_____EMBRACING DESTINY_____
Mathew woke up the next morning, hoping last night was all a horrible dream. But, unfortunately, his father's sword was still on his dresser where he had set it the night before. This was no dream. It was a living nightmare. Mathew got out of bed with a sigh. He took the sword off of his dresser, and swung it around a bit, trying to come to terms with the fact that his days of being average every day Mathew Reynolds had come to an end. As he swung the sword around, it felt as though it had been made especially for him. He looked over the sword, his eyes running down the rusted silver blade. He put the battle worn sword back on the dresser and went out to the living room where his mother was sitting. Her eyes were red, so it was obvious that she had been crying. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how he could. He was soon going to be leaving for the light bearer’s base, and he might never see his mother or Jenna again.
When he went into the kitchen for breakfast, he found Jenna pouring orange juice at the table, but she nearly dropped the pitcher when she noticed him.
“I TOLD you all of those creatures were real!” she exclaimed.
“Wait, mom told you?” Mathew asked, taken aback. He thought his mother would have tried to keep it a secret. But since Jenna already believed in all of that stuff anyway, he guessed there was no reason why she shouldn’t know.
“I can’t believe it, you’re going to get to meet dragons!” she said excitedly. “You will send me a video or something, right?” Mathew didn’t know what to say.
“So, you just believe what she says? You don’t think we’ve lost it?” he asked.
“Well I kind of did at first, in fact I was about to call someone and tell them my mom and brother have gone nuts,” she said.
“That’s comforting,” Mathew said, rolling his eyes.
“But then she told me all of those creatures I believe in exist, so I thought why not, you know?” Jenna continued. “But if you really are what she says you are, why haven’t you shown any signs of it?”
“Apparently with me the powers started showing up around puberty,” Mathew said. He supposed it made sense. About as much sense as anything else that was going on.
“Well, just make sure you don’t hurt yourself with all that training, okay?” she said.
“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Mathew replied, believing it wholeheartedly.
“Call me every day you’re there, okay?” she commanded. He nodded, and she grabbed her orange juice as she left the room, off to enjoy her life as a normal person. He sat down at the table, going over the same thought again and again.
“I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back.”
Then after a while, another thought came to his mind.
“I have to tell Emily.”
But how could he tell her he was going to train to fight a man so cruel that he made Hitler look like a hippie? He could lie and tell her he was being sent to some far off boarding school, but that would be worse than telling her the truth. He couldn’t lie to her, at least not about something like this. He couldn’t just leave without saying anything either, that would be worse than lying. So there was only one option left, and that was to tell her what was really going on. With that in mind, he whipped out his cell phone and called her up. When she picked up, her first words were
“Hey, Matt, are you okay? You seemed pretty out of it last night after the dance,” Pretty out of it? That was one way of putting it.
“I’m alright,” he said, though he felt far from it. “I’m sorry about last night though, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,”
“It seemed like a bit more than that, but okay,” she said. He had the feeling she knew something was wrong, even though they were talking over the phone.
“Listen, can we hang out later? Just you and me?” he asked.
“Of course, I was going to ask you the same thing,” she said. “Did you just read my mind?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe I did,” he joked. The scary thing was, he had no idea how his supposed “powers” worked. So for all he knew he could have read her mind.
***
Before he went to hang out with Emily, it seemed Robert wanted to teach him some more about the light bearers, and give him some hands-on training in swordplay. So at around lunchtime Mathew headed out to his backyard with Robert. But when he stood facing Robert, he saw that he had no sword; only his cane.
"Hey, where's yours?" Mathew asked him.
"Where's my what?" Robert replied.
"Your sword! I mean you're not seriously going to fight me without a weapon, are you now?" Mathew asked.
"I don't need one, I have this," said Robert, gesturing to his cane. Mathew laughed, but Robert was dead serious.
"Alright, but I feel pretty guilty fighting a blind guy armed only with his cane," Mathew said, grinning.
"Oh don't worry, it won't be much of a fight," Robert said simply. They took their places, and Mathew took the first swing. His blade collided with Robert's cane, and he spun around, knocking the blade away, then whacked Mathew over the head..
"Oh wipe that smirk off your face, I wasn't ready!" Mathew growled. Robert laughed.
"Okay, are you ready now?" he asked sarcastically.
"Just attack me, you blind brat," Mathew demanded. Robert took a swing at Mathew's head. Mathew raised his sword, blocking the blow, and felt a bit confident.
That is, until Robert thrust his foot forward, kicking Mathew in the gut. He fell over with a groan and Robert cracked up.
"Oh shut up," Mathew said as he got up from the ground. He attacked Robert's hip, who blocked, and Mathew spun around, stopping with the blade inches from the side of Robert's neck. Mathew raised his eyebrows and stepped back with a gasp. If he had been in a real fight, he would have taken Robert's head clean off.
"Ah very good," said Robert with a smile. He attacked Mathew again, so he blocked and spun his sword around, forcing Robert to drop his cane, and brought the blade up to his chin. Mathew stood there, panting. This…it felt right. He felt strong, powerful, like he had known how to use a sword his whole life, but the knowledge was just buried deep within his mind, hidden from him until he had begun to come to terms with his true self. Mathew realized he hardly knew his own abilities; he hardly knew himself.
"You see, you have natural talent for this once you tap into it. It's in your blood," Robert explained.
“So my dad was some great warrior?” Mathew asked.
“The best we had, at least from the stories I've been told. Apparently he was the most talented swordsman to ever walk the halls of Light Bearer HQ,” Robert said. “Of course, some of that comes from his heritage, in other words, your heritage.”
“What do you mean? Like my ancestors were swordsmen too?” asked Mathew.
“That’s right, every one of them,” Robert replied. “It all has to do with the first light bearers who ever lived. But that’s something I’ll let the elders fill you in about, they know more about it than I do. Now come on, I need to beat some more lessons into you!”
They sparred a little longer, until Mathew couldn’t take another swing. He thought he did pretty well for his first few lessons, but Robert still bested him by a mile. While they were sitting in lawn chairs taking a well deserved rest, Mathew wondered something that he probably should have asked about before now.
“Hey, Robert, if you really are blind, then how do you fight?” he asked. Robert smirked and shook his head.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask,” he said. “Well, it’s like this: I’m two thirds blind. I can see, but only if I get my face right up to something, and everything is all blurry. That’s my normal sight.”
“There’s an abnormal sight?” Mathew asked.
“Only with me as far as I know,” he said. “See, I’m a blind light bearer, so my blindness has some extra features to it. I can see people’s auras.”
“Auras? You mean like life force?” Mathew asked.
“Right, or souls,” Robert replied. “But of course that ability is diminished during the day. At night it’s like I’m seeing through a thermal camera.”
“So basically you have night vision,” Mathew said. Robert nodded.
“Dude, do you have any idea how cool that is?” Mathew asked, grinning.
“You can see it as a blessing or a curse. Either way, it helps sometimes,” Robert said. “Also all of my other senses are enhanced beyond a normal human’s, so really I don’t even need to see to fight.”
“Wow, you’re like Daredevil,” Mathew joked.
“Yeah, only I don’t run around in a tight red body suit,” Robert replied. “Anyway, back to the lessons.”
Robert then explained more about the light bearers. He told Mathew light bearers age much slower than other humans, so they could be a hundred years old and look fifty. But he explained that it wouldn't be so dramatic for Mathew since he was only half light bearer, stating he would probably just live to be 120 or so. Then he told Mathew about how light bearers show up in pictures enveloped in a golden aura-like glow.
“I guess that explains this,” Mathew said, pulling out his cell phone and looking through it until he found a certain picture. It was the picture he had taken with Robert and Emily at school. They looked so carefree, making silly faces and poses. Though that was when he was living a lie, he would still give anything to have that day back. As he stared down at the picture, he felt a tear sliding down his cheek and quickly wiped it away, glad Robert couldn’t see.
He never suspected he was anything more than a simple kid trying to fit in with everybody else. He thought he was just another random face in the crowd. But he now knew he was much more than that. The golden aura surrounding his body in the photo-booth picture he held in his hand was proof of that. He realized he wasn’t a normal child like he had been led to believe his entire life, and he didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want to be anything other than an average, normal, every day teenager. He wouldn’t even mind putting up with Andrew for the rest of the school year. At least he would have his friends. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to say goodbye to Emily.
Robert may not have been able to see him from where he was standing, but he cleared his throat, as if he knew what Mathew was thinking. Mathew looked up at him, wishing he and all of this other light bearer mess was just a bad dream.
“Matt, I know how you feel,” he said consolingly.
“Yeah? How would you know? My life, my world, everything I know is being taken away from me,” Mathew said, looking away from him.
“I’m sorry, Matt. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But you have a part to play, and if you don’t, it’ll mean dyer consequences for the rest of the world,” said Robert.
“I’m not a freaking hero!” Mathew said loudly. “I’ve never fought monsters or demons or whatever else you people keep the world safe from! Why me? Whoever chose me to be their great savior must have been drunk off their ass, because I’m not a warrior. Why was I the one in the prophecy?”
Robert shuffled his feet, not knowing what to say.
“All I can tell you is that you were chosen, and if you don’t step up, the world will fall into darkness.” He said. “You can’t fight your destiny, Matt. You can run from it for a while, but sooner or later you’ll have to face it,”
Mathew looked back to the photo, wishing he could go back and relive that day, and all the days before it. Finally he closed the cell phone, putting it back in his pocket and said
“Alright, so, are you going to teach me more about the light bearers?”
So, Robert filled him in on the specifics of their job: Apprehending creatures that may cause unintentional harm to the human society and putting them in the vast forest around the light bearers’ headquarters, and putting the more malevolent entities, such as goblins, trolls, demons, and other malicious beings in a dimensional prison known as the D-zone.
He then told Mathew about some of the benevolent creatures that were on the light bearers’ side, like dragons, griffins, peaceful sea monsters, elves, and many more. Soon it was late in the afternoon, and Robert went home to prepare for the upcoming trip the next day.
Mathew also had his own task at hand: Saying goodbye to Emily. He sat on his bed running his fingers through his hair, waiting for five o’clock to come around. This was most likely the worst he had felt in his whole life. He felt forsaken, like he had been cursed to live a life of losing everything he knew and loved, little by little. When his watch read five, he went out to the car where his mother was waiting for him. As she drove him through town, Mathew looked out the passenger side window at the sun slowly setting behind the trees in the distance, the light gradually fading. Eventually they reached Emily’s house and Mathew reluctantly got out of the car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” his mother asked.
“I’ll be fine, mom. Thanks for the ride,” he replied sullenly. She gave him look of concern, but nodded.
“I’m sorry, I know you really cared for Emily, but you have-”
“A part to play,” Mathew finished for her. “Yeah, I get the idea.” She frowned and looked away.
“I’m sorry…I’ll see you later, okay?” Mathew said,
“Yes, I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you up,” she said, giving him a tight hug. She got back in the car and waved, giving him an encouraging smile. Mathew waved back as she went down the driveway. Then he took a deep breath, walked up the steps of Emily’s porch, and knocked on the door. After a moment the door opened and there stood Emily.
“Hey, rock-star, come on in,” she said, pulling him inside. The first thing he noticed was music. Yellowcard was blasting out of a stereo in the kitchen, from where he could smell food in the oven.
“Dinner’s almost done,” she told him when she noticed him sniffing. She directed him over to the dining room table where two people sat talking. They stopped when they saw Mathew. Emily’s mother was a kind looking woman with the same brunette hair as her daughter’s, though hers was straight and a bit longer, and her eyes were blue instead of hazel. Her father on the other hand did have her eyes, and was thin and balding.
“Hmm, so you’re Mathew. Name’s Jeffery,” he said, holding out his hand. He may have looked thin, but his handshake was stronger than Mathew expected.
Jeffery must have noticed because he grinned and said
“I may be old, but I was in the marines, so I've still got a strong handshake! You got one too, boy, I like that.”
Then it was Emily’s mother’s turn. She looked at him from head to toe, and then back up and said
“Well he could use a trim, but if he’s got a winning personality I think I could overlook that.”
***
Both of Emily's parents were very nice people. Her father told stories of when he was a marine, and her mother wanted to know all about him. They asked where he had lived before he moved to Arizona, what he thought of the town, what his personal interests were, and things of that nature.
Overall, they seemed to really like him. Unfortunately he liked them too, which was going to make it even worse when he had to say goodbye. After dinner it was almost time for Mathew’s mother to come pick him up. He and Emily went out on the porch to wait for her. It was time: he had to tell her. It was now or never.
“Emily, there’s something I have to tell you,” he said, not even able to look at her.
This was it. He had known this was coming, but not even another year could prepare him for it.
“Okay, I’m listening,” she said.
“Well, see, the thing is-,”
“AAAAGH!” screams of terror from inside the house cut him off. He looked at Emily, who was bone-white. They bolted inside, and what they saw inside made Mathew want to scream too. Emily’s parents were standing on top of the table, holding each other, as familiar creatures stalked in circles around the table, baring their gruesome fangs. Sitting on the couch with her hands clasped behind her head and her feet propped on the ottoman was Alana.
“Ah, Matt, I told you I’d see you again,” she said. “Hey, Emily, how have you been?” she added.
“Matt. What’s going on?” Emily asked in a small voice.
“What? He hasn’t told you? Oh, you’ve been keeping secrets, Matt!” Alana said.
“Just who are you? How do you know this boy? And what are these-these things?” Emily’s mother asked Alana.
“I know him because I’ve been ordered to kill him,” she said simply. “And those things are shadow creatures that feed on human flesh and blood.”
If the sight of the shadows weren’t enough to scare Samantha, hearing what they were definitely was. She gasped and held Jeffery tighter.
“Now, look here, you can’t just come in here and threaten my family like-” Jeffery started, but Alana said
“Shut up!” and he was instantly silent, touching his mouth and apparently trying to talk, but his lips wouldn’t part. Alana then turned her attention to Mathew.
“Now, I believe you and I have business, light bearer,” she said. Mathew’s brain was stuck on “too scared to talk” so he just stared back, not knowing what to do.
“Why did she call you that?” Emily asked.
“I called him that, Williams, because that’s what he is. A light bearer: A defender of the human race from everything they themselves are unaware of,” Alana said in an annoyed tone.
Finally, he found the will to speak.
“Alana, you came for me, leave them out of this, you have no reason to hurt them,” he said quickly.
“Oh, see that’s the thing, actually, I do,” she replied. “This is the perfect time to show Williams who’s in charge,” Mathew remembered their near cat-fight, and what Alana had said to Emily that made him wonder whether she was being serious
“It means if you stay out of my way, you'll live longer.”
She did have a reason to harm Emily after all. But he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“If you leave them alone, I’ll come with you,” Mathew said.
“What? Mathew, what’s happening?” Emily asked.
“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Mathew replied. “Alana isn’t who you think she is, and neither am I,” the look Emily gave him was of pure terror.
“Who are you then?” she asked.
“Well, I already told you who he is,” Alana interrupted. “But I’m an assassin trained to kill people like him, and that’s why I’m here,”
“Kill? Mathew? You’re crazy!” Emily shouted.
“That’s what I thought when she tried to kill me after the dance,” Mathew said. Emily’s jaw dropped and she looked back and forth between him and Alana.
“Nah, not crazy, just loyal,” Alana said, shrugging. “That being said, I’ve promised Darius I’d be back with your corpse by tonight, so please, don’t make me a bad student.”
“I won’t, as long as you leave Emily and her family alone,” Mathew said.
“Hmm…I’m gonna say I kill you, and your little friend, and her family, just so you can all die together,” Alana said as simply as if she were checking things off a list.
Emily’s parents must have heard her, because her father was shaking his fist silently at Alana, and her mother looked even more fearful.
“Oh, up yours,” Alana said, waving their silent reactions aside. Then she stood up and started to approach them. Mathew went into protective mode and stood in front of Emily.
Alana nearly dropped to the floor laughing.
“I’m sorry, it’s just you think you can defend her!” she said, gasping for breath through her laughter. He hated to admit it, but she had a point. He had to find some way to get Emily and her family out of their safely, but how? Unless a miracle happened, they were all going to die. Alana came closer as she drew her dagger, her demonic grin growing larger
Then, when all hoped seemed futile, the miracle happened.
“Mathew, catch!” he heard his mother shout from the door. Before Alana or the shadow creatures could react, Mathew ran to the door as his mother tossed him the one thing he needed to stand a chance at making up for his stupidity in leading Alana here: His father’s sword. He took the cloth away and held the weapon aloft.
He began to feel braver. Those feelings of confidence and power he had while training with Robert returned. He could already feel his fear disappearing. And when he looked at Alana, he knew the most lethal striking points on her body, the spots he should be swinging at in order to take her down quickly. But Robert had said it was suicidal to try to fight her one on one, so the most he could hope for was that he would buy Emily and her parents time to get away. If that was all he had to work with, it would have to do.
With thoughts of the people he cared about swimming through his mind, he stepped forward, raising his sword and pointing it at Alana.
“You want my corpse? Sorry, it’s still occupied,” he said. For some reason, it had sounded a lot cooler in his head.
“Ha! You think now that you’ve got a sharp piece of steel it means you’re on my level? You don’t even deserve to fight me!” She said.
“But I do,” came a familiar voice. Mathew had never been more relieved to see his best friend walking in the door.
“Robert?” Emily said, dumbfounded
“Hey, Emily, I’ve missed you,” he said. Emily looked to Mathew for an explanation.
“He’s like me,” was the simplest way he could put it. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Your mom brought me, in case, well, this happened,” he replied, gesturing around him. “So, Alana, ready to pick up where we left off?” he added.
“Oh, do I really want to hurt a gimp?” she asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know, but a gimp sure as hell wants to hurt you,” Robert responded, stepping into his fencer stance. This sounded much cooler than Mathew’s corpse remark.
“Robert, you said fighting her one on one would be-,” Mathew started, but Robert held up his hand.
“Yeah, that’s why you’re going to haul ass away from here with Emily and her parents,” he said. “If I die, the world is short one blind light bearer, big whoop. If you die, the world is short one crucial link to the future of the human race.”
“Oh can we stop talking and get to the slaughtering?” Alana complained.
“You asked for it,” Robert said. Mathew tried to stop him, but he ran up to Alana and stood before her.
“Fine, you can have the honor of dying by my hand, and watch as Matt gets devoured!” Alana said. She whistled, and the shadows immediately switched their attention to Mathew.
“Mathew, take out the shadows, but then run!” Robert ordered. Alana growled and made the first strike, swiping at Robert’s neck. He blocked her dagger and socked her in the face, then jumped up and ignited his cane with white light, catching her in the face with a full-force swing. She fell on her back with a yell, but jumped right back to her feet, her grin replaced by the most venomous scowl Mathew had ever seen.
“Emily, run into the kitchen and close the door, you hear me?” he said hastily. She nodded and made a beeline into the next room, slamming the door shut. He looked up at Emily’s parents, still clutching each other tightly.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your daughter, I promise,” he told them. He didn’t see their reaction, because just then one of the shadows made its move. He jumped out of the way and slashed at its side, leaving a large gash and causing it to shriek in pain. Mathew winced, but followed through with a thrust straight into the creature’s belly. It let out one last screech and disappeared in smoke.
The sword may have been old and battered, but it still had some fight in it.
“Remember, weak points!” he thought to himself. The throat, heart, and brain were three major game-over spots, so when the next shadow lunged at him, he kicked it in the face and swiped at its neck. The beast clutched at its throat, fell writhing on the floor, and faded away in streams of darkness.
When he looked to see how Robert was faring, he didn’t like what he saw. Alana was a grueling fighter, and was faster than Robert by the looks of it. But Robert wasn’t giving up just yet. He blocked a slash at his hip and kneed her in the side, then swept her dagger-arm away and managed to spin around, swiping up at her chin with the end of his cane. She shrieked and began to fall back, but went into a back-flip and landed perfectly on her feet.
“Mathew!” Emily’s voice made him look towards the kitchen as a shadow creature bounded at him. He ran to meet it and went into a baseball slide, thrusting up at the creature’s chest. The blade went through to the heart and the monster disappeared. Emily had opened the door a little to peek at what was happening. Her eyes were wide, and she looked ready to puke.
“I’m alright, just stay in there!” Mathew shouted. The door closed once again, and he scanned the room for the remaining demons. He found them straggling away from the others, still eying the Williams like a buffet. Mathew quickly hopped up on the table with them and slashed at the two demons to get them to back off.
“Get to the kitchen!” he yelled. Samantha didn’t need to be told twice. She got down from the table and ran for the door, banging on it. Jeffery didn't move.
“Go on, what are you waiting for?” Mathew asked. Jeffery's face suddenly turned determined, and he pointed to the creatures and grasped Mathew's shoulder.
“You...you want to fight?” he nodded vigorously and pointed at the fireplace. Above the mantle hung an old marine saber.
“Got it, I'll cover you!” Mathew said. Then he hopped down to the floor and engaged the demons in battle. Unfortunately it seemed these two worked as a team. As one of them attacked from the front, the other hopped to his side and lunged at him. He managed to kick the front one away, but got tackled by the one on the side. He tried to fight it off, but the other shadow jumped on him as well. He kept fighting, but they were starting to claw at him, leaving deep scratches all over his body.
That’s when Emily ran into the fray.
Before Mathew could stop her, she pulled one of the shadows off of him, and was attacked.
“EMILY!” He kept fighting, until the creature froze as a blade sprouted from its chest. It crumpled into a heap on the floor and Mathew saw Jeffery yank his old sword out of the creature's back.
“Whoa, thanks,” Mathew gasped. But it was too late. As Jeffery helped him to his feet, he heard Emily scream in pain. He dashed past Jeffery and in seconds, he was on the other demon with a savage roar, pounding its face in with the pommel of the sword until it was an unrecognizable broken mess. He then hurried over to where Emily lay shivering on the floor. The bottom of her shirt was soaked with blood.
“Hey, Rock-star, you did great,” she said in a trembling voice. He gently pulled up her shirt so he could see the extent of the damage, and wanted to beat the demon some more. Her stomach had large puncture wounds from the monster’s fangs, and she was bleeding profusely.
“Emily, you should have listened to me,” he said shakily. He pulled off his over-shirt and ripped it in half, then tied one half around her stomach to make an improvised bandage. He then helped her to her feet and over to her father, who wrapped his arms around her, looking angrier than ever at the intruders that had invaded his house.
“Get to the kitchen, both of you. I’m going to help Robert,” he told them. Emily went inside and closed the door, but not before saying feebly
“Matt, do me a favor and whoop her ass.”
When the door clicked shut, Jeffery stood in front of it, holding his saber ready to protect his family. He had to hand it to the old guy: he was pretty cool.
Mathew was now left with one more adversary. Gripping his sword tight in both hands, he ran into the living room to find that Robert and Alana were gone, and the window was broken. He ran out the door and saw them dueling in the yard. His mother had locked herself in the car, and was watching the spectacle of a fight with a face fitting of that of a person about to faint. Mathew pointed to her and gestured for her to stay there and that he was going to help Robert.
Robert didn’t look like he could take much more. He was panting and sweating, and even his slouchy stance showed that he was getting tired. Alana on the other hand seemed like she still had energy to spare. She proved this by holding up her hand, and creating a sparking ball of electricity in her palm, which she lobbed at Robert. It hit him in the chest, and he went down hard. Mathew ran over and knelt down beside him.
“Tag me,” Mathew said. Robert grasped his hand.
“Be careful, she’s a lot tougher than she looks,” he groaned. Mathew got up and faced Alana not fearfully, but angrily. She had followed him here and threatened his friend and her parents, and had been the cause of Emily’s injury.
“Okay, Alana, one on one, no help,” he said.
“You’re stupid for being so bold, but, you’re really the reason I’m here,” she said. “The quicker you die, the quicker I can take your body to Darius.”
“Guess he’s too much of a coward to come fight me himself,” Mathew said. He must have hit a nerve, because her grin slid right off her face.
“You dare call him a coward?” she hissed.
“I call him many things: Cruel, evil murderous, coward is just the one I’m feeling right now,” Mathew replied. He stepped into his stance and beckoned to her. She narrowed her eyes, and drew her own wicked looking sword, wielding it and her dagger at the same time. The blade was long and slim, looking like it were made for speed rather than power.
She dashed at him, swinging at his hip with her sword. He blocked it, but that left her dagger free to slice him up. He ducked it as it came towards his head, and pulled back his sword. The sound of steel sliding on steel rent the air, and he thrust forward. Alana did a cartwheel and he was stunned by a blow to the side of his head. He saw stars, and dodged blindly to the side as Alana attacked again. He shook his head and blocked a strike at his shoulder, then spun around behind her and slashed at her lower back, leaving a deep cut. She let out a yelp and jumped away, touching her wound.
“That the challenge you were asking for?” Mathew asked. She growled and swiped at his side. He deflected the sword and caught her dagger arm as it came down at his chest. Robert wasn’t kidding, she was a lot stronger than she appeared. He yanked her off to the side and jumped back. She went for his stomach but he blocked her once more and threw his arms up with a yell, leaving her open for an attack. He quickly thrust forward, but she dodged it and did a leg sweep, tripping him and sending him falling backwards onto the ground. She put a foot on his chest and flipped her sword upside down. He knew that she was aiming to finish it. But Robert had taught him how to avoid being impaled earlier during his training session. He clasped his hands, and jerked them as hard as he could into the crook of Alana’s knee. She staggered, and Mathew was able to roll out from underneath her foot and leap to his feet, gasping for breath.
“Will you just die already?” she growled. “You’re going to make me late!” She sheathed her sword and snapped her fingers, and another bolt of electricity appeared in her hand. But this time, she sheathed her dagger as well, and formed the sparking voltage with both hands, making it bigger. This was just the chance he had been waiting for. He silently prayed his ancestor’s skills would kick in, and lowered his guard.
“Matt, what the hell are you doing?” Robert yelled. But he wasn’t listening. His eyes were locked on Alana as she grinned, and thrust the orb at him.
If he had been anyone else, his plan probably would have left him fried. But he knew what his ancestors were capable of. They were masters of the sword, which meant that if he let his instinct take over, he would be one too. As the orb shot toward him at a furious speed, his reflexes seemed to act of their own accord, and he found himself swinging the sword not at Alana, but at the orb of lightning. As the blade of his sword connected with the orb, it was deflected away, right back into the chest of its caster.
Alana’s expression was pure astonishment as she was knocked back and flew through the air, electricity pulsing through her body. She landed in a trembling heap, too injured to carry on the fight, or even get to her feet.
“Y-y-you’re going to p-pay for this!” she shrieked. “My m-master is going to kill all of you!”
“Yeah, uh-huh. I’m thinking I’m going to kill you, your dark brethren and your master, just so I can send you all straight to hell for threatening my friends and family,” Mathew said in the same plain manner she had used before. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or did she look…scared? Whether she did or not it didn’t last long.
She scowled and crawled away, raising her hand weakly. A dark portal appeared, and she slowly got to her feet, limping into it. She gave him one last malicious look before she and the portal disappeared into nothingness.
It was then that he realized how exhausted he was, and he fell to all fours. But he had done it: he had saved people’s lives by embracing his destiny.
He felt a hand grasp his shoulder, and looked up to see Robert and his mother. His mother still looked like she might faint, but Robert was grinning from ear to ear.
“You are one stupid, crazy kid. But I have to admit, that was top notch swordsmanship,” he said. Mathew nodded, and sat on his knees. He looked up at the stars, not sure what to say. Then he knew.
“Thank you,” he said.
“They would have been proud, you know, your ancestors” his mother said. “Especially your father.”
“Yeah, this is a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it, and I’d say you did it as well as anyone could have.” said Robert. Mathew stood up and looked back to Emily’s house. Then he remembered something critical.
“Oh God, Emily, she’s hurt!” he said. “Robert, can you help her?”
“Take me to her,” he said quickly. Mathew led them inside the house and over to the kitchen to see that Jeffery wasn't standing there anymore. He knocked on the door.
“It’s over now, you can come out,” he called. The door opened, but it wasn’t Emily standing there. Instead her father stood before him. He pointed to his mouth.
“Uh, Robert, Alana did something to them, they can’t talk,” Mathew said.
“Ah, silencing spell, I gotcha,” Robert said. He waved his cane across Jeffery’s face, and he tested his lips. But when he tried to talk, he still couldn’t say anything, though that was only because he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Is Emily okay?” Mathew asked. Jeffery frowned and bowed his head, his eyes closed.
“I don’t know,” he said. “She’s not moving, and her breathing is shallow.”
“Let us in,” Robert said, his tone alarmed. Jeffery stepped aside, and he and Robert hurried over to where Emily sat up against the sink cabinets.
She definitely didn’t look good. She was deathly pale, and her eyelids were drooping. Her breathing, as her father had said, was shallow, her inhales coming as quick and sharp. Mathew knew she had lost a lot of blood. He pulled up her shirt and his makeshift bandage to see that the wound looked even worse than before.
“What’s wrong with her?” her mother asked.
“We’re going to help her, don’t worry,” Mathew said. “Alright, man, do your stuff,”
But Robert sat there, not moving a muscle. After a moment he muttered the words Mathew would give anything not to hear.
“Matt…I can’t help her.” Mathew looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Robert this is no time to joke, Emily’s hurt, now help her,”
“It’s no joke. The wound is too severe, I can’t do anything for her,” Robert replied.
“So what, you’re not even going to try?” Mathew asked.
“I don’t know what else to tell you. She’s dying, Matt. I can see her aura, it’s fading,” Robert said slowly. “Her body is uninhabitable; it won’t function any more, so her soul is moving on,”
“Like hell it is!” Mathew said. “Come on, there’s got to be something we can do! If you’re not going to try to save her, then I will!”
“Mathew, no light bearer has ever attempted to break the laws of life and death,” Robert said darkly. “Besides, you’ve never used magic, it takes time to—,”
“I DON’T CARE!” Mathew shouted. “I don’t care about practice or training! How do I heal her?” He couldn’t lose Emily, she meant too much to him. He had gone though all of that, and now she was going to die? Every second he sat there watching her was agonizing pain.
Finally, Robert sighed.
“Alright, put your hands firmly on the wound,” he instructed.
“Emily I need you to be brave for me,” Mathew said. She nodded slowly. Mathew placed both his hands over her wound, and she gasped.
“It’s okay, just hold on a little longer,” he said.
“Now concentrate, Matt, you have to will the injury to mend itself,” Robert said. Mathew did as he was told and concentrated hard, harder than he’d ever concentrated on anything in his entire life. He wasn’t going to let her die.
Nothing was happening.
“No, NO!” Mathew cried. “Come on!” He closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to save her life.
He focused on this one thought above all others. He was not going to lose her, not now, not after all he’d done to make sure she stayed safe.
Suddenly, his hands grew warm, and they were glowing with a brilliant white light, brighter even than Robert’s cane. It was so bright that his mother and Emily’s parents had to shield their eyes. Mathew concentrated, willing the wound to heal. He felt her skin sewing itself together between his hands.
“Keep going, Matt, it’s working!” Robert yelled. Mathew kept it up until her skin had mended completely. When he was certain the wound was healed, he let go of the magic, and the light faded.
All that was left was to see if his efforts would be rewarded.
“Emily…you still here?” he asked. Her eyelids slowly opened, and she nodded. Mathew was so relieved he started crying, and he didn’t care that people could see. He wrapped his arms around Emily and held her.
“Hmm…I guess this means you won the fight,” she said softly. Mathew laughed, tears sliding down his cheeks.
“Yeah, she’s not coming back,” he assured her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him.
***
Emily’s parents took the explanation rather well. Of course, after seeing what they had, they couldn’t really disregard it. Mathew told them what was going on to the best of his knowledge, though he did require that Robert help him a few times. But, eventually, the tale had been told, and there was nothing else to do but clean up the mess the battle had caused. When everything including the shards from the broken window had been cleaned up, Mathew joined Emily on the couch and yawned, feeling like he could sleep for days.
“You gonna live?” he asked Emily.
“I think so,” she said. “If I drop to the floor you’ll know something’s wrong.”
“Hey, not funny, I just saved your butt, I don’t want to think about that,” Mathew said. She frowned and hugged him.
“Sorry…thanks, by the way. I saw you, when I was, well, you know,” she said quietly.
“When you were moving on?” Mathew asked.
“Yeah. It was weird, I was floating up and looked down, and I saw you sitting over me,” she said slowly. “And then I went back down, and I was looking into your eyes.”
“Sounds like I cut it a little close,” Mathew said.
“You’re telling me, I was about to go see Granny,” she said, raising her eyebrows. Mathew laughed and held her tight.
“Well, she’s going to have to wait, I’m not through with you yet,” he said. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked behind him. Robert was there, and his facial expression told him it was time for a serious talk.
“Hey, I’ll be back,” he told Emily, getting up and following Robert into the kitchen. When he closed the door, the first thing out of Robert’s mouth was
“You shouldn’t have been able to heal her.”
“That’s been established, too bad I did it anyway,” Mathew said.
“Matt, you just don’t get it. I saw her aura, it was fading, she was dying. You just cheated death itself.” Robert said.
“I don’t know what the problem is, I saved her life,” Mathew said, leaning against the pantry.
“The problem is, you used magic no light bearer, not even Darius has dared to use,” Robert said.
“There’s no telling what could have happened, you could have died too, in fact, you almost did!”
This got Mathew’s attention.
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“I’m saying your aura was fading away too,” Robert replied. Mathew gulped when he realized what Robert was telling him. He had almost died while trying to save Emily.
“You pretty much cheated death, mooned it, and spat in its face. You don’t screw with life and death, Matt, that’s one line we light bearers don’t cross,” Robert continued. “If we can heal an injury before it gets too serious and prevent death, then that’s fine. But reversing death while it’s already happening…that’s just going too far. You’re just lucky you have a strong will, you were able to stay linked to your body.”
“You’re scolding me for saving her life!” Mathew protested.
“I’m scolding you for almost losing yours!” Robert said loudly. “Just don’t be like Benjamin, don’t be so reckless,” he said, sighing. Mathew nodded. He didn’t know what to say. If Robert was right, he had nearly overdone it. If he pulled another stunt like that, he might not be so lucky.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
“Don’t do anything like that again,” Robert said, shaking his head. Mathew grasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“Hey, I’m still here, and so is Emily, that’s all that matters, right?” he said.
“I guess. Come on then, hero, let’s get you home, you need rest,” Robert replied.
When they went back to the living room, Emily’s parents were sitting with her on the couch. Her father had a blank expression, which was to be expected.
The look on her mother’s expression told him he was going to need a lot more than a trim to be good enough to hang out with her daughter.
“I’ll just wait in the car,” Robert said, heading out the door and leaving Mathew alone with Emily and her parents. Her mother chose to be the first to speak
“Well, I’d say thanks are due, but if I understand what you’ve told us, you brought that girl here in the first place,” she said.
“Oh, Samantha, hush,” her husband said. “The boy made up for his mistake, and showed he was willing to die to do it. I’m proud of you, Matt.” Mathew forced a smile and shrugged. Mixed results were better than all negative ones.
“You showed real courage, protecting my daughter and us. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve met our standards, and exceeded them,” Jeffery continued. “Right, honey?” he added to his wife firmly. She rolled her eyes, but nodded.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she said. “But you’d best make sure nothing like this ever happens again, or so help me I’m going to take off more than your hair.” Mathew then smiled genuinely.
“Yes ma’am, I understand,” he said.
“So, you’re leaving tomorrow?” Jeffery asked.
“As far as I know. We’re going to the edge of town, after that, I don’t know,” Mathew replied.
“Well, those light bearers are going to have one fine young man training with them,” Jeffery said with a warm smile. He stood up and shook Mathew’s hand one last time.
“Thank you, sir,” Mathew said. When he looked to Emily, she stood up and hugged him, not saying a word. But that was okay; the hug told him all he needed to know.
“Alright, I guess I’d better get going,” he said. As he went to the door and looked back, Jeffery gave him a salute. Mathew returned the gesture and left the house, getting in the back of the car.
The ride home was utter silence. Nobody spoke a word or felt the need to turn on the radio. Mathew looked out the window at the stars, wondering if any of his ancestors had ever pulled stunts like he had. If they did, that could give credit as to why he did it. All he knew was that he would do it again without hesitation, whether it meant losing his own life or not.
***
When they finally arrived at the house, Mathew was sitting on the couch, and saw his mother was still awake, cleaning dishes. He guessed she needed some normal household chore to make her feel better, and he didn’t blame her. He crossed into the kitchen and put a hand on her shoulder, and she stopped as she was scrubbing a plate.
“So, how’d you know I’d need the sword?” he asked.
“Mother’s intuition,” she replied. “After what happened back on the road I thought you’d better have it close, just in case.”
“Mom, you’re awesome,” he said simply. She smiled slightly.
“I mean it. If you hadn’t brought it, well, things could have gone a lot worse,” he continued.
“Well then, you can thank your mother’s instincts,” she said. “And your father’s, by what I saw.” He knew she was talking about the point when he had knocked the orb back at Alana.
“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to use them, and we probably wouldn’t have made it out of there,” he said. His mother frowned.
“I don’t want to think about that,” she said. “You’re safe, and you saved innocent people, that’s all that matters.” He smiled and hugged her.
“Love you, mom,” he said.
“I love you too, sweetheart,” she said, kissing his forehead. He grabbed the sword off the couch and headed up to his room, sitting down on his bed.
This sword had probably served his father more times than he could imagine. He felt the need to somehow repay it for saving his life. So, taking an old handkerchief out of his dresser, he cleaned off the splotched demon blood the best he could, and used WD-40 to get rid of some of the rust. Soon the sword looked better than ever, and he could see his reflection in it. Satisfied with his clean-up job, he set the sword back on his dresser, no longer afraid to accept it as his possession. On the contrary: He felt truly honored. He then lay down on his bed and drifted off to sleep, trying to imagine what was in store for him the next day.
***
Alana nearly collapsed when she reached her master's office. He was hidden in shadow, as usual: just the way he liked it.
"Alana, you're empty handed," he said, his voice calm but clearly full of anger.
"It's not my fault, he had help!" she said desperately. "I could have killed him if his mommy hadn't interrupted!"
"You failed because the boy's mother was there? What did she do, hit you with a broom?" her master mocked.
"No, master, she bore the sword of Charles Reynolds," she said. "I couldn't defeat him when he held it, I don't know why."
"I am aware of what caused you to lose against the boy. He has accepted his destiny, and his heritage," Darius replied. "His ancestors were somewhat experts when it came to swordplay. With that blade in his hands, I'm surprised you're even still alive."
"No, I can beat him, he just got lucky!" Alana said. her master was silent for a moment.
"Perhaps you just require assistance; a partner. Fortunately I visited the home of another boy I know to be a light bearer, and he seems to hold a grudge against Reynolds," Darius said softly.
"What? Are you saying he's joined us?" Alana asked.
"He may, or he may not. The fact of the matter is that he was previously unaware of his powers, just as Reynolds was," Darius replied. "But I've remedied that, and he now knows what he is and what he's capable of."
"Master, who is this boy?" Alana asked.
"I believe you know him," Darius said. "If what he says is true, the two of you were quite the pair of troublemakers up at that school."
Alana then realized who he was talking about, and shuddered. She thought she had gotten rid of him when she left the school.
"But Master, he's-," she started, but her master cut her off with a wave of his pale hand.
"He is like you in many ways. I'm going back tomorrow evening to see what the boy has decided," he said. "And if he has chosen to join us, I expect you to work with him as I work with your instructor."
"But you frown upon him, you said yourself he's expendable," Alana said. Her masters hands grew tense.
"And what exactly is your point, Miss Burgess?" he asked quietly. "Yes, I would release him from my services if possible, but at the moment he is the best of my soldiers. And until the boy becomes my apprentice, that is how it will stay. Now, are we understood?"
Alana felt like she was getting a raw deal, but bowed, saying
"Yes, I understand, master. I will work with him."
"Then you are dismissed," Darius said. As she walk walking to the door, her master added "And if you ever talk ill of someone of higher authority than yourself again, I will personally escort you out of this world." She cringed, and left the office. She couldn't believe she was going to have to be around that idiot again. With a growl, she went about her buisness, wanting nothing more than to cut Mathew Reynolds to pieces.
Mathew woke up the next morning, hoping last night was all a horrible dream. But, unfortunately, his father's sword was still on his dresser where he had set it the night before. This was no dream. It was a living nightmare. Mathew got out of bed with a sigh. He took the sword off of his dresser, and swung it around a bit, trying to come to terms with the fact that his days of being average every day Mathew Reynolds had come to an end. As he swung the sword around, it felt as though it had been made especially for him. He looked over the sword, his eyes running down the rusted silver blade. He put the battle worn sword back on the dresser and went out to the living room where his mother was sitting. Her eyes were red, so it was obvious that she had been crying. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know how he could. He was soon going to be leaving for the light bearer’s base, and he might never see his mother or Jenna again.
When he went into the kitchen for breakfast, he found Jenna pouring orange juice at the table, but she nearly dropped the pitcher when she noticed him.
“I TOLD you all of those creatures were real!” she exclaimed.
“Wait, mom told you?” Mathew asked, taken aback. He thought his mother would have tried to keep it a secret. But since Jenna already believed in all of that stuff anyway, he guessed there was no reason why she shouldn’t know.
“I can’t believe it, you’re going to get to meet dragons!” she said excitedly. “You will send me a video or something, right?” Mathew didn’t know what to say.
“So, you just believe what she says? You don’t think we’ve lost it?” he asked.
“Well I kind of did at first, in fact I was about to call someone and tell them my mom and brother have gone nuts,” she said.
“That’s comforting,” Mathew said, rolling his eyes.
“But then she told me all of those creatures I believe in exist, so I thought why not, you know?” Jenna continued. “But if you really are what she says you are, why haven’t you shown any signs of it?”
“Apparently with me the powers started showing up around puberty,” Mathew said. He supposed it made sense. About as much sense as anything else that was going on.
“Well, just make sure you don’t hurt yourself with all that training, okay?” she said.
“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” Mathew replied, believing it wholeheartedly.
“Call me every day you’re there, okay?” she commanded. He nodded, and she grabbed her orange juice as she left the room, off to enjoy her life as a normal person. He sat down at the table, going over the same thought again and again.
“I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back.”
Then after a while, another thought came to his mind.
“I have to tell Emily.”
But how could he tell her he was going to train to fight a man so cruel that he made Hitler look like a hippie? He could lie and tell her he was being sent to some far off boarding school, but that would be worse than telling her the truth. He couldn’t lie to her, at least not about something like this. He couldn’t just leave without saying anything either, that would be worse than lying. So there was only one option left, and that was to tell her what was really going on. With that in mind, he whipped out his cell phone and called her up. When she picked up, her first words were
“Hey, Matt, are you okay? You seemed pretty out of it last night after the dance,” Pretty out of it? That was one way of putting it.
“I’m alright,” he said, though he felt far from it. “I’m sorry about last night though, I’ve just got a lot on my mind,”
“It seemed like a bit more than that, but okay,” she said. He had the feeling she knew something was wrong, even though they were talking over the phone.
“Listen, can we hang out later? Just you and me?” he asked.
“Of course, I was going to ask you the same thing,” she said. “Did you just read my mind?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe I did,” he joked. The scary thing was, he had no idea how his supposed “powers” worked. So for all he knew he could have read her mind.
***
Before he went to hang out with Emily, it seemed Robert wanted to teach him some more about the light bearers, and give him some hands-on training in swordplay. So at around lunchtime Mathew headed out to his backyard with Robert. But when he stood facing Robert, he saw that he had no sword; only his cane.
"Hey, where's yours?" Mathew asked him.
"Where's my what?" Robert replied.
"Your sword! I mean you're not seriously going to fight me without a weapon, are you now?" Mathew asked.
"I don't need one, I have this," said Robert, gesturing to his cane. Mathew laughed, but Robert was dead serious.
"Alright, but I feel pretty guilty fighting a blind guy armed only with his cane," Mathew said, grinning.
"Oh don't worry, it won't be much of a fight," Robert said simply. They took their places, and Mathew took the first swing. His blade collided with Robert's cane, and he spun around, knocking the blade away, then whacked Mathew over the head..
"Oh wipe that smirk off your face, I wasn't ready!" Mathew growled. Robert laughed.
"Okay, are you ready now?" he asked sarcastically.
"Just attack me, you blind brat," Mathew demanded. Robert took a swing at Mathew's head. Mathew raised his sword, blocking the blow, and felt a bit confident.
That is, until Robert thrust his foot forward, kicking Mathew in the gut. He fell over with a groan and Robert cracked up.
"Oh shut up," Mathew said as he got up from the ground. He attacked Robert's hip, who blocked, and Mathew spun around, stopping with the blade inches from the side of Robert's neck. Mathew raised his eyebrows and stepped back with a gasp. If he had been in a real fight, he would have taken Robert's head clean off.
"Ah very good," said Robert with a smile. He attacked Mathew again, so he blocked and spun his sword around, forcing Robert to drop his cane, and brought the blade up to his chin. Mathew stood there, panting. This…it felt right. He felt strong, powerful, like he had known how to use a sword his whole life, but the knowledge was just buried deep within his mind, hidden from him until he had begun to come to terms with his true self. Mathew realized he hardly knew his own abilities; he hardly knew himself.
"You see, you have natural talent for this once you tap into it. It's in your blood," Robert explained.
“So my dad was some great warrior?” Mathew asked.
“The best we had, at least from the stories I've been told. Apparently he was the most talented swordsman to ever walk the halls of Light Bearer HQ,” Robert said. “Of course, some of that comes from his heritage, in other words, your heritage.”
“What do you mean? Like my ancestors were swordsmen too?” asked Mathew.
“That’s right, every one of them,” Robert replied. “It all has to do with the first light bearers who ever lived. But that’s something I’ll let the elders fill you in about, they know more about it than I do. Now come on, I need to beat some more lessons into you!”
They sparred a little longer, until Mathew couldn’t take another swing. He thought he did pretty well for his first few lessons, but Robert still bested him by a mile. While they were sitting in lawn chairs taking a well deserved rest, Mathew wondered something that he probably should have asked about before now.
“Hey, Robert, if you really are blind, then how do you fight?” he asked. Robert smirked and shook his head.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask,” he said. “Well, it’s like this: I’m two thirds blind. I can see, but only if I get my face right up to something, and everything is all blurry. That’s my normal sight.”
“There’s an abnormal sight?” Mathew asked.
“Only with me as far as I know,” he said. “See, I’m a blind light bearer, so my blindness has some extra features to it. I can see people’s auras.”
“Auras? You mean like life force?” Mathew asked.
“Right, or souls,” Robert replied. “But of course that ability is diminished during the day. At night it’s like I’m seeing through a thermal camera.”
“So basically you have night vision,” Mathew said. Robert nodded.
“Dude, do you have any idea how cool that is?” Mathew asked, grinning.
“You can see it as a blessing or a curse. Either way, it helps sometimes,” Robert said. “Also all of my other senses are enhanced beyond a normal human’s, so really I don’t even need to see to fight.”
“Wow, you’re like Daredevil,” Mathew joked.
“Yeah, only I don’t run around in a tight red body suit,” Robert replied. “Anyway, back to the lessons.”
Robert then explained more about the light bearers. He told Mathew light bearers age much slower than other humans, so they could be a hundred years old and look fifty. But he explained that it wouldn't be so dramatic for Mathew since he was only half light bearer, stating he would probably just live to be 120 or so. Then he told Mathew about how light bearers show up in pictures enveloped in a golden aura-like glow.
“I guess that explains this,” Mathew said, pulling out his cell phone and looking through it until he found a certain picture. It was the picture he had taken with Robert and Emily at school. They looked so carefree, making silly faces and poses. Though that was when he was living a lie, he would still give anything to have that day back. As he stared down at the picture, he felt a tear sliding down his cheek and quickly wiped it away, glad Robert couldn’t see.
He never suspected he was anything more than a simple kid trying to fit in with everybody else. He thought he was just another random face in the crowd. But he now knew he was much more than that. The golden aura surrounding his body in the photo-booth picture he held in his hand was proof of that. He realized he wasn’t a normal child like he had been led to believe his entire life, and he didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want to be anything other than an average, normal, every day teenager. He wouldn’t even mind putting up with Andrew for the rest of the school year. At least he would have his friends. He couldn’t believe he was going to have to say goodbye to Emily.
Robert may not have been able to see him from where he was standing, but he cleared his throat, as if he knew what Mathew was thinking. Mathew looked up at him, wishing he and all of this other light bearer mess was just a bad dream.
“Matt, I know how you feel,” he said consolingly.
“Yeah? How would you know? My life, my world, everything I know is being taken away from me,” Mathew said, looking away from him.
“I’m sorry, Matt. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But you have a part to play, and if you don’t, it’ll mean dyer consequences for the rest of the world,” said Robert.
“I’m not a freaking hero!” Mathew said loudly. “I’ve never fought monsters or demons or whatever else you people keep the world safe from! Why me? Whoever chose me to be their great savior must have been drunk off their ass, because I’m not a warrior. Why was I the one in the prophecy?”
Robert shuffled his feet, not knowing what to say.
“All I can tell you is that you were chosen, and if you don’t step up, the world will fall into darkness.” He said. “You can’t fight your destiny, Matt. You can run from it for a while, but sooner or later you’ll have to face it,”
Mathew looked back to the photo, wishing he could go back and relive that day, and all the days before it. Finally he closed the cell phone, putting it back in his pocket and said
“Alright, so, are you going to teach me more about the light bearers?”
So, Robert filled him in on the specifics of their job: Apprehending creatures that may cause unintentional harm to the human society and putting them in the vast forest around the light bearers’ headquarters, and putting the more malevolent entities, such as goblins, trolls, demons, and other malicious beings in a dimensional prison known as the D-zone.
He then told Mathew about some of the benevolent creatures that were on the light bearers’ side, like dragons, griffins, peaceful sea monsters, elves, and many more. Soon it was late in the afternoon, and Robert went home to prepare for the upcoming trip the next day.
Mathew also had his own task at hand: Saying goodbye to Emily. He sat on his bed running his fingers through his hair, waiting for five o’clock to come around. This was most likely the worst he had felt in his whole life. He felt forsaken, like he had been cursed to live a life of losing everything he knew and loved, little by little. When his watch read five, he went out to the car where his mother was waiting for him. As she drove him through town, Mathew looked out the passenger side window at the sun slowly setting behind the trees in the distance, the light gradually fading. Eventually they reached Emily’s house and Mathew reluctantly got out of the car.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” his mother asked.
“I’ll be fine, mom. Thanks for the ride,” he replied sullenly. She gave him look of concern, but nodded.
“I’m sorry, I know you really cared for Emily, but you have-”
“A part to play,” Mathew finished for her. “Yeah, I get the idea.” She frowned and looked away.
“I’m sorry…I’ll see you later, okay?” Mathew said,
“Yes, I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you up,” she said, giving him a tight hug. She got back in the car and waved, giving him an encouraging smile. Mathew waved back as she went down the driveway. Then he took a deep breath, walked up the steps of Emily’s porch, and knocked on the door. After a moment the door opened and there stood Emily.
“Hey, rock-star, come on in,” she said, pulling him inside. The first thing he noticed was music. Yellowcard was blasting out of a stereo in the kitchen, from where he could smell food in the oven.
“Dinner’s almost done,” she told him when she noticed him sniffing. She directed him over to the dining room table where two people sat talking. They stopped when they saw Mathew. Emily’s mother was a kind looking woman with the same brunette hair as her daughter’s, though hers was straight and a bit longer, and her eyes were blue instead of hazel. Her father on the other hand did have her eyes, and was thin and balding.
“Hmm, so you’re Mathew. Name’s Jeffery,” he said, holding out his hand. He may have looked thin, but his handshake was stronger than Mathew expected.
Jeffery must have noticed because he grinned and said
“I may be old, but I was in the marines, so I've still got a strong handshake! You got one too, boy, I like that.”
Then it was Emily’s mother’s turn. She looked at him from head to toe, and then back up and said
“Well he could use a trim, but if he’s got a winning personality I think I could overlook that.”
***
Both of Emily's parents were very nice people. Her father told stories of when he was a marine, and her mother wanted to know all about him. They asked where he had lived before he moved to Arizona, what he thought of the town, what his personal interests were, and things of that nature.
Overall, they seemed to really like him. Unfortunately he liked them too, which was going to make it even worse when he had to say goodbye. After dinner it was almost time for Mathew’s mother to come pick him up. He and Emily went out on the porch to wait for her. It was time: he had to tell her. It was now or never.
“Emily, there’s something I have to tell you,” he said, not even able to look at her.
This was it. He had known this was coming, but not even another year could prepare him for it.
“Okay, I’m listening,” she said.
“Well, see, the thing is-,”
“AAAAGH!” screams of terror from inside the house cut him off. He looked at Emily, who was bone-white. They bolted inside, and what they saw inside made Mathew want to scream too. Emily’s parents were standing on top of the table, holding each other, as familiar creatures stalked in circles around the table, baring their gruesome fangs. Sitting on the couch with her hands clasped behind her head and her feet propped on the ottoman was Alana.
“Ah, Matt, I told you I’d see you again,” she said. “Hey, Emily, how have you been?” she added.
“Matt. What’s going on?” Emily asked in a small voice.
“What? He hasn’t told you? Oh, you’ve been keeping secrets, Matt!” Alana said.
“Just who are you? How do you know this boy? And what are these-these things?” Emily’s mother asked Alana.
“I know him because I’ve been ordered to kill him,” she said simply. “And those things are shadow creatures that feed on human flesh and blood.”
If the sight of the shadows weren’t enough to scare Samantha, hearing what they were definitely was. She gasped and held Jeffery tighter.
“Now, look here, you can’t just come in here and threaten my family like-” Jeffery started, but Alana said
“Shut up!” and he was instantly silent, touching his mouth and apparently trying to talk, but his lips wouldn’t part. Alana then turned her attention to Mathew.
“Now, I believe you and I have business, light bearer,” she said. Mathew’s brain was stuck on “too scared to talk” so he just stared back, not knowing what to do.
“Why did she call you that?” Emily asked.
“I called him that, Williams, because that’s what he is. A light bearer: A defender of the human race from everything they themselves are unaware of,” Alana said in an annoyed tone.
Finally, he found the will to speak.
“Alana, you came for me, leave them out of this, you have no reason to hurt them,” he said quickly.
“Oh, see that’s the thing, actually, I do,” she replied. “This is the perfect time to show Williams who’s in charge,” Mathew remembered their near cat-fight, and what Alana had said to Emily that made him wonder whether she was being serious
“It means if you stay out of my way, you'll live longer.”
She did have a reason to harm Emily after all. But he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“If you leave them alone, I’ll come with you,” Mathew said.
“What? Mathew, what’s happening?” Emily asked.
“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Mathew replied. “Alana isn’t who you think she is, and neither am I,” the look Emily gave him was of pure terror.
“Who are you then?” she asked.
“Well, I already told you who he is,” Alana interrupted. “But I’m an assassin trained to kill people like him, and that’s why I’m here,”
“Kill? Mathew? You’re crazy!” Emily shouted.
“That’s what I thought when she tried to kill me after the dance,” Mathew said. Emily’s jaw dropped and she looked back and forth between him and Alana.
“Nah, not crazy, just loyal,” Alana said, shrugging. “That being said, I’ve promised Darius I’d be back with your corpse by tonight, so please, don’t make me a bad student.”
“I won’t, as long as you leave Emily and her family alone,” Mathew said.
“Hmm…I’m gonna say I kill you, and your little friend, and her family, just so you can all die together,” Alana said as simply as if she were checking things off a list.
Emily’s parents must have heard her, because her father was shaking his fist silently at Alana, and her mother looked even more fearful.
“Oh, up yours,” Alana said, waving their silent reactions aside. Then she stood up and started to approach them. Mathew went into protective mode and stood in front of Emily.
Alana nearly dropped to the floor laughing.
“I’m sorry, it’s just you think you can defend her!” she said, gasping for breath through her laughter. He hated to admit it, but she had a point. He had to find some way to get Emily and her family out of their safely, but how? Unless a miracle happened, they were all going to die. Alana came closer as she drew her dagger, her demonic grin growing larger
Then, when all hoped seemed futile, the miracle happened.
“Mathew, catch!” he heard his mother shout from the door. Before Alana or the shadow creatures could react, Mathew ran to the door as his mother tossed him the one thing he needed to stand a chance at making up for his stupidity in leading Alana here: His father’s sword. He took the cloth away and held the weapon aloft.
He began to feel braver. Those feelings of confidence and power he had while training with Robert returned. He could already feel his fear disappearing. And when he looked at Alana, he knew the most lethal striking points on her body, the spots he should be swinging at in order to take her down quickly. But Robert had said it was suicidal to try to fight her one on one, so the most he could hope for was that he would buy Emily and her parents time to get away. If that was all he had to work with, it would have to do.
With thoughts of the people he cared about swimming through his mind, he stepped forward, raising his sword and pointing it at Alana.
“You want my corpse? Sorry, it’s still occupied,” he said. For some reason, it had sounded a lot cooler in his head.
“Ha! You think now that you’ve got a sharp piece of steel it means you’re on my level? You don’t even deserve to fight me!” She said.
“But I do,” came a familiar voice. Mathew had never been more relieved to see his best friend walking in the door.
“Robert?” Emily said, dumbfounded
“Hey, Emily, I’ve missed you,” he said. Emily looked to Mathew for an explanation.
“He’s like me,” was the simplest way he could put it. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Your mom brought me, in case, well, this happened,” he replied, gesturing around him. “So, Alana, ready to pick up where we left off?” he added.
“Oh, do I really want to hurt a gimp?” she asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know, but a gimp sure as hell wants to hurt you,” Robert responded, stepping into his fencer stance. This sounded much cooler than Mathew’s corpse remark.
“Robert, you said fighting her one on one would be-,” Mathew started, but Robert held up his hand.
“Yeah, that’s why you’re going to haul ass away from here with Emily and her parents,” he said. “If I die, the world is short one blind light bearer, big whoop. If you die, the world is short one crucial link to the future of the human race.”
“Oh can we stop talking and get to the slaughtering?” Alana complained.
“You asked for it,” Robert said. Mathew tried to stop him, but he ran up to Alana and stood before her.
“Fine, you can have the honor of dying by my hand, and watch as Matt gets devoured!” Alana said. She whistled, and the shadows immediately switched their attention to Mathew.
“Mathew, take out the shadows, but then run!” Robert ordered. Alana growled and made the first strike, swiping at Robert’s neck. He blocked her dagger and socked her in the face, then jumped up and ignited his cane with white light, catching her in the face with a full-force swing. She fell on her back with a yell, but jumped right back to her feet, her grin replaced by the most venomous scowl Mathew had ever seen.
“Emily, run into the kitchen and close the door, you hear me?” he said hastily. She nodded and made a beeline into the next room, slamming the door shut. He looked up at Emily’s parents, still clutching each other tightly.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your daughter, I promise,” he told them. He didn’t see their reaction, because just then one of the shadows made its move. He jumped out of the way and slashed at its side, leaving a large gash and causing it to shriek in pain. Mathew winced, but followed through with a thrust straight into the creature’s belly. It let out one last screech and disappeared in smoke.
The sword may have been old and battered, but it still had some fight in it.
“Remember, weak points!” he thought to himself. The throat, heart, and brain were three major game-over spots, so when the next shadow lunged at him, he kicked it in the face and swiped at its neck. The beast clutched at its throat, fell writhing on the floor, and faded away in streams of darkness.
When he looked to see how Robert was faring, he didn’t like what he saw. Alana was a grueling fighter, and was faster than Robert by the looks of it. But Robert wasn’t giving up just yet. He blocked a slash at his hip and kneed her in the side, then swept her dagger-arm away and managed to spin around, swiping up at her chin with the end of his cane. She shrieked and began to fall back, but went into a back-flip and landed perfectly on her feet.
“Mathew!” Emily’s voice made him look towards the kitchen as a shadow creature bounded at him. He ran to meet it and went into a baseball slide, thrusting up at the creature’s chest. The blade went through to the heart and the monster disappeared. Emily had opened the door a little to peek at what was happening. Her eyes were wide, and she looked ready to puke.
“I’m alright, just stay in there!” Mathew shouted. The door closed once again, and he scanned the room for the remaining demons. He found them straggling away from the others, still eying the Williams like a buffet. Mathew quickly hopped up on the table with them and slashed at the two demons to get them to back off.
“Get to the kitchen!” he yelled. Samantha didn’t need to be told twice. She got down from the table and ran for the door, banging on it. Jeffery didn't move.
“Go on, what are you waiting for?” Mathew asked. Jeffery's face suddenly turned determined, and he pointed to the creatures and grasped Mathew's shoulder.
“You...you want to fight?” he nodded vigorously and pointed at the fireplace. Above the mantle hung an old marine saber.
“Got it, I'll cover you!” Mathew said. Then he hopped down to the floor and engaged the demons in battle. Unfortunately it seemed these two worked as a team. As one of them attacked from the front, the other hopped to his side and lunged at him. He managed to kick the front one away, but got tackled by the one on the side. He tried to fight it off, but the other shadow jumped on him as well. He kept fighting, but they were starting to claw at him, leaving deep scratches all over his body.
That’s when Emily ran into the fray.
Before Mathew could stop her, she pulled one of the shadows off of him, and was attacked.
“EMILY!” He kept fighting, until the creature froze as a blade sprouted from its chest. It crumpled into a heap on the floor and Mathew saw Jeffery yank his old sword out of the creature's back.
“Whoa, thanks,” Mathew gasped. But it was too late. As Jeffery helped him to his feet, he heard Emily scream in pain. He dashed past Jeffery and in seconds, he was on the other demon with a savage roar, pounding its face in with the pommel of the sword until it was an unrecognizable broken mess. He then hurried over to where Emily lay shivering on the floor. The bottom of her shirt was soaked with blood.
“Hey, Rock-star, you did great,” she said in a trembling voice. He gently pulled up her shirt so he could see the extent of the damage, and wanted to beat the demon some more. Her stomach had large puncture wounds from the monster’s fangs, and she was bleeding profusely.
“Emily, you should have listened to me,” he said shakily. He pulled off his over-shirt and ripped it in half, then tied one half around her stomach to make an improvised bandage. He then helped her to her feet and over to her father, who wrapped his arms around her, looking angrier than ever at the intruders that had invaded his house.
“Get to the kitchen, both of you. I’m going to help Robert,” he told them. Emily went inside and closed the door, but not before saying feebly
“Matt, do me a favor and whoop her ass.”
When the door clicked shut, Jeffery stood in front of it, holding his saber ready to protect his family. He had to hand it to the old guy: he was pretty cool.
Mathew was now left with one more adversary. Gripping his sword tight in both hands, he ran into the living room to find that Robert and Alana were gone, and the window was broken. He ran out the door and saw them dueling in the yard. His mother had locked herself in the car, and was watching the spectacle of a fight with a face fitting of that of a person about to faint. Mathew pointed to her and gestured for her to stay there and that he was going to help Robert.
Robert didn’t look like he could take much more. He was panting and sweating, and even his slouchy stance showed that he was getting tired. Alana on the other hand seemed like she still had energy to spare. She proved this by holding up her hand, and creating a sparking ball of electricity in her palm, which she lobbed at Robert. It hit him in the chest, and he went down hard. Mathew ran over and knelt down beside him.
“Tag me,” Mathew said. Robert grasped his hand.
“Be careful, she’s a lot tougher than she looks,” he groaned. Mathew got up and faced Alana not fearfully, but angrily. She had followed him here and threatened his friend and her parents, and had been the cause of Emily’s injury.
“Okay, Alana, one on one, no help,” he said.
“You’re stupid for being so bold, but, you’re really the reason I’m here,” she said. “The quicker you die, the quicker I can take your body to Darius.”
“Guess he’s too much of a coward to come fight me himself,” Mathew said. He must have hit a nerve, because her grin slid right off her face.
“You dare call him a coward?” she hissed.
“I call him many things: Cruel, evil murderous, coward is just the one I’m feeling right now,” Mathew replied. He stepped into his stance and beckoned to her. She narrowed her eyes, and drew her own wicked looking sword, wielding it and her dagger at the same time. The blade was long and slim, looking like it were made for speed rather than power.
She dashed at him, swinging at his hip with her sword. He blocked it, but that left her dagger free to slice him up. He ducked it as it came towards his head, and pulled back his sword. The sound of steel sliding on steel rent the air, and he thrust forward. Alana did a cartwheel and he was stunned by a blow to the side of his head. He saw stars, and dodged blindly to the side as Alana attacked again. He shook his head and blocked a strike at his shoulder, then spun around behind her and slashed at her lower back, leaving a deep cut. She let out a yelp and jumped away, touching her wound.
“That the challenge you were asking for?” Mathew asked. She growled and swiped at his side. He deflected the sword and caught her dagger arm as it came down at his chest. Robert wasn’t kidding, she was a lot stronger than she appeared. He yanked her off to the side and jumped back. She went for his stomach but he blocked her once more and threw his arms up with a yell, leaving her open for an attack. He quickly thrust forward, but she dodged it and did a leg sweep, tripping him and sending him falling backwards onto the ground. She put a foot on his chest and flipped her sword upside down. He knew that she was aiming to finish it. But Robert had taught him how to avoid being impaled earlier during his training session. He clasped his hands, and jerked them as hard as he could into the crook of Alana’s knee. She staggered, and Mathew was able to roll out from underneath her foot and leap to his feet, gasping for breath.
“Will you just die already?” she growled. “You’re going to make me late!” She sheathed her sword and snapped her fingers, and another bolt of electricity appeared in her hand. But this time, she sheathed her dagger as well, and formed the sparking voltage with both hands, making it bigger. This was just the chance he had been waiting for. He silently prayed his ancestor’s skills would kick in, and lowered his guard.
“Matt, what the hell are you doing?” Robert yelled. But he wasn’t listening. His eyes were locked on Alana as she grinned, and thrust the orb at him.
If he had been anyone else, his plan probably would have left him fried. But he knew what his ancestors were capable of. They were masters of the sword, which meant that if he let his instinct take over, he would be one too. As the orb shot toward him at a furious speed, his reflexes seemed to act of their own accord, and he found himself swinging the sword not at Alana, but at the orb of lightning. As the blade of his sword connected with the orb, it was deflected away, right back into the chest of its caster.
Alana’s expression was pure astonishment as she was knocked back and flew through the air, electricity pulsing through her body. She landed in a trembling heap, too injured to carry on the fight, or even get to her feet.
“Y-y-you’re going to p-pay for this!” she shrieked. “My m-master is going to kill all of you!”
“Yeah, uh-huh. I’m thinking I’m going to kill you, your dark brethren and your master, just so I can send you all straight to hell for threatening my friends and family,” Mathew said in the same plain manner she had used before. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or did she look…scared? Whether she did or not it didn’t last long.
She scowled and crawled away, raising her hand weakly. A dark portal appeared, and she slowly got to her feet, limping into it. She gave him one last malicious look before she and the portal disappeared into nothingness.
It was then that he realized how exhausted he was, and he fell to all fours. But he had done it: he had saved people’s lives by embracing his destiny.
He felt a hand grasp his shoulder, and looked up to see Robert and his mother. His mother still looked like she might faint, but Robert was grinning from ear to ear.
“You are one stupid, crazy kid. But I have to admit, that was top notch swordsmanship,” he said. Mathew nodded, and sat on his knees. He looked up at the stars, not sure what to say. Then he knew.
“Thank you,” he said.
“They would have been proud, you know, your ancestors” his mother said. “Especially your father.”
“Yeah, this is a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it, and I’d say you did it as well as anyone could have.” said Robert. Mathew stood up and looked back to Emily’s house. Then he remembered something critical.
“Oh God, Emily, she’s hurt!” he said. “Robert, can you help her?”
“Take me to her,” he said quickly. Mathew led them inside the house and over to the kitchen to see that Jeffery wasn't standing there anymore. He knocked on the door.
“It’s over now, you can come out,” he called. The door opened, but it wasn’t Emily standing there. Instead her father stood before him. He pointed to his mouth.
“Uh, Robert, Alana did something to them, they can’t talk,” Mathew said.
“Ah, silencing spell, I gotcha,” Robert said. He waved his cane across Jeffery’s face, and he tested his lips. But when he tried to talk, he still couldn’t say anything, though that was only because he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Is Emily okay?” Mathew asked. Jeffery frowned and bowed his head, his eyes closed.
“I don’t know,” he said. “She’s not moving, and her breathing is shallow.”
“Let us in,” Robert said, his tone alarmed. Jeffery stepped aside, and he and Robert hurried over to where Emily sat up against the sink cabinets.
She definitely didn’t look good. She was deathly pale, and her eyelids were drooping. Her breathing, as her father had said, was shallow, her inhales coming as quick and sharp. Mathew knew she had lost a lot of blood. He pulled up her shirt and his makeshift bandage to see that the wound looked even worse than before.
“What’s wrong with her?” her mother asked.
“We’re going to help her, don’t worry,” Mathew said. “Alright, man, do your stuff,”
But Robert sat there, not moving a muscle. After a moment he muttered the words Mathew would give anything not to hear.
“Matt…I can’t help her.” Mathew looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Robert this is no time to joke, Emily’s hurt, now help her,”
“It’s no joke. The wound is too severe, I can’t do anything for her,” Robert replied.
“So what, you’re not even going to try?” Mathew asked.
“I don’t know what else to tell you. She’s dying, Matt. I can see her aura, it’s fading,” Robert said slowly. “Her body is uninhabitable; it won’t function any more, so her soul is moving on,”
“Like hell it is!” Mathew said. “Come on, there’s got to be something we can do! If you’re not going to try to save her, then I will!”
“Mathew, no light bearer has ever attempted to break the laws of life and death,” Robert said darkly. “Besides, you’ve never used magic, it takes time to—,”
“I DON’T CARE!” Mathew shouted. “I don’t care about practice or training! How do I heal her?” He couldn’t lose Emily, she meant too much to him. He had gone though all of that, and now she was going to die? Every second he sat there watching her was agonizing pain.
Finally, Robert sighed.
“Alright, put your hands firmly on the wound,” he instructed.
“Emily I need you to be brave for me,” Mathew said. She nodded slowly. Mathew placed both his hands over her wound, and she gasped.
“It’s okay, just hold on a little longer,” he said.
“Now concentrate, Matt, you have to will the injury to mend itself,” Robert said. Mathew did as he was told and concentrated hard, harder than he’d ever concentrated on anything in his entire life. He wasn’t going to let her die.
Nothing was happening.
“No, NO!” Mathew cried. “Come on!” He closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to save her life.
He focused on this one thought above all others. He was not going to lose her, not now, not after all he’d done to make sure she stayed safe.
Suddenly, his hands grew warm, and they were glowing with a brilliant white light, brighter even than Robert’s cane. It was so bright that his mother and Emily’s parents had to shield their eyes. Mathew concentrated, willing the wound to heal. He felt her skin sewing itself together between his hands.
“Keep going, Matt, it’s working!” Robert yelled. Mathew kept it up until her skin had mended completely. When he was certain the wound was healed, he let go of the magic, and the light faded.
All that was left was to see if his efforts would be rewarded.
“Emily…you still here?” he asked. Her eyelids slowly opened, and she nodded. Mathew was so relieved he started crying, and he didn’t care that people could see. He wrapped his arms around Emily and held her.
“Hmm…I guess this means you won the fight,” she said softly. Mathew laughed, tears sliding down his cheeks.
“Yeah, she’s not coming back,” he assured her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him.
***
Emily’s parents took the explanation rather well. Of course, after seeing what they had, they couldn’t really disregard it. Mathew told them what was going on to the best of his knowledge, though he did require that Robert help him a few times. But, eventually, the tale had been told, and there was nothing else to do but clean up the mess the battle had caused. When everything including the shards from the broken window had been cleaned up, Mathew joined Emily on the couch and yawned, feeling like he could sleep for days.
“You gonna live?” he asked Emily.
“I think so,” she said. “If I drop to the floor you’ll know something’s wrong.”
“Hey, not funny, I just saved your butt, I don’t want to think about that,” Mathew said. She frowned and hugged him.
“Sorry…thanks, by the way. I saw you, when I was, well, you know,” she said quietly.
“When you were moving on?” Mathew asked.
“Yeah. It was weird, I was floating up and looked down, and I saw you sitting over me,” she said slowly. “And then I went back down, and I was looking into your eyes.”
“Sounds like I cut it a little close,” Mathew said.
“You’re telling me, I was about to go see Granny,” she said, raising her eyebrows. Mathew laughed and held her tight.
“Well, she’s going to have to wait, I’m not through with you yet,” he said. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked behind him. Robert was there, and his facial expression told him it was time for a serious talk.
“Hey, I’ll be back,” he told Emily, getting up and following Robert into the kitchen. When he closed the door, the first thing out of Robert’s mouth was
“You shouldn’t have been able to heal her.”
“That’s been established, too bad I did it anyway,” Mathew said.
“Matt, you just don’t get it. I saw her aura, it was fading, she was dying. You just cheated death itself.” Robert said.
“I don’t know what the problem is, I saved her life,” Mathew said, leaning against the pantry.
“The problem is, you used magic no light bearer, not even Darius has dared to use,” Robert said.
“There’s no telling what could have happened, you could have died too, in fact, you almost did!”
This got Mathew’s attention.
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“I’m saying your aura was fading away too,” Robert replied. Mathew gulped when he realized what Robert was telling him. He had almost died while trying to save Emily.
“You pretty much cheated death, mooned it, and spat in its face. You don’t screw with life and death, Matt, that’s one line we light bearers don’t cross,” Robert continued. “If we can heal an injury before it gets too serious and prevent death, then that’s fine. But reversing death while it’s already happening…that’s just going too far. You’re just lucky you have a strong will, you were able to stay linked to your body.”
“You’re scolding me for saving her life!” Mathew protested.
“I’m scolding you for almost losing yours!” Robert said loudly. “Just don’t be like Benjamin, don’t be so reckless,” he said, sighing. Mathew nodded. He didn’t know what to say. If Robert was right, he had nearly overdone it. If he pulled another stunt like that, he might not be so lucky.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
“Don’t do anything like that again,” Robert said, shaking his head. Mathew grasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“Hey, I’m still here, and so is Emily, that’s all that matters, right?” he said.
“I guess. Come on then, hero, let’s get you home, you need rest,” Robert replied.
When they went back to the living room, Emily’s parents were sitting with her on the couch. Her father had a blank expression, which was to be expected.
The look on her mother’s expression told him he was going to need a lot more than a trim to be good enough to hang out with her daughter.
“I’ll just wait in the car,” Robert said, heading out the door and leaving Mathew alone with Emily and her parents. Her mother chose to be the first to speak
“Well, I’d say thanks are due, but if I understand what you’ve told us, you brought that girl here in the first place,” she said.
“Oh, Samantha, hush,” her husband said. “The boy made up for his mistake, and showed he was willing to die to do it. I’m proud of you, Matt.” Mathew forced a smile and shrugged. Mixed results were better than all negative ones.
“You showed real courage, protecting my daughter and us. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve met our standards, and exceeded them,” Jeffery continued. “Right, honey?” he added to his wife firmly. She rolled her eyes, but nodded.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she said. “But you’d best make sure nothing like this ever happens again, or so help me I’m going to take off more than your hair.” Mathew then smiled genuinely.
“Yes ma’am, I understand,” he said.
“So, you’re leaving tomorrow?” Jeffery asked.
“As far as I know. We’re going to the edge of town, after that, I don’t know,” Mathew replied.
“Well, those light bearers are going to have one fine young man training with them,” Jeffery said with a warm smile. He stood up and shook Mathew’s hand one last time.
“Thank you, sir,” Mathew said. When he looked to Emily, she stood up and hugged him, not saying a word. But that was okay; the hug told him all he needed to know.
“Alright, I guess I’d better get going,” he said. As he went to the door and looked back, Jeffery gave him a salute. Mathew returned the gesture and left the house, getting in the back of the car.
The ride home was utter silence. Nobody spoke a word or felt the need to turn on the radio. Mathew looked out the window at the stars, wondering if any of his ancestors had ever pulled stunts like he had. If they did, that could give credit as to why he did it. All he knew was that he would do it again without hesitation, whether it meant losing his own life or not.
***
When they finally arrived at the house, Mathew was sitting on the couch, and saw his mother was still awake, cleaning dishes. He guessed she needed some normal household chore to make her feel better, and he didn’t blame her. He crossed into the kitchen and put a hand on her shoulder, and she stopped as she was scrubbing a plate.
“So, how’d you know I’d need the sword?” he asked.
“Mother’s intuition,” she replied. “After what happened back on the road I thought you’d better have it close, just in case.”
“Mom, you’re awesome,” he said simply. She smiled slightly.
“I mean it. If you hadn’t brought it, well, things could have gone a lot worse,” he continued.
“Well then, you can thank your mother’s instincts,” she said. “And your father’s, by what I saw.” He knew she was talking about the point when he had knocked the orb back at Alana.
“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to use them, and we probably wouldn’t have made it out of there,” he said. His mother frowned.
“I don’t want to think about that,” she said. “You’re safe, and you saved innocent people, that’s all that matters.” He smiled and hugged her.
“Love you, mom,” he said.
“I love you too, sweetheart,” she said, kissing his forehead. He grabbed the sword off the couch and headed up to his room, sitting down on his bed.
This sword had probably served his father more times than he could imagine. He felt the need to somehow repay it for saving his life. So, taking an old handkerchief out of his dresser, he cleaned off the splotched demon blood the best he could, and used WD-40 to get rid of some of the rust. Soon the sword looked better than ever, and he could see his reflection in it. Satisfied with his clean-up job, he set the sword back on his dresser, no longer afraid to accept it as his possession. On the contrary: He felt truly honored. He then lay down on his bed and drifted off to sleep, trying to imagine what was in store for him the next day.
***
Alana nearly collapsed when she reached her master's office. He was hidden in shadow, as usual: just the way he liked it.
"Alana, you're empty handed," he said, his voice calm but clearly full of anger.
"It's not my fault, he had help!" she said desperately. "I could have killed him if his mommy hadn't interrupted!"
"You failed because the boy's mother was there? What did she do, hit you with a broom?" her master mocked.
"No, master, she bore the sword of Charles Reynolds," she said. "I couldn't defeat him when he held it, I don't know why."
"I am aware of what caused you to lose against the boy. He has accepted his destiny, and his heritage," Darius replied. "His ancestors were somewhat experts when it came to swordplay. With that blade in his hands, I'm surprised you're even still alive."
"No, I can beat him, he just got lucky!" Alana said. her master was silent for a moment.
"Perhaps you just require assistance; a partner. Fortunately I visited the home of another boy I know to be a light bearer, and he seems to hold a grudge against Reynolds," Darius said softly.
"What? Are you saying he's joined us?" Alana asked.
"He may, or he may not. The fact of the matter is that he was previously unaware of his powers, just as Reynolds was," Darius replied. "But I've remedied that, and he now knows what he is and what he's capable of."
"Master, who is this boy?" Alana asked.
"I believe you know him," Darius said. "If what he says is true, the two of you were quite the pair of troublemakers up at that school."
Alana then realized who he was talking about, and shuddered. She thought she had gotten rid of him when she left the school.
"But Master, he's-," she started, but her master cut her off with a wave of his pale hand.
"He is like you in many ways. I'm going back tomorrow evening to see what the boy has decided," he said. "And if he has chosen to join us, I expect you to work with him as I work with your instructor."
"But you frown upon him, you said yourself he's expendable," Alana said. Her masters hands grew tense.
"And what exactly is your point, Miss Burgess?" he asked quietly. "Yes, I would release him from my services if possible, but at the moment he is the best of my soldiers. And until the boy becomes my apprentice, that is how it will stay. Now, are we understood?"
Alana felt like she was getting a raw deal, but bowed, saying
"Yes, I understand, master. I will work with him."
"Then you are dismissed," Darius said. As she walk walking to the door, her master added "And if you ever talk ill of someone of higher authority than yourself again, I will personally escort you out of this world." She cringed, and left the office. She couldn't believe she was going to have to be around that idiot again. With a growl, she went about her buisness, wanting nothing more than to cut Mathew Reynolds to pieces.
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