The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon

by Matthew Burkey

  Gabriel shook his head, he always wanted to make a difference but he was pretty sure that they got the wrong person. Gabriel wasn’t a fighter, although he would admit that the thought of kicking bad guy ass was pretty appealing.

  “Wait a minute,” Gabriel asked. “You said that both Phoenix and Lion were the warriors, why have two warrior clans?”

  “A long time ago those in clan Phoenix could harness the elements of fire and lighting in battle the trade-off being that they weren’t as powerful as some of elemental spells that the mages could cast,” Ryan spoke, prodding the fire with a stick. “But over time that ability seemed to disappear, as tradition we haven’t combined the clans.”

  “Is there any member of Phoenix alive that can do that?”

  “A few,” Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders. “But most of them are retired or spend their lives in seclusion.”

  “So?” Tony asked.

  “Um…can I think about it?” Gabriel asked, although he had a feeling that he already knew the answer to that question.

  “I hate to say it like this, but not really,” Ryan said. “We had to do it so that you would live but as soon as you underwent the Rite you became one of us.”

  “So, I don’t really have a choice?” Gabriel asked.

  “Considering the rather unique circumstances, if you really wanted out we might be able to persuade the council to let you go on living a normal life,” Tony interjected, ignoring the rather annoyed look that he got from Ryan. “We could even mind wipe you now that they are pretty sure you didn’t suffer any brain damage or anything.”

  “Brain damage? Mind wipe?” Gabriel asked.

  “Mind wiping is a spell that we use repress someone’s memories,” Ryan explained. “The downside is that it can cause brain damage in people that were already severely injured, like you were before we got you all healed up.”

  “Sounds dangerous,” Gabriel grunted.

  “Think about it,” Ryan said. Gabriel turned to look at Ryan, finding those dark brown orbs staring right into his; again he felt an oddly calming effect. “You’re a good person, you know what’s right and what’s wrong and you stand up for what you believe in.”

  “I have no idea where you got that impression,” Gabriel sighed.

  “We’ve seen you at school,” Cody smiled, poking at the fire with a stick. “We know that you dislike seeing others treated poorly and we know that it kills you that you can’t fight back.”

  “Still, you’re talking about facing down demons…” Gabriel started.

  “And vampires, werewolves…”

  “Mages,” Cody interrupted Tony. “And terrorists, the occasional cult.”

  “Zombies,” Tony tossed in.

  “Right,” Gabriel nodded, scarcely believing that he was talking about all this like it was completely normal.

  “The decision is yours,” Ryan shrugged. “But think about it man.”

  About an hour later, Ryan dropped Gabriel off back at his house. Gabriel’s parents seemed surprised and relieved; not because the spell had faded but because he came home with a friend. Gabriel’s mother could hardly stop hovering over him; no doubt Gabriel would face an endless barrage of questions after Ryan left.

  Gabriel promised to think about it and let them know, although Ryan knew that he was already hooked. As someone that had been pushed around the past year or so he knew that he wouldn’t pass up the chance to do something to protect others. He also had to remind him, more than once, that no one else would be able to see the tattoo except Guardians.

  Ryan returned back to his parent’s house and grabbed a bottle of water before heading out to the back patio, also equipped with a fire pit. Someone had already started a fire and as he approached he could make out the figure of Ethan sitting on a bench, warming his hands near the fire.

  “Bored at your house?” Ryan asked.

  “Mom was having a bad day and dad was being a jerk,” Ethan responded.

  “So you want to crash here?”

  “Sure, I mean your parents did give me a bedroom already.”

  Well, that part was true. Ethan spent so much time at Ryan’s house that he was practically a member of their family. His parents had long ago converted one of the spare bedrooms to a room for Ethan, who had just as many clothes here than he did at home. Actually, Ethan probably had more clothes here than he did at home.

  Ryan never asked much about Ethan’s home life. Both his parents had been Guardians once but had retired, much earlier than usual. Rumors had persisted for years that they had been involved in something and that was the reason that the council had asked Ethan’s parents to step down. Ethan never talked about it and no one ever asked.

  “How did he take it?”

  “About as you would expect,” Ryan shrugged.

  “That good, huh?”

  Ryan smiled. “Well, he didn’t faint anything. He seemed to take everything in stride, although he questioned why we wanted him.”

  “We didn’t really want him,” Ethan pointed out.

  Ryan sighed heavily. “Well, it was our fault that he got hurt.”

  “Still, we could have mind wiped him…”

  “You don’t like him do you?” Ryan asked.

  “I don’t dislike him,” Ethan shrugged. “But he’s not one of us, he doesn’t belong here. He doesn’t even know any martial arts.”

  “And you came out of the womb a master with every weapon you picked up?” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow. “He can learn, Ethan.”

  Ethan shrugged again, turning his attention back to the fire.

  “He’s a good guy and I think that with the right push he can do great things.”

  “And you think you are the one to push him?” Ethan asked.

  “I think I can try,” Ryan nodded. “Don’t you remember when you actually saw the good in everyone?”

  Ethan made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “You know what the kids at school say about him, right?”

  “Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Last I checked you couldn’t care less about who dated who.”

  “I don’t care,” Ethan shrugged. “But some of the other guys might not be ok with it.”

  “And who are you talking about,” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow. “No one cares; it’s the twenty first century.”

  Again, Ethan shrugged. “I just hope that you know what you got yourself into.”

  “He’s going to surprise you,” Ryan smiled. “Did Jonathan say anything else?”

  “No,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “But he’s been pretty distracted about the whole Saint-Pierre thing, hell the whole council has been pretty distracted by the whole Saint-Pierre thing. He and Aadesh are still in Paris I think.”

  “Did they make any progress on figuring out how he got his hands on those things or how they managed to put that wound in Gabriel’s soul?”

  “No,” Ethan said, shaking his head again. “But as soon as they know something they’ll let us know and then maybe we can bring him in without wounding any civilians.”

  “You didn’t invite me?”

  Ethan and Ryan turned around to see Elise walk out onto the patio. There was something about her that instantly caught Ryan and Ethan’s attention. Elise was striking no matter what she was wearing something that didn’t go unnoticed by those around her. She smiled warmly, taking a seat and warming herself near the fire. Most of the Guardians in the area lived in Elmwood, Ryan’s parents’ house just happened to be the largest, which was why they usually always gathered there.

  “I don’t think that I ever anyone over anymore, everyone just kinda shows up,” Ryan shrugged.

  “Touché,” Elise smiled. “What were you boys talking about?”

  “Nothing much…”

  “How Gabriel is going to save us all,” Ethan smiled.

  “Stop being a jerk,” Elise retorted.

  There were very few people that would speak their mind to Ethan and like Ryan; Elise was one of those people. Ryan suspect
ed that it might have something to do with the fact that Ethan and Elise shared a very intense romantic relationship not all that long ago. No one was sure why the two of them broke up; once again it wasn’t something that Ethan wanted to talk about.

  He shook his head, realizing that he was getting dangerously close to violating the bro code by even thinking about how attractive Elise was.

  “Not being a jerk,” Ethan responded. “Just restating what you said.”

  “You said he was going to save us all?” Elise asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Ryan protested. “I said that I think he could do great things, that there is more to him than anyone sees…we’ve just got to bring it out of him.”

  “Sounds ambitious,” Elise admitted. “Ethan might be right about this…wow, I forgot how much I hate saying that.”

  “Oh but I love how you say it,” Ethan said, a sly grin crossing his face.

  “Shut up,” that came from both Ryan and Elise.

  “At any rate,” Ethan said, pulling his cellphone from his pocket and looking at it. “I need to get going, apparently Everett says there are some hotties downtown screaming my name.”

  “Whatever,” Elise responded rolling her eyes.

  “This is on you,” Ethan said, looking at Ryan. “Glad you claimed him for Lionheart.”

  “Remind me what I saw in him again?” Elise asked, as she watched Ethan go.

  “Killer abs, a great smile, charming personality, and a cute butt,” Ryan offered.

  “Oh really?” Elise asked.

  “Hey, I’m perfectly comfortable in my sexuality and I’ll admit that, yeah he is hot.”

  “He’s also arrogant, rude, cynical…”

  “And yet you dated him for what, almost a year?” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “He does have good abs…and a cute butt. God, I now you’re right…do you have any idea how much I hate saying that?”

  Ryan shrugged.

  “So, were you really saying that?”

  “Saying what?”

  “That you think that there is more to him than meets the eye.”

  “I think there is more to everyone than meets the eye,” Ryan shrugged. “He’s stronger than anyone knows…probably even stronger than even he knows.”

  “But he’s not a Guardian,” Elise protested.

  “Everyone keeps fixating on that,” Ryan growled. “Did you want me to just let him die?”

  “Of course not!” Elise said, annoyance creeping into her voice. “I would never wish anyone dead, especially not like that but Ethan might have a point, what if he can’t do it.”

  “How do we choose Guardians?” Ryan asked, looking intently at the fire.

  “What do you mean?” Elise asked.

  “Think about it,” Ryan encouraged. “Just because my father or mother was a Guardian, that doesn’t mean that I will be, right?”

  “Right.” Elise nodded.

  “So, how do we choose Guardians? We choose them based on their character, on their spirit, on what they are willing to do for their fellow man. I’m telling you Gabriel has that, I know it.”

  Elise seemed to consider that for a moment. “And if you are wrong?”

  “Guess we’ll find out,” Ryan grunted.

  “How is he doing?” Elise asked.

  “Confused, about like normal I suppose, I have to remember how weird it has to sound for someone to hear that things that they thought weren’t real were actually very real.”

  Elise nodded. “I’m going to trust your judgment on this.”

  “At least someone does.”

  “Hey,” Elise said, standing and brushing the side of his face with her hand. “We all trust you, don’t forget that, ok?”

  Ryan nodded. With her standing so close he could smell her perfume, a combination of vanilla and honey, sweet but not overpowering. He tried his best not to stare directly into the firelight dancing in her dark eyes and was only partially successful.

  “Besides,” Elise continued, gently patting his face. “I’d love to see Ethan taken down a peg or two.”

  She winked at him before heading back into the house.

  Gabriel was happy that things finally calmed down at home. His parents were both completely taken aback when Ryan brought him home, which seemed to only strengthen the story that Ryan had told him. The facts were still spinning around in his head when he went upstairs and flopped down on his bed.

  Was this real?

  Gabriel walked to his bathroom and stripped off his shirt, examining not only his wound but the glowing tattoo as well. He shook his head, this all seemed to extraordinary. He put on clean shirt and then started to pace about his room, tapping the screen on his phone. He could hear the TV downstairs and could imagine that his parents were going over the events of the past few days…well their version of the last few days.

  He wasn’t sure how he got into this mess…well, no that wasn’t true. He was sure, although he couldn’t really blame Tim for dragging him to the concert. Before he could continue that train of thought there was a knock at the door, he stopped and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

  “Come in.”

  The door opened and Sean poked his head in. Gabriel had to resist the urge to run to his little brother and wrap him in a big hug. As far as Sean was concerned they had been together for the last thirty six hours. He had no idea that Gabriel had been worried sick about his safety mere hours ago. Ryan had given him the rundown of the story that had been ‘suggested’ via magic to his parents and Sean and Tim.

  “Dude, you should’ve seen the amount of girls that were all over me and Tim last night!”

  “I didn’t?” Gabriel asked.

  “Um…no,” Sean said, as his eyebrows drew together. “You spent the whole night sulking on the bench near the fire and when we came to get you to go back to Tim’s house, you said you were going to go stay at some guy’s house… someone from your school, I think that you said his name was Ryan.”

  “Oh right.”

  Not that it surprised Gabriel, both Tim and his brother were dynamite with the ladies, Tim even more so. He imagined that it was the same with Ethan.

  “You alright?” Sean asked, flopping down on Gabriel’s bed.

  “Fine,” Gabriel responded. “So, you had girls all over you? What about Kelly?”

  Sean rolled his eyes. “We broke up a few hours ago, I wasn’t mature enough for her or something but Tim got a number from some wicked cute blonde. I think that she said she had a friend.”

  “Wow, only broken up a few hours and already you’re looking for a new girl, you must be really upset about that,” Gabriel chuckled.

  “Dude, I’m a 14 year old boy I can get over stuff pretty fast,” Sean shrugged. “And I think that we both know that Kelly wasn’t exactly my soul mate.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Gabriel, I haven’t seen this Ryan dude, so I can’t tell you if he is hot or not.”

  That actually brought a rather disgusted look from Gabriel. It wasn’t that Ryan wasn’t attractive, he was, but the way that Ryan treated him at his house was more…brotherly than anything. The very thought of anything happening physically between the two of them sort of made his skin crawl. He really couldn’t explain it.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Gabriel sighed.

  “Oh, so this guy isn’t a possible romantic interest?”

  “Damnnit Sean, it not like I want to jump every guy that I see.”

  “Alright, alright,” Sean said, holding his hands to ward off what he thought was an incoming tirade. “So, what did you want to ask me?”

  “If you had the chance to do something to make a difference, even if it might be dangerous, would you do it? Do you think that doing good is worth putting your life on the line?”

  “You mean like joining the Marines or something?” Sean asked.

  “Something like that,” Gabriel nodded.

  “Are you planning on doing somet
hing stupid that I need to talk you out of?”

  “No,” Gabriel snapped, the reply coming out harsher than he intended. Ever since the incident last year, every member of his family tended to get a little overprotective of him, Sean more so than anyone else.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes,” Gabriel hissed. “Now answer the question.”

  “Depends on what kind of good you are talking about doing,” Sean shrugged. “I think I recall a famous quote that might help out ‘the only way to for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing’…or something like that.”

  “Going all philosophical on me?”

  “Just repeating something I heard,” Sean said, grabbing a magazine off Gabriel’s desk and starting to flip through it. “But yeah man, I think if you can do something good in the world then you sort of have too.”

  Gabriel nodded. Sean would have no idea exactly what it was that Gabriel was talking about; he could have been talking about a bake sale for all Sean knew but he did have a point. Gabriel has been handed a great chance here to do something…to actually fight evil in the world and not just the metaphorical kind.

  “I know what you did the other day at school,” Sean said, turning far more serious than his younger brother usually did. “Tim’s cousin goes to your school and he told me about how you stood up for that kid.”

  “It was nothing,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “No one at that school has stood up for you and you go out of your way to stand up for someone else. He also said that Ryan guy is pretty popular and not entirely a total jerk.”

  “He’s actually pretty cool,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “I’m glad,” Sean said. “You deserve some cool people in your life.”

  Gabriel smiled at that comment.

  “I’m off to bed, see ya in the morning.”

  “Night.”

  Gabriel watched Sean go, his thoughts drifting back to everything that Ryan had said. Maybe he was right, maybe this was a chance to do something more. He took a deep breath before fishing the cell phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through his contacts, finally locating Ryan’s name. He hesitated for only a brief second before pushing the dial button.

  “Yo,” Ryan answered.

  “I’m in,” Gabriel answered.