Chapter 13
2100 Words
The next day, Chelsea and Liam led Bruce, Cellic, Simon, and Sam to the dining hall for breakfast. Chelsea was dressed in black slacks and a white t-shirt, and Liam and the boys were dressed the same but in brown slacks. As they entered the dining room, Liam was surprised to see his brother and Chantelle already having breakfast and dressed the same.
“So,” started Chelsea, sitting down and gesturing to Gale and Chantelle.
“Looks like we all have the same plan in mind,” she finished, and Chantelle nodded.
Gale looked at the boys for a moment and then shot his brother a puzzled look.
“Them too?” the king asked, and Liam nodded.
“We tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer,” explained Chelsea, and Chantelle looked at the boys with care.
“You boys realize that this isn’t one of your make-believe games,” she scolded, and Bruce rolled his eyes.
“Aunt Chantelle, you don’t think they tried to tell us that? We are old enough to know that this isn’t a game!” the boy stated, and Simon and Sam agreed.
“Besides, we must protect our mother, and this is our home too!” stated Cellic.
Gale and Chantelle looked at each other.
“You boys could get seriously injured or worse!” exclaimed Gale, and Sam, the youngest boy, scoffed.
“So could you!” he shouted.
Liam blew a breath and looked at his brother.
“Told you,” he breathed, giving the king a knowing look.
“What is that look for?” Gale asked, and Liam smirked.
“Do you remember when we were kids and wanted to fight alongside Papa?”
Gale thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
“He wasn’t too keen on the idea and told us no, but what did we do?” asked Liam thoughtfully, and Gale smirked.
“We didn’t care what he said. We went anyway.”
Liam laughed, nodding his head.
“We still got in so much trouble, but mother said we had made the right decision despite what Papa said. It’s just like this for these four lads.”
Gale only nodded, sighing heavily.
“Alright. Point taken.”
“At least this way, the boys will have proper training,” added Chelsea, and Liam agreed.
“True, but I have no place to talk on this subject. My boy is gods know where, doing gods know what, trying to save the world,” scoffed Chantelle, and Gale sighed.
“Your nephew, our niece, and our dearest family friend is out there too. The boys are right. We all have to do our part to save our home,” stated Gale, and Bruce, Cellic, Simon, and Sam smiled.
“I can’t wait to tell Ashta and Riah how we helped save the day. They will be so proud of us!” exclaimed Cellic, and Bruce agreed.
Chelsea looked at Liam and then her four sons.
“Boys? You aren’t doing this to impress Ashta and Riah, are you?” she asked, and Bruce and Cellic looked at each other.
Simon and Sam snickered, and their brothers shot them a dirty look.
“Yes!” burst Sam, laughing.
Cellic shook his head and cleared his throat.
“That’s not the whole reason, but yes, it’s a part of it,” the boy stated, buffing out his chest, and Chelsea laughed, shaking her head.
“You four are something else.”
Bruce, Cellic, Simon, and Sam grinned, and the family finished breakfast.
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After Belhazur’s long-winded speech, the demon king told the army to return to their homes and that he would call upon them when the time came. They watched as the king of Chaos led Catalina into the house and scattered separate ways. Damian, Xavier, and Lashanna looked at each other and headed home.
Their living quarters weren’t as accommodating as they were in the castle, but it was home to them, and they managed. From the outside, it looked like a cave entrance, but on the inside was a two-bedroom home. Lashanna and Xavier shared a bedroom, and Damian took the other. The spacious bathroom stood at the end of the hall, and the kitchen and living room were at the other. Their bedrooms were also big, and they lived comfortably with each other.
Xavier and Lashanna were married, and Damian liked to have company every once in a while, but his heart belonged to Ashta until the day he died again.
“So, are we really going to do this?” asked Lashanna, plopping down on the couch, and Xavier looked at her with care.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” he sighed, and Damian looked at his friends.
“I don’t like this demon king. Something is off about him,” he stated.
“I agree, but after what he did to Xavier and Cat, he’s too powerful for us to stand against,” stated Lashanna, and Damian thought for a moment.
“I am going to talk to Cat,” he stated and left.
Xavier and Lashanna looked at each other and sighed.
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Damian morphed into his demon form and jogged to Catalina’s house. He looked up at the window and sighed. Suddenly, he heard Catalina scream, and Damian ran into the house. The general saw his warlock queen on the floor and snarled at Belhazur.
“What did I say when you asked for our help?”
The demon king looked at the general in surprise.
“Where did you come from?”
Damian ignored the demon king, walking over to Catalina, and scooping her into his arms.
“I’ve got you, my lady,” whispered Damian, and then he turned to Belhazur.
“One more time, I see or hear you putting your hands on her again. There will be consequences,” the general growled and then carried the woman upstairs.
Damian gently laid Catalina on her bed and revealed his face. She looked at him with tears and threw her arms around his neck.
“Thank the gods. It’s you!” Catalina cried, and Damian hugged her tight.
“I’m sorry he’s making you go back where that awful girl broke your heart,” she said, pulling back, and she saw the tears in his eyes.
“I haven’t thought about her in a long time, and now, thanks to that bastard, my heart hurts again,” the general whispered, looking down.
Catalina looked at him with sorrow and took his face into her palms.
“Would you like me to take your pain away? Like I did before?” she asked, and Damian nodded.
Catalina nodded and wiped his tears with her thumbs.
“Now kiss me. You need your strength,” she said, and Damian pressed his lips to hers.
Catalina parted his lips with her tongue and kissed Damian deeper. Instantly, he felt the pain in his heart fade, and he kissed her harder.
Suddenly, they heard a noise, and Catalina pulled back, looking at Damian.
“Now, you have to go, but don’t worry, my sweet boy, we will be together again soon,” she said, and Damian nodded.
The general kissed her again and then slipped out of the window. He didn’t want to see the king of Chaos at that moment. With a light heart, Damian jogged to his house.
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Dig leaned against the back of his cell, and Jared sighed.
“The fate of the world is a stake, and we send a guardian, fairy, and a digger to save the day,” he breathed, and Dig chuckled.
“It could be worse,” mentioned Dig, leaning his head toward his brother’s cell.
“Yeah? How would that be?”
“Well, I guess if we didn’t have a guardian, fairy, and a digger saving the day and be stuck down here for the rest of our lives.”
“He has a point,” stated one of the other captives, and Jared scoffed.
“Well, we will know if they have succeeded when the power comes back,” Jared gruffly stated.
Someone in one of the cells further down snickered.
“What? That is going to be the only way we know. That big snake looks like it’s going to be hard to take down,” mentioned another prisoner.
Dig sighed as he nodded. He knew Ray would be in for a fight, especially since the other guardians weren’t with him, but the Spirit Guardian had a lot of faith in the young Earth Guardian. The gods chose him for a reason, and they wouldn’t have picked anyone weak at heart.
“Jared, have a little faith. This one is not weak by any means and has a girlfriend and a family to get back home to. I am sure that is part of the reason why he is trying o hard. I would have done what it took to get back to Blaze, and I’m sure that’s how he feels about his girlfriend,” explained Dig.
Jared grunted, crossing his arms.
“Is Ray’s girlfriend another guardian?” he asked, and Dig smiled.
“Maybe. I’m not sure. I have never met the other guardians. Maybe after all this, I will get the chance to.”
“But didn’t you say the other guardians can’t come into this realm?” asked Jared.
“They can’t come here, but since I am the Earth Spirit Guardian, I can go into the Nexus. How do you think Blaze and I still see each other? Once we figured out we could leave,” explained Dig.
Jared smiled. He figured his brother would always find Blaze no matter what, and he admired that about him.
“I wonder if it’s the same for Ray,” he said, and Dig gave him a questioning look.
“Wonder if his girlfriend is the new Guardian of Fire,” suggested Jared, and Dig chuckled.
“That would be interesting. Maybe that’s how the gods set it up.”
Dig laughed, shaking his head.
“No, the gods don’t choose who you love. No matter who the lovely girl is, the only thing that matters is that Ray loves her,” said a woman, and Jared and Dig smiled.
The Spirit Guardian would have to ask Ray who the mysterious girl whole stole his heart was.
“Maybe his girlfriend is the Digger girl we saw him with,” suggested a man, and the other captives started talking.
“No, he probably just met that girl.”
“No, it’s her. I can tell.”
“You are all wrong. She’s probably some Selvempt in the Magical Realm.”
“What would a guardian be doing with a common species? He’s much too powerful to waste his time on someone equivalent to a mere mortal.”
The captives began arguing, and Dig whistled loudly. The prison fell silent, and the Spirit Guardian cleared his throat.
“No matter what the Earth Guardian has going on in his love life, what is important is he is here to save us,” Dig announced, and Jared chuckled.
“Come on, brother. We have been down here for centuries and haven’t had anything exciting happen since we were sentenced down here for the rest of our lives,” stated Jared.
Dig sighed, shaking his head.
“But, the Guardian of Earth’s love life is not our soap opera.”
Jared and the other captives laughed. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang noise, and Dig quickly got to his feet. He walked over to the bars and peered out.
“What was that?” Jared asked as the banging stopped, and Dig looked at the castle door suspiciously.
“What’s going on?” asked a man.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never heard that noise before,” said the Spirit Guardian.
The loud banging started again, and the sound got faster. Dig backed away from the bars as the sound turned into a whirring, and the lights began flickering above the door. The lights turned solid green, and Dig stared for a moment. Then he laughed, jumping.
“That son of a gun did it!” he cheered and turned toward his brother.
“Ray did it. He fixed the machine. We are getting out of here!” Dig announced, and everyone through the tunnel cheered.
- Writer
