Guiding purpose, p.1
Guiding Purpose, page 1
GUIDING PURPOSE
Copyright ©2024 by Alexa Piper
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the author, Alexa Piper. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission of the author.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Alexa Piper asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Alexa Piper has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.
No part of this book has been created using AI.
www.alexapiper.com
Editor: Jenni Lea
Proofreader: Lori Parks
Cover Art: Kelley York at Sleepy Fox Studio
Region Map: Sarah Waites at The Illustrated Page Book Design
Foreword
Reader,
We are back with Orrey, Senlas, and the team! This second book in the series will not be the last either.
I wasn’t as fast at getting Guiding Purpose done as I wanted to be. That’s because books can be willful creatures sometimes, and when a book is as demanding as Guiding Purpose, there’s only so much an author can do.
I did the important thing and finished it, opening the doors to so many other stories in the process.
Before we dive in, my thanks, as always, go to my Ream subscribers. They allow me to create more stories set in these storyverses we all love, following characters we cherish. Divine Supporters, Monster Mates, Devil’s Lovers, Primordial Creation Deities, and Divine Shippers, you rock!
And now, onward to the stars.
Alexa Piper
February, 2024
CONTENTS
MAP OF THE REGION
1. SENLAS
2. ORREY
3. SENLAS
4. ORREY
5. SENLAS
6. COLDIS
7. ORREY
8. COLDIS
9. SENLAS
10. ORREY
11. SENLAS
12. ORREY
13. SENLAS
14. ORREY
15. SENLAS
16. ORREY
17. SENLAS
18. ORREY
19. SENLAS
20. ORREY
21. SENLAS
22. ORREY
23. SENLAS
24. ORREY
25. SENLAS
26. ORREY
27. SENLAS
28. ORREY
29. COLDIS
30. SENLAS
31. COLDIS
32. ORREY
33. SENLAS
34. ORREY
35. SENLAS
36. ORREY
37. COLDIS
38. ORREY
39. SENLAS
40. ORREY
41. SENLAS
42. ORREY
43. SENLAS
44. ORREY
45. SENLAS
46. ORREY
47. ORREY
48. Chapter 48
1
SENLAS
Among every Guardian ever known, it was only Wilan who managed to imprint twice.
Wilan’s first imprinted was also his first love, a Conduit called Avan. Avan was tragically murdered by the Hounds of a Wild Hunt. Shaken to his core by his Conduit’s death, Wilan did everything in his power to keep people safe from the evil that are Wild Hunts and the Hounds that would murder us. Thanks to him, walls now protect us, and Guardians of every generation could only ever strive to be as good as Wilan.
When he imprinted again, it was miraculous. But perhaps it was all of his good deeds, every action he took to ensure the cities’ growth and prosperity, that opened him up to find another Conduit to heal some of his hurt.
Small though the reward was for such an impressive Guardian, one cannot look at this piece of our history without feeling glad that Wilan received it.
(Sixth Year history course book of Orrey Acton. Selection annotated by Orrey Acton.)
Senlas allowed himself to focus on the pain. Dealt to him by flying rocks and ice projectiles, the dull throbbing from his wounds was easier than accepting his surroundings and contemplating what they would mean for his Conduit, his family, himself.
“Will Karmine be okay?” Orrey asked, voicing Senlas’s fear.
The relief—utter, bone-deep relief—at seeing his Conduit alive and mostly well had left Senlas drained, even more so than the fight. Now, holding Orrey’s hand in this unfamiliar house out in the middle of the wilderness between cities, it came close to bliss, but Senlas knew the deceptiveness. Danger still lurked, and they needed to get away from here.
He looked at Karmine on the floor, Col holding his hand, and a Hound treating the severe burns with…Senlas wasn’t even sure. Not medicine he had ever seen before, but a sticky white substance a lot like glue the Hound smoothed over Karmine’s injuries.
Senlas had trouble accepting that the Hound with his purplish-blue skin and straight black hair, with the pointy ears and the sulfur-bright eyes was in the process of taking care of Karmine. Just before Senlas had met Orrey, Hounds just like this one had attacked Karmine and him.
“Yes. Guardians are strong. Difficult to kill,” the Hound said, not taking his yellow eyes off his task. Senlas noted the bone-white rings in the Hound’s pierced ears, marks of killings.
“You know what it takes to kill a Guardian?” Vin asked. He didn’t show it, but he’d gotten hit pretty hard by a rock about the size of his head, and Senlas was sure he was badly bruised, maybe even had some broken ribs.
“You want to go elsewhere to see him treated, ma?” asked the human with the Hound, Rose. That one’s hair was odd, dark brown fading to a pale blond at the ends. Senlas had seen people living outside the walls on med drops like the one they had been planning, but their sense of fashion, he couldn’t fathom.
“Vin doesn’t mean that at all,” Col said, looking up from Karmine.
Senlas winced. Col was tired, had a gash on his cheek that had stopped bleeding but was filthy both from the fight and their trip through the woods, and he was still busy giving emergency channeling to Karmine. He shouldn’t even be here, Senlas thought. I should have insisted he stay home.
Rose, the outsider, and Vin had a staring contest, but it was cut short when Rose handed a bandage to cover Karmine’s wounds to the Hound.
“Rose made tea, because then sometimes, he has manners,” the Hound said. “Please serve yourselves.” He looked at Senlas, then Orrey. “That one should sit. Some cuts are deep.”
“Right. He would be grateful for your healing,” Orrey said and squeezed Senlas’s hand. “When you are done with Karmine, of course.”
The Hound nodded and continued placing the bandages over whatever salve he had applied to Karmine’s burns.
Karmine’s lips moved, then he jerked, opened his eyes. “I can’t—what’s on my face? No—no!”
He screamed and twisted on the floor, heels digging into the thin bedding he was lying on. For a fraction of a second, Senlas’s eyes caught on the pattern on that bedding, ovals shaped to make abstract flowers, a pattern they had in Argentea as well. Karmine’s screams cut through that notion. They voiced terror and pain, a stinging blend.
Senlas reached for his power and Pressed Karmine down. As he did so, he felt Orrey there, not in the physical sense, but his Conduit’s channeling, different than it had been, the connection stronger, purer.
Senlas had no time to consider that.
Col closed his fingers around Karmine’s unmarked wrist. “Ssh, Karmine, it’s me, Col. Senny, you have him?”
“Yeah.”
“C-can I help?” Orrey asked.
The Hound stood. “Hold him a little longer.”
“Hound! Hound!” Karmine screamed. He tried to disentangle his right hand from Col, probably in an attempt to go for the gun he had lost back at the clearing.
Vin kneeled by Karmine’s head, steadying the unburned side with his hand. “Karmine, shut the fuck up and listen.”
Karmine settled. Senlas still kept his power at the ready, exuding a small pressure.
Vin shifted, wincing. “We got attacked, you got burned, but we found help. Just happens to be a Hound helping us. Helping you. He says you’ll be fine, but you need to calm down, okay?”
Something in Senlas broke when he saw a tear run down only one side of Karmine’s face. The other was angry red and burned, the eye there bloodshot, discolored from the heat.
Pyromancers shouldn’t burn. Karmine shouldn’t have burned. How the fuck did all this happen?
“I can’t see right,” Karmine said
“We’ll take care of you, I promise,” Vin said. “Now, and also if you end up half blind. You know that.”
“I’ll…be half blind?”
The Hound came back, and to Senlas’s surprise he was carrying a syringe. If that was what it was. The thing looked aged, wild, could just as well have been an instrument of torture.
“There’s no telling for now,” the Hound said and jammed the syringe into Karmine’s unburned arm.
“What did you give him?” Vin asked.
“Something for pain and sleep.”
“Pain and sleep,” Senlas said.
His knees gave out, and for a moment, he knew nothing. In the next, there was the warmth of his Conduit’s channeling, voices around him, and the fear that someone might find them.
That pain and sleep might find them.
2
ORREY
What you should always strive for when channeling is to level a Guardian. For a Conduit, knowing when the Guardian in their care is leveled is an art rather than an exact science.
Yes, it can be confirmed if we hook the Guardian up to testing equipment, but even a Conduit who has not yet learned all the intricacies of channeling is far better than any machine or test we have to determine the leveling point.
It’s why we are cherished.
The first step to leveling is mastering our skills, which—empirically—we group into three categories: buffering, which is involuntary and often done without a Conduit noticing, passive channeling, the most common kind, and active channeling, which demands we “pull” the overload from our Guardian.
Very skilled Conduits, sensitive or not, will often go from buffering to active channeling, while staying in the realm of passive channeling can be a challenge for them.
Yet, especially for emergency channeling or in situations where you will need to channel several Guardians for prolonged periods, passive channeling is key, even if active channeling feels easier and levels a Guardian faster.
As an aside, should you ever find yourself in a relationship with more than one Guardian, you will come to greatly value passive channeling, especially with your Guardians vying for intimacy.
You may snicker now, but Guardian spouses love their Conduit spouse’s attention, and as a spouse to two Guardians, not exhausting myself while giving it keeps everyone happy.
Back to leveling. You’ll only be able to feel the point where your Guardian is leveled in passive channeling. The sensation of touching a leveled Guardian and passively channeling them has been described as swallowing air or pouring from an empty bottle. It may feel exactly like that to you, or slightly different, but once you know the feeling, it’s easy to recognize. It’ll soon be like touching your nose with your eyes closed, but until then, you have to practice.
(Advanced Channeling Program for Year Nine and up, first theory class, transcript from Col’s notes.)
The trouble with Guardians was that they were just really, really big, but Orrey managed to mostly break Senlas’s fall.
“Oh, you’re heavy,” he said with a grunt, but then Taros was there, helping to get Senlas down without him hitting his head.
“Let’s not tell him you said that, beautiful.” Taros’s purple hair was covered in dust, its shine dimmed, but he managed a smile.
Once they got Senlas settled on the floor, Orrey ran his hands over him, careful of the gashes. He didn’t like to have Senlas on the floor, but there was nowhere else to put him.
“Senlas, wake up. Senlas!” Orrey took Senlas’s hand, knelt by his side while Taros was on the other.
“I may check him, ma?” Anandas asked from where he stood behind Orrey. Orrey hadn’t even noticed him there.
Orrey nodded and let go of Senlas’s hand to move out of the way.
Anandas clucked. “No, hold on to him. Channel him.”
The Hound went to one knee and pulled both Senlas’s eyelids up. He looked at the gashes on the chest, arms, and legs, turned Senlas onto his side with Taros’s help, and examined the wounds on his back.
“He can wait. That one needs me more,” was Anandas’s verdict, leaving Orrey sitting on the earthen floor, so frustrated he wanted to scream.
I am a Conduit. I need to protect him.
Orrey took stock: three Guardians were down, Loquin looking as though he were peacefully asleep if it weren’t for his bandaged chest, and Karmine so badly injured Orrey had trouble looking at him without wincing.
“We need to get back to Argentea,” he said, locking eyes with Col.
“Not today.” Col’s face darkened. “They made sure to destroy the vehicles and upload a malicious AI to our screens.”
“Plus,” said Taros, “the Agri Team could pick us off along the road back. On foot, with this terrain and avoiding the main road, it could take us days.” He looked at Senlas. “Him night flying to get help would have been best.”
“Why do they want to kill you, ma?” Rose asked.
Anandas said something in the Hound language, and he and Rose exchanged a look.
“What is it?” Col asked.
“It cannot be,” Rose said.
Vin and Taros looked at each other, communicating stars knew what, leading to Col staring down first Vin, then Taros.
“Please tell us what you’re thinking,” Orrey said.
Rose handed Anandas bandages, one after the other, to place over the areas of Karmine’s skin he’d covered in some kind of poultice.
Without looking up, the strange Guardian said, “I told you I used to live in Thistletown. It is good living there. Rich fields, rich harvests, water from the river. Sometimes human traders come, sometimes Darkling traders.”
“Darkling?” Orrey asked.
“I remember that. We used to call Hounds Darklings,” Col said, then bit his lip. “The outsiders call them that, I mean.”
“You are odd,” Rose said to Col. “‘A Hound is a wild beast from legends,’ my grandmother used to say, and Darklings are so much more like us than beasts. We both descend from the wayfarers, only the Darklings were seeded first, that’s what she always said.
“Anyhow, Darklings come trading too, but this doesn’t matter. When we visited the last time, there was a stranger there. A settler.”
Col narrowed his eyes. “Wait. When you say settler, do you mean someone from the cities who fled the walls?”
Why would anyone? Orrey thought, the very idea frightening, his current circumstance only underlining that leaving the safety of the city walls was an insanely stupid undertaking.
“Yes. He said he came from a city. Bragged. Much dick measuring, only no one really wanted to measure with him.” He looked at Anandas. “But Anandas tried.”
Anandas returned something in the Hound language. Rose snorted and went on.
“Now who is rude, ma? That settler, he talked on and on about how he didn’t like Hounds, said worse, said he’d gutted some when he was still a Guardian in one of the cities.”
Rose’s jaw muscles worked and he stilled. Anandas sighed and reached for a bandage. He said, “We left then. He had strong powers. It would not have been a good fight to have.”
“He said more or less that he would have gutted you,” Rose said, hands balled into fists.
Orrey, all of a sudden, realized what he was seeing. That’s like Senlas and me. Rose wants to protect Anandas. And they aren’t out to kill anyone. They just want to live.
“My lovely Rose has lost his tale,” Anandas said, and Rose resumed handing him one bandage pad after the other. “What we heard from others in Thistletown was that this settler who was once a Guardian had tried to bargain for help and support. He was talking big words of breaking the walls and crushing the cities. He spoke of ruling like our winter kings do, all obedient underneath him. He said there had to be order in society, Guardians at the top, Conduits under them, normal humans there to serve, and Hounds dead.”
“Fucking cock-sucking asshole,” Rose said.
“Funny how you say. I have not sucked your cock many times, sweet Rose?”
“That isn’t what I mean. Your mouth is precious to me, and you are precious to me.”
Taros shifted. “I wasn’t sure. They actually fuck, huh?”
Rose looked over. “You can be jealous from right over there. Only two Guardian pets for the five of you. You must be good at sharing.”
