Guardian: Protectors of Light (46 page)

...Like the magical
creatures living in Lunaria.

“
Guys, can we
please stop for a moment? I’m not feeling okay,” James huffed. The
circles under his eyes had become deep purple in a very short
amount of time, and his face looked awfully pale in the eerie
light.

“
James, I’ve
explained to you for a million times why we need to keep moving,”
Samira said, but as she turned around, laying an eye on her little
brother, her opinion changed in a flash.

“
Maybe you’re
right,” she said. “You do look like you need to rest.”

“
That’s what
I’ve been trying to tell you,” James replied with a small chuckle,
as Samira supported him while walking toward Glimmer.

“
Come on,
James, sit down on her back,” Samira said. “I’m sure she won’t
mind.”

Glimmer shook her head
and stopped walking, allowing James to step on; he needed a little
help from his sister in order to do so, however.

“
Are you
sitting comfortably?” Samira asked. “Think you can sit up on your
own?”

James nodded. “Sure,” he
said. “I’ll be back on my feet soon, Sammy. Don’t
worry.”

Samira smiled at her
brother, before walking over to Timothy. “Timothy?” she asked in a
low whisper. “Is this a part of James being vulnerable to the Land
of Void’s corruptcy, or not?”

Timothy shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he whispered back. “It probably is. Maybe. I don’t
know... I’ve never guided a Generation here who still had their
Guardian of Innocence alive and kicking, or at least present... And
Sabrina was gone long before we even got here, as I told you
before.

So, to be honest with
you, I have no idea.”

Samira nodded. “I see,”
she said. “I hope his situation doesn’t get worse.” She turned her
head toward James, who was leaning forward on his arms, trying hard
to stay awake. “We can’t have it if he breaks down here right now.
That’ll make him too much of a risk.”

Timothy nodded. “I
understand what you mean,” he said. “If the Master appears out here
while he’s in this condition – or perhaps even worse... That would
only lead to a capture. If we fail to protect him, that is, of
course.”

“
Well,”
Samira said, “then that means we mustn’t fail him.”

That, of course, was much
easier said than done.

As they got further into
the Land of Void, James’s condition worsened. His breathing became
feeble and short after a while, before he finally fell asleep on
Glimmer’s scaled back.

Thomas and Samira stayed
close to him the whole time, checking whether he was still
breathing regularly.

At first, it seemed as if
James was going to be fine after all, but that idea was soon put to
an abrupt end.

James woke up in shock,
screaming and yelling. His limbs jerked about so much, that he
failed to stay on Glimmer’s back, and fell off.

Thomas ran around the
dragon, approaching James, pressing a hand on his mouth, trying to
get him to shut up; he wrestled with the boy that kicked all around
him uncontrollably.

Eventually, the jerking
at his limbs stopped and James went quiet. He stared at Thomas,
completely in shock.

“
Knock it
off!” Thomas hissed. “What were you thinking? You’re going to get
every Warlock Spirit and Shadow Walker on our back if you do that
again!”

James gasped. “Thomas,”
he whispered, “behind you...”

Thomas turned around with
a jerk while getting to his feet, hand reaching for his sword; but
there was nothing there.

“
James, what
are you talking about?” Thomas yelled at the boy, who was still
lying on the ground in front of him. “There’s nothing
there!”

James stared at the
nineteen-year-old as if he’d gone mad. “Don’t- don’t you see it?”
he said, while getting up. “It’s right there!” He had gone from
speaking to yelling rather quickly.

James reached for his
sword, ran past Thomas, and lashed out at the air. Thomas quickly
disarmed him, putting him back on the ground.

“
As I said
earlier; knock it off!” he shouted. “Timothy, what the heck’s wrong
with him?”

Timothy ran over to the
duo, followed by Samira, Antonio and Bella. James had started to
scream and kick again, so Antonio threw himself on top of him,
muffling the screaming sounds.

“
This has to
be caused by the Land of Void,” Timothy said. “There’s no other
explanation.”

Thomas grunted. “So
you’re saying that this place is making him go berserk?”

Timothy nodded. “But it
isn’t James himself who is going berserk,” he said. “His
imagination is. It mixes with his fears, making them come to life
in front of his eyes. He probably saw a Shadow Creature ready to
attack you, or something like that.”

Thomas grunted even
louder. “And what are we supposed to do about this?”

“
Make him
calm down,” Timothy said. “Put him to sleep. Keep him away from
actual Warlock Spirits and other Shadow Creatures; that might cause
him confusion and memory loss... He might forget who the true enemy
is.”

Thomas swallowed. “All
right,” he said. “Guys, put him back on Glimmer’s back, and make
sure he falls asleep.”

“
No problem;
he’s already passed out,” Antonio said. “He must be really tired,
because after struggling with him for about a minute, he just
collapsed.”

Thomas sighed. “Here we
go again,” he said. “As if we haven’t had enough to worry about
related to him in the past few weeks.”

*

The three Keepers had
made their way through the Twilight Forest, to the Gnome
Village.

They needed information
on Sabrina’s whereabouts; the gnomes claimed they’d seen her
around. You need to remember that these gnomes aren’t exactly lawn
gnomes, so they aren’t to be messed with...

“
Greetings,
Madeleine the Wise,” Barnaby, the Gnome Leader said. “We ‘ave
received yer message; Sabrina the Dark indeed was ‘ere.”

Madeleine shook the
gnome’s hand. “Good,” she said. “How long ago was she
here?”

“
No’ very long ago, surprisingly,” Barnaby said. “She
probably was just passin’ thru ‘ere. She probably needed to get a
message to ‘er master without runnin’ into the
Guardians.”

Madeleine nodded. “Did
you know where she went?”

Barnaby shook his head.
“Scared ‘er off, we did,” he said. “Wanted magical diamonds from
our mines, but we refused to give ‘em to ‘er. She fled into the
Fairy Forest. Perhaps Queen Eloine can help ya.”

Gabriel nodded. “Got
that,” he said. “It’ll only be a matter of time until we run into
her... She’s probably looking for us.”

Rikki, who was just a
little taller than Barnaby, smiled at the gnome. “Thanks,
Barnaby.”

“
No problem
at all, lass,” he said. “By now, we’d do anythin’ for freedom,
eh?”

“
Don’t worry,
Barnaby, you’ll be free once again soon,” Madeleine said. “You’ll
no longer have to worry about Shadow Walkers ruining your villages
and land again.”

Barnaby nodded. “I
‘eard,” he said. “Those kids are magnificent... They are the first
to make it this far in a thousand years, eh?”

Madeleine nodded. “Yes,”
she said. “They are... And we’re proud of them.”

Barnaby smiled, before
reaching inside his pocket. He drew out a leather bag, which had
been tied shut with a rope.

“
These are
fer you,” he said. “In case yer going to need ‘em while takin’ that
girl down.”

Madeleine nodded, and
took the bag. magical gems were powerful; no doubt Sabrina wanted
them too.

They said goodbye to the
dwarf, before continuing to hunt down Sabrina. They followed
Barnaby’s advice, and set their next destination as the Fairy
Forest.

The Pixies looked at the
trio as they walked through the Pixie Garden. Everyone knew them;
everyone knew what the Keeper Outfits meant. War.

Shortly after their
arrival, Violina was notified and she approached them quickly. “So
it’s true, after all,” she said.

“
Sabrina’s
back.”

“
Indeed,”
Madeleine said. “We need to speak with you and your sister.
Quickly.”

Violina nodded. “Of
course,” she said. “Follow me.”

The Keepers were
completely safe to travel through the Fairy Forest, since
practically all their weapons glowed brightly, similar to Timothy’s
katana blades.

The blade of Madeleine’s
sword, which she held up ready as if it were a torch while
manoeuvring past the trees, glowed in a golden colour, and so did
Gabriel and Rikki’s arrows and daggers.

“
I know it’s
none of my business, really,” Violina said, just a while before
they reached the castle, “but I can’t keep myself from asking...
Has she attacked the Guardians?”

“
Unfortunately, she has,” Madeleine said. “Multiple times. But
none of her attacks were successful.”

“
At least
that’s something positive,” Violina said. “We’re here... I’ll
announce you.”

Madeleine nodded. “Very
well,” she said. “We’ll wait here.”

Violina returned shortly,
inviting the three Keepers inside. Queen Eloine was already waiting
for them in the hall.

“
We must
hurry,” she said. “We’ve got no time to lose if the situation’s as
bad as I heard.”

“
Well,”
Madeleine said, “I think it’s probably worse than any of what
you’ve heard.”

Queen Eloine nodded. “Sit
down,” she said. “We’ll discuss options.”

The five sat down inside
the big room where the Bond of Light had been sitting two weeks
earlier. “First things first,” Queen Eloine said. “If I understand
the rumours correctly, Sabrina has been sighted and is under the
Master’s control once again.”

Madeleine nodded. “And
she’s made so far unsuccessful attempts at capturing or injuring
the Bond of Light.”

“
Barnaby said
that she’d fled into your Forest,” Gabriel said. “Have you seen
her?”

Queen Eloine shook her
head. “Neither of us has,” she said, “but various Pixies in the
Pixie Valley have.”

Gabriel nodded. “Any idea
where she’s now?”

Violina shook her head.
“No...” she said. “Or...” She looked at her sister.

“
Fiyara,”
they said simultaneously.

“
Explain?”
Rikki asked.

“
Fiyara
visited us about a week ago... It’s been ages. She said she’d seen
Sabrina shortly after she’d finished guiding the Guardians across
the mountains... She seemed rather excited about
something.”

“
So that
means she’s been following them for very long,” Madeleine said.
“We’re behind.”

“
What do you
mean?” Violina asked. “Where is the Bond of Light currently, then?
Are they all right?”

“
They have
currently crossed the border to the Land of Void,” Madeleine said.
Violina gasped.

“
Do you hear
that, Eloine?” she said. “Antonio and the others made it to the
Land of Void!”

Queen Eloine smiled. “I’m
glad to hear that they’re still together in one piece... And that
they’re guided by someone as smart as Timothy.”

“
It sure is a
whole lot of a reassurance,” Madeleine smiled. “Timothy... Is
rather brave, and clever, yes...” A slight honey glow appeared on
her cheeks, and she stopped talking.

“
Anyway, we
had better hurry,” she said, as she stood up. “We’ve got to take
the passage through the mountains; that’s our best
shot.”

“
Is there a
passage through the mountains?” Violina said. “You mean – as in a
tunnel?”

Madeleine nodded. “You
didn’t know?”

Violina shook her head.
“No. I didn’t.”

“
Perhaps I
should’ve informed the Bond of Light it was there... I thought you
knew...” Madeleine said. “But it no longer matters now... We should
go.”

They thanked Queen Eloine
and Violina for sharing information with them. But just before they
left, Violina stopped them.

“
I’m coming
with you,” she said. “I’ll fight with you.”

Madeleine, Gabriel and
Rikki nodded. “Fine,” Gabriel said. “It’ll be good to have at least
one strong magical person on our side. Especially if...” he stopped
mid-sentence.

The subject he wanted to
speak of apparently wasn’t something appropriate to discuss at that
moment.

“
Maddy, do
you even know where we’re actually headed?”

“
We know this
place like no one else does, Gabriel! Of course I do!”

“
Luckily
we’ve got the passage through the mountains, or else it would’ve
taken us days to get to Sabrina!”

The Keepers had made
their way to the secret passage underneath the mountain. They
better had hurry; as they weren’t sure of neither Sabrina’s current
location nor the possible damage she already could’ve caused thus
far.