Guardian: Protectors of Light

by Melanie Houtman

  *

  Drenching wet, the five teenagers and Timothy continued their journey through the burning heat of The Edge.

  There had been more downsides to the Fire Sprite attack they’d experienced earlier than upsides. The water kept them cool for a short while, but it warmed up and evaporated quickly. As soon as most of the water had evaporated from their clothes, it left behind a gross, sweaty feeling.

  Also, their water sacs were now half empty, and they’d need their water the most in the place they were now.

  Dehydration was around the corner, sooner or later.

  But for now, all they could do was move along and hope they’d have just enough water to make it through.

  Despite the fact that the overhead pack of clouds was thick enough to block most of the sunlight from coming through, it also prevented most of the lava-generated heat to escape, causing the heat to burn on their skin, making travelling nearly unbearable.

  But of course they had no choice: the only way to travel and get to the Land of Void was by going through the burning heat of The Edge.

  “Are we there yet?” Samira said while panting loudly. Next to her, Antonio held his water sac all the way upside-down above his wide-opened mouth, hoping to get a few last drops out of the sac.

  “We’re almost out of water,” he said on a disappointed tone, while shaking his empty water sack. “We better be nearly there, or we’re dead.”

  “Those Fire Sprites probably attacked us on purpose,” James said. “They wanted to get rid of our pretty much quite precious water storage.”

  “Or they just hadn’t anticipated that you’d read that book Timothy gave you and knew they hate water,” Thomas replied.

  James nodded and shrugged. “Possible.”

  He looked at Thomas, whose face had gained a reddish colour underneath the dark green hood. Drops of sweat streamed down the nineteen-year-old’s forehead.

  “Why don’t you take off your hood?” James said. “Just a minute; you’ll be cooler without it.”

  He chuckled. “Pun intended.”

  Thomas shook his head. “I now know what Timothy was talking about,” he said. “I’ve experienced this a couple times before after collecting the Sceptre, but never as bad as around here. Those monsters’ minds are dark places. I certainly wouldn’t like to find out more.”

  James gave him a small nod. Understood.

  After all, he had no idea what Thomas was going through. If he could read the mind of every creature he passed... But wasn’t there a way to block and trigger that ability? If there was one, it meant that things would be a lot easier for Thomas.

  Timothy hadn’t told them about it, though. So maybe he didn’t know either. But perhaps he’d written it down in A Guardian’s Guide and wanted James and Thomas to figure it out for themselves.

  Maybe.

  James swallowed in an attempt to bring some water into his dry throat and mouth. Without much effect.

  The upcoming days would be though; out of water, stranded in a burning lava pit. Dark Magic surrounded them, endangering them even more.

  James was used to hot weather, since he’d usually spend his summer days in the backyard inventing things, no matter how hot it’d get. But this hear topped any heat wave he’d ever experienced at home. This was an extreme heat wave.

  How hot was it, actually? 30°C? 40? Perhaps even hotter? It wasn’t likely, since humans aren’t exactly able to survive any temperature above 40 to 42 degrees Celsius.

  He didn’t know how hot it was, after all, nor did it really matter. It was just very hot, that was all.

  James could hear Antonio complain loudly behind him. Something about the weather and the temperature.

  “So many clouds in the sky and it still won’t rain,” he complained. “When is it finally going to rain here for once?”

  “Another problem caused by the Master,” Timothy said, indicating there was an explanation coming. “He’s trying to ruin the other realms by keeping the rain from falling there. You know, fields, plants... Luckily, it’ll be winter in just a little more than a month-”

  Antonio grunted loudly while responding to Timothy’s story. “Well,” he said, “it would’ve been nice if the Master would’ve chosen eternal rain instead of no rain ever.” He pulled at the collar of his cape. “This lava pit could sure use some cooling down.

  “Chances are small though,” Bella replied. She shrugged. “You know. Regarding the current circumstances... It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to rain.”

  “Well, it is possible, though,” Timothy said, while wiping sweat and drenched strands of blond hair from his forehead. He had also gone red from the heat. “Since the Master likes to put the Guardians to the test, it rains more often here than in any of the other Non-Corrupted Realms. I guess he likes to see how they react.”

  James still didn’t know what to think exactly of this mysterious enemy they were battling, the Master. Asura.

  They’d never seen him before, of course. After all, so far the movie hadn’t been too accurate to the things they’d gone through thus far.

  Sure, they’d got the main point, “five people fighting for the sake of a magical world they have never even heard of while facing their worst fears,” but plenty of things had been way different. And of course they were. After all, that movie had been based on a fairytale.

  Back in the real world, nobody had any idea at all that this fairytale and its magical world and characters truly existed. James wondered whether the whole tale had even been based on the actual people they’d met.

  It was for James also kind of hard to believe too at first, though.

  For a moment, he wanted to be like the others, he wanted to believe that everything he saw was just a bad dream, a stupid trick of his own sub-consciousness.

  But as soon as James saw his family and he had to say goodbye to them, he knew it wasn’t a dream.

  This was all very real.

  Sometimes, James got the feeling that the others, save Thomas, still weren’t quite convinced of the reality they’d ended up in. Perhaps they still believed everything was just a dream. A horrible nightmare.

  Perhaps they still believed that they were asleep, safely in their warm beds, to be awakened any time soon at the break of dawn.

  But, of course, the chance that James had it completely wrong still existed. And he hoped he was.

  He hoped that the others would’ve realised that this wasn’t any kind of silly game. This was the real deal, and if they weren’t careful, someone was going to get hurt.

  It were especially Timothy’s stories which convinced James even more of the danger there was in this world, and the imminent threat the Master formed. If he could follow them wherever they went and read their minds, where in this world would they truly be safe from him?

  And also, why hadn’t he come looking for them yet? Was he waiting somewhere, waiting for the right moment to strike? What was taking him so long?

  Was this all just a test? Was he putting the Bond of Light to the test once more, to see if they could survive everything the others couldn’t?

  James knew for sure that whoever – or whatever - this man-spirit-hybrid creature was, he was cruel. Very cruel.

  Letting a bunch of teenagers put their lives in danger time and time again, just for his own entertainment, and then just killing the remaining ones himself in the end. If they didn’t meet their end somewhere else, that is.

  James finally started to understand why everyone was so scared of this man.

  He didn’t care who you were or what you did: if you were to stand in his way, he’d kill you without a sense of remorse.

  No More Peace

  It was starting to get to the point where going through got tough. The Bond of Light had officially run out of water, and it wasn’t doing any of them any good.

  But they still had a long way to go, and some of them were afraid they wouldn’t make it without water.

  They were lucky
they didn’t get attacked any longer. Because, as could easily guess, the six teenagers were in no condition to take on a fight – nor any serious injuries.

  This added to the criticality of the current moment; if any creature decided to get in the Bond’s way and attack, they’d be done for.

  And that was especially in Samira’s case. She’d been gasping for air while letting out some dry coughs for the past thirty minutes, until she staggered one last time before finally collapsing to the hard, hot rock ground.

  The others turned around in an instant, reacting to the muffled thud they’d heard which was Samira falling.

  “Samira!” Thomas yelled, as he ran over to help her.

  “Samira, are you all right?”

  The Brit knelt beside her, carefully turning her to her back, while the others approached the two as well.

  “Y-yeah,” Samira uttered weakly. “I – just feel a bit dizzy. It’s probably the lack of water, I think – and the heat. Nothing too serious.”

  “Nothing serious?” James said on a rather worried tone. “Samira, you do know dehydration can be a death cause, right?”

  Samira nodded. “I do, but-”

  “All right, then,” Thomas said, and lifted the blonde-haired eighteen-year-old from the ground. “Come on. You’re not going to waste any more energy. I’ll carry you.”

  “Thomas,” Samira objected, “this really isn’t necessary-!”

  “It is, Samira,” James decided, siding with Thomas. “End of discussion. I don’t want to hear a single word from you about this.”

  Behind them, James could hear some romantic sighs.

  And a whisper: “He still doesn’t know those two kissed?”

  And the response: “Kissed? That was a complete make-out session, if you’d ask me!”

  James didn’t quite know what that exactly meant, but he was assuming something had happened between Thomas and his sister.

  And he didn’t even mind.

  Timothy appeared next to him, nodding fondly.

  “I see you’re all very fond of each other,” he said. “I admire that. I don’t believe I have ever seen bonds between Guardians as strong as yours are before.”

  James nodded. “In this situation, we have to take care of each other if we want to make it through,” he replied. “We need each other.”

  Timothy gave him an agreeing nod. “That’s the spirit.”

  Thomas looked up at the sky. “It’s almost dawn,” he said. “Are we nearly there yet?”

  Timothy nodded at him. “Yes, we are,” he said. “We can travel a little more through the day to make it through to the end of this Realm completely, so we can rest safely.”

  Behind them, Bella let out an agonized sigh.

  “Can we just slow it down for a bit, then? Please?” she muttered.

  “Bella,” James said, “Samira needs help. Something to drink. And quick.”

  “I know,” Bella said, “but we’ve been walking for hours now! And I thought- maybe a little rest wouldn’t harm anyone...”

  “Don’t worry, Bella,” Timothy said. I promise you we’ll be there within less than two hours, so there’s plenty of time to sleep left when we get there. We don’t need to cross the ravine to the Land of Void straight away.”

  Bella grunted silently. “All right,” she muttered. “Two hours. No more.”

  Most of the remaining travel-time, nothing happened. But then, suddenly...

  “Stop,” a female voice hissed. “Go no further.”

  The gang turned around simultaneously, to stand eye-in-eye with a womanly figure.

  Except for the fact that beside her shape resembling a human, nothing about her actually truly was human.

  Her skin looked like it was made from molten lava. A darker, orange pattern covered some parts. Her glowing skin lit up everything around her in an orange glow.

  Her hair was a pack of real flames, which blazed around hear head. Her eyes were red, with pupils like a cat’s.

  “Go no further,” she repeated. Even her voice sounded like the blazing of flames.

  “Um?” Antonio said. “Who are you to decide whether we can go further or not?” He clearly wasn’t too fond of the Fire Sprite standing in front of him.

  “My young Guardian,” the Sprite hissed, yet not sounding hostile. “My name should matter not to you. But the warning I give you should.”

  Antonio’s expression didn’t change, yet there was the slightest bit of interest in his voice. “And that is?” he said.

  “The Master waits. He has a terrible fate set out for all of you, young Guardians... And at the end of your journey, one of you shall wear his Mark.”

  She turned around slowly, to show a dark mark, which had been scorched onto her back.

  “Beware of this Mark. Wear it too long, and you shall obey his every word. Your will shall be lost.”

  “And then what about you?” Antonio said.

  “I don’t want a young boy to suffer,” the Sprite said, as she turned to face the Guardians again. “H shall lose his every free will to the Master’s Word.”

  James and Thomas shortly exchanged looks with each other. Who was she talking about? Who would wear the Master’s Mark?”

  But the Sprite hadn’t finished speaking just yet.

  “I warn thee, Guardians. Go no further. Go home, somewhere safe. You’ll live longer.”

  She closed her fiery red eyes shortly before speaking again.

  “Yet, if you decide to ignore my warning, and decide to enter the Land of Void anyway, I must advise you one last thing. Tread carefully, Guardians. Make no faulty step, or the Prophecy shall come true.

  Only you can change your own fate.”

  And suddenly, like she’d never even been there, the mysterious Fire Sprite was gone. Vanished into thin air.

  “Freaky,” Antonio said. “Just freaky. It’s getting crazier around here every minute we stay... What does she think we are? Stupid?”

  He flung his arms into the air, while, without even noticing he was, raising his voice.

  “Does she really think we’re just going to sit here and patiently wait for the Master to find us? To hell with her prophecy!”

  Thomas nodded. “Well said, Antonio. We’ll go on, no matter what it takes.”

  “But Thomas, aren’t you worried?” Samira said, between two dry coughs. “That Sprite seemed pretty serious about everything.”

  Thomas shook his head. “It’s probably just another test, Samira. Don’t worry.”

  Timothy nodded. “We shall continue, yet more careful than before,” he said. “Just in case. Does that make you feel better, Samira?”

  “Yes, Timothy,” Samira said, while smiling at the blond nineteen-year-old. “It does. Thank you.”

  And so, despite the Fire Sprite’s warning, the Bond of Light continued on their journey through the Edge. On their way to battle the Master.

  Five weeks ago, they might have been scared off by words like the Sprite’s. But they’d been through worse now; they weren’t scared away that easily anymore. Whatever kind of danger awaited them in the Land of Void, they’d have to face it and go through with it.

  Just because they could.

  At long last, the final kilometre came in sight, and the Bond of Light was as good as safe.

  The final kilometres had consisted of mostly chitchat and tiny arguments between Samira and Thomas.

  Samira kept insisting that she could walk herself, while Thomas refused to put her down.

  The others made jokes about how the two could have been an old married couple, to which the two teenagers both responded rather nervously.

  Of course certain things were funnier to the others than they were to Timothy, since he didn’t know about the situation between Thomas and Samira, but it seemed as if he tried his best to understand the underlying meaning of their jokes – or he just simply laughed along.

  So far, this place really hadn’t been that dangerous, even after all Timothy had
told them about it. As long as they didn’t run and stayed on steady ground, not getting near the lava, everything was fine.

  Or was that part of the test? Was the Master just leaving them be to set up a trap in the Land of Void to have them caught off guard, making them easy to catch? Unprepared and unaware?

  Perhaps. Perhaps that Fire Sprite had been right after all. Perhaps they really were in trouble.

  Nobody of the teenagers had really been thinking about the Fire Sprite’s warning, though.

  Not that they didn’t care, but they didn’t truly trust the Sprite. After all, she served the Master. Hence the mark on her back.

  Perhaps she’d set up a trap for them, hoping they’d get scared and go back – and run straight into it.

  Luckily, they were smarter than that.

  Were they?

  The sun had started to rise, colouring the few visible parts of sky deep red underneath the pack of grey clouds.

  “It looks like a red sky,” Timothy said. “It might be hard to see, but I see some red here and there... That means it might rain soon.”

  “Thank God,” Samira said. The others also let out sighs of relief as well.

  “Finally, at long last, tomorrow shall be kinder... Until we get to the Land of Void, that is,” Antonio said. “Finally some rain.”

  “Not exactly “some” rain,” Timothy said. “When it rains around here, it rains heavily. Short showers, but heavy showers.”

  “Only makes it better,” James said. “We’re sweating waterfalls here.”

  Thomas nodded. “The more rain falls, the cooler we’ll be,” he said, while smirking at James.

  James understood the joke Thomas had made and smirked back. “Pun intended.”

  And Timothy as right. Within a matter of minutes, the first thick drops of cold rain started to fall.

  “Everyone! Take out your water sacks to fill them!” James shouted at the others, which was exactly what they did. The rain was completely clean, so it was completely safe to drink – if the Master didn’t have the power to do something to it, that is.

  The sacs filled themselves quicker than the teenagers could drink. Never they had felt so thankful for a fresh shower.

  “Finally,” Samira cheered, while she wiped the wet strands of hair out of her face. “I felt like I was about to lose it!”

  While continuing to enjoy the rainfall, the teenagers ran over the freshly-set islands which used to be lava before the rainfall toward the end of the Realm, where a couple of small grasses started to grow from the ground.

  “It has become obviously cooler here,” Bella said, while her hair lay flat on her head; since she turned fifteen she usually straightened it, but with the given circumstances, it had started to frizz and get curly again ever since they arrived in Lunaria.

  “I’d say that this is the perfect moment to catch some sleep,” Timothy said. “This shower should be over shortly.”

  And, of course, indeed it was. As soon as the rain had stopped falling, the teenagers sought a safe spot in the grass and fell asleep underneath their capes.

  It wasn’t completely safe to just fall asleep like that, but the six teenagers were so tired, that they fell asleep without even thinking about it.