Sceptre of the Ungodly — Elisabeth Waters

It was one of those 'good news, bad news' days for Edward. He was informed that had been Chosen to be a Guardian, which was a great honor, but the Treasure he had been picked to guard was an anti-Treasure -- the kind of Treasure that likes to kill people. He also received a letter from his father, ordering him home for the holidays, which was even more bad news.

This story originally appeared in Sword & Sorceress 24, Nov 2009