The Guardians' Daughter

by A. M. McPherson

  “Let me ask you this, Mr. Stiles. What are you able to do with your forcefields?” Valentino circles me. “Have you only used them as a blocker?”

  I stand straighter. “Overall, yes. I have used them differently a few times, to move people, things … create ramps.”

  “You can manipulate the shape of it then, correct?”

  I nod.

  Valentino stops in front of me. She’s my height, and her eyes are the color of blood. “Have you ever thought about using them as armor for yourself?”

  “Armor? What do you mean?”

  “I have a suspicion you could contort it to the shape of your body, and since it would be so close to you, it should, in fact, be stronger—maybe even indestructible. You should be able to have multiple points of contact instead of just your hand controlling the energy flow.”

  I cock my head. “I’ve never thought about it. It’s just always been natural for me to project them away from me.”

  She turns and heads toward the center of the room. “Let’s test this theory, shall we?”

  From the middle of the room, a dark blue geyser of liquid shoots up in the middle of the room, and I involuntarily step backward. The liquid material forms into a shelf, and multiple bowling size balls glistening like sapphires sit on the racks. The rest of the liquid disappears into the floor.

  I stare at the new items, like a deer in highlights. “Uh … what was that?”

  “This isn’t a normal training room. Did you not think it was strange nothing else was in here?”

  “I did, but I wasn’t sure what I should expect.”

  She grins and moves her bleach-blond hair back a bit, revealing a small silver disc on the side of her forehead. “This room is tied to my thoughts, and I can create anything I may need to help train my students. This is the kind of technology you’ll have access to when you’re a Guardian.”

  Before I register her movements, Valentino hurls a ball at me.

  I barely get a small blob of shield to block it in time. Another one is right behind it, and I drop into a roll. Stabbing pain shoots up my leg from my injury, and I wince.

  Valentino though doesn’t care about my pain.

  Another ball comes at me, but this time, I capture it in a forcefield. I struggle to control my breathing since my heart is beating like a paddleball against my chest.

  “Well, your reflexes are definitely messy, but they are there. You’ve had training before?”

  I end the forcefield and the ball drops like a boulder on the floor. “Yes.” I pant. “I’ve taken lessons at the arena downtown with Mr. Seuro.”

  “Stand up.”

  I flip over to give myself some leverage and take some weight off my bad leg. I keep a straight face so Valentino doesn’t notice my discomfort. After I’m on my feet, the balls Valentino threw at me collapse into a pile of blue goo and disappear into the floor.

  “Let’s move on. Tell me, Stiles, why do you want to be a Guardian?”

  “Because I want to protect the city.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Ah, yes. The good ole I-want-to-protect-the-city line. However, something must be driving you to dedicate your life to such a cause—a cause that very well may take your life. What’s inspired you to take this path?”

  I swallow hard, and anxiety trickles into my veins. “Why does it matter? I’m here, aren’t I?”

  Valentino narrows her eyes. “Mr. Stiles, you will talk to me with more respect.”

  “I’m sorry, Professor. I guess I just don’t understand why that’s important.”

  “What? You don’t know why it’s important to understand why you’ve devoted your life to a cause that very well may end it? If you’ve failed to notice, being a Guardian is a dangerous profession.”

  I hang my head low. “I know.”

  “It’s my job to not only train you to become a Guardian but also for you to truly understand the risks. Many people want to get into this field just for the limelight that tends to come with it. Sometimes they will succeed, but more than not, many with that attitude don’t last.”

  “I’m not here for the limelight. I don’t want any of that.”

  “Then what do you want, Stiles?”

  “I … I want to protect people! I want to help and save someone when they need help! I don’t want to mess up again!” I say before I even realize what I am saying.

  Valentino raises an eyebrow, and for once, her eyes are soft. “Again?”

  I break eye contact. “A long time ago, I was too weak to help someone.” I clench my jaw and tears sting my eyes. I don’t want to tell her about the darkest part of my past, about the crying fits, the self-isolation from my family, the times I debated about running away and not caring what happened to me. It felt like I lived in a fog for years, not knowing where I was or caring about my future. I distracted Digger from saving his wife; I basically took two lives. Why did I deserve to live?

  My mom, however, could see everything I couldn’t—that Emerald Blaze was already dead by the time Digger tried to save her, that if I had tried to help, I would’ve been killed in an instant. Therapy helped me also. Even so, I never want to be in that position again. Next time someone needed help, I would not fail again. I would make a difference.

  After a short pause, Valentino says, “My partner lost her life about fifteen years ago. I was too distracted with another enemy to see she needed help. I blamed myself for a very long time.”

  I snap my head in her direction to see a tear streaking her face.

  “We were getting married the following year.”

  My chest stiffens. “I-I am so sorry to hear that. What happened?”

  Her eyes become firm. “That is a story for another time, but I want you to know I understand your drive. It seems you and I may not be too different.”

  We stare at each other as a mutual understanding seems to pass between us. We are both driven by the urge to help save people from suffering the same fate we’ve seen.

  “So, Stiles, tell me more about your abilities. I watched you during the YAC and saw your victory against Jomo. You lucked out since all you needed was to keep your forcefield strong to block his power. It was an easy win for you.”

  “I admit, the final battle didn’t challenge me as much as I thought it would. I felt other battles beforehand were rougher.”

  “Especially when you fought against Mr. Nansen.”

  I nod. “Yeah, I don’t do too well with water. When I encounter it while using my abilities, it feels as if all my nerves are frying. Mr. Nansen’s disadvantage was he fought with no real plan. He acted like a wild animal.” I shrug. “I won’t lie. I was happy when I knocked him unconscious with one of my blasts.”

  Valentino grins. “It seemed you also knocked out his ambitions. I know he never even applied for the Defender program.”

  “I didn’t mean to do anything like that, but sometimes people take losing harder than they should. They don’t see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.”

  “I like your attitude, Stiles.”

  I smile. “Once in a while, I try to be a little positive.”

  “So, your energy blasts—how exactly do you contain it?”

  “It’s almost like I create a mini ball form of my forcefield, but the electricity continues to thrive in it and maintains the shape. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to explain.”

  “How large can you make one?”

  “I’ve never tried to make one bigger than the size of a basketball. Mostly because it requires a lot of concentration.”

  The floor rumbles again, and the blue liquid rushes out like a tidal wave and creates a wall with multiple-sized targets. Some are the size of baseballs while others are the size of cars.

  Valentino walks to the side of the room. “I think we have our goals for this semester. One, for you to learn how to manipulate your forcefields further; two, to really find out just how powerful you are.”

  I step forward and angle one leg backward, igno
ring the throbbing in my thigh. My fingers tingle with electricity, and I take a deep breath. This is what I’ve been waiting for—training with an actual Guardian.

  Chapter 17

  Aiden

  “Hey, Ember?”

  She smiles. “Yeah?”

  Even with ketchup on her face, she’s the most beautiful woman in the cafeteria. Her thick hair is up in a ponytail, and she’s wearing a green t-shirt matching her eyes. I notice the definition of her cheekbones and very faint freckles on her face.

  “You got ketchup on your cheek.”

  Her hand flies to her right cheek to check.

  I chuckle. “No, your other cheek.”

  She sighs. “Oh, well, you know I need to save some for dinner.” Stella and I laugh while she grabs a napkin to wipe it off. “But maybe I should just get fresh ketchup after lunch.”

  I survey my plate of food. I only have about half a burger and a few fries left. Not that I don’t like burgers, but I miss my mom’s cooking—especially her homemade chicken and rice.

  “How’s your leg doing?” Ember asks. “I know it’s been a couple of weeks, and you seem to be walking around just fine, but … I can’t help but worry about you.”

  Warmth floods my heart from her concern. “It’s good. There’s barely a scar there.”

  “So, Aiden … have any plans for this weekend?” Stella asks out of the blue.

  I give her my attention and see Lime still on her shoulder. He’s chewing the little bit left of his chicken tender, and chunks of it litter Stella’s shoulder. I shake my head. “No, not really. Just training and school stuff. How about you guys?” Suddenly, I’m really curious of Ember’s plans. I take a bite from my burger and grab a fry to munch on while glancing at her.

  Ember picks up her can of soda and before she takes a drink says, “I’m going home this weekend to see Eliza.”

  “I’ll be working on my abilities like always. So maybe I’ll see you at the training field, Aiden?” Stella takes a bite of her fry.

  My mouth is full of burger, but I quickly swallow it. “Yeah, cool. That’ll be fun.”

  Ember wipes her mouth with a napkin and drops it on her plate. “Okay, you guys ready to head out? We only have about ten minutes until our next class.”

  Stella nods. “Yeah, I’m done.” Lime pokes her in the face, and she grabs the miniscule amount of his food he has left. She drops it on her tray.

  I debate if I want to finish my burger while I walk, but, at the risk of getting sleepy due to overeating, I better not. “Yeah, let’s go.” I collect my tray and backpack then stand.

  Ember follows suit.

  We head to the trash can near the front doors. From the corner of my eye, I see the portrait of Ember’s parents. I really wish the cafeteria was in another building besides the student center, and I have a feeling Ember wishes that too. She glances that way before refocusing on her tray, eyes heavy with sadness.

  One after another, we dump what remains of our lunches into the trash and put our trays on top to be returned. I take a couple quick steps to get the door for Ember and Stella.

  “Thanks, Aiden!” Stella walks past me, and Lime gives me a little nod.

  Ember walks through next. “Yeah, thank you!”

  I smile warmly. “You’re welcome.” I follow her.

  Outside, Stella peeks over her shoulder while she walks. “Okay, guys, I’ll see you later!” Her and Lime both wave bye.

  Ember waves back. “See you guys tonight!”

  “Bye, guys!” I add quickly.

  Ember and I head in the opposite direction toward the math building where both of our next classes are. It’s been nice having lunch with the girls instead of running to the training field. Before, I would only have about thirty minutes to train and have to rush back for class. It definitely wasn’t the greatest use of my time, since it would leave me feeling more exhausted than anything. The only thing I struggle with now is when I’m alone with Ember like this. I’m not sure what is safe to talk about, since I don’t want her picking up on my feelings for her.

  “So, Aiden?” Ember asks, quizzically.

  “Yeah?”

  She glances at me from the corner of her eyes. “I was wondering, are you free anytime tonight or next week after classes? I was thinking we could hang out or do something together. I’ve managed to catch up on all my reading—for once—and have a little down time.”

  I laugh. “Lucky you.”

  She smirks. “What do you say?”

  My heart leaps at the thought of some time with her but then dive bombs. How do I go about this? Our friendship has blossomed tenfold since the Iron Forge incident, but would it really be wise for us to hang out even more so? I rub the back of my neck, a nervous tick of mine. “Um, maybe? I still have a lot of homework and usually during the week I try to hit the gym a few times during the evening.”

  She closes her eyes and sighs. “Is that really it?”

  I stop in my tracks. “Yeah, of course! What else would it be?”

  “Is it about Carly?” She faces me. “I know she doesn’t like me.”

  My face contorts with confusion. “Carly? What does she have to do with anything?”

  Some students walking by eye me suspiciously by my loudness.

  Her face falls with what looks like disappointment. “Well … aren’t you guys dating?”

  My eyes feel like they are about to pop out of my head. “What? Where did you hear that?”

  A few more students glance my way.

  Annoyance flickers on her face. “Carly told me.”

  “She told you? I can’t believe her!” My heart beats wildly with anger. “I barely talk to the girl!”

  “So, you guys aren’t?” Ember’s eyes are full of hope, waiting for my answer.

  This calms me for some reason. “No! We’re definitely not. Wait, are you guys friends or something? When did she tell you this?”

  She belts out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh no, we are not friends. We just have a chemistry class together.”

  “I see. Did she say anything else?”

  “Nothing else important.” Ember shifts her eyes from mine. It’s clear she isn’t being fully honest. She glances over her shoulder. “We should get going. We don’t want to be late to class.”

  A gleam of light from the sun’s rays reflects off one of the glass sides of the math building. We don’t have that much farther to go, but she’s right. We only have a couple of minutes left. “Okay, let’s go then.”

  We quicken our pace to get to our classes. A war rages inside me about what I should do. The fact Ember thinks I don’t want to hang out with her because I may be dating someone else kills me. Especially since she thought it was Carly. Am I making too big of a deal of this? Billy and I hang out more than just eat lunch together. So that’s how I should look at it. I just have to think of her like she is Billy.

  Okay, that’s creepy, definitely not doing that.

  Ember gets a few steps ahead of me and is about to go inside the building. It dawns on me, maybe we can include Stella and Billy in on the plans. It would still be fun—hopefully.

  “Ember, wait a second!”

  She stops and faces me; concern drapes her face. “What is it?”

  After taking a couple steps, I pull her to the side to talk. “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. It just really took me off guard when you told me about Carly. She does have a thing for me, but I’ve never once given her any reason to think we’re dating. I avoid her at all costs.”

  She gives me a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. Carly seems a little … intense, but I would maybe have a talk with her. You don’t want her spreading that all over campus.”

  It feels as if a rock just dropped into my stomach. I didn’t think Carly may be saying this to a lot more people than just Ember. “Yeah, I’ll definitely get on that.” I clear my throat and push away the thoughts of Carly. All I want to do now is focus on the woman in front of me. “Anyway, I wanted to see if �
� well, if you’d be okay if all of us hung out sometime? That would be fun.”

  Her face creases with confusion. “Us?”

  “Yeah. You, me, Stella … maybe Billy? It could be a fun group thing.” I feel as if I’m trying to convince myself more than her of this.

  She cringes and raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure Billy would want to? Any time I’ve seen him, it seems like he’d rather I burst into flames.” She shrugs, as if she realizes it’s a minor detail. “Not like that would bother me.”

  I roll my eyes. “He would be fine. Pay no attention to him.”

  Her chest rises more than normal as she takes a deep breath; her stare penetrates my soul. “Well … I was just hoping we could spend some time together. Just the two of us.”

  Gulp. “Just the two of us?”

  She shrugs. “Yeah, no offense to Stella, but I see her all the time. I’d like to see more of you.”

  Her beautiful, emerald-colored eyes take me in, like a drowning man in a raging sea. There’s no hope of rescue. I grin wide, like an idiot. “Sure. That … That would be nice.”

  Her face lifts with her smile, and I realize my words were too strong.

  My heart beats fast with panic. “I mean, maybe we can … we can try to figure something out.”

  Her cheeks become red as apples. “Well, if you happen to find yourself with some extra time, you can always stop by my dorm. We can make plans and head out from there. I’m in Scottson Hall, room twenty-one-oh-three.”

  I know I can’t stop by her dorm room to make plans to go out. That’s just asking for trouble. Even so, I’m unable to say no. “Sure, it’s a plan.”

  Her eyes sparkle, and my smile somehow grows even larger.

  Yep, I’m in trouble.

  Chapter 18

  Aiden

  What’s wrong with me?

  As I get closer to Ember’s dorm, I can’t help but doubt if this is really a wise idea. If only I could expel her invite from earlier to do something together from my mind. I take a deep breath and gaze skyward. The sun is low and will be setting soon. It’s not like we would have that much time to do anything together anyways.