The Master didn’t have to tell Thomas twice. He dove forward, intending to attack the Master, but was caught off-guard the loud CLANG of metal against metal. James had intervened.
“James-!” Thomas shouted, wrinkling his nose. “You’re only proving my point. Your master is a coward for using you as a shield!”
The Master laughed, and pushed James aside; this happened with such a force that the sword James was holding got flung out of his hands. The man himself ended up beside it, missing the blade’s sharp edge by a centimetre.
“It’s just you and me, then,” Thomas growled at the Master.
But the Master had other plans.
The Master aimed his staff at Thomas, just as he was lashing out at the Master again. A burst of red light shot out of the staff’s orb, freezing both Thomas and his blade just before impact.
“Oops,” the Master said. “And now I’m only proving my point. Your weapons. You. Nothing can hurt or defeat me, because you can’t even come close enough to do so much as touch me.” He flashed a dangerous grin. “But what happens when I touch you, Bennett?”
The Master took a step forward, and touched Thomas’s hands, which were still holding the sword floating in mid-air. As soon as the Master touched them, they turned to stone – and so did the rest of Thomas.
The Guardians made protesting sounds – Antonio even had to pull Samira back into place – but the Master paid them no mind. Instead, he turned to face James. “Get up,” he commanded. “Go do what I told you to.”
James quickly got up, grabbed his sword, bowed at the Master and dissolved into the shadows of the night. He was gone.
“Well, that’s that,” the Master said. “As for me... Before I leave and see to it that James is performing the task I gave him correctly, I must do something.”
The Master followed the lines of Thomas’s stone shoulders with his fingertips. “Remember what I said, twenty-five years ago? That I’d keep the lot of you as stone trophies?”
He flashed a grin. “That’s exactly what I’m about to do now.”
One pound on the ground with his staff was enough. Samira, Bella, and Antonio turned to stone within moments. “I can’t have the lot of you stand in my way again.”
The six teenagers that remained, were shocked. What were they supposed to do?
“Let that be a lesson,” the Master taunted the teenagers. “Don’t stand in my way. This is not a game for children.”
The Master then disappeared, and so did the four Guardians’ statues.
Luke disagreed with the Master. This was certainly their game – because they weren’t children. The game was on, and Luke and his friends were ready to play.
II
The Game
The Flight
The Bond of Light had to flee the Land of Light as fast as possible. The quicker they’d be gone, the bigger their chance to get to the Silver Valley unharmed would be.
As soon as the teenagers caught up with the three remaining Spirits and told them what had happened, the Spirits promised they’d guide the Guardians to the border of the Land of Light without leaving their side.
“Just one question,” Felicity said after a while. “Why didn’t we just go back and perform the Ritual? We could’ve done it easily.”
“When are you kids going to listen?” Aharnish said, slightly irritated. “You lot haven’t had any kind of training or experience, and your parents are missing – which leaves us without anyone who can perform the Ritual.”
“I disagree,” Luke said. “We could’ve done it. The five – or six – of us.”
“No,” Aine said. “Aharnish is right; you couldn’t have. The five of you might be the new Generation, but you only have a quarter of your parents’ magic.”
“So you’re telling us the book needs to... recharge magic?” Tony said, chuckling silently at how stupid that actually sounded.
Aharnish shrugged. “Its energy drains,” he said. “Listen. We’re new to this too. We’ve never had two generations within the same century.”
“We understand,” Marco nodded. Aharnish smiled.
“We just have to figure out what the deal is with you lot, I guess.”
“The ‘deal’?” Tony said. “What do you mean?”
“The ‘deal’ is whether you’ve got magical abilities or not,” Aoife said, before her brother could say anything. “We still haven’t had any opportunity to test that.”
“We had plenty of opportunity,” Luke said. “But no one thought of it until now. And now we don’t have time.”
“...Exactly,” Aharnish said, while scratching the back of his neck. “That’s another way you can put it, I guess.”
“My sister and I can help you with your training,” Violina said, “but in order to do that, we’ll have to get there first. Safely.
“And...”
“And what?” Felicity said.
“My sister and I haven’t spoken in a while,” Violina said. “I believe I mentioned it earlier – she’s fallen under a spell. I had to flee the kingdom.”
Daisy placed a hand on Violina’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said, “we’ll help you lift that curse. No matter what.”
Violina looked at her and chuckled. “You’ll have to,” she said with a teasing smile. “We’re going to need my sister’s help if we want Mari’s condition to better again.”
“Speaking of Mari,” Daisy said, “how are you?”
“Fine, I guess,” Mari mumbled. She was leaning on Luke’s shoulder as they walked – after all, her father was no longer there to carry her. Her face was pale, contrasting greatly with the dark, black veins that peeked from the sides of her face. “I’m just feeling a little – dizzy. But I’ll manage.”
“How are we going to get to the Silver Valley, actually?” Luke said, giving Mari a worried glance. “I don’t see her walking all the way.”
“We don’t have to,” Violina said; they’d arrived at the bridge near the Land of Light’s border. Violina clapped her hands, causing a small whistle to appear; as she blew it, no sound seemed to come out.
“What was the point in that, exactly?” Daisy said. Violina raised her hand, indicating that she had to be quiet.
“Just watch.”
And they didn’t have to wait long; they had been standing there hardly two minutes when suddenly, four silver shapes appeared in the sky.
“Glimmer!” Violina said proudly. And it was indeed the silver dragon, now all grown-up (for as ‘grown up’ a dragon can become, at least).
...Which meant that she was now nearly twice as big as she had always been before.
She had brought along three other dragons that looked similfar to her – they were probably her new family.
“There’s our ride,” Violina said, as she walked forward to pet Glimmer. “Don’t worry. They know exactly where to take us.”
“I hope so,” Marco said, obviously unsure of whether riding a dragon would be a good idea or not – despite the fact that the idea of doing so did quite intrigue him.
“Don’t worry, Marco,” Aharnish said, “these dragons can be trusted. Aine, Aoife and I will go on to the barrier by foot – I suggest the lot of you fly to the top of the mountain and solve things out from there – heading straight to the Silver Valley might be dangerous.”
Luke nodded. “Got it.”
Obviously, the teenagers had their doubt about getting on these dragon’s backs. However, after considering that one of the dragons had helped their parents (and thus didn’t eat any of them), getting on seemed to become easier.
At last, everyone had found seat on either of the four dragons’ backs, and they were ready to take off.
“Alright, Glimmer,” Violina said, “just follow me; I’ll lead the way.” She’d hardly even finished her sentence before launching off into the night sky – despite the fact that it was impossible to tell it was night-time due to the dark clouds hanging overhead.
*
“My Lo
rd, I would like to apologise for my failure earlier.”
James had returned to the Master’s castle and reported that he had succeeded in placing the curse. The Master didn’t appear to mind the fact that the redhead had let the Guardians initially slip through his fingers too much, however, which seemed to mildly surprise his servant.
“It was merely a case of bad luck,” the Master said slowly. “Very unfortunate, indeed.”
“What are you thinking about, My Lord?” James said as he got up from his kneeling position. “You sound as if you’re up to something.”
“I am, James,” the Master said. “Indeed, I am. You’re a clever man.”
James didn’t make a remark regarding that compliment – probably because he wasn’t sure whether it was truly heartfelt or not -, but made a suggestion instead.
“Would you like me to go after them, My Lord?”
The Master raised his hand. “No,” he said. “Leave them. They’re only children. Just let them go and do their... business.
“I can deal with them myself later. Without anyone but the Fixie girl to guide them, they’ll be an easy prey.”
James refused to take ‘no’ for an answer; at least, not without at least some kind of explanation. “But why won’t you let me take care of them, My Lord?” he said, trying to pry information from his master. “Are you afraid I will fail you again?”
The Master responded sounding genuinely surprised. “Oh, no, it’s no such thing,” he assured James. “I would just like to keep you here, where you’re... at your best.”
James tilted his head, and decided to react on that last comment this time. “At my best, My Lord?” he repeated questioningly.
The Master looked at his servant for a short moment, as if he was puzzled by the fact that his authority was being questioned – as if he didn’t know how to respond.
“Your powers are the strongest in my presence, James,” the Master said. “That’s why you can’t leave this realm.”
James had no need of knowing the truth. Obviously, if James were to leave the Land of ‘Light’, he’d end up in a balanced Realm – at least, for now – and that’d mean the energy in his soul would become balanced, too. And the Master didn’t want James to go running back to his friends just yet.
James would be able to go and destroy them soon enough, though – the Master just needed to find a way to keep him dark. Otherwise, James would be of no use.
But the Master had already thought of a way to keep James under his control. He just needed to test his method on the guinea pig he’d chosen; if this curse would work on Mari, it would do the same for James. All it would take was getting Mari cursed and watching the effects unfold – and then, it’d be James’s turn.
Of course, the Master was willing to use the curse on James if he failed to reach Mari – but those matters were of later concern.
*
As they flew over the realm that had once been known as the Edge, it was clear to see how the Light had changed the realm. The cracks had closed, forming one solid landscape that consisted of grassy and flowery hills.
“Just look at this,” Mari said to Luke, pointing at the sea of green below them; she heard him let out an awestruck gasp.
“Wow,” Luke said. “Amazing.”
The sight was utterly breathtaking. The lava streams and dangerous geysers had made way for a seemingly endless patch of green and flowers.
Luke and Mari looked at each other; this was exactly what they had to protect. They couldn’t let the Master ruin all of this again.
“Before this place became the Edge, we called it Louloudia,” Violina, who had suddenly appeared and was now flying beside Luke and Mari, said. “It... means ‘Flowers’ in Earth’s Greek language.” She smiled as she looked at the sea of flowers below her. A sea indeed.
“It’s beautiful,” Daisy said. She was sitting behind Luke and Mari, and had been studying the colourful realm down below as well. “I didn’t know there was a place like this in any universe.”
“Aren’t you happy you know now, then?” Violina smiled.
As soon as they reached the mountains, the dragons landed on a plateau near the top of the mountain. The dragons were too big to be able to land in the forest, which had its borders directly at the foot of the mountain, and therefore, the Guardians had to continue without them.
“Actually, it’s a good idea to go on afoot,” Marco said, as he jumped off the dragon he’d been riding. “This way, we can secure the safety of our group as a whole. It’s easier to disappear when you’re afoot than when you’re flying a six metre-tall reptile.”
“It might not be the best idea,” Luke offered, scratching his neck, but not getting off the dragon he was sitting on, “but it’s our best chance. Which means we have no choice but to take it.”
The hesitation was obvious, and so were the reasons why. But Marco was right: just for this once, going afoot would be a safer solution than risking airborne assault.
After all, the dragons were much larger targets, and therefore, they were easier to hit.
And so, eventually, after some more arguing, the Bond of Light, accompanied by Violina, began to climb the mountain.
By the time they’d reached the top, the sun was rising, and heavy snow had started to fall.
The Bond of Light had to hurry: it had never been their intention to go the rest of the way afoot – quite the opposite, actually – but their current situation had forced them to do so. Mari needed help, and the most efficient way to get her to the Valley was by simply creating a diversion.
Glimmer and her family would go flying over the forest, hopefully tricking James and the Master into thinking that that was where the Bond of Light was headed.
Without the Spirits’ aid, there was nothing much more they could do.
Luke regularly checked behind him to see if his friends were still there, silently thanking the Heavens whenever he saw that they were still keeping up. He made sure that Mari remained close by his side at all times, however.
Meanwhile, Mari wondered how long it’d take before James would find them. After all, it wasn’t quite difficult to realise that the dragons weren’t carrying anyone; James would probably be quick to figure it out.
And it turned out that Mari wasn’t wrong. It didn’t take long before the already chilly air got that familiar, extra unsettling touch, and the white flakes that were falling from the sky turned pitch black.
James was approaching.
Luke could feel his heartbeat rising as the dark creatures rose from the dark snow, and started to swirl around the group of four. James, however, remained nowhere to be seen.
Not knowing what to expect, Luke and his friends agreed to stay still, as the Stalkers silently circled around them and black snow proceeded to fall. And yet, James still didn’t show.
Growing impatient, Luke decided it was safe enough to attack the Stalkers. His friends instinctively did the same, reaching out for their weapons, save Mari, since she was the only one without a weapon – she decided to make work of that as soon as she and her friends would reach the Silver Valley.
Violina rose into the sky ready to attack.
As Luke pulled his sword from its scabbard, he decided to try and intimidate the Stalkers as much as he could. “We are the Bond of Light,” he stated, loudly and clearly. “We will not be intimidated by you.”
One of the more humanoid shadows floating near Luke came closer. Its red eyes were glowing brightly, and its voice was a low, distorted growl.
“We were summoned to do one thing, Guardian,” the Stalker growled. “And that, frankly, we weren’t summoned to intimidate you.” If the Stalker had a mouth, it would’ve grinned broadly. “We were summoned to finish you.”
“GUYS, NOW!” Luke yelped. But the Stalkers, already knowing they were about to be attacked, beat the Guardians to it.
They dissolved into smoke and dove to the ground, where they slithered underneath the teenagers’ feet like dark
snakes. Luke ordered his friends to run, but the Stalkers were too quick.
In a matter of seconds, an entire patch of snow twice as big as the ground the teenagers covered fell apart and began sliding down the mountain, causing an avalanche to occur that knocked the Guardians off their feet. Luke tried to call out for his friends, and he could hear them do the same, all while trying to stay afloat – but soon, the world went white – and then pitch black.
The snow took them along on its path of destruction, until it finally came to a stop half-way down the mountain.
It was dark and cold underneath the snow. After a while, Luke could hear his friends shout his name above ground. Luke managed to respond only by digging away just enough snow to be able to stick his hand above the thick, white layer; luckily, his friends were quick to get a hold of him, and had freed him from the cold, white prison within minutes.
“Thanks, guys,” Luke shivered, rubbing his arms trying to warm up. He then proceeded to look around; someone of their team was missing. “But – where’s Felicity?”
“The avalanche separated us,” Marco said gravely, “and further away than we’d expected. We – we can’t find her.
“Honestly, I thought we were lucky to have found you. Violina managed to dig up the four of us-” he pointed at Mari, Daisy and Tony, who looked exhausted- “but she couldn’t find you. And now, we can’t find Felicity.”
“Then for God’s sake, start digging!” Luke yelled. “We can’t let her die down there!”
Luke didn’t have to tell his friends twice. They started digging around; they might’ve been lucky not to have been buried too deep, but perhaps Felicity wasn’t that lucky.
Tony was crying. Daisy’s breath was loud and shaky. Everyone was calling out Felicity’s name – this couldn’t be the end for her.
The moment the Bond of Light left the Land of Light, Luke had set one goal; complete their mission and make it back together.
No one would be left behind, and Luke would make sure of that.
Eventually, someone found Felicity. She hadn’t been buried deeply, but the reason her friends hadn’t been able to find her was that she’d been rendered unconscious; Felicity had hit her head on a rock.
Guardian: Darkness Rising Page 10