1 Ch. 1

"Water is the life-force of every living being. Protecting it is an honor. You were chosen because you show a high affinity to the life-force of water. Yes, you heard correctly. Water has a life-force, and every Guardian must be aware of his or her connection to it at all times." −Loriath Chaliaz the Wise, 4079 AWD

The dry, red, and cracked ground shimmered in the hot afternoon sun. The burning, yellow globe high in the sky glared down on the earth as if it were a problem that needed to be fixed. The broad vista gave no indication that life was indeed present, as there were no animals in sight, either on the ground, or in the atmosphere above. Unless you could call the cadets animals, and miserable animals at that. No amount of coolant or ice-chips could stop them from sweating in the heat. Yes, they were cadets, and proud of it. Being chosen to guard the water supply for villages in their sector was a huge honor which only a few were given. In 4088, AWD, the Drought of 40 Summers had ended, as had the bloodshed, but gypsy pirates still attacked reservoirs frequently, in hopes of controlling the infrastructure. Of course, Loriath Chaliaz the Wise had made certain that this would never happen. By starting the Guardians, he made sure that no one would be able to control Earth. Although he was the first to call himself by the title 'Loriath' meaning Grand Emperor in the language of the Belgradians, he was still a fair ruler. Meting out fairness and executing justice where needed.

The Guardian cadets totaled eight in all. All were sixteen years of age, and all had on the regulated suits, complete with all the latest tech, meaning that there were night-vision goggles, and laser blasters, but apart from that, the suits really sucked. Yes, the scientists swore they were top of the line suits, but ever since they had come out with Darkẻ Beasts, they had been timid in inventing anything else. The training of the cadets was a serious matter. Taken from their village at the age of thirteen, they were taken to a nearby reservoir to observe and train with other cadets. Once they completed that training, they would be given charge of one, far away from their home villages, to ensure they stayed focused and proper protocol was observed. The cadets would stay on with three trainers at first, and the number would decrease every year. Now, these cadets only had one. A large, ugly man, whom they called 'Baldie'. The running of a reservoir consisted of giving out water to the families whose names were in the Census Book. Each man, woman, and child were entitled to 1 liter of water a day. Considering that there were many people in a family, this was enough to last for a day, and then some, but those were the rules, and the rules had to be followed. Every family could come whenever they liked, and so far, the cadets had only gotten one.

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"Is it usually this quiet?" asked Jareth, the self-appointed crew leader.

"Well, it might be because it is 105⁰ outside. Lovely weather am I right?" said Ahslen, one of the technicians. She knew how every piece of complicated machinery in the reservoir worked, from the cooling system to the giant cranes, meant to get water from deep below ground.

"Lovely, we get to sweat it out in 105⁰ weather while Baldie gets all coolant and water he wants. The lan'cut." Growled Sheila. Now Sheila was the most hot-tempered of all the little crew. She was also a watercarrier. She was the one who would fetch the heavy buckets of water from below ground. Her temper also did not improve if it was hot, Jareth had found. In fact, it got worse. That was usually why Jareth would try to give all his coolant to Sheila, because her temper could instigate the entire crew, and if they were not careful, they could end up suspended from duty for 3 months. The last time that had happened, they had decided to change things. Work more as a team, rather than a group of polar-opposite individuals.

"Hey, Sheila, cut that out, you don��t want to waste your breath, or else I'll beat you again, and I'm not sure your fragile ego could handle it." Said Yerna, smirking while he said it. He was also a watercarrier, and one of the most arrogant people Jareth knew. Blond hair, green eyes, he was a jock and he knew it. This didn't matter, though because once you looked past that, he was really a kind person, in a gruff sort of way.

"Yeah, you only won last time because I forgot to grab the dipper. Otherwise I would have clearly won." Sheila shot back.

"Guys, seriously stop arguing! You know that Baldie can sniff out an argument from five lernia away! And you know what that means! Gun-cleaning duty again! And I don't think anyone wants that! So can it you two!" said Rigra. She was the head techie. Very smart, red hair, green eyes, she was the cutest girl of the group, getting a lot of the boys near the reservoir jealous that she was part of their crew. She found it funny, the rest of the crew found it annoying.

"Oh just stuff it Rigra. We'll be fine." Said Sheila. "I will take the blame."

"Yes you will." Came an unwanted gravelly voice.