Bound (The Guardians) (17 page)

I shuffle around and slowly feel my head drooping to the side. It lands gently on Leo’s shoulder. I should move away. I want to. But then that it would be even more awkward and embarrassing. I stick to my guns watching Leo finish the quest from my new resting point. He doesn’t say anything about it, but I feel his posture relax a bit, which tells me he’s comfortable too.

With a bang the room unexpectedly falls silent.

The game switches off. So do the lights. There is that sickly feeling in the air, the one you get when you’re reminded how horribly soundless the world can be. With wide, fully awakened eyes, I ask, ‘Is it a blackout?’

I can no longer see Leo, or any part of myself. ‘Impossible,’ he replies. ‘The Tower has its own power grids, separate from Poridos or anywhere else. This is very strange. We should investigate.’

chapter Twenty-six

Leo reaches out and touches my arm, feeling for my wrist. He pulls me along in the darkness and we manage to find the door. He lets go when he finds the handle and pops the door open, just slightly. After a few seconds, we both step out. The light from the moon outside shines through and illuminates the core of the Tower. It’s not perfect, the dull glow is enough to see a few steps in front of you.

I go to move out further, heading for the balcony, when Leo quickly pulls me back. He wraps his long arm around my head and puts hand over my mouth. It feels like I’m being kidnapped.

Leo whispers harshly, ‘What do you think you are doing? You do not go ambling through the Tower in blackout! It is clear something is wrong
.
’

I nod causally, knowing he’s right, and he lets go. Leo gets on his hands and knees and zips over to the edge of the balcony like a highly trained solider. He stands and peeks over the crystal railing, moving his head around. I shrug and crawl over too. Not like a solider, more like a large baby.

‘Something is going on,’ Leo says. I stand up and gander over the balustrade as well. Faint shadows move around on the base level of the Tower. Leo ducks back down. I take the hint and do the same.

He says softly, ‘I am going to investigate further. You wait here.’

‘No!’ I shout. Leo rolls his eyes and I cover my mouth. I whisper, ‘Sorry… but you can’t abandon me here. What if something happens?’

‘I am not; this is the safest place for you right now. Listen to me and stay here.’

I reply, ‘If there really is something going on, then you could be in danger too. Aren’t you scared you’re going to get hurt or something?’

Leo smiles back. ‘Mellea, you asked me earlier what a Successor does. Being on the front line of danger is what I do. This is my job.’

He stands up and leans over me, gently placing his hand on the top of my head. ‘Stay out of trouble.’

Leo turns and runs into the darkness before him. I watch him trail upwards along the spiral balcony to a nearby set of stairs. He ascends, two steps at a time, and is quickly out of sight.

I cautiously stand and glance over the balcony once more. I can still see the shadows below, but I can’t hear anything. I’m not sure how many people are down there and if they’re friend or foe.

‘Mellea,’ whispers a loud voice. Anrella runs out of the darkness. She thumps beside me. She’s still wearing her long pyjama shirt and shorts but there is a large pink rifle strapped to her back. The rifle hanging over her shoulder looks lightweight. It must have been one of the special weapons Arin told me about. I can only hope she’s good at firing it.

We both squat down out of view.

‘Do you know anything about what’s happening?’ I ask quickly.

‘No. Just that the power grid has been cut,’ Anrella whispers back. ‘Someone has done it to get our attention. The only question is: what now?’

Anrella’s pocket lights up and she reaches inside, pulling out her phone. She moves back towards the shadows of Leo’s dark room and places it to her ear. ‘Where are you?’ she asks the caller. ‘The power has been knocked out. Yeah… listen, you need to get back here right now.’ She turns around to face me. ‘I’m outside Leo’s room. No he’s gone…yes, I can…no, don’t worry, I have Mellea with me. I’ll be right there.’

Anrella puts her phone back in her pocket and scurries back over. ‘The power outage has triggered the Tower’s lockdown function. Arin is outside – we need to get him in. I’m going to the training room to manually open the flight doors. You’re coming too.’

‘What?’ I shriek. ‘B-but Leo told me to stay here.’

‘Mellea,’ Anrella says. She reaches and takes my hands in hers. ‘I may be the future Lady Guardian but… this is my first major emergency. I’m really scared. Please come with me. I can’t do this by myself.’

When I feel her shaking hands in mine I can’t refuse. I place one hand on her shoulder and say, ‘All right, let’s go.’

We carefully make our way down the stairs, spiralling to the bottom level. Anrella goes first. She makes sure the path is clear with her rifle trained at any noises. When we finally reach the bottom floor there’s no one around. The shadow-casters are gone.

Anrella runs to the third pillar first. When it’s safe she flicks her hand at me. I run across the foyer and over to the training room. As quietly as possible, Anrella slides one of the doors open. I follow her into the tower. Because there is nothing blocking the ceiling in the third pillar, the moonlight brightly illuminates the room. It makes it easy for us to travel to the large roller door that Sentry officers use for flight board access.

Anrella stops at the wall beside the flight doors. She pushes on a long metal panel. It opens, revealing a chain on the other side. She calls, ‘Mellea, give me a hand.’

I help her tug on the metal restraint and the door slowly opens. When it’s open just enough, two figures slip into the room. It’s Arin and Dorkarn.

Arin asks, ‘What is the current situation?’

Anrella steps forward. ‘The power is out, the Tower has gone into lockdown and so far I haven’t seen Lord Neros.’

‘Father was attending to Mother before I left,’ Arin says. ‘He is probably stuck on the highest level.’

Anrella frowns. ‘This is bad. The Tower based Sentry officers are still out looking for the MECHs. We’re basically on our own and it’s really dark out there.’

‘Take up arms then,’ Dorkarn replies to them both.

Anrella flicks her rifle strapped back towards him. ‘Two steps ahead of you!’

‘Um…’ I say. I have no weapons or special element gem powers. But it doesn’t seem to matter; no one acknowledges that I’m even standing there. I really feel like I don’t belong here. This is why Leo wanted me to wait, out of the way.

Arin rushes to the rifle range. He returns with a few guns and tosses one to his Grandfather. ‘You two try and stay back,’ Arin says, finally acknowledging me.

I nod strongly but Anrella is not happy. ‘Stay back? What am I, a child? No way. I’m fighting with you.’

Arin replies, ‘This is not training. It is serious.’

Her eyes are strong and determined. She refuses to back down. ‘I’m not some girl you need to protect. I’m the future Lady Guardian.’

Arin shouts, ‘Yes. But right now my mother is Lady Guardian and
you
are my bride. So keep out of my way.’ With that, he turns and walks back towards the door. ‘Let’s go Grandfather,’ he calls.

Dorkarn sighs, clicking the magazine of his gun in tight. His expression says to me, ‘I’m getting too old for this. Why didn’t I buy that beach house and retire two years ago when I had the chance?’

I follow behind Dorkarn and Anrella begins walking beside us. The hurt on her face makes me think that her relationship with Arin is not as good as she claims. Nothing here is the way it seems, everything is simply for show.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We make our way back out into the foyer. The Tower is eerily silent. It’s darker than before too; the moon has shifted away from its fortunate position above us.

A noise echoes through the crystal fortress. My heart is racing. It sounds like a machine winding up. Abruptly the lights turn on level by level. The walls around us are illuminated once again.

But my happiness is brief. I’m hit with a wave of sickly shock. I can now see what is before me. In the foyer stand seven unique looking people. All of these strangers are MECHs. Their gun arms are showing and their faces are smug.

I cringe as I see Soren held captive in front of them, her hands tied behind her back, her mascara soaked face scrunched with pain. Resting on her knees is Demmi. He’s unconscious and his forehead is painted in blood. My pain starts to turn to anger.

A MECH man with short light brown hair laughs abruptly. ‘You know, the looks on your faces are priceless. It’s exactly what we are going for.’

‘Are you the one leading this attack?’ Arin says, raising his gun.

‘Ah!’ The man shouts in a warning tone. He points his gun arm at Soren’s head. ‘We don’t want to be too hasty do we now? It might cost your dear sister her life.’

‘Do not underestimate me,’ Arin replies. He keeps the gun trained at the MECH.

The MECH leader moves his gun away from Soren’s head. ‘That’s right, she can use her shield. But he can’t.’ The man’s gun arm returns to a hand and he lunges forward and slides Demmi off Soren’s lap. Demmi is completely limp and hangs like a ragdoll. The man is now using him as a shield.

The other MECHs protect the provoker, forming a circle around him with their gun arms trained at us. Unexpectedly, two from each end turn back inwards. Theirs guns change to a nub-like formation that have bright lights shining from the end. I turn my head, gazing out the crystal walls. A cold sweat falls over me.

Out over Poridos City is a projection in the sky of all of us, of what is happening. Dorkarn and Arin seem to notice, but they’re not as flustered as I am.

‘We are sending a message today Guardians,’ says the man holding Demmi. ‘To you, everything is obtainable and disposable. You play with the peoples of Selestia, hiding your private lives and making yourselves out to be so special and mysterious. You destroy those who don’t fit in your perfect world. For example us, the MECHs…’

The man lifts Demmi’s face to be not too far from his. ‘Our original group were once a race of normal people… unfortunate in circumstance being born without limbs, but normal none-the-less. That’s when the great Sir Macal decided he wanted to destroy us and burned our home to the ground.’

Dorkarn says, ‘The original MECHs were of out of control monsters. They planned to re-create this world in their own warped image. That is why the Guardians decided to destroy them.’

The man laughs. ‘You clearly didn’t do a very good job because our great leader survived. After sixty long years of waiting, and planning, we have begun rebuilding our race. The MECHs are the future, the door to great power. The weak, the hated and the lost have joined us to become more than they ever could be. We have accepted them with open, modified, arms. Now is the time, peoples of Selestia. Hear our words and join us.’

‘Enough,’ shouts a voice from above us. I flick my head up. On the third balcony stand Lord Neros and Lady Lethia. The Lord Guardian glares down at the MECHs. He calls, ‘You and your people are nothing more than handcrafted freaks made from metal. People like you have no place in our society.’

‘Careful what you say, Lord Neros,’ the man replies pointing to the projection outside. ‘Your precious people can hear you right now.’

‘We want them to hear,’ shouts Lady Lethia. She’s looking surprisingly healthier and stronger than before. ‘We want them to know that we, the Guardians of Selestia, will not stand for terrorism, pain or suffering and we will
not
bow down to those who threaten us. You want nothing more than to use the people for your own selfish purposes. We will protect them.’

I can’t help but grin.

Dorkarn steps forward and quickly shoots the man. It strikes him in the chest and he flies backwards, dropping Demmi. The MECHs with projectors are forced to turn them off in order to switch back to guns.

Lord Neros leaps down three floors and lands near them gently. My mouth drops. It’s almost like he flew. The moment his feet touch the ground he thrusts his hands forward. A gust of wind, triggered by the glowing stone embedded in the ring on his finger, knocks the MECHs all to the ground.

The MECHs start to fire back. A battle of bullets and elemental powers begins. Unarmed and unskilled, I know better than to stand around. I bolt for the nearest cover, a waiting couch towards one of the walls, and duck down. I cover my head with my hands. Attacks fire around me, hitting the crystal walls and shattering. Gradually I crawl to the edge of the couch and poke my head out.

I see Soren. She has managed to wiggle back over to where Demmi was dropped. She flops forward over him, the green shield from her element ring glowing behind her back, protecting them both.

The vocal male attacker, who was shot, sits up again. The bullet has struck a part of his body which isn’t real, sadly leaving him uninjured. I now understand what Dorkarn meant when he gave the speech to the Elders during the Summoning. He’s seen this terror before. These people truly are unbreakable.

A hand touches my back and a shiver bolts down my spine. I fling around, arms at the ready with eyes half shut. But it’s not a MECH. It’s Leo. He gives me a gentle smile. I glance back at him with a surprising relief.

Blood streams down his left arm. ‘Leo, you’re bleeding!’ I cry. He holds the top of his shoulder where his shirt is stained red.

‘I know… but it is not serious, it is a scratch.’

‘Scratches don’t bleed like that!’ I say, carefully trying to assess the situation.

‘I had to help my parents make their way down from the top level. These MECHs are well trained and they knew where to find us—’ Leo stops talking and his eyes grow wide.

‘Peak-a-boo, I see you,’ says a female MECH, balancing perfectly on the chair’s back. She fires her gun at us and I cover my head. I hear the noise but the bullet doesn’t hit me…or at least… I didn’t feel it.

I open my eyes and notice Leo and I are surrounded by a yellow shield, a bubble like formation encircling us. Leo’s necklace is shining as he holds his right hand up towards the MECH.