The Third Key (GUARDING THE LIGHT) (4 page)

“Dear God
,
how this c
ould
happen
?
!
”
-
Jason’s
mind
was screaming
.
He was fa
ced with the terrible truth,
before a
decision that seemed impossible for him
to make
. He needed
a piece of
advice, some help …
now!
He pulled
out
his
iPhone
and tried to dial Gunnar’s number
but the battery
was dead – no juice
.

"
Apple did not make you 'inter-
dimens
ional travel
resistant', I guess", he said
ironically, moving toward
the office.
Maybe a landline was the answer.
Before he could reach the office on the 2nd floor, the
control panel of his GE Simon XT home alarm system
spoke up. A voice like a battle-
axe growled out: "I
have opened the gate for Mr. Gunnar
–
full access
key holder
".

Relief!
Changing direction
instantly,
he headed downstairs
,
running
to
greet his friend.
He
had
probably never
needed him more than he needed him
now.
Jason
felt the
unbearable pressure
of making an impossible decision without any time to reflect,
and
was hoping Gunnar would
offer him
some sort of insight
.
He felt like his head
would
explode. His
usually stable inner
dialogue now
sound
ed
as if
football
commentators
were all describing
a ball game
at the
same time.

Gunnar saw immediately
that something was wrong. The a
bsence of
his friend’s
usual welco
ming words and bear hug
deepened
that feeling.

“We need to talk, now.”
Jason’s
to
ne was serious
. Gunnar
slammed the door of his dark blue BMW 700i and
quickly
followed his friend inside the house.
In the
living room
,
they sat down face-to-
face
and
Jason
managed to calm down
.
Looking at
Gunnar
,
the only human on the
planet
who knew
and could
understand
Jason
’
s
past
, gave him some badly needed composure
. His extensive studies of spirituality and ancient scriptures
provided him a solid foundation of knowledge
,
but
the
association and friendship with
Jason
was the real ‘
discovery’.

Jason
relayed the
news and
everything t
hat
had
happened
since
the
morning
in one breath. It was an
emotionally charged
outburst.

"O.K. y
ou have
to cool down … we have to calm down", began
Gunnar
.

"I AM
CALM
!
"
Jason
responded
in a shout
, then stopped as he saw his friend’s face
.

"
Sorry -
I
am
just
not able to think
straight
!"
he
continued
apologetically
.

"
Exactly
my point. Let’s see
if I got
this right...correct me if I’m
wrong"
,
continued Gunnar
.
"
The C
ouncil members have
just learned
that
this….
Quabil
person is n
ot dead but
back in action,
plus he already managed to eliminate all three 'Guardians of
the
Light’ guys who are powerful as you were while you were Guardian?”

"Right"
, said Jason
, nodding
.

"How is
that
even possible
? Y
ou’ll
have to explain
more later
but
right
now
…
" Gunnar waved his hands helplessly
but
continued.

"
Guys from the Council -
” he paused
,
realizing his error
.
“
…
okay
,
sorry
,
Demigods, Higher Beings, Protectors of Light from
the Council…
All
of them agreed that you are the only one who can stop
this guy? So, t
hey
actually want
you to
return to your former powers
?"
asked Gunnar,
puzzled.

"Correct. O
n
TOP OF THAT -
"
Jason
shouted
but
lowered his voice
,
"
the
Council
strongly believes
that we have
only
about 42
h
ours!
In that time,
unless they are stopped,
they will
be able to
find
the location of the
Diamond Gate”.

"Ah,
the
Gate, the
‘
back entrance
of
the
Gods’
”, said Gunnar with raised eyebrow,
“
the one
you
told me about
before
? But demons can’t use it…
or can they
?
"

"W
ith all three
keys
in possession
– it seems
they can.
Quabil
already has two of the Keys.
Two
Guardians
are dead
and as we speak
,
he’s on his
way to find
and kill the
Third
one
!
And I am supposed
to stop him,
they
claim no one else can.”

"Wait -
why
don’t they
simply
kill him once
and
for all? You
would
have to use
the
same
powers and....
" Before he could continue
,
the
loud
BAMM sound of
Jason’s
fist
, slammed
on
the
thick
wooden table between them
,
stopped him
from finishing the sentence.

"THEY CAN
NOT
INTERFERE! Remember the
Big Man up there?
Earth is lik
e a chess table, it always was.
They can
plan
and make
moves but th
ey need someone to play them",
Jason
explained.

"Right! I totally
forgot
. Sorry
,
all of this
is
just
a little too much for me. The day’s barely begun”, said Gunnar, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, tell
me about it”, sighed Jason, rubbing his own.

VI.

"Now,
if
this is all
true
(and I know it is because they never play games with these things)
,
that means
that all
the
universe
beginning
with our planet is
open to a demon
invasion.
”

"But, wait
!”
Gunnar jumped
up
.
“Y
ou
don’t
have the
Armor and Weapons of a
Guardian anymore.... will they
just give them back to you?
"

"
If only it was that easy.
No!
I would have to go
through
the
Initiation again
–
remember that
Durjay
is the only
one
who bestows
the Guardian Powers
and you
heard
a
bout my history with him...!"
Jason
stared into
his friend
’
s face
and
got
worried
, really
worried
.

"
So,
correct
me if I am wrong…
"
Gunnar
asked again
.
"You
are supposed to
save the
whole
Universe but you
are worried because you
have
unfinished business
with that
massively
important
character...
Dura …
something?”

"It's not just
that! I can swallow my ego but I
am not sure
that
he would
be willing to
do the same
....
he really is
NOT my biggest fa
n
!"

"O.K., but the
Demons are c
oming, they are on the doorstep -
right? He will just have to give you the powers back.
The
Big Man
is watching
.”
Gesturing
toward the sky,
Gunnar tried to prove his point
.

"H
e will
at least
try to
give me an exciting time”, said Jason sarcastically.
“
Last
time
we
met my head was
spinning
for
week
s
after
ward
. But I
do not
really
care about that
…
"

"T
hen
,
what’s the matter?"
Gunna
r asked
,
perplexed
.

With
shadowed
eyes,
Jason
tried to explain.
"
I
don’t know, I
guess I became
identified
with
this life,
with
the
Academy,
with our
b
usiness success
....
all that
end
s once I go back to
a
Guardian
’
s duty
.
"

"
Hey,
are you hearing
yourself?
I
f yo
u DON’T
go,
all of us here
will
probably
end
up
as a
demon soldier’s lunch
!"