated, it was the northern and southern reaches that hadn’t been fully populated. The Elothian borders with Deepwater and Stoneford were still largely unmapped, even though the watches had taken on the burden of surveying the area.
He looked up as the door opened, and he waved Chryll and Fonor in.
“Finally,” he said with a grin. “I thought you’d managed to get lost.”
“Wouldn’t be difficult in this warren,” Chryll replied as he squeezed his bulk into a chair.
“Well get used to it, because you’ll be here for the forseeable future.”
“Doing what?” Fonor asked as he took the other seat. Dark haired and slender, he was of an age with Chryll and Guerlaire.
“Let’s wait for the others, then I’ll only have to explain once.”
“Others?” Chryll asked.
“The rest of the strike team, and here they are,” Guerlaire said as a slender, ginger haired man, with a spray of freckles across his cheeks and nose entered the room. “Eren, please come in.” He was followed by two more rangers, a young woman with dark brown skin, black hair and eyes, and a stocky man with a thatch of blonde hair and vivid blue eyes. “You know Calen and Denir, don’t you?”
Chryll rose holding out his hand, “Of course. Long time since we last worked together,” he said.
Eren shook his hand and grinned. His bright blue eyes, sparkled with intelligence, and he inspected Guerlaire as moved to stand by the wall, making room for the others. “This is going to be cosy,” he said as he leaned against the wall.
“I won’t keep you long,” Guerlaire said as the others found a place to stand. He glanced around the room. “The six of us have a new mission. We need to find out and stop whatever the Ascendants are planning against Leyandrii and Remargaren.”
Eren huffed his breath out. “You’re not expecting much are you?”
“Will six of us be enough?” Fonor asked with a frown.
Guerlaire held his hand up. “I know we seem too few, but until we know what the Ascendants are planning, I want us to remain hidden. Too many of us would be noticeable. As we discover more we can expand as needed, but for now I want us to get in and out unseen. We need to infiltrate and find out what is going on, without the Ascendants knowing we are there. And whenever we find evidence of any crystals we need to discover what they are using them for.”
“Crystals?” Calen asked, wrinkling her nose. “In Stoneford we used them for communication. They are good over short distances, like between guard posts.”
“I don’t think that is what the Ascendants are using them for. They have bought up the market. They wouldn’t need that many for short distances.”
Denir leaned forward, and Guerlaire raised an eyebrow. Denir and Calen were younger than the others but he knew they were perfectly capable, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen them.
“Remargaren is huge,” Denir said. “How do you intend on deploying us?”
“We’ll always be in pairs, but to begin with, we work as a team until we know what we are dealing with. Everyone needs to practice their mind shielding, none of us can be exposed to mentiserium, and you’ll need to know how to remove and block it in others. Where ever we can undo any Ascendant control is an bonus.”
“That doesn’t address travelling over distance. It’s two days just to get to Deeepwater,” Denir said.
“Leyandrii will transport us to begin with and once we arrive, I’ll create a waystone,” Guerlaire said. “It’s like a portal for us to step through to return. You have to know where another waystone is located in order to travel to it. We’ll be practicing visualising the locations for a couple chimes so you know what to expect and to make sure every one is alright using them. They are magical constructs, so you might be affected. And then we’ll be on duty.” Guerlaire tapped his map. “I have reports of some strange behaviour on the Elothian borders, and Leyandrii says it’s a dead zone. Something is blocking her connection to the land, so we need to investigate.”
Guerlaire looked at his recruits and grinned. This was going to be such fun.
“I don’t like that expression.” Chryll groaned and pointed at him. “You are going to get us in so much trouble.”
“We get to use magic and be sneaky, what’s wrong with that?” Guerlaire asked. He was grinning so much, his cheeks ached.
Eren laughed and slapped Chryll’s shoulder. “You’re part of Guerlaire’s super-secret strike team and you thought we wouldn’t get into trouble?”
Fonor rose. “Well, if there’s trouble looming, let’s make sure we’re prepared to deal with it. Meet me in the sparring ring in ten. Let’s get warmed up and practice shielding. Guerlaire can try and breach our shields while we spar.”
“And then we get to play in the waystones,” Guerlaire said, rubbing his hands in glee. “I’ve already created a couple in the palace grounds. Let’s see who pukes first!”
“Eew!” Calen screwed up her face in disgust.
Once Guerlaire was satisfied that each member of his team could defend against his mental strikes, he led them over to the rose garden where he had created a waystone. Pointing at the rock, he said, “This is the rose garden waystone. You visualise the garden and step into a waystone and it will bring you here. If you move closer you’ll feel the chime.” He waved Chryll forward.
Chryll rolled his eyes and stepped towards the rock and soft chime resonated through him, and he shivered. “That is so weird,” he said.
Guerlaire laughed and waved the others forward. “It’s magic, of course it’s weird. A waystone is only active if you hear the chime. There is another waystone by the back entrance of the palace. I don’t want too many people seeing us repeatedly disappearing and reappearing. I don’t want anyone knowing about the waystones. They are our secret.
“You can only travel to a waystone when you can visualise it’s location. Do not try travelling to a location you have never been to. You could get lost, or even trapped within the waystone.”
Denir shuddered. “Do we have to use them? Can’t Lady Leyandrii move us around?”
“When possible she will, but she won’t always be available, and we need to be able to return by our own effort.”
“That’s a good point, I suppose,” Denir said with a grimace.
“Everyone got this location memorised?” Guerlaire asked. “Then let’s walk over to the other one, and we’ll use the waystone to return to the rose garden.”
Once Guerlaire was sure everyone had the second waystone location memorised, he grinned at them. “Visualise the rose garden and step into the waystone.” He stepped over the rock and disappeared.
Guerlaire stepped out into the rose garden and moved to the side. He wasn’t surprised when Chryll rushed out of the waystone almost immediately. Chryll would never let Guerlaire out of his sight if he had his way. Guerlaire tugged him out of the way and Fonor, Calen, Denir and Eren appeared one after the other.
He grinned. He knew he’d selected the right people. They hadn’t baulked at entering the waystone, though they all had pale faces, even Calen was a sickly brown, and they all had wild eyes.
“That was the weirdest experience,” Eren gasped, bending over and grasping his thighs.
Guerlaire rubbed his back. “How do you feel?”
“Queasy,” Eren admitted as he swallowed hard.
“I’m gonna vomit,” Denir said as he turned away and retched.
“No, don’t,” Calen screeched and covered her ears as she turned away. “You’ll make me vomit too.”
Guerlaire’s super-secret strike team were all rather green in the face. Eren leaned against Fonor and groaned. “I shouldn’t have had such a heavy lunch.”
Fonor chuckled, not looking much better. “If he makes me do that again, I know I’m gonna puke.”
“We won’t normally be travelling through the waystones in quick succession,” Guerlaire said observing them all with a frown. He hadn’t been affected when travelling across the palace grounds, but they were all incapacitated to some degree after only one journey. “Well, that’s not good. You’re not going to be able to defend yourselves if you’re all puking everywhere. Let’s take a break. You get your stomachs under control, and I’ll go and speak to Leyandrii.”
Chryll held up his hand. “I am not sparring any more.”
Guerlaire chuckled. “Take a chime and freshen up. We’ll meet in the palace library and go over the maps. We all need to know where we are, wherever we go in Remargaren. Which ever territory you are weakest on, that’s your homework. You memorise land marks until you know them all. I don’t want anyone getting stranded if something goes wrong.”
Calen grinned, her expression brightening. “Do you think we’ll get to go to Birtoli? I’ve never been.”
“Me neither,” Eren said.
Guerlaire glanced at the rest. “How about you?” When everyone shook their heads, he frowned. “Really? None of you?” Staring off into the distance he scowled. “We’ll fix that tomorrow. We meet at sunrise. Leyandrii will transport us there, and we’ll waystone back.”
Eren clapped his hands together. “A group outing! Make sure you bring your snacks.”
Fonor snorted under his breath and slapped Eren on the shoulder. “Waystone, remember? No travelling on a full stomach!”
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Helen Garraway 