Guardian: Protectors of Light (6 page)

“
Ditto,”
James said, as he let his eyes glide through the room, looking over
the girl’s head. “So, Rikki- I was wondering if you could tell me
where I am?”

“
Are you kidding?” Rikki said, her voice filled
with both excitement and unbelief. “You’re in
Keeper’s Cove
!”

James clearly didn’t comprehend, as the name said little to
nothing to him; although it
did
ring a bell in
the back of his head, yet he couldn’t put his finger on it. “I’m
–
where
?” he uttered.

If possible, the light in Rikki’s eyes started to sparkle
even more. “You
really
don’t know, do you?” she said
quietly, like a young child about to share a secret. James
responded by shaking his head; as he touched his left shoulder, he
noticed something which seemed to bother him more than the fact
that he didn’t know where he was and was talking to a complete
stranger.

“
Why am I not wearing a
shirt
?” he exclaimed, instantly withdrawing his hand, as if his
skin was scorching it. “I
always
wear a shirt
when I sleep!”

Rikki shrugged. “I don’t
think that to be very relevant if you don’t even know that you’re
part of the Bond of Light, which means you’re one of the Great
Five,” she said.

“
What
?” James blurted
out, remembering the book with the changing drawings. “The Bond of-
oh God.”

Rikki tilted her head slightly and pulled a pouty lip. “You
really think it’s
that
bad, huh?” she said. As she noticed
James responded with a silent nod, she couldn’t help but
frown.

“
Well, you better shape up, then,” she said, “as
things are about to get a
whole
lot
worse.”

James moaned loudly as he
bet over to bury his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his
knees. “What have I done?” he moaned, the sound of his voice
muffled by his hands. “What did I drag my friends and myself
into?”

Rikki offered him a sad
smile. “Don’t blame yourself, kiddo,” she said. “You wouldn’t have
been able to escape this anyway. It’s fate!”

James removed his face
from his hands to look- er, well, stare at her.

Trying hard not to laugh
at the uncomprehending look on the boy’s face, Rikki said, “You
didn’t find the book, James. It found you. It’s magical,
remember?”

James shook his head as
he let out a loud sigh, reburying his face in his hands, moaning
silently. He only looked up when he heard a familiar voice say his
name; he looked up and turned around, to see his sister sitting at
the edge of her bed.

“
James?”
Samira said. “Where are we?” She hadn’t noticed Rikki until then.
“Who are you?”

“
I’m Rikki,”
Rikki said, as Samira walked over to James’s bed. “What’s your
name?”

Samira quickly warming up
to Rikki, and smiled at her. “I’m Samira,” she said. “Nice to meet
you, Rikki.” She then turned to her brother. “Mind telling me where
we are, and what we are doing here?” she said, not sounding too
happy.

James let out a nervous
chuckle. “Uh- long story,” he said, trying to talk his way out of
it. Samira moved her hands to her hips and threw her brother an
angry glare. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ve got plenty of
time.”

James let out another
nervous chuckle, which quickly ended in a sigh of defeat. “Fine,”
he said. “We’re, well... we’re sort of inside the book.”

“
Inside the
what
?” Samira
exclaimed, sounding both surprised and angered. James just
literally said that they were
inside
Guardians of
Light? But how could they possibly have ended up inside a book?
“That’s impossible!” she spoke out her last thoughts.

Rikki looked at Samira
with a rather smug expression on her face. “If it’s impossible...”
she said, “...then why are you here?”

Samira pointed at the air
and opened her mouth as if she was to make a counterargument, but
quickly lowered her hand and closed her mouth as she couldn’t come
up with one.

“
...You’ve
got a point,” she grumbled, unwillingly admitting defeat. “But I
still don’t get how all of this is possible.”

“
Didn’t you
listen to the story I told you and the others yesterday?” James
said. His voice had a slightly reproaching undertone. “Every
century, the Master of Nightmares snatched five children – or young
adults – from their beds, to mysteriously disappear... and never
return, for that matter.”

“
I’ll have to correct you there, though,” Rikki
said. “You weren’t brought here by the Master, otherwise you
would’ve been roasted long ago.
We
chose
you.”

“
We?” James
and Samira said simultaneously. Rikki nodded.

“
Don’t worry,
everything will be explained soon,” she said with a playful wink.
“We just have to wait for your friends to wake up.”

James snorted. “Well,
good luck with that,” he laughed; Samira couldn’t help but giggle
silently as well.

*

And the wait for their friends to wake up indeed
was
long. After all three of them were up, they were quickly
briefed in about the situation (with the casual tantrum here and
there), before Rikki told them they had to see Madeleine and
Akilah. However, she refused to give any information as to who
those two people –
if
they were people – were, as she just
kept telling them they’d be “quick to find out” and Madeleine and
Akilah had to “explain who and what they were
themselves”.

The five teenagers, still
mildly confused, followed Rikki down a fairly long hallway, until
they finally arrived at a hidden trap door, which revealed a stone
circular staircase, which led down into what seemed to be a secret
basement or hideout.

When they arrived
downstairs, they discovered it was the latter; a circular table
stood in the middle of the squared room, which was lit by various
torches and candles. Somehow, they managed to let a fire burn
without having the smoke fill up the room; an empty,
silver-coloured cauldron was hanging above it.

As he came down the stairs, James could see two womanly
figures stand at the far end of the room. A girl, dressed in dark
green robes, and a
...
glowing
woman?

Rikki immediately walked
toward the duo; they turned their heads at the sound of her voice
and footsteps coming down the stairs. A smile instantly grew on
both their faces.

“
Ah,” the
glowing woman said. “Welcome, young Guardians. Come in.”

James slowly stepped
forward, further into the room, and the others slowly followed him
down the stairs and into the room as well.

James was quick to find
out that the tall lady smiling at him from across the room was
indeed glowing; she had fair skin, which seemed almost see-through
in its glow, and golden blonde hair with a few silver streaks in
the front, which was tied in an unusual yet attractive
updo.

Her eyes were hazel; the
silver dress she was wearing was long and flowed gently around her,
making it seem as if she was floating.

The girl standing beside
her was surprisingly pretty as well; two dark green eyes were
hiding underneath long bangs. The rest of her black hair was up in
a bun.

James couldn’t see her
clothing, as it was hidden beneath long, green robes.

Both women seemed rather
pleased to see Rikki and her five new friends, despite the fact
that these five people were complete strangers with unknown
intentions; James started to feel more comfortable being there with
the moment.

“
I’m sure you
all have many questions,” the glowing lady said. “I’ll be happy to
answer them... my name is Akilah, although most Lunariae recognize
me as the Almighty Spirit.”

“
And I might
as well be able to help with that,” the black-haired girl said with
a smile. “My name is Madeleine, by the way.”

The teenagers nodded at
the ladies in front of them, mumbling a few shy and informal
“hel-los”. But they knew that there was no time to get properly
introduced for too long; they had to get down to business as soon
as possible.

“
You five
have come a long way from home to get here,” Akilah said. “We
would’ve preferred to bring you here less sudden so you could’ve
had more time to prepare, but we were in a hurry due to unexpected
circumstances.” She paused for a short moment to look at the five
teenagers in front of her, all staring at her in awe. “But the
reason for that is for a later discussion,” she said. “Now, we have
to teach you the basics to get you youngsters on your
way.”

“
Whatever you
say, ma’am,” Thomas said, stepping forward from his group of
friends. “You’re in charge.”

Akilah nodded at him.
“Very well. I will tell you everything. But first, Madeleine will
help you find your identity.”

James stepped forward,
and stood beside Thomas. “...Identity?” he asked.

Madeleine nodded at him.
“You noticed the drawings in the book, right?” she said. “Those
drawings assigned you an identity. That identity is your Guardian’s
Energy.” She looked at the five baffled faces in front of her, and
couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh, right.”

She walked over to the
bookstand behind her, to get the book that laid on it. She took the
book back to James and his friends, while trying to find the right
page.

“
Look,”
Madeleine said, holding the book so that James and his friends
could read it. “That’s the spell the Light Spirits used that got
you here. That got every Generation here.”

The prophecy was almost
exactly the same as described in James’s book, despite the fact
that it’d been merely summarized there; it did give a good view of
what it was supposed to be, but of course, being able to read it in
full was even better.

“
Every
century once five young men and women will find,

this book and
the mysteries that lie behind.

Belief in
Magic is required,

a soul young
at heart desired.

These Five
shall rise,

guided by the
Spirits, bringing them advice.

They will
reprise ten times,

ten
Generations; ten centuries to stop the Demon and his
crimes.

But beware:
if the Tenth Generation is doomed to fail,

the Demon’s
darkness forever will prevail.”

James read the prophecy
out loud and swallowed. “You said we were the tenth Generation,
huh, Rikki?” he said, turning his head toward the red-haired girl
standing next to Madeleine.

Rikki nodded. “You are,”
she said. “So I believe you’re beginning to understand our
situation and the reason for us being in a rush.”

James swallowed and gave
Rikki a small nod. “I do,” she said. “And I believe that I’m also
speaking for my friends when I say that we’re willing to
help.” 

He felt a hand on his
left shoulder; it was Samira’s. She smiled at James, and said,
“Well, you’re speaking for me for sure.” 

Bella stepped forward,
appearing beside Samira. “And for me,” she said. 

On James’s other side,
Thomas was nodding as well. “You’re speaking for me as well,
bud.” 

Antonio appeared beside
Thomas, wearing a big grin on his face. “If you guys are in it,
then so am I,” he said.

Madeleine, Rikki and
Akilah, seeming happy to hear that the five teenagers were willing
to help, smiled encouragingly at them.

“
Thank you so
much,” Madeleine said, before she went to return the book to where
it belonged. “We should get started with your preparation straight
away. Follow me, please.”

The teenagers followed
Madeleine to the east side of the room, where she moved a book
inside the bookshelf, causing the bookshelf to shove aside,
revealing a secret chamber. 

Madeleine lead the
teenagers inside the room, which reclosed after everyone had
entered. 

“
You’ll have
to prepare here first by getting dressed,” she said. “Your clothes
arrived here the same time as you did.” 

And Madeleine was right;
five small piles of clothes, including boots, occasional armoury
and other useful accessories, were stalled out on a long, wooden
table in front of them. 

“
Really
cool,” Bella said as she walked forward and picked up a thin, beige
tunic with long, loose sleeves, “but how do we know which clothes
are whose?” 

Madeleine, who’d already
started to walk out, turned around and smiled a teasing grin.
“Oh, just follow your feelings and you’ll know.” She left the
room, and before shutting the “door”, she said, “Just let me know
if you need anything and we’ll be right there.”