Searching for the Key

Chapter 11

Katia was in love with Aevria. She hated it whenever she had to leave and go back to school since Jason was finally running out of any plausible excuses. Every time in class she would impatiently count the hours until school ended and she could come back for afternoon training.

Luckily it was finally thanksgiving break and Katia was able to spend the entire week in Aevria. She loved her cabin, all of the food, and most of all her friends. She didn't know why people ever wanted to live anywhere else.

Katia and Nathan also spent a lot of time together. She loved all her new friends, but she was still closest to him. After all Nathan was the one there from the very beginning when Katia first discovered who she was. Plus she felt at ease with him.

One afternoon Katia and Nathan were coming back from their special spot one afternoon when they saw a little girl named Kelsey run up to them.

"What's up Kelsey?" Katia asked.

"The Guardians have been looking for you two. Saladin said it's really really important and you have to go now," she said, slightly out of breath from running around looking for them.

"Okay thanks Kelsey," Katia said. The little girl waved and ran off towards the park to her friends.

"What do you think he wants to see us for?" Katia asked, turning to Nathan. It wasn't like Saladin to get worked up and send people looking for them.

"I don't know but we better get going." Nathan pulled Katia into the air and they flew quickly towards Saladin's home.

They entered through the doors and saw that Saladin did some redecorating. The Japanese garden was gone. Instead it looked like a queen's palace. The floors were made of marble, there was elegant furniture all around, and a couple of statues next to a large book case.

They continued on and found Saladin, Yelena, and Lamonte in a drawing room with two people Katia recognized as Celia and Damien. Celia glared at them when they entered and Damien was just keeping his distance in the corner. Katia hadn't seen him much since that first day she was here, and whenever she did, he was always off by himself.

"Nathan, Katia good you're here," Saladin said without his usual enthusiasm. Something was wrong.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked Saladin while glancing at Yelena and Lamonte who had serious scowls on their faces.

Saladin took a deep breath and sat down. For once he finally looked his age. His shoulders were drooping and he had bags under his eyes. The wrinkles on his face looked more prominent. He had a tired look in his eyes which contained a hint of fear. Saladin took another breath and said the words Katia never wanted to hear.

"Akur is back."

Everyone was just staring at Saladin in silence. Finally Celia broke it and asked in an angry voice, "But how is he back so soon? They said he won't be back for another thousand years. We were supposed to have all that time to defeat him!"

Yelena answered in a tired voice, "Before the Elictis attacked him seventeen years ago, he had a curse ready for the possibility that they would defeat him. Ever since then he's been using the curse to bring strength back to him. He feeds off the energy from all of the Hunters and all of the evil in the world. Every time an Elicti is killed, he grows more powerful. It's a slow process but he's had seventeen years."

"Well why didn't you try to stop him sooner if you knew this whole time?" Celia demanded.

Katia nodded slightly. That was a fair question. All three Guardians seemed to know all of this ahead of time but they were only hearing about it now. It would've been smarter to finish Akur while he was still weak.