Return of the Guardians is an album by David Arkenstone

David Arkenstone

David Arkenstone is an American New Age musician. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 1, 1952. He has three children—Quillon, Dashiell and Valinor—with his first wife, Julie...

, released in 1996. It is the final album in a trilogy that includes In the Wake of the Wind

In the Wake of the Wind

In the Wake of the Wind is an album by David Arkenstone, released in 1991. It is the first album in a trilogy that includes Quest of the Dream Warrior and Return of the Guardians. The music is based on a fantasy story contained in the booklet that tells of a strange wind called The Lion's Breath...

and Quest of the Dream Warrior

Quest of the Dream Warrior

Quest of the Dream Warrior is an album by David Arkenstone, released in 1995. It is the second album in a trilogy that begins with In the Wake of the Wind and concludes with Return of the Guardians. The album is based on a fantasy story by Arkenstone and Mercedes Lackey that appears in the booklet....

. The album is based on a fantasy story by Arkenstone and Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...

 that appears in the booklet. It revolves around the characters of Andolin from In the Wake of the Wind and Kyla from Quest of the Dream Warrior. The album also comes with a fold-out map of the world in which the story is set. Of note is the prominent violin in several tracks. Unlike the previous album in the series, there are no songs sung by Arkenstone.

Track listing

1. "Border Journey" – 4:16
2. "Trail of Tears" – 4:59
3. "Chosen Voices" – 6:29
4. "Winds of Change" – 5:12
5. "The Forgotten Lands" – 5:13
6. "Two Hearts" – 4:21
7. "City in the Clouds" – 6:27
8. "Mask" – 5:45
9. "Water of Life" – 8:52
   • "Out of Darkness"
   • "Transformation"
10. "Reunion" – 4:16
    • All tracks composed by David Arkenstone except "Trail of Tears" by David Arkenstone and Dan Chase

Personnel

• David Arkenstone
  David Arkenstone
  David Arkenstone is an American New Age musician. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 1, 1952. He has three children—Quillon, Dashiell and Valinor—with his first wife, Julie...
  
   – acoustic and electric guitars
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , flutes, Turkish saz
  Baglama
  thumb|180px|Cura and bağlamaThe bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia....
  
  , mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  , bouzouki
  Bouzouki
  The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
  
  , cittern
  Cittern
  The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
  
  , harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  , sound design
• Danny Chase – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  , additional engineering, sound design
• Sid Page – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• John Klemmer – soprano sax
• Wayne Lothian – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Jay Leslie – flute
• Abdou M'boup – bugarabu, shakere, tama, sabar 'ndeer, bongo
  Bongo drum
  Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
  
  
• Carlos del Puerto Llera – bass on "Chosen Voices"
• Dash Arkenstone, Diane Arkenstone, David Evans – additional guitars on "Reunion"
• Val Arkenstone – drums on "Reunion"
• Church of Scientology Choir – Marcia Powell, director; Carol Worthey, vocal arrangements