Guardian: Darkness Rising (20 page)

“
Violina, I am
so sorry,” Kyan sobbed. “I should have realised sooner – I
should’ve known – I mean, for Pete’s sake, she’s my
mother
–”

Violina cut him off. “Not... your fault,” she
mumbled. “Don’t b... blame you...rself.”

“
Violina, you’ve
got to hold on,” Eloine urged. “I need you. I can – I can try to
heal you with- we can
share-
”

Violina shook her head. “You’ll be fine,” and,
after a long pause, added, “...without me.”

“
What?” Eloine blurted, feeling
his throat closing up. “No!”

“
Yes,” Violina said decisively,
“you will. You and... Kyan... will.”

She smiled; the expression lasted
for a short moment before fading. Eloine broke down sobbing, her
husband sharing her grief.

Meanwhile, Chiara and Luke were
having a ‘quarrel’. Blasts of magic were thrown back and forth
(Luke simply reflected Chiara’s attacks with his sword), the battle
eventually leading them to jumping off the elevated platform, back
to the main floor. No end seemed to come to the fight.

But it
did
end – and, unfortunately, not in
Luke’s favour.

Chiara had driven Luke against the wall; Luke
wanted to push her away, failing to notice the bracelet in Chiara’s
hand. It snapped around Luke’s wrist, forcing him to stop moving
instantly.

“
You see, sweet
Lucas?” Chiara whispered threateningly. “You can’t outsmart me.
I
will
get the
power I desire, and simply because I
want
it.”

Chiara moved closer, resulting in Luke trying
to move his head away; he was, however, frozen in place. Things
seemed hopeless.

Just as Chiara’s lips began to touch Luke’s,
she jerked away, grabbing her arm with a loud groan. An arrow had
pierced Chiara’s shoulder.

“
Touch him again, and you’ll get
another one,” Marco said, bow loaded and raised. “And the next one
goes between your eyes.”

Chiara glared at Marco as she pulled out the
arrow. Then, her gaze drifted to the guards, who didn’t quite seem
to be doing their jobs.

“
You better do what she says,
‘Your Highness’,” Tony said mockingly; he, Mari and Felicity had
joined Marco: Chiara was surrounded.

“
It’s over, Mother,” Kyan said,
summoning the guards; they quickly approached Chiara and took her
into custody.

“
What?” Chiara hissed under her
breath; suddenly, a broad grin appeared on her face. “You think
you’ve defeated me?”

“
Yes, Mother,” Kyan confirmed,
unaware of the underlying meaning of Chiara’s words, “we have
defeated you. Your curse has been broken, and you will be charged
with treason.

I am sorry it had to end like this,
Mother.”

“
Oh, don’t be,
my boy,” Chiara laughed. “But these Guardians, on the other hand...
they soon
will
be.
Very
soon.”

“
I wonder what she’s talking
about?” Felicity asked, while freeing Luke from the
wall.

“
I don’t know,” Luke replied, as
he watched Eloine carry Violina out of the throne room. Just as he
was about to thank Felicity from freeing him from the wall, it hit
him.

“
The Master,”
Luke gasped. “Everyone! Get out of here!
NOW
!”

Alarmed by Luke, everyone inside
the throne room instantly started to sprit toward the exit.
Unfortunately, only Kyan, the guards and Eloine made it out before
the doors slammed shut.

Marco and Mari, who’d just reached the doors
as they slammed shut, tried to pull them open, but the doors were
jammed.

“
So, Guardians,” the Master’s
chilling voice spread through the throne room. “We meet
again.”

The Master pointed his staff at Luke; as the
orb started to glow, Luke was lifted off the ground; Luke’s body
followed the orb’s movement, and slammed against the wall. The
Master’s signature shadow ropes seemed to grow out of the wall,
holding Luke tightly against it.

“
Not again,” Luke
sighed.

“
Honestly, I must say I’m
impressed,” the Master said, as he calmly walked down the steps
he’d spawned on. “I hadn’t thought the lot of you would be strong
enough to survive an avalanche.”

Luke struggled, but with no avail. He knew
what the Master wanted to do to him. And the fear in Luke’s heart
grew with every step the Master took.

However, the Master wasn’t meant to reach Luke
- well, he would have been if it hadn’t been for Luke’s
friends.

“
Oh, how
adorable,” the Master smiled. “So, we’re
protecting
each other now,
huh?”

Tony stepped forward toward the Master,
pointing his sword at the Master’s chest. “Isn’t that what we’ve
always been doing?” he said.

The Master shrugged. “I guess you’re right.
But even now, it’s pointless.” He proceeded to pound the ground
with his staff; behind the teenagers, Luke was lifted off the
ground by the same kind of shadow ropes as the ones that had kept
him against the wall.

Luke let out a yell; he tried to reach for his
sword, but failed to do so. Luckily, his family came to his aid;
Daisy was quick to cut the ropes so Marco could catch
him.

“
You see?” the Master commented
dryly. “Useless.

I could easily pick him up again if I
wanted.”

“
I could easily jam my sword into
your heart if I wanted,” Daisy grunted, resulting into the Master
making a sharp turn toward her.

“
I don’t think you can,” the
Master said. He pounded the ground with his staff once again,
turning Daisy’s lower legs to stone.

“
I think that’s about enough,”
Luke said, pushing himself in front of his friends.

“
Lucas-!” Marco shouted, but Luke
ignored him. It didn’t help that Daisy was encouraging Luke,
either.

“
Why, look at that,” the Master
smiled. “Now Papa’s out of business, his dear son decides to play
the hero.”

“
Don’t let him get to you, Luke,”
Luke heard his friends warn him from behind, but their words seemed
to be coming from far, far away.

Luke looked thought of his dad for
a brief moment, but continued to speak to the Master. “I’m not
‘playing’ a hero, Asura. I
am
a hero. Just like my father.” He inhaled to make
his chest appear as broad as possible; the Master laughed at
this.

“
You can laugh all you want,” Luke
said decisively, “but I’m still not afraid of you.” Suddenly, his
expression changed to a cocky grin.

As Luke pulled out this sword and
pointed it at the Master, he said, “In fact, I am challenging you
to a duel.”

The Master seemed intrigued. “Well, my boy,”
he said, spreading his arms wide and taking a bow, “at which terms
would you like to challenge me?”

Luke didn’t hesitate. “If I win,” he said,
“you’ll reverse the curse you cast on Lunaria, leave and never
return.”

“
And if
I
win?” the Master said,
the grin on his face broadening. He knew that this was an
opportunity he couldn’t possibly let slip by.

Luke did hesitate this time; he
obviously began to become less confident that he’d win. But,
knowing he couldn’t go back now, he went through with it. “If you
win,” he said, his voice betraying no anxiety, “You may kill me. If
you manage to defeat me, I will turn myself in to you.”

“
LUKE, NO!” Marco, Daisy, Mari,
Tony and Felicity shouted in unison – but Luke ignored them. This
wasn’t their decision to make.

The Master’s grin broadened even more – if
possible. “Very well, then,” he said, transforming his staff into a
black sword, “let’s dance.”

The
Unexpected Generation

The Master was the first to attack. To prevent
anyone from intervening during the fight, he surrounded the area
where he and Luke were standing with black flames. It also
prevented Luke from fleeing.

The Master was better at fighting
than Luke had expected him to be; Luke instantly began to question
his decision to fight. Luke had never had any training, aside from
the fencing lessons Thomas and James had taught him. Another
problem was, that the Master fought aggressively, determined to
win.

But Luke wouldn’t let that get him down. He
struck back at the Master, swinging his sword at the Master’s
abdomen and neck whenever given the chance.

Luke could hear his friends and family
cheering him on as he struck at the Master or blocked his attacks.
It was an amazing feeling, but Luke eventually started to get tired
– after all, he hadn’t eaten or slept in well over twenty-four
hours. It didn’t take long before fatigue got the best of him, and
the Master worked him to the ground.

Luke had lost.

“
LUKE!” Marco cried out. Using his
crossbow, he tried to shoot an arrow at the Master, but the arrow
was incinerated as soon as it hit the fire.

“
I believe we have an agreement,
Luke,” the Master grinned, pricking into Luke’s chest with the tip
of the black sword, causing Luke to groan.

“
A-alright,” Luke uttered. “You-
you got me. You win.”

The Master’s eyes narrowed. “Thank you for not
making this any more difficult, Lucas.” His grin broadened. “But...
I’m not going to kill you.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “What?” he said, feeling
every muscle in his body tense up.

“
You heard me,” the Master said
slowly. “I will not kill you, because I have someone else to do
that for me.”

The Master snapped his fingers, and almost
directly, a figure appeared within the circle of fire. It was
James; he looked beat up, and his eyes were glowing bright red once
more.

“
Dad, no,” Luke protested, trying
to get up, but the Master forced him back on the floor with his
foot.

“
Shh, Lucas,” he said. “The adults
are talking.”

The Master walked toward James, leaving Luke
lying on his back. “Dad,” Luke coughed.

“
James, my boy,” the Master
laughed, “I’ve got a job for you.

“
Do you see this boy? I made a
deal with him... and now, he’s all yours.”

James’s eyes shifted toward Luke,
who was still lying on the ground. To Luke’s horror, nothing in the
two glowing red eyes looking at him seemed to show any sign of
recognition.

The Master turned the sword back
into his staff, seemingly amused by Luke’s despair.

“
Dad,” the redhead blurted as he
tried to get on all fours. “It’s me. Luke.”

“
You see, Luke?” the Master
grinned. “I always get what I want. That’s how it works around
here... You children have got nothing on me.”

Luke swallowed. “I wouldn’t be so sure of
that,” he said, reaching for his sword that was still lying on the
ground – but unfortunately, the Master noticed.

“
I wouldn’t do that if I were
you,” he said, summoning the sword from the ground, leaving Luke
unarmed. “You promised you wouldn’t struggle anymore if I defeated
you... now didn’t you?”

“
He did, but we didn’t,” Marco
said, his voice coming from above.

Both the Master and Luke looked up in
surprise; Marco had climbed into the tapestries that were hanging
on the wall – and was ready to shoot the Master.

The Master’s eyes seemed to be spouting fire
when he saw an arrow coming his way. He quickly backed away,
sending the arrow flying back to where it came from with his staff,
causing it to bounce off against the wall – but didn’t notice the
hem of his robe catching on fire as he did so.

“
Anyway. Where were we? Ah...” The
Master grinned, but his grin quickly faded away when the smell of
scorched fabric caught his nose. “What the-”

“
Smells like something’s burning,
now doesn’t it?” Luke said with a smug grin covering his face from
ear to ear.

The Master yelped alarmed when he
saw his robe going up in smoke behind him; he quickly took off the
dark piece of clothing, and threw it away on the floor, where the
fire continued to burn. Soon, one of the tapestries caught fire as
well. “Oops,” the Master cackled. “How unfortunate. Within moments,
this entire place will be lit like a torch... and so will
you.”

Luke’s chest tightened. He was still trapped
within the ring of fire; he had no idea how to reach the flaming
robe – and his friends didn’t have anything to put out the fire
with.

“
Well,” the Master continued,
seeming to rather enjoying the fear that radiated from Luke’s aura,
“seems like your father won’t need to fight you anymore. The fire
will incinerate you, which I would deem a much more painful and fit
punishment for an annoying pest like you.”