Guardian: Darkness Rising (25 page)

“
Well,” Luke said, trying his best
to hide the shiver in his voice as he pulled out his glowing sword,
“come and get them.”

James responded instantly. He
leapt forward, lashing out at the Guardians, who had to be quick to
dodge the swinging blade.

The teenagers weren’t sure what to do at
first, because obviously, they didn’t want to hurt James. But with
every sign given that James truly did want to hurt them, the
Guardians slowly became less reluctant to attack.

The fact that the teenagers were
now defending themselves didn’t make James any easier to hit,
however. James was more experienced, and his skills had been
magically enhanced by the Master – but that didn’t mean he was
unbeatable.

Luke shouted at his friends to take advantage
of their group; they quickly surrounded James, forcing him to focus
his attention on five teenagers at a time.

James couldn’t possibly block two
arrows coming from two different sides at a time, despite his best
efforts. Apparently the Master had ordered him not to use any magic
unless absolutely necessary.

Or he’d just had enough.

James clenched his fists, creating
a blast that was powerful enough to knock all five teenagers off
their feet.

“
Did you really think you could
beat me just like that?” James growled at them. “I’ve got to admit,
you’re pretty good – but you’ll never beat me.

“
I am too strong for five petty
children to defeat me.”

“
Well, what would you say if I
told you there are six petty children?” Mari suddenly shouted,
causing James to get distracted from his former targets – although
probably not for long.

“
You...” he mumbled, obviously not
recognizing Mari, “...would make no difference.”

James attacked Mari, but she was quick to
raise her sword and catch James’s with it. The power the two swords
hit each other at sent Mari staggering backwards for a bit, but not
too far for her to actually lose balance.

“
That’s where you’re wrong,” Mari
said, her eyes flashing to the vial with golden dust Luke was
clasping tightly. “Sprinkle the dust, Luke!” she yelled. “Cure your
father!”

Luke didn’t hesitate. Before James could
react, Luke took about a quarter of the vial’s content, and blew it
in James’s direction, who instantly starred. Luke, curious whether
it’d worked, ran toward his father, who in the meantime had sunk to
his knees and grabbed his wrist.

When Luke was reassured that his dad was okay
and looked up to thank Mari for saving them, she was long
gone.

Shadowed
Guidance

“
Dad, are you alright?” Luke asked
his father, because he didn’t quite believe he was. “Dad. Please
tell me you’re alright. I need to know.”

“
This – won’t last for long,”
James said to his son as he took off his glove showing the cut in
his arm, which had turned pitch black. “It’s only a matter of time
before the curse spreads and gets a hold of me again. It’s because
of the Master’s blood – he truly wanted to ensure his control over
me.”

“
Well, we’re not leaving you
here,” Luke said decisively. His friends seemed to
agree.

James smiled and hugged his son. “I wasn’t
saying that I was leaving,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll find some way
to solve this.”

“
We should be going,” Felicity
said. “Mari just... vanished into thin air – well, black smoke,
actually... I have no idea where she’s gone.”

“
I have a sinking feeling where
she’s gone,” Luke mumbled, as he and James got up. “I think Mari is
convinced she can defeat the Master on her own.”

“
Well,
she
is
a Lost
Soul now,” James said, talking as if the kids had any idea what he
was talking about, “so she
is
strong. She basically shares a part of the
Master’s power.” His eye shifted at his now gloved arm. “I wonder
how this is going to work out, though.”

“
We’ll just have to wait to find
out,” Luke decided. “But right now, we’ve got to go to the Dark
Castle and save our parents.”

“
Wh-” James gasped; apparently, he
didn’t know what happened to his friends. “What did the Master do
to them?

“
I thought you’d just decided to
split up to find Mari.” He’d probably figured that out due to
Mari’s sudden appearance and disappearance.

“
The Master turned them to stone
right after- well-” Tony mumbled. “You know. We’ve got to save them
if we want to save Mari and this world.”

“
Why are we wasting time here,
then?” James said. “We’ve got to go and save them, right now.” The
teenagers agreed.

With James at their side, for however long
he’d be there at least, the young Guardians felt much
safer.

*

Mari was surprised at her own
abilities. She just simply thought about getting away from her
friends as fast as possible, and suddenly, the world disappeared
before her eyes, only to reappear before the Dark Castle’s
gates.

Mari was awestruck. She’d made it.
Right to the Master’s doorstep. Nothing was holding her back
now.

But still... Mari was hesitant to
enter the castle and confront the Master. Something inside of her
wanted her friends to be able to make an advantage out of this,
too. If the Master was distracted and fighting Mari, then perhaps
he wouldn’t notice her friends saving their parents. The teenagers
would have the Master surrounded without him ever
knowing.

But then again – waiting for them would
probably take hours. And Mari just simply didn’t have any time to
wait.

With the dark energy that fuelled the Land of
Light once again, Mari’s newfound abilities were enhanced and
strengthened, and Mari felt the power running through her
veins.

Mari was powerful, and she would show the
Master just how powerful she was.

Entering the castle was simple; almost too
simple, even. But Mari figured that the Master was interested in
fighting Mari; he truly believed that he’d be able to win from
her.

As Mari made her way through the surprisingly
empty hallway toward the doors of the Master’s throne room, she
considered her chances. There was a certain chance the Master would
win – considering he was a master of deceit, and he had more
experience than Mari did. But Mari had something else:
determination. Mari was fed up with the Master, and everything he’d
done to her, her friends and her family. It was enough.

Someone had to teach this ignorant demi-spirit
a lesson. And Mari was the one to do it.

Keeping those thoughts in mind, Mari entered
the throne room.

*

The Guardians, accompanied by
James, were running through the flower fields of Louloudia. As they
got further into the realm, they noticed that the sky was getting
darker and the flowers began to show signs of withering. The
barrier had weakened further, and the effects of the dark energy
that was seeping through the cracks were clearly
visible.

Obviously, it was impossible to
run all the way through. The six Guardians regularly took small
breaks to rest their feet, and eventually slightly changed
direction. Their goal was to end up as close to the Dark Castle as
possible – although James wasn’t sure where exactly the river in
the Land of
Void
– James was persistent to temporarily restore the realm’s
previous name – went. If the Guardians were to end up at the river,
they’d have to walk all the way back to find the bridge – unless
they’d be willing to swim across.

It turned out that Felicity had been right
earlier; the sun was starting to set when the teenagers finally
reached the Land of Void. They were tired, and their legs ached,
but it was too late to go back or stop now.

This would all end tonight. By the crack of
dawn, the Guardians would have freed Lunaria from the Master once
again, and would be on their way home.

The Guardians stood before the barrier; a
shiver went down Luke’s spine as he looked aside to his father. “I
guess... this is it, then,” he said.

James looked at his son, knowing what he
meant. Sweat was glistering on his forehead. “Just go, Luke. I’ll –
be watching from the sidelines.”

“
Can’t you try?” Luke said
hopefully. James shook his head.

“
Let’s not risk it,
Luke.”

Luke sighed. James was unable to
enter the Land of Void for as long as it was corrupted; Luke knew
that he’d have to leave his father here so he wouldn’t have to go
through the pain he’d gone through before again, but still wasn’t
satisfied with that solution.

Luke had never been separated from his father
for as long as he’d been in the past few days – or at least never
forcefully separated. Luke was reluctant to leave his father all
alone, but as things were now, there truly was no other
option.

James hugged his son. “Go knock ‘em dead,
Lucas,” he said. “I’ll be right there as soon as the light goes
back on.” Luke couldn’t help but snort.

“
That’s a terrible joke,
Dad.”

“
Isn’t that what I’m a dad for?”
James laughed.

“
Luke, are you ready to go?” Marco
asked. Luke looked at his friends and smiled. “Yeah, you guys go
ahead, I’ll be right there,” he said.

His friends nodded back at him; they didn’t
cross the barrier yet, however, but waited in front of
it.

“
What’s the matter, Luke?” James
said. “I assume there’s something you want to talk
about.”

Luke moved around his shoulders uncomfortably.
“I... just...” he mumbled. “I just wanted to apologise,
Dad.”

James’s mouth opened slightly in surprise; a
small gasp escaped from his lips. “Lucas,” he said, “it’s alright.
You couldn’t have known.”

Luke shook his head. “I know, Dad,” he said,
“but it still doesn’t feel right. I treated you horribly, and then
all of this happened...”

James chuckled.
“
You
treated
me
horribly?” he said. “You didn’t yell at me. I did that to
you.”

Luke shrugged. “It’s fine,” he said and
grinned as he added, “I’m used to it.”

“
When we get home, things will
change, Luke,” James said. “I’m not going to keep secrets from you
any longer.”

Luke smiled at his father. “That sounds like a
good idea, Dad,” he said. “Keeps us out of trouble.”

James smiled at his son and ruffled his hair.
“Now go,” he said. “Go save the world. I’ve already had my turn;
now it’s up to you.”

Luke laughed and ran toward his friends; he
looked back at his father as he and his friends crossed the
barrier. “We’ll be back soon, Dad,” he said. “That’s a
promise.”

“
Be careful, Luke,” James nodded
at his son. “It’s dangerous out there.”

The shiver that had gone down
Luke’s spine before saying goodbye to his father was nothing
compared to the one that went down his spine as soon as he crossed
the barrier. He felt as if the energy was drained straight from
him; the air was cold and damp, and the atmosphere just had an
eerie feeling. He felt slightly lightheaded, and sought support on
Marco’s shoulder.

“
I almost forgot what walking
around in this place felt like,” Felicity said. “I can’t wait until
we restore the light.”

“
Then I’d advise you better get to
work.”

The teenagers turned around; it was difficult
to see, but when Luke and Tony pulled out their swords, two shadowy
figures were revealed in the light. Akilah and Ince.

“
Akilah? Ince?” Daisy said.
“You’re still-?”

“
Shadows,” Ince said. “Indeed. The
Master has... outsmarted us again, apparently.”

“
But that’s not why we’re here,”
Akilah said, “we’re here to help you. After all, you teenagers
don’t know the Land of Light like we do. And, since your parents
aren’t around to help you, we will.”

“
I just left my father in Lou...”
Luke had to take his time to remember the realm’s name. “Louloudia.
He promised us to join us as soon as we’ve restored the light to
this realm.”

“
A wise decision,” Ince agreed.
“He would’ve turned against you again if he would’ve joined you
here. There’s nothing we can do about that – it’s...” He suddenly
stopped talking.

“
I’m tired of nobody telling me
what’s going on with my father,” Luke said. “Are you going to tell
me or not?”

It wasn’t visible on her face, but Akilah
smiled. “It’s simple, actually,” she said. “The night I resurrected
your father, I used the Land of Light’s energy to do so.

“
He’s basically become like the
Master; a demi-spirit. But your father is much more sensitive to
magical influences than Asura is.”

Luke shrugged, not sure how to react to this
information. “Oh... that’s probably why he’s so much stronger than
any of us.”

“
Well, his magic might be strong,”
Ince said, “but the Master is still stronger.”