The Guardian of Threshold (22 page)

***

I was thinking about making myself known to them when a dark blur flew in through the cave opening.

My heart was suddenly engulfed in pain and my shoulder burned intensely.

“Serafin! What are you doing here?” asked Phasma as he approached from above.

“Sorry… I was just—” Nyx tried to explain, but Jonas cut her short.

“Leave her alone, you dingbat,” said Jonas.

“Ha ha, what is this?” laughed Phasma. “You two have met? And are you trying to actually protect her?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“I take it you haven’t told him,” said Phasma, pacing back and forth with his wings tucked away. “You see, this creature you’re so set on protecting is probably the only person in this room who doesn’t need protection.”

“What do you mean?” Jonas asked. As he waited for an answer, he looked from Phasma to Nyx. Nyx looked uncomfortable as her skin started to glow again.

Before Nyx could answer, her body ignited in a flash, sending a blast wave through the air and pushing Jonas back into the wall of his cage.

“How dare you defy me?” Phasma screamed. “From now on, you’re not to leave your room. And don’t ever talk with the undead again. Do you understand?”

“But, Dad, he understands—”

“Enough!” yelled Phasma, looking upset.

“Dad? You’re… his daughter?” asked Jonas.

I wished I could’ve told Jonas to be quiet because he didn’t seem to be helping his situation. Carla also looked ready to charge in. I grabbed her hand to make sure she didn’t do anything she would later regret.

“Not by choice,” said Nyx, sobbing, although her flames had subsided when Phasma yelled at her.

“Leave us at once,” ordered Phasma.

“You better not hurt him, Dad,” cried Nyx before she left the room.

Phasma didn’t acknowledge or reply.

“So you have been chatting with my daughter, I see. It doesn’t matter. It won’t change a thing,” said Phasma. The whole time, Jonas looked scared.

“I don’t know what you want, but I know you won’t succeed,” said Jonas, shaking. “My friend will fin—” said Jonas, but then he cut himself short.

“I sure hope so,” Phasma said. “In fact, I am counting on it.”

“I’m sure he’s not scared of you. You don’t even scare me,” shouted Jonas.

“Really, is that so?” said Phasma. He approached Jonas, bringing his face to just inches away from Jonas’s face. Even standing a good distance away, I noticed details I had missed before. His face had many indescribable traits. His teeth were yellow, sharp, and pointy like a deadly vampire. His eyes were the deepest icicle-blue color I had ever seen. I had never seen eyes that cold before. They lacked a soul or even a single drop of goodwill. His breath smelled like a week-old road kill. His skin was rough and uneven, and his hair seemed to have been ripped right out of a mad scientist magazine.

As he moved closer, Jonas tried to step backward, but it was no use. He only had enough space to take one or two steps in each direction.

“We’ll finish this later. You’re lucky that your friend hasn’t gotten here yet,” said Phasma as he stepped back and slowly spread his immense wings. He took off with a forceful thrust, leaving dust in his wake. Just like before, the cave wall opened as he flew through it.

I could still hear Phasma’s last words. They frightened me.

After we made sure Phasma was really gone, we approached Jonas’s cage.

“Guys, you’re not going to believe what happened,” said Jonas, still shaking.

“We know, we were hiding over there,” replied Carla. “After all, someone needed to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed. What the hell were you thinking, arguing with him like that?”

When Jonas didn’t answer, Carla inserted the oversized metal key into the rusty old padlock, and it popped open and fell to the ground.

“What about Nyx?” asked Jonas as he stepped outside the cage.

“Are you kidding me? That’s Phasma’s daughter. Whose side do you think she’s on?” I said.

“She didn’t strike me as a bad person,” replied Jonas.

“She’s not a person, she’s not even human, remember?” said Carla.

“I don’t want to leave without at least trying to help her or saying good-bye,” said Jonas. Unfortunately for us, he had a determined look much like Carla’s on his face. This was a first for Jonas because he had never been determined about anything in his life.

I stood in the spot where Nyx had been earlier and noticed that the place was bare and dry, thanks to Nyx’s fiery outbursts.

“Not to mention that she could kill us all in one of her fiery fits,” I said.

“I’ll make you a deal. We’ll get out of here and find some help, and then we can return to find Nyx,” said Carla, looking eager to get away.

“No way!” Jonas said determined.

“Listen, we can’t stay here much longer. Eventually, he’ll be back, you know?” added Carla.

“You guys can go if you want to, but I’m going to stay and look for her,” said Jonas. Then he took off running.

***

“Jonas! Don’t do this,” screamed Carla, waking up some of the people who slept restlessly in the chamber.

“Help… me,” one of them whispered.

I couldn’t ignore a plea for help, so I reached for the keys and unlocked the door. The stranger tried to move, but he was too weak to even reach the open door.

“Thank… you,” he said as he closed his eyes and gave up with a long sigh.

“We better go after Jonas, before he gets himself hurt or worse,” said Carla.

I felt guilty for leaving that poor person behind, but I needed to find Jonas.

We both took off after Jonas, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a whitish blue flash light up the chamber. At first I thought Nyx had returned, but just when we were about to turn the corner I stopped and looked back. I saw several light beings holding the stranger I had just freed. They placed him in some sort of stretcher and vanished into thin air.

“He’s gone… someone must’ve helped him,” I said to Carla. She nodded, but she seemed more worried about Jonas than anything else.

“Why do I have to have such a stubborn brother?” said Carla as she picked up the pace.

“You do know that you’re just like him, right?” I asked, smiling.

“I’m not stubborn. I’m determined, and that’s different,” she replied.

I knew better than to try to convince her otherwise.

We had no clue where he was heading. Jonas ran so fast that he was gone from our sight. The many twists and turns of the cave made our job that much harder.

We were about to turn around when we saw a soft orange glow in the distance.

“There!” I said.

“Quick, let’s go,” said Carla as she sped toward the end of the tunnel.

As we got closer, we heard a faint female sob. We approached carefully. Curious and unsure if Jonas was there, I peeked inside the room. It was a simple room with a canopy bed. Although the bed was grey and had a black metal motif on the support pillars, it wasn’t unattractive.

Nyx was sitting near the bed. She was crying and glowed with a soft orange hue. But there was no sign of Jonas.

“Here’s not here!” said Carla a bit too loud. Nyx heard her and turned around.

“Who? What do you want?” asked Nyx, wiping her tears away.

I decided it would be best to step out from behind the wall and explain.

“Sorry, we mean you no harm,” I said as politely as I could.

“Who are you?” said Nyx.

“I’m a friend,” I replied as I moved a bit closer. As I did, her glow intensified.

“Please believe me when I say that I mean you no harm,” I said as the room temperature rose.

“Stay away,” Nyx warned. “One more step, and I’ll burn you.”

“Okay, take it easy. I was looking for my friend. He went to look for you and disappeared. When I saw this room glowing, I thought he might have found you,” I said as I backed away.

“Are you friends with the undead?” asked Nyx as the flame diminished a little.

“Yes, not only that, we’re undead as well,” I confessed. “We came here to help him.”

“Jonas is my brother, have you seen him?” Carla said, stepping forward cautiously.

“I saw him earlier, but I haven’t seen him since my father came back,” said Nyx. She looked us straight in the eyes, and it was as if she could see our very souls.

“I believe you,” said Nyx. “You’re going to need my help to find him.”

“But what about your father?” I asked.

“He won’t be back until later,” she replied.

“Where should we start?” asked Carla.

“First things first, I’ll help you on one condition,” added Nyx.

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“My condition is that you get me out of here too,” she said as tears started to fill her eyes.

I thought about it for a second.

“Agreed,” I said, wondering if I had made the right decision. However, upon looking at Carla I knew I had. Her approving smile said it all.

“Okay then, but if anyone asks, you’re helping me find a prisoner who escaped,” said Nyx as she stood up and approached Carla and me.

“Since you guys aren’t Night Dwellers, I take it you don’t really look like that?” asked Nyx.

“Nope, we look like humans, much like my friend and the others being held in the undead prisoners’ chamber,” I replied.

“Why are they being held there? What could they have done so wrong to deserve such harsh punishment?” asked Carla.

“Over here, they haven’t done anything wrong yet, they haven’t had the chance to,” explained Nyx.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Those you saw chained up are the violent and relentless souls of the physical realm. Once they die, they come here and usually stay until they are either rescued or they join the Night Dwellers,” explained Nyx.

“So are they what people call bad spirits?” I asked.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t exactly call them bad. I think of them as beings who happened to make some bad choices while in the physical realm,” said Nyx.

“Who rescues them?” I asked.

“Nobody knows. I have seen them only a handful of times. They usually come when no one is around. Many Night Dwellers don’t believe the rescuers even exist because very few have ever seen them,” Nyx continued to explain. “I suspect that somewhere someone cares enough to help their forgotten criminal souls.”

“Are they very luminous beings, almost whitish?” I asked.

“Do you know them?” asked Nyx.

“No, but I think we just saw them rescue someone,” I added.

“They are beautiful. I want to meet them. In fact, that’s where I need you guys to take me once we find your friend,” replied Nyx.

“But we don’t know anything about them or this world,” complained Carla.

“Neither do I. My whole life, I have been stuck here in Nightside,” said Nyx, looking sad.

“Nightside?” asked Carla.

“Ah, I keep forgetting you guys aren’t from around here. Threshold is made of different regions. Currently, we’re in Nightside, where darkness rules. Then there is Twilight, which only a privileged few have had the fortune to visit. And lastly, there is Dayside. Dayside is still a mystery to most of us. We hear stories about it, rumors really. The main one being that nobody has ever come back from there.”

“Why is this place called Nightside?” I asked.

“It’s always night in Nightside. We have never seen daylight. Rumor has it that Dayside has never seen a single star in the sky. I personally have only seen Nightside and some of Twilight,” replied Nyx.

Some of the things Nyx told us were amazing, while others were downright unbelievable. We had a lot to discover about Threshold. I just hoped we would live long to.

I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother would be at one of the places Nyx mentioned. I was about to ask her about it when we spotted two guards on patrol coming our way.

“Follow my lead,” Nyx whispered.

“What are you guys doing here?” asked a toothless guard.

“Following orders, exactly what you should be doing. These are the new recruits who are going to take over this route. Didn’t anyone tell you that you two have been placed onto Phasma’s private guard?” asked Nyx.

“Oh, what? Yes, thank you, we’re very… happy for the promotion, scion,” replied the toothless guard.

“Well, head out then. Your training begins immediately. I’ll personally train these recruits on this route,” Nyx ordered.

“Yes Scion, right away,” the other guard said as he walked past us, sarcastically mumbling under his breath: “Oh great, more work… just what I wanted.”

“Shhh, the scion will hear you,” ordered the toothless guard.

“Well done,” said Carla after they were gone.

“Thanks. This leads straight into the Core. The area is off limits, so we won’t have to worry about the guards. I have been here a few times, usually when I want to be left alone,” explained Nyx.

“Core? What’s that?” I asked.

“The Core is Threshold’s energy source. The lava inside the forge, for example, comes from the Core,” said Nyx as she started to glow again. Carla and I backed up discretely.

“Are you guys scared of me too?” asked Nyx, looking hurt.

“No, it’s just that everything here is so different,” I said.

“Your friend Jonas isn’t scared of me, he told me so,” said Nyx proudly.

“Neither are we. Just give us a warning before lighting up,” said Carla to ease the tension.

“Okay, I’ll try. Don’t worry, the reason I started to glow is because from here on out, it will get fairly dark. And there aren’t any torches because nobody comes down here.”

“Where are you guys going?” said Jonas from right behind us.

“Jonas?” asked Carla.

“Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you,” I said when I saw him.

“I was right there, hiding behind that rock. I was looking for Nyx when I saw those two guards approach, so I hid. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave, they kept talking and pacing back and forth, and then you guys showed up,” explained Jonas.

“I’m glad you’re okay. We were worried sick. Don’t you dare do that again,” said Carla.

“How are we going to get out of here?” asked Jonas.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” said Nyx.

“Are you’re helping us?” asked Jonas.