Chapter 20

The Shot

Heatherfield

Matt was having a rare, and wonderfully perfect peaceful evening. Joel had called to cancel Wreck 55's scheduled practice earlier, and he was grateful for the break. Still, the lure of his guitar called to him, and despite the late hour, he found himself sitting in his garage, messing around with various chord progressions. Even though he should have known better, he thought nothing of it when his phone rang.

"Hey Will. What's up?" Matt asked casually.

"Oh you know, not much. Just impending death!" Will replied.

Matt dropped the guitar and quickly stood up. He could hear energy blasts and screams in the background.

"Where are you? What's going on?" Matt asked, closing the garage door.

"Balsilide, on what I swear I thought was just a boring meeting." Will said.

"When was the last time you had a boring meeting that didn't end in a fight?" Matt asked.

"Good point. You alone?" Will asked.

"Yeah, in the garage." Matt replied, transforming into Shagon.

No sooner had he said this then a fold appeared in front of him. Not wasting any time, Matt soared through it and onto the battlefield.

Balsilide

"You know, I got to hand it to Yan Lin. These new phones are awesome!" Will said as Matt appeared in front of her.

The throne room of Weldrick Palace was destroyed beyond recognition. Tapestries burned, tiles cracked, and pillars threatened to crumble. If the R.E.G was concerned about any of this, they did not show it. Based on the lack of endangered civilians in the area, Will guessed that the Balsilidian government was quite aware that this fight was to occur even before it happened, and had cleared everybody out. She would have spent more time thinking about the implications of this, except she was too busy fighting for her life.

The Guardians were scrambling just to hold their own against Selna's onslaught. The young girl had little training, and knew nothing about military strategy, which was what made her so difficult for the girls to fight. The Guardians had no idea what her next move would be. Selna used the Heart of Balsilide as more of a blunt object then a weapon, attacking with only the most basic maneuvers. Still, her raw power, and unpredictable nature, was more then enough to keep the Guardians off-balance, especially with the R.E.G waiting for them on the ground.

"In case nobody's noticed, we suck!" Cornelia said, narrowly avoiding a lethal blast of energy.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but she's right." Matt said.

"To be fair, she has a fully powered Heart at her disposal!" Hay Lin said. "Remember how powerful Elyon was at first?"

Selna paused for a moment, and then released a wave of energy, sending the Guardians plummeting to the ground. The R.E.G tried to attack while the Guardians were stunned, but Hay Lin blocked them with wall of air.

"And she's learning how to use it too." Will noted.

"Come on, we're the Guardians!" Cornelia said. "There's no way we're going down to some random girl like this!"

"It's not random." Irma said. "She has every reason to attack us. Or at least me."

"And that's part of the problem." Taranee said. "Both literally and figuratively, she has her heart into this fight more then we do. She wants us dead…"

"And we don't want to fight her at all." Irma finished. "I just want this to stop."

Hay Lin didn't like where this was going, and decided to make a call of her own. Heading to the back of the throne room, where she hoped Selna would not notice her, she quickly made her call.

"Grandma? Are you seeing this?" Hay Lin shouted into the phone.

"Yes Hay Lin, I am." Yan Lin replied on the other end. "In fact, all of Kandrakar is seeing this. We are watching with great interest."

"Yay for you." Hay Lin said. "How about doing something to help us out?"

"I'd like to…" Yan Lin began.

"Uh oh, I sense a but." Hay Lin said gloomily.

"But, I'm afraid we cannot. At least not right away." Yan Lin said.

"Oh come on! Why not?" Hay Lin asked.

"We cannot come to a decision on what, if anything, to do." Yan Lin explained. "Without an Oracle, there are hundreds of voices, and each idea is just as relevant as the last. I fear we will never accomplish anything like this."

"Well if you don't do something, we may never accomplish anything ever again!" Hay Lin shouted back over the sounds of the battle.

"I'll do my best." Yan Lin replied with a sigh. "For now though, it's best to act as if Kandrakar cannot help."

Yan Lin mumbled something she hoped her grandma didn't hear, and hung up. With reluctance, she rejoined the battle.

"We're not getting any help from the fortress." Hay Lin said. "Looks like we're on our own."

"I'm shocked." Cornelia said, rolling her eyes.

Another wave of energy from Selna, but the Guardians were ready for it, and absorbed it without harm.

"Murderers!" Selna shouted. "You'll pay for what you've done!"

"Kid's got a pair of lungs on her." Will noted.

"Will, this throne room can't take much more punishment." Taranee said. "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed." Will replied. "We need to get some breathing room anyways. And you weren't entirely correct Hay Lin, we're not completely alone."

Quickly, Will opened up a fold in the throne room. Matt and the girls piled through, and Will tried to close it before Selna and the R.E.G could follow, but it was no use. Using her Heart, Selna kept the fold open, allowing the rest of the combatants to exit the throne room, leaving it empty at last.

Meridian

"Meridian?" Cornelia said, slightly nervous, "Why are we here?"

The girls, with the exception of Will, took a quick look around. They were now standing in an ordinary field, but the familiar castle looming in the background left little doubt as to what world they were on.

"Figured we need to get them off their home turf." Will explained. "Meridian was the only place I could think of."

While Cornelia couldn't argue with this plan, she wasn't happy about it. It had only been a day since she her talk with Caleb, and she had been hoping to avoid the boy until emotions had calmed down. Her first date with Timothy had been a success, but she still found her thoughts were focused on Caleb more than anything else. She had assumed her mind had been made up, but now things seemed less clear. Giving up Caleb was not nearly as easy as she'd hoped it would be. She had so many questions about the future, and she wasn't sure she was ready for the answers. She decided to remain quiet, and hope that the Honor Guard did not arrive.

"Come to think of it, we could use a bit of help getting rid of the R.E.G." Irma said. "Taranee?"

"On it."

So much for that idea, Cornelia thought. Taranee shot a flare high into the sky, where it exploded in a bright ball of fire.

"That should catch the attention of anyone in the castle." Taranee said.

No sooner had she said this then a blast of energy from Selna threw Taranee to the ground. She hit hard, leaving her dazed and vulnerable. Only a wall of wind from Hay Lin saved her from the charging R.E.G., who were quick to jump on any Guardian who fell.

"Okay, that's enough of that." Cornelia said, summoning her strength. "Earth!"

A series of large vines shot up from the ground underneath Selna. Before the girl could react, the vines had entangled her, and were dragging her to the ground. Cornelia barely had time to smile, however, before Selna started melting the vines away with the power of the Heart of Balsilide.

"Hate to say it, but that's pretty impressive." Hay Lin said.

Will had no time to admire her opponent. Selna was not free of the vines yet, and this was the first time since the start of the battle that the girl had been left vulnerable. Will was not about to let the opportunity slip though her hands. She could worry about making it up to the girl later. For now, she needed to be dealt with.

Will lined up her shot, concentrating all of her power into her right hand. Just as she fired, Taranee flew up beside her and forced her hand away, sending Will's shot sailing over Selna's head.

"Taranee, what the…?" Will said, turning on her friend.

"Take a look Will." Taranee said telepathically, "She focused all of her energy to burning the vines. She doesn't know to keep a shield up like we do. She's left to protect herself! If you had hit her with that blast, you would have killed her!"

"Wow, you're right." Will replied. "You know this is hard enough without having to pull our punches."

By this time, Selna had escaped her makeshift prison, and was back on the offensive. The Guardians attempted their own attacks, but they lacked the energy normally utilized by the girls. Will quickly began to realize just how much trouble they were in. Selna had done nothing wrong. She was just an ordinary girl, who had tragically become mixed up in the Guardian's world. She didn't deserve any more pain, and Will wasn't about to give her any. This did, however, make it very difficult to fight her. The only way for this battle to end is for someone to be defeated. Will didn't want it to be them who lost, but she wasn't sure she could do what was necessary to take down Selna.

All of the girls were running out of ideas and energy when the sound of hooves caused everyone to stop. The girls turned to see Caleb and the rest of the Honor Guard riding into the clearing on horseback.

"What is going on here?" Caleb asked, dismounting gracefully and drawing his sword.

He made a deliberate effort to avoid looking at Cornelia. Cornelia would have loved nothing more then to do the same, but found it impossible not to stare at the boy she used to know so well.

"Long story. Sweet horse. Just do us a favor and stop the R.E.G from trying to kill us." Will said.

None of the Honor Guard seemed to have any problem with that order. They weren't quite sure what was going on, but they had seen the Guardians in action long enough to trust them. It didn't hurt that there was a lot of bad blood between the Honor Guard and the R.E.G, and Caleb was eager for a rematch. Before they could attack, Balken spoke.

"Halt!" Balken said, raising his hand. "Come no further."

The Honor Guard paused momentarily, unsure of what to do next.

"Never thought you were a coward, Balken." Vathek said.

"Do not mistake wisdom for fear." Balken replied before turning to Caleb. "Balsilide has no quarrel with Meridian, or the Honor Guard. The Guardians brought us here against our knowledge. We are merely enacting Balsilidian justice."

"Oh, come off it!" Raythor replied. "Justice? What could the Guardians have done wrong."

"That is none of your concern." Balken replied coldly. "If you choose to interfere with our business, we will take it as an act of war, with all the consequences that follow."

"This is nonsense!" Drake said, beginning forward, but Caleb stopped him.

"He's right." Caleb said, glaring at Balken. "We have no right to interfere. We stay back."

"What?" Tynar said, "We're just going to stand by and watch?"

"If the alternative is war for Meridian, then yes." Caleb replied. "You know my connection to the Guardians. You know what they mean to me. But the safety and well being of this world comes first. This time, the girls are on their own."

"Uh, bad news. The Honor Guard is helpless to act." Hay Lin said, having overheard the conversation below. "Stupid politics."

"Well, that's no good." Will said. "Looks like I brought us here for nothing. If anybody has another plan, now would be the time to share it."

All eyes went to Taranee.

"Tara, this is where you're supposed to say your idea." Cornelia said.

"Sorry girls, I got nothing. I don't know how we're getting out of this." Taranee replied.

As if sensing her opponents' thoughts, Selna pressed her advantage. She shot a dozen beams of energy at the Guardians, causing them to scatter. All of the girls managed to avoid the attack, except one. Irma was hit by a glancing blow, and fell hard to the ground. The rest of the Guardians, busy with their own problems, were forced to leave her be.

For a moment, Irma merely lay there on the ground. She was not hurt, at least not physically, but she had no desire to move. She had ruined Selna's life, she was sure of that and precious little else. She didn't want to fight the girl, but she didn't want to go home either. All that waited there was her awful job, her horrible grades and her angry parents. She was perfectly happy to just stay on the ground forever.

She reluctantly got to her knees, but was so absorbed in her thoughts that she did not notice Hoth, one of the R.E.G, coming up behind her. Silently, he drew his sword, and approached Irma. Just before he struck, Irma turned, and for a split second, time froze. Irma saw Hoth, saw the sword, but could do nothing about it. She was too stunned, and there was no time to react, no time to defend herself, and the Guardians could not help her. There was nothing she could do but wait for the end.

Just as Hoth was about to bring his sword down he stopped, feeling a pain between his head and his shoulders. He looked down to see a bloodied arrow sticking out of his neck. He froze, coughed once, and then fell to the ground, dead.

Irma watched him fall in stunned amazement. Behind where the now lifeless Hoth had been standing was Walli, bow in hand. Irma looked from the corpse, to Walli and back again in disbelief. Slowly, she realized what had happened, and what the consequences would be. Not only had Walli saved her life, but he had changed it forever.