Guardian: Darkness Rising

by Melanie Houtman

  The last touch required was Marco’s, who took the book on his lap to inspect it more closely. ”What if there’s some kind of invisible ink on this page, or maybe something else?”

  But Marco never got the chance to find out if there were any secrets. As soon as his hand made contact with the page, the black, inked letters glowed bright white, sending an energy blast around the room powerful enough to knock everyone back against the wall.

  Ian and Theo, who’d just walked back into the room, were sent flying into the hallway, slamming against their parents’ bedroom with a loud thud.

  And the only reason James didn’t wake up from the loud thuds that were heard just outside his room, was because something – or someone – kept him asleep. While Anna rushed outside to see what was going on, James was having an important conversation with an old friend.

  *

  “James? James. I need to speak with you.”

  James found himself in a familiar place, except for the fact that the last time he’d been there, the place had been broken into ruins. The Castle of the Spirits.

  “Akilah?” James said. “What’s the matter?”

  They hadn’t spoken for twenty-five years, and the only reason was because Lunaria had been at peace for all that time. The fact that Akilah contacted James now, through the small piece of Lunaria’s Light he carried inside his soul, meant that something bad had happened. Or was about to happen. Or both.

  Either way, it involved James and his friends and family in some sort of way – why else would Akilah contact James?

  “I am sorry for contacting you this sudden, after never having done so for twenty-five years,” Akilah said. Her face looked serious and in peril. “But we require your assistance once again, Guardian. The Master will rise again, and without your help, we won’t be able to stop him from taking over Lunaria again.”

  “What do you mean, ‘he will rise again’?” James said confusedly. “I thought Sabrina killed him!”

  “She released his soul from his mortal body, yes,” Akilah said. Her eyes were closed. “We secured his body in a safe environment. But if his wretched spirit somehow regains access to it... we’re all lost.”

  James looked at Akilah with unbelieving eyes. He didn’t know what to say. The Spirits of Light, who were known to be almighty, were requiring his assistance? What about his friends? What was he going to tell them?

  James was certain his friends were just as reluctant to return to Lunaria as he was.

  But, if Akilah and the other Spirits truly needed them... then that meant they’d have to go back.

  One last time.

  “With what do you exactly require our assistance?” James said. “Can’t you just burn the body, so you’ll know for sure that the Master won’t be able to repossess it?”

  Akilah glared at James; he knew the Spirits had probably already tried something similar. But apparently, it hadn’t worked. “His body is protected by a powerful spell,” Akilah said. “Only a Spirit is able to destroy another Spirit. Whether a demi-spirit or not.”

  James rubbed his chin; he hadn’t noticed he was wearing his Guardian’s attire until then. “So... that’s where we come in, huh?” he said. As expected, Akilah nodded at him.

  “Yes,” she said, sounding slightly disappointed and angry, “but it’s not just you and your friends this time. Someone has released the Book’s magic, James.”

  James’s eyes widened. He instantly knew who was responsible for releasing Lunaria’s magic; his sons were in big trouble when he woke up. But, because he was also worried for their safety, he asked Akilah, “What will happen to them?”

  Akilah briefly closed her eyes. “They will join you on your quest to save Lunaria,” she said. “And... I believe you know the young teenagers that released the magic, don’t you, James?”

  James closed his eyes and scratched his neck. This was something he couldn’t deny. “...Yes. They’re my sons.”

  Akilah shook her head. “I don’t believe it’s just your sons,” Akilah said. “There were five hands required to release the magic. There were two girls and three boys, James. Your friends’ children will be involved in this too, I am afraid.”

  James stared at Akilah; his mouth was open, and he couldn’t bother to close it. “...Can’t you protect them?” he said slowly. “Like – can’t you grand them clemency? They’re just kids!”

  “I’m sorry, James,” Akilah said. “I can’t. They released Lunarian Magic, and now they will have to fight for their freedom, just like you and your friends once had to. I can’t change anything about that.”

  James bit his lip. “Alright then...” he said. “How much time have we got?”

  “Twenty-four hours,” Akilah said. “You have twenty-four hours until the magic brings you to Lunaria.” She paused and nodded. “Good luck, James. Until we meet again.”

  James bowed down in front of Akilah. “Until we meet again, Akilah,” he said – the last thing he could say before waking up.

  *

  When James opened his eyes, he instantly heard the tantrum going on in the other room. Of course Anna had found the teenagers messing with the book, and she wasn’t very happy about it.

  James quickly made his way to his sons’ bedroom, and found Anna scolding the seven teenagers – Emma and Mia were wise enough to stay out of this one. Ian and Theo were pleading innocent, but obviously, their mother didn’t believe them. Her main target appeared to be Luke, however.

  “Your father put that book away for a reason! We don’t want you to get hurt, Lucas!” Anna scolded her son, who was sitting on the bed in front of her.

  The guilt in Luke’s eyes was clearly visible – he didn’t know the full story behind the book, of course – but it didn’t matter anymore now anyway. The magic had been released, and they were in this together. Whether they wanted to or not. “I’m sorry, Mum. I didn’t know.”

  James, however, didn’t react as angrily as his wife had. When he walked into the room, instead of scolding Luke, James stood in front of his son, and grabbed his shoulders.

  “Luke,” he said, “I’m sorry. We should’ve told you about the book, and the mysteries around it. I thought I was doing the right thing by not telling you, but...” he sighed. “Maybe telling you would’ve been a better idea.”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Luke said. “We were being little pricks for getting the book from your study, anyway. Aside – if it hadn’t been for that ‘explosion’ just now -” he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers as he said the word – “we probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

  James nodded at Luke, and then looked at his wife.

  “...I think I still don’t believe you, honestly,” Luke mumbled quietly, but James wasn’t listening.

  .“We’re going back to Lunaria,” he said. “Akilah needs our assistance.”

  “You’re going back?” Anna said, her voice filled with surprise and worry. “What about the kids? Samira? Your friends?”

  “I’ll have to discuss it with them today,” James said slowly, while thinking out loud. “I’m not happy with it either. But Akilah believes the Master is at large, and we’ve got to help the Spirits to destroy him once and for all.”

  “Alright then,” Anna said, “but... please bring the news to them with care,” she said. “It’s still dangerous there, especially if the Master is hiding somewhere. He’s probably out for revenge.”

  “...Dad?” Luke said. “What are you talking about?”

  There were similar looks coming from the others. No one knew about Lunaria, so no one knew what Anna and James were talking about, either.

  James and Anna exchanged worried and insecure looks, before James finally decided to tell the five teenagers in front of them what they’d got themselves into.

  “Well... this might sound weird,” James said, “but twenty-five years ago, my friends and I were taken to a magical world because we read that same book as you.”

  Looks were exchanged o
n the teenagers’ side. Were they believing James’s story, or were they thinking he was crazy? The book had blasted them against the wall, after all. Not sure how they’d explain that other than ‘magic’.

  “We defeated the evil forces that controlled that world,” James said, “although don’t ask me how we did it, because I still don’t know. But... that evil force is back, and we’ve got to fix it.”

  “What about us?” Felicity said, nervously running her fingers through her dark blonde hair.

  “Yeah,” Tony said, rubbing the puffy skin underneath his eyes. “Do we need to come along, or are we safe? I mean – we did touch the book...”

  James swallowed loudly. “About that,” he said. “Yes. You will have to come along with us. But... we’re your parents, so you don’t have to worry. We’ll keep you safe.”

  He gave the teenagers an encouraging smile. “Now, go to sleep you guys. We’ll discuss this tomorrow – if Akilah is right, then we’ll be in Lunaria within twenty-four hours.”

  James and Anna left the teenagers alone; as soon as they were gone, Luke looked at his friends. “You don’t believe this, right, guys?” he said.

  “Why not?” Tony said. “It seemed all quite real.” Luke responded with a dismayed snort.

  “Magic?” he said, flailing his arms around. “ ‘My friends and I were taken to a magical world because we read a stupid book and we defeated an evil force without knowing what we were doing’.” He mocked the sound of his father’s voice, adding a nasal quality to it. “I mean – come on! Dad’s just messing with us because we found the book, and he’s pissed about it. He probably installed something inside the book because he knew we’d get to it.”

  “If I were you, I’d wait and see before making any assumptions,” Theo told his brother. “I mean – both Mum and Dad seemed very upset. I don’t think this is fake, dude.”

  Luke grunted. “You two don’t have anything to do with it,” he said, pointing at his two brothers. “You didn’t ‘touch the book’.”

  The two boys exchanged a shrug. “Do we?” Ian said.

  “I don’t know,” Marco said. “We’ll just have to wait and see...”

  “We’ll just have to go to sleep, you mean,” Luke said, clearly starting to get tired of the conversation as he crawled across his bed, reaching for his pillow. “This will all blow over tomorrow.”

  “I hope you’re right...” Daisy mumbled, as the other teens found their sleeping bags and beds to go to sleep. “I really do.”

  *

  The next day, James organised a meeting with his friends at his sister’s house.

  This was a serious matter requiring discussion, and better within twelve hours. And, since Daisy was involved with the matter, James had decided to invite Lucy, too. She wouldn’t be coming along to Lunaria, as she had no connection to Lunaria, but she did deserve the right to know where her youngest daughter would be taken. James had advised her to bring her husband Aton along too, but that was up to the two of them to decide.

  James had made sure to bring the book to explain the situation.

  As the group of adults sat down in the living room and James put the book on the coffee table, surprised gasps came from his friends.

  “What’s this about, James?” Bella said. “Did something happen to the book?”

  “Well...” James scratched his neck. How was he going to bring this carefully? “Yes. They released Lunaria’s magic upon themselves, and now they’ll be joining us on our journey to Lunaria.” He looked at his friends; as much as they’d changed over the thirty years the five adults had known each other, one thing that had never changed, were their expressions.

  There was Samira, James’s sister, curvy and short, her hair short and blonde, her blue eyes questioning. Thomas, her husband, still had a British accent, but now also strong shoulders. His hair was the same brown mess as always. Antonio was still the broad-shouldered, muscular blond guy he’d always been, his green eyes peering unbelievingly from behind his glasses. And then there was Bella, who had hardly changed; her body was petite, her eyes blue, and her hair dark. Lucy, despite being his cousin, somewhat resembled James; her red hair was up in a messy ponytail, and her dark blue eyes were worried.

  “Wait,” Samira said, while leaning forward toward her brother, as if she couldn’t believe her ears – which was probably true, “What? We’re going back to Lunaria?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Thomas said, scratching his brown beard. “There’s no reason for us to go back there. The Master’s dead, the light is back, the Spirits rule again. We can’t do anything more than that.”

  James leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. “So thought I,” he said. “But it turns out that there’s a chance the Master might come back if he repossesses his body. The Spirits require our assistance to prevent that from happening.”

  “Alright, point taken,” Thomas said. “There is more we can do. But how are we supposed to help with that? We hardly managed to defeat him! If it hadn’t been for Sabrina, we would’ve been toast!”

  “That’s true,” Antonio said. He’d been disinterestedly cleaning his glasses the whole time, as if he didn’t care that he was going to have to put his life on the line once again. “But we’re twenty-five years older now. We’re not a bunch of stupid kids anymore.”

  “You’re turning forty-five in February,” Bella said smugly. “I don’t know who’s got more strength and agility, a nineteen-year-old or a forty-five-year-old, but I’d say the nineteen-year-old does have some advantage there...”

  Antonio responded with a grunt. “Just shut up, Bella,” he said. “I know I’m not what I used to be, but I can still be at least as strong as I used to be. For a while, at least...” His voice quickly died out to a grumpy grumbling sound.

  James leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Guys,” James said, “you know the drill. Just go to sleep tonight, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Lucy ran a confused hand through her long, dark red hair. “And you’re sure there’s no way out of this?” she said. “You’re absolutely sure that you guys and your kids will have to go back there, for - who knows how long?”

  James rolled his eyes, yet it wasn’t a roll of annoyance. He was acknowledging his displeasure with the fact that there was no way out. “Trust me, if there would’ve been a way out of this, I wouldn’t have called in this meeting in the first place,” he said tiredly. “There’s absolutely no way out. Believe me, I checked with Akilah. More than once.”

  Antonio fell backward into the chair he was sitting on, grabbing his head with both his hands. “Wow, man,” he sighed. “Just - wow.”

  “And our kids know about all of this already?” Thomas said; confusion reflected in his grey eyes. “How – how did this happen? How – and why – and what did you tell them?”

  “I told them carefully, without trying to scare them,” James summed up the answers to Thomas’s questions, “I told them because the book had gently thrown them against a wall after they’d touched it, and I told them about our adventure and the consequences that come with touching that book.” He grinned. “So... nothing out of the ordinary, I’d say.”

  “And... how did they respond?” Samira said worriedly. “Did they take it well?”

  “They did go a bit pale, I believe,” James said. “But they’ll probably be fine; I told them we’d be staying with them all the time and would protect them at all costs. Something which I believe is our duty as parents, am I right?”

  The others nodded agreeing. It was their duty. And a duty they’d die for to fulfil, although they hoped heavily that it’d never have to go that far.

  “I’d suggest we spend some time preparing them a bit for what’s to come by allowing them to read the book,” Lucy suggested. “That way, you guys have some time for yourselves to get your memories of Lunaria all together. There might be something you remember from your last visit that will bring an advantage for you.”

  “Lucy, yo
u’re brilliant!” James said, as he sat down on his knees and bent over the coffee table to draw his friends closer. “We can base a strategy on things that went well – things we should repeat – and things that went wrong and which we should avoid repeating at all costs.

  This visit will be different and probably more dangerous – or not, who knows – than our previous visit, but if we take another look at our past victories and failures, we can learn from those.”

  The others agreed with him; while there’d been plenty of plans that had worked, many had failed. If they could remember what happened when their plans failed, they could work around that to make them work – hopefully.

  It wasn’t a foolproof system, but it sure was a good and useful system. James shortly left to return the book to the teenagers and explain to them what they had to do, before returning to his own crew and discussing strategies.

  This war wasn’t over yet. It’d only just begun – twenty-five years ago.

  *

  When Antonio drove home later that afternoon, he felt nervous. And not because of the grim future that lay ahead of him and his friends, but because he had to tell his ex-wife about it.

  He hadn’t spoken to her in three years, and she probably didn’t have any interest in doing so now, but Antonio believed that Louise had the right to know what was going on.

  As he pulled up in his ex’s driveway, Antonio nearly had second thoughts, but as he began to back out of the driveway, the front door opened, and Louise appeared in the opening; her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her ex-husband’s car.

  “Antonio?” Louise asked, trying hard to sound friendly as Antonio got out of his car. “What are you doing here?”

  “There’s... a situation,” Antonio said, wearing a serious expression on his face. “We need to talk.”

  Louise, although clearly reluctant to do so, told her husband to come inside.

  “Does this have anything to do with Mari?” Louise said. “If not, then I’m afraid I’m not interested.

  “It’s not about Mari, but it is about your family,” Antonio said. “Well – your former family. Me.”