Guardian: Protectors of Light (47 page)

While they hurried their
way through the secret passage, they shouted things at each other.
But whether they were meant as advice or just shouting in
frustration was left to question.

The main reason why the
Keepers were frustrated and stressed was because time was running
out; and another was that if they’d fail in stopping Sabrina,
Lunaria and the Bond of Light were most likely to be as good as
doomed.

The Keepers were given
new life by the Light Spirits for a purpose; serve to save. This
might sound like complete gibberish to the unknowing ear, but they
were to be serving the Bond of Light, who would eventually save
Lunaria. Serve to Save.

The Keepers had sworn to
serve in peace, unless a threat coming from the Master had a
certain danger which the Bond of Light couldn’t face on their
own.

And to Madeleine, Sabrina
was this certain threat. The Master had used her, manipulated her,
and turned her against her best friend...

But if Sabrina was still
alive, could that mean he was, too?

Madeleine shook her head
to get rid of the thought. It was impossible. She’d watched him
die.

She’d killed him
herself... Something she knew she’d regret for the rest of her
life.

Madeleine was forced to
return to reality, as they reached the location of the destroyed
villages.

And there she was.
Sabrina.

Squatted in the middle of
one of the village ruins, as if she’d discovered something.
Suddenly, she seemed to notice the Keepers’ presence, as her head
shot up in their direction.

The Keepers charged for
her as she got on her feet and ran for it as fast as she
could.

“
You can’t
run, Sabrina!” Gabriel shouted. “Not again!”

Sabrina turned her head,
looking at him. “Let’s see about that, huh?” she said.

Gabriel heard Rikki
panting behind him. But as soon as he looked back to check on her,
the panting stopped; Violina, who was little taller than Rikki, had
taken her on her back. “Don’t worry,” the Fixie said, giving
Gabriel an encouraging smile. “I’ll make sure she gets
there.”

Gabriel smiled at her.
“Thanks, Vo.” He then fastened his pace, running after
Sabrina.

When she reached Imber
Lake, Sabrina suddenly stopped running. She turned around; her face
showed a devilish grin, as her glowing red eyes reflected the
water’s blue colour.

“
What’s the
matter, Sabrina?” Madeleine said mockingly. “Can’t
swim?”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes
for a short moment, but the grin didn’t shrink a bit. “I can,” she
said, “but I remember someone who couldn’t...”

Gabriel made a growling
sound. “I swear, if you bring that back up, I’ll drown you with my
bare hands-!”

Sabrina pounded and
tilted her head, obviously amused. “It was your adorable little
sister, wasn’t it?” she said. “Oh, how hard you tried to save
her...” The grin returned. “Yet couldn’t.”

“
ENOUGH,
SABRINA!” Gabriel roared as he ran forward, bow and arrow
drawn.

But as soon as he’d
started to run, he stopped, as Sabrina had multiplied... By
four.

Two were standing in
front of him, and two were standing...

Behind Rikki.

Rikki and Violina had
just arrived; Rikki had insisted on walking on her own after she’d
seen her brother running toward Sabrina. She’d run closer to the
scene; away from Violina.

Gabriel turned his head
angrily; he growled as soon as he saw the two Phantom Sabrinas
stand behind his sister.

“
Leave her
alone,” he growled. “Or else...”

“
You’ll kill
me?” one of the Sabrina’s standing in front of Gabriel
said.

“
Don’t make
the wrong choice.”

Gabriel loaded his bow
and drew the arrow backward, and within the blink of an eye, one
Sabrina standing in front of him and one of them behind Rikki had
been hit.

...They were
Phantoms.

“
Oops,” the
real Sabrina said, as the last Phantom in front of him disappeared.
“Wrong choice.”

Gabriel leapt forward,
but one move from Sabrina, and he was forced to stand still in his
position, unable to move. And apparently, the same had happened to
the others...

...Except for little
Rikki.

She ran out of Sabrina’s
way as quick as she could, drawing out her crossbow. “Stay away
from me!” she shouted. “I’ll use this; I swear! You’ve seen me do
it before.”

For a while, Sabrina
didn’t move a muscle. It was as if she was actually hesitating.
Then she noticed how close Rikki was standing to the lake’s edge.
The water was at least 3 metres deep; anyone unable to swim would
be defenceless down there.

Sabrina made a step
forward. Rikki did exactly what Sabrina had expected she’d do; she
fired the crossbow.

Sabrina raised her hand,
using Magic to block the arrow from hitting her in the face, and
sending it straight back to Rikki...

Who didn’t see the arrow
coming until it was too late.

The arrow pierced through
her chest; straight into her heart. Her eyes, filled with shock and
tears, sought for her brother’s, right before she fell backward
into the deep water.

And that was the point
where the spell got broken.

“
RIKKI!
NO!”

Gabriel stumbled forward,
tears streamed down his cheeks. Without even thinking about it, he
dropped his weapons and dove down into the water, to save his dying
baby sister.

Meanwhile, Violina and
Madeleine took rather hostile positions against Sabrina, who was
laughing manically at the sight of the seventeen-year-old trying to
save his thirteen-year-old sister.

“
You’ll never
learn!” she laughed. “You’ll never do!”

“
Well, let’s
see about that,” Madeleine growled.

Gabriel had managed to
reach Rikki. She’d gone unconscious; the arrow was still stuck in
her chest.

He reached out for her;
as soon as he got a firm hold of her, he took her back up to the
surface.

Gabriel laid Rikki’s body
down on the shore; meanwhile, he searched for Sabrina.

“
Where is
she!?” he roared. “I want to kill her!”

“
She’s gone,
Gabriel,” Violina said. “She disappeared as soon as we tried to
attack her.”

Gabriel let out something
which seemed to be some sort of mix between a grunt and a
heartbreaking sob. “Not again,” he sobbed. “Not again.”

He stroke a gentle face
across Rikki’s pale cheek. “Rikki?” he whispered. “Listen to me.
You’re going to be fine...”

Rikki opened her eyes
weakly, and looked at her brother. “I know,” she whispered,
offering him a weak smile. “I’ll see you soon. And then Lunaria
will... be free, right?” Her eyes opened a little
further.

“
Can you
promise me that, Gabriel?”

Tears streamed down his
cheeks and he felt like he had a lump in his throat, as Gabriel
said, “yes, Rikki. I promise.”

Rikki smiled feebly.
“Good.”

Then, all motion left her
body.

For at least five
minutes, all Gabriel could do was sob, while holding his sister
close to him. He removed the arrow, but couldn’t bear even to look
at it.

Violina and Madeleine
stood there, silently. Crying as well.

Then, Gabriel suddenly
spoke.

“
That girl
has taken her last life tonight,” he growled. “Next time, it’ll be
hers.”

*

They had finally gained
the courage to take a nap. Glimmer and Timothy would keep watch the
entire time, so the others would have time to rest and catch some
sleep.

Except for
James.

Through the night, James
kept waking up from nightmares, yelling, kicking and screaming; the
nightmares followed him into the real world, haunting him as
hallucinations.

Most of the time, Samira
had to be woken up by Timothy in order to get James to calm down,
but no matter if either Samira or Timothy managed to calm him down,
James would repeat the same sentence over and over
again.

“
He’s coming. He’s watching us. We’re not safe
here
.”

Both Timothy and Samira
figured it was probably his mind playing another trick on him, and
to let it slide until – eh, dawn?

But what they didn’t
know, was that there indeed actually was someone watching them. A
mysterious figure, presumably either a man or a boy, lurking in the
shadows, not too far away from them. And that figure had now run
off to the Master, to bring him important news...

Jason

Dark boots trampled the
dead plants as they ran across the dry ground. A raven black cape
fluttered behind the mysterious figure, who’d been spying on the
Bond of Light earlier. He had to tell his Master that they’d
finally arrived in his territory. If he didn’t already know, that
was.

The Master was probably already aware that the Bond of
Light was now finally within his reach, and was planning an ambush
on them. Yet, it still gave his servant satisfaction to tell him
anyways. It made him feel as if he was
actually 
doing
 something,
instead of just hiding out in the shadows and waiting for those
pesky children to finally show up for once.

He didn’t look out where
he was going too well, as he bumped into another figure running
through the night, seemingly in quite a rush.
“Ow!” Sabrina hissed. “Who the-?”

She rose to her feet,
immediately taking a hostile position against the figure that’d
bumped into her. She summoned a black knife out of thin air,
holding it against his throat as he struggled to get
up. 

“
Ah. Sabrina.
How nice to see you here,” an icily cold voice spoke. The voice
sounded young and handsome, yet it had something demonic which sent
a chill down your spine with every vowel.

“
Jason,”
Sabrina growled, as she drew back her knife. “What are you doing
here?”

“
I could ask
you the same,” Jason said, as he got up, brushing the dirt off his
clothes. He clearly didn’t care that he’d just got a knife put to
his throat.

“
I assume
you’re headed the same direction as I am?” he said slowly. He
clearly didn’t show any kind of intimidation toward Sabrina’s
actions. But then again, neither did Sabrina to his.

“
Answer the
question,” Sabrina growled. “What are you doing here!?”

“
Oh ho ho, we’re getting snappy,” Jason grinned. “The Master
sent me out here, to watch out for any...
ah, 
trespassers
 entering his grounds.” He pretended to clean his
nails. “...If you know what I mean.”

Sabrina snorted. She certainly was insulted that her master
had sent her 
substitute
 to
take care of the situation. “Oh.”

Jason smirked, obviously
amused by Sabrina’s reaction. “Come on now, Sabrina. No harsh
feelings. Let’s go bring him our news together.” He turned around,
but turned his head just far enough to be able to see Sabrina’s
feet from the corner of his eye. “I bet you’ve got plenty of
exciting news for him.”

Sabrina grunted. She
obviously didn’t want to go along with Jason, but as they were
headed in the exact same direction, she couldn’t think of a reason
not to have to go along with him. “Fine, I’ll go with you,” she
growled. “But what news I’ve got for the Master is none of your
business.”

Jason smiled a vampire
smile. “Good,” he said. “Very well.”
The Master’s castle wasn’t too far away from their location. For
Magic-wielders, it wasn’t too hard to find either; the gigantic,
dark building emitted Dark Magic as if it was some perfume someone
had put on.
Both servants were let in, and were told to wait outside the throne
room, until they were called inside, one by one; Sabrina first. She
entered the throne room feeling slightly nervous, as she knew that
her master wasn’t going to appreciate the news she had for
him.

As she walked in, Sabrina
could see the reddish glow of the Master’s eyes and the
droplet-shaped stone on his robe from the darkness surrounding his
throne. Further facial- and other features were invisible; he was
shrouded in darkness.

“
Ah,
Sabrina,” the Master spoke. “Tell me what news you’ve come to bring
me today.”
Sabrina swallowed, yet was able to keep a straight face as she
said, “The Keepers have now taken their position as Protectors, and
they’re headed straight for the Land of Void. They are determined
to find and protect the Bond of Light.” Then, she decided to add,
“It might be wise to attack no, to lower the risk of the Protectors
being too close.”

While expecting an angry
outburst, Sabrina was surprised to see that her master remained
completely calm. He closed his eyes shortly, before responding to
Sabrina’s news. “Very well. Could you send in Mr Morgan? We need to
discuss... business.”