Guardian: Protectors of Light

by Melanie Houtman

  *

  James woke up, discovering that the leather of his gloves had left an imprint on his cheek due to sleeping on his arm. How long had he been sitting outside?

  Where were his friends?

  He quickly rose to his feet, and went inside the cabin. His friends were still asleep; Samira turned around on her bed and looked at James.

  “Hey there,” she said. “You look like you had a wonderful night’s sleep.” She got up, putting her boots and gloves back on and retying the cape around her neck. While running her fingers through her hair, readying it to braid it, she walked up to her brother. “Morning, bro-bro,” she said.

  “Morning, Sam,” James said. “Gosh, do I really look that terrible?” He was referring to Samira’s first comment.

  “Yeah, you do,” Samira replied. “What did you do all night? You look like you ran a marathon and then got a bad haircut.”

  James quickly started to rub over the flaming red mess on his head, trying to make it look somewhat bearable.

  “The others should be up soon,” Samira said, while tying her braided hair together. “We could go fish by the river, if you want.”

  “Sure,” James said, taking a quick sniff at his armpits and pulling a disgusted face. “I know what else I’ll be doing there...” Samira chuckled.

  The river was right behind the cabin; the teenagers had crossed the bridge the previous night. Samira used James’s sword to fish, which was easier than she’d expected. When James had finished washing up, Samira had caught three fish big enough to share between the five of them.

  It was a frugal meal, but it would do. Especially if they could pluck some fruit to eat somewhere along the way later that day.

  Brother and sister returned to the cabin. “I’ll see if I can find something to cook those fish with,” James said, as they entered the small, wooden building.

  “Why don’t we roast them on sticks over the fireplace, like marshmallows?” Bella suggested. She was sitting at the wooden table, cleaning her knives, which seemed to be a rather unnecessary task, as the blades were spotlessly clean. “The boys are still asleep,” she said. “We can wake them up after we’ve finished those fish.” A teasing grin appeared on her face; Samira and James knew she was just kidding.

  “We can wake them up when we’ve got the meal prepared,” Samira said. “Does either of you know how to skin fish? Since I don’t.”

  Bella smirked. “My Dad’s a chef, remember? He’s taught me pretty much everything he knows, which includes filleting a fish.” She made use of the moment to correct Samira’s mistake.

  “If you say so,” Samira said. She didn’t sound too confident in her best friend’s cooking skills. “I’ll go out to the river and fill the water sacs Gabriel gave us with water. James?”

  “I’ll go get sticks and firewood,” James said, taking his sword out of his scabbard before allowing it to slide back in.

  “All right then, that means each of us has something useful to do,” Samira said. She handed Bella the fish, and left the cabin again together with James. While she filled the five water sacs with fresh river water, James started to chop off tree branches until he had enough to make a fire. When each their jobs had been finished, they returned to the cabin, where Bella was still busy trying to fillet the fish.

  “Not doing so great now, huh? Samira joked as she saw Bella struggling with the fish grates.

  “All right, I’ll admit it,” Bella sighed. “Dad might’ve taught me everything he knows, but I’m just... not a good cook.”

  James and Samira laughed. “Don’t worry,” James said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect. We’ll just tell the boys to chew carefully.”

  Now Bella couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, good luck with that,” she said. “Just go get dressed already!”

  James looked down at his clothes; his trousers were hanging out of his pants. Although it took him a little longer, he eventually found out his shirt was on backwards. “Oh. Right.”

  Just as he was about to walk into the bedroom, two figures came walking out, looking almost just as bad as James.

  Thomas was wearing nothing but the brown sweater that was supposed to go underneath his chest plate and his grey trousers that were actually too big for him, and his short hair seemed twice as long. Antonio however was already fully dressed, but looked more like a dog that had run through a clothesline and was dragging along underwear and shirts that were hanging over his back. He’d probably got in trouble while trying to put on his vest while he still was half-asleep.

  James, Bella and Samira couldn’t help but chuckle when they saw the two “manly messes” standing in front of them.

  “Good morning boys,” James said, while walking past the duo with a broad grin on his face. Thomas followed James’s movement with his head and watched as the teenager walked into the other room to get dressed, staring absently.

  “...Mind to share where we are?” he mumbled.

  “What, you’ve forgot already?” Bella said, moving her hands to her hips. “Did that head wound give you amnesia after all?”

  “I don’t know...” Thomas groaned, carefully touching his bandaged forehead. “I was kind of hoping that everything had just been a bizarre dream.”

  “...And so it turns out to be reality,” Antonio said, sounding moderately disappointed. “I should probably apologize to you guys for being such a jerk last night; I don’t know what came over me. I guess it was just all the stress and everything building up...” He scratched his neck in anticipation of an answer; his friends nodded at him.

  “But really, you shouldn’t apologize to us,” Samira said, crossing her arms. “James spent the entire night outside because you were being a jerk.”

  Antonio bit his lip. “He didn’t seem to mind,” he said carefully. “He offered to keep watch himself. I didn’t force him to.”

  “Oh, come on, Antonio!” Thomas said. “You know how James thinks. Besides from that, you’re three and a half a year older than he is. Wouldn’t it be right for you, the oldest, to be the adult and admit that you were wrong by apologizing?” Antonio shrugged.

  “Maybe I don’t want to be the responsible adult...

  The kid probably doesn’t even care,” he quickly decided to add when he saw three pairs of eyes glaring angrily at him.

  “Whether he cares or not, he does deserve an apology,” Thomas said. “Now go and apologize!”

  Antonio let out a loud, dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes, but did turn around and walk into the other room to talk to James eventually.

  When Antonio walked in, James was just finishing getting dressed; he was tying the hip bag around his middle. “Hey, Tonio,” the redhead said. “What’s the matter?”

  Antonio seemed rather hesitant, but did speak up eventually. “So... About last night,” he said slowly. “I’m sorry.”

  James smiled teasingly. “I know,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Antonio lowered his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “Really? You know what?”

  James’s smirk changed into a laugh. “I heard you guys talking in the other room,” he said. “No door, remember?” Antonio snorted.

  “Yeah. I guess you’re right,” he said. “So... we’re good, right?”

  “Always have been, always will be,” James said. “Just don’t let your temper get out of hand like that when it’s directed toward us. Use that energy on the battlefield, okay?”

  He stuck out his hand at Antonio, who took it. “Agreed.”

  “Come on, Tonio,” James said with a smile. “We’re having fish for breakfast.”

  Tricks and strategies

  They took their time to enjoy breakfast, but knew it couldn’t last forever. They had to hurry and move on. This was their third day in Lunaria, and they could count on it that the Master had become aware of their arrival.

  That meant the hunt had officially been opened. Although Samira and Bella trusted Madeleine’s word that he wouldn’t be coming after
them unless they got too far into the world, but James, Thomas and Antonio didn’t seem too sure.

  The discussion during breakfast was mainly about discussing strategies; they had to move quick and as unseen as possible. It was for sure that there was a price on their heads, and they didn’t know who was on their side and who wasn’t. Why, they didn’t even know who and what inhabited this world. What they would be seeing. What they would be experiencing. But at least they knew one thing; this, everything altogether, was going to be one hell of an adventure.

  After breakfast, the teenagers prepared to leave the cabin. The water sacs had been filled with clean water and all five stomachs had been filled.

  Today was the day when everything would officially begin. Of course the trip had begun two days earlier when they arrived, but from now on they’d be on their own for a while. Nobody knew how long, but it would be a while until they ran into someone who could help them with information and backup again.

  And of course, they had to be careful who they approached. Anyone could be under the Master’s control without even knowing. That meant the Guardians had to be careful who they spoke to.

  Thomas had suggested that they’d continue to rely strongly on their map, but try to get around on their own as well. They had to get familiar with their environment. Knowing where to go if they had to flee would become useful at some point.

  The forest was dense, and the amount of clear paths and quick escape routes was slim. The chance to trip and fall and get hurt was somewhat worrisome.

  Most of the time, they walked silently, only talking whenever necessary. The forest was still a dangerous place, and the Shadow Creatures were out to find them.

  And the Master probably was too.

  The journey was paused after a while, because Bella had noticed fruit trees along the route they followed. Antonio, James and Thomas went to pick some fruit, while Bella and Samira checked their location on the map.

  They were following the river to the south; according to the map, the river would lead them to the Silver Valley. While the part of the forest which was inhabited by the fairy people was a part of the Twilight Forest, there was a magical barrier around the forest and a part of the Silver Valley, preventing any unwanted forces from entering the Fairy Kingdom from the Twilight Forest. This meant that in order to get in, the Guardians would have to travel around the barrier first to get to the gates to the ‘kingdom’...

  ...Which just so happened to be easier said than done. Of course it was.

  After the guys had returned with a bag full of fresh fruit, the five teenagers sat down to revise their plans for the rest of the day. There was no way that they’d make it to the Valley before sundown, and they needed a plan for the night hours.

  “We are seriously going to have to change our sleeping schedules if we want to survive out here,” Bella said. “Gabriel said that those Shadow Creatures feed off the dark and can’t survive in daylight, so we’ve got to use that to our advantage. That means we’ll have to sleep during the day!”

  “Bella has a point,” James said, while biting down on an apple. “I mean- aside from the fact that she just simply repeated Gabriel’s advice - no offense,” he quickly said to Bella, who nodded. “Anyway. We should indeed sleep during the day from now on.”

  “So you’re basically implying that we’re going to keep going all through the night?” Thomas said. James nodded.

  “We’ll have to,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll never be able to adjust, and keep going in a vicious circle.”

  Samira stood up as she threw away her apple core. “Well, I guess that means we’ve got no time to lose then, huh?”

  “Before you leave, would you mind helping a lost, old man find his way home?” an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke, causing five heads to turn in the direction wherefrom it’d come.

  A man stepped forward, looking frail and old. He was wearing a long, dark cloak, which covered most of his body, revealing nothing but his face.

  “Uh- of course,” James said, while standing up; he quickly walked over to the man. “What’s your name, sir?”

  The man looked at James. “Mordred,” he said. “I am lost, and am having trouble getting around in this forest. Would you youngsters care to help me out?”

  Samira rubbed her chin and squinted at the old man. “Mordred...” she whispered. “I’ve heard that name before somewhere.”

  Bella looked at her, pulling her friend’s hand down from her chin. “Stop being so judgmental of everyone you meet,” she said. “Come on, the guy’s just an old man! How can a knight’s name-” She stopped mid-sentence. “Huh.”

  Meanwhile, Mordred had continued his conversation with James. “Tell me, boy,” he said, “which one of you boys is the strongest?”

  James chuckled. “Well, you could say that Bella is stronger than any of us, but I’d say Antonio and Thomas come pretty close,” he said, with an honest smile on his face.

  “Is that so?” Mordred said, squinting his eyes. “Not you, my son?”

  “Oh,” James said, and chuckled again. “No. Certainly not. I’m more... mentally strong, I guess.” He smiled again.

  “You know that being mentally strong is just as important as being physically strong, right?” Mordred said. “King Arthur wasn’t necessarily the strongest young man just because he could pull Excalibur out of that stone. It was the strength of his heart that made him a true king.”

  Thomas leaned a little closer over to Samira. “I don’t like where this is going,” he whispered, careful not to let Mordred hear what he was saying.

  “You’re not the only one,” Samira replied silently. “Certainly not since he started talking about Arthur...”

  “But tell me, what can we do to help you?” James said, trying to speed up the conversation. His friends weren’t the only one getting nervous due to the way Mordred spoke. There was something about his voice, which was just so... strangely eerie. As if you were speaking to a ghost.

  “The matter’s not how you can help me, boy,” Mordred said, suddenly getting awfully close to James, who instinctively backed away a bit. “It’s about how I can help you.”

  Mordred reached out for James’s arm with a gloved hand, but James pulled away his arm as soon as he felt the leather trying to curl itself a way around it.

  “Come on, boy, don’t be afraid,” Mordred said, sounding almost threatening. “Let me... help you.”

  “Okay, that’s it, creepy man! You’ve overstepped the line; step away from the boy!” Bella yelled, pulling out her war sickle. When Mordred refused to move, she growled at him, “I said, step away.”

  Mordred looked at her; something in his expression changed. He was grinning at Bella; an evil, mischievous grin. And then... he changed. His bones started to grow rapidly as his robe fell off, revealing a skeleton body wearing armour; his “face” had disappeared in the process as well. His bones grew longer and longer, until there was a skeleton of two and a half a metre standing in front of them, with eerily glowing eyes.

  The teenagers let out horrified yells as they watched the scene unfold. “What is THAT!?” Antonio yelled.

  “Let’s not take the time to figure out what it is, shall we?” Bella said, and lunged out at the skeleton-like creature with a loud cry.

  Mordred, however, was surprisingly agile and easily avoided her attack, causing Bella to nearly end up getting impaled by her own weapon. She quickly got on all fours and turned around, ready to attack again.

  Meanwhile, the others had prepared for battle and drawn their weapons; Mordred however, didn’t seem to be willing to fight.

  “You’re wasting a great chance,” he said, speaking with a lower, yet still scarily eerie voice. “If you would’ve joined the Master, you would’ve been spared all the pain and suffering that awaits you here. But, with this... ah, action, here...” He took a short moment to look behind him, where Bella was still standing, breathing heavily. “... It seems you have sealed your destiny.”
<
br />   “Tell your master we are willing to fight him, and whatever he puts in our way,” James said confidently. The look in his eyes showed that he meant it. “We’ll be ready for him.”

  Mordred’s eyes narrowed. “Then so be it, Guardian.

  Your arrival will be notified to the Master. And trust me; he’ll be coming for you. And you won’t stand a chance against him.”

  Thomas glared at Mordred as he stepped forward. “Let’s see about that.”

  Without saying anything more, Mordred dissolved into thick, black smoke that eventually disappeared between the trees.

  Meanwhile, the sun had started to set; the Guardians needed some time to process all what had just happened.

  “Was that... thing... trying to... transform me, or what?” James said, looking at his arm as if the hand’s touch had left a mark on it.

  “It appears so,” Samira said. “Mordred was the name of one of the Knights of the Round Table. He was the one to ultimately betray King Arthur. That probably should’ve said enough.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Bella said. “Hey, ‘Tonio? You’ve been awfully quiet! What’s up?”

  Antonio had walked a few metres away from the group, and was staring at a bright, orange light that was coming from between the trees. The others quickly joined him; James was the first to realise what was going on.

  “He set the forest on fire on his way out,” the teenager gasped, while he could feel his mouth and throat drying up. “Everyone: grab your stuff and RUN!”

  He didn’t have to tell them twice; they turned around and started to run as if their lives depended on it – which they actually did. Thomas quickly grabbed the leather bag he’d left on the forest ground while running, making sure nothing would fall out of it.

  “Why’d he set the forest on fire!?” Antonio yelled. “That’s nuts!”

  “He promised we’d be sorry for trying to attack him,” James replied, while gasping for air. “I guess that this is what he meant!”

  “The fire will destroy the forest if we don’t do something about it,” Bella said, and suddenly stopped running. “We have to stop this!”

  “BELLA! ARE YOU NUTS!?” Samira cried and ran back to her friend. She started to tug on Bella’s arm to get her walking again, but Bella stood firm. “No,” she said. “James! Use your Magic!”

  James, who’d gone after his sister after he saw her running back, stared uncomprehendingly at Bella. “What?”

  “GUYS!” Thomas and Antonio had stopped running too, but only because we’re hoping to get their friends running again; Thomas had started to yell at them to get their attention. “THERE’S NO TIME FOR THIS! COME ON!”

  “Bella!” James demanded, his eyes flashing between the raging fire ahead, Bella’s eyes and their two friends yelling their names behind him. “If you’ve got a plan, explain it now. And quick.”

  “Use your Magic, James,” Bella said. “You can extinguish the fire.”

  James blinked. “But I haven’t had any training!”

  “According to Akilah, you don’t have to,” Bella urged. “Just think with your heart, James!”

  “How?” James yelled back; Samira ran towards him, grabbing her brother’s hands. “Have faith in yourself,” she said. “You can do this. I know you can.”

  James made an insecure nod. Samira stood beside him, and Bella joined them on James’s other side.

  “All right,” James whispered underneath his breath. “Let’s do this.”

  Aiming all his concentration and energy on the fire, James began to order the flames to stop. To stop moving, to stop burning everything.

  “Stop,” he thought. “Stop. I order you to stop.” He saw that the fire didn’t respond to his demands, and decided to close his eyes to concentrate harder.

  “Stop,” James said underneath his breath. He could feel the heat of the fire tingling on his skin; the fire was spreading fast and coming awfully close.

  James heard worried sounds coming from Samira, and Thomas and Antonio yelling at them to run in the distance.

  “Stop,” James said. “Stop!” He breathed in deeply.

  “I, THE GUARDIAN OF INNOCENCE, ORDER YOU TO STOP!”

  The fire extinguished as James yelled out the last word. James had opened his eyes, only to see the fire extinguish barely ten centimetres away; his lips trilled as he allowed himself to fall to the ash-black forest ground.

  He’d done it.

  Hurried footsteps were coming from behind; Thomas and Antonio were coming back.

  “That was totally wicked, man!” Antonio shouted. “Whoa, man!”

  Samira had knelt beside her brother, who was now sitting on his knees. “You should be careful for a while when it comes to using your Magic, James,” she said. “Your gems have paled out quite a bit.”

  She wasn’t wrong; the strong, blue glow of the three topazes had faded to a faint, baby blue glow.

  Samira and Bella helped James get up, whose clothes were now covered with ash. It didn’t seem to bother him that much, however.

  “See, James?” Bella said. “I knew you could do it. All you had to do was believe.”

  All of a sudden, the orange sapphire gemstone on her brooch started to glow brightly, and Bella herself was lifted off the ground a few centimetres. Her friends watched in awe.

  “Bella,” Akilah’s voice echoed from between the trees, without having any locatable source. “You showed great courage and leadership, which lead to James succeeding in connecting with his magical abilities. For this achievement, you have earned your Guardian’s Totem: Leadership.”

  As the gem on Bella’s chest started to glow even brighter, an orb of light was subtracted from its glow, floating right in front of Bella’s head. When Bella reached out for it, the light extinguished, revealing a golden coloured compass; the word Leadership had been engraved into the back in curly letters.

  “This is the Leading Compass,” Akilah’s voice said. “It will also warn you when dark forces are near and help you find us, and, of course, the other way around. Keep it safe, and it will do the same for you.”

  Bella made a soft landing on her feet, as her friends gathered around her to have a look at the Leading Compass.

  “So that’s what those Totems are like?” Antonio said. “Just- magical objects that help us get around and are useful for us?”

  “That’s basically what Akilah told us three days ago,” Samira said. “If you would’ve listened, you would’ve known that.” She then shifted her attention and took a closer look at the compass. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It is indeed,” Bella said. “I should secure it somewhere on my clothes, so we won’t lose it and always have it close.”

  She attached the compass to a silver ring on her belt.

  “All right, guys, let’s go,” Thomas said. “We can make it to the edge of the forest before dawn if we try.”

  “You think?” James sighed. And the others knew exactly what he meant.

  It’d been a long day – night, even – and they were tired. The fire had helped them one way, by having them move twice as fast, but at the same time, it’d got them off-course. Thomas had decided to pull out the map and, after a while, had managed to use the compass to calculate their location more precisely.

  The direction they’d gone when fleeing from the fire had lead them more to the east, yet not too far from their destination. It was indeed possible for them to go the distance before sunrise, if they hurried.

  Anything to get out of that forest.

  The teenagers went on their way. They’d decided to do the last few kilometres as fast as they could, so they could sleep somewhere in the Silver Valley during the day.

  If they could reach the Silver Valley before sunrise, they’d have all day to sleep. They were going to need as many hours as they could get in order to get their energy levels back up.

  Although getting to the Silver Valley wouldn’t secure their safety – there was still plenty of danger ahead-, the s
unlight would help a lot when it came to it. And while it was important to go and visit the Fairy Queen as soon as possible, it would probably be even more important to explore the Valley for a bit more before heading straight down there – just so they could get more familiar with the environment... For as much as it was worth.

  “How far is it to that stupid valley?” Bella sighed. “My feet are killing me.”

  “Just take a look at the bright side of this whole experience, Jingle Bells,” Samira teased her best friend, although fatigue was hinting at her own face as well, behind her smile. “We get a free, daily eight-our workout! Every single day! When we get home, we’ll be as light as feathers!”

  Yeah, if we get home, James thought. And that thought, which had suddenly popped into his head out of nowhere, bothered him. Why would he think something like that? Of course they’d be going home after all of this was over.

  Were they?

  James looked aside and noticed Samira was inspecting him from a distance, as if she had read his mind. He decided to swallow his worry and ignore it; after all, in stories, good always won from evil.

  And, after all... this was some kind of story, right? There had been a whole fairy tale based on the adventures James and his friends were experiencing right now, and all the people that went before them.

  James was sure of it; they’d be the first to succeed into doing what the other Generations couldn’t; reach the Land of Void and free the world from the Master.

  And then they’d be going home. Unharmed.