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Caleb placed a shaky hand on the wall beside him. He took a moment to adjust his position and brace himself, and then, realizing it was now or never, pushed himself up.
The pain in his ankle was blinding, and he fell back to the floor before he could even process standing.
"Blunk tell you, ankle no good."
Caleb glared at his stinky green cellmate, who was one of the reasons Caleb hadn't been helped by Vathek. Passlings were notorious spies for the higher bidder, and the highest bidder around was Phobos. The last rebellion had been squashed by a passling posing as a prisoner, and Vathek was too important to have his station revealed.
The second reason Vathek hadn't intervened was Caleb's ankle. For all that Vathek was strong and good at his job, even he couldn't dodge suspicious while carrying around a wounded prisoner.
Caleb sighed in frustration. The way he saw it, one of two things could happen. Either he'd be executed, or his father would surrender. Neither option was appealing to him.
"Don't be sad. Blunk keep you company!"
Great, just great. I'm gonna die and my last night alive will be spent with a stinky, annoying passling.
Closing his eyes and hoping for some sleep, Caleb tuned out the sound of Blunk's chattering.
Please, let someone come help me.
Will managed to sneak out by ten. She was hoping to be back soon, but just in case she wasn't, she placed some pillows beneath her covers. The chances of her mom checking up on her before leaving for work were slim, admittedly, but still, better safe than sorry.
Once out, she texted the girls.
Taranee and Irma were "sleeping over" at Hay-Lins, and Yan-Lin would cover for them should anything go wrong. Cornelia hadn't mentioned how she'd get out, but Will suspected it would be something like she was. Either way, Cornelia was her ride, as Will didn't want her mom to notice her bright-green bug missing, or hear it start up.
Cornelia pulled up and Will slid into the front seat.
"Uh, Corny?"
"Yeah?"
"You do realize we'll be transforming there, right?"
Cornelia looked down at her outfit- black turtleneck, black jeans, and black boots, and smiled sheepishly.
"I couldn't resist the urge."
They drove quietly, both to scared to say anything. Part of Will was still convinced this couldn't be real; they couldn't be risking their lives in just a few minutes. Yet here they were.
"Hey, Cornelia?"
"Yeah…"
She wondered how to phrase it; how to say how grateful she was they the four of them had welcomed her and made her feel at home, even after the past two days of insanity. But she found that she couldn't, so instead she just said, "Thanks for driving me."
When they reached the beach, the other girls were all there, as well as Yan-Lin.
"What's with the catsuit, Corny?"
"Irma, nobody who appeared in public looking like you did today has any right to criticize."
"Guys, please," Will said, "Can we just… keep this part at least low key?"
The two girls looked sheepish and apologised.
"I will take you as far as the portal. Remember, top priority is saving the boy."
The girls all nodded and Will, hoping third time wouldn't be as jarring, held out the heart.
"Guardians, unite."
"This way."
Yan-Lin lead them further up the beach, past the caves and up a hill. Finally, they reached what looked like a cove in the middle of the cliffside. Yan-Lin walked inside, and the girls, exchanging reassuring glances, followed.
The only had to go a few paces before finding it; bright blue and swirling, it was by far the most mesmerizing and absurd thing Will had ever seen.
"This will take you to your destination. Be careful, the other end may not be what you expect. I suggest flying through."
Will, acting much braver than she felt, stepped forwards.
"Okay, I'll lead the way." She took off slightly, stayed low, and, taking a deep breath in, closed her eyes and flew through.
The first thing to hit her was the stench. Opening her eyes, She realized she was in some sort of bog, beneath her were muddy waters and around her were snarled trees and roots that twisted in every direction, except one. And there, in the distance, rose a castle on a precariously steep hill.
"Jeez, you think these guys are evil?"
Will jumped- or at least did the flying equivalent thereof-at Irma's voice.
"Sorry, girly, didn't mean to scare you."
Cornelia and Taranee came through next, holding hands and squeezing their eyes shut, and Hay-Lin followed, clearly struggling to hold in a loud whoop.
"Any idea where we are?" Hay-Lin asked.
"No. But I'm willing to bet that's Prince Phobos' place," Will said, pointing up to the castle.
"So that must be where there keeping the rebel boy," Taranee muttered, flying a bit closed.
"So… what now?"
They all turned to Hay-Lin.
"Aren't we going to find the rebels?"
"Yeah, but I have no idea how…"
"Besides," Taranee said, "Judging by the moons position, I'd say we have less time than we thought. What if we can't get to them soon enough?"
Suddenly, the heart jerked violently in the direction of the castle.
"Um, what's up with that thing?" Cornelia asked.
"No clue." Will grabbed the necklace tightly, but it seemed insistent on floating towards the castle. "I think… I think it wants us to get a move on with the rescue…"
"Okay, so who thinks we stick to the original plan and who thinks we follow the magical sentient crystal?" Irma looked like she was itching to go on the rescue mission.
"I don't think the heart really cares what we want." Will admitted.
"Great," Cornelia muttered. "When I said I wanted killer jewelry, I so did not mean this."
"Come on," Will said, "Let's go save the kid."
The flew low, partly to avoid attention and partly out of fear, and didn't land until they were just outside the castle.
"I'm betting the dungeons are in the lowest part of the place. If we enter through the sewer, we can probably avoid being seen too much." She didn't sound too thrilled about that plan, but Will approved it.
"Wait, guys," Hay-Lin said, "What if there's something in the water?" the girls looked down- it was true, the water was to murky for them to see more than a foot beneath the surface, but Will got the sense things went much deeper than that.
"Irma, do you think you can…" Will wasn't quite sure what she was asking, but Irma rolled her eyes and flew towards the edge of the water.
"You guys so owe me," She muttered, before sticking her hand in.
They waited with baited breath while Irma closed her eyes and focused.
"Ich!" She pulled her hand from the water quickly. "You were right Hay-Hay, something is displacing a lot of water. Like, a lot a lot."
"Great. How do we get passed it?"
"Can't we fly over it?" Cornelia asked.
"Not if it jumps."
"You're the leader, what do you think?" Taranee asked, and Will winced. She didn't like being the leader, she wanted to say, but now was not the time.
She tried to think... Cornelia might be able to make a bridge, but that would be no better than flying. Hay Lin and Irma could water-tornado the thing, but that might not help either, which left…
"Tara, how much water do you think you can bring to a boil?"
"Not this whole lake, but maybe a portion of it…"
"Okay, um, Irma, if you can sense where the thing is, we can trap it there, and Taranee can try to incapacitate it."
"What about the vapor? Isn't this a secret mission?"
"Hay-Lin, keep the smoke going in another direction. Okay, let's get to work!"
The girls noded, and assumed their position. Irma placed her hands in the water, and Cornelia hovered close to her, Taranee not far behind. Hay-Lin flew above them and prepared.
"It's by that root… moving slowly...now Corny!"
Cornelia, not missing a beat, plunged her hand into the dirt.
"Earth!" If not for seeing Cornelia, Will wouldn't know if it was working.
"There's weird tendrils… oh, wait, that's Corny's vines… we's swimming away… no! We got him! But he's pretty squirmy and very big, so Taranee, go when you can!"
Taranee flew out to the root and aimed her hands at the water, Hay Lin followed. It wasn't long until the water began to bubble and vapor began to rise, which Hay-Lin set moving close to the water and towards the portal.
"He's stopped squirming, but I don't know if we killed it or if he just got knocked out."
"Well I for one don't want to stick around to find out. Good work, you guys," Will said.
"Good work with that plan, Will," Hay-Lin said.
"Thanks." Will tried not to blush.
They flew over the bog, still a little nervous, and reached the grate.
"Taranee, you good to go again?"
The bespectacled girl nodded and melted away the metal, and the girls. Holding their breath as they flew uncomfortably close to the stinking water, flew through the opening.
Once inside, they realized they were in a large cavern with many passages, all damp. Will produced the heart again, and it tugged in the direction of a caven.
"Alright. Let's hope we were right to trust this."
Caleb had lost almost all hope when he heard the whispering.
"In here."
His ears perked up at the female voices. The only girls in the palace were kitchen workers and girls Phobos had brought from the town for his own purposes. He doubted any of them would be in the dungeon…
He looked up right as they appeared.
"What the…" Five girls in purple and green outfits, all with wings… it can't be. They're a myth!
"Is that him?" The blonde one asked.
"Only one way to find out. Hay-Lin, you're our best flyer…"
The dark haired girl nodded at the redhead, and before Caleb knew what to do or say, she had dived down into the hole.
"Hey!" She greeted in a bubbly voice.
"Um, hello?"
"Are you the rebel leader's son?"
"Yes?"
The girl looked up.
"It's him! We did it!"
"Uh, not yet, we still have to save him and all. Bring him up!"
The girl turned back to him.
"Okay, hold on tight!"
"Wait, wait, who the hell are you?"
"I'm Hay-Lin."
"No, I mean…"
"We're the guardians of the veil," the redhead called down. "We came to save you!"
"No way, guardian's don't exist."
"Um, excuse you," a brunette said, "But I think we'd realize not existing."
"I mean-"
"Hey, buster," the blonde said, "we're saving you, so deal."
Caleb wanted to protest; after all, these girls could be spies… but then. How much worse could his situation get?"
"Girls rescuing boy? Girl's should rescue Blunk too!"
With a start, Hay-Lin spun around and gave a little shriek.
"What is it, are you okay?" The redhead calleb down.
"Fine, just startled by a… a giant talking toad?"
"A passling," Caleb corrected, "notorious spies and crooks."
"Blunk not spy!"
"Look, we don't have much time, just grab him and get out!"
"He looks a bit heavy. And he's injured. I may need a hand."
The redhead nodded to the blonde and brunette, who both flew down. Up close, he could see that they were both kind of stunning, just like Hay-Lin.
"This is Irma and Corny-" Hay-Lin caught the blondes glare, "-lia. Up there is Will, the redhead, and Taranee."
"I'm Caleb."
"And I'm Blunk!"
"Ech. Tell me we're not saving him as well?"
"No-" Caleb began, but he was overruled.
"Come On, we can leave him to rot later. But for now, our job is saving people."
Corny-lia and Hay-Lin grabbed him by the arms, not waiting for his permission, and then flew him up. To his dismay, he saw that Irma had grabbed the passling.
Flying, at least, was exhilarating, until they got to the top and tried to set him down on his feet.
"Ow!"
"Ooh, right, sorry," Hay-Lin said, levitating him once more.
"Taranee, Will, this is Caleb and that is Blunk."
"Nice to meet girls," Blunk said, and Taranee did her best not to look disgusted when he waved.
"Nice to meet... Weird stinky frog guy?" Will walked towards Caleb and bent down.
"This ankle thing is gonna be a problem," She said and stood back up. "Caleb, can you lead us to the rebels?"
"Hey, wait a minute, how do I know I can trust you?"
"Because we just risked our buts to save yours!" Cornelia snapped.
"Besides," Irma said as she set Blunk down, "Do you have a choice."
Caleb grumbled his defeat.
"Okay, we can't take him out the way we got in," Will said, "Any new ideas?"
"Blunk knows way out! Through tunnels!"
"You can't trust him!" Caleb snapped.
Bust suddenly, they had more pressing concerns. The horn sounded; guards were coming.
"Again, not much choice. Cornelia, trade off with me, you're more useful in a fight. Blunk, start leading the way!"
It took a moment for them all to respond to Will's command. Caleb was impressed; working with limited resources, she was doing her best. Though her flying wasn't very smooth.
Blunk lead them down the twisting tunnels, and he could hear the heavy footsteps coming closer behind him.
He closed his eyes, and prayed that these girls knew what they were doing.
Taranee, Irma, and Cornelia flew behind the others.
"They're coming closer!"
"Let's slow them down!"
Cornelia landed, and pressed her hand into the ground.
"Earth!"
A few thin veines grew from floor to ceiling
"Newsflash, girly, that's not gonna hold them back for long!"
"I know. Taranee?"
Taranee raised her eyebrows, until she realized Cornelia's plan.
"Fire!"
She had to admit, she was slightly impressed with herself when the vines went up in flames. It felt good to use her powers like this-to see how cool and strong they could be.
She weaved in and out of the tunnels, up and down, until they came to a sudden stop. In front of them rose a large iron grate.
"I told you! Why'd you trust the Passling!"
"Hey, this not here last time Blunk come through!"
"Taranee?"
"I don't know, Will, I'm a bit low on firepower."
"Let me try," Cornelia said, stepping forwards, "Metal is part of earth, right?"
She held the bars and focused, and while they shook a bit, nothing happened.
"Great. Onto plan B."
She bent down again, and the earth beneath the bars uprooted and shook, sending the iron flying.
They progressed through quickly, but the guards had got passed Taranee and Cornelia's defenses.
They were ugly that was for sure, and well armed.
"Corny, switch with Hay-Lin!" Irma yelled. "Hay-Hay, get ready to freeze this place."
Then, Irma released a huge burst of water, large enough to block the exit.
"Now Hay-Lin!"
The Air guardian worked quickly, and suddenly, the wall of moving water was a wall of solid ice.
"Nice teamwork, let's move!"
Moments later, they were outside.
They made it through the swamp before more guards, shouting and screaming, caught up to them.
"Keep going east! That's the way to the rebels!" Caleb instructed them.
"We're not gonna outrun them!"
"Here, Hay-Lin, take him!"
Cornelia switched off.
"Taranee, remember what we did earlier? Think you can do it again on a bigger scale?"
"I can try."
Cornelia flew up and extended her arms out to either side of her, and then, scrunching her brows together, moved her arms out in front of her, as she did this, two giant trees in front of them toppled, blocking the guards path.
Taranee, using all the magical juju she had, lit them ablaze, and she and Cornelia collapsed into each other for support. Irma flew between them, helping them back up.
"Wait, where did Blunk go?" Hay-Lin asked.
"Who cares, I don't want him to follow us to the rebel HQ anyhow. Now, let's head out and rendezvous with my team."
Taranee looked back at the castle through the flames one last time.
It was the last place she ever wanted to go again, yet somehow, she figured she'd be spending a lot more time there.
Caleb couldn't remember the last time he was so glad to see rebel HQ, as when Hay-Lin and Will set him down in the infinite city, though Will helped support him and his ankle.
"Wow, this place is nice," Irma muttered. Cornelia and Taranee had worked their energy back up and starting flying on their own about halfway there.
"Caleb? Is that you?"
Caleb looked up to see his best friend running towards him, before he was pulled into a crushing hug.
"Aldarn, hey!"
"You got out! How-" But then Aldarn saw the Guardians. "It can't be."
"It is, I've seen their powers myself."
"Nice to meet you," Hay-Lin said, extending her hand to Aldarn, who was too shocked to take it.
"Caleb?"
"Dad. Hey-"
"What happened to your ankle?"
"Arrow."
"Ah."
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"These are the Guardians of the veil. Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, And Hay-Lin."
"Hi," Will said.
"Here, Caleb," Julien said, "Let's get you medical attention. Girls, thank you. I cannot believe it's really you…"
Caleb allowed himself to be passed off to Drake and Aldarn, who both made a point of playfully calling him a dope for getting himself shot.
He looked back, wondering if his dad would follow them, but he was still speaking with the guardians. Will caught his eye as he was being carted off, and she smiled.
"...we must discuss what this means…" he heard his father say.
Caleb decided that, healed or not, he was going to be at that discussion.
Yan-Lin was waiting by the portal when the girls popped through.
By their grins, she could tell they were successful.
"Oh, grandma, I wish you could see it! Corny pulled down a tree and Taranee set fires and we blew up a lake- oh, and uh, we rescued Caleb, the rebel boy."
"That is good news indeed."
"Ugh, I need a nap," Irma said, yawning.
"Soon girls, but first, Will must close the portal."
"Close it? But won't we need to get back and forth to Meridian?"
"Yes, and more portals will open for that. But Phobos and Cedric might be able to track you this one. We cannot risk their poison reaching earth."
Will turned to the portal.
"Okay… here goes."
It took her a few tries, but the portal finally closed, with a resounding electrical buzzing noise.
"So, do we head back tomorrow? Coordinate with the rebels?"
"I think we've earned a day off, Irma," Will said, "But this weekend, let's head back."
The girls agreed, and began to move out of the cave and back to their cars.
Cornelia drove Will back an hour before dawn.
"See you at school," Will said.
"Yeah. Oh, and Will?"
"Yeah?"
"Good job tonight."
Will smiled as she drove off. Maybe this whole leader thing wasn't so bad.
Yan-Lin kissed her granddaughter goodnight on the forehead, and slipped out into the hall and into her own room.
"Long time no see, Yany."
Yan-Lin barely started at that, looking up at her friend.
"Too long, Cassidy. I can barely see through you anymore."
The redhead's eyes went wide with shock, and she floated over to Yan-Lin.
"Is it time-"
"No, not quite. Relax, Cass."
Crossing her arms, Cassidy frown.
"You know, I kept on wishing I would stop being alone here in Kandrakar. But now that someone is close to joining me, I'm kind of freaking, you know?"
"Alone. So Nerissa has not yet…"
"No. But the way she's been draining life force, I won't be surprised to see her here before you. I mean, you, Halinor, and Kadma are all close to this, and you haven't been messing with things like she has."
"Nerissa was always strong. But her time will come soon enough. And if she tries something before then-"
"The Guardian's will stop her. Hey, do you think their outfit are cuter than ours are? Because I kind of do."
Yan-Lin simply sighed and began to take her hair down.
"Speaking of, why did you not tell them that portal would put them closer to Caleb than the other rebels?"
"They must not begin to rely on outside help. After all, they can trust only one another."
"We couldn't trust one another."
"This will be different. Our fate was considered when they were chosen. Why do you think they were all friends, whereas we began strangers?"
"Will is a stranger. You'd think the keeper of all people…"
"The Heart chose Will to lead for a reason. Even the Oracle cannot question the choices of Kandrakar itself." Yan-Lin stood. "I am tired, and, no offence, but I'd rather you not watch me undress, though I know it is a great loss."
"Ha, ha. Don't worry, I'm out of here."
She faded away completely, back to the realm she occupied.
"Dear friend," Yan-Lin said to the space she had been in, "I will reunite with you in truth soon enough."
Thanks for reading! Please drop a review- whether you loved it, hated it, or were indifferent, I'd love some feedback!
This is the longest chapter yet, and ends the first mini arc. I hope you enjoyed!
Next Chapter, The Guardians ballance normal life and guardian duties!