by Wendy Owens
As the snow from Gabe’s blizzard spell cleared the air, he looked around frantically for the monster. Gabe was puzzled, considering he saw nothing but his two immobilized foes and a towering grass covered heap of rocks at the edge of the arena. Perhaps the protection spell had not contained the giant, he thought.
Gabe felt his chest ache as he realized that the small mountain of grass covered stone hadn’t been there when his test began. Gabe wandered slowly back to the mass of rocks. A low rumbling made him look up, and he watched in horror as small pebbles began to roll down the rock face.
The rock giant took form. As it did, Gabe felt paralyzed with fear. With everything he had learned this past summer, one thing Gabe had never imagined meeting in battle was a rock giant. Gabe quickly put as much distance between the monster and himself as possible. He began running through the spells he was most fond of, and those that came easiest to him in his mind.
Gabe was quite sure the giant would be immune to water, snow, ice, and even fire. He wondered what might be left. A moment later the earth was shaking again. The rock giant was bounding towards him, a fist raised above his head.
The giant’s fist came down with such great force that even though Gabe tried to clear out of the slow and cumbersome creature’s way, the shifting of the earth beneath his feet knocked him to the ground. Feeling slightly dazed and extremely disoriented, it took Gabe a moment to realize he was upside down.
The rock monster had a hold of his leg and was dangling Gabe in front of its face as if he were a toy and it wanted to play with him. Shrieks filled the arena as the students watched in horror. In response to the noise from the crowd, the rock monster swung Gabe from side to side violently. Gabe worried he might vomit. Tiring of batting the lifeless toy around that was Gabe; the rock giant tossed him off to the side.
Gabe bounced a couple times until at last he came to rest about ten yards away, leaving chunks of flesh along his path. Gabe heard the giant let out a monstrous roar at the crowd. They all fell silent, suddenly not feeling as safe as they had just moments earlier. He felt the earth moving again and knew the beast was approaching for what would probably be the final blow to end his life.
Gabe laid there, every muscle aching. He was in complete misery. He thought by now Michael would have come to his rescue, but he hadn’t. In that moment, Gabe felt completely alone. A feeling that he hadn’t known all summer.
As Gabe struggled to accept that his life was about to be cut short, he had one last idea. He didn’t move, though he wasn't sure he could move any longer based on the pain he was in. Gabe was moments away from the rock giant’s fist coming down heavily on his face. Instead of trying to flee, Gabe took a deep breath and closed his eyes to concentrate.
Mustering all the mind power he had left, Gabe shouted with an intensive force, “Famulus!” Gabe kept his eyes closed another moment, prepared for a massive stone fist to bring him into darkness. Nothing happened.
Through squinted eyes, Gabe saw a stone fist hovering just above his face. The rock giant was frozen in place, looking blankly forward.
“No way,” Gabe mumbled under his breath, shocked his enchantment spell worked. The rock giant was now his servant to command.
When Gabe learned the spell that could make a creature your familiar over the summer, Sophie had told him that it only worked on the simplest of minds. He had never imagined it actually working on this great and massive monster, but he was very glad it had.
Gabe slid to one side. Wincing, he used the monster’s hanging fist to aid him as he rose to his feet. Staring at the rock giant, Gabe pointed towards the large steel enclosure and commanded in a demanding voice, “Go.” The rock giant skulked off to his prison as though he were a punished child.
A second later, Gabe felt his bruised and battered body scooped up off the ground and lifted high into the air. Looking down, he saw his dear friends, Uri and Haim, proudly marching him towards the cheering crowd.
Eagerly, Gabe searched for Michael, but he was nowhere to be found. Gabe wondered if Michael had been pleased with his performance. As they came closer to the crowd, he caught sight of Sophie’s glowing smile and all thoughts of Michael left his mind. For now, in this moment, he was happy to be the hero.
“Psst! Gabe …” Uri said, motioning to Gabe who seemed completely unaware of his presence. It was quite clear on this particular evening that Gabe was the guest of honor in the banquet hall. The entire manor had come to witness his tests, and he had impressed everyone.
Even though a lot of Gabe’s time over the summer had been spent training for this day or enjoying Sophie’s company, he had managed to get to know a lot of the other students he would be attending class with. He knew their appreciation of his accomplishments today was genuine. As they gathered around him, he felt like he could fly.
“Gabe!” Uri bellowed in a stern tone, but still Gabe was consumed by his circle of admirers. Growing impatient, Uri walked over to the group. Taking hold of Gabe’s elbow, he gave a slight grin at the crowd and before dragging him away offered, “Please excuse us. Gabe has somewhere to be.”
“Uri,” Gabe protested. “What are you doing?”
“I have been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes, but you’re so busy grandstanding that you didn’t notice.”
“I was not!”
“Gabe,” Uri barked, annoyed. “Just come with me. Michael needs to see you.”
As annoyed as Gabe was about being pulled away from his adoring fans, he had to admit he was thrilled Michael had finally requested to see him. After Michael being absent for most of the summer, Gabe had begun to wonder if something might be wrong.
Michael had missed most of the summer meal times. Gabe only saw him when he was rushing past, clearly distracted by one thing or another. Perhaps Michael wanted to apologize for his absence as of late or for how he almost allowed Gabe to be pulverized by the rock giant earlier today.
When they arrived at his office the door was closed. Gabe watched impatiently as Uri knocked, waiting for Michael to respond. Some time went by when at last they heard Michael bellow, “Come in.”
As they entered the chamber, Gabe noticed the room was dark, the only light coming from a nearby candle and the glow of the fireplace. He looked for Michael in the dark, but didn’t see him until he heard him speak again.
“Uri, you can leave us,” Michael said from a chair that was turned towards the fire.
“Yes sir,” Uri replied with a slight bow and exited the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
“Please, come and sit, Gabe.” Michael invited, not looking away from the fire.
Without a word, Gabe darted to the couch and took the seat nearest to Michael. He sat in silence, deciding to allow Michael to lead the conversation. Gabe watched intensely as Michael began to pick at the loose threads on the arm of the chair while still staring at the fire.
At last Michael spoke, “I have decided to allow you to start as a third year.”
Gabe was surprised by Michael’s words. Gabe thought, “Of course I am going to start as a third year. I defeated all three monsters, no thanks to you ...” But he decided it best if he remained silent.
“By allowing you to enter as a third year, I need you to promise me you’ll focus. I don’t know, maybe you and Sophie have been spending too much time together,” Michael continued.
“What?” The word slipped out before Gabe could stop it. He had expected the conversation to be going in a very different direction. The idea that Michael wanted him to spend less time with Sophie was nothing less than infuriating.
Michael looked at Gabe with a confused stare.
“Did I do something wrong?” Gabe asked.
“Well, no. Gabe, I wouldn’t exactly say you did something wrong,” Michael replied.
“Wasn’t I supposed to defeat the three creatures?”
“Yes, but do you really think you earned your victory today?”
Completely confused by the wo
rds coming out of Michael’s mouth, Gabe just stared at him in disbelief. “Is this some kind of a joke?” Gabe asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Gabe, if you’re honest with yourself I think you’ll see that I’m right about this. Today what I saw was just a bunch of cheap parlor tricks you performed. Had you actually been in the battlefield with your team, somebody would have most likely died!” Michael’s words were sharp. Gabe felt their sting.
“But I defeated them all ...” Gabe insisted.
“The creatures you fought today weren’t cunning. They were simple beasts with only one thought in their heads – kill you. The demons you’ll face in the real world will not fall for your tricks so easily. They’re far too smart for that. I’m not ready to send my other students out into the field with you because I’m not sure they would return.”
Michael looked back at the fire. They both sat silently for a moment. Gabe’s heart sank as he considered Michael’s words. He had been so proud of his victory today and in just one moment, Michael took all of that away from him.
“Your third year status is provisional of course. As a third year, you’re supposed to begin regular field exercises with classmates, but I have decided to restrict you from this until I see further development in your abilities.”
Gabe wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. How dare this man speak to him like this? He had brought him to the manor in the first place. Now Gabe was putting his life in danger every day just being a Guardian. He was being tracked by the most dangerous demons from Hell and all Michael seemed to want to do was criticize him.
“Gabe,” Michael said in a solemn tone and then paused, staring into the flames. At last, Gabe thought, Michael was going to apologize for his coldness.
“I am serious when I say that I think you may want to spend less time with Sophie. You two have become too close and I fear it may be … a distraction,” Michael added.
With those words, Gabe felt completely deflated. Not only was Michael unhappy with his performance, but he also was encouraging him to end his relationship with one of the people who meant the most to him. Gabe couldn’t imagine any words hurting more. He sat in stunned silence, staring at the flames just like Michael.
“I know I have been busy, Gabe. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Has everything been going all right for you?” Michael asked.
Only half listening, Gabe sat silent and shook his head slowly. Now he wanted to care? Now he wanted to show compassion? Gabe thought.
“Are you sure?” Michael prodded, clearly seeing that Gabe was distressed from their conversation.
“I don’t know,” Gabe replied. “I guess I haven’t heard much from you this summer. I thought after my dream with Baal we would see each other more. Try and figure this thing out, you know?”
“Don’t worry about Baal,” Michael replied.
It took everything in him not to laugh out loud at Michael’s words. How could he expect him not to worry about a Prince of Hell hunting him down?
“Really,” Michael said, reaching out and touching Gabe’s arm. “We’re taking care of the Baal issue, so don’t even think about it. All right?”
Gabe nodded. He wanted to ask Michael a dozen questions like, How can I not worry? Who is working on the Baal situation? But he didn’t. He just continued to sit silent.
“I guess you should probably head back to your room and get some rest. Classes start tomorrow.”
As if he were a zombie, Gabe rose. Shoulders slumped, he walked to his room. After talking to Michael, all Gabe wanted to do was go to bed and shut it all out.
When the sun finally rose, Gabe was relieved. After lying sleepless in his bed for several hours thinking about Michael’s words, starting his day seemed like the only escape from the torment. Throughout the night, Gabe tried to convince himself that Michael’s words were because he cared about him.
Perhaps Michael was right and he wasn’t ready to venture outside the manor. He didn’t want to be responsible for putting his friends in harm's way. Maybe Michael was even right about Sophie being a distraction, but Gabe couldn’t imagine her being in his life less. If anything, he wanted to spend more of his time with her.
Gabe knew most of the manor would still be asleep considering the sun had just come up, but he couldn’t be alone with his thoughts any longer. Quickly dressing, he scurried off towards the dining hall in hopes he could get himself an early breakfast.
As Gabe made his way across the courtyard, he was surprised to see Uri sitting on one of the benches. He knew Uri wasn’t an early riser so this came as quite a shock. He was staring into nothingness. Gabe could tell by the distant look in his eyes that he was distracted by something. Gabe wondered what was weighing so heavily on his friend’s mind.
“Uri?” Gabe said as he approached cautiously, trying not to startle him.
Uri shook his head as if trying to shake off the fuzziness that he was cloaked in.
“Gabe!” Uri exclaimed, realizing his friend was approaching.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“I don’t know. You seem distracted,” Gabe responded.
“Oh, no,” Uri replied pausing, realizing his dilemma was obvious to onlookers. “Just a lot on my mind. Nothing important.”
Gabe took a seat next to him and continued. “Well, I have time if you want to share.”
Gabe saw the horrified look in Uri’s eyes and then that of despair.
“No, I’m fine,” Uri replied. Gabe was worried about what Uri might be hiding, but didn’t want to press him.
“Are you sure?” Gabe asked, giving it one last effort.
“Yeah,” Uri quickly responded. “I just meant I have a lot to do today. So what are you doing up this early?”
Not wanting to talk about what was robbing him of sleep either, Gabe decided to avoid the question all together. “Hungry?”
“Sure,” Uri responded, happy for anything that would change the subject as well.
The two stood. Walking towards the kitchen, Uri tried to think of something to talk about. “So ... great job yesterday.”
Gabe looked puzzled. “Huh?”
“The tests! You did a fantastic job. I can’t believe you were able to best all three of them and so quickly. Michael told me to be ready to step in if you needed help, but sure enough you were fine on your own.”
“Wait, what?” Gabe felt a lump in his throat grow as he heard Uri’s words. “Michael had asked you to watch out for me?”
“Well of course he did! All Michael does these days is worry about you, idiot.”
“I didn’t ... I mean, wow ... I had no idea ...” Gabe stammered, realizing he had misjudged Michael’s indifference to his safety.
“We threw some pretty hard monsters at you, too. I bet Michael was so proud!” Uri gushed.
“You would think,” Gabe grumbled.
“What? What’s that supposed to mean? Is something wrong?” Uri asked, looking over at Gabe.
“No, I guess not. It’s just when I met with Michael last night he seemed upset.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Actually, I am pretty frustrated about it,” Gabe groaned. He was no longer able to hold in his grievances since being reminded of the conversation. “Michael barely spoke to me all summer. No word to me of Baal, even though we all know he’s hunting me. Instead he calls me in for our first real meeting in months and he tells me I need to step up my game.”
“Wow, I had no idea. Well, I’m sure he has a lot on his mind. I bet he didn’t mean anything by it,” Uri defended his beloved leader. “Sometimes Michael doesn’t realize how he’s coming across to people.”
“He could have fooled me. And really, Uri, a lot on his mind? I have a lot on my mind and you don’t see me being rude to everyone,” Gabe argued.
“I guess,” Uri paused for a moment, not sure what to say next. Trying to change the subject he began again. “So how are things with you and Sophie
? She’s pretty tight- lipped about you two these days which tells me you guys are probably pretty hot and heavy.”
“Oh yeah,” Gabe snapped, clearly still steaming about his conversation with Michael. “Then Michael tells me I am spending too much time with Sophie and he thinks she’s a distraction for me. Really? Come on! Sophie’s one of the best things in my life. She keeps me focused and studying, so I really don’t get what his problem is.”
“Gabe, he’s just trying to look out for your best interests. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything about you and Sophie’s relationship.”
Walking into the kitchen, the two young men went silent as they raided the cupboards for an easy breakfast. Uri came across a bag of bagels and raised them into the air triumphantly. Gabe nodded in approval. Gabe then headed to the icebox for some cream cheese. Uri commenced in slicing and toasting the bagels as the boys engaged in small talk about Gabe’s battle strategy the day before.
Placing their food on a couple plates, the boys walked out to a nearby table and sat across from one another.
“So are you ready for classes?” Uri asked.
Gabe thought about the question for a minute. “You know what, I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve spent so much time getting ready for my tests this summer that it never even crossed my mind what would happen when I passed. I guess I don’t know what to think.”
“What’s your class list like?” Uri inquired.
“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten it yet,” Gabe replied.
“I tell you what, after breakfast, how about we go and find out what your classes are? Then, if I’m not sick of you, we can hit the supply room for anything you might need.” Uri suggested.
“Sounds like a plan!” Gabe said, genuinely excited. He didn’t know what was bothering Uri, but hopefully some mindless tasks would help distract him for a while from whatever it was.
Gabe took one last look at his class schedule, committing it to memory. He stood from his chair, packing his books and herbs from potions class into his backpack. Just as he threw the pack over his shoulder, there was a knock at the door.