Guards swarmed out into the town square and surrounded Jason, Dey, Selsian, and Lirya. They trampled over civilians whenever necessary. They wore the colors of Habers, the blue and green arrow. It was not Habers that led them, though. A new and unfamiliar man in armor led them. He made the guards bind all of their hands with lengths of rope and led to the town prison house. He shoved them into a large cell where they lay, dazed and unable to get up because of their bound hands.
"So. What's the situation?"
Jason took control and tried to stand up. He fell. Then his face lit up. He wormed his way to the walls of the cell and tried to stand up again. This time he balanced himself using the wall and managed to stand up. Sure, his hands were still bound, but at least he had found a way to get himself to stand up. Jason hated being weak, and having his hands bound, and stuck on the floor was the very picture of weakness. Standing up made him feel a little better.
It turns out that Jason was the only one strong enough to do it. Oh well. If only he could reach his Ruby. Selsian tried to touch it. A blinding light flared, then he hurriedly snatched his fingers away. They were red and blistered.
"Oh. Yeah. There's some kind of safety feature on it that does that." Jason explained.
Selsian's shirt was smoking and his rope cuffs were... gone. Little burned stumps fell to the ground. They were burned and very black. Barely more than ashes. Everyone gave a muted cheer.
"You might have mentioned that a bit earlier!"
His voice was tinged with annoyance and amusement. Selsian would not have scraped his hands trying in vain to get up if that was the case. Dey tried to touch it, but when she touched it, nothing happened.
"I guess that it ran out of energy," Selsian said. Then he untied everyone. Lirya rubbed her hands together to get some feeling back into them. She glanced around and saw others doing the same.
"So... what now?"
Dey broached the question in everyone's minds. Ever the planner, Jason, answered.
"We wait until someone comes, then when they open the door, we rush out and swamp them with our sheer numbers."
"Yup. Our sheer numbers of... what? Four?" Selsian said sarcastically.
"Three. You're too young, Selsian."
He bristled with indignation.
"I'll have you know that I turn thirteen next month!"
He drew himself up to his full, and rather unimpressive height.
"Yeah. And we're all almost sixteen, you know." Lirya cut in.
"I can hold my own, you know! I'll demonstrate!"
He took a fighting stance and waited, balanced lightly on the balls of his feet.
"Come at me!"
So Jason did. He rushed at Selsian and cannoned into him, sending him flying to the floor, with Jason on top of him. He quickly pinned Selsian's arms to the ground. That was it. The match was over before it had really begun.
"Do you yield?"
"Never!" Selsian snarled, trying to wriggle free. Eventually, Jason gave up on getting Selsian to yield. He was just too stubborn. Jason's back was aching slightly so he carefully unpinned Selsian's arms and got up.
"You know what? Sure. You can come. Just don't blame us if you get killed. Jason extended his arm to help him rise and Selsian grasped it.
<--<< >>-->
The sound of footsteps echoed down the long hallway. A shadow appeared.
"You all know what to do? Lirya, ambush. I'll knock him out. Selsian, tie him up. Okay?"
"What about me?"
"Uh... Dey... you can... can steal his keys in case everything goes wrong."
She huffed. In other words, she could do nothing. He just made that up on the spot. Dey was sure of it.
<--<< >>-->
Everyone was silent. They crouched in their assigned places and waited. Someone cleared their throat.
"Shh..."
"Shut up."
"Um... that was not me, " Selsian said awkwardly.
"Well, who was it, then?" Jason muttered sarcastically.
"That would be me."
A light flared and it illuminated a young man with the palest blonde hair. He had a smooth, clean-shaven face, with the whitest skin, like fresh snow. He had light blue eyes, almost turquoise in color, that was slanted, like an elf's. He wore a black cloak with a golden clasp, with a dark red tunic and grey pants. He had a belt to match the cloak, with a golden belt buckle. He looked like a vampire or some supernatural creature. A ghost, perhaps. There was a slight outline at the wrist of his sleeve, even if it was carefully covered and almost invisible.
"Who are you?"
Lirya asked the question with slight wonder. He looked so... odd with his pale skin and hair and his dark clothes. He looked very simply like a vampire.
"I am Jon Habers. Take me with you."
"Why should we?" Jason challenged him. He seemed to be the unspoken leader, Jon noted.
"Simple. I'm one of you. I'm a guardian."
He rolled up his sleeve and showed them the silver bracelet on his arm, with the large ruby set in it. Jason blinked. He looked at his own bracelet and back at Jon's.
"I believe you."
He cracked a grin. "Now let's get out of here!"
He and Jon slapped their bracelets and glowed. Jon glowed in a silver light. Then he was dressed in the same armor as Jason, but a silver variation. They drew their swords and hacked at the bars, almost as if they could read each other's minds.
Hack a little more to the left, Jason
"Alright, " Jason replied and hacked a little more to the left.
Lirya gaped. It was some kind of mind communication after all. What she did not know was that all Guardians got mind links to each other so that they could relay important information to all the kingdoms of Dargon. Now Anhua and Silvardor had found their guardians.
A splintering crash sounded and a cloud of dust rose. Lirya coughed and covered her mouth and nose. A sharp cry rang out. Jason was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Jon.
"Jason!" Lirya yelled, "Where are you?"
The dust cleared and it showed Jason kneeling by the crumpled form of Jon. The pale young man coughed. Flecks of blood dotted his lips, red against white. He grasped weakly at the iron bar that impaled his stomach. His chest rose and fell with a jerking, unnatural movement. He had not much time left in this world.
Lirya's eyes widened. She dashed to their side. Jon may not have won her trust, but he was dying, and everything is forgiven when a person was about to pass over or had already descended to the Ether.
"Oh, gods!" Lirya gasped as she took in the full extent of the injury, "Can you heal him, Jason?"
His next words struck her heart.
"No... no energy... h-heal... him..."
YOU ARE READING
Shadow Kingdoms | Book 1 ✔ (REWRITTEN AS 'THE EXILED KING')
FantasyBook 1 - Completed *FIRST DRAFT* It's never easy when you find yourself inheriting magical powers you thought were only legends. 'Guardians' are gifted with special powers to protect their world, and when demons invaded, they were the ones to fight...
