An Astonishing Collection of Enchanting Short Stories

The Guardian

"Is this it?" We had been traveling for so long, so when I saw the floating island through the fog in the distance, my relief was obvious.

Hafiz landed on the bank, and he sat down so I could slide off, my dark hair streaming behind me. My armor clanked as I landed on the mossy rock. In front of me was a large gate, looming so high in the sky that Hafiz could walk through it without trouble.

Behind me was nothing, and where we were hoping the gate would lead. It always captured my attention, the white fog between islands, covering an enigmatic abyss. No one has ever gotten to the bottom, but hopefully that would end today. It was our duty; me as the Guardian, and Hafiz as my companion, going everywhere no one else dared to go, defeating dangerous beasts, and generally protecting the world from certain destruction.

Hafiz jumped up and down, shaking his feathers, signaling that he wanted to go.

"Okay then," we were finally here. "Let's go." I walked away from the edge to the allure of the intricate gates that were before me. A normal person would be scared, but there was no room for that in this job. Plus, my curiosity was overpowering.

Except there was one problem. We had no actual idea of how to get in. The rock that was around the gate went above it, dissolving into the cliff, so Hafiz couldn't fly over, and, although it seemed to be part of old ruins, they looked pretty sturdy. Plus, isn't it a big no no to destroy divine property?

I could barely see what was past its metal bars, there was too much fog. My hand wrapped around the cold bars as I stepped up to it. As they touched, the mist started to slowly move around, and a soft, feminine voice wafted from within.

మాత్రమే సంరక్షకుడు సోదరి ఈ ద్వారాలు తెరుచుకున్నాయి

Only the sister of the guardian may open these gates

I stepped back. My eyes were very wide.

"Well that was strange." I looked up at Hafiz. Despite being a feline-like creature, I could still see the surprise in his large eyes. "Welp. It looks like we've got ourselves a prophesy!" I smiled and climbed up to Hafiz's back. "I sure hope this sister of mine lets us into there 'cause now I want to go even more, considering there's some sort of fog goddess hiding out."

"Anyway, it's kind of cool that I have a sister. I wonder where she'll be." The full weight of the challenge we had ahead us was just starting to set in. This was going to be impossible.

"You lead."

I loved flying. I sat on Hafiz's back, feeling the wind blow through my hair, between the cracks in my armor, anywhere it could reach, giving me a pleasant chill. I looked around at the clouds of fog surrounding us. We were on top of the world. We were on fire, burning forever, and no one could stop us! People would gasp as we zoomed by. Who are they? They are wonderful! Our powers were unlimited, our tricks unimaginable, superb. Kids would talk about how they wish they were just like us and I would just give them a clever little smirk, like I know that's not ever gonna happen but you just keep on dreaming. Dives and flips, oh we are amazing! Scouring the streets, looking for that single person, sorry you're not them, but that pretty dark skinned girl over there might be. We were over the king, over the queen, people would part for us, everything in their daily lives would stop when we walked by. This was the best day of their life. They would talk about this day to their children. Oh what a glorious day! Such glorious beings! Oh they were wonderful! Eternal! We were legends, everyone wanted to be with us as we flew over them, wings open, soaring, but not the people we needed to find. As the days passed, we continued to amaze people, but not the people that mattered. I was getting tired. The sky didn't seem so magical anymore.

It was dark. We were above the fog, and I could see the stars glistening above me as I lay on Hafiz's big, soft back. His flight was so smooth; I could almost imagine we were on ground. We continued to fly by the wind; it made a whooshing noise as it rushed pass my ears. To each side were clouds, and nothing past there. The islands were too low to be visible above them.

Hafiz started to descend to land so we could rest. He found an island of low rolling, grassy hills. He laid down, with me on top of him and rested his head. Within minutes, he was asleep.

I couldn't fall asleep as easily. My mind kept drifting towards my lost sister. So far, our searching had only involved scouring random villages, finding every girl who looked even a bit like me, and then leaving when it became obvious she was not the one.

Except my sister would not be average. My sister would be extraordinary! A strong, dashing young women, destined for greatness!

Then why haven't I heard of her? A person of this much brilliance must be out, doing things, wonderful, fascinating things! Things that could help everyone!

Or maybe not. When I think of a powerful woman, I think of her traveling the world, doing crazy, but amazing things. She would shock people with her greatness. She would be intimidating with elegance, and radiant with style. Nowhere in the job requisite was there a need to be 'good'.

And then it struck me. Kadira.

She was one of the most ambitious villains in the lands. We had never gone after her before because we didn't like to meddle with mundane things like that, or basically anything that didn't involve a mystery, uncharted land, or a magical beast of some sort. Her infantry of crimes mostly included tricking higher forms of power into making mistakes and then losing said power so that she could jump in and change things towards her advantage. No one has ever caught or gotten an image of her, but the wanted posters and legends describe her as a tall female with chocolate skin and dark, mischievous eyes. So basically, she sounds like me. Before this moment, I never had the need to recognize her as similar to me, but now it all fit together.

My sister was a villain who had thousands of dollars on her name. Great.

"Let me go!!" She wriggled and screamed under her light, but firm prison that was Hafiz's paw. "What do you even want from me?!"

I just rolled my eyes. Catching her was much easier than I thought it would be, with that huge reputation she had built up. At the same time, though, she didn't have a giant feathery cat with claws and wings on her side.

We brought her to a more secret location, where we let her free. She scrambled up and, huffing, proceeded with, "Well? Who are you?" God, I made that expression all the time.

"We need you for something." She just looked at me like I was crazy. "If you help us, you'll get as much of the reward as us."

"And what is this reward?"

"Adventure." I waved my hands over my head in a single rainbow. My face stayed expressionless.

Unlike what I thought she would do, she cracked a small smirk, huffed, and then leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Continue." She must be more like me than I thought.

And so I continued, starting all the way in the beginning when we first started this job to when we got to the fog gate with the prophesy and how we searched for so long for my sister until we landed with you.

By the end of it all, Kadira stood silent, watching, calculating. "So you're like the peacekeeping version of me." That seemed about right. "And you won't turn me in." Of course not, you're my super-fierce-too-cool-for-school sister.

"Then let's go."

We stood in front of the gates again, but with three this time instead of two. We were a strange group, a criminal, a beast, and a guardian, but we had a connection that none of us could explain. As Kadira walked up to those brilliant gates, they gently opened for us to enter. We stopped then, looking at what was ahead of us. Places to explore, excitement, danger. Another adventure.

That was what connected us.