Guardian: Darkness Rising

by Melanie Houtman

  Perhaps she’d just been too afraid to actually show her authority to the people it would’ve mattered most to: her own siblings.

  Akilah had only one hope left: the hope that she’d be able to make it right. Right here, right now. The only thing she knew for sure was that she’d have to be the one to do it.

  “Asura,” Akilah said, rising up to the Master’s level, above the dragon’s safety. “Please, give me a chance to speak to you.”

  The Master didn’t respond; he narrowed his eyes at his sister. “Go on.”

  “Thank you,” Akilah said thankfully. “Asura, listen. I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am.” She shook her head, not sure how to continue. “We... we created you to fulfil a purpose we were simply too afraid to. And it was wrong. But – we were happy to have you. We never wanted to hurt you. Honestly, we underestimated how difficult your task was and the effects it had on you.

  “We should’ve taken it on ourselves. Controlling the dark and the negative, I mean. If we would’ve shared the burden, no one would’ve been harmed.”

  Something changed in the Master’s posture, although his position remained hostile. Still, he didn’t attack Akilah or tell her to stop talking.

  He just simply stared at her, as if he was about to smile. And perhaps, deep inside his heart, he wanted to. Maybe he did want things to go back to normal, to what everything had once been like.

  But it was too late.

  “No,” the Master said. “As much as I appreciate your apologies, they’re meaningless now.

  In fact, I believe this apology is about two hundred millennia late.”

  The Master raised his arm, summoning his dragon behind him. “Kill her,” he said, all emotion absent from his voice. “Kill them all.”

  Memory

  The Guardians were on their way to the Light Castle. In order to save Lunaria, they had to the Ritual and restore the light to the realms. If necessary, the Guardians could deal with the Master after completing the Ritual.

  To the adults, the Ritual was a more or less familiar event, but the teenagers clearly needed some preparation. Both mentally and physically.

  Although they were in a hurry, the Guardians stopped running after they’d left the Dark Castle; ironically, the two castles were set fairly close together.

  Perhaps they already knew something was up. Something just simply didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t just the darkness in the Land of Void.

  “Hey, Dad?” Mari said; she and her father were walking behind the group. Mari wanted to talk to her father in private. “Thank you for saving me earlier.”

  “That wasn’t just me, Mari,” Antonio said, putting an arm around his daughter’s shoulder. “Luke helped with that. He had the powder.”

  “Yes, but you were the one keeping me in one place,” Mari said. “Thanks to you, Luke was able to sprinkle it on me. Otherwise, I still would’ve been running all over the place, not stopping until you were all dead.” She laughed at how morbid that sounded. “I’m glad none of that happened, though.”

  Antonio pulled his daughter closer, teasingly ruffling his daughter’s hair. “As if we’d ever allow it to,” he said.

  Mari smiled at her father. “I’m sorry for leaving, Dad,” she said. “I never should’ve listened to that voice in my head – I believe it was the Master all along.”

  The corner of Antonio’s mouth jerked. “Well, I guess that that’s my fault somewhere, too,” he said, suddenly lowering the volume of his voice. “When you were little, I kind of... broke a strict rule the Spirits had imposed on us before we left Lunaria.”

  Mari gave her father a confused look. “What do you mean, Dad?” she asked.

  “Well...” Antonio said, chuckling nervously. “My friends and I were chosen to protect Lunaria because we’d read a book. And as soon as we’d saved Lunaria, Akilah warned us to never read our touch the book again.” He paused to look at his daughter. “I broke that rule long before your friends did.”

  “You... read that book to me,” Mari guessed; Antonio nodded.

  “That’s exactly what I did. And... I’m thinking that maybe that’s why the Master found you.”

  “Don’t sweat it, Dad,” Mari assured her father. “I don’t think something small and innocent like that matters by now.” She nervously moved her hands about as she spoke. Her father seemed to disagree with her statement, though.

  “It might not matter to the others,” he explained, “but it does to me.” He looked at the sky for a moment; the moon was peeking through the thick layers of clouds, shining a faint light on the Land of Void. “It feels as if I shoved you way from your mother and me.” He let out a faint chuckle. “I was young, and dumb enough to be convinced that the book wouldn’t have that much of an impact on our lives anymore. But I was wrong.”

  Antonio let out a sigh of defeat as Mari looked at him; she smiled. “We’ve all made mistakes, Dad,” she said. “And this is our chance to make them right.” She stared into the distance as she continued to speak. “When we get back home, I’d like to live with you and Mum. Maybe go to college... if I can manage leading a normal life again.”

  Antonio held his daughter close as they caught up with the group. “Of course you can,” he said. “We’d be more than glad to have you back, Mari.

  “However, there is one condition.”

  Mari gave her father a confused look; Antonio looked back, a mischievous twinkle shining in his dark green eyes.

  “When we get back, you’ll tell me all about the adventures you had out there – and the reason why we couldn’t find you,” Antonio said. Mari chuckled.

  “Alright, then,” she said, “but after that, we leave the past behind, okay?

  “I think it’s about time we stopped looking back and started looking forward. I’ve been looking back since the day I left.”

  “Then what stopped you from going in the direction you were looking at?” Antonio asked.

  “Time doesn’t go backwards, Dad.”

  *

  Antonio and Mari weren’t the only ones who were ready to leave the past behind. The Spirits were, too.

  Aside from the dragons, their fight had evolved to elemental magic. Some powers were limited to the Spirits (such as Aoife’s nature-centred magic; she had to revive the plants on the ground below if she wanted to manipulate them), but they made do with what they had.

  The battle seemed endless: the Spirits and the opposing demi-spirit were perfectly matched to each other.

  The six opponents dodged each other’s attacks quickly and agilely. Neither of the two parties was willing to give up. But eventually, Akilah started to notice something. The Master’s body was starting to tire.

  Akilah, knowing she could take advantage of the Master’s exhaustion, said, “There’s no need to fight anymore if you are tired, Asura.

  “I know you are. Not just physically, but mentally also. And I understand.”

  The Master stared at his sister for a short moment; the fight had been halted once again. “I’m not tired,” he stated decisively, “and I won’t be defeated.”

  He raised his hand again, intending to attack, resulting in the same happening on the other side. But Akilah stopped all five of her siblings in their tracks. This wouldn’t end the same way as their final fight had just over a thousand years ago.

  “No, Asura,” Akilah said calmly, “you misunderstood what I meant.

  “I know how you feel. The human body we trapped you in... It’s a prison to you.”

  “Wasn’t that what you intended it to be?” the Master sneered. “A prison, a punishment? You wanted me to be dependent of a vessel.”

  Akilah turned to face her four siblings. There was no denying the facts their brother had just stated. He was right.

  “We... made a mistake, Asura,” Aharnish admitted, obviously ashamed. “We treated you unfairly.”

  Asura’s eyes narrowed. “Glad you finally manned up and realised your mistake.”
<
br />   “But we can help you,” Aoife said hopefully. “Please, Asura. If you’re ready to let everything go, we can help you – free you from your prison and your pain,”

  Obviously, the Master didn’t believe her. “You’re lying,” he said, quickly raising his voice. “Once again, this is just a trick for you to be able to fix your mistake! Covering up the error of your ways!” To everyone’s surprise – even the Master’s own surprise – tears began to stream down the Master’s cheeks. “You have no idea what it’s like to live like this!

  “All I ever wanted was to be loved and respected, and to be one of you!”

  The Master stopped yelling. “But you never gave me the chance,” he said silently. His face quickly grew cold and expressionless.

  “And you never will.”

  The Master looked at his hands; in his heart, he knew that it was over. The Guardians were close to beating him a second time, and it was about time he gave up. He was tired.

  Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, the Master reluctantly said, “Just do it, Akilah.

  “Set me free.”

  It took Akilah a few moments to understand what he meant. “Are you sure?” she asked. “We won’t be able to bring you back once you’ve moved on.” She paused. “I mean – we can restore you to the Spirit you once were-” The Master cut her off.

  “I don’t want to come back, Akilah,” he said. “Too much has happened for me to ever become who I was again.

  “And you know who the cause to that is.”

  Akilah nodded. And for a moment, for the first time in centuries, Akilah recognized her little brother. “Very well.”

  She gestured at her siblings to join her; the five of them surrounded the Master.

  “Asura,” Akilah said, “in the name of the light, and on behalf of the Spirits that guard it, I hereby release you from your prison. You have served your time; it is time for you to move on and be free, like you always wanted to be.”

  The five Spirits all moved as one, combining their powers together. The Master screamed in pain; his body began to disintegrate as soon as the Spirits’ magic made contact with it.

  But as the Master’s body died, so did his soul. And while the Master’s body faded into shadows, the Master’s soul was represented by golden sparks. They floated around the Spirits, as if to say goodbye before disappearing.

  “We did it,” Akilah said, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “He finally made peace and moved on.”

  Akilah hoped with all her heart and soul that her brother was finally happy; she regretted the way she’d treated him for all those years, but knew that her brother would now finally find happiness.

  Akilah wiped her tears and replaced them with a smile instead. “Come,” she told her siblings, “the Guardians might need our help.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Ince said quietly. “We’re finally going to be free.”

  “And this time, we’ll be doing it the right way,” Aharnish added. “No one will ever have to carry the burden that Asura did, because we will be carrying it together.”

  Akilah smiled at that comment. Indeed, they’d do it together. On Asura’s behalf.

  Weapon of Mass Destruction

  James was fighting. Fighting the effects of the darkness that was slowly taking over his heart and mind again. The impending amnesia that slowly sucked away his memories bit by bit, the sudden urge to kill, everything.

  But there was one good thing, making matters slightly less difficult; there was no one left to control James. If he was strong enough, perhaps he could retain his memories, and repress the darkness.

  He tried. And... perhaps he’d succeeded, even. The veins were there again and his eyes were red, but this time, it was different.

  James remembered something. Hardly enough to go by, but at least it was something. James remembered his son. He had to get to his son, as he’d promised. James had to see Luke, just so he could be sure that he was alright.

  And thus, James turned around and ran toward the Land of Light.

  *

  The Guardians had reached the Castle of Light. This is where matters got serious. The adults had to prepare their children for the Ritual, as they adults would probably not be able to do it themselves.

  The Spirits appeared to assist the Guardians in their final moments of preparation, also bringing the news that the Master had disappeared.

  Both Generations were nervous; the adults were nervous because they knew what would happen during the Ritual, and the teenagers because they didn’t.

  But the most nervous of the bunch was probably Luke. He didn’t have anyone to help him prepare, no one to tell him what would happen. James wasn’t there to do it.

  The only thing his aunt and uncle could tell him, was that the Ritual had nearly killed James – although Luke was more or less ‘glad’ to learn that whatever had happened to his father had been due to severe injuries and the Ritual combined, and thus there wasn’t much of a risk of death for Luke.

  ...If he did it right, at least. And that was probably the scary part; the teenagers didn’t know how to do it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, because there were no indications or specific instructions as to how they had to do it. They just had to.

  “So... you’re really going to have to do this, huh?” Mari said; she and Luke had retreated to the back of the Ritual chamber. They just simply wanted to talk among two friends.

  “Yeah,” Luke replied silently, not exactly sure what to say. “They told us what to do – just simply stand there and say a stupid riddle, and then everything handles itself, I guess.”

  “That really doesn’t sound all that difficult. Why is everyone so worked up about it?”

  Luke let out his breath. “Because it went wrong last time our parents performed the Ritual,” he said. “But that shouldn’t happen this time... since the Master is gone and all.”

  “I wonder if he’s really dead,” Mari pondered. “Or if he’s still some kind of ghost.”

  “Probably not,” Luke said, “if he told the Spirits to kill him... that man must’ve lead a really messed-up life.”

  “As if we haven’t,” Mari chuckled. Luke chuckled too.

  “Yeah.” He looked at Mari. “Hey... can I ask you something?”

  Mari looked back at Luke, raising her eyebrows. “Sure,” she said. “Ask away, Luke.”

  “Where were you for all those years? Before you came to Lunaria?” Luke asked, getting straight to the point. “I never found you. No one ever did.

  “It was as if you had vanished.”

  Mari fiddled with her glove nervously, trying to find out how far the fingers would stretch. “I’ve been in many places, Luke. I-” She suddenly stopped. “New York is a big city, Luke. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “And nearly all the policemen in New York were looking for you, Mari,” Luke demanded. “You were gone for four years. Your dad never stopped looking for you.”

  “I thought about coming back many times, you know,” Mari defended herself. “I thought that I could maybe stay on your attic for a while.”

  Both Mari and Luke chuckled at the thought of Mari hiding on the attic of Luke’s house.

  “Dad probably would’ve found you within a matter of hours,” Luke said with a smile.

  “Exactly,” Mari agreed. “And then, I would’ve been sent back home to my parents. That... wasn’t what I wanted.

  “At least... not yet.”

  “But then where did you go?” Luke asked, his curiosity sparking. “You obviously didn’t stay in the neighbourhood.”

  “No, indeed, I didn’t,” Mari aid. She swiped her left foot across the marble floor nervously. “I ended up going to the Bronx. There was this vacant apartment I lived in with other runaways.” She turned her head away from Luke.

  “I did a lot of things I wasn’t proud of, Lucas. And I’m still not proud of the things I’ve done. I guess that’s why I never came back.”

  “So you shoplifted to get f
ood and lived your life as a squatter?” Luke guessed. “Eh. You could’ve done worse, Mari. Just be glad you didn’t kill anyone.

  “Did you ever get caught stealing?”

  “No,” Mari said, slightly annoyed, “but I’m still not proud of the fact that I did it. I felt like I was disappointing my parents with every step that I took – just waiting for a change that would never come.” She let out a sigh of defeat. “I failed my mission, Luke.”

  “You didn’t to me,” Luke said. Mari turned her head, looking at her friend with a confused look in her eyes.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well...” Luke said, not sure how to continue, his eyes shifting between Mari’s green and blue eye. “You did prove your point, Mari. You survived on your own, and... you proved that there was more out there.” He gestured at the room they were sitting in.

  “I...” he mumbled. “There were times I regretted not accepting your offer to come with you, Mari.

  “I went after you, Mari. More times than I can count. Sometimes, I’d be gone for days – searching all over the city for the slightest trace of you.”

  “I bet your parents didn’t like that,” Mari said. Luke laughed.

  “No, they sure didn’t,” he said. “But they understood. Your dad left the neighbourhood about a year after you left, believing he’d be able to track you down. He guessed you’d left New York.”

  “Well, he was wrong.” Mari sighed. “One of the first lessons I learned while I was out on my own, was ‘Don’t look back, and never regret’,” she said. “And I think you should learn how to do that too, Luke.”

  Luke looked at her, his eyes betraying his confusion. “What do you mean, Mari?” he asked. Mari smiled mischievously.

  “Stop regretting your past choices, Luke,” she said, “and be more cautious with your future ones. I will do the same.

  “I am here now, and I’m never leaving you again.”

  “I’ll stick you to that,” Luke said. “Looks like we’re going to be following each other from now on.”

  “Don’t become a stalker, Lucas,” Mari warned him. Both of them laughed.