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

Guardian here, but you?”
“I go where she leads.” The Protector said. “Just as she goes where I lead.”
“You’ve quite a tough fighter on your hands, Panther.” Young Guardian said as she brought Destiny to the men. Her arm was wrapped around Destiny’s shoulders. “Have you trained long?”
“I begged Tiger to teach me,” Destiny supplied, “when Father wouldn’t.”
“You see how tough the girl is.” The Protector said. “Why wouldn’t you teach her before?”
“I was afraid she hadn’t learned to control the Companion Magic.” Panther admitted. “I knew she was a brave fighter, but I feared she’d lose control when she least expected.”
“Tiger’s teaching me that, too.” Destiny said.
“How would he know how to teach it?” Young Guardian said. “He’s only a Young Companion himself.”
“He’s the same age I am!” Destiny cried. “Plus, Sire Wolf did let him in the Army, didn’t he?”
“She’s got a point.” Panther said with a grin. “I’ve seen it myself. That Young One is more like his uncle than either of his parents.”
“He taught me how to control my magic.” Destiny said. She turned to her father. “Are we done here? I want to bathe. All that sweating’s making me stink.”
Young Guardian giggled. “Go ahead, Destiny. I just need to talk to him for a while, okay?”
Destiny ran off into the Palace, leaving Young Guardian, the Protector and Panther standing outside.
“Are you going to let her fight in the war?” The Protector asked.
“Only with my supervision.” Panther said.
“What was with her eyes?” Young Guardian wanted to know. “Why did they turn Dominionite yellow?”
“She tapped into the darker side of her Companion Magic.” Panther explained. “As I see it, Companions and Dominionites were once the same, with balanced powers of good and evil. It was only in the War for Province they were divided. Companions stayed pure and good while Dominionites under the Master’s control turned evil. During the Wars for Power, Companions fought on Lord Guardian’s side using their different Magicks. Dominionites, on the other hand, had their magic taken from them by Damian and Sabrina, so the two brats could control them.”
“I see you’ve been doing your homework.” The Protector said.
Panther beamed at the praise.
“You know why I’m here.” Young Guardian said seriously.
“To investigate why the women are acting the way they are.” Panther grinned. “Protecting their newborn kits with their lives. Brooding for hours on-end with them, not talking to anyone but the kits. Neither of us understand it.”
“Nor do I.” Young Guardian said. “You both know me. I want to find out.”
Both men nodded.
“Where do we start?” Panther asked.
“Come with us.” Young Guardian announced. “We’re going to talk to the Lady of the Canine Valley.”

Story: #3:
A Guardians Heart to Heart

Sire Wolf was the first to see them approach. He said something to Red Wolf out of earshot before leaving to greet them.
“Trouble, my friends?” Wolf asked, Young Guardian in particular.
“Where’s Katherine?” Young Guardian asked without hesitation.
“In the Castle.” He supplied, looking at each of his friend’s faces. Panther was watching the army training and the Protector was serious. Young Guardian wanted to get down to business. “Though I do not know how useful she will be.”
“Leave that to me, Wolf.” Young Guardian said. She looked to the Protector. “It’d be best if only I went in. You and Panther stay here. I won’t be gone long.”
“Yes, Young Guardian.” The Protector teased, making her smile before he quickly kissed her lips.
With that in mind, she marched inside Stargazer Castle, leaving them behind her.
She sensed her friend near, feeling the sadness and desperation all around her.
“Katherine, it’s me. Ariana.” She announced softly.
“I am in no mood for visitors.” Katherine’s soft voice came from another room.
Young Guardian followed it until she found Lady Katherine in the nursery, holding one of the pup-kits. “I’m not here for a social call, Katherine Hawk-Stargazer.”
Katherine still hadn’t looked up to her. “Whatever it is, please speak to Wolf.”
“It has to do with you, and that twin sister of yours.” Young Guardian took a seat on the make-shift cot Katherine had set up. She took Katherine’s chin in her hand and forced her friend to look her in the eyes. Just like Marie, Katherine had been crying. “Why are you two acting like this?”
Katherine shook her head. “We are fine.”
“Fine?” Young Guardian supplied. “All three of you, Marie included, are not fine. I hear from your husbands how you brood indoors day and night, seeing only to the welfare of your new kits. I see for myself you’re in tears, and I worry for you. What’s going on, and why don’t I know about it?”
Katherine hugged the kit-pup to her chest, hiding her face from view. Young Guardian could hear her friend sobbing. She took the boy from Katherine’s arms, putting him beside his brother in his crib before tending to her. Before she did anything, she just stared at the state of her closest Companion friend. She didn’t need Young Guardian to console her. She needed only herself, Ariana Moon Reading.
“Kat, please talk to me.” Ariana begged, hugging her. “Tell me what’s going on.”
She felt Katherine hug her close. “Oh, Ariana, it is too horrible for words!”
“What’s horrible?” Ariana whispered.
“The visions in my head.” Katherine’s tear-stricken eyes met Ariana’s caring silver-blue ones. “I cannot bear them any longer.”
“What did you see in your visions?” Ariana pressed gently.
“The kits – all of them – gone – to be Dominionites!” Katherine managed to gasp.
“Just like the Wars for Power.” Ariana breathed. “Get a hold of yourself, Katherine. It wasn’t a true vision.”
“It felt so real!” Katherine admonished, drying her tears.
“I know it did, just as the Dark Mist intended it to.” Ariana said. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? All three of you are affected by the once-destroyed Dark Mist.”
Katherine was speechless, but nodded.
“I don’t mean to be crass, Kat, but get over it.” Ariana stood, helping her friend to stand. “It’s not going to happen because I won’t let it, so you can set your mind at ease.”
Katherine hugged her again. “Thank you, Ariana.” She sniffed. “I needed that.”
“You’re welcome.” Ariana said, changing back to her Young Guardian’s Fighting Gear before her friend’s eyes. “If we can convince Kit and Marie, we’ll be okay.”
“I do not understand.” Katherine said, looking over to her pup-kits. “If it were destroyed, how was it able to affect us?”
“Let me put it like this.” Young Guardian said. “Whenever an Ancient Mystic uses Magic on an object, it leaves a trace of that magic on the object. It’s the same with the Dark Mist. Once it was destroyed, there were echoes of its energy still lurking. Those echoes are what affected you. They made you feel remnants of the past, forcing you to fear for your kits’ safety.”
Katherine shook her head. “You have become wise in your years, Young Guardian.”
Young Guardian just smiled. “Why, thank you, Lady Katherine.” She hugged her friend’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s tell the guys the news, so we can stop it from happening again.”
“What about the kits?” Katherine wondered as she was carted away.
“We’ll force Tiger and Celine to watch them.” Young Guardian teased.
Katherine laughed, and Ariana was glad her best Companion friend was back to normal.

II

After she was finished there, Young Guardian headed to the Ancient Mystic Palace on her own.
“Are you sure you don’t want me there?” The Protector asked.
“Positive. I need to talk to O’Dell.” Young Guardian said. “You know, Guardian stuff.”
With a kiss, he was gone, back to his own patrols.
Young Guardian pulled at the hanging bell, which rang the first bars of Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”.
O’Dell himself answered.
Before he could say anything, she let herself in and supplied. “I come baring news, my Lord Guardian.”
“Is that so?” O’Dell asked. “So formal, Young Guardian.”
“Well, it is serious.” Young Guardian supplied with a grin. “I suppose I should be professional about it.”
“Enchantra is visiting with the Grand Shamus.” O’Dell told her. “So, it will be just you and me.”
“Good, because it’s Guardian business.” Young Guardian said, taking a seat on his blankets. She felt them, remembering her duress. “Why did I revert to my younger self when things got tough? I never did that before.”
O’Dell sat on the blankets beside her. “Were you not overwhelmed and overworked?”
Ariana nodded. “Only because I had to be both Young Guardian and take your spot.”
“I admit to my own folly by neglecting my duties.” O’Dell said. “Why did you not find me when you were straining and losing energy?”
She shrugged. “I figure I could handle it on my own.” She looked up and saw his gentle silver eyes staring back at her. “I thought coming to you would admit defeat. You’d find someone else to be your successor because I was too weak for the job.”
“Ariana, my great-granddaughter, you are not weak.” O’Dell said, smiling. “You ask help from the Crusaders when you are in need of it, why not do the same with me? Or Enchantra? Or any of us? That is what we are here for, Ariana Moon. To help when you need it most.”
He studied her. “Do you remember when I named you my successor?”
She nodded. “I gave birth to Kelly, the Enchanted Child. I’ve always wondered why me, and not Grand Magus.”
“Because you are who you are.” O’Dell remarked. “A brave young woman with magic in her blood and love in her heart. You grew up in hell, but did not let it get you down. You stood up to adversity and fought it head-on. I named you my successor because I knew, when the day was done, you would be sure all were happy and content before yourself.”
“Luna’s the same way, isn’t she?”
O’Dell shook his head. “As you would say, not by a long shot.” He supplied. “While you learned to trust your Empathy, she never did. She feared it until the Ancients themselves intervened. The Forgetfulness Spell she gave you when you were a young child only erased your memories of having a family. It hurt her too much to feel your pain, so she mentally broke the ties in both your minds that bonded you as twins.”
“So that’s why I always felt so alone.” Ariana surmised. “Not even Aimee and Aaron could fully help me fill the void.” She was silent for a moment, running a hand on the soft blankets. “I always knew someone besides Katherine was in the back of my mind. It was Luna, wasn’t it?”
“An echo of her, aye.” He said. “The spell could never take that twin-bond away from your soul.” He saw a tear drop from her cheek to her hand. “Weep not for the past, for it is gone. Learn from it, and move on.”
Ariana sat up straight, wiping the tear away. “You’re right, O’Dell, as always.” She smiled. “Now for my news.”
She told him all that had been happening in the Outer Realm, and even from the Dream Realm. Some he already knew, and patiently listened as she told her side of the stories.
“It is good you come to me now.” O’Dell supplied, nodding when she was done. “If Orthos is going to escape permanent Exile, we have to find out how he will do it. You say we have six more fighters to add to our Crusader ranks?”
“Jammins already was a Crusader, and he’s now Earthly Protector to Sarabeth’s elder twin daughter Julia.” Ariana explained. “He even came up with a hand-held device he calls the