Guardian: Protectors of Light (24 page)

“
Samira!
Violina!” the eighteen-year-old shouted, while quickening her pace.
Antonio, Thomas, Violina and Queen Eloine approached him from the
other side of the hallway.
“What’s wrong, Samira?” Violina asked.
“Something’s wrong with James,” Samira replied with a very
concerned look in her eyes, which immediately reflected on her
friends’ faces.

Queen Eloine gently
pushed Thomas and Antonio aside and stepped
forward. 

“
Come with
me,” she said. “We’ll need to put him on the examination
table.”

They all returned to the
room where Bella was sleeping, who woke up as soon as she heard the
nervously mumbling voices and footsteps entering the
room.

“
What
happened?” she mumbled, still sleep-charged, but nobody answered or
even looked at her. The Queen used her Magic to let a steel
examination table roll toward them by itself.

Bella slowly managed got
out of bed, and tried to stand on the leg that had been broken. It
hurt a little, but she was able reach the others while half walking
and half hopping, where she managed to cling onto Antonio’s
shoulder.

“
What
happened?” she whispered. Antonio turned his head and looked at the
teenager clamping onto his shoulder, and then moved his arm around
the girl’s shoulder.
“It’s James,” Antonio said. “He’s quite the unluckiest lad in the
world, currently.”

Samira carefully laid the
red-haired teenager down on the cold steel table. It was clear that
James could feel the cold, because he winced for a second before
becoming motionless again.

His chest rose slowly yet
naturally, but the blue marks were still there.

“
Can you tell
what’s wrong with him, Your Majesty?” Thomas asked. “It better be
quick. I don’t think he looks too well.”

Queen Eloine stared at
James, and carefully hovered a hand over his chest.

“
It looks
like a strange mutation of the Fairy Flu,” she said, while her blue
eyes kept looking at James with a concerned look. “This is not
good.”

“
What- what
do you mean by that?” Samira exclaimed, almost sounding desperate.
Her eyes flashed from the Fairy Queen in front of her to her little
brother on the table.

“
I mean that
normally, the first stage doesn’t occur until 72 hours after being
cursed,” Queen Eloine said. “For James, it took hardly an
hour.”

“
W-what?”
Samira almost had to squeeze the word out of her throat.

“
It means if
we don’t act now, James could be dead in less than a day,” Queen
Eloine said. There was sadness in her voice.

“
No! We can’t
let that happen!” Samira shouted, as tears started to sting her
eyes again.

“
There must be 
something
 you
can do! Like- the flowers! Can’t you use those to heal
him?”

“
Samira, as
much as I’d like to see your brother back in full health, this
won’t be an easy job. The Magic that was used to curse your brother
is stronger than any fairy Magic we’ve ever experienced before,”
Violina said. “Where did he get hit?”

“
He was hit
right in the chest,” Thomas mumbled. “Please don’t tell me that
that makes it worse.”

“
It does,”
Queen Eloine said. “The heart and the head are the worst places to
be hit with Magic... It’s the hardest to remove the source from a
vital organ.”

She tilted her head and
looked at Samira. “Samira, you are going to help me save your
brother.”

Samira stared at the
Queen, not knowing what to say or do. “But how would you expect me
to help you?” she finally asked, hoping not to sound disrespectful.
“I lost all my magical potential when the curse was
lifted!”

Queen Eloine smiled. “No,
I certainly believe you haven’t. Don’t you remember what Akilah
told you?”

She walked away and left
the room, but returned shortly.

“
A long time ago, Akilah told me to hang on to this necklace
until I’d find someone who it belonged to. She never mentioned who,
but I believe I do now.” She returned to the teenagers while
carrying a silver-coloured satin pillow with a beautiful necklace
on it. It was a long chain, with a single gemstone in the exact
middle. It was a pink, rhombus-shaped diamond that was glowing
softly. On the silver surrounding that kept the diamond secure to
the, the word “
Loyalty
” had
been engraved.

“
Please, take
it. It belongs to you,” Queen Eloine said.

Samira’s hand slowly
reached out for the necklace to pick it up. Once her fingertips
touched it, she felt some kind of connection being created between
her and the energy that was sealed inside the stone. But it didn’t
feel new; it felt like it had always been a part of her.

“
Come on,
Sammy, let me help you with that,” Bella mumbled from behind Samira
when he saw her struggle to get the lock of the necklace to lock
around her neck, and took the two threads from her to do it for
her; apparently, Bella’s leg had now grown strong enough to carry
her weight again. 

As soon as the necklace was hanging securely around
Samira’s neck, the pink stone’s glow became even brighter, creating
a similar scene as to what had happened to Bella and Thomas.
“
Samira
Riverdale
,” Akilah’s
voice echoed around the room. 
“
Guard this stone with your
life. It represents your power; to heal the sick and injured. All
you have to do is believe, like you did when you believed in
yourself when you removed the Fairy Curse which had been casted on
your own soul.
When it comes to it, this energy could save one’s life. Believe in
yourself, Samira. Stay loyal to your friends, and to yourself. By
doing so, you’ll unleash your Guardian’s Totem;
Loyalty.”
Samira’s feet touched the ground, and the light of the stone dimmed
again to the way it had been before.

The girl stared with unbelieving eyes at the
stone, which rested peacefully on
her chest; she touched it carefully with her fingertips.

“
So... You
knew this all along?” Samira said, while raising her head,
directing to the Queen.

Queen Eloine smiled. “Of course I did. All of this has been
foretold, remember?” she replied. “Together with the powers within
the flower and the Magic that’s contained within that stone and
within your soul, I might be able to heal
him. 
We
 might be able
to heal him.”

“
...Might?”
Bella mumbled, leaning on Antonio’s arm once again. “What do you
mean?”

“
I mean that
Samira needs training on how to use her powers, but I fear that
James doesn’t have enough time for that,” Queen Eloine replied. “As
I said before, the first stage had showed upon him within less than
an hour. That’s three days – or 71 hours – early for humans. This
means that the second stage shall begin before
midnight.”

“
How many
stages are there?” Antonio asked, while slight confusion was
showing in the nineteen-year-old’s eyes.

“
Four,” Queen
Eloine replied. “The later the stage, the longer it lasts, but it
also gets more painful as the stage progresses.”

“
Is there
nothing you can do?” Samira said. Her eyebrows were curled in a
worried frown which had a certain angle which most likely no one’s
eyebrows had ever been at before, and the worry in her eyes was so
great that it was almost literally heartbreaking to see the girl’s
face.

Samira fell forward on
her knees, clasping her hands together. ”I am begging you,
Queen Eloine,” she said.
“I beg you, please teach me how I can help him. He’s my brother. I
couldn’t imagine a life without him.”
Violina covered her mouth as her expression changed. She stared at
Samira in something the eighteen-year old first mistook for
confusion and worry, but seconds later she realised that there was
pity in the fixie’s eyes. Pity and fear.

The Queen gave the
teenager that had just knelt in front of her and desperately begged
her to save the injured boy on the examination table a disappointed
look. But it wasn’t Samira whom the disappointment had been
directed toward.

“
This has
never happened before,” she whispered. “Only once. And she promised
us all...” Queen Eloine walked past the teenagers and returned to
the still unconscious – or perhaps sleeping – James. She gently
stroke the boy’s red hair, before walking over to the window, where
she held still.

Queen Eloine stared out of the window for a few seconds
more, before finally speaking up again. “She promised us all that
she would 
never
 do it
again.”

“
Who? And
what?” Samira asked, feeling slightly bewildered, but didn’t
approach the Queen. In fact, everyone remained where they were, as
if frozen in place. Except for the Queen, who sighed deeply and
turned around to face the teenagers.

“
I’m sure you
all know the tale how the first Bond of Light was chosen,” she
said. “And, of course you know what happened after this first
Generation had fallen. A part of the Spirits lives in them, in
their souls. Waiting to be set free and to return to their former
bodies when the Light has been returned – or the Keepers’ body
whose soul they are connected to dies. Then their souls shall
separate again.”
The Queen fell silent again, perhaps waiting for one of Antonio’s
witty comments, but none came.
“The Almighty Spirit, Akilah, was the one who’d set it all up.
Quickly, before discussing it with her brothers and sisters. She
was able to take their shattered pieces and send them off to
Earth... but she’d added a preference for the kind of soul the
pieces would choose.

The Guardians took the
Sources of Light with them to Lunaria, and when the fifth Source
was activated, the Spirits who created the Life Sources connected
themselves to the souls of the Guardians, making them “immortal.”
Which they weren’t really, of course, because they could be killed
– just as easily as any regular human.

But it prevented them
from aging and so a natural death, because the Spirits don’t age
either, of course.

But the little “quirk”
Akilah had decided to add, was that every single Generation
required two blood-relatives. In the case of the First Generation,
it were Rikki and Gabriel – the little sister and the older,
overprotective brother.

Rikki unfortunately died
before her brother, leaving Gabriel behind heart-broken and
grieving, unable to keep his mind on the quest.

This became his undoing
in the end.

It angered all of us
Keepers after we heard Gabe’s cries for his little sister. We went
to find Akilah, hoping to receive an explanation, which she gave
us.

She thought the strength
of a family bond alone would be strong enough to complete the
quest, but unfortunately, the girl was too young.

Never since then, a
Guardian younger than Rikki had been chosen, nor had any people who
were in any kind of relation been.”

“
How old was
Rikki when she died?” Samira asked out of curiosity.

“
Thirteen and
a half,” Queen Eloine said. “She mentioned the half part once. We
put an Age Line around the selection of Guardians. The Age Line is
fourteen, though no one really agreed with Guardians of that young,
but Akilah was convinced that the Innocence of Children is the
strongest kind of magical weapon that we could possibly
have.”
The Queen fell silent, as the candles threw dark shadows on her
beautiful face. The sun had started to set, and had already
disappeared behind the trees.

“
I think it’s
most rational if we begin James’s healing process right now,
Samira,” Queen Eloine said while she walked back to her former
spot. She walked toward the girl and laid a comforting hand on her
shoulder.
“I shall do what I can to heal him, and won’t stop until I’ve given
everything, Samira. I promise.” She then shifted her attention
toward Bella, Thomas and Antonio. “I insist you three wait outside,
and perhaps have some rest. Violina shall show you your
rooms.”

“
But- can’t
we stay?” Thomas mumbled. “We’ve-”
His sentence got cut off by Samira, who suddenly was standing right
next to him. She smiled, but it wasn’t a smile of happiness,
but of pity. “I know what you mean, Thomas. But it’s best if you
waited outside.
I’m worried about him, just like you guys are. But there’s nothing
you can do.

Thomas? Do you trust
me?”

“
Of course I
do, Samira, why wouldn’t I?” Thomas replied, slightly
confused.

“
Then leave,”
Samira said. “Leave, get yourself some dry clothes, have some
sleep. I’ll keep healing James until he’s completely back to
normal. I promise.”

She opened her arms, and
Thomas walked into them. He was surprised that he wasn’t
grossed-out by the wet clothing Samira was wearing; instead, he
wanted to hold her tighter – and probably even kiss her. But he
knew she wouldn’t accept his kiss – let alone answer it.

“
Samira, I
should get you and your brother some dry clothing,” Violina said.
“I think we have some clothes for you and your brother that have
belonged to former Guardians. I’ll get you to them straight away,
and I’ll put those you’re wearing now outside to dry. We absolutely
can’t afford to take the risk that James is going to catch a cold
as well, which he’s most likely to get if he keeps wearing those
wet and ripped things. And so do you.”