Ch.5:The Seven Guardians

"Wha-"Ashley was completely taken aback by the sudden attack and looked at her surrounding to find the unknown person.

Hundreds of fire arrows appeared at the same time and burned all monsters at once.

"Who is there!?"Ashley shouted as she stood in front of Liam in a protective position, with her sword in her hand, ready to attack.

"Calm down. I'm no threat."The figure said in a bored tone.

"Who are you!?"She shouted again, still keeping her guards on, while wondering why they sounded so familiar.

"You don't need to know."The figure said and a yawned noise was heard afterwards. "Monster sure are annoying, aren't they?"

"Who are you?"Ashley repeated firmly.

"I told you that you don't need to know it, didn't I?"The figure said lazily. "Just go back to sle-"They stopped and cleared their voice."I meant calm down and repair your tent."

The tent was in a very bad shape and most likely not repairable.

"That doesn't matter right now. Show yourself!"She demanded.

"Nah, don't want to."They said, completely unbothered by her firm demand.

"Can you please show yourself?"Liam asked calmly. "We can't trust you if you don't show yourself."

"I can't, sorry."The figure said."I'm only supposed to protect you and nothing else."

"Protect us?"Liam asked in confusion.

"Shit-"The figure thought in their head as they realized that they had messed up.

"You didn't hear that."They said.

"We did."Ashley said and the figure cursed at his stupidity. "Just show yourself already."

A moment of silence passed before the figure spoke again. "Wait a moment."

They took a small crystal ball out of their pocket and spoke to someone, before they jumped down from the tree, revealing themself.

It was Ruby's brother, the one with red eyes! 

The two of them were flabbergasped to see him and he just smiled at them.

"Hey! You didn't expect to see me, did you?"He said in a friendly manner. "My name is Flare."

Ashley eyes widen when she heard his name.

"Is it a coincidence?"She thought to herself. "It probably is, but..."

Flare was the name of one of the seven guardians.  He was considered the most brutal and crazy one out of them all. One of the most famous stories about him was when he single-handedly murdered an entire army. His reason? They angered him.

"Flare? That sound familiar."Liam said and looked at Ashley with a 'don't you think so?' face expression.

"Yes, just like one of the seven guardians' name."Ashley said, looking at Flare as hope flickered in her eyes.

"That's cause I am him."Flare said calmly, unbothered at the reveal of his identity.

Ashley on the other hand was very excited and couldn't believe that this is real.

"May I ask you a question?"Liam politely asked and Flare nodded approvingly. "It's not really my place to ask, but I'm curious as to whether Ruby is really your sister or not since there hasn't been any information about you having a sister."

"Of course she is. She is my precious little sister!"Flare said proudly. "She was still an egg at the time, so there is no information about her."

"Pardon, but did you say an egg?"Liam asked in confusion.

"Yes, I did. She is a dragon."Flare said in a collected manner, despite the shocking news that he had just revealed.

Nowadays dragons are very rare to find. Due to the previous treatment of dragons, they became hostile towards other races and lived in secret.

Both Ashley and Liam were flabbergasped and couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"She's a dragon??"Ashley asked with both excitement and disbelief shining in her eyes.

"Yup."He replied and looked at his magic watch. "We should get going now."

"Go where?"Ashley asked in confusion. 

"To my campsite."He pointed at their tent with his thumb."I'm pretty sure that your tent isn't repairable."

The two of them were lost for words, so he continued speaking. "You can stay with us for the night. It's dangerous out here, especially without a tent.---Not that it gives you much protection anyways.---Besides, Ruby misses you. She seemed to be quiet fond of you."

They agreed and went towards Flare's campsite.

As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by a happy Ruby that ran toward her brother.

"Big brother Flare!"She said excitedly with a wide smile on her face.

"Aww, my baby sister is awake!"He lifted her into the air and spun her around, making her giggle.

"Hello."A man with dark brown hair and golden eyes that shined under the moonlight said while smiling warmly. 

"Hello."Ashley and Liam replied.

"It's nice to finally meet you."He bowed politely. "Thank you for saving our sister."

"No need to bow. We just did what was right."Liam said and Ashley nodded in agreement. 

He raised back and spoke in a gentle tone. "If you say so. It's getting late. Why don't we all go to sleep, hm?"

"Big brother Ethan, can I please stay awake for a little longer?"Ruby asked with puppy eyes, but it didn't melt him.

Ethan, the second leader of the Seven Guardians and the third oldest. He is known to be polite and gentle, yet strong and dangerous. Many say he is the second strongest after Voltra, their leader.

"No, you're already way past your bedtime."Ethan said with a strict yet soothing tone.

Ruby seemed dissappointed by his answer, so Flare patted her head. "Don't pout. We can play tomorrow, but for now we should go to sleep."He said with a big smile on his face and she agreed.

"Please follow me."Ethan said after Ruby and Flare went into a tent.

They followed him to an empty tent. "You can sleep here. Feel free to stay as long as you want."He said before he left.

"They seem nice."Liam said and looked at Ashley that was overjoyed. "Well, you're happy."

"Yeah, I am!"She said."We actually met the legendary guardians!"

He chuckled. "We sure did." He laid down on the sleeping bed. "Let's go to sleep, it's late."

Hours passed and the sun finally rose as the next day began.

Ashley was just brushing her hair when someone yelled Ethan's name.

"What's going on?"She asked herself as she went out of the tent.

Just as she stepped out, two boys bumped into her, making all three of them fall.

"Sorry.."The two of them said while holding their heads.

"It's okay."She replied and looked at them.

It was the man with dark blue eyes and the man with emerald green eyes that she had met when they came to pick up Ruby.

"Are you okay?"The man with dark blue eyes asked as he extended his hand to help her stand.

She took his hand and stood up. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Breeze, Rose!"A man with dark brown hair and silver eyes shouted. His hair was styled and he wore an elegant suit that was the complete opposite of his siblings'.

Breeze, the second oldest of the seven guardians who is known for his playful personality and his ability to control magic.

Rose, the sixth eldest of them, is very well known for his pure nature and knowledge of herbs.

"Oh no! Rhys found us."Rose, the one with green eyes said.

"Gotta go!"Breeze said as he pulled Rose and ran for their life.

"I swear this idiots..."Rhys grumbled and his irritated gaze turned into a charming one when he saw her. "Good morning my lady."

Rhys, the youngest of them and yet the wisest of them. He is known for his charming personality and for being a 'mastermind'. There are rumors that he loves to play with his victim.

"Good morning."Ashley replied calmly, but the faint blush on her cheek revealed her true emotion.

It wasn't usual that someone called her a 'lady'. People usually made fun of her, telling her that she smelled like trash.

"Please excuse me. I have something to take care of."He said with a charming smile before he went to find Breeze and Rose.

"It's so early...how do they have so much energy?"A man with baby blue eyes said and yawned.

"You're just a lazy polar bear Frosty."Flare that was next to him said. 

"Don't call me that."Frost glared at him, but it didn't scare him at all.

Frost, the fifth oldest of them is known for his ability in shooting. Many people say that he is like a 'ghost', because he always manage to approach them without getting noticed.

Flare noticed Ashley and smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning."Ashley replied while Liam just got out of the tent.

"Did you have a good sleep?"Ashley asked when she noticed Liam.

"Yeah, I did."He replied.

They talked a bit more before they saw Ethan cooking, so they decided to help him.

Soon the breakfast was ready and Ethan called everyone to eat.

"So far I have met almost everyone...the only person left is..."Ashley thought as her gaze turned to the person. "Voltra."

Voltra is the eldest and the leader. He is often referred to as a 'ruthless monster' due to his cold personality and merciless fighting.

He noticed her stare, but didn't give it any attention and just sat on a chair between Ethan and Breeze.

"Morning!"Breeze said cheerfully. "Grumphy much."He commented when Voltra looked at him with an annoyed expression, his crimson red eyes piercing into dark blue ones.

"You just have too much energy."He said with his deep masculine voice that was both intimidating and attractive.

"Can't you atleast pretend to be happy? We have guests, you know?"He motioned at Ashley and Liam that was sitting across them with his chin.

"Nope." He replied coldly and took a bite of his food.