Allie Strom: The Bringer of Light Trilogy: The Second Trilogy in the Eternal Light Saga

by Justin Sloan

  “You’re not going anywhere until dinner and at least one glass of eggnog,” their dad said.

  “Deal.”

  They enjoyed a delicious ham dinner that her dad had made, with homemade marshmallow-topped yams by her mom. It was fun, being a regular family and talking about normal stuff like who Ian’s date was and how he’d met her. Anything to get Allie’s mind away from the images of demons and Strayers that still haunted her dreams.

  “Okay,” their mom said to Ian as they were finishing dessert and eggnog. “One present for each of you, then you can go.”

  Allie sat down to open the big one, then changed her mind. She reached for a smaller, narrower box, and glanced at her dad. He winked, and she went for it.

  She tore the paper off, about to see what was within, when a low rumbling sounded. She turned to her family as the house started to shake, Christmas decorations swaying with the rumbling of an earthquake.

  “Mom?” she said, her voice cracking.

  “With me, quick,” her mom said as the earthquake died down.

  They ran into Allie’s room as Ian said, “Not a big deal, it was just a little earthquake.”

  But Allie’s mom’s eyes showed the same worry Allie felt.

  “Check on Daniel,” her mom said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll get ahold of Principal Eisner.”

  Allie looked out the window as she pressed his contact icon on her phone, but everything looked normal. A few people had stepped out of their apartments, looking around to see if there was any damage. But there was none—just a normal evening, aside from the ugly Christmas sweaters one family was wearing.

  “You think it was the fallen angels?” Daniel asked after saying he was fine.

  “Let’s just be on our guard,” Allie said. She said good-bye and turned to her mom, who had already finished her phone call and shook her head with a look of relief.

  “Eisner said it looks like it was actually just an earthquake this time.”

  “Well bloody-hell.”

  “Allie!” her mom gave her a semi-scolding look. “Come on, language.”

  “Does it count if it’s not American-English?”

  “It always counts, even if it’s Japanese.”

  “I just—”

  “I know.” Her mom took her in her arms and Allie didn’t maneuver out of this one. She leaned in and breathed heavily, eyes closed.

  “Want to get back to your present?” her mom asked after a few minutes.

  “Not yet,” Allie said. “Let’s let Ian wonder why we freaked out. Let him think we’re weirdoes.”

  Her mom laughed and held her tighter.

  That night when she went to bed, she clutched the new doll from her dad to her chest. At first she’d scoffed, wondering why he thought a doll was a good gift for a thirteen-year-old, but then she’d seen that it was the exact same doll she’d lost when she was three, that she always saw in the pictures of her as a child and wished she still had. She couldn’t explain why it meant so much to her, but clutching it close she could almost be a little girl again. Not a care in the world. She wished she could just enjoy Christmas like a normal girl, not worrying about demons or fallen angels just because there was an earthquake.

  Chapter 2: War Begins

  Christmas break came to a close, and on the first day back, Allie’s mom and dad both insisted on driving her to school. “To make up for you not spending any time with us lately,” her mom said.

  “Come on, Mom.” Allie accepted the bag lunch her mom had prepared, secretly liking the idea of being dropped off but refusing to admit it. “You know I’m busy saving the world.”

  Okay, so she’d spent most of the break hanging out with Daniel kicking the ball around or helping him practice baseball… with the occasional pattern practice in the woods. She’d even managed to conjure up the eagle once, but it had flown into the clouds, realized they weren’t in any sort of danger, and vanished.

  “Busy what?” Her Dad opened the door and Allie followed them to the car. “I thought you were busy being the coolest kid in school now.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault everything’s calmed down since I kicked Samyaza’s butt.”

  Her mom gave her a look that said “Let’s not talk about that” as they got in the car and headed to school.

  “You know we’re blessed to have you safe and sound?” her dad said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “This stuff about the Bringers and Guardians…. I still can’t believe it.”

  He wrapped an arm around Allie’s mom and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Hey, eyes on the road or we won’t have anything to be happy about.” She leaned into him and Allie couldn’t help but beam, loving how close her parents were. Sure, it made her a little uncomfortable to watch them get all snuggly, but she’d take that any day over the alternative. They pulled into the school parking lot, which was bustling with other cars, busses and students.

  “Hey!” Daniel said, running over.

  Allie gave her mom and dad a quick hug, then ducked away from the car so no one else would see her with her parents.

  “What up?” she said. “Ready for another normal day at school?”

  “Do we ever have those?”

  “From now on, I hope we have only those.”

  Daniel glanced around, then leaned in with a whisper. “But after that quake, if that’s what it was, I started wondering… about that business with Yuko and—”

  Allie held up a hand. “Not our problem. At least, not until we hear something.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  With a wave back to her parents, Allie led the way to the school entrance.

  “Where’s Chris?”

  “You know him, doing his thing.” Daniel leaned in close, lowering his voice. “Probably with Paulette again.”

  “Those two’ve shared something… something we don’t ever want to experience.”

  Daniel shared an understanding look with her, then nodded.

  In the school, everyone had their faces buried in their cellphones. This wasn’t odd for the nerds and punk kids, but for the social types to not be chattering away, something had to be up.

  Allie found Troy in the crowd and tapped him on the shoulder, eager to see his warming smile. But when he glanced up from his phone, his eyes were tense and worried.

  “Allie!” he said, managing a smile for a moment. “Oh, and hey Daniel.”

  “Sup,” Daniel said in an annoyed tone.

  “What’s going on?” Allie asked.

  “Where’ve you two been hiding?” He looked at them with a frown. “You really haven’t heard?”

  “Heard what?” Allie asked, snatching his phone out of his hands. “What’s this?”

  She watched as a video showed buildings collapsing and people running and screaming. Everything was shaking.

  “Damn, I thought everyone was watching this.” Troy took back the phone and scrolled down, showing her the headline: Massive Earthquake Shakes Japan.“It must’ve been pretty bad,” Daniel said. “I mean, don’t they have earthquakes like every day?”

  “Not like this, man.” Troy shook his head. “They’re saying the death toll is already up there with the worst.” He looked at them with doubt, then added, “And some of us are wondering… after what happened with our ‘earthquake’ here….”

  Daniel gulped, sharing a worried look with Allie. They both knew he didn’t mean the one on Christmas Eve. No, he was talking about the cover-up, when the school had been attacked by a fallen angel and they’d had to rescue Daniel.

  “You think it could be another spiritual battle?” Allie asked.

  He shrugged. “Who knows, but I’m wondering.”

  “Yeah, me too, now. Thanks.”

  Most of the students were still gathered around their phones, and none of them even looked up to say hi. Allie frowned in Paulette and Brenda’s direction, but a hand on her arm drew her attention to Principal Eisner, whose worried expression was only inches
from Allie’s face.

  “We have to hurry,” Principal Eisner said, pulling Allie with her.

  “And us?” Troy asked.

  She glanced back, barely noticing him. “Yes, yes, just hurry.”

  Allie looked at Troy and saw real panic on his face. Daniel, on the other hand, looked almost excited. They made their way past the students and down the stairs to the familiar door—the portal to their training grounds as Guardians and Bringers of the Light.

  The bright light took a second to adjust to, but when she stopped seeing spots, Allie saw that other kids were pouring into the training grounds. They looked to be from all over the world, and the group was much larger than she had ever seen. Older students were there, too, along with some young adults who must have graduated recently. She even saw several large groups of adults, some wearing colored sashes across their chests.

  “Who are they?” Allie asked, gesturing to the adults.

  “The Elite Guardians,” Principal Eisner said. “You’re not supposed to know about them yet, but….”

  Suddenly, the large doors to the inner training chamber creaked open and Michael came out, his brow furrowed and lips pursed. He seemed to barely notice everyone gathered around, his eyes glued to his shoes. When everyone was quiet, he finally looked up, his eyes resting on Allie for a moment before moving on. She thought she saw worry there, and realized how fast her heart was beating. She told herself to breathe and, like the rest of those gathered, stood in silence, waiting.

  “By now you’ve all seen the videos or heard about what’s happened in Japan,” Michael said. He waited to make sure everyone was listening. “It’s worse than you could imagine.”

  With a sign from Michael, Gabe stepped forward and pressed a button on a remote, which brought a large screen down on the side of the training ground hall.

  “Ready?” Gabe asked, and then pressed a button when Michael nodded.

  The screen came to life. It was the same video Allie had seen on Troy’s phone, only….

  “What you see here is not protected, it is not veiled to hide the truth,” Michal said.

  On the screen, amid the screaming Japanese, a hole opened in the ground and a shadow-beast leapt out of it, forming into a giant, robed creature with a helmet on its head and glowing red eyes. A gasp carried through the gathered crowd, and then two more holes opened in the ground and two similarly clad creatures emerged. As the three drew fiery swords, more dark images began to fill the streets—Strayers. An army of darkness.

  Gabe turned off the screen, and immediately everyone began talking over each other.

  “Quiet!” Michael commanded, his worry now transformed to determination. “This is not the time for panic; this is the time for action.”

  “There are more than one of them, attacking at once?” a voice called.

  “Yes.”

  “We can’t fight that many!” another voice said. “We’re doomed.”

  “We can, and we’re not.” Michael held up his hands to stop further outcries. “Ladies and gentlemen… boys and girls…. What you’ve just witnessed is a declaration of war. Them against us, good against evil.”

  Chapter 3: Burnt Wings

  Principal Eisner ushered Allie and her friends into a corner of the training grounds, where they formed around her in a semi-circle.

  “What does this mean for us?” Allie asked, heart racing.

  Principal Eisner glanced around, making sure the others weren’t eavesdropping.

  “Many of the others will be going to full-on war,” she said. “Some of them may not make it back….” She glanced over at Gabe, who, prepping his own team, gave her an encouraging nod, then turned back to Allie and breathed deep. “Okay, listen closely. There are some that are putting together strike forces—others teams of Guardians to make up the frontal attack while Bringers of Light summon spirit animals and do what they can with patterns. But Troy, Brenda, Allie, and Daniel, I need you on a special team. To get to Yuko.”

  “The Japanese girl who took the wings,” Daniel said when Brenda looked around with confusion.

  “I know that,” Brenda said. “But why?”

  “She tried to get the ring,” Allie said. “She may be connected to all this.”

  “Not maybe,” Principal Eisner said. “Most certainly. Though we’re not sure exactly how yet. Come, we have to get moving.”

  “Already?” Daniel said. “What about our families? What do we tell them?”

  “I’m sorry, Daniel. There’s just no time for that.”

  Allie wondered if her own expression looked as gloomy as her friends’ did. They all followed Principal Eisner, passing students and adults who were donning armor, practicing sword strikes and forming patterns in the dirt. Some were petting spirit animals, and a lion followed Allie with its eyes, giving her the shivers.

  They climbed the stairs and went to the walkway of doors. Principal Eisner opened one that had a red, Japanese styled gate over it.

  “Remember,” she said, hand against the red door. “Find out how Yuko’s involved, and do what you can to stop her. Peacefully, if possible.”

  With that she stood aside and gave them each a handshake before they stepped into the portal.

  It was dark, and howling wind brought the smell of metal and dust.

  “Where are we?” Daniel asked.

  “Over here,” Troy’s voice said from nearby, followed by a clang. “No, never mind.”

  “I think I found something,” Brenda said, and a moment later light flooded in to reveal a cramped room, its walls made of metal.

  “Weird place for a portal opening,” Troy said as he followed Brenda into the light.

  Allie was the last to exit, and turned around to see that they’d just emerged from a giant Buddha statue.

  “A daibutsu,” Daniel said, glancing around. “Looks like the one in Nara, near Osaka.” Seeing everyone staring at him, he shrugged and said, “I was looking online. I’ve always wanted to come to Japan. This is going to be awesome!”

  “Um, except the part about a war with fallen angels or watchers or whatever those things are,” Brenda said with a scoff. “You are truly a nerd.”

  “And his nerdy knowledge will probably save your butt,” Allie said, nudging Daniel in the side.

  “Thanks, I think?” Daniel said.

  Allie turned to take in their surroundings. Gold Buddha statues, incense, flowers, and an intricately carved wood ceiling.

  “Hey, guys.” Troy motioned to some tourists on the other side of a small fence. They were looking at them and pointing, and past them, a security guard was coming their way. “I get the sense we shouldn’t be back here.”

  “Come on,” Brenda said, and she led them away from the guard, who shouted something in Japanese.

  “Anyone speak Japanese?” Troy asked with a look to Daniel.

  “Not really,” Daniel said. “But I’m willing to bet he said something about us being in trouble.”

  They ran around back of a large wooden structure—a temple, Allie guessed, by the gold statues and incense and the way the roof curved upward. They ran past a grouping of trees, the cold wind blowing red and orange leaves around them, and sprinted past a pond where a crane stood still as a statue.

  Finally, they came to a small hill and a series of connected buildings with tiled roofs that tilted up, much like that of the temple, but in need of repair.

  “Over here,” Troy said. They climbed up and over the hill, then turned to look back at the tall building that housed the large Daibutsu on one side of the trees, and the series of Japanese houses on the other. Allie was amazed by the exotic view: the close-set houses, moss-covered stone lanterns, and the odd writing on the Japanese street signs.

  Brenda, however, didn’t seem to care about any of it. “So what now?”

  Daniel pointed to a wide walkway leading away from the temple. “I imagine we follow that and find out how we’re going to get ahold of Yuko.”

  “Wouldn’t t
he portal have sent us to her?” Troy said. “I mean, it’s not like we can just use our American dollars and bribe people to tell us where she is.”

  “He has a point,” Allie said, hating to admit it. She pulled out her cellphone. “And, of course, our phones don’t work here, either.”

  Brenda was looking around, deep in thought. “So you guys are saying Yuko might be here, somewhere?”

  “I think she has to be,” Troy said.

  “Split up and look for her?” Allie suggested.

  “Okay.” Troy nodded to Brenda. “We’ll wrap around back past the Dai-buddu—”

  “Daibutsu,” Daniel corrected him.

  “Yeah, what I said. If you hear something….” He looked at his phone with a frown. “Yeah, just shout I guess?”

  Allie laughed, looking at the immense temple area. “I guess we have no choice.”

  She led Daniel down the large walkway, figuring they’d start at the entrance and work backward, to meet Troy and Brenda at the midpoint. But they hadn’t gone far when a small earthquake threw them off balance.

  “There!” Daniel said, pointing to a black blur in the distance.

  “What’d you see?”

  “Strayers, disappearing past those trees,” he said, and started running. “Let’s go!”

  She sprinted after him, rounding the trees. She smelled the smoke before she saw the fire, and they both halted at the sight of a house, covered with flames and burning brightly.

  “This has got to be it!” Allie said.

  Daniel looked at her with worry. “How does a burning house help us?”

  A shriek from the direction of the house made him turn.

  “Someone’s still in there,” Allie said. “It could be Yuko….”

  “And you want to run into the flames?”

  “No, but I can’t let her burn, either.”

  She took a step forward, but Daniel grabbed her arm.

  “Allie, that girl attacked us.”

  “And she was possessed, right? I refuse to let her die when we’re right here to help.”

  She pulled herself free and dashed for the house, hoping Daniel was close behind.