Wanted to be a Sentinel (by Caelin)

I've always loved nature. Whether it was taking walks through the forest 
with my family, or chasing butterflies through Eleusis with childish glee, 
the joys of nature were all around me. Occasionally, my friends and I would 
talk about what we wanted to be when we grew up. One of them expressed her 
life's goal of becoming a bard, and being the best the land of Achaea had 
ever seen, because she wanted to impress the boy across the street that she 
was always too embarrassed to talk to. Another decided he wanted to be a monk, 
to train his mind and body to be itself a weapon to defend Eleusis. But I 
didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Often we played games, as children typically do. One of the popular games 
was "Sentinels and Mhaldorians," in which the Sentinels tried to capture 
the Mhaldorians and bring them back for punishment. We played all over the 
forests of Ithmia, sometimes even getting as far as the walls of Hashan. 
Occasionally, the Sentinels were overly zealous in their play, and the 
Mhaldorians went home with bruises, or worse. Being younger than most of the 
other children, I never got to be a Sentinel, the biggest and strongest kids 
asserted that right. Instead, I was always a Mhaldorian, constantly fleeing 
from the larger Sentinels. 

One day, we were playing in East Ithmia forest, and all the other Mhaldorians 
had been captured and punished, I was the only one left. Through years of 
practice, I had gotten much better at hiding in the forest, and the Sentinels 
were starting to get angry. I heard them as they came closer, beating sticks 
against trees as they moved through the forest. I slowly started moving north, 
away from the chaotic sound of wood striking bark, knowing that it wasn't just 
capturing me the other boys had in mind.

I was so intent on staying away from the approaching Sentinels that I slipped 
on a wet rock, and fell with a splash into the Zaphar River. Shouts of glee 
and pounding footsteps drew closer, as the Sentinels ran to investigate the 
noise. I quickly swam to the other side of the river, running through the forest 
in the general direction of Hashan. The Sentinels were not far behind, brandishing 
their sticks and yelling. Dodging quickly around a large tree, I ran into a solid 
mass, covered in fur. I looked up to see the hulking form of a grizzly bear - I hadn't 
known they lived in this part of the forest!

I recoiled in fear, sure I had made the bear very angry. The bear turned to face me, 
and... laughed? "Are you ok, boy?" it asked. I didn't know whether to be more surprised 
that the bear laughed, or that it talked. Of more immediate concern though, was the mob 
of boys heading my way, ready to beat me to a pulp with the sticks they wielded. The bear, 
seeing the reason for my distress, let out a blood-curdling roar. I fought the urge to 
turn around and run, whereas the sound of sticks falling on the ground and boys running 
and screaming for help filled the air as the Sentinels ran back towards Eleusis.
I turned back to the bear, but instead of a massive grizzly standing there, it was a man, 
a human, staring at me with an amused grin on his face. I did a double-take, and asked, 
my voice barely audible, "you... you're, that... bear?" The stranger grinned and nodded, 
while looking me over; apparently to make sure I was ok.

"You're a long way from home!" the stranger exclaimed, "where do you live?"
"I live in Eleusis with my family," I replied with somewhat moreconfidence than I had before. 
The stranger picked me up, carrying me on his shoulders as he made his way back towards 
Eleusis. On the way back, I told him of everything that had happened to me, how the other 
boys were Sentinels capturing and torturing Mhaldorians. The stranger laughed jovially in 
response, shaking his head, and perhaps saying something about "kids these days," I wasn't 
sure. As we approached Eleusis, I asked the stranger his name. "When you get old enough, 
become a real Sentinel, and then I will tell you my name. I am merely a Sentinel of Nature, 
but someday, you can be like me," he replied, smiling.

He dropped me off at my home, and as he turned to walk away, he winked at me with a sparkle 
in his eye, before transforming into a great eagle and flying away. I knew that someday, 
I would learn his name.