Guardians fight for freedom chapter Ten part 1

The blood wardens continued down the path until they reached the base, it looked ancient and worn down. Haaris approached carefully, the door was open slightly. Haaris pulled the door towards him; it creaked loudly as it moved. The others paced to his side; they all walked through the dark narrow doorway. When they reached the main room, statues lined the room. Cobwebs covered them. Leuan approached one and blew the dust of it, he looked closely and spoke “Hey guys come and check the statues out”
“What are the statues of?” Tania asked
“They are of the greatest and noblest blood wardens. They made a difference to the world .This was not just a base, but a sanctuary” Haaris replied.
“Come on we have to root out those damned barbarians, it’s a shame they took this place” added Taran. Haaris picked up the torches and Leuan ignited them. The oil dripped as the torched burned. Tania pushed one of the doors of the left side of the room open and entered slowly, she approached a massive iron chest that stood upon a pedestal, the chest had strange symbols carved into it, as she reached the grab the chest, Haaris shouted to her, she jumped and the sound as the silence broke.
“Step away from the chest Tania” Haaris pleaded
Tania begged, “Why, this chest may contain clues to our history and organisation in the beginning, when the blood wardens were founded. Don’t you think that something like that would be invaluable to us?” 
“Tania, it’s not that. You see those markings carved upon it?”
“Yer, your point is, what”
“My point is, the markings are enchantments to protect the chest, don’t you find it a tad bit strange that the barbarians just so happen to leave the chest and took everything else”
“You think it’s booby-trapped”
“Well it would explain why it’s still here after all these years; I wouldn’t be surprised if the enchantments are based around fire and explosive elements”
“Hey what’s going on in here, I found this wicked sword lying around, check it out” added Leuan, as he held up a silver blade with a ruby encrusted pommel.
“Not now Leuan, can you by any chance bypass magical enchantments on inanimate objects?” Haaris complained.
“Sure, enchantment training is coming in handy now, so what’s in the chest, jewels, money, treasure, Barerin’s head a spike. No. What a pity. Step aside non mages, and let the master of magic handle this”
“Oh dear lord” Tania sighed in disbelief at Leuan and stepped aside, by the time Leuan was Taran had re-joined the group and was up to speed on what was going on.  Leuan glowed and sparks flew around him, then there was a loud crack and the markings on the chest shinned a reddy orange colour and were erased. 
"Boo ya, that's how it's done" Leuan shouted.
"Yes, well done Leuan, now grab the chest" replied Taran, Leuan placed the chest into his bag and jogged to where the others were standing.
"it's time we reclaim our base, Taran got to the left, Tania to the right.Leuan your with me, we are going up the staircase, now move out" barked Haaris. Taran and Tania moved swiftly to where they  were told. Haaris and Leuan paced up the wooden staircase, as they reached the main room were the barbarians where, though they did not expect to find that all the barbarians had been massacred. Their blood stained the walls and bodies covered the floor, some had been roasted and others had been frozen.
"well finally something has gone our way for once, it seems like someone got here first" snorted Leuan
"Be respectful of the dead"
What, these were the people who drove our organisation from these very walls; i don't think they would show us the same courtesy"
"regardless of what they would have done, we owe it to the dead" Haaris stepped fourth and bowed  whilst speaking "I pray for those whose lives are lost, to guide their spirits to the side of our creator, let their past sins be cleansed as their souls take flight into the heavens. Amen"
"hmm, i still think they didn't deserve a prayer or anything of the sort"
"All lives are precious, still, i think it's time we leave. I will send a message to the blood warden's main base to inform them that we have reclaimed this base"
"Right, even though we didn't actually kill anyone"
"Yes as you said, things have gone our way; also i want you to seal the base until the leaders come. We don't want this happening again"
"right, i will go do that now" Leuan run down the stairs and was met by Tania and Taran.
"All the barbarians are dead, me and Taran found a note in one of their pockets addressed from someone called Ezekiel" muttered Tania.
"We need to show this to Haaris-
"show me what" Haaris broke in
"We found this note in one of the barbarian's pockets" Tania replied.
"i see"Tania passed the note over to Haaris; he looked at it with discontent. Taran looked at Haaris "Haaris, you ok?"
"hmm what, yes i am fine" as he slid the note into his side pocket.
"ok, it's time we leave i think" continued Haaris. He led them back through the statue room and back out the tower; he looked back at Leuan and nodded in his direction. Leuan once again shinned bright and marks were scratched into the tower's walls.
"That should do it" Leuan smirked.
"Good-"
before Haaris could finish his sentence, two women appeared wearing ragged robes.
"Ah, so they finally come to reclaim their base, about time. Killing these...foolish barbarians on our own was very inconenient" the first said. She had glorious golden curls and the greenest eyes you ever saw. She spoke again "greetings, my  name Alviva and this Kaiya" she looked to the other woman who had short lack curled hair, her eyes were darker and harsher.
"you killed the barbarians, they were killed by elemental magic" Leuan explained.
"Indeed we are sorceresses, born and raised here in this very forest. We were trained to harness our gifts to protect the forest"
"You were born here? The darkened forest is a dangerous place"
"yes our mothers and our mother's mothers were born here. A small forest cult and we are very aware of the dangers, most of them come from us"
"you what?, you endanger the lives of everyone who travels through the forest" Haaris repied in a harsh tone.
"it's is to protect the forest, not the people" Kaiya added.
"Anyway you were waiting for ud. Why?" Taran questioned.
"These were no ordinary barbarians, they were too skilled, too advanced. Most barbarians are savage scavengers, preying on anything that is unfortunate to cross their paths. However  the barbarians we came across were a clan led by a vile man known as Ezekiel" Alviva explained.
"yes, we found a note on one of their bodies, you so eloquently destroyed"
"yes, well we were waiting for your order to show, so we could warn you"
"warn us about what?"
"A storm is coming and you had better be prepared for anything and everything"
"What do you mean by storm?"
"An ancient prophesy will be fullfilled, there is going to be a war; the emperor isn't going to merrily let the rebels take control of the kingdom. He is going to fight, and fight with an army unlike anything you have see before. In addition, he has a secret weapon, a weapon of pure evil, a creature known as a shadow. Born from the shadows and has a hated of all things good".
"What is a shadow? i mean where does it come from?" Tania questioned.
"I am not sure; all i know is the legends. Wait. Maybe the seers would know. They are one of the oldest races known to man. Perhaps they can shed some light on this"
"Thank you, for your help. Are you joining the rebel army or staying on the sidelines?" 
"We will be heading to the Darklands soon and hopefully pick up some more aid on the way?" Kaiya explained.
"Well we should be off, so we can find the seers" replied Haaris.
"Don't forget we have to find that crazy shaman dude, though i ain't looking forward to it" Leuan added.
Relax Leuan; we won't let him hurt you"
"You know what that wacko does; does anybody have a hat or helmet i could wear?"
"Leuan, you're just overeacting"
"I hope we see you at the Darklands, two of Barerin's own comannders are leading the battle"Alviva added.
"You're kidding; i wonder what Barerin did to piss them off" Leuan added.
"well, whatever it was has greatly increased our chances of winnin"
"How do you figure?"
"Well they know Barerin's tactics, training and knows his armie's weaknesses, this information is invaluable to us"
"As we  said, we should be going now, thank you for your help. We will be heading to the darklands after we conclude our business here, farewell"
"Goodbye" Alviva and Kaiya spoke together.The two women vanished in a puff of smoke before they could turn around. The blood wardens hiked up a large hill that had a wooden cage attached to a plank of wood. Haaris had hoped that the sorceresses might have looked after the message birds as they said they cared for the forest. He was pleased to see the cage was still intact and the bird were still alive. He took out a piece of paper and a lead stick, scribbled down a few notes and tied it to  a brightly coloured bird. He watched as the bired flew away and then proceeded back down the hill.
Hours had passed and the sky had darkened. The blood wardens camped under a rotted twisted oat tree, Leuan set the campfire and the orange blaze consumed the earthy eood. Taran placed a wollen blanket over his sister as she was shivering from the cold wintery wind that had come from the east. They all slept uneasily, knowing about Barerin's nightmarish weapon. It haunted their sleep and seeped into their dreams twisting it into a bloodcurdling nightmare of darkness and despir consumed by shadows. Tania woke up screaming and panting, the others jumped up and Haaris already had his sword in hand. That frightened Leuan a little bit. To think their leader already had his sword ready to slash incoming enemies made him feel even more uneasy, however it also made him feel oddly safe knowing Haarid was ready to defend them so quickly. Taran rushed over to Tania abd held her close.Haaris got up and began packing up the camp equipment, Taran raided an eyebrow "What are you doing?, it's the middle of the night. We can't trek in the dark. God knows what is lurking in this god-forsaken land. We'd be foolish to travel until dawn" 
 Haaris ignored the comment and continued then looked back at Taran and sighed, "We should make use of the time we have, and our provisions are running low. The quicker we find the shaman and the seers , the quicker we can get to the nearest town and stock up. Then we can head towards the Darklands, and anyway nobody is sleeping well, we coulf use the time to our advantage"
"So you intend for us to push on without any sleep or food"
"We have to finish our misson as quickly as possble, so get up" Haaris barked in frustration. He knew it was a lot to ask of them, but he had to push them or else the mission would take too long.
The blood wardens trekked through the night; the only light was the moonlight streaming through the disfigured branches and Leuan's staff, which dimly glowed. Tania was weary and kept her eyes on her surroundings, watching the shadows for any signs of movement. Then they saw it, a small wooden hut in the middle of a swamp.
Leuan peered down at the murky black water. It smelled foul. He looked at the trees surrounding the hut and noticed shrivelled pieces of flesh pinned to them. He looked even closer and saw the elven shaped eards. He looked directly at Haaris and gave him a smug look before complaining about not going any further.
"Leuan please, you have to come with us. We need your help"Tania pleaded
"You are kidding, right i told you what that nutter does and did anybody believe me, no. I am not taking another step forward to the psycho elven ear hunting nutjob. I prefer my ears were they are right now thank you very much"
"We won't let you come to any harm, so relax"added Taran
"Oh gee i feel safer already. Fine if i am going then i want to be at the back"
"Fine you can stand behind me and Tania" Haaris looked at them all as Leuan hid behind hid fellows. They trudged through the thick stagnant water. Leuan shivered as he descened into the coldnessm he held his staff high above his head to avoid rotting the wood. Once they reached the other side Taran helped his sister out of the swampu water as she had been stuck.
Haaris knocked firmly on the piece of wood that was considered a door and an elderly man with grey straggly bair and hazel eyes, however his left eye was a milky white as he blind in one eye. He wore only shorts made from leaves and branches and his skin was pale and wrinkled. He was a man around his sixties he looked at the strange group of younglings standing at his door and spoke in a soft tone "who goes there. i do not get many vistors-"
"I can't imagine why" interrupted Leuan
The old man continued as if he hadn't even heard the comment "What brings you younglings out here in the most dangerous forest. Are you not aware of what creature lurk here?-
"Strange old men wearing nothing but pants made from leaves and has ears posted on trees outside his house" once again Leuan interrupted, this time Haaris gave him a cold glare that shut him up. 
"Yes we know.We havecome for your aid" the leader spoke calmly
"My aid. I can't help you sorry"
"Are you not the powerful shaman of the darkened forest?"
"Perhaps once, but no more"
"We need your help.Barerin is raising an army to fight the rebals and we could use you" Tania approached the man slowly.
"He looked at her, studying her carefully "Barerin, the king's son?"
"Yes"
"I knew Balder. He was a good man. It's a shame one of his sons didn't grow up to be like him"
The blood warden's faces all dropped in shock. "Wait Balder had another son. That can't be right" Taran questioned.
"It's true. Only a few knew about the other son. The king's unknown mistress bore him a bastard son, Balthazar. Rasied by merchants i believe"
"So couldn't this bastard child take the throne, he is of royal blood"
"Yes i suppose, but i haven't got the foggiest clue where he is or if Barerin found out about him and killed him or if he had died"
"We will find him and bring him to the Darklands to protect him" replied Haaris
"I bid you good luck"
"Hang on aren't you coming with us?" Leuan stepped forward as a gush if wind hit him lifting his hair up exposing his well-hidden ears. The shaman's eyes widen in rage and lightning sparked through him as he shouted "Elven vermin, you plague this world.Die" Haaris intervened by grabbing the shaman close and smacking him around the head with the pommel of his blade. luckily for Leuan he dodged the sparks.
"What the hell was that all about?" The elf screamed in panic
"Calm down Leuan, he is out cold" Taran reassured
"Calm down. That nutjob just tried to fry my ass"
"I know, but he didn't"
"Oh that was just great. Did i not say this guy had a problem with elves, and everybody said it was just rumours? Well rumours are sometimes right" leuan bent over catching his breath.
"Leuan stop overreacting and be quiet or have you forgotten where we are"
"No i will not be quiet. I just nearly died. I didn't see you helping"
"Haaris caught the shaman. So enough is enough"
Leuan continued ranting on and on, Taran had heard enough. He punched Leuan around the face. The elf fell to the floor wiping blood from his eyes. Taran turned and Leuan now enraged tackled him, punching and kicking. Tania screamed at them to stop. Haarid stood between them "Enough, both of you"
"Where would you lot be without me. I will tell you. Dead. My magic has saved our arses more than i can count and i don't even get a thanks"
"We didn't need you. You don't even want to be here"
"Oh really if i recall back at the base, when your sister was stupid enough to touch unknown objects without thinking. She would have been roasted alive if i hadn't removed the enchantments, and yes your right i don't want to be in this rotted hell hole but i am here and that has got to count for something"
"I didn't mean here as in the forest, i meant in the organisation. Admit it the only reason you're here is beacuse you lost a bet"
"Yes i had a bet, but that's not the only reason i am here.I could have not gone through with it, but you want to know why, beacuse people need heroes. People need someone they can count on. I wanted to help people. It is the reason why i studied mainly healing magic, to you know heal people. You judge me beacuse i don't take things seriously, but i will tell you something if you had seen what i have seen you would need something to take your mind off it"
"I didn't know that"
"Of course you didn't. You just thought , oh look a funny elf. No i care for people. I care for you, your sister and Haaris. It is why i am here risking my life for you all. I just wished you back me up once in a while when a damned lunatic tries to shock me"
"Leuan i am deeply sorry for punching you and i am sorry for being so hard on you"