Guardian: Darkness Rising (21 page)

The Master gave his staff a gentle nudge;
black ropes wrapped themselves around Luke’s middle, forcing him to
stay still in one spot.

There was nothing Luke could do to
escape; the Master still had his sword, and his friends were
blocked from reaching him by the wall of flames, which was ever
growing.

“
I’m sure the Queen will blame you
for this, if you’ll even make it out alive,” the Master said,
gently stroking Luke’s head.

“
Get your hands off me,” Luke
growled at the Master through gritted teeth.

The Master laughed. “Why, of course, my boy,”
the Master said, his eyes narrowing. “I won’t touch you any
longer.”

“
Why aren’t the Queen’s guards
trying to break down the door?!” Daisy yelled in frustration, her
legs still keeping her stuck to the floor. “They should be helping
us by now, don’t you think?”

The Master let out a loud,
menacing laugh. “They can’t,” he cackled. “Time is frozen in the
rest of this palace – temporarily, of course, but... I didn’t want
anyone getting in my way.”

“
My Lord, I
advise we leave, before the fire breaks the shield you put around
this ring,” James said. Luke looked at his father with a rather
dumbfounded look on his face.
Shield
? So that’s why the fire was
only burning half of the room – the half where the Master, and thus
the teenagers, weren’t in.

“
You’re right, James,” the Master
said, seeming satisfied, and turned back around. “We can’t keep
Lucas safe forever... just like he can’t protect his friends
forever.”

Luke’s eye twitched; his fear had
been replaced with anger. “Leave them alone,” he spat. “If it’s me
you want to watch burn, then that leaves you no excuse to harm
them.”

“
Ah, how adorable,” the Master
said, slowly turning back to face Luke. “You just want your family
to be safe... such a noble, yet naive, goal.”

Luke’s eyes shifted to behind the
Master, where his father was standing. “Please, Dad,” he begged.
“You’re stronger than this. I know you are. Please, I beg you. Save
my friends, save yourself, save your own friends.

“
We’re not the enemy, Dad. The
Master is.”

“
Ugh,” the Master scoffed. “Enough
of this.

“
I have no more time to waste on
you children... I have more serious matters to attend to. Like,
destroying a magical barrier, for example. I hope you enjoy your
final moments before the fire engulfs you completely... following
the rest of this palace.”

Luke, as he struggled against the ropes that
held him in one place, yelled, “COWARD! Why didn’t you turn us to
stone when you had the chance?”

The Master laughed. “Oh, boy,” he
said. “Lucas, dear boy, there’s only one reason I haven’t turned
the six of you to stone... you aren’t a threat to me
or
my plans.

“
You have no
idea what you’re doing... and now, there’s no one left to help you.
This Eleventh Generation never should have existed, and you’re only
proving the reason
why
.”

The Master then proceeded to take
a bow, before disintegrating into black smoke, taking James, the
Guardians’ statues, and any traces of magic with him. The sound of
blazing fire instantly filled Luke’s ears, but it sounded more like
a hive of angry bees; Luke felt weak, his vision was blurry and he
felt as if the world was turning before his eyes.

The last thing Luke heard before hitting the
ground, was the clattering of metal, and the creaking sound of a
roof falling apart. Then, everything went dark.

Apparently, at the exact same moment Luke
fainted, the doors to the throne room opened, and Eloine and Kyan,
accompanied by several guards, came rushing in. Eloine was quick to
put out the fire before the entire castle would collapse, but the
throne room was ruined.

Marco had saved Luke from being crushed by the
falling ceiling by ducking forward and snatching him away from the
falling word and debris just in time.

When Luke woke up, he was lying in
a bed, and six worried faces were looking at him.

“
You’re awake,” Eloine said,
smiling at Luke. “What happened?”

“
He- he-
took
them,” Luke
mumbled, looking as if he was about to lose his mind. “Dad. Uncle
Thom. Aunt Sam. All five of them.”

“
About a day
ago, the Master turned our family to stone,” Marco added. “He told
us that we were – our
Generation
– was never supposed to exist, and that that was
the reason why he didn’t turn us to stone.”

“
He possessed James again,” Daisy
said quietly. “I don’t think we’re safe here.”

Eloine rubbed her chin. “Maybe you’re right,”
she said, “but then again, I don’t want the six of you roaming
around Lunaria without knowing where to go.”

“
Well, one thing I’d like to do
before heading out again, is go to sleep for a while and eat a
steady meal,” Mari said, unable to hide a broad yawn. “I’m
exhausted – and starving.”

Kyan nodded. “Of course,” he said.
“We’ll put guards around the Castle, but I’m afraid we can’t keep
you company – Mother’s execution is scheduled for
tonight.”

The teenagers nodded. “We’d just like to go to
sleep,” Luke said, still feeling a little bit dizzy. “We promise we
won’t bother you.”

Eloine smiled. “Don’t worry,” she
said, “I’ve had Guardians staying the night in my castle many
times... including your parents, actually.” She then beckoned
Luke’s friends. “Come. I’ll lead you to a vacant bedroom you can
sleep in – there are two more beds in this room. Would any of you
like to stay here with Luke?”

“
Well, there are two more boys,”
Felicity said, “so perhaps they could sleep here with Luke.” The
others seemed to agree to that plan.

Suddenly, Luke remembered a question he’d had
on his mind for quite some time. “Oh, Felicity, before I forget-”
he said, but the girls, accompanied by the King and Queen, had
already left the room.

After the Queen had let the
teenagers to a safe place to sleep, they thanked her for her
kindness. Right now, they had to be careful – the stakes to the
‘game’ – as the Master seemed to view it – had been raised, and the
teenagers weren’t sure whether they were up for it without their
parents being there to help them out.

Queen Eloine, however, promised the teenagers
to train and prepare them for their mission in the morning. She
promised she’d do whatever she could to make sure that the
teenagers would save the world.

Things were different than
twenty-five years ago, but they’d figure it out eventually. These
teenagers were now the new Bond of Light, the Eleventh Generation –
the
Unexpected
.

It was up to them to save the world; everyone,
including their parents, was counting on them.

The teenagers didn’t attend
Violina’s ceremonial funeral that night – Eloine and Kyan had
decided to leave them sleeping. And Chiara’s execution didn’t seem
like something children should be watching.

However, not
all
teenagers were asleep. Mari
wasn’t. Despite how hard she tried, she just couldn’t clear her
mind and fall asleep. Something was going on, something Mari
couldn’t lay her finger on, despite how much she wanted
to.

Time was running out. Something needed to be
done, and as quick as possible. And Mari was afraid that she
wouldn’t be able to be a part of that.

Practice
Makes Perfect

The next morning, the Guardians woke up before
the sun had even risen. Mari started awake; apparently, she’d
fallen asleep at some point in the night, after all.

She watched silently as everyone gathered
their things, and headed down to Queen Eloine’s study, where the
Queen had told the teenagers to meet her as soon as they were
awake.

Queen Eloine seemed happy to see the
Guardians. “Ah, you’re awake,” she smiled. “Good. I guess that it’s
time to start your training, then.”

The teenagers followed the Queen, anxious to
find out what kind of training she had in store for them. Eloine
took them to the courtyard; there, Kyan and various guards were
waiting for their arrival.

“
Since I can only teach you how to
use magic,” Queen Eloine said, gesturing at the guards, “I asked
for some advice on different kinds of combat.”

Kyan approached them, smiling broadly. “Since
you’ve all got your own unique weapon, save a few exceptions,” he
gestured at Luke’s and Tony’s swords, “I’d suggest you should just
show one of my men your weapon, and they’ll see what they can
do.

“
Luke, I believe Eloine wants to
show you something.”

While his friends took their
weapons to the guards to receive individual training, Luke followed
Queen Eloine to one of the more quiet corners of the courtyard.
Luke was excited; he knew that the Queen was going to test him to
see if he had any magical abilities.

“
Alright, Luke,”
Eloine said, “now before we begin, I’d like to say that while it’s
quite common for Guardians of Innocence to have at least
some
magical abilities,
not all of them were able to control them. So don’t worry if
nothing happens, okay?”

Luke nodded; despite wanting to be
just as strong as his father, Luke knew he shouldn’t expect too
much of his abilities at first. After all, his father had had
issues controlling his abilities to the first time he’d used them,
too – right?

“
I know I have magic,” he said. “I
don’t know how I did it, but I managed to protect Violina from the
guards yesterday.”

“
In that case, Luke,” Queen Eloine
said, “first, you’ll have to clear your mind. This will become
easier as your training progresses, but for now, you’ll have to
focus on it. Just think: a good beginning makes a good
ending.”

Luke nodded again. He wasn’t sure whether he
should sit down or not, so he decided to meet at the middle by
sitting down on his knees. He closed his eyes and folded his hands
in his lap as he tried to shut out the outside world.

Clearing your mind doesn’t necessarily mean
thinking of nothing, but simply filtering out all noise and
focusing on what’s important.

Eloine left Luke sitting on the ground like
that for about fifteen minutes or so, before gently touching his
shoulders. “Are you ready to continue?”

“
Yes,” Luke said without opening
his eyes, “I am.”

“
Very well,” Eloine said. “Then
you may rise.”

Luke did as he was told; he got back on his
feet and opened his eyes. “So,” he said, “what’s next?”

“
I’d like to keep your eyes closed
for just a while longer,” Queen Eloine said, “I want you to focus
on and trust in your surroundings.

“
Using magic is about seeing with
your mind, rather than with your eyes.”

Luke closed his eyes, starting to get more
intrigued by the moment. “Alright,” he said, “what’s
next?”

Queen Eloine smiled. “You’ll see.”

Despite the fact that Luke couldn’t see
anything, he clearly felt something happening. Something flew his
way, and when he had caught it, his fingertips began to tingle; a
pleasant tingle that quickly spread from his fingers through his
arms to his shoulders. For a moment, it was as if the tingle
continued inside his chest.

“
You may open your eyes,” Queen
Eloine’s voice spoke, “you have passed the test.”

Luke opened his eyes; he let out a
gasp in surprise at what he saw. He was holding – a
ball of light.

“
Whoa,” Luke gasped, completely
awestruck by his achievement. “So this means that-?”

“
You can
control
magic,” Eloine
nodded. “Now comes the second test –
using
magic.”

Luke’s eyes shifted from the
glowing ball that was floating between his hands back to Queen
Eloine. “And I’m planning to do that...
how
exactly...?”

“
Simple,” Queen Eloine smiled.
“You take the orb you’re holding right now, and you throw it
wherever you want it to go – then you give it directions.” She
paused. “And then, you try to make another one
yourself.”

Luke swallowed. He had no idea how he was
going to do everything Queen Eloine had just described, but if he
was able to hold this glowing orb between his hands, he might as
well be able to do everything else.

Luke let go of the orb, mentally pushing it
forward, while physically simulating the movement with his hands.
To his amazement, the orb followed his commands. Not perfectly, as
the orb instantly dropped to the ground after it’d been pushed, but
it was a start.

“
Well done, Lucas,” Eloine said
encouragingly. “Now, let’s see if you can keep it moving for a
while.”