Playing With Fire (3 page)

“That’s
impossible,” Vaze said. It surprised all my brothers because the most they’d
heard from him was harsh breathing. “Guardians haven’t taken any form other
than spirits for over a century, let alone a human form.”

The
bookworm looked at him, as though he had just noticed Vaze’s presence, but the
bookworm never misses a single detail, which I personally know from the time I
tried to use three tiny books for a fire. I was caught immediately, but could
he really blame me? I was only four years old.

“I
know, but that was because every mortal with incredible power died off, had gone
mad, or followed an evil path. And even then there was no one who could control
fire. In short, there was no need for Guardians to protect their humans from
both physical forces and demonic forces anymore, so they subsided to their
spiritual forms.” The conversation at hand made no sense to me, so I did the
only thing I knew how to do in a situation like this: ask obvious questions.

“What’s
a Guardian?” Al asked the question I was about to ask, but in a nicer, possibly
less stupid sounding way.

The
bookworm was about to answer when Seth took the spot light. “They’re real? I
thought they were just old stories.” Seth’s eyes were wide in amazement. He
wasn’t the kind of person who believes things he can’t see proof of for himself.
If he reads about something like vampires or wraiths, he would probably say
they just make up things like that to scare people. That’s a major difference
between us; I can believe things like that because it’s just as insane and
impossible as I am.

Few
people think like him, but no one has seen anything out of the ordinary since
the kingdom of Moraj simply disappeared. Nobody knows how exactly the most
important kingdom in history vanished. The entire kingdom and its population
was just gone one day, leaving an open landscape where it used to be.

Chaos
ensued when that had happened because Moraj was the capital, and where the
royal family lived, which were the rulers of the country. Without them there
was no one in control, and for a while there was complete disorder. Eventually,
the bigger towns became like small states, and the richest families became the
royal family of their state, Laetus being one of those. It made it kind of
boring when you met royalty because they weren’t really royalty; they were just
rich and extremely snobby.

The
bookworm shook his head and chuckled. “You’re a smart boy Seth, but sometimes
faith is truer than fact. I hope one day you will understand that.” Seth opened
his mouth to argue but the bookworm gave him a stern look and he held his
tongue. “I think the rest of your family would like an explanation, since they
do not read old fables like you. Guardians are partners given by The Healer; everyone
has one. They only take on a spiritual form and defend their partners from
demons who do not take on a physical form. There are only a small amount of
Guardians, and most have been killed. These days, if a Guardian takes a
physical form it usually means that the human partner is extremely important or
powerful. The only other case would be if the human partner’s soul was at risk
of being erased from existence by a physical force, then the Guardian would
take a physical form to save their partner. In those cases the Guardian partner
ends up dying and merging with their human partner to make chances of surviving
without them better. A Guardian merging with a human seals their fate of death
because the Guardian gives their partner the last of their soul along with the
Guardian’s unique power. Only few Guardians have done so, and only if the bond
with their human partner is as strong as if they were their own child.”

“So
would that make me super important or I was just in mortal danger as a baby?” I
asked very casually. I already knew I had a screwed up childhood, so why freak
out about it?

“In
your case you could say you were both, although your partner did not merge with
you. You already have natural power inside you and if your Guardian had merged
with you the two powers would fight for dominance and tear your mind apart. But
when a Guardian dies and does not merge they subside to a weak form. The form
differs on what kind of power the Guardian had, and the fact that your Guardian
took the form of a crystal means she had the power of controlling something
without a defining form.”

Al
and I exchanged looks of shock. That was some pretty brutal information. Someone
sacrificing their own life for another wasn’t the kind of thing you see every
day. It made me sad that I had never known her, and that she had to die for me.
But one thing was confusing. Who was the boy who had killed my Guardian and why
was he trying to do the same to Vaze?

“I
think it’s time for our guest to tell his story, and shed some light on the
situation,” said the bookworm. Finally, everyone seemed to actually acknowledge
Vaze was in the room with more than just glances. All eyes were on him, waiting
for the missing pieces of information.

“The
man who attacked us Scarlet, was Enzio. He was sent to assassinate me. As you
might have already guessed, he isn’t human. He is a demon who took a physical
form when Velkire first rose to power a hundred years ago. This wasn’t the first
time he had tried to kill me. He had tried before when I was young. That time
he had almost succeeded, if it weren’t for…” Vaze stopped as if he might choke
up. “If it weren’t for someone very close I would have died then.”

I
realized that what Vaze was talking about was a sore subject so I held my
personal questions and skipped to relevant ones. “Why was Enzio trying to assassinate
you in the first place?”

“It’s
because I’m a prince and I am my father’s only son.”

I
scoffed. Just what we needed, another rich kid.

“That’s
not a big reason to kill you. There are a lot of states and a lot of royal
families, and it’s starting to be cliché.”

“That
is true, unless you are a prince from a really powerful state there wouldn’t be
any reason to kill you,” Seth cut in.

“I
don’t really know for sure… but would you consider Moraj a powerful state?”
Vaze said it as if it were as plain as night and day. Five blank stares rested
on Vaze. We were all in shock except for the bookworm.

“I
knew it was you the second I came down those stairs,” The bookworm said with a
grin playing across his lips. “You look exactly as my colleagues described you,
hair blacker than a lightless night and eyes bluer than the sky on its most
vibrant days. I would have recognized you even without the wings.”

I
was gaping with my mouth open so wide that anyone could have shoved a fist down
my throat with ease. “Moraj?” I exclaimed in shock. Can you blame me? Somebody
claiming to be the prince of a kingdom that disappeared over two decades ago is
a little difficult to accept.

“I
think that’s what I just said so, yes, I am the prince of Moraj, and I am the
son of the last king of Moraj, Folic.” It came out so casually one would think
he was talking about the weather. I recalled all my previous thoughts about
rich princes, and realized that Vaze in no way met the criteria. He wasn’t
snobby or obnoxious. He was even kind and somewhat gentle, even though he had
been cold at first. That chipped away a tiny bit of my disdain for him, even if
it was just a tad.

My
mind was racing as a million other questions flooded into my head, and in turn
each came with about two million follow up questions. The bookworm sensed my
brain over loading and said, “I know it’s a lot to take in, for all of you, but
it’s late, and with your injuries both you and Vaze should get some rest. Seth,
are you done with Vaze’s wing?”

Seth
nodded while wrapping up the leftover string over a bloody needle. “You can all
stay here. I don’t want you staying in that damp Warehouse you call home on a
night like this,” the Bookworm said. I glanced at Vaze again and was shocked
when I didn’t see his wings. He met my gaze and acted as though nothing was
wrong so I decided to ignore it.

Al
got up and offered me a hand. I didn’t take it and got up myself to show I was
fine even though the pain in my shoulder had seemed to remember it had a job of
bugging the crap out of me. Al just shrugged and asked the bookworm where he
wanted us to stay.

The
bookworm led us to the attic of his bookshop which to me looked like it was
bigger than the actual store. It had just enough beds for all of us and an
enormous window at the very front of the store with a ledge to sit and watch
the streets. Curtains of a gentle shade of dark green stretched from the top to
the bottom of the window on each side. There was even another fireplace with
dry wood ready to be lit in its hearth.

Each
of the beds had a thick warm cover with the softest pillows I had ever set my
head on, but then again the pillows I usually used were leaves stuffed inside a
blanket or occasionally the feathers off our dinner. We try not to waste
anything. My clothes for instance were thrown out of a tailor shop because
moths had chewed holes in them. I didn’t care, in my mind it was a great
birthday present from Al.

The
old bookworm had even thought to lay new clothes out on each of the beds for me
and my brothers, and returned a few minutes after leaving with a pair of
clothes for Vaze to wear as well. I would never admit this out loud but the old
bookworm was the closest thing to a father we’ve ever had.

My
brothers and I chose our beds immediately after we had all dressed (though I
had to dress in a separate room obviously) and I chose the bed in the corner by
the window. Al chose the bed next to mine, which didn’t surprise me in the
least bit. Ever since we met we had felt safer together than apart. Or at least
he felt safer when he was around me. For me anything could be lethal, though
after a while I was tired of being a nervous wreck and just took what life had
to throw at me.

It
only took an hour for my brothers to be completely knocked out, to my
disadvantage. Darren snored loudly across the room, making any chance I had of
falling asleep a big fat zero. I could hardly hear Al’s soft breathing, and his
bed was only two feet from mine. The one thing I could hear clearly was the
rain pelting on the window pane. I tried to concentrate on the rather loud
pat
pat pat
sound the rain made, turning it into my own little lullaby to help
me sleep even in the midst of Darren’s snoring.

I
soon realized all resistance was futile. Giving up on sleep, I tiptoed out of
bed and sat next to the window. I watched the rain hitting the icy glass,
making everything I saw on the other side of the window distorted and warped.
Street lamps sizzled out of existence in the rain, leaving only the dingy black
street to be seen, all else obscured from sight.

A
fed up exhale from the bed across from mine caught my ears and I looked over to
see Vaze getting out of bed. He grabbed one of the extra pillows in the corner
and strode over to Darren with a slight irritation in his step. As carefully as
he could he placed it over Darren’s face, and immediately the snoring was
quieted. I giggled; it was the kind of thing I used to do. Vaze turned quickly
yet quietly and caught my eye with a surprised expression. It quickly faded and
was replaced with a friendly partial smile.

“It
helps stop the noise,” Vaze said. “Did I wake you?”

“Nope,”
I said quietly. “Darren beat you to it.” Vaze smiled. I was surprised to see
how much different he looked when he smiled. It was as if his whole face lit up
and sent warmth throughout my body. An awkward silence set in after that. For a
moment it seemed as though Vaze was going to come and sit by me, but after a
few slightly awkward steps he mumbled
good-night
and we both headed back
to our beds.

I
laid awake unmoving for a small time after that, pretending to be asleep by
breathing quietly. It didn’t take long after though for me to drift off, and
unfortunately spiral into a nightmare.

It
was hard to make sense of what was going on, and I knew it was a dream
immediately for one reason: Jake was tiny. I was sitting in a tree next to a
little Jake, or at least what Jake probably looked like when he was six. We
were overlooking the assassin Enzio, as he killed my Guardian. The horrible
scene unraveled before my eyes like it probably had for Jake, until finally the
woman’s golden blood was all that was left of her and Jake was already
scrambling towards the hidden baby. I couldn’t watch the end. I didn’t need to.
The frighten cry of my infant self was mixed in with the roar of fire and
Jake’s shriek of pain, giving me my own unwanted mental picture.

I
was soon alone, sitting in the tree by myself, staring down at the bluish
crystal that was the remains of my Guardian. Tears stung my eyes. They started
streaming without warning, and with a pathetic attempt to gain control I rubbed
my eyes with my coat as if it would stop the stinging tears.

When
I looked up again, I jumped out of my skin. A woman with deep purple eyes and long
caramel curly hair was looking down on me as if she was up above, floating in
the air. Yes,
she was looking
down
. The woman was literally three
feet up from me in the air, but there were no branches below to support her.
She smiled at me and wiped a tear off of my cheek. The woman drifted down to
the ground with amazing grace, and motioned for me to follow.

Not
knowing what else to do, I jumped from my perch to the ground. The woman seemed
to float over to the crystal. She scooped it up, then dropped it into a small
pouch that hung around a thin leather necklace.

The
woman glided back towards me and took my hand. My fist clenched, and my whole
body went tense. I wasn’t used to people touching me, especially not strangers.
Surprisingly, she only looked into my eyes and smiled with a twinge of sadness.
The woman eased my fist open slowly, and she slipped the pouch into my hand.
She looked into my eyes and smiled again, this time happily.

It
only lasted a second. The woman’s bright smile twisted into agony as she let
out a pained cry. Amber blood stained her pure white dress as she fell to the
ground. To my horror behind her was the blood-thirsty assassin, Enzio. His eyes
were ablaze and angry. I didn’t even have time to scream before he slashed down
at me with a black dagger.

I
woke up with a jolt; my fists balled up so tight they turned whiter than they
already were. I was breathing hard. I looked around the room to find everyone still
sleeping, so as quietly as possible I turned and peered out the window. It was
almost morning, though the skies were still dark and the rain hadn’t broken.

I
eased up my fists and to my surprise a small pouch rested in my hand. I opened
it in a hurry, intent on proving to myself that it was just a dream. Reality
must really hate me. Inside the pouch was a rounded crystal that emitted a
bluish glow. It pulsated with heat as if it was alive and (though I was
probably imagining it) it seemed to beat every so often. I don’t know how long
I stared at it, but a quick guess would tell me an hour, because a soft voice nearby
brought me back to reality, along with the sky going from black to grey out the
window.

“Morning
Scarlet,” Al yawned, which nearly made me jump out of my skin. I quickly shoved
the stone back in its pouch and into my pocket.

I
turned to find Al staring around through squinted eyes. I laughed. I couldn’t
help myself. His hair looked like he had just been through a hurricane. My hair
probably didn’t look any better because when Al looked at me he laughed too.

“Crazy
night, huh?” He said in a drowsy tone.

“You
have no idea…” I replied while brushing the knots out of my hair with my
fingers. I looked back out the window. It was obviously morning or Al wouldn’t
be awake, but it looked like it was night. The rain clouds were so thick they
blocked out the sun.

Al
rolled over in his bed while letting out a big yawn, and fell right off,
landing on the hard floor with a loud crash. The rest of my brothers jolted out
of their beds, and the pillow that had been on Darren’s face flew halfway
across the room.

I
rolled my eyes and hopped out of bed. I didn’t bother changing my clothes; the
ones I had on were probably the only pair I had and (thanks to the bookworm)
were brand new. I ran down the stairs and skipped the last three steps by
jumping to the floor with one hand still on the railing.

I
hit the ground hard, but despite the pain in my ankles I gave a little bow, as
if I had actually meant to do that. As though I had gotten bored of my
invisible audience, I lifted my head and searched around the room. The bookworm
was sitting in a chair by the fireplace asleep. I crept quietly over to his
seat and gathered all the air my lungs could hold, ready to scream.

“I
wouldn’t do that if I were you child,” The bookworm’s voice echoed throughout
the house and I jumped in surprise.

“What
are you talking about, I wasn’t doing anything,” I said trying to sound hurt as
my lungs deflated. “Who do you think you are blaming people with false accusations?”  

“Do
you really think I’m that stupid? That’s the same thing you said when I caught
you burning my books.”

I
shrugged. The bookworm just shook his head, and muttered something about being
too old. It was as if I were the reason for every white hair left on his head and
in his beard. And even if I was, white hair adds character right?

“Is
everyone up?” he asked with a sigh. There was no need for me to answer because
my brothers came bounding down the stairs with Vaze at the rear. The bookworm
looked at them and rubbed his temple. Finally, to my pleasure, he said, “Well
then let’s get you some breakfast.”

The
bookworm walked towards the front of the shop and I followed close behind. The
large bookshelves towered all around, but I was not interested in them at all.
Instead I set my sites on a different target. I jumped behind the counter in
search for food, not caring if I looked more like a hungry monkey than a hungry
girl. I hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday morning, and my stomach had
just about had it. I tore open the drawers in my desperate search for a scrap
of food. I didn’t care if I had to fight a mouse for it, I was going to get my
food as soon as possible.

“Hey,
Bookworm,” I called out in frustration. “Where do you keep the food in this
dump?”

Air
whizzed by my ear, and was followed by a sharp pain. I yelped, more from
surprise than pain, but still I grabbed my throbbing ear.

“Scarlet!
Show some respect!” Jake scolded me. Jake was just about the only person that
didn’t hesitate to punish me when I acted badly. He didn’t do it much though.
He did it for the bookworm because he was the only person who had ever shown us
kindness.

The
Bookworm didn’t pay any attention. He was too busy staring out the window, with
a somewhat shocked and disbelieving expression. We all gazed out the window
along with him in curiosity. It didn’t seem very interesting to me. The people
on the streets were walking in one direction: to the center of the town. There
were the richer citizens, and some of the middle class, but the ones that were
seen the most were the lowest class and homeless. Most of the homeless were
adults, because homeless kids tended to die quickly, with the exception of my
family, who knew how to survive better than others. I was about to look away
when I realized something was off. Everyone’s eyes were the same color: so
light that they were almost white.

Anyone
else wouldn’t think twice about it, but growing up where no ones’ eyes were
lighter than your own, it can be kind of weird seeing a bunch of people with
white eyes passing by. I looked harder, and realized that wasn’t the only part
that didn’t seem right. Every one outside had the same look on their face:
completely blank. Not Darren’s face when someone says something smart type of blank,
but genuine zombie like blank.

“We
have to get out of here, now,” The bookworm said in a dark tone.  Without
warning he whipped around faster than I thought possible and bolted back
towards the stairs. “Get away from the window! Quickly, before any of you are
seen!” He called back to us.

No
one hesitated. Jake and Al jumped behind the counter with me while Seth, Darren,
and Vaze shot behind a bookcase. No one moved, and I wouldn’t be surprised if
no one breathed either. The way the bookworm ordered us to hide so suddenly
made it feel like if we moved we’d be discovered. I was pretty sure none of us
knew exactly why we had to hide from the people outside. They weren’t even
paying attention to their surroundings, which was obvious by the sound of one
of them walking headfirst into a streetlight.

“As
quietly as you can children, come to the back,” The bookworm’s voice made its
way to us in hardly more than a whisper. Jake was the first to move. He slipped
through the space between the two halves of the counter like a ghost. Al
scrambled along after him with me at the rear. In less than a minute we were
standing before the bookworm again as he was putting out the fire in the
fireplace. In his arm was a bundle that looked about as big as me.

The
bookworm laid the bundle onto the ground and unraveled it. Its contents
surprised me, because you probably can’t find these things in any bookstore.
What lay before us were my best friends: daggers. Heck, anything dangerous was
my best friend, unless of course it was trying to kill me. There were also
enough cloaks for all of us.

“Throw
on a cloak and grab a dagger!” The bookworm had already grabbed a dagger and
was frantically putting a cloak over his shoulders. My brothers did the same
and I decided to follow their lead. Vaze had already gotten his things before
the bookworm started talking.

“We
must get out of the town as soon as possible, before the Convergence begins.
Vaze and Scarlet would be fine but the rest of you wouldn’t be able to fight
it. The only reason you’re not doing what the citizens of the town are, is because
Scarlet’s ‘abnormalities’ have been exposed to you enough that you have her
ability to resist the evil magic’s pull.”

All
this was new to me. I for one had no idea what he was talking about. Despite
this, I didn’t stop to ask questions. The bookworm led us hastily to the back
door and shot out. Dirty alleyways flashed alongside us as we bolted across the
city. We had chosen a back route, which had been abandoned long ago and had
been neglected for years. We didn’t pass any people, but through the alleyways
that connected to the main street I could see people slowly walking towards the
center of the town.

Before
I knew it, we reached the tree-line that marked the city limits. We slowed to a
halt that turned into a chorus of gasping to our catch breath. A shriek cut
through the air. I stopped short as my eyes widened. I knew that all too well.
It was a Shadow. Instead of the sound coming from the forest, it came from the
town.

“Bookworm!”
I croaked out through a dry throat. “What’s going on?” I was freaking out. Last
time I had run into the Shadows I also ran into Enzio, the assassin that nearly
killed Vaze and I. The only reason we had lived was because he disappeared
through black flames.

“The
Convergence is starting in the town! Quickly children, before it is too late!”
The Bookworm shoved my brothers into the forest one by one. I watched as the
backs of their cloaks disappeared into the trees.

Just
as Vaze was about to follow them, a voice boomed from the city. “Vaze! Face me
you coward! You have always been running! Do you remember when I slayed your
mother before your eyes? You could have saved her, but you abandoned her, just
like you abandoned your people! You abandoned everything and in turn your
Guardian abandoned you, because you are spineless! Will you run yet again?”

I
looked to Vaze in confusion. His back was to me, but I could see that he was
trembling with anger. His fists were balled up so tight that I could see every
bone, vein, and muscle in them.

Vaze’s
wings snapped out of his cloak. “No!” The Bookworm screamed, but it was too
late because Vaze was too far from him to make a difference. Then I made a snap
decision. I grabbed Vaze’s leg as he was lifting off, hoping that would make it
too difficult to fly.

Sometimes
I wish I was born smart like Seth so I wouldn’t make stupid decisions. Decisions
like mine could prove deadly. For example, jumping onto the legs of a person
lifting off into the air. To Vaze, I didn’t weigh a thing. He lifted off with
ease and before I could let go we were at heights that make birds airsick. As
though I were a child, Vaze plucked me off of his leg and held me tightly
against his chest, and out of fear I threw my arms around his neck like a cat
stuck in a tree that’s afraid to climb down.

I
clung to Vaze for dear life as we soared over the town. I made another stupid
decision and looked down. The blood in my face left instantly as I saw the now
pebble-sized buildings. The streets were dotted with little black specks everywhere.
Freezing cold wind and raindrops whipped at my face, which, in turn, quickly
went numb.

Without
warning, Vaze snapped his wings shut. I closed my eyes tighter than I thought
possible and held on for dear life as Vaze plummeted towards the ground, taking
me along for the ride. If I could have screamed I would have, but I was
completely paralyzed with fear.