CHAMPIONS (The Lost Chronicles of Eden, #1) [Published]

08: ON ESCAPING FOUL-TEMPERED WARRIORS AND CHASING AFTER THE PAST

It was the most grueling battle they had in quite a while. It made sense that their enemies sent stronger demons. After disposing of their doubles - albeit too enthusiastically - they rested as they waited for Gabriel to regain consciousness.

Solenn moved to wipe the sweat on her forehead and bit back a gasp when she saw a huge gash on her arm. Those demons sure did a number on her. The enemies really wanted them dead... especially him.

Solenn glanced at the Human who was slowly stirring back to life. She didn't know how she managed to protect him during the attack, but thank the Triune he was unharmed. She felt the unwanted sting of compassion as she watched him attempt to run his hand through his hair. Even from afar, she could see how hard his hand was shaking. Too weak from shock and terror, he just let it drop on the ground and laid his head on the tree trunk.

Her feet moved before her mind caught up to it. She walked towards Gabriel and crouched in front of him.

"Hey," she said, her voice gruff. She opened her mouth to say more, but what could she say to somebody whose life they had disrupted without any semblance of a warning?

Gabriel gave her a wan smile. From up close, he could see the wounds and scars crisscrossed on Solenn's arms. There were probably more of those beneath her armor. She also had a scar that split her finely arched eyebrow.

He lifted his head a bit and threw a glance at the other two. Even from afar, Gabriel could also see Solomon's battle scars. What surprised him the most was Selina. She had a long, angry-looking scar that ran down the side of her face, from the temple down to her jaw.

Their covers or disguises, or whatever that was that made them look like any other teenagers, had probably hidden their scars. Who were these people? Where did they come from? Why did they have so many scars?

He had a lot of questions, but from their expressions and temperaments, he knew that he had to wait until they reached wherever they needed to go before he got his answers. He cleared his throat and settled for a greeting instead.

"Hey."

"You're not OK."

"I'm not OK."

Solenn scratched the back of her neck. "Right."

"Yeah."

"If you two are done with your courting," Solomon's sarcastic voice cut through the woods and straight to their awkward conversation, "we have to go. 'Lenn, take point and look for the puésto."

"Crawl in a hole and die, Sol." Solenn abruptly stood up and walked away, promptly followed by Selina. Solomon waited for Gabriel to stand up on shaky legs and follow the other two, before he took his position at the end of their trail.

***

The four teens walked further into the forest. The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of crunching dried leaves under their booted feet. They were pensive as they walked through the trail. The mountain mist was cool on their skin. Leaves danced to the gentle song of the wind. From a distance, they heard the roaring sound of a waterfall as it crashed against giant rocks. Twigs crackled underfoot as they walked to the designated puésto, a portal that would lead them back to their world.

Puéstos were never at the same place twice. They always relied on the Santas Voces, holy voices that whispered directions to the portals, to get to one. If one could not interpret the whispers of the Santas Voces, he'd be doomed to wander through the portals and dimensions not even the Guardians had seen before.

Every urban legend had a ring of truth in them. Locals of the province were fond of telling stories of men and women who got lost in the mountain. Sometimes, an unwelcome Human stranger would come across a puésto, walk for hours in circles, and come back out only to find out that he had been gone for years.

When they reached a clearing almost an hour into the trek, Solenn signaled for the group to stop. Time seemed to stop in that small area. The sounds of the forest were muted and the air became still. The leaves weren't dancing. The trees stood still, their branches steady.

At the other end of their trail, Solomon closed his eyes and lifted his head a bit, as if listening to a song only he could hear. Solenn suddenly crouched down low and grabbed a handful of earth. She, too, closed her eyes as she fisted the soil and ran it through her fingers before dropping it back to the ground.

Solomon heard the voices in the wind. Solenn heard it in the earth.

Hale un nohime, the voices said. Home is here.

They opened their eyes at the same time. They walked towards the tallest tree in the clearing and placed their palms upon the gnarled trunk.

Denos vos hale. Send us home.

The air in the clearing shifted. Solomon and Solenn motioned for their group to walk towards the edge of the clearing, where the air seemed wavy, like water. Gabriel somehow knew that when he entered that portal, he would never be able to come back home to his church and his makeshift family.

For a moment, he wanted to split and run back home. He didn't care what the other three... whatever they were... would do to him. He wasn't a trained warrior, like they seemed to be, but he knew his martial arts. He was a black belter in tae kwon do and he had a flat 1.0 when he took up arnis for his Phys. Ed. class. He wasn't behind in his karate and judo, either.

He had nothing on their ginormous weapons of destruction and kick-assery, but maybe he could distract and maim them enough for him to split and escape.

He was poised to make his first move, but he saw Selina's pendant glinting under the rays of the late afternoon sun when he turned.

The pendant.

They wore the same pendant that Sister Margaret gave him last night. These people were weird, but they seemed to know something about his past.

He recalled it again - the voices, the images, the memories. If he went with them, he'd have his answers.

That alone was enough to make him stay.

Selina was the first to approach the portal. "Don't run," she warned as she walked past Gabriel. "We'll tell you what you need to know when we get to safety." With that, she stepped into the portal and disappeared.

Solomon was next. "You'll be fine," he told Gabriel. He turned to Solenn and nodded before he got in and disappeared.

"Well, it's just you and me," Gabriel said, breaking the silence. "At least, tell me what you are."

"We're Guardians," Solenn said. "We fight demons and we... heck, how do I explain this?" She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "It's a long story, oK? Selina's right. We promise to tell you everything when we get to the Citadel. Just trust us for now. We'll never hurt you."

Gabriel gave Solenn a small smile. "I never thought you would." He coughed to dispel the awkward air and said, "Well! Uh... ladies first?" Solenn raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine. Uh... OK. So I just step in and that's it?"

"Yeah."

Gabriel moved to step in but he stopped. "I won't lose an arm or a leg, would I? I mean, is this safe? What if I land on my head? I don't want to die ugly and -"

"Just get in, Human!" Solenn snapped. She grabbed Gabriel's hand and dragged him to the portal.

Steeling themselves for the travel, the two walked into the portal and closed their eyes against the blinding light of the vortex.