The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) by Steven R. Burke

Kira’s magical barrier.   It looked directly at Yukio with great
expectancy in its beady black eyes.
    The
general instinctively knew that the raven was attempting to communicate with
him.   He had never attempted to
communicate telepathically with a raven before, so he did not know what to
expect.   As he reached out with his magic
to touch the bird’s mind, he could sense the urgency of the message it was
carrying.   Once he had established a
connection with the bird, he saw flashing images coming at him in rapid
succession.
    The
general winced as the images flew at him.   He simply could not process that much information at the rate it was
coming at him.   He used his magic to slow
down the images.   Once they started
coming at a more reasonable pace, he understood perfectly who the bird was and
what it was trying to tell him.   This was
a messenger from the guardian Kana.   The
messenger had been sent to give them precise directions to the meeting place
and to bid them welcome.
    “This
is a messenger from our mysterious guardian friend,” the general
explained.   “This raven bids us welcome
from his master and asks that we follow him to the predetermined meeting
place.”   Yukio did not go into detail
about the numerous images that he saw because it was still unclear to him what
they all meant.   He had no idea why he
saw scenes of horrific battles and of personal betrayals.   He could not comprehend their meaning at the
moment, but he would discover their meaning when he had the time.   He was extremely adept at solving puzzles
like these and would not rest until he understood everything.
    As
the morning gave way to midday, the sun burned brightly in the clear sky above
them.   The temperature was not as hot as
when they were at the lower altitudes.   They had been following the raven for a couple of hours now, and they
were still no closer to this secret meeting place.   Yukio had used the time to describe the
meeting place in greater detail to Kira.   There was a massive waterfall that fell over a hundred feet into a deep
pool of green water.   This place was
enclosed in a veranda of beautiful trees and vegetation.   That was where they were heading.   The guardian would surely be waiting for them
there.   However, Yukio did not tell the
princess that he saw Kana in the images he was shown by the raven.   The elemental did not have a solid form, or
so it seemed.   She looked like red and
grayish-white mist swirling together by the bank of the eerie pool that was
their destination.
    The
general’s thoughts were interrupted when the trees began to thin out and
revealed the scene Yukio had just finished describing.   They looked up at the impressive waterfall
and instinctively knew that everything was going to be different.   They followed the falling water to where it
smashed into the clear green pool of water rimmed with ice.   Somehow they had not heard the stream that
they had been following.   They were even
more bewildered at how they missed the raucous sound of the falling water.   They had been caught up in their own thoughts
that they missed all of the signs of the end of their journey.
    Princess
Kira’s eyes sparkled as she looked for the elemental.   She knew that no one had seen one for
hundreds of years.   They used to travel
the lands of Tuwa without any trepidation, but something had happened centuries
ago to drive them into seclusion.   As
Yukio looked at the place where he had seen the misty form of Kana, they both
started at the appearance of a beautiful creature.   She had long, fiery-red hair with eyes that
pierced the soul.   Being in her presence
was both terrible and awe inspiring.   The
powerful elemental before them gestured to them to come out from under the
cover of the trees.   Yukio did not like
giving up his cover; it made him feel vulnerable.   Internally he was still struggling with why
he was here.
    As
they approached, a powerful wind came up