The Prophecy (The Guardians)

Chapter TWENTY-SIX



“How is she?” Uri asked, looking over Gabe’s shoulder.

Gabe shifted his sleeping wife, resting her weight on his other arm. “She’ll be fine after she sleeps a bit.” Gabe answered.

“Will she ever stop doing that?” Haim asked, not bothering to look at anyone as he asked.

“Shut Up.” Uri instructed quickly.

“What? I just wanted to know. It’s not very safe for us to have an unconscious person on our hands all the time.” Haim defended his question.

“That unconscious person is the reason we’re out here. She is exactly why you are here and the only person you should be worrying about. If you can’t protect her then your mission has been a complete failure, and worse, the war is lost.” Gabe snapped, not taking his eyes off Rachel.

“Alright, sorry I asked.” Haim said in response.

“And by the way, dumb ass, humans do not build up a tolerance to magic, she’ll always pass out from transportation spells. That’s why we don’t use them to travel unless we have to.” Uri added.

“That’s not the only reason. Let’s not say we are stuck because Rachel can’t transport often.” Gabe continued. “What about trackers? Do you really want to go leaving a trace everywhere we go?”

“Look, I said I was sorry, ok already?” Haim said in a final attempt to diffuse the situation.

“Mirada is about two miles east of here. Do we leave Rachel here? We can retrieve her after talking to Mirada.” Uri asked.

“Not an option, I’m not leaving her.” Gabe informed the men flatly.

“Ok— ok—, I’m not saying you have to. I’m simply trying to figure out a way where we won’t be losing so much time, that’s all.” Uri offered.

“If Mirada is as sought after as you say, it’s not wise of us to head straight to her anyways. Use your head Uri! What if a tracker picks up our trace before it fades?” Gabe inquired.

“Really? Because there are trackers in the middle of the woods, just waiting to catch a read on us. Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot, Gabe. I have had a lot more experience with this stuff than you have.” Uri snarled.

“We left a trail of dead bodies behind us!” Gabe added in an irritated tone. “I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think they could find our trace.”

“Fine, whatever. I’m not going to argue with you. If you want to stay and wait, then that’s what we’ll do.” Uri replied.

“That’s what we’re doing. Haim, can you start a fire? We can rest here until nightfall, maybe by then Rachel will be awake and we can set out for the witch’s home.”

“Really, Gabe? You know she’s not a witch, what is with your attitude?” Uri protested.

“Oh, sorry, Oracle, whatever.” Gabe grinned as he responded.

“What if someone sees our fire?” Haim inquired.

“Are you scared or something?” Gabe mocked his friend.

“Ok, you need to tell me what is going on with you. I’m not kidding around anymore. Haim didn’t do anything to you, for that matter, none of us has, but you’ve been a real ass since the transport.” Uri demanded.

“No I haven’t.” Gabe insisted.

“I think Uri’s right. You’re kind of being a jerk,” Haim added nervously as he went about building the fire.

“I don’t know what—” Gabe started before Uri cut him off abruptly.

“Don’t give me that crap, Gabe! You know exactly what we are talking about, now what is going on?”

Gabe hesitated for a moment. He looked back down at Rachel, who still slept peacefully in his arms. Brushing her hair away from her face, he at last broke his silence. “We’ve been gone from Iron Gate all of what? Two days? Did you guys not see what happened back there? What if we hadn’t gotten out of that? What would have happened to Rachel? I’m her husband, she trusts me to keep her safe. Now I’m going to go to an Oracle, one of the most untrustworthy beings I have ever encountered, and put my faith in them. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Man, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about what this must be like for you.” Uri offered.

“Yeah, but we’ll keep her safe, don’t worry.” Haim added innocently.

“And how’s that going to happen, Haim? Back there on the street we were able to kill a handful of mercenaries, but what happens when it’s an army? What then?” Gabe argued.

“We’ll find a way, we always do.” Haim said.

“Like you found a way when Raimie died? Or like the Guardians found a way when Rampart was destroyed? I don’t have an option to fail.” Gabe’s words trailed off as the fire grew, the soft glow warmed his cheeks. He leaned in close to the flames with Rachel, allowing the warmth to envelop her.

Nobody else spoke after that. Gabe wasn’t sure if it was because he was right or because they were busy thinking of their fallen comrades. Either way, all he was concerned about was Rachel. He would look after her until she awoke, and then they would go and see this Oracle together. He wasn’t sure if it was the right move, but she was right, he couldn’t simply be idle.