Read Online Shield and Crocus by Michael R. Underwood - Free Book Online Page B

together two coins. “Next came Magister Yema, the sorcerer. He stole people’s hearts and locked them away in a secret vault to make them slaves, his warlock Guard.” For Yema, he waved his fingers in the impression of a conjuring, and one of the children ducked behind his sister to hide.
    “And then there was the Smiling King and the terrible Spark-storms.” Several of the older children shuddered, as well as fully half of the parents. For Wonlar and the Shields, the storms were challenging, daunting, and dangerous. For an average citizen, they were chaos and certain death dealt out without reason, without warning. “Before long, there was COBALT, the devious automaton lord.” For COBALT, Wonlar moved jerkily, mimicking the old automaton’s spasmodic motions. “And last, the cruel slaver Medai Omez.”
    The children started another round of hisses. “Now, Medai’s coming wasn’t all bad. He is a tyrant, that is sure, but he also gave Audec-Hal one of its greatest gifts. What do you think that was?” Wonlar asked.
    Yara Speaks, a girl of three raised her wide hand, eager to please. She’s already sharper than my knives.
    Wonlar nodded, and she said, “Us!”
    “That’s right.” Yara lit up at Wonlar’s approval. “He was the one who brought the Freithin to Audec-Hal. He made your parents and grandparents as slaves to work in his factories, because the Freithin are the strongest people in the world.”
    Wonlar mimed flexing muscles. More laughter. “But the Shields made a machine that would break the spell that controlled the Freithin.” Wonlar crossed the room with huge tip-toes. “They snuck into Medai’s compound, and freed the Freithin!”
    Applause.
    “And the strongest of them joined the Shields, becoming the mighty Sapphire.” The children cheered, proud of their home-grown hero. Wonlar snuck a sideways look to Rova and saw her hide a blush. She always got shy when Wonlar or anyone else talked about her. Eight feet tall, able to take on any of the tyrant’s beasts, thugs and traps, but still she was shy. Save her brother and his family, no one there knew her second life as a Shield. To the rest, she was just Rova Remembers, and he was just old Man Wonlar, the Ikanollo storyteller with the funny voices.
    I wish I could spend this much time in each district, speak to every child in the city. not just because he might need these children to become Shields one day, but because the sacrifices we have made deserve commemoration. If the Shields failed to stop the storms or halt the summit, these children might have to take up the fight, or at least pass on the tales so that others might do so.
    “Who can tell me the name of another one of the Shields?” Wonlar asked.
    “Blurry!” one of the children said.
    Wonlar crossed and rubbed the boy’s head. His parents had his hair kept short, shaved like Medai had ordered of the Slaves. Wonlar wondered why: comfort for the coming summer, or were some of the habits from their slavery harder to shake than others?
    “That’s right, Blurred Fists, the fastest of the Pronai. He can fight a hundred guards at once or cross a district in five minutes. But he wasn’t the first Shield called Blurred Fists. There were three more before him.” Wonlar paused for a moment and hung his head, remembering Wenlizerachi’s mother, grandfather, and great-grandmother.
    I’m honored to have known each of them, counted them as friends. They each paid the greatest price for their devotion, and their children still picked up the mantle.
    “Who knows another one?” Wonlar paced the room, holding his chin in mimed thoughtfulness. He watched the children think in that hilarious too-transparent way of youth.
    “Aegis!” said Pavi Protects, a young girl who had just started talking since his last visit. Wonlar grinned. I’ll have to tell Selweh that his name was one of her first words. The happy thought was followed by a twinge of guilt and fear. His son still hadn’t