Guardian: Protectors of Light (50 page)

“
That’s
exactly what I wanted to hear,” Timothy grinned and the two teens
high-fived, before catching up with the gap between them and the
group their conversation had caused again.

Capture

The Bond of Light had
spent most of the day walking, just to make it closer to the Castle
of Light. This gave James an opportunity and enough time to think
about everything that’d happened over the past two days.

He was still
hallucinating from time to time and didn’t possess full control
over his abilities yet, but he was trying to get things right again
as soon as he could. But he knew the darkness and Dark Magic were
trying to penetrate his Magic and corrupt it, just as it’d done
with everything else magically pure and good that had entered this
realm.

James sighed as he turned
around and watched Timothy and Thomas high-fiving. Timothy had been
talking to Thomas for hours, but he hadn’t taken the effort to
brief anyone else about the case they’d been discussing.

What could he possibly
have to say to Thomas, which he couldn’t share with the others?
They were all in this together, right?
“What’s wrong, James? You seem upset.”

James looked aside, and
saw Samira’s worried face. The worried expression on the teenage
girl’s face spoke volumes, and her normally smooth hair was frizzy
and messy, and no longer tied into a braid.

James shook his head. “No. Not really.”
Samira frowned and lowered her eyebrows in disbelief.
“You 
do
 know that
that didn’t sound quite convincing at all, do you?” she
asked.

James smiled shortly and
rolled his eyes. “I know it doesn’t.” He paused for a second, just
to appreciate his sister’s interest. She knew he was a very bad
liar. “I just can’t help it; I keep having that same, nagging
feeling as if we’re about to be ambushed again any
moment.”

“
Why are you
feeling and thinking like this, James?” Samira said. “I’m worried
about you.”

James rubbed the back of
his neck as he tried to catch a glimpse of the moon, but the thick,
black clouds were blocking his view.

“
I can feel
him, Samira. The Master. I keep feeling his presence surrounding
us, as if he’s waiting for the right time or place to open attack
again...”
“Knock on wood, Jiminy Cricket!”

Antonio, who’d overheard the conversation between James and
Samira, gave James a pat – er, a rather 
firm
 pat - on the back. 

Antonio’s little “pat” on
his back came in hard enough for James to stumble forward and
nearly end up face-first in the grass. He still smiled at Antonio,
however.
“Don’t you worry, Jamey! We’ve taken on things from his hand
before, and I’m sure we can do it again if we work
together.”

Bella had appeared beside
Antonio, nodding vigorously. “Exactly,” she said.

Thomas had his magical
holographic map pulled out, as if he was about to show them
something important. “All we need is a good strategy in which we
work together... As if for the Master’s energy you’re feeling...
We’re getting close to his castle.”

“
He’s got his own 
castle?”
 James
said while looking at the map, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
“Why does that sound like bad news to me?”

“
Because it 
is
 bad news,
James,” Timothy said. He and Thomas had rushed to catch up with the
rest of the group. “We need to get out of here as fast as we
can.”

“
Why?” James
asked. “I don’t understand.”

Timothy gave him a
sceptical look. “Can you run five kilometres straight?” he
said.

“
...No?”
James mumbled, unsettled by how Timothy had decided to avoid his
question. “But you didn’t answer my question. I asked why we need
to get out of here all of a sudden,” he demanded.

“
Theoretically speaking, I 
did
 answer
your question,” Timothy corrected him. “But for further
explanation: That castle is the core of all corruption. Within a
five-kilometre radius from that castle, 
every single one
 of us is powerless, as the Master
has 
no
 limitations
to his power and control or whatsoever here.” He looked at James,
raising an eyebrow. “Is 
that
 what you
wanted to hear?”

“
No,” James
said, “this is far worse than what I wanted to hear... Or was
hoping to.”

“
Well then,
now you’re prepared for the worst,” Timothy said, with a creepy
kind of confidence in his voice.

James looked at Thomas,
who’d just appeared next to him. “Are we?” he said.

Thomas responded with a
crooked grin and a shrug. “All we can do is to find out is to wait
and see,” he said. “If we aren’t, then we’ll be quick to find
out.”

James snorted. “Sounds
very positive,” he said. 

“
Indeed,”
Thomas said sarcastically. “It does.”

“
Hey,” James
suddenly said. “Where’s Glimmer?”

“
I sent her
to pick up the other three Protectors,” Timothy said. “Together
with them, we’ll be even stronger. That’ll make us just a touch
more prepared... I believe she’ll come back soon.”

If the Protectors still
wanted to join the Bond of Light and protect them, they better had
hurry.

The Master was waiting
for them, barely a hundred metres away. He’d been expecting them;
the Bond of Light was now close enough to his Castle for them to be
defenceless against his power.

“
They might have been lucky 
last
 time,”
Jason whispered to Sabrina, “but they won’t be this
time.”

“
They sure
won’t,” Sabrina said, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll call Master
Asura as soon as they come near enough for the spell to be
effective.”

“
How fast do
you guys think Glimmer can fly?” Samira said. “I think she flies
pretty fast.”

“
What do you
mean?” Bella said, but realized what Samira had meant as soon as he
looked up at the sky behind him. 

It was not very clear,
but a shining dragon, carrying two figures with glowing weaponry
and one flying fairy beside her was approaching quickly in the
sky.

“
Look, it’s
them already! Hey, guys!” James shouted and waved at the dragon,
but Thomas shut him up. 

“
Do you even 
realise
 where we
are!?” Thomas hissed at James, who looked at him with guilt in his
eyes.

“
Sorry,” James whispered back.
“Urgh!” Sabrina grunted; the teenager was hiding behind one of the
dried-out bushes not far away from the Bond of Light. “You can’t
be 
serious
! Did that
curly-haired grunt seriously call them in 
now
!?”

“
Don’t worry,
Sabrina,” a deep voice behind her said. It was the Master; he’d
decided to join in on the party and check what was going on
himself. “Even with nine of them, they will be no match for the
three of us.”
The Protectors had just got off Glimmer when they were greeted by
the Bond of Light and Timothy.

“
Timothy!” Gabriel said. “How’s it going? It’s
been 
ages
 since we
last spoke!”

“
Yeah,”
Timothy said. “Like, nine centuries or so,” he
laughed. 

Violina was greeted by
the Bond of Light, and Antonio in special. “Violina!” he
shouted. 

“
Antonio...”
Violina said. 

“
I didn’t
expect to see you again,” Antonio smiled.

“
...Neither
did I,” Violina smiled back. “But... I’m here now!”

Meanwhile, James seemed
to notice something else, as he and Thomas were greeting
Madeleine.

“
Madeleine?”
James asked.

“
What’s the
problem, James?” Madeleine said. 

“
I... hate to
ask it, and I fear I might already be aware of the answer,” James
said. “But... Where’s Rikki?”

An awkward silence fell
over the teenagers greeting each other, and Gabriel’s face turned
into a frown instantly. 

“
She...
didn’t make it,” he mumbled. “Sabrina killed her.”

Samira gasped; Bella
clasped her hands in front of her mouth. Antonio lowered his head,
slowly shaking it.

“
I... I’m so
sorry,” James said. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Gabriel offered him a sad
smile. “It’s all right, James,” he said. “You couldn’t possibly
have known.”

“
I’m sorry to break this up guys,” Madeleine suddenly said,
“but we haven’t got time to hang around and do nothing! We’ve got
to get going and end this all 
now
!”

“
Sure thing,
boss!” James laughed, causing the others to laugh as well, before
continuing on their journey.
Sadly, not for long.
“Are they within range?” the Master asked.

“
Yes,
Master,” the two Cursed Spirits beside him replied.

“
Good. 
Engage.
”
The Master, including his two helpers stepped out of their hiding
place, a few metres away from being right in front of the Bond of
Light and the Protectors.

“
Oh God,”
Timothy said. “RUN! IT’S THE MASTER!”

But it was far too late
to run. The Master raised his staff, with its orb glowing bright
red. The ground started to shake, freezing everyone in their
places.

Eyes flashed from the
left to the right, gazes met. Everyone could feel what was
happening; everyone knew they were done for.
And then it happened. The unexpected.
James tried to move his legs, but failed to do so. Upon gazing down
at them, he noticed that they were slowly turning to stone, as were
his arms.

The last he saw was the
fate of his friends and companions; they were all turning to
stone.
What was the purpose of this? Would they end up here as statues
forever? Or would they be put somewhere in the halls of the
Master’s castle, as a bunch of morbid trophies?

Or would something else
happen?

Before James could process everything and go through any
possible escapes, he could feel the nerves in his face stiffening
quickly, leaving it only a matter of 
seconds
 before everything went black before his
eyes.

*

“
Urgh...”

Thomas
was the first
to regain consciousness, followed shortly by Gabriel, Violina and
the others.

“
Where are we?”
he
said. “It... looks like some kind of dungeon.”

“
I’ve been
trapped inside this dungeon before,” Timothy said. “It’s the
Master’s dungeon.”

He tried to move, but
soon found out he couldn’t move either of his limbs. “What the-?”
he exclaimed, as he looked at the others and discovered their arms,
legs and part of their torsos had sunk into the stone wall, as if
stone could grow over objects.

“
The statue curse,” Madeleine said. “He used the statue
curse to - 
literally
 stick
us to the wall... Looks like we’re not going anywhere anytime
soon.”

“
Can’t Akilah
take over your body and use her powers to free us?” Gabriel
said.

“
She can only do that if 
I’m
 free,”
Madeleine replied. “Right now, neither of us can do
anything.”

Madeleine’s words stating that they were defenceless seemed
to annoy Gabriel, as he let out a loud and overly exaggerated sigh.
“
Great.
”

“
Hey, um...
I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but we’re missing a few people
here,” Antonio said.

Gabriel lowered his
eyebrows. “What?” he said. “Where are James and Samira?”

“
Glimmer is outside; she managed to fly away just before the
attack commenced,” Madeleine said. “But James and Samira...”
“They’re locked away somewhere more... 
secure.
”

The expression in
Madeleine’s eyes twisted instantly at the sound of the Master’s
voice.  She wanted to say something, but the Master shut her
up with a single wave of his hand.

“
Hush,
milady,” he said. “I promise I am not here to kill you... for now,
that’s Jason’s job.”

“
That “for
now” unsettles me, Asura,” Gabriel said; the Master’s eyes betrayed
that he was offended by the teenager calling him by his first
name.

“
I was saying that 
for now
, Jason has
some problems he needs to solve regarding the three of you,” he
said, while gesturing at Gabriel, Timothy and Madeleine. “After
that is settled, I will probably return you to your stone forms...
to keep as trophies.”

He smiled a vampire
smile; the kind that sent chills down Thomas’s spine. “Where are my
friends!?” he yelled.

The Master turned toward
him. “Safe,” he said. “...But probably not for long. Don’t worry;
you’ll get to reunite with them soon.”