Guardian: Protectors of Light (3 page)

“
Hey, Sammy,
Jamey,” Thomas said. “Let me guess; James has bought a new batch?”
he continued, after laying an eye on the book Samira was
holding.

James gave him a
triumphant look and said, “Actually, no. I got this one from the
old book section in the public library.” Pause. “They’re giving
them away.” Another pause. “For free.”

Bella smirked and crossed her arms, bending her torso a bit
forward. “So, now we’re on
that
tour again,
aren’t we, James?” she said.

James smirked back at
her, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging. “Nah,” he
said, “I highly doubt I’ll be doing this again. I mean... they have
good books, but I see this book as one in a million, eh?” He slowly
drifted off as if he forgot what his point was. “...My point is
that I might slow down on my buying-routine after finishing the
books I’ve got to read now.”

Thomas leaned back,
crossing his arms as he raised his eyebrows in a sceptical way.
“Now why am I having a hard time trying to believe what you just
said?” he said, baring his teeth in a wide grin.

Samira couldn’t help but
letting out a chuckle. “He’s got plenty of books to read for now. I
think he’ll be busy finishing those for a while.” She turned to
look at him. “But slowing down after that? I don’t believe it
either.”

“
It’s true!”
James had gotten on his tiptoes and pointed his index finger into
the air, as if it’d help him prove his point.

As they were talking,
small drops of rain started to fall from the sky, which quickly
fastened their pace and grew in size. All four teenagers ran off to
find the nearest shelter; the house of Antonio, their mutual – yet
Thomas’ best, for that matter - friend, who made their usual gang
of five complete.

The doorbell rang,
followed by the muffled sound of shouting voices behind it,
probably discussing who had to go get the door. Then, the door was
opened by the one who’d lost the discussion.

...And apparently, it was Antonio himself. He wore a grumpy
face, probably from annoyance due to the fact that
he
had to open the door, but his face lit up as soon as he saw
his friends standing in front of him.

“
Hey, guys!”
he said. “What are you doing here?”

“
Seeking
shelter, of course!” James said, who’d tucked the book underneath
his jacket. “There’s a storm raging out here!”

“
Don’t
exaggerate, James,” Antonio snorted. “It’s, well... raining. But
please, do come in.”

He didn’t have to tell
them twice. Everyone followed Antonio up to his room after taking
off their wet clothes and shoes, and all sat down on the bed. It
wasn’t until there when Antonio’s eye suddenly fell on James’s
book, after James had taken it from underneath his vest; he’d
tucked it inside the inner pocket in his vest as he’d tucked it
under his jacket.

“
What’s
that?” Antonio asked, while making a small gesture toward the book
with his hand.

Samira, who answered
before her brother could, said: “I just got an idea! Why don’t we
read it now?”

James threw her a sceptical look. “Uh- you mean, as
in
right
now
?” he said, while flipping
through the book. “...Sam, I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but
this book is kind of long. As in
really
long.”

Samira laughed. “And all of a sudden,
you
seem
to have a problem with that?” she giggled, and paused. “Just the
first five chapters or so, to see what it’s like.”

James shrugged. “All
right then, I’m in,” he said. “What do you guys think?”

Bella, Thomas and Antonio
nodded agreeing. “Sure, why not?’ Bella said. “It looks pretty
interesting.”

“
Yeah,” Thomas added. “I’d like to know what that
story’s
actually
about. You
haven’t told us that much yet, after all.”

“
Well, I’m
curious to find out more too,” James said, while opening the book
on the first page. “I’ve never seen the part of the story that
comes after the prologue, either.”

Samira leaned to the
side, a little closer to her brother, to be able to read along as
he read the story out loud. “Well, let’s find out, then,” she said.
“Let’s start at the prologue.”

*

And so the afternoon went
on. They spent all afternoon reading, getting lost in both time and
the book. The thing the five of them were the most amazed about
were the extremely detailed drawings that supported the story; they
were really good and were drawn very realistically, almost as if
they were pictures of actual people.

A funny thing was that
they got so lost in the book, that none of the five teens realised
what time it as until they’d reached the end of the book and had
already finished reading.

“
...Wait, was
that really the last page?” James said, as he turned the last page
and found a blank page on the other side.

However, the page wasn’t completely empty; in the middle of
the page there was one word, written in stylized, curly
handwriting; “
Believe
”.

“‘
Believe?’” Samira mumbled.
“Wonder whatever that’s supposed to mean... I believe we kept on
reading a
bit
too long, guys.”

“
A
bit
too long?” Thomas
shouted worriedly, while looking on his watch. “It’s almost four
o’clock! I promised my mother I’d be back at two!”

“
Your mum’s still got you on a curfew?” Antonio
snickered. “
Really
, Thomas?
You’re
nineteen
, for God’s
sake!”

“
It’s not a
curfew
,” Thomas
snapped. “She just... likes to check on my whereabouts. She’s a
control freak, trust me.”

“
That’s what
parents do, Thom,” Samira laughed. “Control our lives as much as
they can.”

“
Yeah,” Bella
said. “But they love us though. Otherwise, Dad never would’ve
allowed me to pursue my dance career.”

“
Didn’t he
try to stop you?” Thomas remarked.

“
He was
scared of the dance I wanted to do, not of the idea of me dancing.
But I succeeded in doing both...” She paused, taking a few moments
to realise Thomas was trying to get the conversation off-topic.
“But that’s not the point!” she shouted.

“
Guys, this
isn’t the time to argue,” James decided. “Let’s talk about the book
instead.hat do you guys think of the story?”

“
I think it
was kind of bloody, to be honest,” Bella said. “That so-called
Master of Nightmares might be a half-human, half-demon, but to me,
he’s a full-bred monster!”

“
He might
be,” Antonio said, “but he’s still an awesomely written villain.
You’ve got to admit; he doesn’t take shit from anyone and he makes
sure everyone knows it.”

“
Would you
mind
?” Thomas
commented, regarding Antonio’s choice of language, but Antonio
however didn’t seem to care much for it.

“
Why don’t
you lighten up a bit, you itty-bitty-Britty-boy,” he
grinned.

Thomas didn’t really seem to like the nickname he’d been
given “
What
did you call me?”

Antonio sighed and rolled
his eyes. “There you go. He wants to fight.”

Thomas jumped up from the
bed and walked over to Antonio while throwing off his grey vest and
rolling up the sleeves red sweater.

“
I sure do,” he said. “At least, if I have
your
permission
.”

“
Guys!” Samira shouted angrily. “I
am
not
in the mood for this!”

“
Let’s save
this one for later, shall we?” Antonio hissed beneath his breath.
“I owe you one.”

“
Fine,”
Thomas said, and found his seat next to Bella again.
“Coward.”

Antonio crossed his arms.
“Don’t say that again, or I might rethink my decision.”

James, attempting to get
the conversation started again, laughed nervously. “All right,
guys,” he said. “So...” He quickly flipped through the book, as if
it was going to help him find something to talk about, when his eye
suddenly fell on a group picture of the five Guardians of
Light.

“
The costumes
the Guardians are given once they arrive in Keeper’s Cove do look
really cool, though,” he said. “What do you guys think?”

His friends leaned over
closer to him in order to be able to see the picture he’d
mentioned, so James stuck out his arms and held the book more
forward so everyone could see.

“
I think she
looks really cool,” Bella said, pointing at a girl dressed in
armour; she wore a hooded cape which had been coloured black with
messy, black scribbles, and looked strong, yet mysterious. Her
raven black hair was a rather complete mess, and her face looked
determined. “Like a knight in shining armour.”

“
She sure does have a kick-ass sword,” Thomas
said. “I’d like to wield a sword once. You know, a
real
one. Not some plastic lightsabre from a Disneyland shop or
something like that.”

“
I think I’d
prefer bow and arrow,” Samira said. “It has some elegance to it, I
don’t know.”

“
Well, this
girl here uses a crossbow,” James said, pointing at a fairly small
girl, who was seemingly quite a lot younger than the other
Guardians, and had curly hair. “So I guess that’s a thing too. But
I think I’d prefer a sword, though.”

“
Throwing
daggers would be my thing,” Antonio said. “Easy to carry, fast and
deadly. ...But a halberd is awesome too, I must say.”

“
I wanted to
discuss costumes, and now we’ve gone on to discussing weaponry,”
James chuckled. “Their weapons played a more important role in
their surviving anyway.”

“
But they
didn’t,” Thomas said. “They... just... died.” He paused. “I
disagree with the ending. The villain never wins. This is
wrong!”

“
But the Master of Nightmares
didn’t
really
win, after all,” Samira corrected
him. “The Spirits of Light merged with the spirits of the
Guardians, so they could help them guide the next Bond of Light
until they find the Tenth Generation.”

Thomas threw Samira an
uncomprehending look, but James nodded at him. “It’s right here,”
he said. “She’s right.”

“
Of course
I’m right,” Samira said. “I’m always right.”

“
Agree to
disagree,” James said, while looking at the clock that hung on
Antonio’s wall, right above the door. “I think we should head home
for dinner. It’s getting kind of late.”

“
Maybe we
should,” Samira said. “It’s been fun, you guys.”

“
If you’re
going, I’m going too,” Bella said. “I’ve got four hours of training
tomorrow morning. I’m going to need a lot of sleep
tonight...”

“
I had to be
home about two and a half an hour ago, so I think I have to get
going as well,” Thomas said. “Or else my parents are going to be
pissed.”

Antonio snickered, but
didn’t say anything after receiving a killer glare from Thomas.
“All right, see you guys tomorrow,” he said.

He walked his friends to
the door and they said goodbye. James, Samira, Bella and Thomas
walked the first bit of the way together, until they had to part
ways.

When James and Samira
entered their house, smells of grilled chicken and garlic bread
filled the hallway.

“
Mmm, smells
like Mum’s started to cook dinner already,” James said, licking his
lips.

“
That’s
right!” their mother’s voice shouted from the kitchen. “And it’s
ready, so please sit at the table! I’ll be right there in a
minute.”

As James and Samira sat
down at the dinner table, their mother came rushing in, carrying a
big dish of chicken.

“
Smells good,
Mum!” James said, as Cheyenne began dividing the chicken over three
plates.

“
Thank you,
sweetie,” his mother smiled at him, as she set down his plate.
Then, she noticed the book lying next to him on the
table.

“
James, you
know the rules: no books, phones or other things on the table when
we’re eating,” she said.

“
Sorry Mum,”
James said, as he put the book on the ground. “I just picked that
one up from the library this afternoon.”

“
Really?”
Cheyenne said. “What’s it about?”

“
It’s either
the full version or some kind of sequel to that fairy tale Dad
always used to read to us,” Samira said. “It’s really cool, with
swordfights, Magic and everything!”

“
Yeah,” James
said. “It kind of continues with the first Generation of the Bond
of Light that’s mentioned in Dad’s fairy tale.”