Chapter 4

The Guardian of Trabia

Rhodry Blaen held the sat phone to his ear, straining to hear Thalassa's voice over a biting wind outside the inviting tavern.

'How long do we have?' he asked. His thick Trabian accent was guttural with much trill, many words sounding like they were torn from the throat. Much like the Trabian language itself.

'I don't know for certain; Tyris just said imminently. They could be massing at the border already. Are you anywhere near Selphie?'

Rhodry did not respond immediately. The Guardian lived within the forest several miles outside of Adaryn, with her husband and Knight, Irvine. Although Rhodry had not heard a duress code from the White SeeD, he remained vague in case Esthar had found a way to break their encryption.

'I can get to her, yes,' he said.

'Then don't waste time talking to me,' Thalassa said, hanging up.

Rhodry took a deep breath, not minding the cold. It was the largest tavern in Adaryn, and he worked security there on weekends, but was off duty tonight. He looked back at the full tankard on his table and the handsome man sitting next to his vacant seat, giving him a questioning look. He motioned with his head for his date to come to the tavern door.

'SeeD just informed me that Esthar marches north. I need to inform the Mayor. Another time, maybe,' Rhodry said, as apologetically as he could.

He walked briskly away before the startled man could attempt to arrange anything else. This had not been a lie, but he needed to head home first. Fortunately, his home was between the pub and the mayor's residence. When he got there, Rhodry speedily changed from his smart-casual outfit to his winter combat gear. From a wooden chest next to his bed, he took his bow, quiver, and longsword. A dagger was already sheathed at his ankle.

At thirty years old, Rhodry was tall and slenderly built, with short, dark hair and green eyes. He had been one of the last SeeDs to graduate Balamb Garden before its fall. He was a veteran of that tragic battle, in which his sister Anwen had perished. His former lover, Glyn, had also died throwing himself between Rhodry and a young officer's blade.

A junior class member during the Second Sorceress War, Rhodry had been instantly recognisable as the boy in the blue sports top running laps around Garden every morning. Squall Leonhart had saved his life twice. First during NORG's Uprising, and again during the Battle of the Gardens, when Rhodry had been cut off by Galbadian aerial units.

After ten minutes Rhodry reached the mayor's home, one of the larger cottages in the village, with two floors. The lights were on. He gave the solid timber door his trademark knock of five firm hits with the side of his fist, in the hope that Owaen would answer the door himself. The Mayor did, in his long johns and slippers.

'Rhodry?' he asked patiently.

'Diamond Dust.'

Owaen stared at him, expressionless. 'You're sure?'

Rhodry nodded once. 'Diamond Dust.'

Owaen was also a SeeD. With the code given, a chain of events would be set into motion that the Mayor and village had long prepared for, and everything would be ready by the time Rhodry returned from where he needed to go. Adaryn was one of the larger towns in northern Trabia and close to the reaches of Esthar's colony. Any major campaign would undoubtedly be coming through it.

Sorceress Reina's first imperial moves had been to invade the fertile valleys of southern Trabia. The region was largely unpopulated due to the penultimate Lunar Cry, inadvertently triggered by Adel's researchers during the First Sorceress War. The survivors of the monster hordes who could not flee south were driven to the harsh tundra of the far north.

Then Reina had pushed east, across the mountains, into the gigantic Grandidi Forest for its near unending resources. Breaking her promises to the more conservationist tribes, Reina cut swathes through a forest bigger than Balamb. The Grandidi was also the world's largest chocobo territory, and Esthar beleaguered thousands of the giant yellow birds, most of whom were poached or captured for enforced breeding.

Even after the reconstructed Trabia Garden had been destroyed, Esthar had been defeated by the terrain – rather than the indigenous population – during any attempt to invade the far north. Even so, the colonials would frequently send raiding parties beyond their new border to trade with larger settlements, harass smaller settlements and poach rare beasts. Reina had only sowed seeds of hatred with the northern Trabians. The blue dragons had become so feral over the last twenty years that they attacked humans indiscriminately, Esthari or not.

Rhodry said to the Mayor, 'I need to reach the Guardian, sir. Can I take one of your chocobos?'

'Of course, you can.'

Rhodry ran around the side of the house to the large stable. Owaen met him out back to saddle one and help him lead it to the road.

'Hynespeed, boyo,' Owaen said, as Rhodry mounted the yellow bird.

Chocobos were significantly more intelligent than mesmerizes and could comprehend human speech to an extent. At his command, they were off towards the edge of town. In more favourable conditions, chocobos could travel over forty miles an hour. But going through a large forest in a foot of snow, and through a heavy blizzard, its speed was significantly cut down.

It took over an hour to reach the Guardian's cottage. There was a warming light from a fire in a downstairs room and thick smoke coming from the chimney. Rhodry led the chocobo into the Guardian's own stable, which was enchanted to keep out the cold. Relaxing in the warmth, he left his mount on the opposite side to another two chocobos that were snuggled in the corner. One of them gave an inquisitive 'Kweh?' as it looked at him with one large eye. He placed all his weapons save for the dagger in the saddlebag.

Before he could reach the cottage door, it opened to reveal the Guardian, who was wearing just a light magnolia nightdress. Like the stable, Rhodry knew the cottage was magically constructed. The fire was purely for decoration.

During the last war, Rinoa inherited a tremendous amount of power from Edea and Adel. She had believed herself to be the last Sorceress in existence and had struggled to contain her newfound power. There had been accidents at Balamb Garden, the last of which was fatal, forcing Squall to resign his leadership position. Squall and Rinoa had moved to Obel Lake in Timber, but the magical outbursts did not stop.

Rinoa had feared she would never be able to be around other people again and was faced with the bleak outlook of spending the rest of her life in isolation. Selphie and Quistis, now Rinoa's closest friends and both with great affinity for magic, had honourably offered to ease her burden. With Dr. Odine's help, Rinoa's power had been split between the three heroines in what became known as the Divide.

There was no doubt that Reina – who it was inferred had received a share of Adel's power before the end of the First Sorceress War – had vowed to reunify Hyne's divided Half. Edea Kramer and Ellone Loire had both been approached about participating in the Divide, but declined, and it was believed Reina murdered Edea thinking her to still be a Sorceress.

Selphie's emerald eyes looked a little puzzled, but lit up with appreciation at seeing Rhodry. She was diminutive, her light brown hair splayed out in bangs and her skin almost permanently pale with the local climate. She looked to be in her third decade, but Rhodry knew her age was closer to forty.

'Good evening, Selphie,' Rhodry said. 'May I come in? I've had some worrying intelligence from White SeeD.'

'Sure,' she said, standing aside to let him through, then closing the door behind him.

There was no sign of her Knight in the cosy living room, nor in the farmhouse kitchen to his left. Rhodry could see that the Gunslinger's favourite semi-automatic rifle, the Ulysses, was gone from the hooks on the wall.

'Irv spotted some elk trails near the stable at noon,' Selphie explained. 'He's still out hunting.'

Once Esthar had broken its Long Silence after the last war, a treaty signed between Laguna Loire and Fury Caraway had resulted in nuclear disarmament and the share of Esthar's advanced technology with rest of the world. This was in return for Timber and Dollet's liberation and much needed Galbadian help in dealing with the Lunar Cry they had caused. The chief purpose of the treaty had been to prevent any country having a technological advantage over another. Galbadia would no longer fear Esthar, and industrially backward nations would no longer fear Galbadia. The threat of mutually assured destruction from intercontinental missiles was no more.

If not for the emergence of Sorceress Reina, this could have ushered in generations of peace. Unfortunately, an even more devastating world war had followed, this one lasting longer than the first.

But with the distribution of Esthar's shield technology, most firearms had become almost useless on the field of modern combat. Gunblades had soared in popularity and sidearms were still issued as they could be fired point blank. Long range firearms were still manufactured due to the threat posed by monsters.

Irvine Kinneas, a gunslinger through and through, had devoted his entire youth at Galbadia Garden to becoming a munitions expert and sniper. He had struggled to adjust to the new melee era. Rhodry guessed that the isolated life of a Sorceress' Knight suited Irvine. He could hunt regularly and had largely been uninvolved in the war since Trabia Garden's defeat.

'Sit down, Rhod! Can I get you a beer?' Selphie offered.

Rhodry's tongue had become dry from the tavern's stout after an hour of riding. He looked at a hanging kettle above the fire.

'Tea, please,' he replied. 'With a bit of sugar.'

He and Selphie went back a long time, as he and Anwen had transferred to Balamb Garden at the same time as she had. Seated in one of the comfortable chairs, Rhodry relayed everything Thalassa had told him, finishing with that he had given Owaen the code word to start defensive preparations of Adaryn, which would extent to the whole of free Trabia.

Selphie listened attentively, her captivating green eyes never leaving his face. Her time as a SeeD and decades as a Sorceress meant she was much better at containing her hyperactivity than she had been in her youth. Rhodry knew she was ever thankful for the rare company she received at her cottage, as very few people knew its location, and for good reason. She finally spoke when Rhodry stopped to drink his cooled tea.

'I knew that bitch would never stop with Trabia Garden! Reina's in a much stronger position to take the north now. I've been waiting for this for over fifteen years!'

When Reina had pushed north, Trabia Garden was still under reconstruction. It was not in a strong enough position to defend itself in what was the first major engagement of the war. Only the mobile Balamb Garden had come to its aid, its ranks also depleted from the last war, now commanded by Xu.

Selphie had bested Reina in a fierce battle of sorcery on the Bika Snowfield. But the Esthari, led by General Agamemnon Zebalga, were bludgeoning through the defences of the young cadets, with Doomtrain emboldening the General's hated sickle sword. He and Tiberius Vlahos got the upper hand against Irvine and Shiva, and Selphie had no choice but to rush to their defence. Rhodry and Anwen, then adolescent SeeD cadets, were veterans of that battle as well.

With Trabia Garden once again in ruins, Reina and Selphie eventually agreed to a parley. Reina allowed the survivors to flee to Balamb Garden. Though from then onwards, Selphie had become known among the northern peoples as the Guardian of Trabia. Every able-bodied Trabian vowed to stand with her should Esthar ever march further north.

'Are either of you still junctioned with Shiva?' Rhodry asked.

Selphie shook her head. 'We're not. Her power wasn't necessary once I became a Sorceress. Irv was always reluctant to use GFs because of the memory loss, which he witnessed in me first-hand. If you recall, I didn't remember him from my childhood when we met years later, in Galbadia. He only junctioned with Sacred and Minotaur because the rest of us had GFs back then, and he knew he would need the power after being recruited to kill Edea. Shiva returned to the Ice Cavern after we settled here, and Irv only sought her when Reina moved on Trabia Garden. Although Shiva said we can call on her again when needed.'

'Well, I think the time has come,' Rhodry said. 'We must go to her.'

Selphie shook her head again. 'You go, Rhod. I'll wait for Irv to return, and we'll join the defence of Adaryn. Squall and the others should already be on their way. If your heart is pure, Shiva will see it in your aura. But you'll have to prove yourself before she will let you junction with her.'

'Selphie, Thalassa said that Reina and the Praetorians are coming for you!' Rhodry protested. 'If she reaches Adaryn before-!'

Selphie cut him off. 'I'm not afraid of her, Rhodry! I kicked her ass before!'

Rhodry leaned forward in the chair. 'But she's much more powerful now! She has Leviathan, Ramuh, the Jumbo Cactuar, the Tonberry K-! '

'I can hold her off until you get back, Rhod! Just get going! You're wasting time!' she said resolutely, and he knew he was not going to change her mind. He relented with a frustrated sigh. After giving him directions to the cavern entrance, Selphie gestured to the hearty flames next to them. 'There's a draw point in the fire. You'll need the fire in the Cavern. But use it to imbue your sword or arrows, rather than casting big fire spells.'

He nodded respectfully, even though her advice was not strictly necessary. He was a SeeD, after all; one of the best. Fire was not his preferred element, but he was competent with it. Rising, he extended his palm towards the fire, and curving purple rays shot towards him. He could feel the warmth of the fiery para-magic coursing through him.

'Be careful, Selphie,' Rhodry urged her. 'Head for Adaryn as soon as Irvine comes back. I'll return as fast as I can.'

'Good luck, Rhod! Now get going!'

The Sorceress left him to find his own way out. Rhodry knew she did not have a phone, not wanting the signature to be tracked by Esthar, so he would not know of her safety until he had succeeded in his task. He would stop by here on the way back from the Ice Cavern; the power of a GF would make the return journey much quicker.

Rhodry could not worry about Selphie now. Returning to his chocobo, he mounted and was on his way.