Chessa's Rescue — Jill Penrod

Galleo is an ancient, mystical warrior of the god who doesn't age and can't seem to die, and he's tired. After spending lifetimes rescuing people of the god when they find themselves in danger, he simply wants to go home to Everworld and see the face of the god who, he hopes, loves and created him.  However, a bishop's vision sends him on yet another mission, and he finds himself guardian to an unlikely group of children and teens searching for a missing princess: an innocent farm girl, an arrogant young prince, a worldly merchant's son who hides great secrets, a toddler with an unknown past, a broken guard, and a strange-looking boy raised in a cage as a circus freak. Galleo is too tired to deal with children, but the god is clearly working as the young people lead him on the most difficult, emotional mission of his life, because their dramas and fears and determination make him care, and he hasn't cared about anyone in a very long time. Unfortunately, with caring comes pain, and he doesn't know how he'll survive if he loses these children to the danger of the rescue of the prince's sister. So begins an epic journey into dark continents, across the great seas, and over dangerous mountains as Galleo and the children discover their true mission might have nothing to do with a missing princess. Instead, the journey is all about finding homes for the lost young people and rescues for anyone they come in contact with, for it seems the god has grand, amazing plans for these teens. Galleo only hopes that somewhere along the line the god chooses to grant him death and peace, the things he has craved for lifetimes. Chessa's Rescue is book one of the Sekou Saga, a Tale of Balia in Four Parts. Follow it up with Dane's Mountain, Gem's Gypsies, and Casimir's Silence.