Guardians Book One - Magic Rising

Chapter Fourteen

"We apologise for the unexpected...delay..." the driver awkwardly told the Tube passengers over the tannoy, in the manner of one who doesn't know what's happened but has had to tell an audience something. "Unexpected failure of power cables at Gloucester Road. Everything is now in order."

Lady, her white trench coat now wrapped around her, rested a hand on her suitcase handle. The weapons had been stored safely away inside once again. Kath kept her eyes trained on Lady and Pes; it felt a little too intimate to look at the boy next to her, now, knowing more about him than anyone needed to know about a stranger. His laughter made her wince slightly. He seemed fine — they all did — but Kath couldn't erase the image of his face screaming in silent pain, embossed on the greasy flanks of the Night Mare as it slashed at her.

"It is not dead, as you understand the term," she murmured to Kath. "The Guardian of Dreams — all Guardians — are difficult to kill, because they are elemental forces. If one is killed, such as my Guardian predecessor, or Pes'...the world suffers for it. The element the Guardian is meant to hold in check, becomes awry, and the actions and beliefs of humans amplify it, until the Guardian is reformed, reborn." She sighed. "This is why the power should never have been released. The chaos is unimaginable. It seems to be what the Darkness wishes...and yet it would mean the end of all." Her fingers drummed on the handle of her suitcase.

"Have you...?" Kath wasn't sure if the question was rude, but she wanted to know. Lady looked at her, and Kath finished the sentence, realising Lady would never pick up on the intimation.

"...killed a Guardian?" She capped her own line.

"Yes," said Lady, and offered no more than that. Kath sat back in the uncomfortable train seat. I guess I knew, really. She wondered which natural disaster Lady had chosen to allow to happen, and what the alternative would have been, had she not done so. That kind of weight, those decisions, for one person to make...how did this happen to her? I've got a few things to ask her father, ancient god man thing or not. How'd a human end up as a Guardian, anyway?She doesn't use her magic, like Pes, either. Part of Kath was just a tiny bit disappointed she hadn't seen the oceans rise up from nothing to send the Night Mare to a watery grave, but on the other hand, flooding London Underground was probably not the best move.

"The little monsters you saw before were...offshoots," Lady continued, unusually talkative. "Broken off parts of a Guardian aligned to the Darkness, or things that may one day become a Guardian. As the beliefs of humanity evolve, so do the elements. All is made from the Soul of the Earth, even that which is new."

"Like I said," said Pes, leaning in to join the conversation. He was a little squashed with the new mass of central London passengers, but he still had a little ring of space around him. Kath had noticed a couple of people glance, puzzled, towards the apparently empty space, but nobody had dared to step into it.

I guess I should ask, but... "Your...dreams," Kath said, fidgeting. "All that stuff. I'm...sorry?" The words fell flat against Lady's stoic expression, and Kath instantly wished she could take them back.

For a moment Lady just eyeballed her, but then, to Kath's astonishment, her face softened. "It was...a long time ago," Lady said, and bit her lip. "For the safety of the world, I had to...be the best. Nothing else has ever mattered, apart from Father and Mother, and Pes. The world. Protecting it, is all there is. It is what I was born to do."

I know that feeling. A bit. Kath hadn't thought of her parents in years, not really, apart from the polite festive and birthday cards she sent, the odd for-appearances phone call. Ben emailed from time to time -  he was on his way to hotshot professorhood by all accounts — but she'd quite forgotten that day she'd nearly lost him in the woods. Hah. Thought I'd forgotten it. She clamped down on the flush of sick guilt, on the scathing eyes of her parents. I only ever had gran. And once she had gone...

Before Kath could marshal this into a coherent answer, Lady was staring up at the Tube map on the wall, lost in her own thoughts again. Pes glanced down at Kath.

"You OK?" he whispered, and Kath managed a smile for him.

"Yeah. You?" she returned, and his lips twisted into an approximation of a smile.

"Oh, yes," he said, and squatted down to be at her ear-height. "Dreams are never pleasant, are they?"

"Hmm," said Kath, looking at him. "Didn't she see it? That you...remember her?"

"She had her shields up by then," Pes told her, very quietly. "Her mind was too full to see a thing. I could feel how mad she was she ever let that thing in her head. Rage pouring off of her. She's never been one to let down her guard, you see. Too quick by half." They both glanced over at Lady; her brow was furrowed. Kath wondered if she was dwelling on her mistake. "It's OK, anyway. It's just a memory. I was...worried about her, when she left for London. I don't think she knew. She doesn't always catch feelings," Pes added. Kath remembered the Mills and Boon, and pursed her lips. 'Worried' seemed a little bit of an understatement for the sheer impact of that moment on Pes' memory, but she didn't argue the point. Pes gave her a rueful smile.

"We grew up together," he said. "She wasn't always so...cold. Just sometimes, it shines through, who she was when we were young, and you know? It..." He coughed. "Every time, it breaks my heart." Kath's chest tightened, but Pes was still just smiling that faint, ironic smile.

"You did really well, though," Pes said, louder, to change the subject. "You've started to manage your gift, I see..."

At that, Lady turned back. "Indeed," she said, and Kath blinked in shock. Praise? "Kath..." She shifted in her seat. "Thank you," she finished.

"No worries," said Kath, too astonished to say anything else. Lady tilted her head.

"I believe it is much of a time for worry, and you were most...impressive."

"The next station is Westminster," the tannoy interrupted. "Change here for..."

"That's us," said Pes, standing up. "Let's change for the Northern line, hmm, like the good man says?" He grinned, lopsidedly. A tiny smile crossed Lady's lips.

"Got your ticket?" Kath fished in the pockets of her trousers; some kind of miracle, hers had survived, although the shreds of her first T shirt were stuffed in the bottom of the suitcase now. The new, clean one and her jacket once again sat neatly enough over the breastplate underneath, and nobody would ever have suspected a thing of her. I'm a normal human being! At least she didn't have to lie to herself about that any more.

Lady stood, and this time she didn't stride off; she waited for Kath to move through the crowds to the doors with her.