by Lady Lilium
Sian’s eyes moved around the spot where Indigo stood, as his presence hung on the edge of her consciousness, as she searched for what disturbed her. Eventually she turned away, facing Lucas again defiantly.
‘I think you should leave’ Lucas dared to say.
‘No’ Sian said, crossing her arms stubbornly and taking a seat in the middle of the sofa. She stared at him deliberately. ‘I think I will stay. Right…here…’
Lucas covered the distance between them. He grabbed her by the shoulders, lifting her up and snarling through gritted teeth.
‘Enough of your stupid games!’
In an instant and out of nowhere came another body. Lucas was punched hard in the side of the head, stumbling sideways, confused and unsure of what had just happened and who had hit him. Reuben immediately charged forwards to protect his brother, grabbing the one who had struck Lucas and drawing his fist back in violence.
‘Enough!’ Sian called out, before anyone else could get hurt. ‘Kyle let him go.’
Her brother obeyed instantly, shoving Reuben back and nearly tripping him up. As soon as he was free from Kyle’s grasp, Reuben ran to Lucas, helping him back to his feet.
Lucas groaned as he rose, tentatively touching the side of his head which was already beginning to swell.
‘I'm going to kill you for that’ Reuben snarled at Kyle, temper flaring almost beyond his control. He still held onto his brother’s arm in support, his body began to tremble in rage.
Kyle’s muscles began to twitch in anticipation. He was a powerful and tall figure, with a stern expression.
‘Just try it’ Kyle mocked him. ‘I could snap you like a twig.’
‘Wanna bet?!’
‘Reuben!’ Lucas barked before the words turned physical again. ‘Just calm down everyone.’ He straightened up, raising his head and taking his arm away from Reuben who supported him. ‘I'm fine’ he muttered to him.
The three elder guardians now giving them extra space, stood by the far wall, amazed at the turn of events. Ebony was nowhere to be seen.
‘Lucas’ Sian said placing a hand on her hip. ‘We need to talk.’
Chapter Nine
Discovered
Tuesday morning
Reuben and Lucas stood side by side outsides the gates of the college. Together they stared inwards to its grounds and buildings within, and to the other people who were entering the college. Other people who led normal lives.
‘They’re so blissfully ignorant’ Lucas grumbled shaking his head. ‘If only they knew.’
‘If only they did’ Reuben agreed. ‘Things would be a lot different if that were the case. That much is for sure.’
‘You're not going in are you?’ Indigo said casually, standing a short distance behind them.
‘No’ Lucas sighed forlorn. ‘As time goes on I feel less and less a part of this world.’
Culture nearby disinterested picked at his teeth, and Siren leant back against a tree, clinging to the shadows of its canopy.
‘There’s no going back now is there?’ Lucas asked.
‘No’ Siren replied. ‘You are part of this now, what you have seen and learnt….’ She trailed off. ‘You belong in the Ancient World.’
Reuben shrugged. ‘It’s not like we’ve got family here is it?’ he spotted Lauralie, Venom and Ebony over his shoulder. ‘We’d be taking our friends with us’ he added.
‘I'm sure Lauralie would follow us wherever we went’ Lucas sighed regretfully. ‘Venom would surely follow her. And Ebony….’ he lifted his head, meeting her gaze. ‘She would follow me wherever I went.’
‘What about Sian?’ Reuben asked his brother in a whisper.
Lucas glanced towards her. Sian was standing a distance away from the others, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Her loyal brother Kyle stood close by, staring up at the clouds.
‘I uh…I need to think about that…’
‘She can’t follow us to the Ancient World if we chose to go’ Reuben said.
‘I suppose…’ Lucas began slowly.
‘Oh you would love it there’ Siren butted it. ‘Guardians are more accepted in the Ancient World than they are here. None magical folk are able to see magic in our world. It’s a normal thing for them.’
‘I don’t doubt’ Lucas commented dryly
‘You’d be welcomed by the king’ Siren went on. ‘You never know, you might even fight for him one day.’
‘What would we be fighting for?’ Reuben asked.
‘The king needs guardians’ Siren explained. ‘They restore peace in times of strife, and maintain order. They are the thirteen.’
‘Thirteen?’ Reuben echoed. ‘Why thirteen?’
‘If too many guardians are together for long periods of time, the most bizarre thing happens. It’s something we refer to as magic poisoning. The air becomes thick and weakens our bodies, it is a gradual process, but you will learn much more about so many things you didn’t know when you visit our world. But know that thirteen guardians are the limit, and only thirteen.’
‘Sounds like fun’ Lucas droned.
‘Oh my goodness!’ Lauralie cried out suddenly, staring at her wristwatch. ‘I'm going to be late! I said I’d meet the brothers in town.’
‘Adrian and Diz?’ Reuben asked curiously turning back to her. ‘What for?’
‘You’ll see if you want to come along…but I have to go!’
She dashed off; heading down the narrow concrete path, a shortcut towards the town, the rest of the group stared curiously after her as her beautiful ginger hair swished behind her.
‘She seems eager’ Venom said offhandedly. ‘But shouldn’t she be going to college instead?’
‘She probably won’t go for the same reason we won’t’ Reuben said. ‘Life is just different now.’
Lucas nodded.
‘So……’ Reuben said, ‘which one do you think she will pick?’
Lucas smirked.
‘What is he talking about?’ Ebony whispered to Venom.
‘Drake was so kind to introduce Lauralie to the two street dancing brothers’ Venom explained. ‘She’s become very fond of them.’
‘That sounds like fun’ Ebony gleamed. ‘We should go see them perform.’
‘We should’ Venom agreed. ‘You guys should come too’ Venom called to the brothers.
‘Ok!’ Reuben sang happily back. ‘Let’s go.’
‘I’ll meet up with you later’ Lucas said.
‘What?’
‘I…’ Lucas began, his attention drifting towards Sian. ‘I need to speak to her.’
Reuben clapped a hand on his shoulder. ‘Well…good luck. Seriously.’ His expression turned sombre. ‘Good luck.’
‘Thanks Reuben. I’ll call you later.’
Reuben backed away, turning and joining Ebony and Venom. The three wandered off in the direction of the town, shadowed as had become the habit, by the elder guardians. Not yet had they let Ebony out of their sights. They guarded her so closely. Indigo, Culture, and Siren.
Once they were gone, Lucas approached Sian. She uncrossed her arms as he drew nearer.
‘You're serious about this aren’t you?’ she asked him.
Kyle wandered away to give them privacy, slipping out of view. But Lucas knew he would not go far.
‘Serious about what?’ Lucas asked.
‘This whole business’ she said. ‘Guardians and magic. You say there is another world out there somewhere.’
‘And I meant every word.’ Lucas lifted his eyes to meet hers. ‘I told you you wouldn’t believe me.’
‘But I do’ she gleamed slyly back.
‘What?’
‘Well’ Sian continued moving away from him. ‘The options are, either you are crazy.’ She came to a stop. ‘Or’ she said, turning back to him, ‘everything you say is true.’
‘And you think everything I've told you is true?’ Lucas asked incredulous.
‘Well’ Sian cooed seductively, moving closer to him now. ‘It is far more
preferable to believing you're crazy. Don’t you think?’ she brushed a strand of his black hair back from his face, leaning forwards for a quick kiss. ‘You're not crazy are you Lucas?’
‘No’ he said, as she moved back from him.
Her expression became serious again. ‘I want to be a guardian.’
‘What?’
‘I said’ Sian repeated. ‘I want to be a guardian, like you. I want to see magic as you do, see guardians, and maybe, visit this other world you told me about.’
‘I don’t know if I can make that happen’ Lucas told her.
‘Well’ Sian purred. ‘There’s no rush.’ She leant forwards again, embracing him tightly. ‘I just want to be closer to you’ she whispered in his ear.
Lucas held her also, trying to feel a stir of emotions towards her, the same as he used to.
But there was nothing.
‘Oh my god I'm so sorry I'm late’ Lauralie said bounding forwards.
Adrian took his foot off the fountain he was leaning against and faced her, immediately turning on his swagger.
‘Oh my fine lady’ he sighed, ‘you're not late, you're just in time, it is we who are early.’
He flicked his collar up and swept his red streaked hair dramatically back, bowing to her and taking her hand in his.
‘Oh Adrian enough of that’ she laughed, ‘we know each other well enough now don’t we?’
‘Not well enough for my satisfaction I’m afraid’ Adrian sighed dramatically, eyeing her now with longing.
The sadness in him did nothing to sway her; instead she turned her back to him so she wouldn’t have to see his over dramatized misery. Diz took this opportunity to jump on her from behind, hanging off her shoulders and ruffling her hair.
‘I'm so glad to see you’ he squealed in girlish excitement.
‘Me too Diz’ Lauralie giggled patting his arm.
He let go of her, dropping to the floor, he had to jump a considerable height in order to reach her, short that he was.
She turned back to face them. Adrian was giving the both of them a sceptical look, and Diz was smiling sweetly up at Lauralie, kicking his feet and sucking on a lolly.
‘Want one?’ he offered her.
‘Why thank you’ Lauralie said taking the orange lolly he offered. She thought then of how insanely cute he was, with his blonde highlights in his light brown hair, his little button nose, and the same unnatural piercing bright blue eyes he shared with his brother.
‘I'd save that for later’ Adrian told her. ‘We’ve got some dancing to do.’
‘We sure do’ Diz gleamed, jumping up and down on the spot.
Adrian gave Lauralie a sly glance to the side.
‘Are you ready?’
Lauralie jerked her hips to the side, flicking her hair back and rolling her shoulders seductively.
‘I'm ready’ she said.
Adrian purred, flashing his teeth at her. ‘I think we may have taught you too much.’
‘That remains to be seen’ Lauralie answered, walking her fingers up Adrian’s chest teasingly. ‘If I impress the crowd, then we will know if you have taught me enough.’ She poked the end of his nose. ‘Are you ready for this?’
‘Ooohhh’ Diz said leaning forwards. ‘You're getting pretty confident.’
‘I’ve had good teachers’ Lauralie cooed down to him.
‘Now come on’ Adrian told her. ‘We wouldn’t want to keep our audience waiting.’
Lauralie took centre stage, with the brothers standing either side of her a few steps back.
They were in the town now, one of the busier places where the shops were, and already people were slowing down to see what was happening, as a small crowd began to form.
The music started slow, beginning first with a rhythmic beat, and growing louder as the sounds began to build. Lauralie was the first to move, moving her shoulders and her arms first she danced for a few seconds as the brothers remained still behind her. Freezing then she allowed them to copy her. The music lapsed, becoming silent for moments, before returning again in full. The three danced together, their moved perfectly matched, as if they were all controlled by the same mind.
Through the crowed easing their way to the front came Venom, Reuben and Ebony. Standing side by side they watched the trio dance. Venom watched Lauralie with longing, and the same desire for her as Lauralie had for the brothers when she had first watched them dance. And the audience loved her, as they had loved the performance when it was just the brothers dancing.
Venom glanced to the side and saw, as always that the elder guardians were not too far away. Standing in a small huddle at the edge of the crowd and looking inwards, Siren as usual, holding the strange orb in her hands. She was not watching the dance, but staring into the orb.
The performance ended just as Lucas arrived with Sian and Kyle. Lauralie turned, beaming at the audience, their cheering and clapping was rolling and continuous. Adrian bowed to the surrounding audience and backed away, giving the centre stage to Lauralie, Diz smiling and waving moved beside his brother.
‘I sense a change in her’ Diz muttered under his breath to Adrian as they stood behind her.
Adrian straightened up, putting his hands on his hips.
‘I sense it too.’ He furrowed his brow at her. ‘I wonder what it is.’
Reuben was clapping with the others; she was truly a sight to behold. Lauralie was a beautiful girl, all the guys wanted her, and all the girls wanted to be her, perfect body, stunning looks, but when she danced….
‘I’ve never seen anything like it’ Reuben said in awe to Lucas beside him.
‘That was excellent’ Ebony said clapping as she stood beside Venom.
Venom didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm. Instead he stared vacantly at Lauralie, sadness descending over him.
Lauralie lowered her arms and turned back to the brothers, her expression dreamy.
The audience faded, the calls and whistles and the clapping. Silence began to peak.
The world suddenly began to turn grey, almost like a dream.
Siren’s hands began to shake around the orb, her knuckles whitening, her eyes growing large.
‘She’s been found….’
Indigo whipped round, staring wildly at her, on her other side Culture’s heart began to race.
‘What should we do?’ Siren pleaded.
‘Lucas!’ Indigo cried, rushing over to him. ‘They’ve found a philosophers stone.’
Ebony gasped, hands over her mouth and staring at Lucas in fear and expectation.
‘Crystal….’ She breathed.
‘We must leave’ Indigo ordered them.
‘What do you…?’ Lucas began.
Culture’s eyes darted back and forth over the heads of the people who were utterly oblivious to anything that was out of place, his body stiff and jittery. He saw an aberrant claw its way over the roof of a building, tearing forwards with all haste and heading in a direction that led out of the town.
‘What's in that direction?’ Culture demanded of Lucas.
‘The industrial estate’ Lucas fumbled. ‘The abandoned hotel!’ he realised.
‘I know where that is’ Indigo said.
‘We must help her.’ Siren’s voice was raised in panic. ‘We must!’
Indigo’s eyes flashed. His hand darted out towards Ebony, grabbing her by the wrist.
‘What are you doing?’ she cried out in panic over Lucas’ protests.
‘Do not fear’ Indigo told Lucas and Ebony, ‘we must help Crystal, but we cannot leave Ebony.’ He took hold of Lucas’ wrist also, vanishing the three of them into thin air.
‘We may need your help also’ Culture told Reuben, who stood there looking bewildered. ‘And yours’ he said to Venom.’ He grabbed the both of them by their arms and using his magic, took them to the edge of the town.
Reuben felt something grabbing the back of his shirt as he was transported away, to the abandoned hotel, where they had not been to in so lon
g. His feet touched the ground, eyes adjusting to the new light and environment. The thing that had grabbed him from behind released him then, and Reuben turned, gasping in surprise.
‘Sian?!’
She quickly turned away from him, her face a horrible tint of green. Her body hunched forwards as she was violently sick. Culture who had travelled them from the town centre released them from his grasp. Exhausted from using so much magic to transport himself and three others he collapsed, falling to his knees and clutching his chest.
‘Culture get up’ Indigo hissed nearby, ‘get up get up!’
Lucas and Ebony gave him worried looks as he slowly rose, gasping and wobbling as if he was dizzy. Culture however insisted that he was fine.
The colour swiftly drained out of Lucas’ face as he noticed Sian was with them.
‘Oh shit…’
‘What's she doing here?’ Venom demanded.
‘Ebony’ Indigo said to her. ‘Hide.’
She didn’t need prompting, and swiftly left their side to comply.
‘And take Sian with you’ Lucas added.
Ebony grabbed Sian by the arm as she went. Sian jerked her head upwards towards Ebony, gasping in shock that she could at last see her after being touched.
‘Who are you?!’
‘No time’ Ebony hastened. ‘We must hide.’
Too confused to protest, Sian allowed herself to be dragged away, wiping her mouth as she went. The two swiftly vanished from view, hiding behind the wreckage left over from the construction of the hotel.
It was then that Siren materialized herself between the small group.
‘Ebony is safe?’
‘She is hiding’ Indigo replied to her.
‘We should have enough of a chance’ Siren said, glancing back at the three younger guardians, Lucas, Reuben and Venom. ‘Even without Shire’ she sighed. ‘Can you three fight?’
‘We can try’ Reuben said.
Venom stared defiantly at her and Lucas remained impassive.
‘We must hurry’ Culture pressed. ‘She is near. I can feel her fear…’
They ran to the other side of the building, Culture leading the way. Around the corner they found them.
