“I’ll be fine.” Gabe dismissed, trying to reassure Michael.
“I am not taking that for an answer, Gabe.
We need to have this talk.
You have a problem
with me.
We need to discuss it.”
“You really want to do this?” Gabe asked, cautiously.
With a nod from Michael, Gabe continued, “I felt hurt when you brought me here and made all these promises of it being like a family.
Then as soon as I move in, you checked out.
I barely saw you this summer.
Then there is the entire situation with Baal.”
“What do you mean?” Michael inquired, sincerely concerned.
“One of the most powerful demons manages to get in my head.
I tell you all.
Everyone flips out and then nothing.
Not another word is said about it to me.
Sometimes I feel like I am a sitting duck.
Nobody in power here seems to give a damn.”
“Gabe, just because we don’t tell you everything doesn’t mean the problem isn’t being addressed.”
Michael explained reassuringly.
“Don’t you think I should know what’s going on?
I survived a long time without you.” Gabe argued.
“We don’t tell you what’s going on for your own protection.”
“What is that supposed to mean?
How can that possibly benefit me?”
“One of the abilities a Guardian has that comes with age is to lock your mind.
A lot of demons, especially trackers or a demon with the age and experience of Baal, can get into your head.
They can catch glimpses of what you see.
It was clear that Baal had found a path into your mind.
The more you knew of our plans, the more Baal would know.
That is why we kept you in the dark and why I avoided you.” Michael further explained, sympathy filling his voice.
“Well, that still doesn’t explain why you have been so hard on me!”
“I know I've been hard, but it was for your protection as well, Gabe.”
“How about my tests?
Everyone thinks I did a great job, except you.” Gabe argued.
“I don’t see how cutting me down on my performance is a way to protect me.”
“I had to do that.
The only way we can keep Baal from entering your mind is if you are here, on the grounds.
Our clerics have been casting constant protection spells to strengthen the barrier.
Sometimes I fear even that is not enough.
If you were on field assignments there is no way we could keep you safe.”
“Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?” Gabe moaned.
“I couldn’t.
Everything had to be believable in case somehow Baal managed to break the barrier and get into your mind.” Michael insisted.
“So why tell me now?” Gabe asked.
“Things have changed.
If we are going to help Sophie and the others, I need you.
Are we past this?”
Gabe was still frustrated at Michael.
But with a better understanding of why he did the things he did, once again, Gabe felt remorseful about his behavior.
“Yeah,” Gabe replied in an almost whisper and then nodded his head to reaffirm his verbal response.
“So what’s the plan?” Gabe asked, eager to discover how he could help his beloved Sophie.
“The curse on the artifacts is a powerful one.
We will need to banish the demons behind it to break the spell.”
“Great.
Who is behind it then?”
Gabe asked.
“We don’t know.” Michael replied.
“Wait, what?
No.” The confused words stumbled from Gabe’s lips.
A second later, the door opened and Uri walked in, quickly moving to Michael’s side.
“Is the girl alright?” Michael asked.
“She will be fine.” Uri replied, glancing over at Gabe.
Gabe was full of regret for even speaking to Neru.
If she had just avoided him, she would have never gotten hurt.
“I was just explaining to Gabe what we’re up against.” Michael continued.
“Even though we don’t know who is behind it, we know where to start.
Iron Gate is where the runes came from, so that is the best place to begin.”
“Great, so when do we transport?” Gabe asked.
“We can’t use a transportation spell.” Uri explained.
“What?
Why not?” Gabe exclaimed.
“Do you remember the beach?
Michael transported us only a couple of miles and you and I were out for a day.
We don’t have the age, experience, or ability to focus like we need to for that distance of transportation.
We will have to take the Alicorns.”
Uri explained.
“Fine, when do we leave?” Gabe inquired eagerly.
“It’s not that simple.” Michael added.
“Baal is still tracking you.
As soon as you leave the manor, you will no longer be protected.”
“Well, I’m going.” Gabe snapped.
“I agree you need to go, but we need to be clever in how we go about it.” Michael said with a smile.
His grin made Gabe nervous.
Gabe glanced over to Uri and Michael as they walked towards the stables with heavy and purposeful steps.
“So you understand the plan?” Michael asked, looking back at Gabe.
“I guess, but I’m not sure how comfortable I am with it.”
“I’m sure Michael wouldn’t send us out unless he thought our chances were good.” Uri chimed in confidently.
“Look, boys,” Michael began.
“I am not going to lie to you.
What we are about to do is extremely dangerous.
I have no idea how it will shake out.
With that being said, I believe it’s the only way, Gabe.”
“What if the decoy doesn’t work?” Gabe asked nervously.
“It will.” Uri reassured Gabe.
“Let's go over this one more time.” Michael began, coming to a stop outside the stables.
“Baal will know the moment you have left the safety of the manor.
There is no way you will be able to keep him out of your mind at your level, we know that.
That means we have to figure out a way to combat him.”
“I just wish it was in a way that I could defend myself.” Gabe replied.
“I really believe the best way is for you to be asleep.
He’ll still be able to penetrate your dreams, but if you are asleep you can’t give away any details of where you are since you won’t be able to see anything and you don’t know the flight path.”
“Yeah, while I get the reasoning behind me being asleep, can you see why it’s the part of the plan I am feeling real uncomfortable with?
What if he finds us?
I can’t exactly protect myself while unconscious.” Gabe’s anxiety over the plan rang through his voice.
“Honestly, Gabe, if Baal finds us, it won’t matter if you’re asleep or awake, we’re dead.” Uri added.
“Gee, thanks, Uri.
That's inspiring.” Gabe chirped sarcastically.
“It’s not going to come to that!”
Michael exclaimed.
“Worst case, if Baal finds you, Uri should be able to transport you back here, right?”
Uri smiled as he answered, “It won’t be pretty, but we should make it back in one piece, I think.”
“Baal will never think I allowed you to leave the manor unless I was the one at your side.
I’ll travel south on another Alicorn.
I will allow the trackers to catch a few glimpses in my mind.
They will most likely assume they have cracked my thoughts.
If they find me, then they think they will find you.”
Michael expounded.
“This still doesn’t seem like a great idea.” Gabe muttered.
“Do you want to help Sophie? “ Uri snapped, exhausted by Gabe’s apprehension.
Not waiting for Gabe to answer, Michael interjected. “Once you are at Iron Gate, you two should be safe.
Their clerics will be able to protect you from the trackers.”
“Okay, well I guess I’m as ready as I will ever be.” Gabe knew how untrue the words actually were.
He had zero confidence in this plan, but he would do anything to save Sophie.
The three walked into the stables.
The Alicorns greeted them.
They were—as always—ready to assist in any way possible.
Michael looked at his two young students.
“Haim will make sure Raimie, Dina, and Sophie remain in a deep sleep until you return.
Contact me once you arrive.
Be safe.”
Gabe felt terrible for being so angry with his mentor.
Everything Michael had done was to protect him.
Gabe had treated him with such disrespect in recent nights, he wasn’t sure if his words could change anything.
“Somnus.”
The moment the word left Michael’s mouth, Gabe was consumed by a blackness that hung like blankets all around him.
Gabe stared into the dark, wondering if this was what it was like for Sophie.
A few moments passed.
The silence of the darkness had turned into a buzzing white noise.
Gabe swiped at the darkness in front of him to see if he could cause any changes in it, but nothing happened.
Gabe accepted that this is what the entire journey would be like.
But just as he did, he caught sight of a white feather falling slowly through the darkness.
It fell slow and graceful; Gabe thought it looked to be dancing.
He had no thoughts in his mind of where it came from or why it was there.
He simply accepted it was a beautiful distraction to the darkness.
A second later, another feather fell and then another.
Gabe stared in awe at their choreography.
Gabe heard a distant whistling sound.
He frantically looked around for the source that disrupted his peace.
The louder it got, the more it became clear; it was a scream and not a whistle.
Gabe’s eyes shot upward. A large white object flew toward him quickly.
Before he could blink, the object rocketed past him into the nothingness.
As it flew past, Gabe could see it was in fact a person.
What was worse is that it was his mentor, Michael.
He had massive white wings on his back and was dressed in full body armor that looked like something from the time of the Romans and Gladiators.
One of the white wings was covered in deep, red blood.
His screams were haunting, but not as much as the desperate look of fear on his face as he fell past him.
Gabe shut his eyes tightly and repeated to himself, “It’s not real, it’s a dream.
It’s not real, it’s a dream.”
When he opened his eyes again, Gabe felt a tremendous relief that Michael and the blackness were gone.
Instead, he was in a white field that extended as far as his eyes could see.
It was covered in a layer of plump, full dandelions.
He didn’t recognize the place and was sure he had never been there, asleep or awake.
“Hello?” Gabe called out, surprised to hear his voice echo in the openness.
In the distance, Gabe caught sight of a figure standing next to a Cherry tree that was in full bloom.
It was too far to make out who the person was.
He called out again.
“Hello there?”
Still, no response from the figure.
Before he could stop himself, Gabe walked toward the figure, calling out again as he came closer.
“Who’s there?”
When he closed in on the figure, he could see the silhouette of girl wearing a white dress.
She held tight to a flowing white scarf that blew in the wind behind her.
The gust of wind sent little bits of the dandelions flying all around, dancing around her body.
Gabe inched closer.
Slowly, the girl turned to face him.
Gabe sighed.
Before him stood Sophie, her auburn hair falling perfectly at the side of her face.
Her eyes glowed with the intense blue he loved so much.
He had lost many hours over the summer gazing into those entrancing eyes.
Her pale skin almost seemed to glimmer in the sunlight.