The Word Guardians: and the Twisting Tales

by Lawrence Yarham

  He stared at Sam, resolutely. It was enough to make him feel awkward.

  “Look. I get it,” Akoni continued. “You don’t trust me. But I really need your help. I can’t keep out of Orfeo’s way forever.”

  “Akoni,” started Yas. “We’ll help. Of course. But, it’s just… it’s difficult. We need time to come to terms with you being back in our lives. I need to talk with Mom.”

  “That won’t go down well,” he remarked plainly.

  “You don’t know that! Mom’s changed. She’s accepting of the realms again.”

  “Oh, okay,” he replied sarcastically. “How d’you think that’ll go?” He gave her that older brother ‘I know better look’. “Hi Mom. By the way Akoni just dropped by to say hello even though he’s been dead for two years!”

  “And your Mom won’t like the family betrayal,” added Sam. Yas and Akoni both gave him a ‘seriously not helping’ stare.

  “My point is, Akoni is right!” Sam added, holding up his hands in placation. “It won’t go well.”

  Yas was irritated but she agreed, reluctantly. “You’re right.” She turned back to Akoni. “Mom will need time to get used to the idea. You’ll need somewhere to stay in the meantime.”

  “I can find somewhere,” Akoni added. “Now I’m here, I’m real again. I can go to another realm and keep my head down. A change of scenery might throw Orfeo off my scent.”

  “You’ll be okay, though?” asked Yas, concerned.

  Akoni was about to retort, but he thought better of it. “Yes,” he said simply, seemingly touched.

  “So how will we get in touch with you?” Yas asked.

  “With this,” Akoni said, reaching into his pocket and producing a bookmark. Yas instantly recognised the design at the top. “Ex libris Brantley?” she asked. She remembered finding one at home in an old shoe box of memories.

  “Yes,” he said. “You have one too.”

  “Yes,” she said, puzzled. “How did you know?”

  “I put it there,” he said simply. “If you touch the design, it will create a communication signal. Depending on where we each are, we will be able to talk.” He indicated behind him as if to the doorway that had been there earlier. “I can do the same, to try to reach you.”

  “Okay,” said Yas, satisfied that they had some way to get back in touch with each other. Then she looked at Red and the Great Oak.

  “Can Akoni stay here for a while, if he needs to?”

  The tree rustled its branches. Red was clearly perturbed by the request and Akoni seemed to understand.

  “No, look, it’s okay,” he interjected, sensing the difficulty. “It’s probably for the best. I know somewhere I can go. Now I’m stronger, I can get there.”

  He started to create a portal next to him.

  “Where are you going?” asked Sam.

  “Why do you care?” retorted Akoni.

  Sam stepped forwards to confront him.

  “Sam! Akoni!” pleaded Yas. She was conflicted and knew that Sam was being protective, but she wanted this to end calmly. The energy of countless arguments between Akoni and her Mom stayed with her and she knew she was trying to keep the peace here. She didn’t know what else to do.

  “The Gardens of Babylon,” he said to Yas, looking warily at Sam. “It’s a safe place.”

  “How do you know?”

  “A… friend mentioned it to me,” Akoni replied.

  “A friend?” asked Sam, wanting to know more.

  “Find the bookmark, Yas,” Akoni interrupted, ignoring Sam. “Keep it with you. I’ll be in touch.”

  He turned to step through the portal.

  “Akoni!” Yas said, urgently.

  He stopped and turned. Yas stepped forwards and hugged him. He awkwardly returned the hug. Sam stared at him as he did so.

  After a moment, Akoni let go, turned and stepped through the portal. It disappeared behind him.

  Yas and Sam stood quietly in thought. The Great Oak rustled its leaves and there was the sound of Red muttering to himself as he resumed his searching.

  “Listen,” Sam said, eventually. “Do you seriously trust him, after what he did? Betraying a Guardian stronghold.”

  “I don’t know what to think, Sam,” replied Yas, sighing heavily.

  He grabbed her gently on her arms. She looked up into his eyes. He was looking out for her, she realised that, but she just wished he hadn’t been as blunt as he had. Then she scolded herself. Who was she kidding? Deep down, she wanted a family reunion, with her brother and Sam liking each other. That wasn’t realistic at all.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, disturbing her reverie.

  “Yeah, I guess,” she replied. “It’s going to take time.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. They kissed briefly. She knew she could count on him. He’d been there as a friend for as long as she could remember and was more important to her than a brother who hadn’t been around for two years.

  “We need to tell the Guardians what we’ve learnt,” Yas said, coming up with a plan. “I need to talk with Janine and then my Mom.”

  “Yes,” he said. “But, seriously, what have we learnt? Only that Akoni’s confirmed that there is more than just Penn’s Controllers at work. He didn’t actually have any proof. And, to be honest, I don’t trust him.”

  Yas felt lost. Truthfully, she wanted her brother to be around, but it was easier if he hadn’t re-appeared on the scene. She was also disappointed. The conversation had not been as productive as she had hoped. But then, had she been unrealistic to assume that he would have answers for them.

  The Great Oak spoke. “There are some clues that your brother has hinted at.”

  Sam and Yas looked at each other and then at the tree.

  “What do you mean?” Sam asked.

  “Akoni spoke of both Orfeo and Penn each searching. Penn searching for something, Orfeo, for Akoni it seems. Understanding why, will offer some further information.”

  “Yes, so?” replied Sam. “If he was telling the truth! It sounds like he’s guessing based on… visions.”

  “Like you were shown in Alexandria?” countered the tree. Yas looked at Sam. She remembered the clues that had been presented to them ahead of the Battle for the Peacekeepers. They had all provided pieces of the puzzle that had helped locate Sam’s dad who had been kidnapped and had unveiled the traitor, Ms. McVale, after she had staged her own kidnapping. They both realised that the Great Oak had a point.

  “Do you have any ideas?” asked Yas.

  The Great Oak rustled its branches. “I do agree with Akoni that the Controllers’ energy has shifted towards a new purpose.”

  “What purpose?” asked Yas.

  “I do not know. I’m sorry. Some ways are blocked to me. You will have to find out.”

  “How?” asked Sam, “We could do with more than cryptic clues, here. It feels like we’re always doing the running!”

  The Great Oak paused and swished its branches.

  “It’s possible that Penn is seeking an artefact to help restore himself. There are a number, famed throughout mythological stories that are believed to help heal. It may well explain why the dragon is piling up treasure, until he finds what he needs.” The Great Oak paused again. “As for Orfeo, we do not know if he is searching for adversaries to go on the offensive against, or whether he seeks someone to use to strengthen his position. You will have to answer these questions.”

  “Who should we look for?” asked Sam. “Another Custodian?”

  “Perhaps,” answered the Great Oak. “I do know that other Custodians are becoming harder to reach. Something is happening to them. Perhaps they are going into hiding.”

  “Like in Ancient Alexandria?” asked Yas. “Y’in and Y’an?” When she and Sam had met them before the battle, she remembered them saying that they had been found. They had to leave in a hurry and narrowly avoided being caught themselves. A memory of the voice that she’d heard this morning flashed in her mind. The voice was fam
iliar. Y’an’s perhaps. She could only remember the sound though, not the words.

  “Yes,” replied the tree. “For now, I think it’s important you share your findings with the other guardians. I will continue searching through my rings of history.”

  Yas and Sam looked at each other.

  “Why do I get the feeling we’re going to be in the middle of everything again?” asked Sam, tired. “I was looking forward to having some quiet time with you.”

  “I know,” replied Yas. She also wanted that but felt a lot of questions needed answering. There was more to unravel and more that they needed to do to stop Penn, Orfeo and whoever Index was.

  She created a portal back to the library.

  “I have a feeling a clue will present itself,” added the tree, as they stepped towards the portal.

  “How will we know?” asked Yas, familiar uncertainties arising.

  “You found the clues before,” reassured the tree. “You’ll find them again.”

  Yas nodded. She and Sam stepped back into the library staff room.

  Chapter 2

  The Invitation

  Janine waited for the doorway to disappear before asking. “You both okay?”

  Yas nodded. Sam looked at Yas, protectively. He felt this should be her conversation to relay.

  Janine motioned to the chairs around the table. They all sat. There was silence for a moment.

  “How was he?” Janine asked finally.

  “It was harder than I thought,” Yas answered, truthfully.

  Janine nodded. She seemed to understand the difficulty.

  “The last time I saw him… before he died… disappeared… there were so many unanswered questions. He caused so much trouble at home.”

  “I can imagine,” Janine replied, gently.

  She paused for a moment to give Yas some space to think.

  “Did you get the answers you were looking for?” continued Janine.

  “I don’t know,” Yas replied. She looked at Sam for support.

  “He was difficult to read,” added Sam. “One minute he seemed sorry, then the next, defiant. Bit of a jerk really.” He looked at Yas. “Sorry,” he placated.

  Janine acknowledged Sam awkwardly, then looked at Yas.

  “What happened to him?”

  “He said he’d betrayed the location of the mansion to the Controllers,” Yas replied. “He then tricked them into believing that he had my grandpa’s journal. Then when they confronted him and found out he’d lied, they split him apart. He’s been existing in the realms, pulling himself back together bit by bit.”

  “Well, it explains how the Controllers had access to the mansion, at least,” Janine replied. “Did he say anything about Index?”

  “Not a lot. He said he’d heard whispers of the name.”

  “Not much to go on then?”

  “No,” agreed Sam.

  “But he did say he’d witnessed different events while split apart,” added Yas. “Orfeo has been searching for him and building an army and Akoni also saw Penn as a dragon searching for something to restore himself.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me that Penn and Orfeo are still alive within the realms,” Janine replied, matter-of-factly. “Power like that doesn’t dissipate easily. But why is Orfeo searching for Akoni? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “He didn’t know,” replied Yas. “He’d seen a vision where Orfeo had trapped both him and my dad.”

  “That’s troubling,” mused Janine. “I wonder what he wants them for.”

  “Can we protect them in any way?” asked Yas.

  Janine paused and thought for a moment.

  “We can keep eyes on them, but until we know who we’re dealing with, it’s a waiting game.”

  “Akoni seemed to think there are at least two different factions of Controllers. Perhaps more,” continued Yas.

  Janine nodded. “It’s something that Peter and I had been thinking also. There’s too much going on in the outer world to be controlled just by one group.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Yas.

  “Well, for instance, the angry man earlier,” she indicated to Sam. “And there’s been other events too, seemingly to bring the Guardians out into the open. To expose them. In contrast, other disturbances have been protesting against changes to restrict the freedom of information. The two seem to be at odds.” She paused. “We’re missing something here.”

  “The Great Oak seemed to think that we should try to find out what Orfeo and Penn are up to,” suggested Yas.

  “Yes,” replied Janine thoughtfully. “Maybe Penn and Orfeo are both searching for ways to restore themselves. Until they do, it’s likely that they are trapped in the realms. It’s happened before to others.”

  “Did Akoni say anything else that might help identify who Index is?” continued Janine.

  “No,” replied Yas. “Only that he seemed certain that it wasn’t Penn or Orfeo.”

  “Curious,” agreed Janine, tapping her finger to her lip. “I was leaning towards one of those two as the mastermind behind all this.”

  “He said they’d been very good at acting behind the scenes,” added Sam.

  “That’s certainly true,” agreed Janine. “It’s been difficult to get any information from any of our contacts.”

  Yas voiced the concern that they all felt. “It feels like all we did at the battle, it had little effect. We’re still at square one!”

  Janine reached forwards and touched her arm, reassuringly. “I think in hindsight, we’ll come to learn that it was a pivotal moment.”

  “Remember that Akoni said that not having the Peacekeepers had slowed them down,” added Sam.

  “And I would imagine that with Penn and Orfeo not in command, it has bought us some time,” Janine reassured.

  “Oh,” said Yas, remembering, “Akoni mentioned that there had been some infighting, but that they were focussing on a common threat now. The Word Guardians.”

  “Do you think this is something to do with what’s happening here?” suggested Sam. “The angry man earlier? The protests? Could they be behind these somehow?”

  “You may be right,” agreed Janine. “The question is, which of the groups is doing what and why? Did Akoni add anything else that might help?”

  “No,” replied Yas, trying to remember. “Other than what we’ve already said. It seemed as though Orfeo’s soldiers caught up with him while we were talking. We had to let him through to the Forest Realm to help him get away.”

  “So where is he now?” asked Janine.

  “Somewhere safe,” answered Yas. She leaned forwards and whispered, “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” In hindsight, she wasn’t sure who she thought might have been able to overhear.

  “Okay,” replied Janine, deep in thought. “It puzzles me. What would Orfeo want with Akoni?” she asked herself rhetorically.

  “How could we find out more?” asked Yas, continuing the train of thought.

  “I’m not sure,” replied Janine. “It’s something I’ll talk about with your father, Sam, and the other guardians.” She turned back to Yas. “I think it’s important that you talk with your mom, also. So, it’s not a surprise later.”

  Yas looked worried. It was easy to talk about here with Sam and Janine, but she found it hard to think about how she would even open the conversation with her mom.

  “I’ll come with you,” Sam offered.

  She looked at him and smiled, touching him. “I appreciate it, Sam,” she started, “but I feel that maybe this needs to be just me and my mom, you know?”

  “Sure,” he replied. Whether he was a little hurt or not, she couldn’t tell.

  “Is that okay?” she asked, trying to soften it.

  “No, of course,” he said, nodding. “I’ll walk you home, though?”

  She smiled. “Yes.” She grabbed his hand. “I’d like that.”

  A gothic castle stood impressively in its grounds, surrounded by evergreen forest. With the sun having se
t over the horizon, an orange glow filled the large arched windows that ran along the back of the castle and reflected from large arched mirrors set into other walls inside. Within one of the castle’s large chambers, a tall rakish man moved from window to window. He stayed at the edges surveying the formal gardens in the fading light.

  Behind him, nearer the mirrors, a doorway appeared. Y’in stepped through flanked by two dirty, dishevelled, men.

  “Sand,” said the first man, disparagingly. “Gets everywhere.” He shook one of his legs as if to prove a point and the sand fell onto the stone floor. The doorway behind them dropped downwards and became sand also. Then it dissolved into the fabric of the realm, the floor adjusting slightly as it accommodated the new building material.

  “Gentlemen,” called Orfeo. He glided over to meet them, stopping just in front of Y’in.

  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” said Orfeo.

  Y’in regarded him coolly, keeping his hands behind his back. “You sought me out in Ancient Alexandria,” he stated. “And then you have continued to pursue me ever since. Why?”

  Orfeo ignored the question. “You will be in good company here,” he crowed, gesturing to the walls.

  “The mirrors,” stated Y’in, understanding.

  “Yes,” said Orfeo, walking over to one of them. “They enable me to see many things in the realms.”

  “And yet they cannot be where you really wanted them to be, hmm?”

  Orfeo stared at Y’in, for a moment, shocked by his observation.

  “Too many eyes on you in the Hall of Mirrors, aren’t there?” Y’in continued. “You want to be the Sun God but need to be out of the way. In the shadows, so to speak.”

  Orfeo turned his back on Y’in and reached up a finger and touched it, ever so gently. In response it rippled and attached to his finger.

  “Show me,” he commanded. He stood still for a moment, as an image of another realm appeared on the surface and played a scene out for him to watch. He couldn’t see his own reflection, that was one of the curses of being a vampire, but it served him well here. He could look past the fading orange glow behind him. One by one images from different realms appeared, like a stream moving behind each mirror. He could take in a scene, then watch it pass and move onto the next. He privately took pleasure in being able to observe while others were unaware of his presence.