The Lost Years (The Guardians Book 4) (13 page)

Falling back on her bottom, Sophie absorbed the information. Even though his location came as a shock, it did not change her resolve. She was going to find him and see him. When she did, she knew it would come to her, what words she should say.

Sophie wasted no time. Closing her eyes and mumbling the words for the transportation spell, she disappeared; evaporated and reassembled to another realm. Opening her eyes, she was relieved to see she had been reappeared in an alley way, well concealed from prying eyes. Not many had the ability of transport and if anyone saw her using her powers, it would not take long for them to figure out she was likely a guardian, not the safest thing to be right now.

“Invisibilis,” the word rolled off her tongue elegantly. She looked down and watched as she faded away, no evidence of her being there, except the footprints she left in the gravel.

Careful to step lightly, Sophie made her way to the street, looking around frantically for her precious Gabe. The town wasn’t huge, but searching it for a Guardian, who himself was likely trying not to be discovered, would be a difficult task. Sliding along the faces of the buildings, staying clear of the walkways, she watched for anything that might seem suspicious.

Sophie was never one who enjoyed visiting the Underworld. In fact, she found it very unsettling, she always had, a fact Uri often had made fun of her for. Like Gabe, she was one of the older students when she had arrived at Rampart. Growing up in a world where the only thing that existed were animals and humans, the Underworld seemed to always rock that logic in a way she could not handle.

Sophie recalled once, a long time ago, when she had been sent on a mission with Uri. She was still very green and when they were told to find information out about a demon who had been harming humans, she didn’t know where to begin. Sophie recalled thinking Uri had gone mad when he asked a nearby buck if he had seen anyone matching the demon’s description. When the creature stood on its hind legs and answered him, she was convinced that in fact, she was the one who was crazy.

“This way, the body is over here,” Sophie heard a stranger’s voice shout.

“Oh, he’s dead for sure. Someone go and get the magistrate,” another voice answered.

Sophie felt her heart sink. She couldn’t see what was happening, but had a terrible suspicion that it involved Gabe. Just as she was about to push her way through the crowd, something caught her eye. Half a block away, a cloaked figure was standing with an oversized, burly creature in an apron. The hooded one was looking around uneasily when a young girl approached them, immediately causing Sophie to be suspicious of the behavior. She watched as the girl and oversized man whispered amongst each other.

In an instant the girl took off, the cloaked figure on her arm. Sophie held her breath as the burly man in the apron, made his way to the door where she stood. Lingering for a moment, he looked around one last time before slipping inside the door. From the security of her invisible hiding spot, she looked up to see she was standing in front of the inn. He must work here, she thought.

Sophie looked back to the alley way where the mob had grown even larger in size. Whatever had happened, she wasn’t going to be able to see anything right now. Making the decision to stay with the two suspicious characters she had seen moments before, Sophie followed them. They moved quickly, and Sophie found it difficult to keep up. When they reached a business at the edge of town, both paused for a second outside of the door, exchanging words. Sophie was still too far away to hear anything. As they entered, the cloaked figure glanced back towards the town. That’s when Sophie caught a glimpse of his face ... it was Gabe.

A chill flooded over Sophie’s body, all of her hair standing on end when she saw him. A piece of her had resigned itself to never finding him. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why there was place inside her that could give up so easily. Without much effort, there he was in front of her. Sophie quickened her pace, making her way to the outside of the gritty looking shack. Glancing at the sign, she saw she was standing outside a blacksmith’s establishment and wondered if perhaps he sought weapons. Still invisible, Sophie decided to observe for a moment longer before revealing her presence to Gabe. She had to know, who were these people? What had brought Gabe to them?

Careful not to reveal herself, she made her way into the hut and towards a sheer curtain hanging at the rear.

“I don’t understand, Clarite, what does this have to do with us?” a burly voice asked.

“Everything. You always say these Wintoks are coming in here and acting like they own our town, about how if you had a chance you would fix things, set them straight,” the girl pleaded. From where Sophie stood she could see nothing, only hear voices. At last, there was a familiar voice.

“I don’t want to be any trouble; I’ll just be on my way.” Sophie held her breath, prepared to see him walk through the doorway at any moment, but he didn’t.

“No, sit.” the man’s voice commanded. “Just until I figure out what’s going on.”

“It’s simple. If we don’t hide him, they are going to kill him,” the girl that she assumed was Clarite answered solemnly. Sophie felt panic fill her from head to toes. She knew Gabe would be in danger if he was not under the protection of the guardians, and apparently she was right.

“Slow down, tell me who is after him and why they want him,” the man instructed.

“Kryn, Baylor killed a wintok to keep him from being discovered,” Clarite explained.

“Damn it! Where?” the man the girl had called Kryn asked.

“Just outside the inn,” Sophie heard Gabe interject. She remembered the mob and realized she had been right about that situation as well, the corpse did involve Gabe.

“Don’t talk, boy,” Kryn commanded. “If I have a question I want you to answer, I’ll ask you. What was Baylor thinking? This is just going to make things worse for the entire town. How could he be this stupid?”

“He did it because he was trying to protect a guardian.” Clarite replied.

“What? A Guardian? No, why would a guardian be here, especially alone? They’re never alone,” Kryn argued.

“I’m just telling you what Baylor told me,” the girl defended her words.

“Boy, is this true? Are you a Guardian?” Kryn asked.

“I was,” Sophie’s breath caught in her throat when she heard his response. In only a couple days had he already decided he was not one of them.

“You either are or you aren’t. A human can’t stop being a human any more than a guardian can stop being what he is. So answer me, and be sure before you do. Are you a guardian or aren’t you?”

“I suppose I am,” Gabe replied reluctantly.

“Then what are you doing here? Do you realize every gun for hire in the Underworld would kill you without a moment’s hesitation?” Kryn asked.

“I do, sir.”

“Then answer me, what are you doing here?”

“Nothing was left for me where I came from, I suppose I’m just trying to figure out what to do now.”

“You picked a hell of a place to do it!” Kryn snapped.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be gone before nightfall. I wouldn’t want the trackers to trace my thoughts here if I were to fall asleep.”

“What? Where in the hell is your helmet?” Kryn asked.

“My what?”

“Boy, what rock have you been under? Didn’t anyone teach you anything where you came from? Clarite you can go, I’ll take it from here, and you can check in on him later. Go and make sure Baylor is all right,” Kryn instructed the young girl.

Sophie moved to one side to ensure the girl did not bump into her invisible body hidden outside the doorway.

She listened, waiting for the man and Gabe’s conversation to come to an end and for them to part so that she could reveal herself. She would beg him to come home, the clerics spells would keep them safe as they slept, and they could pick up where they left off.

Instead, she heard something much worse. At first, the man explained who he was and some survival things Gabe could do to help protect himself, surprisingly some things even new to Sophie. But then the conversation turned, Gabe began talking about Rampart and his experiences. He did not retell the incidents that happened with the fondness Sophie assumed he would. His words were accusatory and full of pain. Before long, it became clear Gabe was not as happy at Rampart as Sophie thought he was.

His words were full of hatred and venom; each story he shared was worse than the last. She was having trouble believing it was even him saying them. He went on about how Michael was a murdered, killing one of his own friends in cold blood. Her heart sank, wondering how he could be capable of viewing Anthony’s death in such a way. Sophie didn’t wait to hear the rest of Gabe’s new found ideas about where he came from. She closed her eyes, wasting no time returning to the spot she had transported from.

Sophie wasn’t sure what to do with the information she had just witnessed. She debated on telling her friends, but that would also mean she would have to reveal that her memories had returned, something she wasn’t ready to do until she sorted her feelings out about Gabe.

She decided she would keep it all to herself, at least for now. Scooping up the spell book, she made her way to the library, returning it from the shelf she had originally retrieved it from. She would continue checking in on Gabe, and if the Gabe she had fallen in love with seemed to resurface, she would ask him to return with her.

Pushing past the cold, stiff branch, Dina paused, attempting to regain her bearings. She had never ventured so far into the woods outside of Rampart. With the demons looming so close, she found herself on edge, waves of anxiety washing over her. Every snapped twig or strange animal cackle had her holding her breath with anticipation. She assumed by now she would have found the witch’s cabin, but not knowing in fact how far within the forest the woman dwelled, she could not be confident.

Students at Rampart were always warned to stay away from the witch, hearing tales of her dark magic and how it can only lead to disaster. For Madame Laveau and casters like her, there was no black or white, good or evil. For her, the line was much more blurry. The grayness which she existed in, gave her the freedom to dabble in any kind of magic she preferred. Magic fueled by the light is far different than dark magic.

Dina remembered her magical defenses class very well and the lessons that were heavily stressed. In class they learned practical things, like how to defend yourself from evil creatures, but they also studied the dark arts and details about the people who practiced them. There were always the curious students who would ask too many questions, causing the professor to continually stress the forbidden nature of the craft for guardians.

When one uses dark magic, there is always a consequence, a price. Just as with good magic, the source of power that fuels the spell has to come from somewhere. With the guardians and their magic, they were given abilities that were a blessing from God, and therefore their magic was divine. There was no such power source able to fuel dark magic. Instead, with each spell, a price is paid; a price that varies based on the intensity of the spell. This can lead to unimaginable powers, but with devastating repercussions.

One story which had stuck with Dina all these years, and haunted her, especially now, was about a timeless romance. A woman had fallen madly in love with a handsome young man. Though she was thirty years his senior, the man was equally in love. For him, age did not matter.

However, as time passed, the woman became obsessed with the gap in their age. She was sure that as she grew older, her handsome young lover would find someone closer to his own age to shower his attentions on. This obsession led her to seek out a spell from a woman in her town who was known to dabble in witchcraft.

Though she was warned that a price would be paid for her youth, the woman insisted she needed the spell. Given a concoction, she was thrilled to think she had found the answer, the fountain of youth. She guzzled the elixir down without a thought and peered into the mirror for hours, waiting for any sign of the sands of time flowing backwards. Much to her disappointment, nothing happened; at least not until she cried herself to sleep, for when she awoke the next day, half her years had disappeared.

Thrilled with the transformation and elated to show her beloved, she went to seek him out. Much to her dismay, he was not at any of the places he should have been; concerned he might be ill, she went to his home. There she found the withered body of an elderly man in the bed of her beloved. It quickly became clear that for every year which faded from her, two were added to his life. While she slept, the wrinkles faded from around her eyes, the skin on her neck tightened, and the spots on her hands disappeared. While she slept, her one true love was changing, aging to the point where he passed away from old age. Ravaged by guilt and losing the only chance at happiness she had because she sought answers in dark magic, the woman took her life.

In a way, the cautionary tale kept reminding Dina of Raimie. She feared she might be doing just the same, bringing herself more pain by seeking an answer. But the alternative is unbearable, she thought. An existence without Raimie wasn’t something she could even bring herself to think about. She had given her life to fight for mankind, for the greater good; she tried to assure herself that this meant the price would not be as great. Dina only needed a healing spell, and if Raimie were well, he would be protecting people. That had to justify the use of dark magic.