Guardian: Darkness Rising (17 page)

The Spirits caught up with the
Guardians by the time they’d reached the foot of the mountain.
Akilah felt bad about having to bring such bad news – especially
after seeing how happy Luke had been hen he found out his father
was safe.

In fact, Luke was the first to
notice the two shadow Spirits hiding between the trees, beckoning
them to come closer; the redhead seemed excited to see them. Of
course he was.

And it seemed as if the others were, too.
Akilah cringed at the thought of their disappointment when they’d
find out the truth.

“
Akilah!” Luke said as he
approached the shadow, almost bouncing up and down with
anticipation. “Where’s my dad? Is he safe? Is he
alright?”

Luke looked around as his friends joined him,
and as James remained nowhere to be seen, Luke’s smile dropped
almost instantly.

“
...He’s not here, is he?” Luke
sighed. “The Master got to him again.”

“
I’m sorry, James,” Akilah said.
“We’d found him just in time, and he almost got away – but the
Master got the better of us.”

Luke groaned in agony. “No!” he said. “So – he
had to go through whatever the Master did to him twice? We’ve got
to go back and save him!”

Luke’s friends were about to
object to his plan when Felicity suddenly moved. She didn’t make
any large movements, but it was noticeable enough to let the others
know that she was awake.

“
Felicity?” Luke said, instantly
dropping to his knees to lay Felicity on the ground. “Felicity, can
you hear me?”

Luke saw his friends joining around him; they
all wanted to know whether Felicity was alright or not.

“
...Guys?” Felicity said, slowly
moving her hand upward. “Luke, is that you?”

“
Yes, Felicity, it’s me,” Luke
said. “We’re all here. We’re safe, Felicity.”

Felicity opened her sea-blue eyes. “Luke,
where are you? Guys, this isn’t funny!”

“
But – we’re right here,
Felicity!” Tony shouted, diving forward and grabbing his sister’s
hands. “We’re right here!”

“
Tony?” Felicity asked; her eyes
didn’t move toward his face, but remained unseeing, staring into
the distance. “I... can’t... see anything.”

“
What?” Tony said, fear dominating
his big, blue eyes. “You can’t?”

“
N-no,” came the confused reply.
“I can’t... I... can only make out what seems to be blots of
colour, but that’s it.”

Marco pursed his lips. “I think that fall on
your head might’ve caused this, Fel,” he said; Felicity turned her
head in his direction, but her eyes didn’t meet his. Luke
self-consciously touched the bandage on his head; he’d got
lucky.

“
What do you mean, Marco?”
Felicity asked, but knew the answer for herself. “Ah, of course...
I fell on the
back
of my head, didn’t I?” Marco nodded.

“
It might not be permanent,
though,” he tried to reassure his friend.

“
Let’s hope it isn’t,” Felicity
said. “Luke, Tony, could you please help me up?”

As Luke and Tony helped Felicity to get up,
Luke got an idea. “Violina, do you think your sister could cure
Felicity’s blindness?” he asked the Fixie.

“
I don’t see why not,” Violina
said. “I mean – she’s never had experience with physical brain
damage, but how difficult can it be to cure?”

“
That sounds positive,” Daisy
said, meaning to be joking, but she didn’t come off as very
convincing. “Let’s hope your sister agrees.”

“
And even if she can’t heal
Felicity, we’ll make sure we can,” Ince said decisively. “You must
go on your way now – it’s not safe to stay in one place for too
long.

And so the Bond of Light continued on their
quest, and the two Spirits vanished once more. Tony stayed close by
his sister’s side, and held her hand to make sure she stayed on the
right path. While they walked through the outskirts of the Fairy
Forest, Luke found some time for himself to think. About his
father, about the current situation.

About everything.

Although the words James had said
to Luke still hurt him deep inside, he knew that it hadn’t been his
father speaking. Right now, what hurt more was the fact that James
had been captured by the Master
again
– and that Luke wouldn’t be
seeing his father for a very long time. But Luke was determined to
get his father back safely, and although he didn’t exactly
know
how
, he did
know he would get him back.

The Master wouldn’t win. Luke and his friends
would make sure of that.

Royal
Outcast

Of course there was no time to lose; Mari
needed to see Queen Eloine, Violina’s sister. Only she could help
them. 

“
So, how about
we finally go and pay a visit to your sister,
Violina?” Luke said. “I hope she’ll
be willing to help us when she hears about our
situation.” 

“
Well...” Violina scratched
her neck, unsure how to continue. “I’ve already told you guys
that Eloine and I haven’t spoken in quite some time, or have
I?” 

The teenagers nodded,
although they didn’t quite understand what the fuss was
all about, as they had never seen Violina’s sister and thus
didn't know what she was like. 

“
I’m sorry if I haven’t told you
the reason yet,” Violina continued, her voice suddenly much
more monotone and dark. “It’s her spouse and his
mother. I believe that they cast a spell over my sister and my
people... and used that spell to banish anyone unaffected by the
curse.” 

“
Including
you?” Daisy asked. 

Violina seemed reluctant to answer
that particular question. She twirled a lock of her long, silver
hair around her finger as she said, “Well, to be honest...
yeah.” 

Daisy gave a small
nod. “Huh.  

“
...That’s not going to form a
problem for us, is it?” 

Violina started to
pace around after receiving that
question. “...No,” she said slowly, “but we’ll have
to sneak in – probably... things have changed.” 

And things
 had
 changed, indeed. The
Valley itself had changed – there
were small villages here and there
that were inhabited by all kinds of magical creatures - and
looked like they were growing quickly. In the period that the
Master wasn’t around, inhabitants of the Silver Valley probably
felt safe enough to come out of their hiding spots and rebuild what
had been lost in all those years. 

...And if the Bond of Light didn’t
act quickly, the villagers would soon lose everything all over
again. 

As the Bond passed through the villages, they
were gawked at wherever they went, but Luke was pleased
to see that the Bond’s presence didn’t cause
any great disturbances amongst the
villagers. 

The Guardians only traversed the most outer
villages, as Violina said that certain parts of the forest were
simply too dangerous to walk through. 

“
Alright, guys,” Violina
said, as she and the Bond finally headed for the
forest to head for Eloine's palace, “most of the Fairy
Villages we will be passing are located in the
treetops; that’s why the trees are so huge... but this does
make us easily spotted.” Violina put on her hood as
she led her friends into the forest; this was the moment
to be cautious. 

Violina advised the
Bond to stay by her side, as she knew where to
run in case they wre caught. 

“
But if we’re going to get
caught, then we better make sure we get caught
together,” Marco remarked. 

It was as if Marco had
jinxed it, as they actually
 did
 get caught shortly
after; apparently, Queen Eloine had hired a royal guard, that just
so happened to be on patrol. 

The guards were with five, which
made them outnumbered by one, especially regarding their
height – the guards were taller than Violina, but not much taller
than Tony. But then again, these guardsmen had both weapons
and magic; something which ten out of twelve of their opponents
didn’t have – or didn’t know how to use.  

“
Well, look at what we
found,” one of the guardsmen said, grabbing Violina by the
arm. His square-jawed face was marked by a big scar
that followed a thick, jagged line from the right side of
his forehead to the left half of his jaw. 

Violina tried to yank herself free from the
guard’s strong grip, when a white blast hit the guard’s chest,
forcing him to let go of Violina as he stumbled
backwards. 

“
And don’t even think about
touching her again,” Luke said, his voice succeeding
but his eyes failing to hide his excitement; his friends
were just as surprised at the stunt Luke had just pulled as that
Luke was. Then, with more cocky confidence in his voice, the
redhead added,  “Next time, I'll kill you.” 

One guard turned his attention to
his fallen friend to help him up, but the other two looked
at Luke and started laughing. “Aye, a fine fellow
indeed,” the broadest-shouldered one of the two said. “A
little young perhaps, but I think Her Royal Highness will
be more than pleased to have a chat with you.” While
gesturing at his co-workers, the guard shouted, “Bag
him!” 

Luke was slightly caught off-guard by
this, as were his friends, allowing for an easy capture to happen,
if it hadn’t been for the help that was on its
way. 

“
Guards,” a handsome, yet
unfamiliar voice spoke, “would you care to share what you’ve
encountered here with me?” 

Mari noticed that the voice made Violina
cringe; the girl put a comforting hand on her shoulder,
which Violina seemed to appreciate. 

Meanwhile, the man speaking had stepped
forward to greet the Guardians. “My apologies
for this rather rude treatment. I couldn’t help but
overhear that you’d like to request an audience with my wife, the
Queen?” 

As the man spoke, the Guardians took a good
look at whoever was standing in front of them; a Fixie with rather
messy yet somehow still classy, silver hair, and skin that seemed
to have a golden hue. His eyes were a true and pure shade of gold;
they looked like shimmering jewels in the sunlight that peeked from
between the leaves of the trees overhead. 

“
Uh – yes, we would like
that,” Luke mumbled, suddenly noticing that the Fixie in
front of him was taller than he was – much taller
than the average Fixie would be. 

The Fixie laughed. “Oh,
pardon me,” he said, “I haven’t properly introduced
myself yet.” He took a bow as he continued, “I
am Kyan, King of the Valley Folk.” 

A few awkward bows and curtseys were made to
the King in return. “We are-” Luke said, but
King Kyan cut him off. 

“
There’s no need for you to tell
me who you are,” he said, “as I already know who you are.
My mother already told me you were coming – that’s why I came out
here.” 

The Guardians were caught by surprise – even
Violina hadn’t expected this. And, apparently, the guards had no
idea, either. 

King Kyan told the Guardians to come
follow, and so they did. 

The palace had changed. What once
had been a quiet, humble temple, was now a massive, white
building, with towers and whatnot – yet the
front ‘porch’ still seemed intact. 

The King led the Guardians to the
main hall, which was also unfamiliar in appearance - nothing of
Eloine’s humble interior had survived one-and-a-half a
decade. 

The King told the Guardians to
wait in the main hall until someone came to get them; it was
probably for the better if the Bond of Light just did as
they were told. If the Guardians didn’t behave as the King had
requested they’d do, he could kick them out of his castle just as
easily. 

Eventually,
someone 
did
 come for the Guardians – presumably a lackey. He was
short, even compared to the other servants that had passed by
while the Guardians waited, and his hair was short and grey. Two
green eyes peered from behind circular
glasses.  

“
Her Majesty would like to speak
with you,” he said. “Please, follow me.” 

The Guardians nodded at the small elf – or, at
least, that’s what James assumed him to be, as the small creature
had no wings – to the throne room.  

“
I don’t get this,” Luke
said, as he watched the lackey elf close the heavy doors and
leave, “why are we being bossed around like this if we're
supposed to be some kind of heroes?” 

Luke heard Mari express herself with a
disinterested sigh. “Does it matter?” she said,
defensively crossing her arms in front of her chest. “By the
looks of the way we’re being treated, it’s not like
this ‘Queen’ or ‘Her Majesty’ is willing to
help us, anyway.” 

“
Don’t say that,
Mari,” Daisy said, offering her friend an encouraging
smile. “I believe that our – well, I believe I should
say 
your 
– parents know the Queen.”