A burning fire was reflected in Hay Lin's wide dark eyes as she stood terrified on the spot when the bomb exploded. Panic and violent chaos raged around her. Desperate people running in the narrow streets, screaming, shouting and frightened children crying. Some soldiers went past carrying buckets of water not paying attention to the people, knocking them on the ground where the crowd trampled. 'Did we condone this?' she thought horrified at the damage the reckless fire was causing. There was tugging on her cape, and Irma hauled her into a less filed path going to the castle. Cornelia stood in front of them and suddenly she felt the anger rising at the emotionless girl.
'What have we done?' she gritted out the bitter sentence the first time feeling like they did something wrong 'we should defend innocent people not cause more damage!'
'If it's them or our lives I prefer us!' Cornelia turned around answering but avoided her critical gaze. She looked pale but determined.
'There were not many choices…' Irma concluded silently, 'we will have to take responsibility for it later… This, the terrible thing Caleb did, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth…'

'We have to hurry… Taranee is waiting for us.' Cornelia abruptly decided. They started running not stopping until reaching the walls of the castle. Made out of massive chunks of dark rock it menacingly towered above them.

'How did Will survive falling down this thing?' Irma muttered looking above.

'I have no idea…' Hay Lin shook her head 'I will take a look around.'

She gathered the flowing air currents and with the silent beat of her butterfly wings risen into the sky. The petite girl darted around the wall like a gusting wind, but could not go past it. There was magic surrounding the palace grounds with an invisible dome. When she got closer, it zapped her with a vicious charge instantly knocking her out of the air.

'I don't know if the magical dome is a recent thing or how Will managed to get past it the first time, but I cannot fly over this.' Hay Lin frowned looking a bit winded as she corrected her wall, but still tumbled on her back.

'If we cannot go above the dome, maybe we should go under it…' Cornelia wondered and knelt on the ground placing her palms in the dirt. She keenly listened to the earth deciding where to dig the tunnel without it collapsing or encountering a massive rock. Discovering the ideal place, she closed her eyes and concentrated. When her palms glowed brilliant green, there was a deep rumbling sound and the ground trembled, soon beside the wall opened a chasm. The dirt swirled and grumbled soon constructing a narrow tunnel. Cornelia sighed and wiped away the sweat from the brow.

'Come on, we have to hurry. I don't know how long this thing will hold, the dirt here is very loose, even if I tried to reinforce the walls with rocks.' she motioned to the girls and disappeared into the tunnel, Irma and Hay Lin followed. The sounds dulled underneath, there was no wind or light just a distinctive smell of dirt as it absorbed their steps. The path was barely tall and wide enough for one person to cross without touching the walls and Hay Lin took a breath of relief when it ended. It was too claustrophobic for her to be underground.

Hay Lin closed her eyes for a second when the sun dazzled outside. Hearing a surprised gasp from Irma, she looked around. They were in a rose garden, and it was magnificent. So many various colors, they were wonderfully vivid, even a luscious grass looked like emerald carpet under her boots. Hay Lin wanted to sketch it, trying to place as many details in her memory as she could.

'This is so unreal…' Irma trailed looking around in all directions 'this feels like another world.'

'It's like everything here is perfect, not even a leaf out of place…' Cornelia shuddered with an uneasy feeling. Somehow this unusual place gave her shudders as if something was observing them. Irma paced around the rosebushes in clear curiosity, leaning close to one perfect bloom she beamed happily

'Hey, nice! This one is blue!' Irma reached out for a rosebud.

'Don't touch the rose!' Cornelia shouted in alarm, but it was too late. Irma's fingers brushed the exotic colored petal and she cried out when it cut into her skin. One red drop of blood fell to the ground. When it landed in the grass the lovely garden suddenly shuddered as if coming alive. Strange tension filled the air and silent whispers were echoing around them. It seemed like the garden suddenly expanded, and they could not see the sky anymore, just overgrown greenery.

'Cornelia do something!' Irma shuddered as they tried to reach the palace, but got lost into the labyrinth the garden has become.

'I can't! They do not respond to me! It's like this whole place is so saturated with foreign magic plants that refuse to listen to me! It is your fault anyway! You just had to touch the first thing you saw!' she yelled in frustration when the roses surrounded them and their prickly roots slithered on the ground grabbing their clothes. There was a surprised shout from Hay Lin, and Cornelia saw how her friend had fallen with prickly vines wrapped around her legs.

'Help!' Hay Lin struggled on the ground as the barbed foliage forcibly dragged her away. She tried cutting the vines away with concentrated air currents, but they just multiplied by the second wrapping around the body. Irma ran up to her and started to ruthlessly tear off the greenery by hand. She was unaware of one climbing roses trying to entwine the branches around her torso. Soon Irma was hanging in the air, tightly bound. Cornelia screamed seeing her friends losing and trashed around as the overgrown garden enclosed around her with no way out. Gradually her face and mouth were filled with leaves, and she could hardly breathe trying to break free. Then Cornelia heard a burst of quiet laughter.

'Well, well, well some rats got into the trap.' the wickedly amused voice triumphantly declared.

Someone she could not observe clapped two short times and the rose vines loosened. Everything was over, they failed, with no way out. Cornelia silently apologized to her friends, vainly hoping that Will forgive them and their parents do not remember anything. That was the clause she asked from Kandrakar when Guardians first started to embark on missions. If they die, nobody will recollect them. It was much easier to disappear than mourn someone without a body or have a hope the missing person will be found. Cornelia felt her heart clenching anxiously in fear she did not want to die. However, they danced on the knife-edge for so long it was bound to happen sooner or later. She merely hoped her death will not happen today. Deciding to fight till the last breath, earth Guardian tumbled to the ground seeing the girls bruised, but alive next to her. Cedric stood towering above them with a creepy smile on his monstrous green face. He hastily acted casting a spell that encased girls in magical bubbles to capture them without much resistance when they were weakened. As he lifted sheer balls from the ground Cornelia trashed in her bubble trying to get out, but it was futile because the magic felt impenetrable. Slumping in defeat blonde girl looked around an unfamiliar place as the monster transported them through the garden into the castle. Irma gazed at her bruised and bleeding hands feeling defiant and angry at herself if only she was more cautious. It was unpleasant to feel guilty, but she was responsible for this mess. If that costs the girl's lives she will fight to the death just to rescue her friends. Seeing the slithering monster in front of them, Irma wondered how Elyon could live here, in this fantasy world full of odd creatures and magic. She never cared much about her as the girl was stuck up and too proud for her liking, but betraying them to monsters was unforgiven. How could she? The next time Irma saw her, there will be a price to pay, if they were lucky enough to get out of this situation first. Hay Lin hugged her bruised knees trying to muffle the constant unrecognizable whispers in her sensitive ears. This garden messed up with her senses, the flowering plants were pumped with so much magic it made her dizzy. It was not a coincidence that Cornelia couldn't use her magic here, this garden contained the essence of its own. Suddenly the air thickened with uncomfortable pressure. It was heavy, humid, and heated like before the summer storm hits after a blistering hot day. The air vibrated and squeezed them down. Hay Lin could taste the foreign magic like the sugar and ozone mixed together and the whispering stopped. There was nothing just oppressive silence and peculiar tension as if everybody was anxiously waiting for something. Cedric stopped just before the private entrance into the dungeons and looked up frowning. His yellowish eyes widened for a second as the storm clouds rolled in the sky, heavy and dark, obscuring the sun with instant darkness. The deafening thunder boomed echoing around the city where the visible smoke from the fire raised above infusing with the storm clouds. Lightning flashed and for a second Hay Lin could swear it was pink mixed with green. The downpour started next.

'This is unnatural…' Irma whispered as the excessive rain poured from above so thick they could barely see anything.

'You are right Guardian, my Lord, took care of the problems you caused…' Cedric grinned shaking his drenched hair after transporting them inside. The stone was dry, and he left wet patches slithering downstairs until they could not hear the rain anymore or see any windows. Magical lanterns flickered on the rugged walls and dry cold air drifted through the tunnels. There were many doors and crossings. It seemed a labyrinth was built under the palace, but no sound or people were nearby. Cornelia counted the times monster changed directions around probably trying to confuse the route they were going. Yet after the eighth turn, she was lost to the same-looking corridors. It was nothing she could do but wait until he let them out of those bubbles. Cornelia was afraid of what awaited at the end of this journey. They went down another step of stairs when Cedric stopped and listened. Footsteps echoed somewhere in the dim light. It got closer and closer, and the girls saw Elyon emerging from the darkness behind her was another bubble with slumped Taranee.

'What are you doing here?' Cedric asked with evident anger in his voice 'we agreed they should not meet!'

'After your dramatic spectacle outside, I wanted to return the favor. Look at the wonderful present I have…' she smiled, and the bubble gracefully floated into the light. Taranee was pale and had deep shadows under her unresponsive eyes. It seemed she was just a doll in the cage.

'Say hello to your friends, Taranee' Elyon eagerly ordered.

'I don't know them… stop showing me these things…' the girl mutter silently with a scratched voice hugging herself and hiding her face.

'Taranee!' Cornelia screamed, relentlessly pounding on the bubble wall 'Are you alright? We need your help! Please!'

'It's us! We came for you…' Hay Lin soothingly added seeing how her friend seemed so hopeless.

'Pfff, we came for you…' Elyon laughed with delight 'soon you will be the same until Will gives up the Heart of Kandrakar! Where is she?' she asked Cedric, looking around as if waiting for another girl to pop up from the wall.

'Not here! And you will never get it!' Irma spat out through gritted teeth. 'Taranee wake up!'

The fire Guardian lifted her head there was a faint glimmer in her weary eyes. Yet, she barely said 'Elyon it's enough, I don't want to see anymore… they are not real… nothing here is real… please no more…'

Cornelia narrowed her eyes her mind working quickly. How this could have happened? What Elyon did to her friend? Cold dread settled into her stomach. Is this what they did to Elyon too? Until she became this indifferent hateful person, Cornelia could not recognize anymore. A fleeting thought entered her mind. Taranee thought everything was a dream. If that was the case, she hoped Elyon knew nothing about their powers.

'Please Taranee you are not dreaming… Will needs you… she's sick…we need you!' Cornelia concentrated and opened her mind conveying a telepathic message to the girl.

'Read my mind! Wake up!' the blonde girl begged and pleaded, trying to reach Taranee. Then something happened, just for a moment Fire Guardian's eyes cleared and she frowned looking around. Her gaze landed on Elyon on them and Cedric, she clutched her head and moaned. Cornelia felt a small tugging in her head and let her mind free, displaying everything after Taranee was captured.

'Elyon enough. Take her away!' Cedric ordered frowning with his eyes concentrated on the Guardians.

'No!' Taranee furiously shouted standing in her cage. Her brown eyes were finally clear had a red sheen to them from considerable anger 'Elyon, you are a liar! You are paying for everything you caused to me! It's downright dangerous to play with fire!'

The world exploded in a fire as the suddenly enraged Guardian set everything ablaze. Cornelia and the girls got free from their prisons as they melted from the blistering heat. Taranee burned, her whole body was engulfed in flames licking her but not causing any harm. Elyon and Cedric hid under sheer shied she created as the violent onslaught of flames burned the corridor down and the explosive fireballs hurled around them.

'What have you done? I told you they should not meet!' Cedric screamed through the noise as the rumbling shook the walls and stones started to fall from above 'Elyon, run!'

The two figures vanished as the tunnel collapsed around them, bringing stone and dust all over the place. Cornelia sheltered them from most of the damage allowing her powers to guide the falling slabs into the small building to support the rest of the walls from collapsing. Taranee still hovered a few centimeters above the ground as if the hot air was supporting her up. The fire sluggishly started to die down, and she suddenly collapsed with a painful groan.

'Taranee!' Hay Lin knelt before her friend checking everything she could for any visible injures.

'Hey you came…' there was a slight smile on the exhausted girl's face 'take me home, please…' she succumbed to sleep, spending almost every ounce of magic power she had on getting them free. Cornelia checked her pulse and sighed 'she's okay only sleeping from exhaustion. We have to move.'

Around them was darkness and collapsed tunnels. There was a lot of dust in the air, but no more destruction came from the falling rocks.

'Hay Lin, take Taranee and fly above, then use the tunnel to get out of the garden. Irma, we will have to run' she coughed, but tried to appear relatively okay.

'We kind of trapped here if you didn't notice.' Irma rolled her eyes, helping Hay Lin to lift Taranee.

'Not for long.' Cornelia lifted her hands above spreading her palms. There was green light coming from her and the stones shuddered again. Sweat gathered on her dirty brow and she huffed as if shifting a huge weight. Gradually the ceiling moved. Massive rocks floated and shifted until Cornelia almost collapsed on her knees, but there was a small light above and raindrops started to fall from the narrow hole. She constructed a tunnel through the walls.

'Go, Hay Lin. Fly and wait for us with Will.' Cornelia said regaining her breath. Hay Lin saluted and slowly uplifted them both carefully moving the precious cargo into the sky. When they disappeared Irma looked at her.

'What about us?' she jerked her head 'How we are going to get out?'

'Hop on the stone slab please…' Cornelia said, already standing on the rugged fallen rock. When Irma joined her, she concentrated on the remaining magic and carefully examined the ground. Finding a few tiny seeds likely carried from above with the collapse she let her earth power loose and encouraged them to grow. Vines upon vines twisted pushing the rock up into the hole until they rose to the surface. As the rain soaked their uniforms Cornelia looked at Irma and with determination said 'Now we run!'

Irma nodded and they ran, streaking through the rain and garden like the silent shadows until reaching the narrow city streets and taking a break. For a minute they stopped in the silence taking a breath and then continued the journey to their friends waiting in the village. For once there was no time to think about what occurred or what will happen later. Guardians traveled with sheer determination to reach safety, to see if everyone was alright and if they could finally go home. The rain continued drenching the earth until there was no sound, just the wind, and raindrops falling all around, obscuring everything from sight.

I encountered writer's block… I don't even know if my story is interesting enough. With so many plot holes… I guess there is no way Phobos/Will couple would work because there is no reason for it… I don't know, I'm starting to lose confidence in this story. Sorry… I'll try.

Also, I changed few things in the firsts chapters. Guardians cannot fly anymore as they could not do that in comic (except for Hay Lin, she could magically lift her friends sometimes) until they had a second form.