Read Online The New Guard (Crossroads Book 1) by Matthew M. Johns - Free Book Online Page A

place.”
    “Perhaps
it is best for us to go back to what your father spoke of earlier: the
beginning.” The Beagle put its forepaws on the table so as to get a better look
at everyone while it talked. “God is Light and Life; the Void is Absolute
Darkness and Death. When God called forth the Light, the Void was beaten back.
God created suns to watch over the day and moons, which reflect the sunlight,
to guard the night and thus severely limit the Void’s Darkness. He also gave us
the Word to break Death. Those of the Void rebelled against the creation.
Lucifer, who had succumb to the lure of power of the
Void, in turn deceived the progenitors of all the races. God cast out the Devil
and those amongst the Host that sided with the Void. The Fallen Host became
demons with powers of their own, separate from the Void. However, the Deceiver
and the Void work with joint purposes against God and the Word.
    “Though
the Crossroads mirrors the habitable planets it is attached to, the Void found
it easy to get a foothold here. The battles between the Word and the Void are
fought openly here, as well as subtly. While God uses angels as his main force,
the twelve saved races are also enlisted to fight for creation. By calling
forth champions from the twelve races, God has been able to stabilize the
Crossroads by placing in the Void’s way the various challenges that people of
freewill can create. Over the years, those champions have created a unique
society that blends together all the various races, which have not met outside
the Crossroads.
    “You, as
a family, were to be brought here to add to this society and strengthen it
against the Void’s ambitions. The Void sent forces to intercept you, but the
Word’s forces are watchful and were able to act in order to bring you safely
over.”
    “I don’t
get it,” Eve blurted out. “You’ve had all this information, knew all this
existed, carried ‘the Sword of Truth’, yet failed to tell any of us about
this!”
    David
grimaced. He’d been expecting a reaction like this from at least one of them.
Given her personality, he was not surprised that it was Eve. David sighed, but
before he could address Eve’s comment she fired off one more biting remark.
    “Isn’t an
omission of the facts just a dressed up lie? How many times have I been called
out for smaller infractions?”
    Those
words had been spoken by him many times in disciplining and guiding the
children. Eve, his most rebellious child, had heard them plenty of times. The
Beagle spoke before David could.
    “Your
father has been truthful with you all of his life. As a bearer of the Sword of
Truth, he cannot dismiss or alter the truth. He cannot lie. Thus, God placed a
compulsion upon your father and commanded him not to speak of the Way World,
the Sword of Truth, or the duties laid upon him as the wielder of that sword.
Your father could not speak of these things until now, when he returned to the
Here Between.”
    Suddenly,
there was a loud bang at the door followed by a bright flash and a roaring
crack of thunder that shook the house. David was up quickly, the Sword of Truth
already out of its sheath by the time his feet were carrying him across the
room. The Beagle beat him to the door and turned to face David. Before it could
speak, however, two other voices shouted, “Stop!”
    David
turned to see Brother Oswald and one of the russet guests moving toward him.
    “It was
the threshold, Brother David,” Oswald quickly blurted out.
    “Don’t
open the door; you’ll put us all at risk,” the russet man spoke firmly.
    “What’s
going on, Dad?” This came from Mel, who was helping Deborah, Nic, Eve, and
Silas group everybody together.
    David
shook his head and lowered his blade. “Sorry, it’s been a while,” he said to
Brother Oswald, the Beagle, and the other guests. To his children he called,
“Something has tried to force through the threshold protecting the Oswalds’
home.”
    Brother
Oswald turned to