The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon (7 page)

“Ok, say I believe you…that still doesn’t explain the tattoo.”

“Guardians are more than mere humans,” Ryan went on. “We go through a magical ritual called the Rite, it cleanses us and rebuilds our bodies…”

“Rebuilds your bodies into what? Do you have super powers?” Gabriel interrupted.

“No,” Ryan smiled. “Think of us as enhanced humans, we are faster, stronger, more agile, and heal faster than normal people.”

“How much stronger?” Gabriel asked.

“I’m not sure of the exact figures,” Ryan responded with a shrug. “But I think if you were to ask Everett or Cody, they would tell you three times stronger than your typical human.”

“Wow,” Gabriel said. “So, how did I get the tattoo?”

“That’s a little more complicated,” Ryan admitted.

“We appear to have time,” Gabriel said, looking around. The sun seemed a little lower on the horizon and a slight chill had worked its way into the air.

“Yeah, tell the guy a story.”

Gabriel nearly jumped out of his skin at the newcomer’s voice, mostly because he didn’t hear him approaching the fire pit. He turned around to see Tony and Cody standing there, although it was clear that Tony was the one that actually had spoken. Both were carrying firewood.

“Wait, you two are both…Guardians?” Gabriel asked.

“You got that right, mate,” Cody grinned.

“So, you were never in any danger at all in school?” Gabriel asked, feeling now a combination of annoyance and embarrassment that he had tried to help Cody out the other day.

“Not from that git,” Cody shrugged.

“Now I feel like an idiot,” Gabriel moaned.

“No worries,” Cody smiled.

Cody and Tony knelt down and started to arrange the firewood.

“You still haven’t explained about my tattoo,” Gabriel said. “And why are we building a fire?”

“Would you prefer to go back in the house?” Ryan asked. “I just thought that it might be a nice change of scenery.”

“Tattoos,” Tony repeated, squatting down to start the fire. “Finish your story man.”

“Right,” Ryan nodded. “Well the Guardians are made up of clans, four to be exact,” Ryan went on.

Tony now had the fire lit and took a seat next to Ryan on his bench. Cody moved to sit next to Gabriel, who unintentionally scooted over when Cody sat down.

“Lion, Wolf, Owl, and Phoenix. Lion and Phoenix are the warrior clans, Wolf are the hunters, scouts, probably the best shots on the planet, and Owl are the magic users. Anyone that undergoes the Rite has to have a sponsor from a clan. I sponsored you into Phoenix.”

“Hence the Phoenix tattoo?” Gabriel asked.

“Yup,” Ryan nodded. He stood up and pulled up his tee-shirt, revealing a tattoo that looked exactly like his, minus the fact that Ryan’s tattoo was located on a well-defined and muscular chest.

“So, you’re Phoenix?”

“So am I,” Tony said, although he didn’t stand up and show his tattoo.

“And you are?” Gabriel asked, looking at Cody.

“Wolf,” Cody smiled. He pulled up the sleeve on his left arm, all the way to the shoulder. A wolf’s head covered his bicep and the same intricate lines flowed out from it and wrapped his way down the rest of his arm. Cody’s tattoo gave off an emerald glow unlike his own.

“Cody here likes to play with bows and arrows,” Tony smiled. “And he’s totally a badass with them, like Hawk-Eye good.”

Cody turned red at both those comments.

“And now…I’m a Phoenix?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “You’re one of us now.”

“Like hell I am,” Gabriel sighed. “Sounds like you guys have a ton of training! I can barely walk down the hallway without bumping into anything.”

“You’ll get the same training,” Ryan pointed out. “The Rite also helps us learn faster, it gives us enhanced muscle memory so you’ll pick up on stuff pretty quick.”

Gabriel shook his head, he always wanted to make a difference but he was pretty sure that they got the wrong person. Gabriel wasn’t a fighter, although he would admit that the thought of kicking bad guy ass was pretty appealing.

“Wait a minute,” Gabriel asked. “You said that both Phoenix and Lion were the warriors, why have two warrior clans?”

“A long time ago those in clan Phoenix could harness the elements of fire and lighting in battle the trade-off being that they weren’t as powerful as some of elemental spells that the mages could cast,” Ryan spoke, prodding the fire with a stick. “But over time that ability seemed to disappear, as tradition we haven’t combined the clans.”

“Is there any member of Phoenix alive that can do that?”

“A few,” Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders. “But most of them are retired or spend their lives in seclusion.”

“So?” Tony asked.

“Um…can I think about it?” Gabriel asked, although he had a feeling that he already knew the answer to that question.

“I hate to say it like this, but not really,” Ryan said. “We had to do it so that you would live but as soon as you underwent the Rite you became one of us.”

“So, I don’t really have a choice?” Gabriel asked.

“Considering the rather unique circumstances, if you really wanted out we might be able to persuade the council to let you go on living a normal life,” Tony interjected, ignoring the rather annoyed look that he got from Ryan. “We could even mind wipe you now that they are pretty sure you didn’t suffer any brain damage or anything.”

“Brain damage? Mind wipe?” Gabriel asked.

“Mind wiping is a spell that we use repress someone’s memories,” Ryan explained. “The downside is that it can cause brain damage in people that were already severely injured, like you were before we got you all healed up.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Gabriel grunted.

“Think about it,” Ryan said. Gabriel turned to look at Ryan, finding those dark brown orbs staring right into his; again he felt an oddly calming effect. “You’re a good person, you know what’s right and what’s wrong and you stand up for what you believe in.”

“I have no idea where you got that impression,” Gabriel sighed.

“We’ve seen you at school,” Cody smiled, poking at the fire with a stick. “We know that you dislike seeing others treated poorly and we know that it kills you that you can’t fight back.”

“Still, you’re talking about facing down demons…” Gabriel started.

“And vampires, werewolves…”

“Mages,” Cody interrupted Tony. “And terrorists, the occasional cult.”

“Zombies,” Tony tossed in.

“Right,” Gabriel nodded, scarcely believing that he was talking about all this like it was completely normal.

“The decision is yours,” Ryan shrugged. “But think about it man.”

About an hour later, Ryan dropped Gabriel off back at his house. Gabriel’s parents seemed surprised and relieved; not because the spell had faded but because he came home with a friend. Gabriel’s mother could hardly stop hovering over him; no doubt Gabriel would face an endless barrage of questions after Ryan left.

Gabriel promised to think about it and let them know, although Ryan knew that he was already hooked. As someone that had been pushed around the past year or so he knew that he wouldn’t pass up the chance to do something to protect others. He also had to remind him, more than once, that no one else would be able to see the tattoo except Guardians.

Ryan returned back to his parent’s house and grabbed a bottle of water before heading out to the back patio, also equipped with a fire pit. Someone had already started a fire and as he approached he could make out the figure of Ethan sitting on a bench, warming his hands near the fire.

“Bored at your house?” Ryan asked.

“Mom was having a bad day and dad was being a jerk,” Ethan responded.

“So you want to crash here?”

“Sure, I mean your parents did give me a bedroom already.”

Well, that part was true. Ethan spent so much time at Ryan’s house that he was practically a member of their family. His parents had long ago converted one of the spare bedrooms to a room for Ethan, who had just as many clothes here than he did at home. Actually, Ethan probably had more clothes here than he did at home.

Ryan never asked much about Ethan’s home life. Both his parents had been Guardians once but had retired, much earlier than usual. Rumors had persisted for years that they had been involved in something and that was the reason that the council had asked Ethan’s parents to step down. Ethan never talked about it and no one ever asked.

“How did he take it?”

“About as you would expect,” Ryan shrugged.

“That good, huh?”

Ryan smiled. “Well, he didn’t faint anything. He seemed to take everything in stride, although he questioned why we wanted him.”

“We didn’t really want him,” Ethan pointed out.

Ryan sighed heavily. “Well, it was our fault that he got hurt.”

“Still, we could have mind wiped him…”

“You don’t like him do you?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t dislike him,” Ethan shrugged. “But he’s not one of us, he doesn’t belong here. He doesn’t even know any martial arts.”

“And you came out of the womb a master with every weapon you picked up?” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow. “He can learn, Ethan.”

Ethan shrugged again, turning his attention back to the fire.

“He’s a good guy and I think that with the right push he can do great things.”

“And you think you are the one to push him?” Ethan asked.

“I think I can try,” Ryan nodded. “Don’t you remember when you actually saw the good in everyone?”

Ethan made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “You know what the kids at school say about him, right?”

“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Last I checked you couldn’t care less about who dated who.”

“I don’t care,” Ethan shrugged. “But some of the other guys might not be ok with it.”

“And who are you talking about,” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow. “No one cares; it’s the twenty first century.”

Again, Ethan shrugged. “I just hope that you know what you got yourself into.”

“He’s going to surprise you,” Ryan smiled. “Did Jonathan say anything else?”

“No,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “But he’s been pretty distracted about the whole Saint-Pierre thing, hell the whole council has been pretty distracted by the whole Saint-Pierre thing. He and Aadesh are still in Paris I think.”

“Did they make any progress on figuring out how he got his hands on those things or how they managed to put that wound in Gabriel’s soul?”

“No,” Ethan said, shaking his head again. “But as soon as they know something they’ll let us know and then maybe we can bring him in without wounding any civilians.”

“You didn’t invite me?”

Ethan and Ryan turned around to see Elise walk out onto the patio. There was something about her that instantly caught Ryan and Ethan’s attention. Elise was striking no matter what she was wearing something that didn’t go unnoticed by those around her. She smiled warmly, taking a seat and warming herself near the fire. Most of the Guardians in the area lived in Elmwood, Ryan’s parents’ house just happened to be the largest, which was why they usually always gathered there.

“I don’t think that I ever anyone over anymore, everyone just kinda shows up,” Ryan shrugged.

“Touché,” Elise smiled. “What were you boys talking about?”

“Nothing much…”

“How Gabriel is going to save us all,” Ethan smiled.

“Stop being a jerk,” Elise retorted.

There were very few people that would speak their mind to Ethan and like Ryan; Elise was one of those people. Ryan suspected that it might have something to do with the fact that Ethan and Elise shared a very intense romantic relationship not all that long ago. No one was sure why the two of them broke up; once again it wasn’t something that Ethan wanted to talk about.

He shook his head, realizing that he was getting dangerously close to violating the bro code by even thinking about how attractive Elise was.

“Not being a jerk,” Ethan responded. “Just restating what you said.”

“You said he was going to save us all?” Elise asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Ryan protested. “I said that I think he could do great things, that there is more to him than anyone sees…we’ve just got to bring it out of him.”

“Sounds ambitious,” Elise admitted. “Ethan might be right about this…wow, I forgot how much I hate saying that.”

“Oh but I love how you say it,” Ethan said, a sly grin crossing his face.

“Shut up,” that came from both Ryan and Elise.

“At any rate,” Ethan said, pulling his cellphone from his pocket and looking at it. “I need to get going, apparently Everett says there are some hotties downtown screaming my name.”

“Whatever,” Elise responded rolling her eyes.

“This is on you,” Ethan said, looking at Ryan. “Glad you claimed him for Lionheart.”

“Remind me what I saw in him again?” Elise asked, as she watched Ethan go.