I gaze from side to side as Ward Amon guides me by my arm along the main, winding cobblestone street of Adytol. Behind us trail Ward Thorn and Ward Volkan, who I hear muttering to each other even now, and I flinch. I can feel their frustration toward me, their sharp glances on my back as we walk. But I’m not ready to agree to be a Ward yet.
The bustle of Adytol takes my mind off the heavy decision waiting for me—I stare at buildings who have windows full of all sorts of baked goods I’ve never seen before, a street merchant selling a wide variety of freshly-picked fruits and vegetables, an entire store dedicated to shoes—shoes that line so many counters in the window!—and so much more. Children run in packs, chasing each other with mock swords and wooden planks as shields.
“I’m Ward Mortimer!” one little girl declares. “Come, Undabouclier!”
A slightly younger, smaller boy with two flat pieces of wood for wings and a rope tied around his waist for a tail gives an adorable “roar” and bounds after the girl. I can’t help but smile as the girl tries to get on the boy’s back and they topple over a few times before he manages.
“Wait,” one of the boys say. His eyes are locked on us. “Is that…?!”
The kids all turn, and I hear Ward Volkan chuckle. “Here it comes.”
“It is! It’s Wards!”
I stare in shock as the children flock around us, chattering excitedly. “Ward Volkan! Ward Volkan! Can I have an autograph?” one of the kids asks. He holds out his wooden sword. “You’re my favorite Ward!”
“Ward Thorn, how is Vitegadium?”
“We heard that you were attacked by Vladykars!” an older boy asks. “Is everyone okay?”
“Can I have your autograph, Ward Amon?”
“Ward Thorn, what happened to your arm?”
“Who is the girl?”
“Wait, isn’t that Astralux’s new bonded?!”
Now the children gather around me, peering up into my face. Which, given my petite height, isn’t difficult for them. I smile at them. “Hello, I’m Estelle Brand.”
“You’re the newest Ward!” one of the boys exclaims. “I heard you took down a Vladykar dragon!”
“With fire magic!” another young girl shouts.
I cringe, but the children cheer excitedly, a couple of them jumping up and down. “I’m not a Ward,” I say.
“What? But, but you’re bonded to Astralux, right?” a little girl asks.
“Well, yes,” I say. “It’s just….”
“Alright, alright,” Ward Amon says. “Let the lady alone. It’s her first day in Adytol.” He holds out small pieces of paper that I spot have “Ward Amon & Andeuten” scrawled on them. The children snatch at the paper excitedly, and Ward Amon takes my arm again and pulls me away. “Kids, you know?”
I give him a small smile, uncertain of what he’s getting at. I’m quickly distracted by the sound of music, and peer through the crowds of people to see two men and a lady playing instruments. The only instrument I recognize is the recorder. The other two instruments, one some sort of stringed piece and the other blown like a recorder but squashed in shape, I’ve never seen before.
“What are those?” I ask.
“The musicians?” Ward Volkan asks, his tone one of disbelief.
“The instruments,” I say. “I recognize the recorder, but I’ve never seen the other two.”
“That’s an ocarina, and the lady is playing a lute,” Ward Amon says. “Do you play an instrument?”
“No,” I say. “But one of the men in our village had a recorder, and I loved when he played.” A brief memory of Inizion comes to mind and I sigh.
“You miss home then,” Ward Amon says. I nod.
“Adytol has lots to offer,” Ward Volkan says. “You’ll like it here.”
I’m not sure what to think just yet, but I can tell Ward Volkan is trying to be nice, and I give him a small smile before Ward Amon takes my arm and we continue on. A shadow falls over us, and I look up to see Vitegadium and Tikokaftos flying overhead. The people all around us clamor excitedly and point up at them. I don’t blame them in the least bit—the dragons are amazing to behold.
Realizing that the two dragons are watching over their bonded humans, I glance at Ward Amon. “Where is Andeuten?”
“Oh, wandering around,” Ward Amon says. “He’s extra cautious and likes to keep an eye on things.”
“I wish Vite would try to be even a little cautious,” Ward Thorn says.
“Why be cautious at all? We’re Wards!” Ward Volkan says.
“Being cautious is always a wise course of action,” Ward Thorn says.
Ward Volkan gives a snort. “But at some point you have to take an action. You can’t be cautious all the time. Take Amon for example. He does lots of scout work, but when he was faced with a Vladykar pair, what did he do?”
“Took them down,” Ward Thorn mutters. I glance up at Ward Amon who gives me a small smile, still leading me along.
“If he had hesitated, do you think Astralux would still be with us?” Ward Volkan says.
Now I frown at Ward Amon as we pause under the shade of an awning. “You saved Astralux?”
“The day Tristin died,” Ward Amon says quietly, “Andeuten and I got there just in time.”
“What happened to Ward Tristin?” I ask. “I’ve been afraid to ask Astralux. I know she misses him.”
“We all miss him,” Ward Volkan says, a bit testily. He glares at me with his yellow hazel eyes, as if blaming me. “He was a great Ward. Greater than most of us.”
“A Vladykar pair got to him while he was separated from Astralux,” Ward Thorn says quietly. “Astralux was forced to flee.”
“And would have died had not Amon and Andeuten gotten there.” Ward Volkan points at me and I shrink back. “And now Astralux, who wants nothing more than to go after the Vladykars to avenge Tristin, is stuck with you, who refuses to—”
“—Take it easy, Volkan.” Ward Amon pushes Ward Volkan’s arm down. “Estelle has already proven her worth. Give her time to consider the consequences she faces with her decision.”
Ward Thorn, who is frowning, nods his head once in agreement. “Didn’t Kalteratem mention that you were already helping out Head Nurse Jaye? And that already after fighting back Velenosever.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s true.” Ward Volkan eases back in his stance. He crosses his arms, eyeing me. “I guess I don’t see why it’s a difficult decision to just be a Ward, though,” he mutters.
I swallow, uncomfortable with the tension that hangs over us. But then Ward Amon puts his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s keep going.”
We walk in silence further down the cobblestone road. Despite their seeming frustration toward me, Ward Thorn and Ward Volkan do contribute to the tour, pointing out various buildings as we walk.
“That’s The Silver Goblet, another good place to get a drink,” Ward Volkan says.
“Maybe we should stop there on the way back,” Ward Amon says.
“I don’t have any money,” I say.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ward Thorn says. “We’ll cover you.”
“Oy, Wards!” I turn with the three Wards to see two men standing beside several large wooden crates. Nearby is a wagon attached to two horses. One of the men gives a grin and waves. “I’m sure you’re busy, but could we get your help?”
“Of course.” Ward Volkan walks over, surveying the crates. “Need these put on the cart?”
“Yeah, and they’re heavy.” The men, who have sweat trickling down their forehead, gesture to the fact that they’ve gotten one of five crates loaded onto the wagon. “We were just talking about taking them apart.”
My keen eyesight picks up the glint of golden metal between the boards of one crate. “What’s in these?” I ask.
“Refined gold,” one of the men says. He points at a large iron smelter tucked to the side against the mountain. “We got a good delivery the other day, but this stuff is heavier than the iron we normally deal with.”
Ward Thorn eyes their wagon. “Can this wagon bear this kind of weight?”
“Sure can, it brought all the raw ore here.”
“Alright then.” Ward Volkan puts his arms around a crate. He heaves it up, and as the two men laugh, Ward Volkan slides it onto the wagon.
“Ah man, I love having Wards around!” one of the two men say.
I turn to a crate, wondering at how heavy it is. As I stoop to pick it up, the two men scurry to my side. “Oh, ma’am, you don’t need to do that!” one of them say.
“Help me lift this,” I say.
“Really—” Both men stop, gaping, as I start to lift the crate up. “Wait, you’re the new Ward, Astralux’s new bonded?!”
“Amazing!”
“Um.” I strain with the crate, barely keeping it off the ground. But it is off the ground—I could have never even hoped to budge something this heavy before, let alone lift it. “I do need help.”
“Oh, right!” The two men grab the other sides of the crate, relieving some of the pressure, and the three of us manage to get it up onto the wagon. The three Wards take care of the remaining crates by themselves.
“Amazing! Haven’t seen a female Ward since Ward Dolores,” one of the men says.
“She’s not a Ward,” Ward Volkan mutters.
“Estelle bonded to Astralux under a different set of circumstances,” Ward Amon explains. “Anyhow, we should be going.”
“Let us buy you all a drink!” one of the men say.
“Yeah, I think this is the second time you’ve helped us out this week, Ward Thorn,” the other man says. “We’re going to have to start paying you wages if you keep this up.”
Ward Thorn smiles a little. “It’s fine. It’s part of being a Ward.”
Surprised, I watch as the Wards kindly decline the men’s persistent offers for drinks. When we continue on down the road, partly in escape, I glance at Ward Thorn. “Do you regularly help out the people in Adytol?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” Ward Thorn asks.
“I guess I thought all you did was fight,” I say.
“Well, being defenders of Adytol, and really all of Drakonia, is our primary purpose,” Ward Thorn says. “But being a Ward means being Ariadna’s light to all people and creatures, and sometimes that means serving people in the ‘mundane,’ such as that.”
“We have to be careful not to let people take advantage of that,” Ward Volkan says. “But most of the folks in Adytol know not to ask for a Ward’s help too flippantly.”
Surprised, I stare off in the direction of the weight on my heart—toward Astralux. Ward Veremund had mentioned something similar to this, but at the time I had just assumed he meant that when not in battle the Wards trained for the next fight. Now, however, I’m beginning to see that they’re protectors, not necessarily warriors. They do what’s best for Adytol, whether that means facing off against a Vladykar or lifting heavy crates. And my heart softens a little as I recall the light on the faces of the people of Adytol whenever they laid eyes on a Ward. Wards are, in essence, the hands of Ariadna to Adytol. Perhaps I’ve been too hasty in my decision to see them as battle-yearning combatants.
“So, Estelle,” Ward Amon says. “Would you like a drink? I’m sure a little rest would be good for your weary legs.”
I glance down the winding cobblestone path that continues on before us—I’m not sure we even made it halfway through Adytol. “I should probably rest,” I say at last. I’m still feeling drained from the use of my magic days ago. Helping Head Nurse Jaye that morning and then lifting the heavy crates, let alone walking everywhere, isn’t helping me recover.
Ward Thorn frowns. “Your legs are shaking.” He starts to reach out but stops when Ward Amon takes my arm.
“You pushed yourself far too hard,” Ward Amon says. “We’ll stop at The Silver Goblet for a drink and rest a bit before we make it back to the Wards’ Palace.”
“Mm, I’ll probably have me some fireweed ale. Have you ever had any?” Ward Volkan asks me.
“No,” I say, intrigued.
“I’ll have to buy you one to try. Their fireweed ale—”
I jump as shouts of surprise fill the air overtop a strange rumbling sound. It’s coming from farther down the mountain, and my ears pick out the clattering of rocks.
“That sounded like a cave in,” Ward Thorn says.
“Was that from the mines? Oh no.” Ward Volkan takes off sprinting down the road. “We need to get down there now!”
Tamara Rivers 
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