The Elf Thief

Chapter 13:The Guardian

The wolf's ice blue eyes gazed into her green one. "Ask your friend," he rumbled, the voice was the same, "he has heard of us before." Sonya turned expectantly to Dearekk, waiting for an answer.

Dearekk swallowed, something between fear and awe in his expression, "A Guardian," he whispered, "Shape-shifters of old. I thought that they were just myths." He seemed pale and shaken.

"If you are a Guardian," Sonya hesitated for a moment, "then what are you guarding?"

The Guardian let out a booming laugh. "My dear girl," he said with a chuckle, "I guard balance! If the scales of balance were ever upturned, not even your King could imagine the catastrophic consequences." He looked them over, "No I am guessing that neither of you would like to stay in this cavern?"

The both shook their heads.

"Then follow me." The Guardian began to walk away, and stepped through the wall. Dearekk let out a shout and Sonya jumped up from the place she was sitting. Running over, Sonya began to inspect the wall.

In honest, it looked just like it had before, brown, earthy with a bluish tinge from the glowworms. Sonya reached forward, and pushed her hand against it, only to have it sink right through. It felt odd at first, like sticking your hand into cold water, but then she felt a stabbing pain and jerked back her hand with a cry. Her eyes widened when she noticed that a thin layer of bright blue ice covered her fingertips.

"Ladies fir-" Dearekk started, only to be stopped by a slap from Sonya on his arm.

"I went first in the spike-pit, thank you very much!" she hissed.

Dearekk's eyes narrowed. "Fine," he replied, took a deep breath and stepped into the wall.

Sonya flittered by the wall for a little while. Once she was sure that Dearekk had made it through, she stepped into the wall.

At first it was like stepping into a pool of dark water. There was no light, and the substance was cold, but not uncomfortably. But then it began to get thicker, like pudding, and it became harder to move. Suddenly sharp jabs of pain jerked through her body, like she was being stabbed with a thousand tiny pins, She tried to scream, but she found she couldn't open her mouth. Lungs burning, she willed all of her muscles to move, but nothing happened. Her body was becoming the enemy, refusing to work; in the end, it would kill her. Darkness began closing in as the oxygen she so desperately needed refused to come to her.

Then a hand reached for her through the darkness. It grabbed her arm and with a swift jerk, pulled her out of the substance and away from the pain. Spluttering, she stumbled out of the wall coughing.

Dearekk, still holding her arm to keep her steady, whirled on the Guardian. "Why didn't you warn us?" he demanded. "She could have died!"

"But she didn't" the Guardian said, "now let's move." He seemed wary, as if waiting for something to jump out of the shadows at him.

"No!" Dearekk exclaimed, "We don't even know you, so why should we trust you? Not to mention you just almost got Sonya killed! What kind of Guardian are you?"

Snarling the Guardian turned into a panther and pounced on Dearekk, pinning him to the ground. "Do not speak that title here!" he growled in a low tone. "You have no idea where you are right now, and what kind of danger you are in. This is the only way out. If you did not escape this way, you would have been put through more tests to prove your love for each other. Trust me when I say you two would not have survived the first one." He got off Dearekk and when he landed back on the ground he was a wolf again. "Now come," the Guardian hissed, "You would not like to meet my sister."

Silently, they passed through black caves, underground rivers, deep canyons and mucky catwalks, none of them daring to make a noise in the presence of the anxious Guardian. Finally they reached a rickety bridge, swaying gently across a huge abyss, it seemed to be the only way across.

The abyss was deep. As far as Sonya could tell, there was no bottom. She leaned over and caught a glimpse of something glowing yellow at the bottom before quickly scrambling back, an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. "I hate heights," she murmured.

"The bridge looks like it would break in an instant," Dearekk observed, leaning over the edge a little bit.

"It will," the Guardian agreed.

Turing around, Dearekk looked stunned. "Then how do we get across?" he inquired, completely baffled.

The Guardian looked torn for a moment. "I am a keeper of balance," he murmured, "I have said too much already. Good luck on your journey young ones," With those words he melted into the shadows, white fading into black.

"Guardian!" Sonya yelled out, "Guar-" Her voice was cut off when Dearekk clapped his hand over her mouth. A low growl echoed across the cavern.

"Don't say his name," he whispered. They both stood there for a moment, waiting for the growl to fade. "I have a feeling that we are not the only ones here," he murmured more to himself than her.

"What do we do?" she asked once he moved his hand.

Gazing around, Dearekk seemed to be analyzing their situation. "Well," he began slowly, "we can't go forward, we can't really go back, and the cave's walls are smooth so we can't go up..." When Sonya saw his eyes dart to the abyss she snapped.

"No," she raised her hands backing away. "No, no, no, no. There is no way in Zauluke that I'm going down there!"

"It's the only way out!" he replied sharply, "We don't have a choice!"

"You may not have a choice," she spat, "but I choose life. I am not going down there!"

"Why not?" his eyes widened. "You're scared aren't you?" He let out a triumphant laugh. "You are afraid of heights! That's why you stumbled back from edge, you can't stand being up high!"

"I am perfectly fine with heights!" she snapped. His eyes drilled into her and she couldn't help but look away. "It's just falling," she muttered under her breath and sat down on the hard dirt floor.

Dearekk knelt down next to her. "I'm afraid of speaking in front of people," he whispered. "But I had to overcome that fear. Some prince I would have been, not being able to speak to his soldiers." He let out a snort, but then looked at her with soft eyes, "It will be alright, I promise. And if we die, I'll let you kill me."

Sonya looked over the boy in front of her. "I'm not even sure if I should trust you," she said skeptically, "I mean, you could still be trying to kill me."

Dearekk laughed, "Sonya, as often as I do want to kill you, I never would." She could see the flecks of green in his grey eyes. "I will never really belong to any race again, but if I had to call one my kin, it would be the elves."

Questions popped into Sonya's head, but she refrained from asking them and gave him a curt nod.

"On three," Dearekk said confidently. Then suddenly there was a growl, one much more menacing and much louder than the Guardian's. It vibrated throughout the cavern, and the temperature spiked, leaving Sonya feeling like she was in a hot spring.

Dearekk went white. "Forget that," he yelled, "Now!" With that he yanked her arm and both of them went tumbling over the edge of the abyss.

Dumb with terror, all Sonya could do was fall. The yellow glow below her became brighter, and brighter. The bottom of the chasm seemed to be a huge golden disk. Light shone through runes as they twisted around the circle. It would have been beautiful if she had not been preoccupied with her terror. All she could do was close her eyes and hold her breath as she crashed into the pool of molten gold.

(A/N Hi! Wow, fast update and a long chapter! Well, long for me. I like cliffhangers. Do you like cliffhangers? Cause I do. So yeah, the picture is of the Guardian in his wolf form. I have this strange feeling that we might see him again...because he is awesome :D Comment and vote please! )