Guardian: Protectors of Light

by Melanie Houtman

  *

  And the wait for their friends to wake up indeed was long. After all three of them were up, they were quickly briefed in about the situation (with the casual tantrum here and there), before Rikki told them they had to see Madeleine and Akilah. However, she refused to give any information as to who those two people – if they were people – were, as she just kept telling them they’d be “quick to find out” and Madeleine and Akilah had to “explain who and what they were themselves”.

  The five teenagers, still mildly confused, followed Rikki down a fairly long hallway, until they finally arrived at a hidden trap door, which revealed a stone circular staircase, which led down into what seemed to be a secret basement or hideout.

  When they arrived downstairs, they discovered it was the latter; a circular table stood in the middle of the squared room, which was lit by various torches and candles. Somehow, they managed to let a fire burn without having the smoke fill up the room; an empty, silver-coloured cauldron was hanging above it.

  As he came down the stairs, James could see two womanly figures stand at the far end of the room. A girl, dressed in dark green robes, and a... glowing woman?

  Rikki immediately walked toward the duo; they turned their heads at the sound of her voice and footsteps coming down the stairs. A smile instantly grew on both their faces.

  “Ah,” the glowing woman said. “Welcome, young Guardians. Come in.”

  James slowly stepped forward, further into the room, and the others slowly followed him down the stairs and into the room as well.

  James was quick to find out that the tall lady smiling at him from across the room was indeed glowing; she had fair skin, which seemed almost see-through in its glow, and golden blonde hair with a few silver streaks in the front, which was tied in an unusual yet attractive updo.

  Her eyes were hazel; the silver dress she was wearing was long and flowed gently around her, making it seem as if she was floating.

  The girl standing beside her was surprisingly pretty as well; two dark green eyes were hiding underneath long bangs. The rest of her black hair was up in a bun.

  James couldn’t see her clothing, as it was hidden beneath long, green robes.

  Both women seemed rather pleased to see Rikki and her five new friends, despite the fact that these five people were complete strangers with unknown intentions; James started to feel more comfortable being there with the moment.

  “I’m sure you all have many questions,” the glowing lady said. “I’ll be happy to answer them... my name is Akilah, although most Lunariae recognize me as the Almighty Spirit.”

  “And I might as well be able to help with that,” the black-haired girl said with a smile. “My name is Madeleine, by the way.”

  The teenagers nodded at the ladies in front of them, mumbling a few shy and informal “hel-los”. But they knew that there was no time to get properly introduced for too long; they had to get down to business as soon as possible.

  “You five have come a long way from home to get here,” Akilah said. “We would’ve preferred to bring you here less sudden so you could’ve had more time to prepare, but we were in a hurry due to unexpected circumstances.” She paused for a short moment to look at the five teenagers in front of her, all staring at her in awe. “But the reason for that is for a later discussion,” she said. “Now, we have to teach you the basics to get you youngsters on your way.”

  “Whatever you say, ma’am,” Thomas said, stepping forward from his group of friends. “You’re in charge.”

  Akilah nodded at him. “Very well. I will tell you everything. But first, Madeleine will help you find your identity.”

  James stepped forward, and stood beside Thomas. “...Identity?” he asked.

  Madeleine nodded at him. “You noticed the drawings in the book, right?” she said. “Those drawings assigned you an identity. That identity is your Guardian’s Energy.” She looked at the five baffled faces in front of her, and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh, right.”

  She walked over to the bookstand behind her, to get the book that laid on it. She took the book back to James and his friends, while trying to find the right page.

  “Look,” Madeleine said, holding the book so that James and his friends could read it. “That’s the spell the Light Spirits used that got you here. That got every Generation here.”

  The prophecy was almost exactly the same as described in James’s book, despite the fact that it’d been merely summarized there; it did give a good view of what it was supposed to be, but of course, being able to read it in full was even better.

  “Every century once five young men and women will find,

  this book and the mysteries that lie behind.

  Belief in Magic is required,

  a soul young at heart desired.

  These Five shall rise,

  guided by the Spirits, bringing them advice.

  They will reprise ten times,

  ten Generations; ten centuries to stop the Demon and his crimes.

  But beware: if the Tenth Generation is doomed to fail,

  the Demon’s darkness forever will prevail.”

  James read the prophecy out loud and swallowed. “You said we were the tenth Generation, huh, Rikki?” he said, turning his head toward the red-haired girl standing next to Madeleine.

  Rikki nodded. “You are,” she said. “So I believe you’re beginning to understand our situation and the reason for us being in a rush.”

  James swallowed and gave Rikki a small nod. “I do,” she said. “And I believe that I’m also speaking for my friends when I say that we’re willing to help.” 

  He felt a hand on his left shoulder; it was Samira’s. She smiled at James, and said, “Well, you’re speaking for me for sure.” 

  Bella stepped forward, appearing beside Samira. “And for me,” she said. 

  On James’s other side, Thomas was nodding as well. “You’re speaking for me as well, bud.” 

  Antonio appeared beside Thomas, wearing a big grin on his face. “If you guys are in it, then so am I,” he said.

  Madeleine, Rikki and Akilah, seeming happy to hear that the five teenagers were willing to help, smiled encouragingly at them.

  “Thank you so much,” Madeleine said, before she went to return the book to where it belonged. “We should get started with your preparation straight away. Follow me, please.”

  The teenagers followed Madeleine to the east side of the room, where she moved a book inside the bookshelf, causing the bookshelf to shove aside, revealing a secret chamber. 

  Madeleine lead the teenagers inside the room, which reclosed after everyone had entered. 

  “You’ll have to prepare here first by getting dressed,” she said. “Your clothes arrived here the same time as you did.” 

  And Madeleine was right; five small piles of clothes, including boots, occasional armoury and other useful accessories, were stalled out on a long, wooden table in front of them. 

  “Really cool,” Bella said as she walked forward and picked up a thin, beige tunic with long, loose sleeves, “but how do we know which clothes are whose?” 

  Madeleine, who’d already started to walk out, turned around and smiled a teasing grin. “Oh, just follow your feelings and you’ll know.” She left the room, and before shutting the “door”, she said, “Just let me know if you need anything and we’ll be right there.” 

  The five teenagers nodded, already picking up and looking at the clothes. How were they to decide who was going to wear what? 

  But... It were their clothes, and they were going to have to wear them after all, of course. 

  James didn’t take long to decide; the clothes he’d seen his reflection wear in his dream were there. To exact detail.

  There was the same blue leather tunic with glowing pattern and matching gloves, the white leather belt pouch, and a dark blue, long-sleeved tunic and grey trousers to wear underneath it all. James stuffed the legs of his trousers
into the high, white leather boots that went with his clothes.

  And lastly, there was of course the red cape with the broche of topazes, which fell lightly around James’s shoulders, reaching to about his ankles.

  Each of the five friends had sought their own little “private” – or, well, as private as possible, of course – corner in the room to get dressed after they’d chosen which pile of clothes to wear.

  It didn’t take them very long to realise that each pile of clothes had been colour-coded; James had shades of blue and white, Samira purple and brown, Bella soft shades of orange and yellow and brown, Thomas had  green, gold and silver, and Antonio had different shades of red and dark blue.  

  When they met each other in the middle of the room, the five friends took some time to admire - and mock - each other’s clothing.  

  Each costume was meant to remind of some sort of fantasy or medieval style, each including leather items - which were mostly boots and gloves - and a cape in their respective colour.  

  Each cape was being held together at the wearer’s chest, each cape having their own, unique broche.   

  Thomas had one, green emerald which seemed to give off a faint glow, with silver decorations following a swirly pattern on both sides of the gem.  

  Bella’s broche looked like a sun; a flat circle, which shimmered like gold, with four triangular, silver-coloured pieces of metal surrounding it.  

  Antonio’s broche looked similar to Bella’s, except for the fact that the triangles were much smaller and that a white, waxing moon covered about a quarter of the sun’s surface. 

  Nobody seemed to realise how much time went into them admiring each other’s clothes, either. Every last detail of each outfit had to be discussed; how accurate the clothes were according to the messy, black-and-white ink drawings in the book (apart from the colouring, of course; as the drawings were in black and white, nobody could really tell which piece of clothing would get which colour).

  Samira looked elegant, yet deadly; she was wearing a purple dress with elegantly puffed sleeves, with the skirt coming to her knees. It didn’t matter much though, as the rest of her legs were covered by two high, brown boots and something which seemed to be lavender leggings. Dark purple gloves, which reached to her elbows, and a bow to hold her braided hair together finished the look, making her look like a princess in disguise. Bella, on the other hand, looked much more like a boy in medieval attire. She liked it, as it was comfortable and easy to move about in; a leather tunic, covering a loose and thin shirt. She was wearing pants made from a similar material, just as loose and light, but thicker. The pants were stuffed into high boots, which were similar in design to James’s and Antonio’s.

  Thomas, according to Samira, looked like a true “knight in shining armour”. Antonio then found a way to make a joke out of it by saying half the armour was missing; he wasn’t wrong, though. A silver-coloured chest-and-back plate, with extra protective caps for the knees and elbows; as if he was some extremely rich – and medieval - skater. He just missed the helmet. The kneecaps were no problem; Thomas easily slipped them inside his boots, still being able to run and walk properly.

  Antonio seemed to be the only one who didn’t like his clothes. He’d chosen the tunic similar to James’s, except without the glowing pattern - and it was bordeaux red, instead of blue.

  The same shade of red – including a few lighter shades of brown – appeared everywhere in his costume, apart from his cape; the cape Antonio was wearing was midnight blue.

  When Madeleine heard the laughing voices from behind the bookshelf door, she reopened it, asking the five teenagers in the room if they were ready to go, allowing them to return to the room and have a seat around the fireplace, where Akilah was already waiting for them, sitting in a fancy-looking chair.

  “Now, let me tell you what your task is,” the Spirit said. “I want you to listen closely, as any information you’re given while you’re here could be crucial to make it out of here alive.”

  She looked at the five faces in front of her for a few moments to ensure everyone was listening before continuing.

  “Tonight, you will be sent off into our world as the Tenth Generation of the Bond of Light. Five young, brave heroes, who will venture through the five Realms our world consists of to get to the Land of Void, which once used to be home to me and my Spirit brothers and sisters.”

  She paused for a second to think about her past, when all was going well in Lunaria, before brother Asura, Akilah’s youngest and personal favourite “sibling”; the one she truly cared for as her little brother instead rather a close friend.

  “...As I said,” Akilah managed to pull herself back together, “you will have travel all of the Realms before you can complete your journey. You will meet powerful allies, as well as dangerous enemies. Keep an eye on the shadows when night falls.”

  Samira raised her hand, and waited for Akilah to give her permission to speak. “Why will we have to travel through every Realm? Can’t we go straight to the Land of Void?” she asked.

  Akilah looked at her; her face didn’t show her state of mind. “You will have to seek your Guardian’s Identity that awaits you in one of the Realms, my child,” she said. “Your Identity will unlock access to your Guardian’s Totem. A special, magical object, which is crucial to complete your journey. If you don’t complete this journey to find your Identity, you probably won’t complete the full journey, either.”

  A short silence followed. Nobody saw that coming. Really? Those “Identities” and “Totems” seemed like those unlockable bonus items in a video game that were extremely hard, if not impossible, to actually unlock to James.

  Wouldn’t that be a complete waste of time? But, then again... the wisest of all six Spirits, who was probably over a million years old, if not older, was telling them to go and get them, because they were likely to die without them. So that meant they’d probably have to go get them anyway.

  “The Demon, whom you’ll often hear being referred to as the Master of Nightmares, has full control over dark, shadowy places. So be careful when night falls in an open field which should be sunny during the day; during the night, the Shadow Walkers and Night Stalkers will be out to get you,” Akilah continued, allowing James to snap out of his thoughts.

  Another hand rose. This time, it was Thomas’s. “Night stalkers?” he asked. “What are those?”

  Akilah smiled, but her eyes darkened. “Nobody knows what they are exactly are, as they’re always hiding underneath dark cloaks, but they are beings that cannot survive outside the darkness and feed off the misery of others. Shadow Walkers are mist beings, capable of shape shifting into any form, although they mostly appear in the form of predatory animals.”

  Everyone was listening silently, paying attention closely. This indeed was crucial information.

  “Most of the time, the Demon won’t come after you himself; he’ll just send his minions to fetch you and bring you to him instead,” Akilah said. “But don’t think you can defeat those easily; the only way to defeat these Shadow Creatures is by having enchanted Light Weaponry; you’ll have to go out into the Twilight Forest and speak to Gabriel to get the right weapons. Enchanted, of course.” Akilah allowed her eyes to glide across the room, as if she was trying to think of anything else she had to say. “He will also provide you of a map and a route to a safe shelter where you can stay your first night. I wouldn’t recommend sticking around in one place though, as this makes you more vulnerable and easier to find. You’re going to have to want to keep moving.”

  She looked at the five Guardians in front of her. That was all she could do.

  “Prepare yourselves,” she said. “Madeleine and I will try to make contact as much as possible to make sure you’re still doing okay while you’re out there. At dusk, Rikki will guide you to the safest exit to Keeper’s Cove into the Twilight Forest.”

  The Guardians nodded at her. They were feeling unsure whether they w
ere ready or not, but it didn’t matter. They’d have to be.

  Goodbye

  Dusk came quickly. Too quickly.

  The five teenagers spent their afternoon preparing for whatever was out there, talking about what they knew - and didn’t know.

  A whole lot of time went into Akilah telling about the War of Light and Dark, and Madeleine and Rikki about their adventure in Lunaria; it turned out that they were the first Generation. The Spirits of Light had fused their souls with those of Madeleine, Rikki and their friends, allowing them to stay “alive” within Lunaria to help the next Generations.

  It meant that their souls would reseparate if either of the parties “died” again, which meant if the Keepers (which is what the First Generation decided to call themselves while helping the following Guardians) died while serving Lunaria, they’d be no longer able to be saved.

  Well, it wasn’t like they could go back home anyway, after a thousand years.

  When the sun had started to set, Akilah called the teenagers to outside the hideout, saying she required their assistance for one last favour.

  “It’s good to see you, Guardians,” Akilah said.

  “What for do you require our presence?” James asked. Akilah smiled.

  “It’s always been a custom for Guardians to be allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones before they leave,” she said. “If they want to, that is.”

  Something changed in James’s expression; Samira squealed in delight, and the slightest trace of a smile appeared on Thomas’ face.

  “Well?” Rikki asked. “Is there someone you’d wish to say goodbye to?”

  Five heads started to nod rapidly. “Of course we do,” Thomas said. “Please, continue. We’d like to know more.”

  Akilah looked to her side, where Madeleine was standing. (Of course, Rikki had been standing to Akilah’s other side, but she didn’t only speak when she was told to, so Akilah would never have to look at her and tell her to say something). “Please,” she said to the black-haired girl. “Go ahead.”

  Madeleine nodded at her mentor and took a humble step forward. “Allow me to explain to you how this works,” she said. “I will cast a spell, which will be able to conjure one loved one you have in your thoughts at that current moment. They won’t really be here, but you will be able to see, speak to and touch them as if they are. The same thing goes to them; they’ll just see you appear in front of them. They will be temporarily transported to someplace between reality and dreams, so they can see you as well as the other people you’ve conjured.”

  “I don’t mean to sound rude,” Bella said, “...but why only one person?”

  Madeleine’s expression didn’t change. “Of course you’re not being rude for asking,” she said. “The spell is only able to conjure a single image, as it can’t take people to Lunaria in reality. That’d be too dangerous, as they might not be able to go back home.”

  “...So...” Antonio said slowly. “Is there anything we need to do in order for this “spell” to work?”

  Madeleine obviously didn’t understand the concept of air quotes, otherwise she probably would’ve called him out for being sceptical, but she didn’t. “Not really,” she said. “All you’ll have to do is to think about the particular person you’d like to say goodbye to. The only requirements are that they are alive and know you.”

  Everyone nodded, expressing that Madeleine’s explanation had been clear and simple. James did too, before turning aside to look at his sister. “Can you think of Mum for me?” he asked. “There’s someone I’d like to see before we go.”

  Samira didn’t completely understand what he meant, but agreed with him anyway. “Of course,” she said. “Only one of us needs to think of Mum, anyway. I don’t think it’d work if we both did.”

  “Is everybody ready?” Madeleine said. After receiving approval, she started muttering a few Latin phrases, one of which James recognized as dicere vale diligentis, which meant to say goodbye to a loved one. She repeated this same phrase a few times, while James and his friends thought of that one last friend or relative they wanted to say their goodbyes to. The person who’d have to share the bizarre news with their families. Who had to explain everything.

  Who had to tell their families that the five teenagers that were now missing from their lives might never be coming home.

  The teenagers waited in anticipating silence for something to happen. And then it did.

  “James?”

  James, who’d shut his eyes to be able to concentrate better, opened his eyes to see who’d said his name.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes. “Anna,” he gasped. She looked as if she’d just got out of a bad storm; she was dressed, but her dark brown curls were a complete mess.

  And yet, James thought that her messy, frizzy, afro-like hair made her look even more beautiful.

  “James? What’s going on?” Anna asked. “And what are you wearing?” she said, commenting on his clothes.

  “I don’t have much time to explain everything,” James said, as he stepped closer to her. “But I’ll try.”

  Anna looked up at him, straight into his eyes. “I was right, wasn’t I?” she said silently, already knowing what answer awaited her, yet not wanting to hear it, wanting to deny it.

  James swallowed. “Yes.”

  Anna clasped a hand in front of her mouth. James noticed the tears in her eyes, which shimmered like diamonds. “Do you believe now?” she uttered.

  “Yes,” James said. “I always have. Because of you.”

  Anna chuckled. “Don’t say that,” she said. “You’ve always believed on your own. And all you’ll need to make it through and save that world is by believing in yourself and your friends.”

  James smiled. “Won’t be a problem, right?” he said. “We’re all friends, after all.”

  “Keep up that spirit,” Anna smiled. She leaned a little to the right and rose to her toes, to be able to look over James’s shoulder. James instinctively turned around, to see his mother and sister stand behind him, one crying and one trying hard not to.

  James, without saying a word, opened his arms, allowing his mother to fall right into them.

  “Did... Samira explain?” James whispered, as he rested his chin on his mother’s head, which he could feel nod to answer his question.

  “I don’t understand, James,” Cheyenne said between two silent sobs. “What’s going on? Where are you two?”

  “In another world, Mum,” James said. “And we have to save it.”

  “I know that, Samira said that,” Cheyenne said. “But why you? You’re all so young! Why couldn’t they have picked other people? Adults, for a chance?”

  “They could’ve,” James said. “But they didn’t. They chose us. That means that we’re the only group of five who can do it.”

  “But you have your entire lives ahead of you!” Cheyenne shouted, looking up to her son. “I... I just don’t want to lose you kids,” she said as she allowed herself to be pulled closer to her son again. “You’re all I have left.”

  “Don’t worry, Mum,” James whispered. “We’ll come back. I promise.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, James.”

  James remained silent. He didn’t know what to say.

  “It’s not a promise. It’s an oath. We will come back.”

  Cheyenne pulled out of her son’s hold, offering him a warm smile through her tears. “Then I’ll trust you with that,” she said.

  James looked aside and saw the others saying goodbye to one of their loved ones.

  Thomas was saying goodbye to his fourteen-year-old brother, Ricardo, who was crying uncontrollably. Bella had chosen her eleven-year-old sister, and Antonio his mother.

  “I’ll lead these guys home,” James said. “I owe them that.”

  Akilah gave the signal that it was almost time to say goodbye, and Cheyenne attended to both her children. Anna joined beside her.

  “Be strong, you two,” Cheyenne said, as
a salty tear rolled down her cheek.

  “We believe in you,” Anna added. She walked a little nearer toward James, so she could hold his hands. “I’ll be waiting for you,” she said. “Always.”

  James swallowed. He wanted to say “I love you”, but he couldn’t. How hard could it possibly be to say it? Why couldn’t he just get those three little words, which meant so much, over his lips?

  What was it that he was so afraid of?

  “...And I promise I’ll come back to you.” And there it went; another missed opportunity. Again. Oh, well... Maybe it wasn’t exactly the right time and place to make a love confession, as his friends and family were all within earshot, but still... What if this was indeed the last time he’d ever see her again?

  No, it wasn’t. He’d just promised her it wouldn’t. And yet, still...

  James gave Anna and his mother one last hug (in which the latter was shared with Samira), before joining his sister and friends to “return” to Lunaria, while the others were sent back home without them.

  As they slowly returned to reality, the rather unsettling blend between home and Lunaria the “in-between-reality” had been, slowly returned to Lunaria’s regular landscape.

  “Now, it is time for us to say goodbye, Guardians,” Akilah said. “I wish you all best of luck.”

  Akilah looked at Madeleine, allowing her to speak. Strangely, Madeleine seemed too shy to speak whenever she wasn’t told to.

  “Rikki will lead you to the safest exit out of Keeper’s Cove. From there on, I’m afraid you’ll have to do it on your own,” Madeleine said. “You’ll have to be careful while looking for Gabriel. He’ll give you advice on the right weaponry. You can use this map to find him.”

  Madeleine handed Thomas a map, which had the magical ability to enlarge and display a specific location when touched as if it were images from a three-dimensional pop-up book.

  “You can also keep the map flat, if you’d prefer,” Rikki advised. “It’ll also show us Keepers’ locations by displaying our names on the map.”

  “Does that work on anyone else?” Thomas asked. “I mean – I don’t see our names anywhere.”

  “That’d be too dangerous in case the map gets compromised,” Akilah said. “If it showed your names, your enemies would be able to find you too easily. Our names are just there so you can find us whenever you need us.”

  “They won’t be coming after us anyway; they already screwed us over enough,” Rikki joked.

  Some nervous chuckles followed; the joke Rikki had made was funny in some sort of way, but it was also kind of morbid. It seemed strange to laugh at.

  The teenagers said their final goodbyes to Akilah and Madeleine, who promised to check up on them every once in a while. With that being said, the Guardians and Rikki went on their way.

  Luckily, the safe exit wasn’t too far away from the hideout’s entrance, but both were well-enough hidden not to be found easily.

  “So...” Bella started carefully. “How come nearly everything on our clothing glows?”

  “Ah, good question!” Rikki smiled. “It’s for protection. The Shadow Walkers, Night Stalkers, and all of the other beings that are under the Master’s control, are powered by shadows. Light weakens them; so if they come too close to you, their power will be slightly weakened, giving you a chance to escape.”

  “...But my clothes have more glowy-glow stuff than theirs do,” James said, referring to his own clothes and his friends’. “How come?”

  James could hear Thomas and Antonio snort behind him, and threw them an angry glare.

  Rikki coughed. “Well...” she said, unsure where to start. “It has to do with your magical abilities.”

  “magical abilities?” Samira asked. “What are those?”

  “Each Guardian has their own, unique magical ability,” Rikki explained. “Most of them require a supporting object. Unless you’re talking about Imaginative Creation.”

  “Imaginative Creation?” Bella said. “What’s that?”

  “I was getting to that,” Rikki said. “Imaginative Creation is a magical skill each and every one of you can master, but only one of you has the ability to unlock its full capacity.

  That’d be you, James.”

  James felt that everyone was looking at him. Attempting not to let all the blood rush to his head, he uttered, “Who, me?”

  Rikki nodded. “Yes, you.

  You might not believe it now, but with proper training, you’ll be able to create anything that comes to mind,” she said. I’ll have to warn you about one thing, though.” The tone of her voice suddenly became cold, cold enough to send chills down James’s spine.

  “If you don’t train your abilities properly, and just go out there and use them whenever you please, the topazes on your broche will pale out to a faint white if you’re taking on too much at a time. If that happens, stop using your Magic until they’re blue again, unless you want to faint and wake up with a terrible headache,” Rikki said.

  “Just a wild guess,” Samira said, “but what happens if the topazes stop glowing completely?”

  “If the white glow fades out,” Rikki said slowly, knowing everyone was listening closely to what she was going to say next, “the stones will turn black. Once the stones are black, the Guardian they belonged to is dead.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Thomas blurted out, rather loudly. Realizing he’d done so, he decided to continue his argument on a softer tone. “James shouldn’t be reliant on Magic to keep him alive.”

  “Wrong,” Rikki said. “If you proceed to use Magic while the stones are glowing white – which isn’t impossible, as it’d only cause a headache if you’re strong-willed, you’ll start using your life force instead of magical force, as that’s already been used. And once you’re out of life force...

  Well, you know what happens then.”

  “That’s kind of morbid,” Bella said silently. The others nodded agreeing.

  “Then make sure you’re well-trained,” Rikki said. “Some of the Master’s minions get their energy by harvesting yours. They are known for sucking the magical force out of a being – in case it has any – and using it for themselves. Unless the being doesn’t have any magical force, of course. Then, they’ll just suck out one’s life force. And that’s bad news.

  Frankly, the Master himself is known for doing it quite often as well. Especially when the Guardian’s powers are strong. The stronger your powers, the stronger his will become.”

  “Then what’s the point of training them at all?” James said. “If he’ll only end up sucking the life out of me...”

  “That’s why you’re so well-protected,” Rikki said. “The glow in your clothes should automatically weaken the effect of Dark Magic on you.”

  “And if it doesn’t?” James said.

  “Trust me,” Rikki said, “that has never happened before. The clothes will protect you. Shadow Beings absolutely detest light.”

  “If you say so...” James mumbled.

  They proceeded to walk to the side of the forest Rikki had chosen to be the safest. When they arrived there, Rikki suddenly stopped and halted the teenagers she was guiding.

  “All right, here we are,” she said. “But I do believe Akilah wants to give you one lat piece of advice before you leave. It seems rather urgent.”

  Just as she’d finished speaking, Akilah appeared before them. Not in person, though; her usual glow was faint and she was slightly see-through, as if she was merely a projection. And she probably was.

  “Guardians,” Akilah said. Her voice echoed all over Keeper’s Cove, and James worried if nobody could hear her. But Keeper’s Cove was probably protected; otherwise, they wouldn’t be standing here, out in the open, either.

  “You are about to enter the Twilight Forest and begin your journey. Before you left, I forgot to tell you where your journey shall end, so I will tell you now. Your goal isn’t as easy as it seems, like I said before. You will have to train and find your Guardian
’s Ability, as I believe Rikki already explained. You will only be able to use this power if you have your Guardian’s Helper, so make sure you do find those first. Once you are ready, you will travel to the Land of Void, the Realm that is home to the Demon – I believe that from now on you’ll be referring to him as the Master, as that’s how most of the Lunariae know him – and has gone the most corrupt due to the Demon’s influence.

  This Realm was once home to me and my Spirit brothers and sisters, but now it’s gone too corrupt to live there.” She paused to see if everyone could still follow what she was saying. “The Land of Void is a dangerous place to venture, but you will have to go there to return the Light and bring balance to the Light and Dark.

  The castle where we spirits used to live has a special altar in the middle of the ceremonial chamber, from which me and my siblings used to make sure the Light and Dark remained in balance.

  But, thanks to us, you have that ability too. Of course we would’ve preferred to do it ourselves, but the Demon has banished us... plus, we would never be able to survive the dark forces that roam that Realm long enough to complete the Ritual. That’s why we have to ask you to take our powers and do it for us.” She paused again, this time to catch her breath. The Guardians nodded at her, to let her know that all information had been received and properly processed.

  “Very well then. Guardians, I wish you all best of luck. We’ll be watching over you.”

  The “projection” of Akilah then disappeared, and James looked ahead. They were standing at the edge of a dark and silent forest. The Twilight Forest.

  “Well, I suppose we should get going, then,” Thomas said. “We should be all right finding that Gabriel, right? Since his house and name are located on the map...”

  Rikki looked at him. “Don’t think too lightly about this,” she said strictly. “It’s harder to make it out of there alive than you think. Trust me; I’ve been there before.”

  Thomas looked at her, and then looked back up at his friends to check on their opinions. They seemed to agree with Rikki; however, Antonio still seemed rather sceptical about everything.

  Thomas was about to get in another argument with his best friend, telling him to stop joking around, but Rikki pulled him down by the collar of his cape to whisper something in his ear.

  “Just wait until he sets himself on fire,” she said. “He’ll come about.” Thomas couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “...But yes, you should go,” Rikki said. “Gabriel will be waiting for you. The quicker you get your training, the bigger the chance you’ll survive.

  Gabriel is my brother,” she suddenly decided to add. “He’ll take good care of you, and he’ll also equip you with any other supplies you might need to make sure you’ve got everything to help you on your way.”

  “Well, then I believe it’s about time we went out and found your brother, then,” Bella said. “Who’s with me, guys?”

  A cheering “I!” came from her friends. They were ready to do this. But would they still be in five minutes, when they would’ve entered the Twilight Forest, unarmed and unsure where to go?

  But how could they know unless they actually went there, right?

  The Guardians said goodbye to Rikki, who stayed at the forest’s edge until the teenagers had gone too far into the forest to see them before returning to the secret hideout.

  “And? How’d it go?” Madeleine said, as she saw Rikki running down the stairs.

  “Well, they seem to have the right spirit,” Rikki said. “I think that the prophecy that old book has given us is going to come true, after all.” She shortly made a gesture toward Akilah, who was holding the Book Madeleine had showed the Guardians earlier.

  “I sure do hope so,” Madeleine said. “They have to be the Generation that succeeds. According to the Book, they’re the Last Generation. The Tenth. Which means...”

  “...They’re our last hope,” Akilah finished Madeleine’s sentence. “That means we have to trust them.”

  Forest

  The forest was dark; if it wasn’t for the glowing patterns on their clothes, it would’ve been impossible to see. So it turned out those weird patterns were good for something, after all.

  The sun had now completely set and night had fallen; the dangers lurking in the shadows of the forest could be felt all around the teenagers, leading them to tread carefully. There was hardly any time to talk; their main objective was to find Gabriel and get weapons – and whatever else they might need to protect themselves.

  Thomas, accompanied by James, was holding the map and leading the group. Together with James, he tried to figure out which way to go; this was less difficult than it seemed at first, as all James had to do was to keep his hands up high enough to shed a light on the map. It looked awfully strange for James to walk with his hands up whenever Thomas wanted to check on the map again, but it was the only way to be able to read the old, parchment thing until at least dawn.

  “All right, I believe to have figured out how this works,” Thomas said. “Technically, we’re still more or less in Keeper’s Cove, as this part of the forest is located on the same island as the Cove. From here, we’ll have to go east and cross the bridge there to get deeper into the forest.”

  “Why would we even want to go deeper into the forest?” Antonio complained loudly. “Can’t we just find that guy here and get out as soon as possible?”

  “I’m afraid not,” James said, taking a closer look at the map. “The bridge is near his hideout. He’s not there at the moment, however.”

  “I’ve got to admit,” Samira said, “that magical map is proving itself to be somewhat useful. Without it, we’d never be able to find him!”

  “Maybe he eventually would’ve come to find us?” Bella suggested. “...But then again, we could’ve been anywhere, which wouldn’t make it any easier at all.”

  The five teenagers didn’t spend too much time chitchatting, as they knew something was on to them. They proceeded to head east, to the bridge and Gabriel’s hideout.

  It would be best if they got there as quick as possible; the quicker they got at least a little bit of training, the safer they would be - well, for how much they could call themselves safe, of course.

  James wasn’t too sure about safety at the moment, though. It was if there was this black fog, floating low over the ground, going by almost unnoticeable in the dark night; it was as if the fog was following them with every step they took.

  James decided not to make any mention of it, as it’d probably only stress out his friends even more; that so-called “fog” was probably not even there. And it certainly wasn’t anything worth breaking their minds over.

  But what happened a short while after James had noticed the black fog, he wished he would’ve said something about it. Because apparently, that fog was a clear indicator for danger.

  Danger coming from the shadows.

  “Guys?” Bella said; she’d suddenly stopped walking, causing everyone to do the same and look at her. “Do you hear that?”

  Everyone went quiet. Bella was right; aside from the usual forest sounds, some strange kind of buzzing sound could be heard. It wasn’t easy to pinpoint its exact location, as the sound seemed to be coming from multiple directions.

  “It sounds like the growl of an angry animal or something,” Samira said. “Any idea what it could be?”

  “Well, unless you’re eager to find out, I’d suggest we get out of here,” Thomas said. The others agreed with him, and they continued their journey on a quickened pace.

  But the growling caught onto them, and the monsters that made the sound became more visible with every metre they ran.

  It were wolves, but then wolves the size of bears. Their fur was as black as the night and strangely smooth and shiny. The fog seemed to follow them, as it was emitted from their mouths, which were filled with rows of sharp teeth. The most extraordinary about these creatures however, were their eyes; they had an orangish glow, with striped pupils, l
ike a cat’s.

  No matter how fast the Guardians would run, the giant wolves ran faster, surrounding the Guardians in no-time.

  “Okay, does anyone have a plan B?” James said rather nervously, as the wolves started to move closer, closing in the teenagers.

  “Well, I was hoping you had one,” Samira said. “But I’m starting to get the idea that you have got nothing either.”

  “Then you’re getting the right idea,” James said. “I’m clear of ways to get us out of this one.”

  “Well, then I believe it’s good for me to be around, huh?”

  An unknown voice was calling from a tree branch. Shortly after, a figure jumped down from them, holding a glowing bow and matching arrows.

  The wolves started to growl louder and tried to attack the figure, but he was faster and quickly sent three arrows flying from his bow, hitting the closest wolf in the chest, causing the others to retreat until they were back in the shadows, from where they growled dangerously.

  The same happened on the other side, where the light from the arrows couldn’t reach; yet again, the figure was too quick for the wolves to be able to inflict any serious damage.

  The wolves quickly realised this was an opponent who knew their weaknesses, an opponent who wasn’t easy to attack. They proceeded to retreat back into the shadows, until their glowing eyes and vicious growls had disappeared from sight and earshot completely.

  James and his friends were watching the figure in awe. How easily he’d fired those arrows in the dark, hitting their targets almost perfectly.

  When the figure turned around, James could see his face more clearly. It was obviously a man; the orange stone he wore, which appeared to be a broche similar to Bella’s, had a strong glow, which caused strong shadows to appear on the man’s face.

  It took some time for James to notice that the man was smiling. “You guys look like you could use some help.”

  “Well, we obviously did,” Antonio said. “What were those things?”

  “Shadow Walkers,” the man said. “I’m Gabriel, by the way. But you guys can call me Gabe. I’m the Keeper of the Forest.”

  “Oh,” James said. “In that case... Akilah sent us to you.”

  Gabriel looked at him. “I know,” he said. “As soon as I heard you guys were coming this way, I went out to find you. Guess I succeeded on that part.” He let out a small chuckle.

  “But- how can you know?” Samira said. “Do you guys have – super fast carrier pigeons or something?”

  “Oh, no,” Gabriel said. “Carrier pigeons are way too risky; the chances of a bird being intercepted by the enemy or people who aren’t the recipient are way too big. I’ll explain everything to you when we get to a safer area.”

  The following was expected; he invited them to follow him to his hideout – although Thomas insisted on using the map to prove he had enough map-reading skills to get them there. His friends didn’t agree with him, so everyone just ended up following Gabriel – which probably would’ve been the best choice.

  Gabriel, who knew the woods by heart, led them through the safest parts of the forest, avoiding any further Shadow Walker trouble. They stopped at something which seemed to be a massive tree.

  “And... this... is?” Samira said slowly; she’d been walking in front of the line most of the time, right behind Gabriel; Thomas seemed rather annoyed by the fact that she was, and followed her closely.

  “It looks like a tree to me,” the Brit said. Obviously, he didn’t know what it was either, as it was too dark to see that it was, in fact, a big tree, with a tree house built near the top.

  Gabriel didn’t say anything; he just walked forward to the tree trunk, and pulled one of his arrows out of his quiver. He held it forward for a few second, until dozens of tiny little lamps started to light up, revealing a wooden spiral stairs around the trunk.

  “Voila!” Gabriel shouted proudly. “Guardians, you are welcome to enter my tree house hideout.”

  The Guardians did what they were told and went up the stairs; Gabriel followed them. The lights unlit themselves as he walked by them.

  They entered the tree house one by one; the main room looked comfortable, with a hammock filled with blankets and a woollen pillow; there was also a pile of bigger pillows, which could’ve represented some sort of couch.

  There was a door that lead to a second room, and a well-protected fireplace in the middle of the main room.

  “Please, sit,” Gabriel said, gesturing at the pile of large pillows. He himself sat down in the hammock, looking quite comfortable.

  “So, what would you guys like to know before we get started on your training?” he asked.

  The teenagers looked at each other, unsure of what to say. This was the first time they were able to see Gabriel completely; he wasn’t that old, probably seventeen or eighteen, and had olive skin and chestnut brown, frizzy hair. His eyes were hazel, with that same sparkle as his sister’s.

  When nobody knew what to say, Gabriel said, “Oh, come on! Don’t be shy; put my knowledge to the test!”

  Suddenly, Samira remembered her question back in the forest. “You were going to tell us how you and the other Keepers communicate,” she said.

  “Oh, right,” Gabriel said. “I was. Well, you could call us telepathic. Our connection with the Spirits allows us to contact each other through the mind. It’s pretty cool and useful.”

  “I can imagine,” Thomas said. “It allows you to contact each other in secret, without letting anyone know.” His eyes then widened as he let out a gasp of excitement. “Do you think we’d be able to learn how to do that too?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s unlikely you’ll be able to develop the ability completely. We only were able to learn how to do it because our souls are fused with the Spirits.”

  Thomas didn’t say anything; he was disappointed to hear that telepathy was pretty much out of the question. “Oh. That’s a shame.”

  “Where’d you even need it for?” Gabriel said. “We can contact you if needed. It doesn’t need to be the other way around.”

  “You think?” Antonio said. “If we’re not telepathic, how are we even going to receive your telepathic messages in the first place?”

  “I wasn’t necessarily talking about telepathic messages,” Gabriel said. The mischief grin on his face made it look as if Antonio’s sceptical attitude amused him.

  “Akilah and Madeleine have created some very clever ways of communication, but you’ll find out more about that later. Telling you now would only ruin the surprise.”

  “On another note,” James said, “Madeleine mentioned that you were the First Generation, and we’re the Tenth. How come you don’t speak old English?”

  “It’s been a thousand years, kid,” Gabriel said. “You learn a thing or two from the people coming from back home - a lot can happen and change in a century.” He paused. “My sister and I didn’t even speak English when we first got here. But Magic helped us with that, luckily. Communicating with the three Brits would’ve been a lot harder otherwise.”

  The teenagers were listening silently. Hearing about the history of this world and its inhabitants was quite interesting.

  “Well, it seems to me that you no longer have any questions,” Gabriel said. “Unless anyone disagrees, I believe it’s about time I started to train you to become proper warriors.”

  He got out of his hammock and walked over to the door that lead to the other room. “You will enter this room one by one, and then select a weapon from my personal collection,” he said, pointing at the door.

  “Innocence, you go first. I always find it quite interesting to see what kind of weapon you guys choose.”

  The Guardians, who were still sitting on the makeshift couch, stared at him in silence. “Who?” Thomas said.

  Gabriel let out a loud sigh of dismay. “You’re... you’re not telling me you don’t know which Guardian each of you is, now are you?” he said hopefully.

  Obviously
, he wasn’t too fond of the response which confirmed his concerns. Another loud sigh followed. “Oh dear.

  Well... first of all, you can tell by the clothes you’re wearing, but mostly by the brooches that are attached to your capes. While every costume is adjusted to match your personality – which makes it more likely that you will choose the right costume on your arrival, although it seems as if you’re magically drawn to it – anyway, I’m heading off topic. The brooches will always be the same, indicating what your soul was meant to do here and why it was chosen.”

  The Guardians reacted instantly, by tugging on their capes to be able to see the brooches; they were indeed unique in shape and colour, and always seemed to match the colour of the costume.

  “I’ll keep it simple, as I don’t know your exact names yet... Although they have been told to me, I don’t know which name belongs to whom, since we have two girls and three boys,” Gabriel said. “But... I think I’m beginning to figure it out. The topaz broche belongs to the Guardian of Innocence, the emerald broche to the Guardian of Soul. The orange sapphire sun broche belongs to the Guardian of Joy, the sun and moon broche to the Guardian of Day and Night, and finally, the rhombus-shaped rose quartz belongs to the Guardian of Life.” He paused for a second, and said, “there’s something I wanted to say regarding something I learned from the Guardian of Soul that came here about a century ago, in the Generation before you – not the music.”

  “I told you it was a rose quartz, and not a pink diamond,” Samira whispered quietly in Bella’s ear. They’d been arguing over the names of their gemstones for quite some time, and now it’d finally been decided who was right. Rose quartz and orange sapphire.

  “...Anyway, so now you know who you are, so do I!” Gabriel said, carefully examining the five teenagers in front of him. “Two birds with one stone, eh? So, James, you go first.”

  James stood up and walked up to Gabriel, who opened the door of the weaponry chamber for him.

  The room’s interior was pretty impressive; it was stacked with medieval weapons from all kinds of material; all shapes and sizes were available. It was obvious that Gabriel was trying to have something in store for every kind of warrior.

  James instantly headed for the side of the room that had been reserved for swords, knives and other bladed weaponry, as those were the weapons he knew how to fight with best; he’d had a lot of sword fighting practice with his sister when they were younger. Of course, that had merely a pretend game; it were the fencing classes Thomas’ father had given his son’s friends when they dropped by his house that counted.

  James took one of the swords, which was covered by a dark blue scabbard with matching light blue glowing patterns; it matched with his other clothes, as if it was meant to be his.

  A similar scabbard stood beside it, but then glowing in green.

  The sword James had chosen was tall and thin, yet still small enough for him to be able to handle. He carefully slid of the scabbard and swung it around a bit, before shoving it back into the leather and taking it outside.

  Thomas was next to go inside; he chose the green glowing scabbard, which seemed to please James. Thomas then made the joke that they “matched”, as if they were teenage girls buying matching T-shirts.

  Samira came back with a wooden bow and arrow and a murrey quiver, well-filled with fifty arrows.

  Bella had chosen some other bladed weapon of which James wasn’t sure what it was exactly as he didn’t recognize it; it looked like a sickle, but then with a much broader blade. He decided to dub it “war sickle” until he’d find out what its real name was (which actually turned out to be the weapon’s real name, according to Gabriel).

  Antonio, wanting to impress as usual, thought it’d be a good idea to take the tallest weapon he could find, and ended up walking out the door with a gigantic pole arm - a glaive.

  Once everyone was sure about their weapons – Gabriel made a point out of it to ask them if they’d like to take a secondary weapon. Bella did end up taking two knives along, putting them on her belt, but nobody else truly felt the need of taking a secondary weapon. They’d probably be fine with the ones they had right now.

  “So, we’ve got weapons. Now what?” Antonio said, probably expecting to hear Gabriel say that he wasn’t going to train them after all, and that they would have to fend for themselves.

  But that didn’t happen.

  “Follow me to outside,” Gabriel said. “I’ll set up an arena for you.”

  The teenagers stared at each other, slightly confused, but then decided to do what Gabriel had asked them to and followed him outside anyways.

  They walked around the tree house, where a large, open field revealed itself. The teenagers gasped in awe; from the front, it seemed as if the tree house was standing in the middle of the forest.

  “Cloaking spell,” Gabriel said proudly. “I can’t have any Shadow Creatures sneaking around here while I’m training myself or others. Pretty sweet, huh?”

  He opened his hand and released a bunch of the same, glowing lights as those that had surrounded the spiral stairs. They floated about, lighting up the open field around the edges and the middle. Various wooden targets had been set up there; from wooden, humanoid figures to normal archery targets.

  “Target practice!” Gabriel shouted, to make sure everyone could hear him. “Something you’ll be doing for a while in this world if you want to stay alive. Of course, at some point, the targets will be fighting back, making a bit more of a challenge.” He grinned. “But for now, you’ll be practicing on wood. And on me, of course.”

  He pulled a sword from his scabbard, similar to James’s and Thomas’. He was also carrying a bow and quiver over his right shoulder. “I will test your skills, and guide you through the training,” he said. “Although I used this bow and arrows to fight my way through these realms, I also learned how to use a sword on my own.” He paused. “I had a lot of free time in the past thousand years, you see.” He grinned again. “Anyway. You can practice on one of the targets whenever I’m not training you personally; you can also train in pairs, if you’d like. Now let’s get started!”

  “For how long will we be training?” Thomas said. “I’m kind of exhausted.”

  Gabriel turned around to look at him. “I’ll be training you until I can send you out there safely, so I won’t have to worry whether or not you guys have any idea of what you’re up against,” he said. “I need to be sure that you kids know what you’re doing.”

  And so the training started. A great portion of the time was consumed by an argument between Gabriel and Antonio; Gabriel claimed that Antonio wasn’t following the instructions given, whereon Antonio came with a counterargument, saying that it wasn’t the most important thing to live by orders and instructions to make the right choice in the heat of the moment.

  Thomas and James were having a one-on-one swordfight against each other, while Bella was practicing throwing knives at a wooden dummy’s chest, and Samira was perfecting her aim on the archery targets. Later, when Gabriel had focused his training on her, she had to shoot arrows at the wooden shield he was carrying while he ran around, trying to dodge; he did the same with Bella and her knives.

  When it was the turn for James and Thomas to show what they had got, Gabriel first joined their one-on-one combat, before allowing Thomas and James to join forces against him. The training was concluded with a game, some sort of mix of sword fighting and tag, using wooden swords; if you were to be touched by someone’s weapon, you’d be “wounded” and were out of the game for five minutes (determined by Gabriel’s hourglass). If you got hit five times, you’d be pronounced “dead” and be out of the game. The last man standing was the winner.

  They ended up playing at least five rounds of this game, until the break of dawn.

  “Well, I certainly believe you teens are ready,” Gabriel said. “You should rest a little before you head back out there again. You earned it.”

  Gabriel didn’t have to tell the
m twice; they spread the pillow-couch out over the floor, so the pillows would cover more space. Gabriel gave each of the teenagers a blanket, despite of the fact that it wasn’t that cold; within a matter of minutes, everyone had passed out on the pillows. Gabriel sat in his hammock, staring out of the window it was hung up beside.