The Guardian They Left for Dead

Chapter 8: The Difference Between Us

The tiny black stone struck Asher’s frost blade and shattered it into glittering fragments and for a moment, no one moved.

Then a deep roar rolled over the colosseum.

Heads lifted as the Guardian Covenant Dragon of House Voss circled above the arena. Its massive wings blocked the light, throwing the stands into shadow, yet no one understood why the beast had left Voss Manor or why it carried two figures on its back.

The dragon swept lower and a man leapt from it with a little girl held securely in one arm. His cloak snapped behind him as he descended, landing between Mira and Asher hard enough to send cracks through the platform.

The dragon gave one final roar before turning away and as the dust settled, the crowd finally saw the man’s face.

“Jayden Jian?” an old man called and the name spread through the colosseum like fire.

Nobles rose from their seats, elders leaned forward, and the surviving members of House Jian stared as though a dead man had stepped out of his grave.

But Nia saw only one person

“Mother!”

Jayden lowered her to the ground

Nia ran before her feet were steady and threw herself into Mira’s arms. Mira caught her with a broken gasp, nearly falling from the force despite her wounds.

“Nia…” Her hands moved frantically over the child’s face and shoulders. “Are you hurt? What did they do to you? How... Nia.. ” hot tears from her eyes as she hugged her. Of all the things fate had done to her, this was the one miracle she had never dared expect.

"My baby... are you alright darling?" She asked, her heart breaking as she saw the swollen face and state she was in

“I’m fine.” Nia buried her face against her. “Daddy came. He saved me.”

Mira froze, her heart skipped several beats then slowly, she looked up, her eyes widened as she saw Jayden stood only a few steps away.

For years, she had held onto his promise while everyone called her foolish. She had survived each insult by telling herself he was still alive somewhere, but now that he was truly before her, she could barely breathe.

“Jayden…”

Her voice cracked.

“You finally came.”

Jayden crossed the distance between them and pulled both mother and daughter into his arms.

Mira’s strength broke at once. She clutched his clothes and cried against his chest, all the fear and pain she had swallowed spilling out now that she no longer had to pretend she was strong.

Jayden held them tightly, his chest tightening

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. “I came too late.”

Mira shook her head through her tears, as though afraid speaking would make him disappear again.

Jayden touched Nia’s hair, then looked down at Mira’s bloodied face and torn dress. His arms tightened around them.

“No one will hurt either of you again,” he promised. “Not while I’m alive and I promise, whoever hurts you will pay.”

A slow clap came from behind him.

“How touching.”

Asher stood among the broken pieces of his frost blade, looking at Jayden with a mocking smile.

“I searched for you for years, yet you saved me the trouble and delivered yourself here.”

Jayden released Mira and turned.

Even after all those years, Asher had the same proud eyes and the same belief that everyone around him existed beneath his feet.

“You haven’t changed,” Jayden said. “Still loud and conceited.”

Asher laughed. “And you are still arrogant enough to mistake luck for strength.”

His gaze moved toward the sky where the covenant dragon had disappeared.

“I admit, seeing you ride the Voss dragon surprised me. I almost wondered whether you had become someone important.” He then glanced at Nia. “But you released your only protection and came down here carrying a burden.”

Nia held Mira tighter.

Jayden ignored the insult and bent to help Mira stand and with one touch, he broke the magical restraints around her wrists.

The glowing marks cracked and fell away and Asher’s smile faltered briefly.

Jayden placed Mira’s arm around his shoulder and guided her toward the edge of the platform.

“Wait,” she whispered. “Asher is stronger than he was before.”

“It's okay, love.”

“Jayden ..”

He looked at her and the calm certainty in his eyes stopped the rest of her warning.

“Take Nia and wait for me.”

Mira hesitated, but Nia tugged gently at her hand.

“Mother, Daddy will be fine.”

After one final look at Jayden, Mira carried Nia a few steps away from the fighting ground.

Asher sneered. “Do you honestly believe blocking one attack makes you my equal?”

Jayden turned back to him.

“You were once called the greatest talent of House Jian,” Asher continued. “But while you spent these years hiding in some forgotten corner, I consumed the finest medicines, studied the strongest spells and inherited the family’s resources.”

Cold magic gathered around him.

“You are still the boy who ran away with nothing. I can kill you with one move.”

The crowd quickly joined him.

“Lord Asher has mastered advanced frost magic!”

“Jayden has been missing for years. How could he possibly compare?”

“Riding a dragon does not make him strong.”

Jayden heard every word, but his gaze remained on Asher.

He remembered Mira kneeling on the bloodstained platform and the ice blade falling toward her neck and the urge to snap Asher’s neck intensified but death was too good for him

“Try me,” he said.

The calm answer wiped the smile from Asher’s face and Ice exploded beneath his feet.

He crossed the platform with his fist wrapped in thick frost, pouring his full strength into the strike. Cold wind tore across the arena, freezing the cracks in the stone as he aimed directly for Jayden’s chest.

“Jayden, careful!” Mira cried.

Nia patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mother. Daddy is stronger than the dragon.”

Mira looked at her in disbelief wondering what her daughter was talking about

Asher’s fist reached Jayden but he lifted one hand and brushed the attack aside.

The frost around Asher’s arm shattered and before he could recover, Jayden struck him once in the chest.

There was no grand spell and no dramatic movement.

Just one casual palm and Asher flew across the arena.

He crashed into the stone wall at the edge of the platform, breaking through it before falling into the rubble.

The colosseum fell silent and several people remained standing with their mouths open. The men who had praised Asher moments ago could not find another word.

Mira stared at Jayden.

Nia smiled proudly. “I told you. Daddy's strong.”

Asher pushed himself out of the broken stone, blood running from his mouth. His eyes were wide with shock.

“Impossible.”

He pressed one hand against his chest, struggling to breathe.

“I couldn’t even sense how you moved your magic. What kind of technique was that?”

Jayden lowered his hand and Asher’s shock quickly turned to anger.

“You must have learned some strange trick during your exile,” he spat. “A cheap, unorthodox method to hide your power and catch others off guard.”

Jayden looked almost amused but Asher straightened despite the pain.

“But tricks are useless before absolute strength.”

“I agree,” Jayden said.

Asher frowned, then the foreign power around Jayden disappeared.

The faint golden pressure Lady Vara had taught him to use faded completely, leaving behind an energy every elder of House Jian recognized.

A warm red glow spread across Jayden’s palm and the crowd stirred.

“That is…”

“The Jian family’s Flame Pulse?”

Asher stared for a second, then burst into laughter.

“You truly are desperate.” Frost gathered around both his arms as he stepped forward. “That is an intermediate spell taught to young members of House Jian. While you were gone, I mastered advanced magic. I guess that first move you used before is now useless so you resort to this.”

A huge frost sigil opened behind him.

Its light spread across the arena, forming dozens of frozen spears in the air.

“Your old talent means nothing now,” Asher declared. “Prepare to die.”

The spectators recovered their courage.

“Flame Pulse cannot stop that!”

“He is finished.”

“Asher’s Frostfall Burial can freeze an entire battlefield.”

Jayden raised his glowing palm and Asher thrust both hands forward.

“Frostfall Burial!”

The frozen spears descended together, carrying enough force to tear through the entire platform but Jayden calmly pushed his palm out once.

“Flame Pulse.”

A simple wave of red fire moved through the air, it looked almost weak beside Asher’s enormous spell but then the two powers met and the advanced frost magic vanished.

It did not crack or weaken. It simply vanished.

Every frozen spear melted in the same instant, and the remaining heat crossed the platform before Asher could react. His defensive barrier shattered, and Jayden appeared directly in front of him.

Asher’s eyes widened but Jayden caught his throat and drove him to the ground.

The platform broke beneath Asher’s body so bad his scream was swallowed by shock

No one in the colosseum spoke. They were too shocked to form a single word.

An intermediate spell had just erased advanced magic completely. That could only happen when the weaker spell was backed by overwhelming magical reserves and control far beyond ordinary understanding.

Asher struggled beneath Jayden’s grip.

“How?” Fear finally entered his voice. “We destroyed your family. You had no resources, no inheritance, nothing. You spent years running for your life, so how can you possess this kind of power?”

Jayden looked down at him.

“I always knew you were jealous.”

Asher froze.

“You wanted my position, my talent and everything that belonged to me. But I never considered you a threat.” Jayden’s grip tightened slightly. “I protected you because I believed we were family.”

Pain twisted Asher’s face.

“My kindness gave you the courage to betray me.”

Jayden leaned closer, his voice calm enough to make the words colder.

“You spent years convincing yourself that better spells and more resources would close the distance between us.”

A faint, humourless smile touched his lips.

“But the difference between us was never cultivation.”

His eyes hardened.

“It was what we were made of.”