The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum

by Wendy Saunders

  He smiled slowly, his voice low and soothing.

  ‘I was once known as the greatest benefactor of humanity. I, who tricked Zeus into accepting the bones and fat of the bulls brought for sacrifices, leaving the true meat to sustain mankind. I, who stole away to Mount Olympus and took back fire so that the mortals could flourish. I was worshipped for my beneficence. Even when Zeus cursed me to die in agony every day only to be reborn every night just so that I could perish again the next day, I never regretted anything I had done for the mortals. Even when Zeus tired of watching me being mutilated every day and cast me down into the deepest pit of Tartarus, I still did not regret my actions and do you want to know why?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Everything I have done was for one reason and one alone.’

  ‘What was it?’ she asked in confusion.

  ‘To bring you into being.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The world has waited for you to be born for so long,’ he told her. ‘I tricked Zeus into allowing the mortals meat so they would flourish, because I knew one day you would come from them.’

  ‘No,’ she shook her head.

  ‘The fire I stole from Zeus was not for the mortals. They already knew the secret of Earth fire, they knew how to prepare their food and warm themselves. What use would they have for something they already held the secret of?’

  ‘The fire you stole from Mount Olympus…’ Olivia breathed in understanding, ‘it was not just any fire.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t. It was the fire of the Gods, ancient and full of magic.’

  ‘Hellfire.’

  ‘I stole into Zeus and Hera’s palace to the great fireplace in their bed chamber. In the hearth burned the fire of the Gods, in all its many colors. I took one single flame of each color, one of the deepest ocean blue, one as silver as the most precious metal, one as red as the finest wine, one as purple as the heavens as the sun begins its descent and one as green as the endless grassy fields of Elysium. I took these flames and twisted them together, fashioning a single flame of the five ancient fires.’

  ‘What happened?’ she whispered entranced.

  ‘I crept away under the cover of night and fled to the mortal world. There I found a young girl sleeping in her bed, so young, so sweet, with pale skin and dark tresses, barely more than a child. I came to her in a dream. I gave her the flame and told her to keep it safe, knowing that when she woke with the dawn she would have no memory of our conversation, nor any memory of the flame that lived inside her, lying dormant…waiting.’

  ‘Why her?’ Olivia was almost afraid to ask…afraid that she already knew the answer.

  ‘Because I knew one day a child would come from her bloodline, a woman by the name of Althethea.’ His white eyes locked on Olivia’s, ‘you know of whom I speak.’

  She did know. As Bridget had explained, Althethea was the mother of Carrigan, the first of the West women, and she was her direct descendant.’

  ‘The little girl you gave the flame to…’

  ‘You are of her blood. The fire has awoken and you are the one destined to wield it.’

  ‘But why?’ her eyes widened in disbelief, ‘why me?’

  ‘Because it was always you, granddaughter,’ he looked at her, his expression tender and filled with affection. ‘You will shake the very worlds to their foundations.’

  ‘No,’ she shook her head in denial.

  ‘You know it is true,’ he told her softly, ‘it all begins with you.’

  ‘What begins?’

  ‘The dawn of a new era, everything will change and you will rise, a living banner, and the whole universe will tremble.’

  Olivia stared at him, not trusting herself to speak. Not even knowing what to say. The fear and pressure was almost overwhelming. She had never dealt well with being told what to do and now she was being told… what exactly? That she was supposed to start some sort of revolution? It was insane, all she wanted to do was go home and crawl under the covers and maybe sleep for the next month or possibly three. She didn’t want to be given this kind of responsibility, it was too much.

  She didn’t trust herself, she’d felt the edges of the power she’d summoned and she knew how easy it would be to allow herself to become lost to it. She was pretty sure there was a good reason the ancient fires were the domain of Gods and not mortals.

  ‘Why do you fear the darkness granddaughter?’ Prometheus asked curiously, as if he could sense her thoughts.

  ‘Because it is too easy to lose yourself to it.’

  ‘Child, do you not yet understand?’ he asked with a puzzled expression. ‘There is no such thing as darkness, only an absence of light and you…you are a living flame.’

  ‘I can’t,’ she whispered. ‘I just want to go home…’

  Prometheus’ eyes suddenly widened and he hissed violently as he twisted to look out across the barren wasteland behind him. A bright red flash lit the darkness and the ground began to tremble, accompanied by an earsplitting roar of anger.

  ‘Cronus!’ Prometheus growled.

  Despite the anger and hate twisting his features he lowered Olivia carefully to the ground and deposited her next to Sam and Theo.

  ‘Protect her with your last breath,’ he commanded them before straightening to his full gigantic height.

  ‘ATLAS! OCEANUS!’ He bellowed with an almighty roar.

  The face of the stark black cliff next to them began to crack and shake, before sheering away. Olivia and the others stumbled back to stop themselves from being showered with falling rocks and debris, watching wide eyed as the colossal chunk of detached rock unfolded and straightened until he stood as tall as Prometheus.

  ‘Atlas!’ Prometheus turned to his brother, ‘Cronus approaches, we must stop him.’

  ‘CRONUS!’ Atlas growled in disgust, his voice rough and gravelly as he turned to face the approaching sooty glow.

  Olivia turned in puzzlement as she heard the unmistakable boom and hiss of a giant wave. She clutched on tighter to Theo and took an involuntary step back at the sound of violent rushing water. She drew in a startled gasp as a huge wave rounded the edge of the cliff face and crested over the rocks. Like water released from a broken dam it rushed and churned towards them ominously. The three of them stumbled back, knowing there was nowhere for them to hide, no way they could outrun that violent wall of water. But as it reached them it faltered and tumbled into a ball, before unfolding until it reached the height of the other Titans. Like a huge transformer, Olivia thought randomly.

  Before them stood an awe-inspiring Titan who held the shape of a giant man. But rather than flesh and blood he was composed entirely of rushing churning sea water, which seemed to be in perpetual motion, giving the appearance of rippling transparent skin.

  A huge boom shook the rocky ground beneath their feet, causing them to stumble and hold on to each other for balance. Looking up to the dark skies, now lit with a deep sooty red glow, Olivia drew in a sharp breath. A gigantic man stood, taller even than Prometheus and his brothers, his flesh a blackened charred crust, and beneath the splits and tears burning hot lava churned and rippled. When he opened his mouth wide and bellowed it was like being caught in front of a giant furnace. Even from a distance Olivia could feel the blast of heat, which scorched her cheeks and made her skin feel dry and tight.

  ‘CRONUS!’ Prometheus roared.

  Cronus paid him no heed, his mouth opened again letting loose a bellowing screech. His wild red eyes fixed on Olivia and suddenly she felt the compass burn hot against her skin. She took an involuntary step backwards. He knew, somehow he knew she had the compass.

  Cronus stalked towards them, the ground trembling and heaving with each titanic step, completely unconcerned with the Titans gathered in front of him, shielding them.

  ‘OCEANUS! TAKE THEM TO SAFETY!’ Prometheus growled as he headed towards Cronus, breaking into a run.

  Cronus, seeing the giant stone man heading to
wards him, halted his advance and braced himself. His hands outstretched into claws and his lips peeled back into a snarl. For just a second time seemed to slow and then the whole world shook as the two Titans collided. The shock wave knocked Olivia, Theo and Sam to the ground, and when they looked up in stunned awe they could see the two Giants were locked together. As Prometheus grasped Cronus by the arms and spun him into the cliff face, the whole rocky side collapsed inwards leaving a gigantic indentation. Rocks and dust rained down and the ground heaved. Cronus straightened himself and charged Prometheus, tossing him to the ground as he brought his fist down dead center of his chest. A huge depression appeared in Prometheus’ torso, with deep cracks spreading outwards like a spider’s web. Atlas roared in fury and tackled Cronus, driving him to the debris strewn floor before he could bring his fist back down to Prometheus again.

  Having seen enough Oceanus turned back to the mortals, scooping all three of them up in one hand and placing them on his shoulder. He took three long strides, his enormous legs eating up the distance, before he collapsed to his knees. His legs below the knees turned to rushing water. He rolled forwards fluidly, his shape disintegrating into a huge wave that flooded across the terrain like a Tsunami. The God-like shape disappeared entirely and Theo, Olivia and Sam suddenly found themselves being swept along, immersed in the frothing violent torrent of water. They could do nothing but hold onto each other desperately, trying not to get separated and riding the flood as if it were white water rapids. They swept along, too fast to even focus on their surroundings or note the direction they took.

  The water broke violently over their heads time and time again, as they clutched onto each other for dear life, taking huge gasps of air whenever the massive churning rolls of water would allow their heads to break the surface. Then suddenly, without warning, they found themselves washed up on a rough gravelly surface of black sand. They sprawled out, soaked to the skin, chests heaving as they tried to fill their lungs with much needed air.

  Olivia pushed herself shakily to her knees and looked up. The vast wash of churning waves had reared up into a writhing wall of water directly in front of them. The water rippled and frothed and a face appeared composed of water itself.

  ‘Daughter of Fire,’ his voice burbled wetly, ‘remember this day.’ His aqua eyes held hers and hers alone, ‘remember who your allies are…NOW RUN!’

  He turned in a huge rush of water and washed away in the same direction he had come.

  ‘Come on,’ she pulled herself to her feet turning towards Sam and Theo. ‘We have to go; I don’t know how long they can hold Cronus.’

  Theo rolled to his feet and stumbled towards Sam who was still lying on the harsh black sand breathing heavily, his face pale.

  ‘Sam!’ Olivia dropped to his side, ‘what is it?’

  ‘I don’t know. When I translocated myself and Theo, it took more out of me than it should have.’

  ‘It’s the Underworld,’ Olivia told him, ‘it’s poisoning you. You shouldn’t be here.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You know?’ she frowned, ‘then why? We could have found a way to get you out of here, another gateway or you could’ve used the gateway into our world. Why come down here with us if you knew you were going to get sick or worse.’

  ‘Because you’re my friends and friends don’t let each other down,’ he breathed heavily. ‘Sometimes you just have to do what you feel is right and damn the consequences.’

  ‘I wonder who he learned that from,’ Theo replied dryly casting a glance at Olivia.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Sam tried to lift himself up weakly. ‘I’m fine, go…I’ll catch up.’

  ‘No way,’ Theo leaned down and heaved him to his feet, wrapping his arm around his neck for support. ‘It’s all of us or none of us.’

  ‘Theo’s right,’ Olivia took Sam’s other arm and wrapped it around her neck, ‘there’s no way we’re leaving you.’

  He nodded weakly as they set off, moving as quickly as they could with Sam leaning heavily against them.

  ‘Do you even know where we’re heading,’ Theo asked after a moment.

  ‘I don’t have a clue,’ Olivia shook her head, ‘just as far away from the Titans as we can get.’

  They set off again but Sam was beginning to tire and gradually their pace slowed.

  ‘We can’t keep running,’ Theo stopped after they’d travelled a little further, ‘we’re not going to get far.’

  ‘Shit’ Olivia swore, looking around, ‘there’s nothing here but barren wasteland. There’s nowhere to even hide,’ she replied desperately.

  Pulling the compass from her collar she flicked it open.

  ‘If you are ever going to work, now would be the time’ she breathed, as she stared down at the dials and hands.

  Nothing.

  She growled angrily, shaking the compass as if that would make it work. Glaring down at it in disgust she hissed at it. ‘God damn it; would you just work…’

  The needle twitched.

  ‘Son of a bitch…’ she frowned, wondering if she’d just lost it under the stress and imagined that small hopeful movement.

  ‘Move,’ she breathed quietly and the needle twitched again, this time spinning in a small circle.

  There was no way she’d imagined that. She closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.

  ‘It cannot be that simple…’ she muttered opening her eyes again and looking down at the innocent looking object. ‘I am such an idiot.’

  ‘What is it?’ Theo asked taking Sam’s full weight from her.

  Olivia looked up as the ground shook, a great angry bellow split the still air which was suddenly filled with an acrid burning stench and a sooty red glow.

  ‘No time to explain,’ she turned to Theo and took his hand. ‘Sam hold onto Theo and no matter what happens do not let go!’

  They looked across to see a huge figure behind them, glowing ominously in the darkness.

  Clutching Theo’s hand desperately she raised the compass to her lips.

  ‘Take me to the Crossroad…’

  Her soft whisper caught on the air like a sigh. Suddenly the compass began to warm in her hand, the golden metal glowed brightly as all the dials and hands began spinning. There was a strange kind of ticking sound and the darkness around them began to shift and swirl. It was the same strange dizzying feeling she’d had as a child, when she’d held her arms out and spun around and around really fast until dizzy with delight she’d collapsed to the ground in helpless laughter. She didn’t collapse to the ground this time, but the world did spin and spin around them while her stomach swooped and lurched, filled with sick and terrifying excitement.

  Abruptly it began to slow and she swayed on her feet, slightly unbalanced as she tried to regain her equilibrium. The first thing she noticed was that it was no longer dark. She glanced up into the sky which was ablaze with great swirls of purple and pink, as if she were witnessing a sunset. Heavy storm clouds drifted across the skies, punctuated every so often by a micro spike of lightning. The air felt heavy with expectation but also dry and charged with static electricity.

  Her gaze dropped from the sky to where the three of them were standing. They were in some sort of passageway, only there was no roof and she could still glance up to the sky. They seemed trapped between two walls made up of large heavy sandstone blocks, which stretched up several meters in height. There were no doors or exits but the passageway stretched in either direction for miles. Frowning in confusion, she noticed a few meters from them heavy vines climbing the wall to the top. She wandered towards them, with Theo helping Sam along behind her.

  ‘Is this the Crossroad?’ Theo asked dubiously.

  ‘I don’t know’ she frowned, stopping in front of the thick toughened vines, ‘we need a better vantage point.’ She tugged the vines a couple of times experimentally, before starting to climb.

  ‘Stay here,’ Theo told Sam as he dropped him down
to the dusty stone ground and propped him against the wall. ‘We’ll be right back.’

  Sam nodded slowly, he still looked weak but some color was starting to return to his face and his breathing wasn’t quite so harsh and labored.

  Theo climbed quietly up behind her. By the time he had reached the top she was already standing on the top edge of the wall. He pulled himself up beside her.

  ‘I thought you had a problem with heights?’

  ‘It isn’t that high,’ she looked down to where Sam sat tiredly, ‘besides, before you wanted me to jump the Void. That’s completely different.’

  She turned back to the view in front of her, her gut churning in a mixture of awe and frustration. Laid out below them, stretching out endlessly, was a giant circular maze of sandy colored walls.

  ‘It’s a labyrinth,’ she breathed turning to Theo who was looking out in confusion. ‘I’m guessing a David Bowie reference would be equally lost on you.’

  ‘Who?’

  She shook her head and sighed, ‘you know if we ever get home, we are going to snuggle in bed for a month and have a movie marathon.’

  He took her hand comfortingly and squeezed, smiling down at her. ‘Sounds good to me.’

  She turned back to the labyrinth laid out in front of them, her eyes narrowing as she studied something in the distance. ‘There…’ she pointed to the center of the labyrinth.

  Theo squinted slightly as he looked in the direction she indicated.

  ‘What is that?’

  ‘It’s the Crossroad,’ she murmured, ‘that’s Epsilon.’

  ‘You mean we have to find our way through this giant puzzle to get to the Crossroad?’

  ‘Maybe…’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she mumbled absently her attention fixed somewhere on the twisting stone passageways.

  The sky churned and lit above them with the oppressive heaviness of an approaching storm. She had a strange sort of feeling, a kind of prickling of the skin, not enough to make her feel cold but more like an awareness. Something pulled at her, tugging deep inside, something familiar. Everything in her yearned towards it filling her with helpless love and bone deep sorrow. The kind of deeply scored pain that only one person had ever made her feel. A lump began to form at the back of her throat, burning painfully as she tried to swallow past it. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her hands gripped tightly into fists, forgetting she was holding Theo’s hand as her nails dug into his skin.