Guardians of Alderthorne

"For the last time, I don't want to be a hero!"

Gabriel didn't know how many times he had repeated this to himself in the past hour. The two men sitting across him were not paying attention though. They had heard it at least ten times already but said nothing. It was not their place to initiate the conversation. That was left to Gabriel and his father, the duke of Summerset, Lord Victor Sol.

"I'm sure you'll have some fun on your travels," said Lord Victor with a smile as he poured himself another glass of wine. "It's quite an honor that they chose you."

"I never wanted honor! I wanted freedom! And now I have none! None of it! I have nothing left!" Gabriel slammed his fist on the table making both men jump back slightly. He gave them a look of disgust before turning his eyes back towards his father. "What kind of life do you think I'll have? When we get to Alderthorne, am I just supposed to stay there and act as a hostage?"

"Of course not," said Lord Victor, shaking his head in amusement. "You are free to go wherever you like once we reach our destination."

"When? When are we leaving!?" shouted Gabriel.

Lord Victor took a deep breath and then looked at the man sitting next to him. The man nodded and stood up from his seat, walking towards Gabriel and sighing heavily as he looked down at him angrily. "Look boy, we've been very patient with you but now it's time that you listen." He grabbed Gabriel by his collar and pulled him close. "We leave as soon as possible." He then threw him back into his seat with enough force that it made him bounce off of it and fall, face down, onto the floor. "Now be a good boy and sit down."

He picked himself up from the floor and wiped off all signs of dirt from himself as best he could before looking back at the two men. Both were looking at him sternly with a look that told him that if he said anything else out loud, he would regret it dearly. Feeling defeated, he sat back down in his seat where they left him alone for some time while they continued their conversation. With no other option other than waiting for them to remember that he was even present in the room, he could only listen in on what they were saying. It seemed like they were discussing plans for their journey ahead but every so often he heard something about an artifact or some such nonsense which made no sense whatsoever because who would go to all of this trouble just for some silly object? To Gabriel however, it sounded like they were talking about things that did matter but any hope of getting answers was cut short when one of the guards placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and gave him a warning look that suggested that if he said anything else out loud again, his punishment would be much worse than being thrown onto the floor by his captor.

With no other options in sight, Gabriel decided that perhaps it was best if he kept quiet for the remainder of their meeting so long as they eventually left soon enough so that he might finally be free from this prison called Summerset Castle. For a long while afterwords he sat there utterly motionless with nothing but thoughts about how horrible life was now compared to how wonderful it used to be until gradually...he fell asleep.

He dreamt about what happened last night again except this time there were no guards around - just his father standing before him with an angry look on his face while behind him stood an old man holding what appeared to be a sword of some sort towards him which glowed brightly while also giving off an eerie sound similar to wind chimes in the breeze. How strange, thought Gabriel as he stared at it while also taking note of everything else around him - how perfect everything looked like something out of a fairy tale book: The castle walls surrounding them were grandiose in nature as light shined down upon them; flowers grew everywhere; birds sang beautiful songs; people were laughing and enjoying themselves - everything seemed so happy until suddenly...Gabriel felt something sharp pierce through his chest which caused him great pain forcing him to scream out loud until finally...it stopped hurting altogether allowing him to open up his eyes once more...only this time...he wasn't inside any castle walls nor was anyone around - instead he found himself walking along what appeared to be some sort of road surrounded by trees tall enough that even standing on tip toe he still couldn't see beyond their tops which stretched far into the distance while behind him...was nothing but miles upon miles of ocean which stretched out almost endlessly towards what appeared to be an endless horizon across which sunlight shone down brightly upon everything causing everything around him...to glow brightly...as if from some divine light source...and then suddenly...he remembered what happened last night and decided that it may be best if he kept walking for awhile longer until finally...after god knows how much time had passed since then...he saw something appear through the trees ahead which caused excitement to fill within him for reasons unknown until finally...after trudging through all those trees for what felt like hours (but in reality probably wasn't more than five minutes)...he reached the end and looked up at what lay before him unable to believe what it was exactly: A giant city floating above water while beneath it...waves crashed against its foundations causing water spray high into the air where sunlight reflected brightly off its surface creating rainbows everywhere as light shined down upon it all beautifully illuminating everything within its path including one lone boy standing there gazing up at this marvelous sight in utter awe until finally someone called out his name breaking his trance-like state causing him look over towards where it came from whereupon without delay ran towards whoever called out towards him leaving behind whatever was behind forever more never returning ever again save for one thing hidden deep inside his heart which would always remain there forever more so long as he lived: The memory that despite being born into privilege high within society...he was not immune to suffering under its terrible weight especially when faced with losing everything because someone demanded so much more from you than anyone should ever request from another being whether human or otherwise regardless of circumstance or birthright because whether rich or poor or somewhere between these two extremes we are all equal despite differences no matter how much money or power we possess because money cannot buy anything except material possessions which ultimately mean nothing once death arrives because only those who truly live life understand true happiness which is why I say take whatever life gives you good or bad because whatever happens is meant to happen and who is better suited than us all as humans - mortal beings prone to mistakes - than us all when together can learn from mistakes made by others making our lives better in turn? Only time will tell but regardless keep living life today because tomorrow is not guaranteed nor is next week nor next month nor next year because we none can predict when death may arrive thus making every day worth living regardless of circumstance...so long as you're breathing, keep going forward my friends! We must make our lives meaningful because sometimes life kicks us around like waves hit against rocks causing us pain upon pain after pain after pain until finally exhaustion arrives bringing us peace bringing us rest bringing us happiness bringing us joy bringing us freedom bringing us prosperity bringing us love bringing us excitement bringing us opportunity bringing us strength bringing us faith bringing us wisdom bringing us understanding bringing us hope restoring our confidence restoring our pride restoring our sanity restoring our humanity restoring our humanity restoring our humanity restoring our humanity restoring our humanity restoring our humanity freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves from hate freeing ourselves--