Guardian: Protectors of Light

by Melanie Houtman

  *

  James was hanging upside down from the ceiling, still trapped in the shadow-stuff. He didn’t know where he was; the room was far too dark to see, anyway.

  “Ah. I see you’re awake.”

  A deep, raspy voice with a dangerous tone spoke to James; however, he had no idea where the voice was coming from, as the room around him was all dark. But the mysterious speaker revealed himself shortly to James; two glowing eyes appeared in the dark. James first thought it was another Warlock Spirit, but it couldn’t be, as one eye had a cat-like pupil, and the other didn’t, as if the other eye was blind.

  The man spoke while remaining in the dark, as if he didn’t want James to know what he looked like. “Welcome, young Guardian. I have been expecting you; you may call me Master Asura.”

  “Easy for you to say,” James said, while struggling to get himself free. The blood was rushing to his head, and his head started to ache. “You were the one who sent out those monsters to capture me and...” He started. “Thomas...” he whispered. “Where is Thomas!? What have you done to him!?”

  The Master laughed. “Stop yelling, dear boy,” he said. “That’s just the blood rushing to your head talking. Your friend is safe, behind me. He’s still... asleep.”

  “If he dies, I swear to you I’ll make sure the same thing happens to you!” James yelled, fuelled with hatred for the being, who though he had the right to appear in the form of a man. “I won’t let you hurt my friends!”

  The Master laughed even harder; he was mocking James. “I like that attitude, my boy,” he said. “There’s so much hate burning inside your innocent little soul... You’ll probably hate me even more when I tell you the truth about the Spirits of Light.” The tone of his voice darkened, and James became slightly pale underneath the reddish colour on his cheeks.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked carefully, but quickly added, “you don’t expect me to actually believe anything you say, right?”

  The Master let out a small chuckle. “They didn’t tell you?” he said. “Of course they didn’t.”

  His eyes moved upward, looking James straight in the eye. “They want you dead, my boy. All five of you. It’s not me who’s being the villain here. Of course, I have my... ah... quirks,” he chuckled at the sound of the word, “but I’m not the one who’s brought you here, right? Put you on this dangerous quest? You’re just a boy. And you won’t make it out of here alive, whether I kill you or the Ritual.”

  “Just get to your point!” James shouted; worry had begun to layer his voice. “Just tell me what you want to!”

  “All you need to know is that the Ritual is a trick,” the Master said. “The Spirits will use your life force to relight this world. Don’t you get it, boy? They require your death. Just to get their precious little kingdom back.”

  “I don’t believe you,” James spewed. “I bet your monsters are after my friends right now... I swear, if I get out of here and find out my friends have been harmed-!”

  The Master raised an to James invisible hand and laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, my boy,” he said mockingly. “Your friends won’t be harmed... by me.” James couldn’t see the outstretched hand that pointed towards him, ready to cast a curse.

  All of a sudden, the room’s door blasted open, letting in small streams of light. In the faint light, James could make out the silhouette of a person standing in the doorway.

  “YOU!” the Master yelled, and charged for the mysterious person, who somehow managed to dodge him. The Master fell, and ended up outside the room; the mysterious figure closed the door with a slam, causing the entire room to go dark again.

  James heard footsteps approaching. “Hey, sorry about that. It went a little rougher than expected,” a teenager’s voice spoke. A teenage girl.

  She walked to the other side of the room, and soon, the room was lit by torches that hung on the wall. The girl must’ve lit them with Magic, as the fire was passed on in some kind of domino-effect.

  A girl with blonde hair turned around, revealing two forest green eyes. She was about fifteen years old, and had a pointy nose. She was wearing a dark blue robe, but whatever she was wearing underneath, James didn’t know, since she kept the robe closed tight. 

  She was pretty to look at, and she had something... Innocent-like. Like a young child. She wasn’t very tall, either, considering James being short for his age and being taller than her.

  “Oh!” James gasped in surprise. “Sorry. Didn’t see you there.” He tried to make a joke out of the whole situation, but it didn’t quite work out as he’d hoped.

  “It’s okay,” the girl said, as she knelt down in front of James with a cute smile. “I’m Sabrina, and you are?”

  “James,” James said. “I’m, um-”

  “The Guardian of Innocence, perhaps?” Sabrina asked.

  James nodded. “Exactly,” he smiled.

  “How exciting! I was the Guardian of Innocence too!” Sabrina cheered. “Well... a thousand years ago, of course.” Pause. “Oh, I’ve got to show you something! Something you’re going to love!” Another pause. “But... I’ve got to get you out of here first.”

  “Wait – what about Thomas?” James asked. “You know, I’d love to come along with you, but the problem is just that I don’t really want to leave my friend. And I should really get back to the rest of the Bond of Light, you see...? They’re... on the mountains.”

  “Oh, you mean him one over there?” Samira said, pointing at Thomas. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets back to your friends.”

  Sabrina made a gesture toward Thomas, who was lying on the floor, tied up in the same shadowy stuff as James, and the shadows disappeared.

  “Your friends will find him, for sure. I have to show you something.”

  “What is it, then?” James asked again.

  “A secret path. On that path, you’ll learn something crucial for your quest. I’ve walked that path too. The most innocent person of the Bond of Light is usually the Guardian of Innocence, and is therefore the only one who can see and walk the Path. So you’ll need to do it alone.”

  James wasn’t sure. He stared at Sabrina as he said: “Are you sure that’s safe? Shouldn’t I discuss this with my friends first? Before they think I’ve disappeared and they get worried?

  “Of course not,” Sabrina said. “I’ll stay with you. I’m the same kind of Guardian as you, after all.”

  Something was burning against Thomas’s arm, inside the pocket of his snow coat. He dug around in it, careful not to announce that he was awake, and found his sceptre.

  The orb was glowing in a deep, red colour, and Thomas immediately connected with his special powers through the sceptre. He got on all fours, and spied on Sabrina and James from a distance. His body was still too numb for him to be able to stand on his feet, which made it hard for him not to be able to run toward James and tell him that whatever he was doing, that girl was fishy.

  Something bad was bound to happen, and it had something to do with her. That’s what the sceptre told him.

  “James, whatever you do, don’t trust her... She’s lying...” Thomas whispered.

  “But – Sabrina, if I may ask you,” James said, while rubbing his neck, “if you’ve seen it before, whatever happened on that path – why won’t you tell me?”

  “Because I don’t know all of it,” Sabrina replied. “I... Got killed on my way to the path. I just know of its existence and location.”

  James sighed, and stared at his feet while shoving his hands into his pockets; the snow coat he’d been wearing had somehow disappeared. “And... what about the Master just told me? That’s a lie, right?”

  He had no idea what to do. He wanted to go back to his friends, together with Thomas, but this girl insisted that he’d join her to some kind of weird path she claimed to exist.

  She could be speaking the truth, but what if she wasn’t? What if she was lying?

  “Most definitely a lie,” Sabrina confirmed. �
��The Spirits are good, I promise! James, please!” she proceeded to beg. “Lunaria’s future as well as yours and your friends’ might depend on it!”

  “Sabrina, I am terribly sorry, but I can’t do it without telling my friends...” James mumbled.

  “Enough, Riverdale. If I say you’re coming with me, you do so, understood?” Sabrina suddenly growled. Her eyes got a slight red glow, and when James caught her gaze, his pupils shortly became the size of his irises.

  “Of- of course,” he said. “Of course. I’ll go with you.”

  Sabrina’s eyes returned back to normal as she showed James a broad grin.

  “Thank you!” she said. “Shall we go?”

  “James!” Thomas shouted, as he saw him walk off with Sabrina.

  “JAMES! NO! SHE’S LYING!”

  Thomas’s legs finally came back to life, and he got up as quick as he could. He jumped out of his hiding spot, and ran after them.

  “JAMES!”

  Strangely enough, no-one was there. And Thomas...

  Found himself back on the mountain. Somehow.

  “Thomas! There you are!”

  Thomas turned around, and saw his friends running toward him.

  “Guys!” he shouted, waving his arms in the air. “Bad news! Very bad news!”

  “What- what do you mean?” Samira asked and looked confusedly into his grey eyes.

  Thomas sighed. He ran a hand through his brown hair, while staring at the ground. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but James has run off again.”

  Antonio let out an irritated groan.

  “Not again! James sure does know how to get himself into serious trouble,” he muttered. “What’s it this time, Thomas?”

  “There- there was this girl, who freed us from – well, wherever we were,” Thomas said. “She talked James into going with her. I tried running after them, but somehow, that girl managed to teleport me back onto the mountain.” He rubbed his chin.

  It’ll be a race against the clock to find James, he thought.