A/N: After being away for over a year, I do hope that this mammoth of a chapter is up to your expectations. :) I really hope it is cuz it's like, the longest thing I've ever written.
A New Beginning
Chapter 5
Previously: "Ah, well …in that case…it's disappeared" He said quickly, making sure to avoid her gaze.
"WHAT?!" She screamed so loud that he actually winced, and it was a miracle that Phobos hadn't sent his guards to capture them.
"Let's go back to the base, shall we?" Caleb asked. By now, Will was absolutely fuming, and he was glad there was freezing rain to cool her down, because she seemed as though she was about to erupt with anger.
With a look of apology, Caleb turned around and led the pair of them back to the Rebel hideout.
Meridian…
Pacing back and forth in the vast, shadowy throne room, Prince Phobos was wondering how to locate his sister, and fast. With all the unnecessary stress, he was surprised that his pacing hadn't created a large crater in the concrete floor. The child was crucial for his master plan to work, and the sooner he put the plan into action, the better. And longer it took, then the more hope the Rebels would have in defeating him, and he hated giving hope. But alas, he had not yet thought of a devilish scheme.
The young prince was brought out of his thoughts and back to reality, when the grand doors of the throne room were opened, only to reveal a rather human looking Cedric.
"My princeee" The shape shifter hissed eerily as he bowed down to the evil prince of Meridian. Phobos turned to look at his loyal and strongest warrior.
"Cedric, have you thought of any new ideas on how to find and locate my sister yet?" Lord Cedric, once bowing, now stood up.
"Yessss, my princeee. I have found out that she lives in a small town called Heatherfield, as do the Guardians. If you allow it, I shall travel to Earth under the disguise of a human and sssearch for the lossst princesss, the old fashioned way." The lord waited patiently as his prince pondered about his request.
"Very well Cedric. I grant you permission to leave to Earth as soon as possible so that we can continue making progress on finding my sister. While you are there, see if you can find anything out about the Guardians which might be useful to us."
"Worry not, my Princeee. Given the chance to do so, I will crush those troublesome Guardians and the Rebel Leader and bring you the Heart of Candracar" Hissed Cedric.
"And I expect nothing less from you. Now, go and get ready for your departure, and then return here to find an object in which you can use to contact me through. Whenever you wish to return to Meridian, use one of the ancient Meridian books which acts as a rift between the two worlds. Once you are there on Earth, I will use my powers to stop portals opening in case the Guardians get through and manage to make mischief. I want you to use a portal to get to Earth. I will be heading to my chambers now." Phobos stood up. "Oh, and Cedric, do not disappoint me." Phobos ended coldly and with malice, a clear threat hidden in his words, leaving Cedric to shiver.
All the way through the journey back to the Rebel hideout, Caleb could almost feel Will's petrifying glare on him, and he was certain that if looks could kill, he'd have dropped dead instantly. The journey to actually get to where the portal once was, was horrifying, but the journey back was Hell itself. Along the wretched way, he couldn't help but smirk smugly, (despite the horrendous weather), when he'd heard his companion mutter a string of curses and insults – no doubt they were mainly about him. As they reached closer to the Rebel base, Caleb looked around in case any of Phobos' spies were to catch them. Once he was undoubtedly sure there were none, the pair walked to the entrance, where they were, for the second time now, greeted by none other than the perky Aldarn himself, who seemed to look flabbergasted.
"Caleb, I thought you had gone to return the Guardian Leader back to Earth". Caleb only let out an irritated sigh.
"That was the plan, but when we went back to where the portal was, but when we arrived, it had disappeared–"
"– And it's his entire fault" Will interrupted, glaring daggers at Caleb, who returned the gesture in a heartbeat.
"Excuse me? How could I possibly have closed the portal? You're the only one here who could done such thing".
"I didn't do a damn thing. It's your fault for bringing me here in the first place. I never asked you to come here, and if my memory serves me well, I do seem to remember saying 'no' to coming here, but you didn't listen to me, did you? What are you grinning at?" Will ranted at Caleb, and also attracting a small audience, before turning to Aldarn.
The green elf had been watching the pair argue in awe with an amused smile which gracing his face, but now as the redhead was staring mercilessly at him, his eyes widened with fear, and he felt a huge lump form in his throat, causing him to suffocate from the lack of air. After getting no response, Will turned on her heel and walked away. When he could no longer see her retreating back, Aldarn turned to Caleb, finally able to breathe again, "In the name of the Gods. And I thought Phobos was scary".
Caleb nodded in agreement. "Women." He sighed before the two friends walked away.
Lord Cedric had packed everything which he may need and had gotten ready before returning to the throne room once more. Right in the centre, he found a medium sized crystal ball. This is probably the contacting device, Cedric thought as he picked the round object up off the floor. He hadn't expected it to be like this. The ball was cooler than ice and was numbing his fingers the longer he held it.
It hadn't taken Cedric long to find his desired destination. After he'd gone through the portal, he'd found himself standing before a large shop known as the "Ye Old Bookstore". Effortlessly, he glamoured himself so that he'd look more, as the Earthlings would say, "down to Earth". He was now wearing a simple pair of light blue jeans, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of worn brown shoes on his feet. His golden brown was shorter, now reaching his shoulder blades and was tied back into a low ponytail and on his face were a pair of red glasses.
He now looked like an ordinary person from Earth. Cedric had known about this abandoned bookstore and had decided to check if it would be a suitable location for his plan months ago. He had now taken up the false identity of Rick Sanders, the new resident of Heatherfield, and the new owner of the antique bookstore.
Absolutely furious, Will Vandom walked away from Caleb and Aldarn. How dare he claim it was her fault when it clearly wasn't?! Completely lost and unsure of where she was ad how she got here, Will stopped and sat down in a diminutive space opposite her and leaned her back against a door. Will sighed loudly in despair. She thought about all that had happened since she'd arrived in the mad town known as Heatherfield: Finding out her mother was actually dating her history teacher, getting kidnapped by an overgrown snake, meeting the Rebel Leader, almost getting killed by an evil prince, becoming a Guardian and keeper of the Sword of Candracar, meeting the Rebellion, and now finally, being trapped in a completely different world to her own called Meridian. And to think she once had a normal life – normal enough at least.
Out of the corner of her eye, Will caught a slight movement. Cautiously, she stood up to see who or what it was. Her heart was starting to beat faster and her breathing became slow and heavy. As she craned her neck to take a peek, she breathed out a happy sigh of relief. She was a young girl, around the age of 6 or 7, wearing and ripped and tattered dress. She had dark green eyes and dark red hair.
As she saw the older Guardian's eyes study her petite form, she couldn't help but feel nervous and begin to fidget. She took a few small steps back then stopped, not quite knowing what it was that she was running away from.
Will, noticing the small child step back a bit, and her behaviour moments ago, took out her hand to rest on the girl's shoulder.
"I don't bite, you know", she said; scowling silently at how cold and bitter it sounded. She watched as the girl nodded slowly. "What's your name?" Will asked, this time sounding much happier.
"My name is Rosalie…what's yours?"
"My name's Will. Don't ask what it's short for, it's embarrassing." Will said with a small smile, causing Rosalie to smile as well.
"So what are you doing in this part of the building? Nobody ever comes here. Come with me, I know a much better place where we can sit and talk." Rosalie said, her eyes shining with hope. Will seemed to think about it for a second, but quickly deciding she didn't want to disappoint her fellow redhead, she took her hand before being whisked away.
Inside the bookshop, there were lots of bookshelves scattered around randomly, and a small dim light hanging from above. In front of him, there were plenty of boxes with different kinds of books in them, and Cedric decided it would be best if he sorted them out as soon as possible, but only so that he could get on with his mission. While sorting out some books near the back of the shop, he heard a bell, indicating that people had come in and two feminine voices, so he walked over to the front to greet them.
"Hello there. My name is Rick Sanders. How may I help you?" Upon seeing him, the first girl stepped forward.
"Hi, my name's Cornelia Hale" she said confidently, flashing a smile. She was tall, had icy blue eyes and was stunning.
"And I'm Elyon brown," Said the more diminutive girl beside her. She had wheat coloured hair and grey eyes, which reminded Phobos strangely of Phobos. Interesting.
Forcing himself to smile, he repeated, "How may I help you both?"
"Well, we came here to buy some revision books. There are some serious exams coming up and I've heard they're really hard! Could you show us where they are please?" Cornelia asked politely, while Elyon simply smiled beside her.
"But of course. They're right at the back, do help yourselves." Rick sanders said, gestured to the back of the shop, as the girls walked away. Once he was out of their sights, Cedric smirked evilly to himself. He would have to keep a close eye on those two, as he had an incredibly good feeling about them.
Back in Meridian, Will was with Rosalie. They were now inside some sort of open area with many other young children who had come here before them – one of which was Rosalie's twin brother, named Edward. During the time she had spent with Rosalie, Will had discovered that she (Rosalie) and her brother were orphans whom the Rebellion had kindly taken in. Their parents had been arrested for helping to hide one of the Rebels, then tortured and killed by Phobos because they had refused to reveal the whereabouts of the Rebel hide-out.
Already, at such a young age, Edward had begun learning how to fight with a wooden sword with some of the Rebels to learn to become a proper fighter when he was older, and was actually quite good at it for his age, and Rosalie was trying to learn how to become a healer. Whenever the rebels had gotten themselves injured, Rosalie would watch as a healer helped tend to the injuries.
"What's it like on Earth?" Rosalie asked curiously.
"Well, it's very different to here on Meridian. We dress really differently, eat different things and do different things, for instance, we're not fighting a war. Oh, and we often say "like" in the middle of sentences for no apparent reason."
"Will you maybe take me there one day? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?" The young girl looked up, her big; green, puppy dog eyes pleading, with a glimmer of hope and a fear of rejection in them. Will laughed.
"Well, I don't think it'd be fair for me to take just you, because the other children might get jealous, but how about I promise to bring back some things for you from Earth. Does that sound alright?" Will asked, smiling in relief when she saw Rosalie nod eagerly, as she didn't want to upset the little girl. At that moment, Will saw Caleb and Aldarn walk in.
"Who are you planning to take to Earth?" asked Aldarn. Will looked at Aldarn, to Rosalie and then back to Aldarn.
"No one." Replied Will nonchalantly.
"You wanted to see me, Prince Phobos?" said Vathek as he walked nervously through the majestic doors of the throne room; the Prince didn't often wish to talk to him alone.
"Yes Vathek. I feel it has been a long while since I ordered an attack on the Rebels, especially after I've found out where their base is" smirked Phobos.
"You have? When?" Vathek asked, trying to conceal as much of his apprehension as he possible could.
"Oh, it was a while ago. Cedric conducted an experiment by sending in a spy. He's been very useful to us for months now."
"Why are you telling me all this? Vathek asked suspiciously, unaware of how much Phobos knew.
"Because, Vathek, I want you to lead the attack".
"It'll be my honour, my prince." Vathek said as he bowed to Phobos, and just as he was about to leave, Phobos spoke again.
"But if I don't get the results I expect, Vathek, there will be some disastrous consequences" Phobos said, his cold, merciless grey eyes boring into Vathek's, making him gulp as he exit the room.
As he walked back to his chambers in the castle, Vathek thought about what he would do. Never in his life could he betray the Rebellion, even if it was to keep his position as the spy for them. The only thing he could think of was to plan an attack and make it look convincing enough to fool a few of Phobos' men and lurdens, then sneak back to the Rebellion soon enough to warn them of the upcoming attack. Phobos would surely kill him if he failed to bring back a few Rebels for the prince to torture. His only option was to return to the Rebellion, however the only problem was that the Rebels would lose their most valuable spy. Vathek had worked incredibly hard to reach the position he was at now, and it was all about to end.
Meanwhile back in Heatherfield, Yan Lin had rounded up the other Guardians, and now the group of four were sitting around a table at the back of the Silver Dragon, which was concealed from sight and far back enough that any of the other customers couldn't hear.
"Yannie, I love you and all, but why are we here?" Irma asked yawning, with and expression that said she'd rather be anywhere but here, and judging from the other girls' expressions, they were all thinking the same thing.
"I've gathered you all here, dear Irma, because I wanted to talk to you about your mission on as Guardians and what your purpose is. I also want to help you master your powers so you are as strong as you could possibly be, but we'll get to that later." Yan Lin smiled as she looked down at the growingly eager faces.
"That's so cool! But where's Caleb? Oh, a-and Will?" Cornelia asked, clearly hoping to impress the young Rebel leader.
"Caleb took Will to Meridian to introduce her to some of the Rebels. Well, more like her dragged her," Hay Lin said giggling happily, not noticing Cornelia pout with a gleam of slight jealousy in her eyes.
"So Mrs Lin, tell us more about our role as Guardians" Taranee asked, her thirst for knowledge surfacing.
"Ah, but of course. You are not the first group of Guardians; in fact, they have been around for thousands of generations. I was a Guardian before you." Yan Lin said proudly, smiling at the memories of the 'old days'. "Nerissa was the leader of the Guardians, Cassidy was the Guardian of water, Kadma commanded the earth, Halinor was the Guardian of fire and I, like my little Hay Lin was the Guardian of air and we –"
"Oh my God! You guys were CHYKN!" Hay Lin interrupted as she sprung from her seat, grinning widely as she showed the others her hand, which was marked with the initials of the previous generation of Guardians.
"Yes Hay Lin, we were CHYKN" Yan Lin sighed.
"Mrs Lin, why were we chosen to become the Guardians of the Veil? Why not another set of girls? How were we chosen? And why?" Taranee asked, ready to take down notes in a notepad that Yan Lin hadn't noticed the girl take out.
"Let me start at the beginning. There is a place called Candracar and Candracar is the most powerful dimension in existence. It is Candracar who created the Veil to stop evil leeching through to other world and to isolate the kingdom of Meridian from every other known planet. There is a man there – no Hay Lin, it is not God," Yan Lin quickly said before her granddaughter could interrupt "it is the Oracle. The Oracle is all-seeing, he knows all that has happened in the past and can predict every possible scenario of what could happen in the future – in fact, he could be watching us right this minute. Hearing this, Hay Lin looked up and waved, grinning madly.
Now, as for how you were chosen, each of you have an auramere, which is the source of your powers, and is represented as an orb. Right now, it is a small, weak little thing, but as you train and your powers become stronger, the capacity of your auramere grows larger. It is also your auramere that chooses who becomes the new guardians and control the elements: water, fire earth and air. To be a Guardian, your auramere has to decide if you have a pure heart and open mind and are suitable enough to wield its power. You have been chosen now because the Veil is weakening and you must close the tears.
You girls are lucky that you are all friends and were chosen together, because it's not often it's like that and Guardians are close together, physically and mentally. In our case, Nerissa and I were studying at the same school you girls attend, Cassidy went to an athletic school in Texas, Kadma was halfway around the world in Zimbabwe and Halinor went to a private school in England. Don't ask how we made it work as Guardians; we'll save that for another time." Yan Lin said, as the girls eyes had widened in awe.
"Grandma, you said something about our mission?" The younger Lin asked.
"Ah, yes. As I said before, you must close the tears in the Veil, but there's more than that. In the kingdom of Meridian, there is an evil, tyrant prince called Phobos, but he is not the legitimate ruler. You see, the Price has a sister who is the true heir to the Meridian throne, and it is her you must find before Phobos does and put her on the throne as Queen of Meridian." Yan Lin watched as the young girls took in all that she had told them.
"Wow. That's just so incredible. I can't believe I'm so important" Irma said with a dazed look about her eyes. "Now can we practise our powers?"
"I'm afraid not Irma" Yan Lin said as the girl's face fell, "As your leader and Keeper of the Sword and Heart, only Will has the ability to transform you. But when you've practised your powers a little more, I shall try to teach you how to transform on your own. Now, I've told you all that I need to. You are free to continue with your lives."
"Will, could you come with me please? Rosalie, you can play with Aldarn" said Caleb, placing a hand on Aldarn's shoulder, who's eyes seemed to widen in terror as Rosalie smiled happily.
"Yay! Come on Aldarn, we can play Mummies and Daddies!" Rosalie said as she literally jumped up and down clapping her hands, while if possible, the green boy paled considerably as Rosalie took hold of his hand and took him away, leaving Will and Caleb grinning madly.
"So, you wanted to talk to me or something?" Will asked, "Maybe even apologise?"
Caleb sighed. "Fine. I apologise. You didn't want to come to this 'hell-hole', but I forced you here anyway, and now we're stuck here. But I'm not apologising for the portal closing – that obviously wasn't me."
Will grinned smuggly as she nodded her head. "Alright. I accept your apology. Now, what is it you really called me for?"
"Come with me" Caleb said as he led her to a place with less people.
As Caleb opened a door for her, it took Will a minute to realise that this was his bedroom. The room was a state. It was a minute room with a small bed in the right hand corner of the room that looked uncomfortable for a boy of his size and muscular build. There were folded clothes dispersed across the floor, on the bed and it completely covered a chair in another corner of the room next to the bed, so that it just looked like a massive pile of clothing. Books and maps and several documents were also strewn across the floor, while a large map was pinned across a whole wall.
Making her way to sit on the clothing covered chair, Will muttered, "Well this room is simply charming. I take it this is yours?" She inferred in a sarcastic tone.
Caleb nodded sheepishly. "Excuse the mess."
"What's this a map of anyway?" Will asked, jerking her chin towards the wall.
"This is a map of Meridian. Here," Caleb pointed to a coordinate on the map, "is where we are, and here is Phobos' castle."
"Why did you even bring me here? What was the point in all this? And why didn't we bring the other girls with us?"
"We came here because Yan Lin wanted you to meet some of the Rebels, or something or other, and see what Meridian is like. She also wanted me to talk to you about your duty as Guardians. As to why the other girls aren't here, Yan Lin said she'd talk to them about the same thing I'm going to tell you."
"Why couldn't she just talk to me like she is to the others?" Will stated more than asked, feeling slightly hurt and rejected.
"Search me. But see it this way; you get to see what's going on in Meridian first hand, and you have your very own Rebel leader to tell you all about it, while they don't."
"Actually, I think I got the bloody first-hand experience when some son of a bitch kidnapped me and stuck me down a hole, with my 'very own Rebel leader'" Will said grimly, as she thought back to her first day in Heatherfield. After that retort there was silence, but neither seemed to mind.
"…..Well, what were you going to tell me?" Will asked, almost impatiently.
"Well, as you already know, your first priority is to close any portals that appear in the Veil, thus giving you your title as Guardians of the Veil. But as well as that, you and your Guardians are to help us Rebels, in our cause as well, which is to finally get Phobos off the throne.
Believe it or not, Phobos had a sister on Earth, whom we found out about a long time ago, but we haven't been able to do anything about it because there was nothing that links Earth to Meridian. But now, portals have been opening and now you Guardians are here to help us. Phobos' sister is the Lost Princess. At a young age, not very long after she was born, the Princess was taken away from Meridian to protect her from her evil brother.
However, the time has come now for you to find her before Phobos does and bring her back to Meridian so that she can defeat her brother and take her place as the rightful ruler of Meridian" Caleb said, looking up to find will's eyes on his as she tried to make sense of what he had just said to her.
"That's just so amazing. I can't believe we've been given such a massive responsibility….But what happens if we fail to bring the lost Princess back? Does it mean we've failed our jobs as Guardians? Will we be sacked?"
"Trust me, I can't believe it either. And if we do fail to put the rightful heir on the throne, it means Phobos' reign will continue as will the torment the people of Meridian will have to suffer. So you had better not ruin this. But don't worry; no one will shove you into a sack"
"Oh jeez, thanks for the moral support. You should be a social worker" Will retorted, shooting a glare at the Rebel.
"A what worker?"
"Never mind. Is there anything you know that could potentially aid us in your search for the Princess?"
"Nothing I'm afraid. No wait, I've heard something about the Princess living in Heatherfield, so that should help you, as you girls live there too, don't you?" Caleb asked, suddenly feeling a surge of hope rushing through his veins.
Will nodded. "Let's hope so. But if you know where the Princess is, then I'm betting Phobos knows as well."
At that moment, Aldarn rushed into the room looking flustered, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Hurry Caleb, Vathek's here to speak to you. He says it's urgent. Well don't just stand there, get a bloody move on. And bring the Keeper." Aldarn said panting.
With that, Will and Caleb got up and followed Aldarn to another more larger room with a colossal rectangular table in the centre, which had a large map placed on it like the one in Caleb's room, only lightly smaller. In front of the table stood a large blue man/thing, which had white scales on his face, a bit like Aldarn. Will figured this was the "Vathek".
Vathek had spent over three hours planning an attack on his fellow Rebellion. "Phobos knows the location of the hide-out. He has a spy among us who has been feeding him vital information for over a month."
"HE KNOWS WHAT?!" Caleb blanched and Aldarn looked to Vathek as though he had grown a second head, as the pair of them yelled in unison.
"And there's going to be an attack tonight at midnight, but –" That did it. Vathek never got the chance to finish his sentence as Aldarn practically collapsed and fell with a crash to the cold, hard floor, as Will had failed miserably to catch him. Caleb did his very best to remain composed, though his eyes shone with panic.
The plan was fool-proof. Vathek had combined his knowledge of the Rebels and their fighting techniques to that of Phobos' warriors. If he planned this carefully, he could use the Rebels' strength and skill to outwit that of Phobos' men.
"As I was trying to say, there is going to be an attack, but don't worry, it's alright bec – "
"Just how is it going to be alright, Vathek?" Caleb sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in mild annoyance.
"If you'll just let me finish – " Vathek said, exasperated.
At that moment, Drake stumbled into the room, a look of worry evident on his face. "I heard a loud crash, so I'll take a guess and say Phobos did too." He joked. "Is everything ok?"
"Aldarn's just fainted." Will spoke for the first time since they had entered the room.
"And on top of that, there's going to be an attack at midnight because Phobos has found out where out location is." Caleb said through gritted teeth.
Hearing that, Drake's face literally paled and his eyes widened in pure shock so much, Will was afraid they may actually pop out. "What? How? When? WHAT?"
"Phobos sent in a spy who has been giving him information for months now. We can't be sure just how much Phobos knows, but I suspect he knows about me being a spy for the Rebellion. He made it very clear that if the attack doesn't go down well tonight, he'll kill me" Vathek hung his head and sighed sadly.
"Then after tonight you shall stay and fight alongside the Rebellion, where you belong." Caleb said, placing a hand on Vathek's shoulder.
"I thank you, my friend. Your father would have been proud." Vathek smiled as he held Caleb's face in his hands.
From the corner of the room, there was movement, and everyone turned their heads to find Aldarn regaining consciousness. The rebellion's second in command sat up and groaned, "Ouch, my head!"
"You alright there buddy?" Drake compressed a laugh and held out his hand to help his friend up as Aldarn nodded.
"Now then, onto serious business. Vathek, you said it was alright; I'm assuming you have a plan?" Caleb said, leader mode kicking in, Will noticed.
"Yes, as I tried to tell you multiple times" Vathek began, as Caleb smiled sheepishly, "I've thought this through carefully, and I've let the soldiers and lurdens know, so it should all work out fine." Vathek then pulled out a sheet of paper which he said explained the positions of the fighters and what weapons they would be wielding. "Now that I've given you all the details, it's up to you to plan an effective formation against them. Be quick though; we only have an hour."
So began hasty battle plans. Caleb ordered that only a few higher members of the Rebellion know of any future battle plans, such as himself, Aldarn, Drake, Vathek, Alayas and Aketon. Aketon, Aldarn's father, would be sent to help mothers and children to hide far into the forest and away from any possible danger. Drake and Vathek would stay and help Aldarn and Caleb come up with a tactful battle formation. And Will….she stood undetected in the shadows and watched.
That was until Caleb motioned for her to come forwards. "Will, I want you to go into the forest with all the others and children."
"You want me to hide?" Will looked to the Rebel Leader as though he had just slapped her right across the face.
"You're barely a child!"
"So are you, pretty much!"
"At least I know how to fight, whereas you have no idea how to fight properly, in fact, you've probably never even held a sword properly" Caleb sighed. She truly was just a small, little girl with an attitude problem who wasn't built for battle. She'd be far safer in the forest.
"Then teach me. You are supposed to be my mentor after all." Will snapped, taking the 'Heart', as Yan Lin had called it, and transforming it into the sword it originally was.
"No, we don't have nearly enough time for me to teach you. I can't teach you everything I know in twenty-five minutes. Even if I could, you would hardly be ready for battle."
"Then hurry the fuck up and teach me basics!"
Caleb sighed mentally in frustration. Did this pesky little redhead not understand that if she went out there, she could get seriously injured or just as easily die?! "Fine then. Just the basics. And when we go out there, and you change your mind about actually fighting, don't say I didn't tell you so."
Around ten minutes into the training, Caleb honestly couldn't help but notice just how small the redhead was in front on him, even in her Guardian form. He was quite surprised about the pace in which the girl picked up what he was teaching her. Maybe, just maybe, she could lead them to victory; though that was a thought he would take to the grave.
He was standing behind her, his hands on hers as he showed her how to block an attack, and she could only wonder just how short she must look next to him, reaching his solar plexus. She noted how the scent of grass and nature lingered around him. It suited him, she thought. He wasn't actually that bad a mentor either. She appeared to be picking up these fighting skills pretty quickly.
"I'm afraid that's all for now." Caleb said, catching his breath. He'd just taught her how to land a powerful enough blow that would send the opponent's sword flying out of their grasp. "Here me out, It's more dangerous than you think out there, and if you want to quit, no one will mock you for it."
"It's not about pride or even humiliation at all. It's about my freaking duty as Guardian, and I really do want to get rid of Phobos. He wronged me too, you know…" Will said, remembering the ruthless expression on the Prince's handsome face as he ordered for her to be thrown down an oubliette.
"I understand. Myself, Aldarn, Drake and Vathek will be at the front, leading the attack, and I'd much rather you be nearer to the back of the formation, where you'll be further away from the opposing threat." Caleb said, sounding genuinely concerned for her safety. "As the leader of the Guardians, we can't afford to have you injured, or worse: dead."
"I can fend for myself, not to mention you've taught me a lot, and enough for me to go out there and defend myself."
"Listen to me. I am the leader of the Rebellion. You are here on my world and fighting alongside my people, and thus you will follow my rules. Do you understand?" Will only pursed her lips in irritation. "Do you?" Caleb asked, his voice growing louder and more authoritative.
"Fine!" Will said reluctantly, stamping her feet like a young child throwing a tantrum. And though she'd never say, Caleb's looming height over her almost made him appear formidable.
After Yan Lin had called them all to go to the Silver Dragon so that she could explain to the girls what their jobs as Guardians were, the girls had all gone to the shopping mall to do some window shopping; one of Cornelia's most pleasured pass times.
With everything that Yan Lin had told the girls earlier, Cornelia couldn't help but think about all the changes that were happening around her and her friends. She thought about her duties as a Guardian and how her purpose in life was to help people in ways she would've never imagined. ;this sort of thing would be life changing, or at least those were the sorts of things that happened in movies.
Cornelia hated change, so she wasn't sure about how she felt Will Vandom. From what Yan Lin had told them, the redhead would be spending a lot of time with them from now on, and the very thought made the blonde feel slightly uncomfortable. Since the fourth grade it had always been herself, Elyon, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin, and that was the way she liked it, not to mention the fact that Will seemed very rude, bossy and on the whole a solitary person.
On the contrary, Cornelia did enjoy the idea of Caleb being around more, and just the thought of the Rebel's emerald eyes looking lovingly into hers made her heart melt into a puddle by her feet. Granted, Cornelia had dated her fair share of boys in the past, and attractive ones at that, but the emotions she felt for Caleb was different. The first time they had ever laid eyes on each other was like love at first sight, any yet every time –
"Yo Corny! Snap out of it. It's never been like you to lose focus on a shopping spree." Irma said, waving her hands and clicking her fingers about wildly in front of Cornelia's face, this bringing her back to reality.
"Guys, what's that?" Hay Lin whispered, pointing to a bright light that was shining from inside an alley.
"Wait a second. That looks a lot like one of the portals Yan Lin was talking to us about earlier…..It probably leads to Meridian." Taranee said, fascinated at the blue light.
"Spacious" We need to close it, that's our job after all. But Will's not here, so we can't…" said Hay Lin, with an odd frown that did quite sit right on her sweet, innocent face.
"Well I say we go right through. All this talk about Meridian and beating the Prince has made me curious. You guys with me?" Irma grinned mischievously, practically jumping with joy.
"Don't be so stupid Irma! Meridian's and evil kingdom, remember? Who knows what hideous things could be on the other side?" Cornelia argued.
"I'm with Cornelia on this one." Taranee said, with Hay Lin nodding in agreement by her side.
Irma only shrugged. "Your choice." She said, before jogging over towards the portal and jumping straight through.
Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin all looked at each other dubiously, before sighing in unison. The three girls walked slowly towards the portal before jumping right through.
Within the next ten minutes, every soldier in the Rebellion had grouped together to fight off Phobos' majestic army of men and lurdens, among various other creatures such as the Sandpit.
Will was somewhere in the middle of the swarm of Rebels alongside a young man named Alayas, who was probably in his early twenties, and was ordered to fight in the middle of the formation, rather than at the front as he would normally have due to the slow recovery process of a recent injury of his.
The atmosphere around them was silent apart from the approaching footsteps of Phobos' army, and the howling wind in the hot night was brimmed with tension. The battle hadn't even begun yet, but looking around, Will saw that the majority of the men had already started sweating.
All of a sudden a bright, blue portal opened up in front of Caleb, illuminating the battlefield, and a short brunette girl fell through, landing on her hands and knees. Caleb stood wide eyed and open mouthed.
"Irma! What in the name of the God's do you think you're doing here?" Caleb hissed through gritting teeth, his voice dripping with frustration.
Once again, Irma only shrugged and then took a minute to look around and examine her surroundings. "Oh." Was all she had to say.
In the next second, three more girls, all holding hands, came through the portal and all landed face first into the dry, cracked mud.
"Oh dear God, no. There's more of you?" Caleb said, trying his very best to remain calm, especially since the portal had now disappeared. "You know what? Don't even tell me. Will is around the back somewhere. Find her and transform. And for God's sake, stay out of trouble!" He said as the soldiers behind them parted like the Red Sea to let them through.
This was certainly not all going according to plan. The Rebellion were outmatched as it was with the number of Phobos' men significantly larger than their own, and now there were not only one, but five new liabilities. This was evidently going to end disastrously.
"Girls! What the hell are you doing here? And in the middle of a battle no less?" Will asked stupefied by the sudden appearance of the Guardians.
"Honey, I could ask you the same thing." Irma grinned. "Caleb wants you to transform us."
"Of course he does. Guardians Unite!" Will raised the Sword as the battlefield came alive with flashes of blinding green, blue, red and silver lights.
Just then a piercing battle cry was heard as masses of bodies began running forwards. Four pair of eyes turned to Will. This was what she was destined to do.
"Hay Lin, Taranee, you two take to the sky and attack from above. Irma, you as well. Cornelia, fly forward and as earth is your element you stay ground level and attack from there. Understood?" Will commanded, and in the next instant there were synchronised nods before the four girls began to fly. Will ran forwards, remembering everything that Caleb had taught her.
The new Guardians clearly had no idea what they were doing, or how to control the abilities.
Hay Lin had aimed to create a massive tornado that would have literally blown everyone away, but instead had only managed to make a strong gust of wind that knocked over and staggered a couple of lurdens.
Taranee had hoped to create a ring of fire around the Prince's army, but only managed to create a few small-ish fireballs that hit a few of the Prince's soldiers as well as some of the Rebels.
Cornelia had aspired to generate a shocking earthquake that would have quite literally swept every one of their feet, but in the end had only accomplished to make thick vines and bits of rocks fly out of the ground and onto the opposing team.
Irma didn't seem to be having much luck herself. The astounding tsunami she had intended to produce that would have swept the evil away had in fact turned out to be nothing more than a small body of water that she had carried over from a nearby lake.
On a different side on the battlefield, Caleb was completely surrounded by a large group of soldiers that were rapidly advancing on him from every direction. Now, Caleb may have been the Rebellion's most talented warrior, but against this many opponents, they were slowly but surely devouring him.
Out of nowhere, a bright flash of red appeared and in an instant two of the soldiers on Caleb's right fell right at his feet, and soon a third succumbed as well. In front on him, Caleb saw will panting with the most smuggest smile he had ever seen in his life, and he couldn't help but grin madly in return.
Back to back, the pair fought in silence, deadly the way the lioness stalks a gazelle. Or at least, that was before one of Taranee's fireballs went rogue and crash landed gracelessly between them, causing them both to be sent flying in opposite directions.
On another part of the battlefield, Vathek and Raythor were having a little showdown of their own.
"You have some nerve, showing your traitorous scum face around here!" Raythor spat angrily, as he and Vathek continued to circle each other. "You could have been on the winning side!"
"I am on the right side, which will soon be the winning side, you'll see. We have the Guardian's on our side now!" Vathek growled menacingly, as she lunged forward at Raythor, and missed.
"Those Guardian's over there? Pathetic! Once his highness found out you had run away, like the coward you are, he ordered me to take charge of your attack, but as you can see, I brought more men and changed some of the battle plans. I always knew you were a cheat, a cheat and a liar!" Raythor yelled as he threw a blow that Vathek deflected.
"But on the contrary: I was always true and loyal to my friends and family, and that has and forever will be the Rebellion." Vathek smiled as both his and Raythor's swords clashed together.
"I see, well in that case, it will be my pleasure to hand you and the rest of this worthless Rebellion over to the Prince himself on a silver platter."
"Over my dead body!"
"Raythor's mocking smile became a hideous feral one. "So be it."
Looking around, Will could not help but feel dismay. Dead, injured bodies littered the lifeless battlefield, so many of which were of the Rebel's and very few were of the enemy's. She saw an exhausted Hay Lin trying to dodge an array of oncoming, flaming arrows, Vathek and another man seemed to be secured in deadlock and Cornelia was on her knees with Irma helping her up, both unaware of the group of lurdens appearing from behind them. Caleb was on his own against at least another dozen of lurdens and Taranee was resting completely still, apart from the gentle rise and fall of her chest. The Rebels were now far more outnumbered than they were before, and this had now turned into slaughter.
It was only their first battle as Guardian as Guardians and already, everything was miserably falling apart.
"Just relax…" What on Earth was that? That certainly wasn't her inner voice or whatever. This was more of a calm, kind female voice which held a hidden touch of humour.
"Stay calm…" Will looked down at her sword, which was glowing ever so slightly. Yes, the sword! The voice was so surely coming from the sword.
"Breathe…" Well, this was so freaking weird. It appeared that only she could hear the voice. She'd read somewhere once, that hearing voices was a sign of insanity, she just couldn't believe it was happening so soon.
"You are a child of Destiny. You can command the Heavens themselves." What the hell was that? That was probably the cheesiest and most cliché thing the redhead had ever heard in her entire life.
"Trust me…" The voice whispered again; its soothing tone reassuring her. What could the harm be in confiding in this strange phenomenon?
"What do I do?" Will breathed into the hot night sky.
"Now, pull, girl," Pull? Pull what? And from where? "Pull from the Heavens." So she did. Will raised the sword, high up above her head, as if by instinct, and commanded every fibre of her being to pull. Sure enough, the sword of Candracar began to glow brighter than the brightest star. Black clouds began to gather over the battlefield and lightning bolts crackled like there was no tomorrow, before all converging into a single point and finally being consumed into the sword.
"That's right. Perfect. Now, you know what you have to do." The weight of the sword had rapidly increased and her hands were now trembling, but Will still found the strength and courage to lift the Sword higher up into the air before plunging it deep into the ground.
Ripples of bright, white light was seen spreading across the battlefield, all produced from particular glowing, spectacular sword.
Blood-curling screams of pain were heard as men and women were lifted effortlessly off their feet by an invisible, yet powerful force before gravity did its work and hundreds of individuals came crashing down onto the hard, dry ground.
Back at the Rebel hide-out, families were packing; now that Phobos knew their location, he would stop at nothing to order attacks on them and slowly kill them all. This little base of theirs had grown to become home: they had lived here since the Rebellion had first formed. Many argued in futile attempt to stay, proclaiming that it would be unexpected, because Phobos would have thought that the Rebels would have relocated by now; however this was a tremendous risk they could not afford to take.
"Wow Will! We had no idea you could do something like that!" Irma said grinning. She had quite a lot of cuts and grazes all over her face and arms, and the girl's skirt and tights were ripped at places, and yet she didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah, I guess that was actually kinda cool. You saved all our asses out there." Cornelia said with a slight genuine smile. There were twigs and stones of all sorts in the blonde's hair, and Will knew that if Cornelia had the slightest idea, she'd probably die of shame and humiliation. "I guess you could say it was pretty "spacious", isn't that right Hay Lin?" She turned to the Air Guardian, who only beamed in response as she went to hug Will, clinging onto the redhead as if for dear life. Hay Lin was probably in the best condition out of all of them, aside from a little bit of dried mud on the hem of her skirt.
"Yeah, good job out there." Said Taranee, who was also smiling, as she gave Will one of her nods of approval. Taranee had fainted after a while, mostly due to her irrational fear of heights. One of the Rebels had caught her and carried her slightly further away from all the violence.
Will shrugged. "Thanks guys, but –" She began, before Caleb came through.
"Now would you look at that? Your first battle wound." The Rebel Leader smirked, holding up Will's arm as though it was nothing more than a pebble. During the fight, one of the lurdens had attacked her from behind and slashed at her left upper arm. "I'll get one of the healers to bandage that up for you" He added.
"So, Caleb," Cornelia cleared her throat. "What's gonna happen now?" She asked, placing a gentle hand on the Rebel's shoulder, earning her a no-so-subtle snicker from Irma.
"There's nothing else for it. We'll have to move. Further South would be closer to Phobos' castle, so that's out of the question; Phobos would send out masses of search parties to hunt for us East and West, unless we find a stealthy area, which is unlikely; that only leaves us North, where he would never expect us to be, because at this time of year we would most likely freeze to death." Caleb said shaking his head in despair.
"What are you going to do then?" Taranee whispered solemnly. This was such a devastating blow for the Rebellion: everything they had worked so hard to achieve could all be for nothing now. And it made Taranee want to punish the tyrant Prince all the more for it.
"What if we could help?" Will asked implored, causing five pairs of eyes to look at her.
"No disrespect, fýlakas," Caleb began, causing Will to narrow her eyes in suspicion, "But I don't think even you can help us with this one."
"But what if you did go north? Cornelia could create, like, a freaking huge dug-out in the ground with her powers over Earth, so that you guys could live underground." Will continued.
"We would still most likely die from the cold conditions." Said Drake, as he and Aldarn approached the group.
"I could also provide you guys with sticks and firewood!" Cornelia suggested happily.
"And we could find a whole load of lighters from Earth, to make it easier to light said firewood!" Taranee piped up.
"What in the name of the Gods is a lighter?" Whispered Aldarn, looking to Drake who only shrugged in response.
"I guess there is that, but what about our water supply? Most rivers are most likely to be frozen. " Caleb inquired.
"Did you somehow forget that you, my friend, are acquainted with the Guardian of Water herself? I could whip you up something simple like a lake within your dug-out in a heartbeat." Irma said with great pride evident in her tone of voice.
"I appreciate your generosity Guardians, but if ,for some reason, Phobos does come searching for us in the North, I do think, despite his lack of brain cells, he would notice a large hole in the ground." Caleb said, with a self-satisfied smirk.
"I could create a badass fog that won't let Phobos' peeps see past their noses!" Hay Lin said with a giggle, while Caleb, Aldarn and Drake simply exchanged bewildered looks between themselves.
Wait, Yan Lin was telling us all these things about magic earlier," Taranee jumped as an idea hit her, "and she told us that with the Heart you could glamour things, Will."
"Glamour?" Will asked blankly.
"Ah, yes. I've heard about that. The art of change. Giving a certain object the appearance of another." Caleb said, thinking back to a book of magic he had read long ago.
"Caleb, this idea may actually work. It's a long shot, but I suggest we try it." Commented the Rebellion's second in command.
"I agree whole-heartedly with Aldarn. Guardians, when can you get all these "lighters"?" Drake asked, feeling a newfound surge of hope rushing through his veins. God bless the Guardians.
"Oh, we could get you whole lot more than just lighters, and before school starts tomorrow, maybe?" Cornelia asked, knowing it would be very early in the morning, but they just had to aid these helpless Rebels. Nevertheless, she received a nod of agreement from all her fellow Guardians.
"Then it is settled. Tell everyone to put on their warmest clothes. We leave for the North within 15 minutes before Phobos groups together another troop of men to bring us to him. Let us just hope we don't freeze to death by tomorrow." Caleb grumbled under his breath, though everyone heard it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize greatly for not updating for over a year. I had originally started this on the 5th February last year...so yeah...I'm sorry.
I know it's no excuse, but I got a serious case of writer's block and it's only recently that I finally picked this up again.
If there is anything in this that you don't understand and would like me to further explain, then please do message me, and I'll let you know as soon as possible. As well as that, feel free to correct any sort of mistakes I've made in this, your feedback would mean so much to me. :)
And for those of you who would like to know, I am currently working on WE NEED HER, as well.
I would also like to know if you, the reader, prefer longer chapters such as this, or shorter ones like I've done in the past? It would help for me to meet your expectations. :)
On that note, please do REVIEW, as they do mean a lot. Do let me know what you've thought about this chapter, as I'd appreciate that greatly! :D :D :D
Thank you.