Guardian: Darkness Rising (5 page)

James leaned back on
the couch, crossing his arms. “So thought I,” he said. “But it
turns out that there’s a chance the Master might come back if he
repossesses his body. The Spirits require our assistance to prevent
that from happening.”

“
Alright, point taken,” Thomas said. “There
is
more we can do. But how are we supposed to help with that?
We hardly managed to defeat him! If it hadn’t been for Sabrina, we
would’ve been toast!”

“
That’s true,”
Antonio said. He’d been disinterestedly cleaning his glasses the
whole time, as if he didn’t care that he was going to have to put
his life on the line once again. “But we’re twenty-five years older
now. We’re not a bunch of stupid kids anymore.”

“
You’re turning forty-five in February,” Bella said smugly.
“I don’t know who’s got more strength and agility, a
nineteen-year-old or a forty-five-year-old, but I’d say the
nineteen-year-old
does
have some advantage
there...”

Antonio responded
with a grunt. “Just shut up, Bella,” he said. “I
know
I’m not what I used to be, but I can still be at
least
as
strong as I used to be. For a while, at
least...” His voice quickly died out to a grumpy grumbling
sound.

James leaned forward, placing his
elbows on his knees. “Guys,” James said, “you know the drill. Just
go to sleep tonight, and we’ll be on our way.”

Lucy ran a confused
hand through her long, dark red hair. “And you’re sure there’s no
way out of this?” she said. “You’re absolutely sure that you guys
and your kids will have to go back there, for -
who knows
how long?”

James rolled his eyes, yet it
wasn’t a roll of annoyance. He was acknowledging his displeasure
with the fact that there was no way out. “Trust me, if there
would’ve been a way out of this, I wouldn’t have called in this
meeting in the first place,” he said tiredly. “There’s absolutely
no way out. Believe me, I checked with Akilah. More than
once.”

Antonio fell backward
into the chair he was sitting on, grabbing his head with both his
hands. “Wow, man,” he sighed. “Just -
wow
.”

“
And our kids
know
about all of
this already?” Thomas said; confusion reflected in his grey eyes.
“How – how did this happen? How – and
why
– and
what
did you tell them?”

“
I told them
carefully, without trying to scare them,” James summed up the
answers to Thomas’s questions, “I told them because the book had
gently thrown them against a wall after they’d touched it, and I
told them about our adventure and the consequences that come with
touching that book.” He grinned. “So... nothing out of the
ordinary, I’d say.”

“
And... how did they
respond?” Samira said worriedly. “Did they take it
well?”

“
They did go a bit
pale, I believe,” James said. “But they’ll probably be fine; I told
them we’d be staying with them all the time and would protect them
at all costs. Something which I believe is our duty as parents, am
I right?”

The others nodded
agreeing. It
was
their duty. And a duty they’d die
for to fulfil, although they hoped heavily that it’d never have to
go
that
far.

“
I’d suggest we spend
some time preparing them a bit for what’s to come by allowing them
to read the book,” Lucy suggested. “That way, you guys have some
time for yourselves to get your memories of Lunaria all together.
There might be something you remember from your last visit that
will bring an advantage for you.”

“
Lucy, you’re
brilliant!” James said, as he sat down on his knees and bent over
the coffee table to draw his friends closer. “We can base a
strategy on things that went well – things we should repeat – and
things that went wrong and which we should avoid repeating at all
costs.

This visit will be different and
probably more dangerous – or not, who knows – than our previous
visit, but if we take another look at our past victories and
failures, we can learn from those.”

The others agreed
with him; while there’d been plenty of plans that had worked, many
had failed. If they could remember what happened when their plans
failed, they could work around that to make them work –
hopefully.

It wasn’t a foolproof system, but
it sure was a good and useful system. James shortly left to return
the book to the teenagers and explain to them what they had to do,
before returning to his own crew and discussing
strategies.

This war wasn’t over yet. It’d
only just begun – twenty-five years ago.

*

When Antonio drove home later that afternoon,
he felt nervous. And not because of the grim future that lay
ahead of him and his friends, but because he had to tell his
ex-wife about it. 

He hadn’t spoken to her in three
years, and she probably didn’t have any interest in doing so now,
but Antonio believed that Louise had the right to know what was
going on. 

As he pulled up in his ex’s
driveway, Antonio nearly had second thoughts, but as he began to
back out of the driveway, the front door opened, and Louise
appeared in the opening; her eyes widened in surprise at the sight
of her ex-husband’s car. 

“
Antonio?” Louise asked, trying
hard to sound friendly as Antonio got out of his car. “What
are you doing here?” 

“
There’s... a situation,” Antonio
said, wearing a serious expression on his face. “We need to
talk.” 

Louise, although clearly reluctant
to do so, told her husband to come inside.  

“
Does this have anything to do
with Mari?” Louise said. “If not, then I’m afraid I’m not
interested. 

“
It’s not about Mari, but it is
about your family,” Antonio said. “Well – your former family.
Me.” 

“
Isn’t it always about you?”
Louise said; she simply couldn’t keep herself from making snarky
remarks at her ex. Antonio paid it no mind. 

“
I have to go back
to Lunaria, Louise,” he said. “Do you remember that old story
I told you shortly after we got together? It’s happening
again.” 

Louise set her jaw. “You’re kidding,
right?” 

“
Ah, of course,” Antonio sighed.
“You never believed that story.” 

Louise sipped from her coffee. She
hadn’t offered Antonio any. ”I don’t see why I
should.” 

“
Well, maybe
because it’s true?” Antonio snapped. “There are five people –
no, 
seven
 people who’ve confirmed that everything I told you was
true.” 

“
Magic?” Louise
mumbled. “
Really
,
Antonio?” 

“
Then explain why me and my
friends were gone for nearly an entire month,” Antonio
suggested. Louise shrugged; she couldn’t really deny that as a
fact. 

“
Well... even if it is true,” she
said, “then why are you going back?” 

Antonio scratched his chin. “To finish off any
unfinished business we had accidentally left,” he said, and then
stood up. “Anyway. If Mari comes back while I’m away... of if I
don’t come back, and she does... then tell her where her father
went. 

“
And then tell her he’s sorry
that he wasn’t there for her.”  

Antonio then turned around and
left, leaving Louise sitting on the couch. She didn’t even go after
him; she simply listened to the screeching sound of Antonio’s tires
as they raced through the street. 

Return to
Lunaria

The adults had no time to take a break during
the day. There was much to discuss – and that included making
plans. It quickly turned out that no one truly had any idea what to
do – after all, the adults didn’t know what they would be up
against. The fact that they would be forced to put their children
in danger didn’t help, either.

The adult Guardians spent the time
they had left instructing their children on what to do when they
got to Lunaria; just simply stay close to their parents and wait
for further instructions.

Anna and Lucy promised James they
would stick together. The two women knew their children would need
someone to talk to. They’d had the same experience twenty-five
years ago, so they knew what the teenagers were going through. The
kids that stayed behind, for that matter, promised to take care of
each other – nearly every teenager had a sibling they’d be leaving
behind (save Felicity and Tony, as they were both part of the Bond
of Light).

But eventually, night-time came, and it was
time to go to sleep.

*

Unlike his previous visit, James was not the
first to wake up this time, nor did he wake up in Keepers’ Cove, as
he’d originally expected. But, of course – why would the Spirits
send him and his friends there? It made much more sense that Akilah
would bring the Guardians to the castle.

James put on the clothes he found at the foot
of his bed; it was his old Guardian’s attire, but then brand new –
and fir for his newfound bread shoulders. Obviously, the clothes he
wore as the scrawny sixteen-year-old he’d been, never would’ve
possibly fit him now.

As soon as he was dressed, James went out to
explore the castle, in search of his friends – the room he’d woken
up in had four more empty beds, so he instantly assumed that the
others were already awake – and most likely waiting for him,
too.

James felt curious as to what he was about to
discover; the other Spirits, Akilah’s siblings, would be there now,
too. And since the Guardians had never met any of them – save
Akilah, of course -, this was bound to become an interesting
meeting.

As he walked around the castle, James took
some time to appreciate its breathtaking beauty. A lot had changed
in the past twenty-five years; as he looked out of the windows as
he passed them, James could see that the Land of Light had been
restored to its full glory. The light had been returned, and it was
beautiful; it nearly made James forget why he was there.

He quickly tried to find his way
to the Ritual Chamber, where he expected to find the others. It’d
been a long time since he’d last set foot in this castle, and even
then, he never got to see too much of it, which made him more or
less worried that he would get lost quite easily.

But luckily, that didn’t happen, and he’d soon
found the room with the glass-ceiling.

As soon as James had been noticed, all five
Spirits of Light rose from their seats. “James,” Akilah said
warmly, beckoning him. “We were waiting for you. Please, join
us.”

Before sitting down, James shook hands with
the other Spirits; it was as if they were idolizing him. And maybe
they were; after all, James had sacrificed himself for the sake of
Lunaria.

“
Welcome, Guardians and children,”
one of the Spirits said as James sat down. “You might not have been
aware of it at the time, Guardians, but we’ve followed your every
move from the shadows the last time you were here, and we must say
we were very impressed.”

The Spirit was looking young and
boyish; his skin was a shimmering crystal blue, and his silver eyes
glittered as jewels in his face. He had white freckles on his
cheeks, and his hair was a messy bunch of silver strands with
golden highlights. “I am the youngest of the Spirits,” he said.
“Ince, the Spirit of Innocence. And these are my brother and
sisters.”

“
Why, thank you,” Thomas said. “We
are very honoured.”

As James looked around the table, he noticed
that all of his friends were dressed in their old clothes as well.
Their children were dressed in clothes that were fairly similar to
the parents’, but still noticeably different.

“
No,
we
are honoured,”
another Spirit said. She was a female with fair skin, and wavy,
dark brown hair that was decorated with flowers. She quickly
proceeded to introduce herself as Aoife, the Spirit of Life. “You
risked your lives multiple times to save our world. If it hadn’t
been for you, our world would’ve been lost to the
Master.”

The Spirit who was sitting next to
Aoife nodded. He had lavender skin and one dark blue and one golden
eye, which darkened as he spoke. “But, I believe that Akilah has
already told you that we need your help once more.” He paused to
look at Akilah.

“
Aharnish is right,” Akilah said.
“The Master will rise again if we don’t do anything. And now the
Book’s magic has been released, matters are worse than
ever.”

Luke shifted uneasily in his
chair. He wasn’t sure what to think of everything he saw; thus far,
his father hadn’t been lying. But... a world full of magic, and the
balance between the Light and Dark of said magic being endangered?
Unlike his father, Luke was always a person of ratio. He didn’t
think that magic could exist anywhere outside a storybook, and
thus, he didn’t think it existed here.