Chapter 8 - Guardians

Not far from the fountain of the wise, in a small park, Elizabeth sat at a marble table, with legs carved in the form of elephants holding the table with their trunks. The girl was reading, and Alexander was sitting on the fresh, lush green grass reading too.

“Alexander, do you read this word ‘distillation’?” the girl asked.

The boy looked in the book. Bored, he said:

“Yup ...”

“If you mix a feather of a swallow ... swallow tail with frog eyes and ... So if you mix a feather of swallow tail with frog eyes and ...”

The girl closed the book. She looked at Alexander, smiling.

“It was much easier and nicer with pictures. Too bad that spell only took effect for the magic class. But, as Mr. Knudlac said, learning requires work and rehearsal, and I will work and rehearse.”

Alexander was reading, so bored that he barely nodded to let her know he agreed with her.

“Thank you for helping me,” she smiled.

"It’s not my pleasure," replied the boy sarcastically. “It was the professor’s wish. A decision that isn’t exciting for me.”

The girl's smile is gone.

“I like the way you taught me to read. And thank you for your patience ... I mean ... you were a very good trainer.”

“I know,” the boy said sharply. “But that does not mean I enjoy it. Instead of perfecting my spells and studying to become a great wizard, I waste my time with you. A girl. Girls have nothing to do with great wizards.”

“But Miss Harmony. She is a great wizard ...”

“Dad says she's just a poor potion maker. Which is not big deal. It does not mean that she is a wizard. And if I think well, that will be your skill limit too… If you're lucky enough to have the memory she has.”

The girl, though affected by the boy's words, did not show this.

“What are you reading?”

Elizabeth got close to him and saw on one of the two pages where the book laid open an image of an odious creature, looking like a giant, with no hair on his head, not even where the eyebrows were supposed to be. But he had a lot of hair on the rest of his body, as if he were an aurochs.

“A book for advanced students.”

Indeed, the book had on the other page almost as many words as the whole book that the little girl read.

“What a strange ... and odious creature. What is it?”

"An ogre," the boy said as bored as before.

“All the ogres look so ... hideous?”

“No, some look more beautiful. They’ve got hair on their head and face, with many insects, flies of all kinds and even birds that nest in their hair and beard,” Alexander smiled proud of his joke.

“Can you tell me about him?”

“Nope!” replied Alexander sharply.

But suddenly, as if he remembered who knows what joke, the boy smiled. He got to his feet and looked right into Elizabeth's eyes.

“Still, if I think better, I tell you, because all the land around us is roamed by these evil creatures. Some say there are as many as rats in the canals below London.”

The girl was not scared, even though the boy gestured as he turned around her and each time uttered words in a tone that was too loud, trying to scare her.

That's what Alexander needed. The boredom disappeared from his face when he saw that the girl got he tried to scare her, but she kept smiling.

“You smile, of course you smile. Like any outsider. Like any man so poor in spirit, so uneducated, that he does not know about dangers around us. But, I ... I not only read and learned a lot about these hazards, but I also had to deal with them.”

The boy took a short break. Elizabeth's smile, little by little faded away.

“My great-great-grandfather had such a creature ... an ogre, as a servant. They are very…”

"Of course he was your servant, he couldn’t be your master," Miss Edwards smiled again.

“Do you let me continue or ...?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“He was a servant because they are very strong. They were reliable for hard work. They could lift weights. They protected men against any danger. It is said that they could even fight with dragons. But grandfather considered him more than a servant. He built a mansion for him and for his family, larger than ours, to fit their size. He and his family lived happily next to us. Not as servants, but as friends. Until one day when everything got a bad turn ...”

“So ... they couldn't feel like your friends. I wonder why.” the girl smiled. “Maybe because it's hard to be friends with the Soimesti family?”

“Everything took a very bad turn,” the boy grabbed her arm, a sign that he didn’t want to be interrupted. “One evening when all my great-grandfather's family gathered at the mansion, all the relatives from overseas, over sixty people, something terrible happened. And my grandfather personally saw it, as he arrived at the mansion only two days after, because the ship he travelled with was delayed ... to his luck.”

The boy had a tear in his left eye. He looked at the girl, straight in the eye.

“When he arrived at the mansion he found broken doors and on the steps at the entrance, blood pools. He entered the mansion, and the main hall looked even worse than it was on the stairs. Blood, human flesh, arms, legs ... heads. A carnage!”

Elizabeth didn’t at all. She was scared.

“Yeah, you guessed right. My family was killed by those creatures we considered friends. All our family, which could now be more numerous, died in a few moments. Only my grandfather and his sister escaped ... because they were late. The rest died. Old people, men, women and many children. Like me and you. So stop laughing! Think about that! If they hadn’t been late, now I wouldn’t exist. That’s fate. I know some would be delighted without…the arrogant Alexander Soimesti. But I am still human ...”

“Alexander, I'm so sorry ... I don't know what ...”

The boy waved the image with that creature in front of the girl's eyes so fast that the girl gave a scream of fear at that moment.

“Do you know what's worse? That they were not caught. And it is said that if one feels the taste of a man's blood, he will seek the blood of those in that family for life! Yes, if those creatures still live, you know they are looking for me too because they need the taste of my blood ... And they live hundreds of years!”

Elizabeth could hardly breathe, a sign that the story really affected her.

“Old people... women ... children,” she mumbled.

The boy slightly moved away from her, turning his back.

“I hope ... I just hope not one of your relatives was bitten by such a creature. Even if it is very likely,” the boy continued. So be careful. Maybe we're both chased by ogres. These thirsty creatures looking for the taste of our blood. I say give up smiling and think about this for real.”

That's what the boy had to say. Elizabeth was flaming red, shivering. Only she knows what crossed her mind at that moment.

“My dear, are you okay?” Miss Harmony got close to her quickly. “Here, have a little water ...,” the woman offered her a glass that came from nowhere in her hand.

“What happened?” the professor asked.

After drinking the water, the girl said in a few words.

“Alexander told me about how all his relatives died ... eaten by ogres. Old people, women and children. Maybe I'll ...”

The woman turned the boy facing her and Elizabeth could see his smile almost disappeared.

“Shame on you, Alexander ...”

The boy started laughing loud, but seeing Miss Harmony’s sharp gaze, stopped and lay down on the grass, a little further.

The woman hugged the girl.

“Don't believe everything you are told. His family suffered nothing. I know his story. He scared a few other people with it. Believe me when I tell you that nothing happened to his family.”

The woman picked up Alexander's book and read to the girl a little:

“Ogres are odious creatures, strong and extremely rare, not seen for more than two hundred years. With little intelligence, these creatures have a single impulse. That of kidnapping beautiful creatures, such as mermaids, fairies, even young girls, to hold them prisoners as well as ... to be their partners.

Some say this is because, as odious as they are, no one spends their time with them; they don’t even spend time with each other.

But some researchers do not agree with this latest theory, claiming that two ogres have never shared the same place ... because there are extremely few specimens in the world. Or they were, because for two hundred years they may have completely disappeared.

Even if it is impossible to see such creatures today, you must know that it is not advisable to try to oppose or fight with such creatures, because as crappy as they are, they believe that eating their enemies’ flesh, they will get their physical look and appearance.

It is advisable to avoid such creatures, as they can be dangerous. They have the ability to turn into different other creatures ... but only if they met those creatures into which they can turn, because some say they are ... almost devoid of intelligence."

Miss Harmony stopped reading. The girl smiled slightly and hugged the woman.

“So they're not as many as rats?”

“From the drains of London? No. Alexander fooled you. And they live less than a man, not hundreds of years.”

The professor gave the boy a new look.

“I told her not to ask me so many questions,” Alexander tried to defend himself, but the same determined gaze of Miss Harmony’s silenced him.

The professor looked at the girl. And she saw her feeling better now when she realized everything was a big lie.

“Now I have to go ... I rush to get to the Magic Consulate. “Alexander, please continue to help her. But behave yourself. If I ever hear about this story again, you lose points. I'm talking to Knudlac.”

Now Alexander's face looked as if someone told him his ogre story and he believed it.

Miss Harmony smiled as she knew she stopped the story forever. She gazed at Elizabeth as dearly as a mother looks at her daughter.

“Alexander gave you a great lesson today. Although he did it in his grotesque way, it was still an important lesson. He showed you once again what it means to not know. This happens when someone doesn’t choose knowledge. They believe everything ... and they can be manipulated anyway. That is why school is very important ...”

“I know, Miss Harmony. Even more than before. Now I really want to know everything. Surely school will help me make the wisest decisions when needed. What to avoid and what to leave as part of my life ...”

“You're so sweet ... and smart. You’re wonderful,” Miss Harmony hugged her again. “When I have a daughter I want her to be like you.”

And the professor kissed the girl’s forehead.

She smiled at Elizabeth, waving her finger at Alexander as a sign for "behave yourself" and walked away.

The two picked their books and read on and ... it was certainly the last time the ogre story was told by Alexander Soimesti.

…

Elizabeth Edwards was reading a book, while Alexander, bored with so much reading, sat down, back against a shadowy tree.

Professor Knudlac was nearby. When the man saw the girl, he got close to them.

“Hi, kids. How are things?”

“Alexander helped me a lot. After a long time guiding me, I read much better. I very rarely get letters mixed up now. Even more, I get the meaning of the sentences,” the girl exclaimed happily. If I could, I’d give Alexander five points ...”

Mr. Knudlac shook the boy's hand with gratitude. Alexander got to his feet when he saw the professor.

“Thanks, Alexander. As for the points ... you are lucky you don’t miss a few, because I heard what you did before.”

The boy smiled, satisfied. He knew he'd have Mr. Knudlac's gratefulness and respect forever, as he helped Elizabeth. Probably this was the only reason he agreed to train a girl.

"My pleasure, anytime. I'm glad I can help. It's not easy with a student like her, but with a little effort she’ll succeed. I’ll do my best for that, Professor Knudlac," continued the same Alexander who managed to act as a boy who cared and was willing to help the others.

But I guess we all know the truth.

"I know, Alexander it takes from your precious time. But you'll be rewarded for sure. One good turn deserves another. Our professors are satisfied too, as well as your professors."

The professor asked the boy preparing to leave:

"Alexander, before I forget. Take Elizabeth to the Sanctuary of Guardians, please. To pick a guardian. Or better said, to be picked by one of them. And then you’re free of the task I gave you, that of helping Elizabeth Edwards.

"Yes, sir," the boy replied, so helpful way, that if we didn’t know him well enough, he might fool us.

After Mr. Knudlac left, Alexander told Elizabeth:

"Let's go. You have to choose a beast, then I will no longer have to see you."

"Where are we going? And what is that Guardian?"

"You’ll see," said the boy slightly irritated. "I don't understand why you have to ask so many questions. Whatever I say, you come with a question."

The girl smiled. As she saw and got nothing but joyful stuff, she could hardly wait to see what that Guardian could be. She wasn't disturbed by the boy's arrogance. Her only concern now was to see what would happen next.

Surely the fact that she could have a guardian meant she gradually became a student ready to advance in the mysteries of magic and she was on the right track.

"Learn to be patient. It irritates me when people have no patience."

"Sorry."

The girl followed Alexander happily, whereas he was clearly disturbed by the fact that he had to show her everywhere. It wasn’t enough that he wasted so much time teaching her to read. Now he had to be her guide too ... or worse, her servant.

The girl and the boy stopped in front of a large building, with letters floating magically, shining in warm hues: "The sanctuary of mystical and non-mystical creatures."

A small creature like a little boy of four, with big ears and nose, wrinkled, chubby, introduced himself to the two:

"Hello, Mr. Alexander. Good morning, Miss, I'm Vajnijiu. I'm a stone elf."

"I'm Elizabeth Edwards. I came here…"

"I know very well who you are, Miss. I also met your parents, and their parents ... and those before them," said the little elf.

Hearing this, Elizabeth was amazed. She wasn’t sure if her parents were students or professors at this school ... She could find so many answers to the questions in her mind. But as usual, Alexander didn’t let her do what she wanted, but he pursued his own gain.

"Professor Knudlac sent us to find a guardian for her. And then I'm free. So we're late..."

“Of course, come in," replied the elf politely, putting up his nose a bit at Alexander.

Who knows how many children he talked to in his life, since he knew those who lived long before Elizabeth, maybe ruder than this boy. So he wasn't affected at all by the students' arrogance and pride.

The door of the Sanctuary opened by itself, and the two entered a round room, like the stage of a small amphitheatre. The girl looked at Alexander. The same infinite number of questions could no longer find their place in her mind. But right as she prepared to ask something, she saw the boy again calling for patience, as he would explain everything that was to be explained. It was evident that he was also eager to be left as soon as possible alone and to get rid of his position as her nanny - because that's how he saw things.

In that room there were a few old bookshelves with books and on the walls, numerous paintings of famous wizards, and if you looked more closely at any of them, the painting seemed to know that you look at it and began to show scenes from that wizard's life. In a few minutes one could find out a lot about the life lived by the one who was depicted.

Alexander was busy looking for something so Elizabeth started to look more closely at one of those paintings. Under that painting was the name Igor Dragoesti, who lived between 1157 and 1272. The painting began to present his life. A citadel appeared as a picture in there, and in a house within that citadel there was a baby, whose name was Igor Dragoesti.

The little boy, despite his age, helped his parents around the house and in the field, and looked after the animals on the farm. That picture also showed Elizabeth how as he grew older, the boy and his mother gathered various fruits in the forest. Finding an oak tree branch in that thick forest through which you could barely make your way forward, he began to carve it. That branch carved by Igor was a special stick, azure colour.

As he was walking with his mother busy with that branch, suddenly a bear cub appeared, followed by a female bear. The beast as tall as two people seated on top of each other rose to its feet, then leaned over his mother. With one blow it threw Igor's mother to the ground and then rushed over the boy.

When she wanted to attack the boy, he repulsed her with ... that branch. Unaware how and why, the boy sent a flame from that rod right in front of mama bear, who, scared ran away with her baby. And then the boy managed to see how ...

Silence is broken:

"Protectorum Sanctuarum," Alexander said.

And the round room began to disintegrate. The bricks that made it began to disappear. At first one, two, then tens, hundreds of bricks disappeared, until eventually the two children ended up in the open field.

Elizabeth looked left and right and was astonished when she saw such an image.

They were at the foot of a huge mountain, as if all the mountain ranges in the world overlapped there. Its peaks were barely visible. Many of them were as white as the fur of a great-great-grandfather of the oldest polar bear. When he saw Elizabeth's smiling face, not even Alexander could be silent.

"Yes, there on those peaks I heard we can see flying snow leopards but also mammoths, snow camels or white squirrels. And ... huge minotaurs with six horns.”

But the girl quickly ran in another direction leaving Alexander to talk to himself.

After taking less than twenty steps running, the girl stopped at a magic, transparent wall, behind which there was a bizarre creature, looking like a huge flying lizard. She could, in one gulp, swallow the two children in her womb, if it wasn't for that magic shield.

All the creature's enormous nest was full of snow and ice, even if immediately behind it, where Elizabeth sat, it warm and nice, and the snow was completely missing.

The creature herself was made of ice. The scales that covered her body were of ice, her eyes were dark blue, and at the end of her tail she had a multitude of spines ... probably all made of ice. A kind of thicker and definitely very strong icicles.

Her breath let out of her nostrils snowflakes and ice as well as a blustery wind whirling the snow chaotically.

The little girl managed to read on a flying tag that the creature was an ice dragon.

"Take your wand in your hand and repeat after me," Alexander interrupted Miss Edwards' sightseeing.

"Is this a guardian? I want it", said the girl, unable to take her eyes off that beast.

"Ha," Alexander laughed. "Anyone would like it ... But it's impossible. It's not a guardian, and I don’t have all the time in the world to be your nanny. So get your wand and repeat after me: Protectorum protectoris.”

The girl repeated the words and at that moment the two disappeared. They appeared inside an area that seemed to be a huge cage. It was over 50 meters high and definitely stretched over a very large area, because Elizabeth couldn’t see the side walls of that cage, perhaps because of the multitude of trees, plants and bushes. There was even a small crook flowing near them, in that magic cage.

Elizabeth was a little scared. She knew she was in the house of that creature that, unaware how and why, she wanted to be her guardian.

And since she didn't know what kind of animal it was, maybe a dragon that could swallow her on the spot, or a six-horned minotaur, or ... The truth was she was very scared. What if her guardian were to become ... an attacker?

Alexander, as confident as ever, wasn’t scared at all.

"Keep calm. Surely your guardian is a little insect. Or a butterfly. That's the beginning. It will be something more important over time, depending on your strength. So now take the wand in your hand and call it. Monstra In is the word.

"Monstra In!" she called out, unaware what kind of creature her guardian will be.

At that moment, they could hear a loud scream that could give anyone goosebumps. Something started to fly fast through the cage, hitting the tops of trees in a deafening roar, then he got close to the girl and grabbed her hand with his claws. It was a small hawk. Alexander started laughing loud.

Elizabeth didn't understand why, so the boy needed to explain:

"Honestly, I expected you to have a small and insignificant guardian, but I didn't really expect this. It's like having a bunny to protect you. In fact, the bunny would surely have grown larger than a hawk and would probably protect you better. I think you should protect him rather,” Alexander laughed.

The girl smiled when she saw how friendly that hawk sat on her arm. As if they knew each other for a lifetime. And she smiled even more when she saw the hawk tried to pinch the boy, when he wanted to touch her.

The bird accepted her. And she also liked that guardian. She never had a pet. And now she had a hawk. They’d become best friends, and guardians for one another.

"We'll be good friends," the girl said, not caring that Alexander kept laughing. "We’ll do everything together and ..."

"Let's go," the boy said snapping at her. "Even if I laugh a lot when I'm with you because it seems that fate is against you, I still want to leave because I'm done. Finding the guardian means finishing the training, so I won't have to waste my time with you anymore. Even if this little sparrow is your guardian now, I did a perfect job. It's not my fault.

“Relinquo Sanctuarii," said Alexander and the two returned to the entrance of the Sanctuary of mystical and non-mystical creatures.

Prince Soimesti saw Elizabeth a little confused, like a little girl who as soon as she opened the gift from Santa, it was taken from her hand, so he comforted her:

"Stay calm, you didn't lose him. When you need him, call out Monstra In. He will come. And he will also come when he feels you’re in danger, because that's the guardians' task. Look ... this Pendant of Summoning, which is now around your neck, if you wear it all the time, that little sparrow will come when you call her or when she feels she has to show up.” The girl admired the pendant engrained with a bright green gem. She was so happy and she smiled so beautifully that Alexander couldn't stand her mood.

"But that doesn’t mean that the little sparrow will be able to help you," the boy couldn't help rubbing the salt in.

Still, his attitude made no sense. Elizabeth was far too happy. She was happy to have someone to always support her. Someone who’ll never leave her. As long as she wears that pendant around her neck, of course ... and she’ll never remove it.

The two looked at each other. The girl was on top of the world. But the boy was very bored.

"I finished my schooling job. I did even more than I should have. Go tell Mr. Knudlac that you have a guardian from now on. Now you’re on your own."

And Alexander left without looking back, moving away, proud.

The girl also started happily towards the main building of the Elmbridge School of Magic, to get to her bedroom. Inside, she crossed the corridors to her room, when in one of the corridors she met Mr. Knudlac.

"Do you have a guardian, my dear?"

"Yes," the girl answered happily. A hawk. Alexander says that because he’s small, he won't be able to protect me, but I don't think so."

"You should know, my dear that strong essences are found in small bottles. Like you ... and that little hawk has a special power for sure.”

The girl looked at the professor, beaming.

"Why don't you have a guardian? I heard that instead of a guardian you can cast a spell to create ... another professor Eaden Knudlac."

"I had one when I was younger, but he was killed. I suffered a lot from this. It's like a part of you is dying. You’ll see that all his pain will be yours, as well as any joy of his."

"But, the same can happen with ... the other Professor Knudlac, right?"

"If something happens to him ... How can I say? Maybe it will be easier for me to get over this. I’ll never miss myself."

The professor laughed loud for a few moments, after which he gently stroke the little girl's head.

"I was kidding. Any loss is painful. Now go to rest as tomorrow a new school day begins."

"OK, Professor Knudlac."

The girl climbed the stairs and entered her room. Elizabeth Catherine Edwards jumped into her bed happier than ever. She thought about what happened since she was at the Elmbridge Magic School, and especially about what happened that day. She now had her pet. A guardian, as the others called it. A friend ... as she saw it.