Guardian: Darkness Rising by Melanie Houtman Read Free Book Online

Mari said. “You said it yourself four years ago. You
said that there was more out there. And I still haven’t found what
you told me to look for!” She finally decided to get up from the
ground to face the figure in front of her. “Now, tell me, what did
I leave my home for four years ago, break my parents’ hearts for,
leave my best friends behind for?”
    Something of smugness appeared in
the figure’s eyes. “Why, Mari,” he said, “for me , of course.”
    Mari frowned in confusion,
defensively taking a few steps backward. “... What ?”
    “ If you come
with me, I can explain everything to you,” the figure said.
“There’s a magical world, a world I once was proud to call my
home.” The figure lowered its glowing eyes. “But my brothers and
sisters... they turned on me, and banished me. Took everything from
me.” Anger hinted about in that last sentence. “They used innocent
humans to clean up their mess.” He paused for a second, and the
expression in his red eyes darkened. “And you know what, Mari? One
of those humans was your father. And now they’ve taken him to clean
up their mess again .”
    “ What?” Mari said. “Who took my
father?”
    “ Oh,” the figure said, completely
ignoring Mari’s question. “I forgot to mention. They took that
precious friend of yours, too. ...Lucas is his name, isn’t
it?”
    Mari’s eyes widened. “How do you
know all of this?” she whispered. “I haven’t seen my family or any
of my friends in four years. So how would you know who and where they are, if
even I don’t?”
    “ Do you want proof?” the figure
said. “Then come with me, and I’ll take you to them. You can be
happily reunited... if you help me with something.
    “ You’ll get everything I promised
you so many years ago, Marilyn. That’s an oath.”
    Mari noticed that the figure stuck
out a hand at her; he was made completely of shadows... but then...
more like a solid shadow. “Now, will you join me?”
    “ Uh...” Mari said, hesitatingly,
but took the figure’s hand eventually. “Yes, I will,” she said.
“Sir...”
    “ Oh, please,” the figure laughed.
“Call me Asura. Or Master... whichever you prefer.”
    *
    “ That scumbag
had the nerve to capture my daughter !?”
    The Spirits of Light had tried to carefully
share the news with the Guardians, by telling them who the Master
had taken to Lunaria to help him with his dirty little plan – and
Antonio didn’t take it well.
    His friends tried to calm him down
as he rose up from his chair, yelling profanities that referred to
the Master; the five children, who sat opposite their parents,
watched silently, too afraid to utter a single word.
    “ Antonio,” Akilah’s voice bellowed
over his anger, strict and strong. “Please behave yourself. We will
do whatever it takes to save Mari; no harm will come to her, as
long as you follow my plan.”
    “ Well, you better tell me what
that oh-so-glorious plan is then, before I grab a sword and go kill
that guy myself,” Antonio grunted as he sank back down into his
chair.
    “ As much as we appreciate your
enthusiasm, you know you can’t do that, Antonio,” the fifth Spirit,
who surprisingly hadn’t spoken a single word since James had
entered the room. She had long, black hair with colourful streaks
running through it, and bright blue eyes. “My name is Aine, Spirit
of Joy, by the way,” she said quickly, as if it didn’t really
matter. And, in the current situation it probably didn’t, but it
was important for the teenagers to know her name – it made asking
questions and starting conversation so much easier if you knew each
other’s name.
    “ We can secure Mari’s safety only
if we get her away from Asura,” Akilah said. “That’s why we’ve been
preparing something.”
    “ We know that Asura, or, as you
probably remember him, the Master, will be trying to invade the
castle,” Ince said, as he rose from his chair. “But he can’t do it
himself; the