The Elementalist: Sky City (Book One)

Chapter Fifteen: The Guardian

Fred could not find the words alongside Ben. It all seemed so strange, this boy she'd only begun to know, who was somehow the Elementalist, and now apparently son to a king and queen? It was a jumbled mess, but one that needed to be sorted out later.

Gently taking Ben's hand, she held it tenderly until he finally looked down at her.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about or what's going on... But we need to find the core. Wade's still down there, and we might not have a lot of time."

Ben's eyes were lost in a daze. He could only barely hear her words, as though muffled through some long tunnel. Gaining his composure, he nodded.

"Let's go then."

Exiting the courtroom, Fred and Ben ran right, in the direction of another large set of doors—these already having been swung open. Gusts of wind could be heard whistling in the great hall, seeming to grow stronger in intensity, replacing the calm winds from before with a foreboding atmosphere.

"Here!" Ben said as he burst through the open doorway.

The room held but one object–a large, round orb.

Neither Ben nor Fred knew for sure what Sky City's core looked like, but they knew this had to be it. It was what appeared to be a glass, hollow sphere, twenty feet in height and diameter, sitting perfectly still in the room as the only object. Round stairs circled from every direction and led up to it, resembling a cone with an orb atop. The glass was shiny and see-through, but there was nothing inside—only air. Directly in front, they could see a large crack in the otherwise pristine glass, an opening where Viktor Krane had first plunged a sword into so many years before.

And unbeknownst to Ben, that same sword resided firmly in his right hand.

"Well?" Fred asked. "What now?"

"I'm not sure... maybe I just—"

A sudden burst of air, stronger than the winds before, and unmistakably coming from inside the very room, caused Ben and Fred to jump to attention. Looking up to find the source, a figure jumped off the ledge above their heads. Loaded with armor, this metal figure glided effortlessly to land in front of the core. Giant feathered wings flapped from its back and returned, tucked back to their original position underneath the armor.

The guardian looked exactly as Kurt had described, yet at the same time, even more disturbing. Everything about it resembled a man: its armored legs, arms, and chest, but its head was indeed that of a large falcon. Sharp, predatory eyes stared at Ben and Fred as the Guardian shook the feathers of its wings and approached them with a large gait. As he approached, they could see he was quite tall, perhaps seven foot even, making him tower of the teenagers.

Fred noticed quickly it had no sword at the hip, or any weapon that could be seen. Instead, where human hands might be, were long, sharp talons that Fred knew would work just fine as deadly weapons.

"Well," the guardian declared in the same unearthly dark tone that Kurt had described before, its beak in sync with the words. "Look at this... I never thought the day would come."

"That's close enough," Fred threatened, holding her daggers up skillfully, her feet planted in a fighting position.

Stopping in place, the guardian's eyes, filled with the darkest black Ben or Fred had ever seen, circled the two of them, studying them.

"Isn't this something?" it said with a tinge of interest in its voice... but only a tinge. "I'm kind of curious as to how you got up here. I've spent so many years watching, and thinking of ways that it might be done, and I could never find one. Truth be told, I was getting a little bored."