The Return of the Titans (26 page)

“What's the
point?”

The Guardian, who had started to walk back
toward the entrance, turned back. Benson was standing there,
surrounded by his friends, staring at her.

“What was that?” she said
frowning.

“I said, what's the point?
If we retreat to the Ocular room, it will just postpone the end,
won't it? Why bother?”

“Look, boy, I don't have
time for this.” Benson flushed at being called boy but before he
could respond, the Guardian continued speaking. “There is a way out
through that room. I wouldn't send you there for no reason. Someone
is there standing by, just in case. Now, keep moving.”

She turned her back on Benson and moved
quickly back toward the entrance. Benson scowled at her back but
slowly headed for the far side of the fountain. Justin stared at
him for a moment.

“What's his problem?”
Aaron said.

Justin shook his head. “I don't know.” He
looked at Aaron. “My question was a little more basic.” He glanced
at the Guardian as she hurried away. “Guess I can't ask it
now.”

Aaron looked puzzled. “What was your
question, Just?”

He smiled at Aaron. “I was wondering how we
were supposed to get by the Sentinel guarding the stairs.”

Aaron's mouth dropped open. “Yikes. I hadn't
thought of that!”

They both began walking slowly around the
fountain. Justin kept watching the far doorway. None of the
half-dozen Sentinels that were standing in front of it had moved.
Neither had the three that stood near the fountain.

“What are they waiting
for?” he muttered.

“Who?” Aaron
asked.

“The Sentinels. They're
just standing there. They should be attacking while the enemy is
bunched up in the corridor.” Justin stopped moving and watched. It
looked like several of the Guardians were trying to make the
Sentinels do exactly what he had said. A couple were holding a hand
at their throats and gesturing with the other. It looked like they
were urging the Sentinels to move, but nothing was
happening.

Justin heard the other teens walking up
behind him. He glanced around. It looked like everyone wanted to
see what was happening. Even Denise had come back. She gave him a
small smile then looked past him at the Guardians.

They saw another group hurry through the
doorway. There had to be twenty Guardians there now. The last to
enter the courtyard was Mr. Fitzgerald. He strode into the room
wearing his usual long frock coat. He looked calm. Somehow Justin
wasn't surprised.

Mr. Fitzgerald looked across the distance to
the group of teens around the fountain. He seemed to catch Justin's
eye for a moment. Then there was another loud bang and thick black
fumes poured out of the doorway. The Guardians all moved back away
from the smoke.

Justin walked forward a few paces. Even at a
hundred feet or so, he could hear the Guardians talking. But he
couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Suddenly one of
them, he thought it was Jonathon, said loudly, “Why won't they
move?”

Justin watched as Jonathon actually got
behind one of the Sentinels, an ogre, and tried to push it toward
the doorway. Several of the teens giggled, sounding a bit
hysterical. To Justin, it wasn't funny, it was almost sad. For some
reason, the Sentinels weren't protecting Sanctuary. He had a
feeling that the enemy was responsible, somehow.

Justin heard Mr. Fitzgerald say “Get back!
They're coming through.”

All of the Guardians hurried back from the
door. They moved to a point about halfway to the fountain and then
stopped. They formed a line and turned to face the doorway. Mr.
Fitzgerald stood in the middle. Justin knew that they were going to
protect their charges, no matter what. And still the Sentinels
didn't move.

There was a long moment of silence. And then
several figures emerged from the doorway. Some of the teens around
Justin gasped. He knew he was gaping at the intruders in shock.

There were only six of them. Unlike the
Guardians, none of them seemed to be wearing armor. Instead, they
all wore long red sleeveless robes. Hoods covered their heads and
Justin couldn't see their faces. Their forearms were covered by
long, spiraled brass-colored bracers. As the six spread out
slightly, another robed figure, who was not wearing a hood, entered
the courtyard. At least a foot taller than his comrades, it was a
man with a thick black beard and dark eyebrows. He wore black
leather and Justin saw that instead of a spiral bracer on his
forearm, he was wearing a bracelet like the ones that each of the
teens were wearing. He was grinning with apparent delight.

He looked at the Sentinels towering over
him, standing like statues. Then he looked directly at Mr.
Fitzgerald.

“So these are the mighty
Guardians,” he said loudly. “Ha! You've not given us much of a
fight, have you? Are you tired of running? Or should we chase you
some more?”

“There will be no
running,” Mr. Fitzgerald answered. “But before you continue, would
you mind declaring yourselves? Surely it would be courteous to tell
us who you are?”

The leader looked puzzled for a moment, then
grinned widely. “Oh, come now. You know who we are! Our lord is
destined to rule this world, once you are out of the way.” He
gestured at the Sentinels. “Even your toys know us. See how they
refuse to attack a true Titan?”

Justin and Aaron looked at each other.

“True Titan?” Aaron
whispered. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Shh, Aaron. I want to
hear this,” Justin murmured.

They both looked back at the invaders.

“Your lord?” Mr.
Fitzgerald sounded politely puzzled. “What lord is
that?”

The leader laughed again. “Don't pretend you
don't know, Guardian. My lord is Hyperion, leader of the Titans. He
is reborn again. He will take back this world which was stolen from
him long ago, when your kind sided with our traitorous brothers.”
He pointed at the teens huddled around the fountain. “Although I
doubt these pathetic heirs to those traitors would have been a
threat, even if they had reached maturity. Human-titan hybrids,
pah!” He spat on the floor. Then he shrugged. “However, we are
ordered to destroy them now, so that we can get on with taking back
this world and not concern ourselves with their possible
interference in the future.”

Mr. Fitzgerald raised his hands and clapped
politely. “Lovely speech,” he said with a hint of sarcasm in his
voice. “But you are assuming that you will actually be allowed to
harm our charges. I'm afraid we can't allow that to happen.”

“You think you can stop
us? You? Pathetic human scum. Half a dozen of your so-called
Guardians lie dead in the halls behind us.”

On hearing this, Justin felt a cold lump in
his stomach. Who was dead? He hadn't seen Mrs. Mallon in the
courtyard. Surely she was somewhere safe. He stared at the invaders
and for the first time in his life, he felt real hatred.

The leader folded his arms. “But if you
think to stop us, then come ahead. I'm looking forward to getting
to know my relatives a little better.” He was staring at the teens.
“There are several lovelies over there who should provide a little
entertainment for us. A reward for all of our hard work today.”

The other invaders laughed loudly at their
leader's joke. Several of the girls around Justin moaned with
terror. He felt a surge of rage that he had never experienced
before. And then a stab of pain shot up his arm and his right hand
went numb. He gasped and looked down, almost expecting to see a
wound. But all he saw was the mark on his palm. It had gone from a
pale silver to a deep black. He bunched his fingers into a fist but
there was no feeling in his hand at all.

What's going on? he wondered. He remembered
hearing about people having strokes. Didn't their arms go numb? No,
wait, that was the left arm, wasn't it? Could you have a stroke at
fourteen?

He had stopped paying attention to the scene
at the door, until suddenly he heard shouts and screaming. He
looked up and saw that the Guardians hadn't waited for the invading
Titans to attack. Instead they had leaped ahead, while the leader
was still talking and laughing. The invaders were caught off guard.
Each of them was being attacked by at least three Guardians.

But the Guardians couldn't seem to reach the
invaders. Justin saw the armbands on the strangers flare bright
colors and the attacking Guardians were thrown back, as if hit by a
invisible hand. One of the invaders made a complicated gesture and
two daggers appeared spinning in front of them. They shot toward a
Guardian who managed to block one with his weapon. The other sank
into his shoulder and he staggered back with a groan.

“Fall back, Jackson,” Mr.
Fitzgerald told him and the man stumbled back several
feet.

Another invader, whom Justin assumed was
male from his size and build, crossed his arms in front of himself,
then flung them toward the attacking Guardians. A blazing ball of
fire appeared with a crack like lightning then shot with terrific
speed at the defenders. They scattered and Justin watched in
disbelief as the fireball shot over their heads, passed the teens
and smashed into the far wall, leaving a glowing hole dripping
molten rock.

Justin and the other teens were now crouched
down. Some had moved back behind the fountain for protection.
Others lay on the ground with their hands over their heads,
shivering with fear. Justin stood and watched, unable to move. He
found the battle almost mesmerizing and felt frozen in place.

More Guardians fell as the invaders summoned
winds, shards of ice, other flying weapons and more fireballs. How
could the humans fight against that? Justin thought wildly. Weapons
were no good against an enemy that couldn't be touched.

The leader was just standing there and
smiling, letting his comrades do the fighting. Justin could feel
the man's contempt and arrogance as he looked over at the teens
cowering around the fountain.

Mr. Fitzgerald still hadn't moved. He stood
halfway between the invaders and the young Titans and Justin knew
that he would be the last to fall.

And then all the Guardians fell back, some
helping injured companions to move with them. There were two bodies
on the floor, but Justin didn't recognize either one and felt a
guilty relief that he hadn't known them.

The leader of the invaders laughed loudly.
“Had enough?” he shouted. “Or did you want a short break? Perhaps a
cup of tea or a spot of brandy?”

Mr. Fitzgerald inclined his head. “How nice
of you to offer,” he said sarcastically. “But we're fine, thank
you. We just needed to buy a little time. Thanks for letting us do
that.”

The leader's smiled faded and he looked
puzzled. “Time? Time for what?”

There was a disturbance in the space between
the Guardians and the invaders. Justin thought he saw a flicker in
the air. He heard a loud splash and gallons of water sprayed up in
front of the enemy and then there were a dozen figures standing
there. All were dressed like the invaders but instead of red robes,
they wore sleeveless robes of deep blue. They also had spiral bands
on their forearms. But none wore hoods. So even from the back,
Justin recognized the tall thin man from the Arena room.

“Time for us to arrive,”
the man said quietly. “Sorry to keep you waiting, sir,” he said
over his shoulder.

“Not at all, Democritus. I
know how far you had to travel.” Mr. Fitzgerald's tone was very
formal and respectful.

The leader of the invaders still looked
puzzled but one of his comrades took a step back. “Destroyers!” he
hissed. Justin thought he heard panic in that voice.

The leader's face whitened but his smile
returned. “So, the legendary Destroyers. Come at the call of your
masters, have you?”

Justin couldn't see his face, but he could
hear the smile in Democritus' reply. “We have no masters, stranger.
As you well know. We come and go as we choose.” He stepped forward
one pace. “And today we chose to come.”

There was a sudden flurry of motion and both
sides attacked. This time, fireballs were met with showers of ice
and spinning daggers were deflected by invisible shields. Obviously
the Destroyers had the same powers as the invaders and Justin
watched in fearful fascination as the conflict spread out and the
opposing sides got closer to the fountain.

One of the invaders went down, crisped by a
fireball. Justin almost cheered but the next moment, a Destroyer
fell with a dagger through her heart.

Even outnumbered two to one, the invaders
seemed to be holding their own. Justin knew it was because of their
leader. He had finally entered the fray and he seemed to be twice
as fast and powerful as his followers.

He was not longer laughing though. A look of
insane rage was on his face and Justin was reminded of the picture
of Hyperion he had seen. His expression had been exactly the
same.

The leader waved his arm and several of the
Destroyers were sent spinning across the courtyard to slam into the
walls. Not all of them got back up.

As the combatants got closer to the
fountain, the other teens retreated. But Justin didn't want to
leave. Mr. Fitzgerald had backed up somewhat to give the Destroyers
room, but he still stood between the teens and the enemy. Justin
was shaking with rage and a sense of futility. He had to do
something! But what could he do that the adults, trained for this,
could not?

He looked at the Sentinels. None of them had
moved. He walked forward and stared up at the minotaur, his
favorite. “Please,” he said, almost whispering, “you have to help
us.” He could have been talking to a statue. The eyes were empty,
the red flame inside was dead. They were just heaps of useless
metal.