Dawn of a New Beginning
Chapter 5


By: Mystic Wolf


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




AN: Sorry for not updating sooner. The story picks up a little; we 

finally meet the guardians and the last member of the group. If you 

remember the legend from the prologue you'll remember all their 

missing is the druid.  I hope you won't flame for this, but I'm gonna 

focus on Satura for the next one or two chapters, with small scenes 

with the rest of the group. Well, anyways enjoy the story!





The five friends woke to the sensation of being unable to move. They 

then noticed a dome of purple light all around them. "Master said to 

finish them off." A nasty sounding voice said.   The next moment, a 

stallion's high challenging whinny suddenly broke the air. Bonfire 

came racing into the clearing, sword and bow strapped to her waist 

and back. She was forming a nasty looking ball of electricity in one 

hand.  "Satura!" Miaka exclaimed. The mage briefly glanced at her 

then back to her foes. "Garret!" She shouted.



A flute song floated into the clearing, immediately all four enemies 

were clinging to their ears, screaming in agony. The spell of the 

song made it sound like their own idea of the worst noise in 

existence.  Satura threw the crackling ball of lightning at the four 

villains. It split into four pieces at the last minute hitting all of 

them at the same time. All of them felt electricity running through 

every cell of their body. Combined with the song it was too much for 

them to take and soon all four were dead.



The flute song abruptly ended.  "There's still more in the woods…" 

the mage trailed off as she sensed a strange magic. At that moment 

the dome shattered and the others could move once more. A low growl 

from their left drew their attention. A huge silver wolf stood 

looking at them. She gave what seemed to be a jerk of her head toward 

the other side. This next sight was even scarier- a large white tiger 

looked at them.  To their backs was a magnificent black unicorn. In 

front was a large golden griffin. A bird's cry from above signaled 

the presence of a falcon. 



The wolf was the first to move, she walked over to where Tasuki was 

and gave his hand a nudge. Her tail began wagging as she stood and 

looked at him. "Wha-What do you want?" he asked.  A voice appeared in 

his mind, coming from the depths of his soul. I am Zyra, your 

Guardian. The voice said.  He stared at the wolf. "Guardian?" he 

asked. "What are you talking about?" "Guardian?" the group echoed.  

Realization dawned on Satura. "A guardian, a bond for the six who 

dare to find a broken treasure, protector and friend forever faithful 

will they be! It's the guardians, the ones from the legend!" She 

exclaimed. Tasuki looked at Zyra. "Is that true?" he asked. Yes. Said 

the voice in his mind.  "Who goes with who na no da?" Chichiri asked.



 A pair of talons suddenly settled on his head. Startled, he jumped 

and fell over. A weight settled on his chest.  He looked up to see a 

large falcon. The bird was nineteen inches tall.  He was slim, and 

the wingspan reached a little over three and a half feet. The wings 

were angled and much to the monk's curiosity, silver in color. The 

rest of the body was a golden brown color.  The eyes were bright 

intelligent amber. The beak and talons were razor sharp, giving an 

overall impression of a creature who fast and deadly and who could 

travel long distances. The falcon regarded him with interest form his 

perch from atop the monk's chest.



I am Aayden. The bird said. "Are you the one who's going to guard 

me?"   I am. Said the bird.  "Now that we've gotten that straightened 

out no da. Would you mind getting off of me?" Chichiri asked. The 

falcon fluttered to the ground. The monk sat up and Aayden flew up 

and settled on his shoulder. The monk gave the bird a slightly 

irritated look. "DAAAA! I'm going to start charging for animal 

transporting na no da." He said shaking his head. "That's all I seem 

to be good for lately." 



He looked to see how the others were doing. Garret had backed up to a 

tree. The tiger slowly approached him. The cat stopped a few feet 

from him and looked straight at the bard. I am Kreesha. I will be 

your Guardian. Garret cautiously reached out and scratched the cat 

behind the ears. The cat rumbled in pleasure and rubbed her head 

against his hand. "Hey, your pretty nice." He said, surprised.  What 

were you expecting me to do? Rip you apart? "Well…" the bard trailed 

off.  Kreesha just shook her head much like a human did.



The unicorn had approached Miaka. The girl was patting his neck when 

he spoke. I am Shadow. The girl smiled and rubbed his nose. "I'm 

Miaka." Satura was eyeing the griffin before her. Pure gold in color, 

he was a few inches taller then Bonfire. "You are?" the mage asked. 

Sunfire. The woman looked at the others. "Well its nice to see 

everyone's getting along with their guardians." She remarked.  "Hey 

Mi-chan what's the name of yours?" Tasuki asked. "Mi-chan?" Nuriko 

murmured to Hotohori. The two seishi had been watching everything in 

open amazement.  They were busy trying to absorb everything all at 

once and considering everything that had been happened to them in the 

past six hours that was asking a lot.  



Everyone had finished exchanging guardian names when Miaka came over 

and dragged the two of them forward. "I take it this is Nuriko and 

Emperor Hotohori?" Satura asked.  Miaka smiled and nodded 

cheerfully. "And you are Garret and Satura?" Hotohori asked. "Yes." 

The couple answered.  "And now that-" A chime filled the air cutting 

off Satura's words.  Two rolled up scrolls fell into her hands.  She 

paled as she looked at the seals on them.  "Satura? What's wrong?" 

Miaka asked. "It's a message from the king and the Warrior-Mage 

Council."  "What do they say?"



The mage opened the first scroll and skimmed through it.  She then 

read through the second one. She relaxed a little bit. "Its okay." 

She said, looking up. "I just have to go to the capital and give my 

annual loyalty oath to the king."  "Loyalty oath?" Tasuki asked, 

raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"  "Not for our kingdom 

its not. Several hundred years ago, the nobles of the country didn't 

have to give an oath at all.  Unfortunately, one idiotic noble 

decided to take the throne for himself. So he hired some mercenaries, 

stormed the King's palace and almost succeeded in usurping the throne 

except for one problem.  "What was it?" Nuriko said, curious.  "His 

robes were too long."  Satura said, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

Garret had by this time been reduced to gales of laughter.  



The expressions on the faces of the miko and seishi had been too much 

for him.  While they had been thinking along the lines of an assassin 

or poison or another betrayer in the midst of the noble's group, 

never once had they been thinking that it was the length of a simlple 

garment that saved the kingdom.  "His robes?!!"  The Suzaku people 

exclaimed.   "Yup.  The hem of his robe got caught on a nail, it 

pulled him back, his head hit the wall, and, well, you can probably 

guess the rest."  Satura said a slighty grim expression on her 

face.   



Garret had finally calmed down, so he picked up where Satura had left 

off.  "After that attempt. The King and his council got together and 

came up with the idea for the annual loyalty oath.  If any noble is 

caught in the act of betraying it, it means instant death for him, 

since oaths and honor are taken very seriously in any kingdom in 

Delika."   Garret explained.  "Nasty system, but it works we haven't 

had any trouble with usurpers since then."  He added.  



The seishi and miko blinked. "Oh."  "What does the second scroll 

say?"   "I have to give my annual report to the Warrior-Mage council 

and undergo the Sharil ceremony.  That's the ceremony all warrior-

mages undergo when they've reached their tenth year in the order."  

She said, noticing the confused looks on faces of Miaka and her 

seishi.  "Bad thing is, this means I'll have to leave you for 

awhile."  This met with various cries of protest.  "You can't leave 

us!" Miaka wailed.    "What'll happen to us with you gone?!"  Tasuki 

cried, not looking too happy.  "We need your help!"  



Garret and the other seishi weren't too eager to see her go, despite 

the fact that Nuriko and Hotohori had known her for only a short 

time. They had picked up the fact from the others that they depended 

on Satura for a lot of things. "It'll be a lot easier for me to 

travel alone and get the oath and ceremony over with if I travel 

alone!" Satura said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Besides 

you'll still have Garret who knows just as much as me-if not more- 

about Delika." She added. The others reluctantly knodded their 

acceptance of the mage's plan."  "Good. I'll leave in the morning."  

She walked back over to the clearing where she and Garret had set up 

camp.  Garret started to follow her, but turned and said to the 

group, "Don't worry about her or yourselves. Everything will all 

right, you'll see." He disappeared into the shadows and left without 

a sound.  The others looked at each other and decided that sleep was 

the best course of action.  A few minutes later the group was in a 

deep slumber.  



*****

Night gave way to dawn, as a group of subdued travelers said good-bye 

to Satura. "I should be back within a week, week and a half." She 

said.  "We'll meet you in Clat's City."  Garret said. The mage 

nodded. Clat's City was a good choice, it was large and the group 

wouldn't stand out.  "Safe journey." The bard gave her a kiss on the 

cheek. Miaka then flung her arms around the woman. "I'll miss you."  

She said.  "I'll miss you too, Miaka." Satura replied, hugging her 

back.  She let go of the Miko to look at the seishi.  Chichiri 

stepped forward taking his mask off, and took her hand in a friendly 

grip. "You've been a good friend to me, Satura-chan no da. So come 

back in on piece okay na no da?' he said, smiling at her.  Satura 

tightened her grip for a moment and said, "I will." 



She then looked at Tasuki, who was scuffing his boot in the dirt. 

Finally, he looked up. "All right, I'll  $@#%*(% miss ya all right?!  

Just come back in one piece ya damn woman!" He shouted.  "Not much 

for good-byes are you Tasuki?"  The mage asked.  "He just doesn't 

like being sentimental, it makes him lose that supposed `Tough guy 

exterior' when everybody knows he's just an old softy underneath." 

Nuriko said giving the bandit an innocent smile.  Tasuki swore under 

his breath.   "OWWWWWWWW!!" He howled suddenly.  He looked down to 

find Zyra's jaws clamped around his right calf.  The group looked on 

in puzzlement as the seishi swore and the wolf still held on to his 

leg.



Finally, he said, "Will you please let go?" Zyra immediately let go. 

The wolf shook herself and explained her actions. I don't like it 

when people swear, least of all the one I'm supposed to guard. "So ya 

take a chunk out of their legs?" The bandit asked. Well… Zyra 

realized how ridiculous it was to bite someone simply because of a 

bad habit they couldn't help having. I won't do that again.  The wolf 

said.  "Well now that that's settled, I'm going." Satura announced.  

The group's good moods disappeared. "Good-bye, Satura." Garret, Miaka 

and the seishi (with the exception of Hotohori and Nuriko) chorused. 

The mage gripped their hands for a moment, then swung up to the 

saddle. She gave a friendly smile and nod to the Emperor and Nuriko.



Sunfire gave a cry and took off for the sky, his great wings beating 

the air and reflecting the sun off his golden body.  Satura gave 

Bonfire a gentle kick and the stallion took off at a fast canter.  

The mage's voice rose to meet their ears a final time. "Safe journey, 

friends!"  "Safe journey, my love." Garret whispered. Soon horse, 

mage, and griffin where out of sight. Sighing, thr bard turned back 

and started for his saddlebags to pack up and start the journey to 

Clat's City.



*****

Satura slowed Bonfire as she came to a crossroad. The road to the 

capital, Alsoria stretched in two directions. One was long and safe. 

The other was short and very dangerous. Which one should I take? She 

thought. I've only got a week and a half…  Short route. She decided. 

She sent Bonfire to the left. 

*****

The mage shifted in the saddle and slipped her leg out of the stirrup 

to stretch stiff leg muscles.  She wore the standard outfit for a 

warrior mage- sleeveless deerskin jacket over a white silk blouse, 

breeches loose enough to allow movement to perform her martial arts 

moves. The only difference in her clothing from another warrior-mages 

was the choice of colors.  Satura's jacket happened to be dark-blue 

her breeches were dyed a hunter green, a scarlet sash and black boots 

helped complete the outfit. Her hair was pulled back in a braid 

similar to the French braid.



She came out of her daydream to spot several bandits on the road 

harassing what appeared to be a Druid.  A snow leopard snarled and 

leaped at the bandits, trying to get at them, but several ropes 

around her neck and held by some of the bandits kept her from her 

goal.  "Filthy Druid!" one of the bandits growled.  "Its your kind 

that prevents us from making a living! Because you have to protect 

that oh so precious forest of yours!" his voice ended on a mocking 

note.  "We could make and honest living cutting that timber down." 

Another added. "Instead your kind prevents us from doing it!  So 

we're reduced to thieving just to keep ourselves fed!" With that the 

lead bandit slapped the woman hard across the face.  The leopard 

snarled and tried to leap at his throat, but the ropes around her 

neck prevented her from doing it.



An eagle's cry from above drew the attention of the attackers, Druid 

and mage alike. Sunfire had gone into a steep dive, claws out for the 

attack. The bandits had frozen in place, looks of awe on their 

faces.  It soon became clear the griffin wasn't going to break the 

attack off, so the bandits turned coward and ran screaming leaving 

the leopard and Druid behind.  Sunfire opened his wings, slowing his 

speed and came to a gentle landing on the ground next to the Druid.



Despite her injuries the woman managed a respectable bow. "Thank you, 

wing-brother." Her voice spoke of good education and good 

bloodlines.  You are very welcome, forest-sister. The griffin 

replied.  "Are you all right?" Satura's voice caused the three of 

them to focus on her. The Druid eyed her warily.  "Who are you?" She 

asked. "Satura Mel'si, a warrior-mage."  "Mel'si?  You are a daughter 

of the Mel'si family?" The woman asked sharply.  "Yes."   "Then you 

are a Druid-friend."  "As all people should be."  The mage replied.



The woman smiled and gave a bow. "I am Keldar My'ava of the Dyra 

clan."  "I am honored to meet you, Keldar My'ava. And who is the 

magnificent cat next to you?"  The leopard, which had gotten free of 

the ropes, twitched her tail in appreciation at the description. "She 

is Leira, my Guardian."  "Guardian?" Satura asked.  "Yes, she is my 

Guardian. I am one of the six from the prophecy." Keldar said.  "You 

have Nyasha's mark?"  



Keldar lifted up her left sleeve.  There glowing on her wrist much 

like the seishi's kanji was the blue mark of Nyasha. "I search for 

those who share my quest." She said.  "Well look no further, you've 

already found one. I am the warrior-mage of the legend. The griffin 

is my Guardian." Keldar looked at Sunfire. This is true forest-

sister. She is one of the six.  "Praise Nyasha!" The Druid 

exclaimed. "I can't believe it!" She looked at Leira. "Only four more 

to go." She said smiling.   Keldar looked back at Satura, who was 

hiding a grin behind her hand.  "Well Keldar, I've already found the 

other four."  "What?" The other woman exclaimed.   



"Yup, but first let me see to your wounds." Satura swung down off of 

Bonfire and walked over to Keldar. She stretched out her healing 

magic to gauge the severity of the wounds.  They were mostly bumps 

and bruises. The worst was a small gash on her leg.  She healed all 

of them within a single breath.  Keldar moved her leg then looked at 

the mage. "Thank you." She said.  "Now for a really long story." 

Satura launched into the tale of what had been happening so far. "So 

you travel to the capital while the others travel to Clat's City? And 

two people who are not members of the six also travel with you?" The 

Druid asked when the mage was finished. 



"Well, you already know why I travel alone, would you prefer to 

travel with the others?" Satura asked. "No, I will travel with you."  

Keldar put her fingers to her lips and whistled. A beautiful palomino 

mare trotted out of the bushes. "This is Windstar."  Satura inclined 

her head. "Pleased to meet you."  "That's Bonfire." She said, 

pointing at the stallion.  Keldar gave the stallion an expert 

appraisal. "He is a fine example of Rosethorn breeding." She said, 

mounting Windstar. "Several generations worth."  The mage replied, 

swinging up to the saddle. Once she and Keldar were settled, they 

urged their mounts forward, their Guardians following.



 



An:Well looks like I finished a day earlier then expected.  Hope you 

enojoyed the chapter. ^_^  Anybody can archive the fic on their page, 

jsut let me know you are. Oh and one more thing I've been wondering, 

which of my orignal characters do you like and why?   Answer if you 

want I was just curious.  This'll be my last update until school 

ends, so until then Adios amigas! ^_^


On to Chapter 6-Not Up Yet

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