The Protectors: Rising from Ashes [Progression Fantasy | Action-Packed | Epic Battles]

The argument had already begun by the time Eddy realized he was at the center of it.

Sunlight slanted through the canopy above, dappled and golden, but it did nothing to warm the tension crackling through the clearing. Roots from the massive ancient tree nearby coiled like petrified veins across the forest floor, and the air felt thick, too still for midday.

Eddy stood stiffly at the center of the group, shoulders hunched, glancing from face to face like he'd walked into a trap. "Wait. I'm going where?"

Thorne took a sharp step forward, jaw clenched. Shadows flickered across his face from the shifting leaves overhead.

"You're not going anywhere," he snapped, pointing a finger at Eddy, each word clipped and heavy.

Eddy flinched, hands lifting in surrender. "Okay, wow. I didn't even say I was."

Cassandra spun toward Sentinel, her posture crisp but visibly strained. Her usually calm eyes were narrowed, voice brittle.
"Sir… we can't bring him. Not into the Sanctum."

Around her, the others fell silent. But it wasn't agreement, it was quiet resistance. A coil tightening.

"If anyone finds out we brought a human into Luminaries Sanctum…" she began, her voice trailing off as she looked around, as if expecting the trees themselves to pass judgment.

"They'll lose it," Lyric muttered, arms folded across her chest. Her eyes stayed low, but her voice held certainty.

"More than lose it," Thorne added bitterly, pacing a few steps before stopping short, hands on his hips. "They'll exile us. All of us. Before we even get the chance to prove ourselves."

Elias stepped forward from the shade of the tree. His features were composed, but the tension in his jaw betrayed his unease.
"I don't think humans are weak," he said, glancing briefly at Eddy. "I'm not against them, and I don't think he's weak, either."

A beat.

"But the truth is, our kind sees humans as fragile. Powerless. And the Elders?" His voice darkened. "They already think we're barely worth the title of Chosen. If they find out we've dragged a human into this?"

He motioned toward Eddy. "No magic. No bond to the Eclipse Heart. Just… a boy? They won't see the reasoning. They'll see a threat. A liability."

Lyric shifted, her voice quieter now. "Is that even allowed? Can someone like him… be part of this?"

"No, it's not," Thorne said immediately, sharper than before. His eyes stayed on Eddy, but his focus turned inward.

We're already sinking, Pyrix said in his mind. Its voice was low, steady. This war will consume us if we're not careful. Bringing a human, someone without power, into the Sanctum? That's a risk we can't afford.

Thorne's brow twitched. He didn't respond out loud, but his fingers tightened around his sleeves.
You think I don't know that? he replied in his head. They already treat us like we're disposable. This will only confirm it.

Maybe, Pyrix said, more gently now. But I think there's more to him than we understand. Sentinel wouldn't risk everything unless he saw something.

Thorne's eyes narrowed.
I don't care what he saw, he shot back. Whatever this boy is, or isn't, it doesn't matter. The second we show up with him, the Elders will turn on us. All of us.

His jaw clenched. He blinked once, then gave a small shake of his head. It was quick and controlled, barely noticeable.

Eddy stepped back a little. His voice came out with an awkward laugh.
"Alright, this is getting… dramatic. I mean, I never said I was coming with you."

He turned toward the Sentinel, clearly hoping for support or a way out.

Sentinel's tone didn't change. "You are coming," he said.

Eddy's shoulders dropped a little. He looked like he'd been hit with something heavy.

"The Eclipse Heart chose not only the five of them," Sentinel went on, "but you as well. You are connected to everything unfolding here. When they needed help most, you arrived, right on time to show them the way to defeat that invader."

He looked at each of them, making it clear this wasn't up for debate.

"Whether we understand its will or not… we follow it."

Thorne stepped forward. Fast. His fists were clenched, his shoulders locked. "He's human!" His voice cracked. "He has no strength. No place among us."

Elias turned toward Sentinel, disbelief sharp in every word. "The Eclipse Heart chose us on ceremony day, in front of everyone. You said it yourself, it chooses whoever it wants. Clearly, it does."

He swung his arm forward, pointing straight at Eddy. "But it didn't do anything to him. Not like it did to us."

His voice caught, trembling at the edge of anger. "So how can you say he's part of this? He's not one of us."

Sentinel didn't flinch. Didn't raise his voice. "It placed him exactly where he is needed."

The clearing went still.

The breeze stopped. The trees seemed to pause. Even the distant rustle of leaves held its breath.

Eddy stood near the edge of the group, arms half-raised like he was about to defend himself, but gave up midway. They dropped to his sides. His eyes moved from face to face, unsure where to land. He looked out of place. Like he knew it.

Thorne shifted his stance, arms crossed so tight it looked painful. "This is madness," he muttered. "It makes no sense."

Lyric stepped forward. Her voice didn't rise, but it cut through the quiet. "But… why him? Out of everyone?"

Elias didn't wait. "He's not trained. He's not part of the prophecy. He has no idea what's happening, he's just—"

"—Exactly where he needed to be," Sentinel said again. This time, his words hit harder. Clean. Sharp.

The silence that followed was colder.

Sentinel walked forward, slow and steady. He looked at each of them, no anger, no hesitation. Just focus.

"I never said he was one of the Chosen," he said. "I said the Eclipse Heart chose him."

That distinction landed hard.

A ripple passed through the group like a gust of wind they couldn't brace against. Expressions shifted, Thorne's jaw slackened just slightly, Lyric's fingers tightened around the hem of her sleeve. Even Elias fell quiet, tension radiating from his clenched fists.

"When the demon tore through Duskveil Mall," Sentinel continued, pacing with calm steps, "none of you knew how to stop it. Not even us. Then he showed up. No warning. No weapon. And still, somehow, he had what you needed. At the exact moment you needed it."

He paused beside Lyric, then turned his eyes to Elias.

"Tell me, how does a human who's never stepped foot into our world know your faces? Your fears? Your weaknesses? Before he's met any of you?"

Lyric's eyes widened, a breath caught in her throat. Elias looked away, teeth clenched.

Sentinel's voice dropped, not quieter, but deeper, carrying the weight of years.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Those dreams weren't coincidence. And his arrival wasn't luck. He was drawn in. Not by you. Not by chance. By the Eclipse Heart."

Finally, he turned to Eddy.

Sentinel's voice didn't shift. It held steady, measured, unyielding, like the quiet press of iron against stone.

Eddy's eyes didn't blink. He stared as if trying to find something, anything, in Sentinel's face that would make this make sense.

"I… I don't understand. I never asked to be part of this."

His voice barely surfaced, thin as breath on glass.

No one answered.

The moment stretched.

Then Sentinel turned to Cassandra.

Cassandra hadn't moved from her place at the edge of the circle, arms clamped tight across her chest like a shield. But the tension in her shoulders had slackened. Her weight shifted, one boot grinding softly in the dirt. She looked at Eddy now, not with the sharp distrust from before, but with a wary curiosity, her gaze no longer defensive, but probing—cautious, uncertain, searching for answers she hadn't expected to want.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and when she spoke, it was more thought than statement, the sound nearly lost in the hush.

"He shouldn't have known about Thorne. Or his inadequacies."

The Sentinel dipped his head in a slow nod.

"And yet he did."

He faced the group again, posture unshaken, voice returning to its smooth, impenetrable rhythm.

"We told you before, the Eclipse Heart doesn't speak in explanations. It doesn't justify. It moves. It chooses. And it has chosen him, not as one of the chosen ones, but as something else."

Silence pooled around them. Even the leaves seemed to still, the air holding itself taut.

"Eddy is your edge in the dark," Sentinel said, his voice now softened—not out of pity, but clarity. "Your compass. Your tether to what lies beyond your own vision. The Eclipse Heart chose him to help you survive this war. Whether you understand it or not… doesn't change the truth."

A hush pressed down again, deeper than the one before. The trees around the clearing stood unmoving, as though the forest itself was listening.

Eddy's head dropped. He stared at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. His fingers jerked, a twitch betraying the quiet panic that hadn't yet reached his face. He didn't speak. Didn't move. Just stood there, spine tight, like the smallest touch might shatter him.

Around him, the others watched, not with open judgment, but with something more uncertain. A crack in disbelief. A thought they weren't ready to speak aloud.

And Eddy?

He stood still, fixed in place, a boy swept into the gravity of a tale that had started long before him. A war whispering at the edges, and he, unknowingly, already inside it.

The silence became a presence, thick in their lungs. No one dared break it.

Then Sentinel's voice came again, low and deliberate.

"We don't even know what that creature was. What world it came from."

His eyes darkened as they narrowed, focused.

"But Eddy knew. Somehow, in the middle of that chaos… he told you how to kill it."

He stepped forward. Just one pace, but it landed with purpose, the faint crunch of earth beneath his boot echoing like a verdict.

"And whatever comes next… he'll guide us again. He'll guide you. Not because he's trained. Not because he understands. But because the Eclipse Heart has tied itself to him."

The words landed not like a blow, but like weight, layered and inescapable. One by one, heads turned. A slow shift in posture. Lyric's brows drew together. Thorne's expression tightened, his usual ease replaced by something more watchful. Even Elias tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

All of them looked at Eddy now. Not just curious. Not just wary.

Searching.

Waiting.

Eddy flinched under the weight of it, like their stares alone could strip away what little certainty he had. He took a step back.

"I—I don't know what any of this is. I didn't ask for this! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

A huff of air slipped from Thorne, half-snort, half-laugh. He cocked his head with a grin curling at one side.

"Relax, no one's asking you to marry us."

Eddy's eyes snapped wide. "What?!"

Cassandra's hand smacked against Thorne's arm with a light thud. She didn't even look at him.

"Not helping."

Then her gaze softened as it turned to Eddy, her tone shifting.

"Look… we get it. None of this makes sense. Not to you. Not to us either. But we don't have another option. We have to bring you with us."

Eddy shook his head, backing up again. "No. No way. This isn't my mess. I'm not part of your... your magical war squad or secret protector team or whatever this is supposed to be!"

Lyric moved forward. Her steps were light, her expression calm, but her eyes held the weariness of someone who'd walked through too many storms.

"We know you're stuck in something you didn't choose. We all are. But it doesn't change the truth. It's terrifying. It's unfair. But you're connected to this, whether you want to be or not."

Eddy's throat bobbed in a swallow. His eyes darted across the group, as if trying to find an exit, or someone who might understand.

Then they locked on Elias.

His breath hitched.

Elias hadn't moved. He stood tall and still, arms at his sides, his presence quiet and unwavering. There was nothing predatory in him, but the silence around him felt colder, darker.

Eddy's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're a vampire…"

Thorne leaned over and bumped Elias with his elbow, his grin returning like a reflex.

"Dude. He's way more scared of you than the rest of us."

Elias exhaled slowly, then stepped forward with his hands slightly raised, calm, nonthreatening.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, even-toned. "Whatever you've heard about us… that's not how we live."

Eddy didn't blink. "But… you drink blood. That's what vampires do!"

"Yes," Elias said. "But not the way your stories describe."

Eddy's brows drew together. The confusion deepened behind his eyes, like fog gathering in the middle of a maze.

"What does that even mean?"

Sentinel stepped between them, firm but composed, his cloak stirring the dust as it swept along the ground.

"All of that... we'll explain in time," he said, his voice steady. "But not here. Not now."

His eyes fixed on Eddy—sharp, unwavering.

"This war… these enemies, they won't just come for our kinds. They'll come for yours too. They'll spread across all of Zephyros. Cities, forests, oceans… nothing will be untouched. Your kind won't be spared."

Eddy's brows drew in. His voice cracked as it slipped past the lump in his throat.

"But how am I supposed to stand in a war?" His hands lifted slightly, helpless. "I can't even stand up to a bunch of bullies at campus. You think I'm going to face demons and survive?"

Thorne let out a low breath, arms crossing over his chest as he muttered, "He's got a point. How's he supposed to help us fight off invaders?" He shrugged. "Sounds more like we'll be the ones protecting him."

Cassandra shot him a look, but her voice was calm. "Then we'll find a way to make sure he's not alone when it matters."

She glanced at Eddy, softer now. "We're not expecting you to be a hero overnight."

Sentinel took a step forward, each word deliberate.

"You want answers?" His voice dropped like a stone in still water. "Why the dreams started? Why they led you here? Why the Eclipse Heart chose you?"

Eddy didn't reply. His mouth parted slightly, but the words never made it out. The panic hadn't vanished—but it had changed. Not a wild urge to run.

A still, stunned kind of fear. The kind that listens.

Sentinel's voice lowered, weighty and final.

"If you want to understand what's happening to you… and what's coming for all of us… then you have to come with us."

Even the wind seemed to quiet. The trees leaned inward. Around Eddy, five pairs of eyes stayed locked on him. Not with judgment.

But with a need to know what he'd choose.

Eddy finally broke the silence, voice low but firm. "Fine. I'll… come with you. But—"

He looked up, frustration lining his brow. "What about my graduation? I'm in my final year. I worked my ass off to get into Westmere University. Full scholarship. If I leave now… I lose everything. My degree, my future. I can't afford that."

Lyric tilted her head, confused. "What… is he talking about now?"

Thorne smirked. "Another human ritual, maybe? "

Elias glanced at her, thoughtful. "I think it's some kind of… human achievement? A milestone, perhaps. Finishing a stage of education."

Cassandra blinked. "You're telling me we just dragged a scholar into this mess?"

Sentinel let out a slow breath, folding his arms. "It's like when you spend years training in the Hall of Knowledge," he explained, glancing at the others. "And at the end, there's a ceremony, proof that you've completed the path. Recognition. Permission to step into your future."

Eddy nodded quickly. "Exactly! Thank you." Then he paused, surprised. "Wait—you get that?"

Sentinel gave him a dry look. "You're not the only kind with schools, boy. Every realm under the same sky values knowledge, just in different ways."

Lyric crossed her arms. "So… he doesn't want to come because of a piece of paper?"

Eddy shot her a look. "It's not just paper. It's my life. Everything I've been working toward. That scholarship? It's the only reason I got out. I don't have anyone else, just this. It's all I've got."

The group fell quiet.

Then Eddy exhaled slowly. Not a yes. But not a no, either.

Sentinel studied him in silence, his brow slightly furrowed. The boy's fear was still there, but it was layered now. Beneath it: responsibility, pride, longing. Things Sentinel understood far too well.

Finally, he spoke.

"I'll speak to the Human Council about this."

Eddy blinked. "The what now?"

"The Human Council," Sentinel repeated, his tone steady. "They oversee matters concerning your kind within Zephyros. I'll speak with them personally. Your graduation, your future—won't be discarded. I'll see to it."

"You have a council for humans?" Eddy asked, both skeptical and weirdly intrigued.

Cassandra chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh, Eddy. There's a lot you don't know. You'll understand once we reach Luminaries Sanctum."

Eddy raised an eyebrow. "Luminary… what now?"

"Think of it like a central nexus," Elias offered, his voice calm. "A place where all kinds come together, protected by old laws. It's where everything begins... and where the truth usually waits."

"And where everything ends," Lyric added quietly, her gaze distant.

Thorne let out a whistle. "You're in deep now, college boy."

Eddy narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay, dragon dude, first of all—"

"Dragonborn," Thorne corrected with a wink.

Eddy sighed, rubbing his temples. "This is so far beyond weird. I should be in class right now. Not... talking about councils and sanctums and—" he gestured broadly at the group, "—whatever this is."

"But," he added, pointing a firm finger at Sentinel, "I want my degree. No council, no war, no ancient prophecy nonsense is worth throwing that away."

Sentinel gave a single, solemn nod. "I'll make sure of it."

Cassandra smiled, a little proud. "You've got more fire than I expected."

"Yeah well," Eddy muttered, still trying to process everything, "you haven't seen me during finals week."

They all shared a moment of quiet amusement, small, uncertain, but real.

And for the first time, Eddy didn't feel completely out of place.

Not yet part of them.

But slowly, reluctantly…

stepping closer.