Tower of Trials: Book One of Guardian Spirit Read Free

discontent, he turned and fake lipped at dead grass, as if snapping at the brittle forage were his original intention for stepping forward.
    “The young,” Mother said with a sigh, “rarely do what they are told. Rarest yet is the youth who obeys without complaint. Son, what are you doing?”
    She stood in the middle of his one-room home, a distance Guard covered in two quick strides. She had not bothered to tip back the red hood of her duster, but she did hold out a gloved hand. No sooty darkness stained the red. He took it. She had not been reaping recently; she must have been watching him. He knelt before her red boots, head lowered, still clasping her hand, and set his bow down on the white stones.
    “Mother.” She must have disapproved of his handling of the humans and was calling him to task. “I know the trespassers have not fled, but I will succeed there once I remove and dispose of this iron.”
    “I would hope they’ve not fled. Can you not see? Guiding them on their quest is how you complete your initiation.”
    Guard blinked up at her. “ That is the secret to finalizing my guardianship? Helping mortals penetrate our domain?” Father had told him a little of how such things happened in the past (for such events were rare nowadays), but he had not revealed how seekers proved worthy of the attempt. Guard thought on the ironweed, and the iron currently encircling his throat. “It is hard to believe these humans are worthy of the goddess’s blessing.”
    “All spirits face the final test in a City’s Tower, but the timing is left up to the goddess Purgatory. The Council was told to watch this night for a sign, and we thought you would have a sense of it, that you would realize this is one of the few times mortals are welcome in a City, but it is no matter. They remain. You will guide them through The Crypt to The Vault at the bottom of the Tower, to shade they seek. As their worthiness to reclaim the dead is tested, so will be your worthiness to become a spirit. The trials will shear away the last of your humanity, and when you emerge triumphant, you will be Archer, Guardian Spirit of Holm of Kaskey.”
    Guardian. Some part of him thrilled at those words, at real spirithood and a real name at last. Archer. A very human part of him, found in a quickened heart, a caught breath, a growing smile. Guard did not eagerly reach for his waiting bow, making sure to hold himself absolutely still, betraying nothing. Only then did the excitement quiet enough for him to process the rest of her pronouncement.
    “Guardian of the City? I had thought—” Had hoped for something more . . . mobile. Not a replacement for the one who ferried spirits to and from the shores. As important as those spirits were, they rarely lasted a decade because the running water nibbled at them as it did the riverbanks. And he had so much life to live, so much world to see—which was why he had hoped there might be room for another reaper in this City. Though not tethered to the small but rapidly growing mortal town across the river, of late Holm had seen more traffic in death. He had hoped for a position like Mace’s at the new reaper’s side.
    Hoped.
    Mother pulled her hand from his, her face shadowed by her hood, but even without it, her face would be expressionless as always. “Are you ignorant of the honor Holm’s Council of Spirits will bestow upon you? Has already? You are the first mortal to take the place of a City’s guardian. Holm may be small and well protected by the river, but it is not an easy duty, especially for a human. You have proven yourself capable of the temporary position. Now you must prove yourself worthy of the permanent.”
    “It is an honor I will rise to, Mother.” Guard bowed his head again.
    City’s Guardian was an honor. A great honor. How could he have forgotten that?
    She stepped toward the door but stopped at his side. He did not look her in the face, instead focusing on her boots, half-hidden by