Guardian: Protectors of Light by Melanie Houtman

seemed to be lavender leggings. Dark
purple gloves, which reached to her elbows, and a bow to hold her
braided hair together finished the look, making her look like a
princess in disguise. Bella, on the other hand, looked much more
like a boy in medieval attire. She liked it, as it was comfortable
and easy to move about in; a leather tunic, covering a loose and
thin shirt. She was wearing pants made from a similar material,
just as loose and light, but thicker. The pants were stuffed into
high boots, which were similar in design to James’s and
Antonio’s.
    Thomas, according to
Samira, looked like a true “knight in shining armour”. Antonio then
found a way to make a joke out of it by saying half the armour was
missing; he wasn’t wrong, though. A silver-coloured chest-and-back
plate, with extra protective caps for the knees and elbows; as if
he was some extremely rich – and medieval - skater. He just missed
the helmet. The kneecaps were no problem; Thomas easily slipped
them inside his boots, still being able to run and walk
properly.
    Antonio seemed to be the
only one who didn’t like his clothes. He’d chosen the tunic similar
to James’s, except without the glowing pattern - and it was
bordeaux red, instead of blue.
    The same shade of red –
including a few lighter shades of brown – appeared everywhere in
his costume, apart from his cape; the cape Antonio was wearing was
midnight blue.
    When Madeleine heard the
laughing voices from behind the bookshelf door, she reopened it,
asking the five teenagers in the room if they were ready to go,
allowing them to return to the room and have a seat around the
fireplace, where Akilah was already waiting for them, sitting in a
fancy-looking chair.
    “ Now, let me
tell you what your task is,” the Spirit said. “I want you to listen
closely, as any information you’re given while you’re here could be
crucial to make it out of here alive.”
    She looked at the five
faces in front of her for a few moments to ensure everyone was
listening before continuing.
    “ Tonight, you
will be sent off into our world as the Tenth Generation of the Bond
of Light. Five young, brave heroes, who will venture through the
five Realms our world consists of to get to the Land of Void, which
once used to be home to me and my Spirit brothers and
sisters.”
    She paused for a second
to think about her past, when all was going well in Lunaria, before
brother Asura, Akilah’s youngest and personal favourite “sibling”;
the one she truly cared for as her little brother instead rather a
close friend.
    “ ...As I
said,” Akilah managed to pull herself back together, “you will have
travel all of the Realms before you can complete your journey. You
will meet powerful allies, as well as dangerous enemies. Keep an
eye on the shadows when night falls.”
    Samira raised her hand,
and waited for Akilah to give her permission to speak. “Why will we
have to travel through every Realm? Can’t we go straight to the
Land of Void?” she asked.
    Akilah looked at her; her face didn’t show her state of
mind. “You will have to seek your Guardian’s Identity that awaits
you in one of the Realms, my child,” she said. “Your Identity will
unlock access to your Guardian’s Totem. A special, magical object,
which is crucial to complete your journey. If you don’t complete
this journey to find your Identity, you probably won’t complete the
full journey, either.”
    A short silence followed. Nobody saw that coming. Really?
Those “Identities” and “Totems” seemed like those unlockable bonus
items in a video game that were extremely hard, if not impossible,
to actually unlock to James.
    Wouldn’t that be a
complete waste of time? But, then again... the wisest of all six
Spirits, who was probably over a million years old, if not older,
was telling them to go and get them, because they were likely to
die without them. So that meant they’d probably have to go get them
anyway.
    “ The