The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (34 page)

A great wind blew through the trench. Darek’s hair became disheveled by the powerful gust. He flung his head back and searched the sky, wondering what was going on. WHOOSH! Another gust shook him. Then he noticed a dark shadow fall over them as another dragon flew overhead.

“Keep your head down,” Freddie whispered, crouching. “They’ve got amazing eyes. Don’t think that just because we’re tiny, they’re not going to notice. Oh, they’ll notice.”

Darek shrunk back, cowering from the monstrous reptiles. Even though he had been close to them and fed them, it didn’t make them any less intimidating now. They still were vicious, wild carnivores with insatiable appetites…and ridiculously large teeth.

As they went up, there were a few close calls, but the dragons never noticed them. They were able to safely reach the top.

“Hurry!” Freddie rushed down the dragon’s snout and clambered through the window. Slade and Darek raced after him. Both of them bolted through the window and landed on the floor. The dragon peered inside the tiny hole to see if everything was all right.

Dusting himself off, Freddie turned to the dragon’s slit-like iris, the only thing visible in the window, and told it to go. “I’ll call you when we need to go back.”

The dragon snorted a puff of smoke. Darek coughed as the smoke flooded the room. Then it leapt off the tower and took to the skies, joining the other dragons in the patrol.

“See?” Freddie said to them. “Nothing to worry about. Getting up here is easy.”

Darek scanned the room. There was nothing in the room except for one giant sphere in the middle. Darek gaped at it. It looked like a giant green eyeball…except it had four blue pupils, one facing each of the cardinal directions.

“That’s it?” asked Darek.

“That’s it,” Freddie replied. “Our vision of the other realm. The only way you’ll ever see home.”

Sounding eager, Darek asked, “How does it work?”

“Simple. Just stick your head in through one of the…um…”

“Pupils?”

“Now that you mention it, I guess they do look a little like pupils. Yeah, jus’ stick your head in and think ‘bout what or who you wanna see.”

“There are four of them so we can all look at the same time?”

Freddie shook his head. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Why not?”

“Need to keep lookouts,” Freddie explained. “One on the window and another for the door. Never know when trouble’ll come knocking. Once you stick your head inside, you won’t be able to see or hear us. We’ll pull you out when things get dicey.”

“So who goes first?” asked Slade.

“You guys go first,” said Freddie. “I just like fooling around with it anyway. I’m sure you guys are dying to see how your friends are doing.”

Slade turned to Darek. “Darek. You want to go first?”

Darek glanced at him. “You don’t want first?”

Slade shrugged. “I’ll get my turn. I’m sure you’ve got more people you’re worried about. I’m just worried about Elize.”

“Thanks Slade,” said Darek, walking up to the giant sphere.

“Don’t mention it.”

Darek stood right in front of the blue pupil. It was in the shape of an oval. He stared at it. It showed his reflection, just like a mirror. He put his face close to it. His breath sent ripples across the surface. He hesitated for moment. And then he closed his eyes and stuck his head through the blue looking glass. Breathing deeply, he opened his eyes one by one. He let out a gasp when he realized he was staring right into outer space. For the first time in who knows how long, he could see the stars. A stupid-looking grin spread across his face. This was really happening. It was really working. Freddie wasn’t lying. He could actually see the physical realm!

Now how did this thing work again? Darek tried to remember Freddie’s instructions.
Think about what or who you want to see
. Sounded simple enough. But whom did he want to see first?

He decided the first person he wanted to see was Elize. They had left her in Lacuna and he felt kind of bad about it. He wondered if she was doing okay and if she had managed to escape from the void.

As he thought about her, it seemed like he was zipping through space. Then he could see from a distance his home planet of Whardime, which he recognized almost immediately. He concentrated his thoughts more on her. It zoomed in, like he was peering at the planet through a giant magnifying glass. Finally, he caught sight of her.

Elize was sitting on the roof of their old orphanage. Darek watched her for a moment. She was staring at the sky with a blank look on her face.

He even heard her voice say, “Where are you guys?” She buried her face in her hands. “Come back already.” She groaned in despair. “Please…come back.”

He was relieved to see that Elize was okay and out of Lacuna. But he was in pain to see her in such sorrow.

He blurted out, “I’m right here.” But she did not respond. He knew his words couldn’t reach her. But he still felt inclined to say, “Sorry.”

He couldn’t bear to continue watching her anymore. It reminded him too much of the time he was abandoned by the Judges. It hurt so much more because he knew exactly what she was going through. One moment, you’re having the time of your life and everything is just perfect. The next, everyone has disappeared…and you are all alone. And it seems like nobody cares…and all your cries fall into nothing…

He quickly thought of someone else. He thought about Azura. How could he possibly forget about Azura? She was so caring and kind—and so…weird.

Once again, it felt like he was rocketing through space. It didn’t take long before he came upon a planet that was surrounded by layers of shields.
Salhades
, thought Darek. Azura had returned to Salhades, the home planet of the Legion of Heroes.

He arrived inside a large office. Inside the office was a man sitting at his desk. Azura seemed to be arguing with him.

“Please, Captain! I’m telling you the truth!” she shouted.

“You might just be,” said the man. “But I can’t just take your word for it. Perhaps if you had another witness who could verify your claims—”

“I did,” said Azura.

“You did? Then where is this witness?”

“What do you mean? He’s right here,” she turned around, “…or not.” Azura did a quick three-sixty. There was no one else in the room. “But he—he was right—I don’t believe it!” She gasped, “He’s gone!”

“Who’s gone?”

“Kale.”

“Kale?” The man shook his head. “Oh, Azura,” said the man. “Now you’re bringing up legends? Are you talking about Kale, the Lost Hero? He’s dead. He’s been dead for years.”

“He’s alive,” Azura snapped. “I saw him with my own eyes! I brought him here!”

The man sighed. “Azura. I think you need some time off. Your last mission must have been a bit too much for you.”

Azura snarled, “Listen to me—I’m not going crazy!”

“You sure could have fooled me,” said the man. “Just listen to yourself! An army of powerful spirits that can fly through space and control the forces of nature? The inside of a planet is actually hollow and capable of sustaining life? There are giant worms big enough to form canyons? The planet you were on was sucked into a wormhole and you miraculously survived? There’s another dimension created and controlled by some old guy living in a box in the sky? Immortals have been infiltrating the Federation for hundreds of years, right beneath our noses? And now you claim to have found the Lost Hero and brought him here, only to have him disappear into thin air? AZURA, LISTEN TO YOURSELF!”

Azura frowned. “I know it sounds crazy, but—”

“I’m sorry, Azura,” said the man. “I can’t send out an investigation on such outrageous claims, even if it’s from you.”

“But sir, the immortals—”

“I’ve heard enough.”

“But—”

“I’VE HEARD ENOUGH!” the man barked. He pointed to the door. “Get out! OUT! I don’t have time for fairy tales! OUT!”

The captain’s shouts were so loud that even Darek wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.
 
He tried to think of someone else without much consideration.

Salhades disappeared out of view. He zipped past the stars. Then he was amazed to find out that the next planet was Teraskai, the home of the Federation. Like Salhades, this was a first for him. He dove down and sped through layers of the metal shell around the planet. It was a cool feeling to be able to pass through the walls and floors of the buildings like a ghost. Finally, everything slowed down when he reached his destination.

And all Darek could think was,
What is going on here?

He gaped at Sorren. Sorren was not sitting down, enjoying the view of a sunset. Nor was he talking or arguing with a companion. He was in the middle of an intense battle.

Darek watched Sorren run down a long corridor. Kite was running ahead of him.

“Watch out!” Sorren shouted.

Kite glanced to the side. A spirit assassin just suddenly appeared before him. Kite jumped away. Sorren rushed ahead and tackled the assassin to the ground. Then he got up, grabbed Kite’s arm and urged him forward.

“Come on, come on!” Sorren grunted. “To the elevator! We have to get out of this place!”

Another spirit assassin emerged. He seemed to have jumped through the solid floor.

Darek remembered what this was. These strange assassins were using Spirit Displacement, a spiritual technique that involves casting the spirit out of the body and then materializing the body at the location of the spirit.

Now that Darek had a chance to see it for himself, he was shocked at how effective it was. The spirit assassins were able to quickly teleport around. He was even more impressed at how Sorren was able to deal with it. Darek figured that Sorren must have had high spiritual sensitivity since he was able to discern where the spirit assassins would emerge next.

Even though there were only three or four spirit assassins chasing them, the constant Spirit Displacements made it look like there were twenty people constantly moving around and attacking them. Sorren desperately tried to hold them off. He seemed to be having some trouble.

An assassin appeared right in front of Kite. Kite didn’t notice it. He was too busy looking over his shoulder at the battle going on behind him.

Darek shouted, “Watch out! He’s in front of you!”

All of a sudden, Sorren turned around, grabbed Kite’s arm and yanked him away from the spirit assassin’s grasp.

Sorren swung his head and gaped in Darek’s direction.

Darek raised a brow. It really looked like Sorren was staring at him. But that couldn’t be, thought Darek. Azura and Elize didn’t notice him at all when he was right in front of them.

Then Darek noticed the spirit assassins staring too.
Now this is embarrassing
, Darek thought.
Maybe those with high spiritual sensitivity can see me
.
I must look like a floating head
—
with messy hair, since I didn’t bother to comb it
.

“No…” Sounding concerned, Sorren said, “Darek, what are you doing there?”

“What? You can actually see me? You can hear me?” asked Darek.

Sorren gestured with an open hand for Darek to remain still. “Don’t move. Do you understand? Don’t move a muscle.”

“Sorren,” said Darek. “I don’t understand what you’re worried about. It’s not a big deal. If my floating head is freaking you out, all I gotta do is just pull it out…” Darek tried to pull his head out of the giant sphere…but it wouldn’t budge. “Uh oh. Spoke too soon. I’m stuck…?” Panicking, Darek kept jerking his head back, but it felt like it was hitting a soft wall. “Urgh. What’s going on? I don’t get it. There’s nothing blocking my way!”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!” Sorren exclaimed. “I’m coming to help!”

Darek didn’t hear anything Sorren said. He was too focused on getting his head out. He was afraid to be stuck there. What if the Coranites came back already? It was a scary thought to not know what was happening around him.

The spirit assassins attacked Kite while Sorren was distracted by the image of Darek’s floating head. Sorren aimed a bolt of darkness at them. They dodged it and watched the black energy tear a hole through the wall.

Sorren said, “Vile, I’m going after Darek! Handle things here!”

Then Sorren said again in a low voice that didn’t sound quite like him, “Did I hear you correctly? We’re actually separating?”

“Don’t have a choice. Darek needs help. And Kite needs protection.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Sorren snickered. “Ah, now that I think of it, I haven’t stretched my own legs in a couple of thousand years! This’ll be fun!”

The spirit assassins froze. They wondered if Sorren was going crazy because he kept talking to himself.

Then a strange thing happened. Sorren’s shadow started to rise along the wall. The shadow became thicker and more…three-dimensional, until it actually ripped itself off the wall. The shadow then became human, an exact duplicate of Sorren.

Kite’s eyes opened wide. “There are two of you? How does that work?”

One Sorren said to the other, “Vile, remember—keep Kite alive. Don’t forget it.”