W.I.T.C.H
Chapter 20
Heartbreaker
Caleb took a look around. There were four heavily armored men moving towards them, and the Guardians had just lost their powers, maybe for good. Worse, the armored men were heading for Elyon, so they could take her back to Kandrakar and do who knows what with her. He had to admit, things looked bad.
"Girls, get out of here! Take Elyon with you." He said, pulling out his sword.
"How?" Irma replied. "We're kind of trapped, in case you hadn't noticed."
"Don't worry," Vathek said, "we can handle this. There's only four of them, how tough can they be?"
Very tough, as it turns out. Vathek charged, his mace out and spinning. The soldier Vathek attacked made no effort to block the strike, and Vathek connected with a heavy blow to the man's chest. The result was surprising in two ways. First, the armor made a hollow noise when hit, leading the group to assume that there was no one inside. Secondly, it's only reaction to being hit by the strongest member of the Honor Guard was to brush Vathek aside as if he was no more then a flea.
"They're empty?" Taranee asked.
"Looks like it." Julian replied. "Guess we don't have to worry about hurting anyone inside."
"I don't think that would have been an issue anyways." Irma said. "Did you see what that thing did to Vathek?"
"What do we do now?" Drake asked grimly.
Caleb drew his sword.
"Insurmountable odds, unstoppable enemies and the fate of the world at stake? Ah, just like old times."
The Honor Guard is more then just a team. They are the culmination of years of battle experience and training. Between the seven of them, they have mastered every form of combat, and faced every type of enemy. They are one of the most powerful fighting forces in the universe. They are Meridian's finest.
They never stood a chance.
Although none of the Honor Guard or the Guardians knew it at the time, the armored warriors were called the White Knights of Kandrakar. After Nerissa, Phobos and Cedric each came very close to defeating Kandrakar, the elders realized that the Guardians alone were not enough to protect the fortress. Several contingency plans were put into place. The most successful of these were the White Knights. Indestructible suits of armor made sentient by Kandrakar's magic, the Knights could be given any order and they would follow. Obedient and powerful, they were the perfect weapons. Just point them at whatever you wanted gone, and in a few hours it would be.
Even if the Honor Guard had known all of this, it wouldn't have mattered. The Knights were designed to be on the same power level as the Guardians, and were too much for the Honor Guard to handle.
The Knights orders for this mission were to 'remove the Queen of Meridian from power with the least violence possible'. This meant that any member of the Honor Guard that attacked was dispatched with only minor cuts and scratches, not lethal force. But the Knights had also been told to use 'any means necessary' to complete their mission, and the Meridian warriors were determined to protect their ruler. As the fight went on, the members of the Honor Guard were thrown back with more and more force. As Walli was flung into a wall, one of the Knights began to grow spikes from his gauntlet as the Guardians watched helplessly. The message was clear. The next hit was fatal.
"Will, we have to do something! Before someone gets hurt!" Irma said.
"Hey, I'm open to ideas." Will replied.
"I've got one." Elyon said, stepping to the front of the group.
"Hey!" She shouted, "Here I am, come and get me!"
The Knights forgot all about the Honor Guard and headed towards Elyon.
"Elyon, no! You can't!" Caleb shouted.
"Can and will." Elyon replied calmly. "This is Kandrakar, not Phobos, or Nerissa or Dee. I'll go with these guys and talk to the Oracle. I'll be fine, trust me. Besides, what's been your plan? Just keep attacking until they kill you?"
Caleb said nothing. That had been exactly his plan, but he decided now was not a good time to mention it. He reluctantly sheathed his sword.
"I don't like this." He said.
"No kidding. But it's easier this way." Elyon replied.
Two of the Knights grabbed Elyon by the arms and walked her towards one of the folds. The other two headed towards Will. One of them faced Will, pointed to the Heart, and held out his hand. The other raised a fist. The message was clear. By disobeying Kandrakar, Will had forfeited her powers, and the Heart. She was to give it back, or face the consequences. She looked over at her teammates and her friends. There was only one thing she could do. She handed over the Heart. The Knights turned and followed the other two, who still held Elyon.
"Oh, Cornelia, do me a favor!" Elyon shouted over her shoulder.
"Of course, Elyon. What is it?"
"You're his girlfriend, don't let him do anything stupid!"
And with that, Elyon disappeared into the fold.
"Alright," Caleb said, as soon as the knights had left, "Father, Vathek, gather all the troops you can find. Tynar, Raythor, I want a weapons report. Drake, Walli, see if you can…"
He paused. The Guardians were glaring at him, especially Cornelia.
"I'm not going to do anything stupid." Caleb protested.
"Caleb, you're about to attack Kandrakar. You know, the people who just defeated all of you with four, empty suits of armor. That is the definition of stupid."
"Well we have to do something!" Caleb said.
"I know it's tough, but just wait an hour or two. Until you're thinking clearly again. Trust me, it's for the best." Cornelia said.
Cornelia was doing her best to put on a brave face, but inside she was hurting just as much as Caleb. She had known Elyon for a lot longer then Caleb had. She kept reminding her self that it was Kandrakar, and they wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
"Um, guys?" Will said. "I think we have bigger problems."
"Is it really…? I mean, is it gone?" Irma asked.
"Yeah." Will replied. "Girls, I don't think we're Guardians anymore."
Before the impact of this statement could sink in, another fold appeared behind the group. The members of the Honor Guard drew their weapons, ready for anything. Hay Lin instinctively tensed, also ready for battle, until she realized that there was nothing she could do. Fortunately, though, no warriors came through the fold. Instead, one man stepped through, holding a clipboard. The members of the Honor Guard lowered their weapons when they saw he was no threat.
"Greetings." The man said. "My name is Buchan. It is an honor to meet all of you."
Buchan was an older man, with large rimmed glasses and a long, hooked nose that made him look slightly like an owl. He wore a black, Kardrakar robe, which had been modified to be more practical and allow for quicker movement. His grey hair was unkempt, making him look like he had just lost a battle with a particularly nasty windstorm.
"Why are you here?" growled Caleb.
"My official role is 'chief official extra-planetary political reclamation officer, first class.'" Buchan said.
This received blank stares from the Honor Guard.
"I'm a placeholder." Buchan explained. "Just until Elyon comes back, and then I'll…"
"Wait a second, you're taking Elyon's place?" Julian asked.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Caleb said. "First you take Elyon away from us, and now you try to replace her!"
"Well, hold on a sec, I didn't…" Buchan began to say until he was quickly interrupted.
"I say we kidnap him, and force Kandrakar to give back Elyon." Raythor said.
"Makes sense to me." Drake added.
"AHEM!" Buchan said, much louder then anyone would have thought given his size. It had the desired effect, as the Honor Guard stopped and turned to him.
"I did not take Elyon, and I am not trying to replace her." he said. "I had nothing to do with the decision. I didn't even vote for Endarno. Nevertheless, it is my job to be here, and it's a job I take pretty seriously. So you can either let me, a trained professional, help you, or you can deal with the disappearance of your queen by yourself."
Caleb fiddled with the hilt of his sword, letting everyone know what he wanted to do.
"Caleb, he does have a point." Julian said.
"I know." Caleb said with a sigh.
While this was happening, Walli had made his way over to the Guardians.
"Hey, Walli. How you doing?" Irma asked.
"Actually, I was more worried about you." Walli said, causing Irma to blush. "Uh, that is, the five of you."
"Oh, of course. The five of us." Irma said.
"We're doing fine, I guess." Taranee said.
"We don't even know how we should feel." Hay Lin said. "It feels weird without the Heart. I guess we're in a state of shock. I mean, we've been Guardians for so long."
"But that's just it." Will blurted. "We've been doing this for so long. Don't we deserve a normal life?"
"That's a whole different question." Irma said.
"Well, we're going to have to answer it." Taranee said.
"What do you mean?" Cornelia asked.
"We're sort of stuck like this." Taranee said. "We have no way to get back to Kandrakar. I'm going to guess that Endarno blocked the Tonga tooth as well. Like or not, for the next few days, we're just ordinary humans."
"What about here?" Irma asked. "Any idea what's gonna happen, Walli?"
"Actually, I was hoping you might know." Walli said. "You've known Caleb longer then I have."
"Caleb's smart." Cornelia said. "Smarter then most people think. He just lets his emotions control him sometimes." She caught the look from Irma. "Alright, a lot of times. Don't worry though. He'll make the right call."
"I wish I was that confident." Caleb said, joining the group.
"Are you letting Buchan stay?" Will asked.
"Yeah. It's not like he's much of a threat. I got Vathek and Tynar keeping an eye on him, just in case. They'll either show him the ropes, or the inside of a cell. Either way is fine by me." Caleb said.
"We wish we could help…" Hay Lin said.
"Can we be sure Elyon needs help?" Will said. "I mean, I'm sorry she's gone too, but it is Kandrakar. Shouldn't we trust that they know what they're doing?"
"I can't be sure Elyon's in danger, but the Kandrakar I know wouldn't do this." Caleb said.
"And even if they did, this isn't the way they would do it." Taranee added.
"Yeah, this whole thing stinks." Hay Lin said. "I mean, how much do we even know about this Endarno guy, anyways? Maybe he's Phobos with a Glamour."
"I don't even want to think about that." Will said. "I wish we could do more Caleb, but…"
"I understand." Caleb said. "Hey, this isn't really the end of the Guardians, is it?"
"I doubt it. I'm sure they'll find someone to replace us." Taranee said.
"That's not what I meant." Caleb said. "We've done some amazing things together, the six of us. Are you saying that's all over?"
"I haven't known you for very long," Walli added, "but I'd sure feel more comfortable if I knew W.I.T.C.H was around."
"We'll do what we can." Irma said, giving Walli a faint smile.
Will smiled as well, but she said nothing. Caleb used the Tonga tooth to open a fold, and the girls stepped back into Heatherfield.
Heatherfield
The ex-Guardians sat around the basement of the silver dragon, as they had hundreds of times before. The situation had finally sunk in for them. They were no longer Guardians. Each girl was feeling hundreds of different emotions. For some, they felt a feeling of loss, like they had said goodbye to a childhood friend. For others, there was a sense of a new beginning, as if they had gotten a second chance at life. For all of them, though, there was still one overriding question.
"What do we do now?"
"This is going to sound stupid, but what do normal girls do?" Taranee asked.
"Well, I guess we can catch up with our school work. And I know and could spend some time with my mom." Will said.
"Wait a second, are we just giving up on the Guardians this quickly?" Cornelia asked.
"What would you have us do?" Will asked. "We can't go to Kandrakar, and the Heart's gone."
"I don't know, but shouldn't we do something?" Cornelia said.
"Do we even want our powers back?" Hay Lin said. "I mean, we've been complaining about them for weeks."
Nobody said anything for a while. Hay Lin had finally said that they we're all thinking. Did they want their powers back? The thought of even a few days without monsters or trials or wars was very enticing. Maybe being normal would be best for them. Maybe it would be best for everyone.
"This is too big a decision to make tonight. We need a day to think about it, at least." Will said looking out the window to see the sun beginning to set.
"Tomorrow's Sunday." Taranee said. "By Monday, we should have some idea of what we're going to do. But for a least one day, we're just normal girls."
"Well then," Will said. "Tomorrow should be a very interesting day."