Ancient Guardians: The Uninvited by S. L. Morgan

throughout the glistening meadows. The terrain was becoming plentiful with these stones as the carriages started their winding ascent up the mountainside. Reece was speechless; the polished mountains they were traveling through were transparent, and they illuminated a rainbow of different colors.
    “Elizabeth,” she finally managed. “Where are we? This is absolutely amazing!” she said with wonder.
    Elizabeth beamed. “The Syskanah Highlands are glorious, are they not?” she said, as she glanced out of her window to admire the beauty as well. “There are many who travel great distances to view these sites.”
    “I can definitely see why.” Reece answered, still awestruck.
    The sounds of the horses’ hooves clicking against the hard surface of the polished stone started to become muted, and soon after, the carriages halted completely. Elizabeth and Reece looked at each other in confusion, while it sounded like a mob of horses were aggressively approaching their location. Reece’s eyes searched, but couldn’t see anything but the gemstone mountains to her right, and a luminous forest of trees to her left. Deep voices of men subtly echoed, coming from the carriage in front of them. Reece glanced out of her side window, and her breath caught when she saw Levi standing amongst a group of men.
    She pressed her lips together, trying to conceal her smile of excitement that he had already joined up with the convoy. “It’s Levi, Harrison, and Samuel,” she informed Elizabeth while she admired Levi, who was wearing his Guardian regalia. Areion, who stood patiently behind Levi, was also dressed in some type of black, shiny armor. To Reece’s surprise, he had a round shield strapped to his saddle, while a long sword hung at Levi’s side. She looked back at Elizabeth. “They look like they’re getting ready to go to war,” she said with a nervous laugh.
    Elizabeth smiled faintly, and before another word was spoken, the door to their carriage opened. Levi propped one foot up on the step and reached for Reece’s hand. His smile broadened as he raised it to his lips for a tender kiss. His eyes left hers for a brief moment to acknowledge Elizabeth. “Good afternoon, my ladies,” Levi said with a smile. He looked at Reece. “I trust your journey has been uneventful thus far?” he asked with a wink.
    Reece laughed as Levi guided her out of the carriage and turned to assist his sister. The convoy had pulled into an open area, giving the horses a break, and giving the family some time to stretch their legs, and take in some fresh air. Levi drew Reece’s arm up into his and led her over to where Samuel was relaying information about Michael Visor to Navarre.
    “Is everything okay?” she whispered softly to Levi. “Why are you dressed like you’re heading into a battle?”
    “Protocol,” he said with a soft laugh, “and yes, everything is perfectly fine. Whenever we enter another dimension with plans of confronting their leaders, we wear our Guardian attire.” Levi led Reece to a more secluded area. “We believe Michael is in Armedias; however, their ruler, Lucas, will not comply with our requests to begin a search throughout his domain.”
    Reece stepped back and looked up at Levi. “Lucas—that name seems familiar.”
    “Yes, you may recall his obtuse comments toward my father in the council meeting on Earth.”
    Reece suddenly remembered that frightening day in Scotland, when Navarre presented her before all of the aliens in order to restore their trust in the Guardians to continue protecting their worlds and Earth. It was easy to remember who Lucas was; he was one of the few who looked human, and not like some frightening creature that she was sure would cause her nightmares.
    “He was that young man who argued with your father, right?”
    Levi nodded and smiled. “Correct.”
    “He’s also an arrogant fool!” Harrison interjected, as he came up behind Reece. He looked down at her with his icy blue