Ancient Mystic's War of the Realms Saga by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (book club suggestions txt) 📕

there, Wolf.” Young Guardian said. She closed her eyes and held her breath for a moment before letting it out and opening her eyes again.
“What is it?” Tobias asked. “Do you sense something now?”
Young Guardian nodded. “Wolfton Stargazer, Tobias White-Snow, it’s time to bring the Companions together. Start with the Elders from the Underground. Form a plan of attack, then each of you come directly to me. Is that understood?”
Wolf and Toby knew she was serious. Being that each of them were Companion-Crusaders, not to mention her personal friends, she would usually call them by informal nicknames.
“Aye, Young Guardian.” They chorused.
“What of us, Young Guardian?” Panther didn’t want to push his luck by calling her by her Earthbound name. She sensed something, and now, so did he.
“Chikité Moondancer, gear up for a Spirit Quest.” Young Guardian answered. “Take Princess Celine with you. Only after will you both be truly ready for battle, in mind, body, and spirit.”
Wolf opened his mouth to object, but decided otherwise. When he saw the Jewels Amulet glowing around her neck, he knew she was dead serious.
“By my order, Sire Wolfton.” Young Guardian said.
“Your orders are my commands, as always, Young Guardian.” Wolf bowed.
“Young Guardian?” Panther interrupted.
“You will join the Companions, along with your daughter Destiny.” Young Guardian announced. “While it will be tough, it’ll make us a strong force against Orthos.”
“You are saying he has returned?” Red Wolf breathed. “Already?”
“Soon.” Young Guardian supplied. “I can feel it.”
On that statement, she disappeared. Toby, Wolf, and Red Wolf headed east, in the direction of the Feline Castle. Panther stood, speechless and unable to move.
It seemed forever since Orthos’ conjured lions haunted his nightmares....
Wolf knew why his friend was frozen in his place. “Get over your fear of Orthos, Panther, and join us.”
That snapped him out of his frigid reverie. Taking a deep breath, Panther ran to catch up with the trio. Though he sensed danger was near, he followed where they led him.

II

“I don’t know if I can do this, Aim.” Scott Archer announced after she told him what was going on. “Fight a war in another world?”
The look on Aimee’s face was desperate. “You have to.” She said softly, tears flooding her eyes. “I can’t do this alone. I’ve been alone way too long.”
“You’re not alone.” Scott tried to comfort her by pulling her close to him, but she pulled away. “You’ve got Aaron, your nephew Bradley, and your adopted daughter Angel.”
Aimee stared in his direction without really looking at him. “A man can be alone amongst a roomful of people.” She said absently. Holding her temple and shaking her head, she sat down hard on the couch.
Scott moved to sit beside her. He’d never seen her like this. So defeating, and desperate for control of herself. “Amethyst?”
When she finally met his glance, he saw her eyes were green. Scott touched her face before kissing her lips gently. What started as gentle turned needing and passionate. He could hear her thoughts in his head.
I need you, my Earthly Protector.
Scott broke off the kiss, staring at her. “Earthly Protector?”
Aimee smiled. “You heard that?”
Scott smiled back, kissing her again. “I’ve dreamed about this day for thirteen years.” He breathed.
“The day we’d finally be together again, as more than friends?” Aimee asked hopefully, drying her tears with a tissue. When he nodded, she grinned. “Yeah. Me, too.”
“If I’m to be your Earthly Protector, I have to know what it means.” He said seriously, then kissed her nose. “And what kind of trouble I’m getting into.”
“An Earthly Protector is a person who protects an Ancient Mystic.” Aimee said, watching him.
“You’re no Ancient Mystic, are you?” Scott asked.
“Thanks to Ariana and the Blood Pact.” Aimee explained. “Lord Guardian and Mistress Enchantra thought we’d earned official Ancient Mystic status after all we’ve done through the years.”
“What did you do?” Scott asked.
When she told him everything, from the day Ariana ran away to last week, he was silent, listening. He was amazed. The twins had learned a lot about the Unicorn Magic, using it to help their Crusader friends. At first, Aimee was just the Crusader’s Over-Seer, a kind of watcher-healer of the group, and Aaron was a new, if not confused Crusader. When terror struck their happy homes, both twins swung into action. Using what they learned from Ariana about healing, and their Unicorn Magic abilities, they were able to rescue Ariana, her sisters, their husbands-boyfriends from the caverns of the Unknown.
“Wow, Aimee.” He breathed. “You guys have been through a lot.”
“We’re about to go through a lot more soon.” Aimee replied. “That’s why I need you so much. You’ve always been there to stand up to those who would bully us. No matter how scared you were, you’d always appear brave.”
“Appear was right.” Scott laughed lightly. “Is that all you need me for, Amethyst Theresa? To help with the upcoming war in the Dream Realm?”
Aimee kissed him, sending him empathic waves of love. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck, each deepening the kiss.
They only parted when someone cleared their throat.
“I hope we’re not interrupting anything, twin of mine?” Aaron teased, grinning. With him were Ariana and his own Earthly Protector, Sierra.
Aimee blushed, hiding her face in Scott’s chest. He kissed her hair before answering him. “Not at all, Aaron Theodore, not at all.”
“Just catching up on old times, I take it?” Ariana joked.
“Go ahead, Ariana Moon, make your jokes.” Scott remarked.
“I think it’s kind of romantic, myself.” Sierra joined in.
“That’s because you’re a hopeless romantic, my dear.” Aaron responded.
Now Sierra blushed.
“I hate to break it up, but we’ve got work to do.” Ariana supplied. “And lots of it, as far as I’m concerned.”
Aimee and Scott broke apart, sitting on the Schmidt’s couch.
“What kind of work?” Aimee asked.
“You told him about the war, didn’t you?” Ariana asked her.
“To a certain extent. I didn’t want to scare him away.” Aimee supplied, nudging Scott.
“Now that we’re together, not even a swarm of bees could keep me away.” Scott announced.
“That’s good.” Ariana said. “First off, did she name you Earthly Protector, yet?”
Scott stared at her, amazed she knew. Well, not amazed, really, since she always did know when things happened before they actually happened. He was more shocked than amazed.
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?” Scott asked.
“I’ll get to that in a moment.” Ariana said. “Okay, we’ve got more fighters. We’ll be more prepared with both Magic and might. Scott, what do you remember about the Dream Realm?”
“From when you actually let me escape with you guys?” Scott asked. “I remember a lot, actually. Like how, to ordinary Dreamers, adventures were no more than that. Dreams. For a select few, the Dream Realm not only had personal meaning, but it was a better world to escape to when they slept. No matter who we were in this world, we were different there.”
Ariana nodded. “I’m surprised you remember anything at all.”
“I didn’t until Aimee began to explain what was going on.” Scott supplied. “As she explained, things in my memory clicked, and it all began to make perfect sense.”
“Do you remember the Dream Chant I taught you?” Ariana asked.
Again, Scott nodded.
“What about Seth?” Aimee asked. “Is he in on this, too?”
Ariana thought for a moment. “Has he said anything to you about an urge to fight something?” When Scott shook his head, she continued. “There’s your answer. No. In fact, I’m willing to bet anything he was only a go-between for the two of you.”
“Not to mention the deal you made him years ago.” Aaron spoke.
Ariana held up a hand. “That debt has been paid, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’ve already sent him home, so he won’t suspect anything.” She sensed something from Sierra and looked to see the woman with her eyes closed, fingers touching an emerald stone at her throat. “You’re quiet, Sierra.”
Aaron touched her arm to get his girlfriend’s attention. “What’s on your mind?”
She looked up to the group, her dual-colored eyes sad. “I was a Dreamer once.” She said softly. “I know what it’s like on both sides. As a kid, I loved to play in my Dream Realm, pretending I was a Celtic Warrior from before time began. I would hate if anything ruined that kind of world for others like me. Do you think my Pagan magic could help in this war?”
“Pagan Magic?” Scott asked.
“I’m a Pagan.” Sierra told him. “In short, a witch.”
“Is that why you fear Ancient Mystics?” Aaron asked her.
Sierra nodded. “For centuries, the Ancient Mystics and Druids have been in a long-standing feud. No one knows who started it, and only few know how to end it. I grew up with notions that Ancient Mystics were evil.”
“So did everybody else in Hill View.” Ariana sighed. “It’s too bad. How one rumor could cost plenty of friendships between magicians. We should work together against what we each truly believe is evil.”
“Like Orthos and Gloriana.” Aimee said.
“You couldn’t be more right, Aim.” Came a male voice from the doorway. The group was joined by Shane, Jamie, TJ, Julie, Luna, Charlie and Derrick. Derrick continued when he sat down next to Ariana. “I grew up here in Hill View, with all the nasty rumors about witches and Ancient Mystics. It took sixteen years for me to disprove them in my own mind.”
“With a little help from me, I might add.” Ariana teased her husband.
Sierra smiled. “I can feel all the power in this room.” She said. “It’s invigorating.”
“That’s because, through our own trials and tribulations, whatever they may have been, made our Crusader bond tight.” Shane supplied. “We’re not only brilliant fighters and friends, we’re family.”
“There’s nothing better than a loving family.” Luna shared a grin with her sister.
“So you think my Pagan Magic can help in the war?” Sierra asked. Everybody around her nodded, with the exception of Scott. “Show me how, and I’ll be more than willing to do it.”
“Not so fast, Sierra.” Jamie said. “You haven’t got a Protectors’ Pendant, yet. While you may be able to help, you won’t help much.”
“What’s a Protectors’ Pendant?” Scott asked.
Derrick, Shane, Charlie and Jamie showed them the necklaces that hung around their throats.
“In short, a Protectors’ Pendant allows an Ancient Mystic’s Earthly Protector to sense them in either world. It’s their link to said Ancient Mystic.” Shane supplied. “When you meet eyes, you’ll be able to send a message to the Ancient Mystic’s mind. There’s also a kind of Golden Magic that comes from the Pendant that mirrors the Ancient Mystic’s own Silver Magic.”
“As with any magic, there are powers of good and evil, for balance.” Ariana explained. “The only ones that can control the darker side of the magic are the Ancient Mystic and their Earthly Protector.”
“With time, the bonds between an Ancient Mystic and their Earthly Protector are pulled tighter.” Derrick said. “Sort of like what most would call soul mates.”
“Exactly like soul mates.” Luna said, nodding.
Scott whistled. “What have you gotten me into this time, Amethyst?”
Aimee giggled. “Nothing you can’t handle, Scott.”
“Where do we get the Protectors’ Pendants from?” Sierra asked.
“A man in the Dream Realm by the name of the Apprentice.” Shane answered. “He’ll test your limits, and measure if you’re worthy to be a Protector. If you pass his tests, you’ll get the Pendant and your first lessons in how to use it. I’ve never heard of