The Guardian (The Gifted Book 1) Read Free Page B

world had started to fade from the edges; he’d begun to feel weightless, as pressure on his chest took the breath from his lungs. Just before everything went black, he'd heard a message he now struggled to remember.
    When he came to, he was in a foreign land. The plants, the air, the smells, the energy were all different. Who was he supposed to help? It had to be Raisal. Why else would they have sent him to her home? She wasn't here, but she had been. Could he trust these people? Or were they the problem she faced?
    As his thoughts returned to the here and now, he noticed that the voices from the kitchen had faded. The light from the screen door still lit the back porch, so he knew they hadn't closed him out completely. That had to be a good sign, right?
    The spring that kept the door closed creaked as the door opened. Letting it slam after stepping onto the porch, Ander stepped up next to Daen. Out of the corner of his eye, Daen saw Ander standing a few feet from him, his face tense with concern as he scanned the darkness in front of him.
    "I know you don't understand me. I must be crazy, because if I were in my right mind, I'd send you packing, away from my home. What man would welcome a stranger such as you into his home?"
    Daen glanced at the man on his left before returning his eyes to the wilderness he knew was at the end of the darkness in front of him as he wondered what would happen next. He was sent to this home but should he stay? Would they allow him to stay?
    "My son showed me my grandmother ’s journal, along with the trunk containing her other belongings. Her things are ... different. The cloak is much like yours, the same fabric and style. I looked at your swords. The lettering on one of your swords matches some of the letters in her journal. I have no doubt you have a connection to her, somehow. Are you from ...?" he couldn't continue.
    Ander was silent for a moment, drawing Daen's attention again. Daen glanced at him, this time scanning him in full. He hadn't noticed the journal in his hand a moment ago. Ander seemed calmer, even though the tension in his face said otherwise.
    Daen had been in a situation before where he had needed to communicate with people who didn't speak the common tongue of his world. He'd been taught a technique for starting the process of learning another's language. He was one of the few guardians with the gift, or maybe it was just a knack, for picking up languages easily. He reached into the shoulder bag lying on the porch next to him and pulled out the journal and stylus he carried. He'd been taught to carry a new journal on missions that were anticipated to be long in duration. Recording and maintaining the histories was one of the guardians’ jobs.
    Daen slowly stepped to the table where they'd had their evening meal, beckoning Ander to join him. On the first page of the new journal he started to write. He wrote his alphabet and then his name, stating his name aloud while pointing to himself and then the writing on the page. He slid the journal to Ander and indicated that he wished for him to do the same.
    The evening progressed as they pointed to objects around them and wrote down the words in their own languages, using phonetic spelling to write the words the other spoke. Daen opened Raisal's journal and pointed to Raisal's name, a name Ander knew well, although he wouldn't have known the words Daen pointed to were Raisal's name.
    The screen door creaked but didn't slam. "Have you decided what you're going to do?" Pam asked as she slipped up next to Ander, placing a hand on his shoulder.
    Ander looked at Daen and his gear. "I don't feel he's a threat , but I do know there is more to him than meets the eye."
    Daen hadn't learned enough yet to discern what was being said, but he recognized the signs and the late hour. He knew Ander felt that letting him into the house would mean putting his family at risk but would he allow him to at least stay close by?
    Daen retrieved his