No Good Deed

“Do you acknowledge your crime?”

“I do. But I would like to say that I violated our rules to save the life of a king. He would have been killed if I had not acted.”

The white robed man serving as my judge shook his head.

“It does not matter. We are not to expose ourselves to mankind for any reason. Thanks to you, we have been put in danger of discovery.”

“I only meant to…”

“That is enough!” The judge shouted.

“You have made your defense, and I am now ready to pass sentence. You are hereby exiled from this place until it has been decided that your sentence is fulfilled. You will live among men, and you will do so as a man. You will be stripped of your power and shall not return here until it has been decided that your sentence has been served.”

With those words, I was exiled from the only home I had ever known. I have walked the world of men for centuries. I petitioned my superiors every year on the anniversary of my banishment for an end to my penance. Every year, I receive no response. So my sentence continued. As the years passed, I decided that since my sentence decreed that I live as a man, that is exactly what I would do. I would be selfish, cruel, and petty. I would put my wants and needs above those of all others. I would come to regret this choice.

My name is Andrew, and I am, rather, I was a Guardian. I, along with many others like me, protected mankind from itself as well as outside forces. We have stepped in to prevent wars between nations as well as save individuals from more personal tragedies. Some of us had power over certain elements of the world we protected, such as the sun, oceans, and earth. I have talents that allow me to control light. Because of our abilities, we were often worshiped as gods. Stories were told about us. In these tales, we were changed into heroic beings that performed mighty deeds. It often amused and confused us. We were just doing what we had always done. This pattern continued unchanged for centuries. Until I turned everything upside down. Guardians must protect mankind as well as be true to the laws that govern our existence. I broke those laws and paid the price. This is my story.

According to man’s accounting, my transgression took place in the year 1390. I was living in Denmark, working as a tutor. One particular day, I saw two men that I did not recognize approaching the room I was in. They were talking to one another and so did not notice me. The man on the right was very tall and dressed nearly all in black except for a white shirt. His long black coat was trimmed in silver thread, and fine black boots had silver buckles. His companion was dressed in a yellow shirt, green coat, and green breeches tucked into soft brown boots. Both wore swords at their sides. And spoke in hushed tones. As they passed the door of my room, I heard one of them say, “The king has ruled long enough. It is time for a change.”

I could not believe what I had just heard. These two men were plotting to kill the king. I stopped what I was doing, and as I had not been exiled yet, I still possessed my full power. I made myself invisible and followed them down the hallway.

As we passed servants and other members of the household, their conversation turned to more mundane subjects.

They stopped talking altogether until we came to a closed door on one side of the hallway. The man in green and brown pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, then opened it. I used my superior speed to enter the room first. The man in green stopped suddenly.

Looking at his companion, he asked, “Did you feel a breeze just now?”

The black clad man nodded. “There is always a draft in this place. There are gaps everywhere in the walls.”

The man in green still looked unconvinced, but said nothing else. The men both entered the room, and the man in green closed and locked the door behind them.

“James,” he said, “Are you sure that we want to do this tonight?”

The man in black, James, nodded.

“This is the best time. The banquet will be full of people; it will be impossible to know for certain who killed the king. A servant, a knight, a rival lord, no one can be certain. There are several routes we can use to escape; I know the place well enough. Stop worrying, Christian.”

“Very well,” Christian said.

Christian walked over to a desk in the corner and opened a drawer. He removed a small vial holding a clear liquid.

James smiled when he saw it.

“You are sure this will kill him?”

Christian nodded. “For as much as it cost me, it better kill the entire royal family.”

“Our benefactors will reward us one hundred times whatever your cost was; do not fret.”

I was stunned that these men would be plotting to kill their rightful king in his own house. I knew that I had to do something to stop them. I considered revealing myself and capturing them right then. But then I would have had to explain how a simple tutor took down two experienced and armed warriors in a matter of seconds. My best option was to get to the king’s palace first and wait for them to strike.

James turned to the door, saying, “Let’s go, we have to arrive at the palace in enough time to give our man inside the poison.”

Christian asked, “You managed to replace one of the king’s servants?”

James smiled coldly.

“Royals do not take note of who serves them unless they make a mistake. It was easy.”

Christian moved to the door and unlocked it.

“Then let’s get going,” he said as he walked back into the hallway.

James followed him, and then they were gone.

I heard the men’s footsteps echoing down the hallway. After a few moments, they faded away. I left the room, allowing myself to be visible again. I knew that I could reach the palace before them. Due to my abilities, I could run faster than any horse, even at full gallop. I gathered my things from the other room and left as quickly as I could without being rude to my hosts. I walked down the street, greeting those I knew, but not spending much time in conversation. It only took me a few minutes to reach my house. Once there, I deposited my things on my desk and went to my room.

I changed into some of my finest clothes. I pulled on white breeches tucked into knee-high black boots, along with a dark blue tunic trimmed in white at the sleeves and collar. A white half cape completed the outfit.

After putting on a large blue hat with a white feather sewn on one side, I looked in the mirror on the wall. I would have preferred to dress less grandly, but I had to blend in with the other guests and move around freely without arousing suspicion. Satisfied, I left my house and headed to the king’s palace.

I arrived at the palace before most of the other guests. I used my ability to make myself invisible and was able to search for the man who would meet James or Christian to obtain the poison. I made my way across the courtyard when I saw a man dressed in red and white hurrying toward a side gate. He was looking around, as if he were afraid of being seen. I knew that this was the man I sought. He stood near the wooden door, nervously fidgeting. A knock on the other side of the door startled him so badly that he nearly fell. The man in red and white opened the door, and I saw Christian take a step into the courtyard. Christian handed the nervous man the vial that he had removed from the desk earlier that day.

“Do not fail us, David,” Christian said menacingly. “Your family’s lives as well as your own depend on your success. You will be greatly rewarded should you perform well.”

David nodded slowly. Christian slipped back through the door and was gone.

David closed the door, then left the courtyard to return to the palace.

The rest of the day was uneventful until supper. The king’s vassals gathered in the great hall. There were many people in attendance, but I knew who to watch for. Christian was there, still wearing his green and brown clothing. I did not see James yet. I did observe David standing near the king’s table, holding a jug of wine.

I slipped behind a pillar, and once out of sight, I became invisible. I moved as close as I could to the high table. Only ten feet or so separated me from David. Even still, I knew I had to be very fast to stop him. A commotion at the back of the hall caught the attention of the assembled guests. I looked there and saw that the king, Eric VII, had entered the hall to a great cheer. While the crowd was distracted, I became invisible and moved to stand an arm’s length away from David. King Eric greeted the lords and ladies as he walked toward the high table. David used the distraction to remove the vial from his waist and pour the liquid into the wine. I looked toward the king; he was much closer now. He would be sitting in his chair in moments. David moved aside to allow Eric to take his seat.

“Would you like wine, your highness?” David asked as he held the jug over the king’s cup.

Eric nodded as he turned to speak to the man on his left.

As David tipped the jug, I moved the cup, and wine spilled onto the table.

Eric looked at David, furious at what he saw as a servant’s incompetence.

“I pay you to pour wine into my cup, not on my table and certainly not on me!”

The king’s outburst had brought the attention of his guests to the high table.

David stammered an apology.

“Forgive me, my king,” he said as he dropped to his knees. “I beg your forgiveness, sire.”

It was then that I saw James. He was moving quickly through the crowd, shoving people aside. Once he reached the tables just below the king, he jumped onto it, a dagger in each hand. As James made his leap, I revealed myself and caught James around the throat in midair.

He stabbed me with his daggers, but the few wounds he managed to inflict healed instantly. I lifted James as high as I could and tossed him to the stone floor. One of his arms was broken by the impact. As James struggled to recover his feet, I struck him once in the face, knocking him out. In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten the first rule of being a Guardian. Never allow mortals to see you using your powers. What I had just done happened in full view of everyone in the hall. I knew that I would be severely punished, but I thought that my reasons for breaking this rule would grant me clemency. Before I could explain what happened, two royal guards were marching me out of the hall. Just outside the door of the hall, I felt myself leave the ground. The next instant, I was in my home; my true home. I was judged and then banished, fated to walk the earth until my superiors felt I had learned my lesson. I was stripped of my elemental powers, but not my near immortality. Other than my strength and speed, I was, for all intents and purposes, a normal man. That is how I have lived since that day. Throughout the centuries, I have been a soldier, a merchant, a ruler, and a hundred other things. I was angry and bitter at my exile, and I let those feelings consume me for a long time. Everything I did, I did for myself. I gathered great wealth and possessions, which I used to further my desires. I had lost the sense of purpose that had made me a Guardian. I had no motivation to help anyone but myself.

It is now 1918. I am fighting in the British army at Ypres. The weeks of battle had been fierce, but we are pushing the Germans back. We used gas to break the German lines, and now we are advancing rapidly. I came across a man in a German uniform writhing on the ground. The gas we used had blinded him, and he wiped at his eyes helplessly.

I ran past him, intending to catch up with the rest of my unit. His cries made me slow down and finally stop. I turned back to him and raised my rifle. No one deserved to suffer this way, not even an enemy. I felt a familiar tug of duty; an urge to give mercy to those who had none. It was the almost forgotten call of the Guardians. But as I walked closer, I felt a dark aura around him that seemed to poison the very air. In that moment, I knew that this man could not be allowed to live. I had to kill him before his evil infected others. As my finger tightened on the trigger, I felt myself leave the battlefield. When I looked around, I found myself back home, in the company of the Guardians. My full power was restored, and my sentence ended. I was overjoyed, but also disturbed. I told my superiors about what I felt from the German soldier on the field. They told me that they would keep an eye on him. They then asked me his name. I thought back and remembered what his name tag said. It read Hitler, A. Hitler.