Daylight is Mine to Protect

Protector

I sit in math class taught by Miss Janeth, a woman with two black buns on the sides of her black hair. Her blue piercing eyes, behind her purple glasses, glare at everyone in the classroom. "Now, who can tell me what x is when x times 3 minus 32 equals 14?" She asks, scratching the problem on to the chalkboard with a stubby piece of white chalk.

To my left, I can hear Jim, Claire, and Toby talking urgently and I tune out Miss Janeth to hear them. "For the last time, I don't know where my amulet is. I was up all night studying, so I would've known if anyone had come into my home to steal it." From my seat, I can see the bags under his eyes, and I wince, self-consciously rubbing under my own eyes. Once again, I had stayed up all night trying to protect Jim and figure out a way to return his amulet to him. It was only when I had decided to take a quick, 30 minute nap that Merlin had come to me to tell me what to do. By that time, school was starting, and I had no more chance to sleep. As a result, I can feel my eyes drooping, and my whole body feels like lead.

"What are we going to do?!" whispers Toby frantically. "What if Angor Rot attacks? You'll be a sitting duck!"

"Even without my amulet, I can still hold my ground!" argues Jim.

"Plus," adds Claire. "You've got us. As long as we're together, Angor Rot probably won't attack."

Yeah right. I quickly glance at the teacher before "accidentally" dropping my pencil. While I'm under the table I grab the amulet and whisper, "Return." The amulet glows a soft blue before flashing out of existence. As I sit up straight, I notice out of the corner of my eye that a blue glow is coming from Jim's backpack.

"Miss Waystar," Miss Janeth speaks up. I focus my full attention on her. "Was that a phone?" I hang my head, too tired and unconcerned to care while also noting that Jim had noticed the glow as well. "Detention this Saturday!" I nod as Jim looks in his bag and finds the amulet. Toby in the seat next to him looks over Jim's shoulder and opens his mouth like a fish. He sends a questioning glance towards Jim who shrugs his shoulders, at a loss for words. "Now for the next equation..."

After class, I stumble tiredly out, wondering if I should skip the rest of school. How am I supposed to protect Jim if I'm constantly tired? I rub my temples and head towards my locker to get the next class's supplies. As I open my locker, a strange tingling occurs in my ear. Too tired to care, I ignore it and go to close my locker. Then, I stop as I notice a glittering object in its depths. What the... The object is slightly silver and is in the shape of a long, rounded triangle. But... this looks like... My eyes widen in surprise as an all too familiar voice sounds behind me.

"Hello Amber."

"Strikler," I spit out. My body is tense with fear, and my hands are clenched into fists at my sides. "I didn't realize you were still a principal here."

"Well, that's a surprise; when I saw you last, you seemed to know everything." My treacherous mind flashes back to when I had last seen him.

He had visited Morgana's place only a couple of times since changelings used to practically worship her and held a festival in her honor every year, but were forbidden to visit her any other time. Last year's festival, the last festival I went to before running away, brought him once again. Since he was one of the higher changelings, I recognized him immediately and instantly noticed something was off. To the unobservant eye, his appearance looked normal. His changeling form was a pale green that went well with the brown cape with the silver spikes along the top. Yellow eyes with orange iris glowed from his monster-like face that had brownish curly horns and greyish-brown hair sticking out of it's top. Yet, his mannerisms were nothing like what they usually were. His shoulders were tensed and his mouth was set in a firm, straight line. His eyes glared at anyone and everyone and, with a sinking feeling in my gut, I realized he was glaring the most at me.

Normally, Morgana would make me look like a changeling, and I would party alongside the other changelings. Tonight, however, I felt tense even in my changeling form as Strikler continued to give me piercing looks of rage. As the night wore on, I desperately tried to think what I could have done to upset him. Bularg said he was more and more tense as Gunmar's release was coming. I paled. And I gave him the idea to not trust Strikler. I quietly excused myself from the festivities and hurriedly ran to the lake nearby. As I looked over the wide expanse of murky water, I felt a growing sense of doom in my stomach.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump, and I quickly turned to look who was intruding on my silence. Strikler normally wasn't in his human form during the festivities, yet the pinkish skin, green eyes, and full head of grey hair were most certainly human and most certainly Strikler. I sigh. "What do you want Strikler?"

"I'm surprised you know it's me," he said, sitting down next to me.

I scoffed. "Just because someone looks a certain way, doesn't mean that don't act the same."

"That may be so, but you're the first person to instantly connect my changeling and human form." He assessed me carefully, and I returned his gaze with my own blazing one. "You're young to be helping out the Lady Pale," he observed. I tensed and remembered the story Morgana had weaved into the changelings' mind about how I was her personal assistant so that they wouldn't be suspicious.

"Well, she wanted someone not so closely tied to the Janus Order," I replied.

"I see..." He handed me some sort of box. "I brought you something to keep you company." Shocked, I took the box from him.

"It's not dangerous.. is it?" I asked, carefully judging his reaction.

"It shouldn't be," replied Strikler. I gulped. Unless I'm just a human. I finished his implied statement. He left without another word, and I looked at the box, worried at what could be inside.

I sat there a long time, looking at the box and dreading what could be in its depths. By the time I ventured to open it, the festival had long since dispersed. All I find inside is a orange lump of an egg. I crush my leap of fear and throw the egg into the lake, scrambling back in horror. It was a Stalkling egg and even holding it for an instant would infuriate the mother. I just hoped that the river would wash away my scent.

That night, I slept fitfully, finally entering a dream where Merlin confronted me for the first time and told me I was in danger. I woke soon after and found the Stalkling hovering around the lake. I'll never know what happened to it because that was the night I ran away, not because I was afraid of the Stalkling, but because I was afraid of Strikler and the lengths he would go to get revenge...

I stay as still as possible as I repeat, "What do you want?"

"To get even," he replies. I whip around and barely dodge the blow he aims towards my head. Wait... why would he try to hit me during school hours? My muddled, sleep-deprived brain tries to process what is going on as I continue to dodge Strikler. With a roar, he changes into his changeling form. At this, I pause, uncertain to why he would reveal himself in front of all of his students.

Suddenly remembering the tickling in my ear, I sigh in relief. "Just pixies." I hit the side of my head and squish the yellow flash that comes out of my brain as the image of Strikler disappears. I breathe easier knowing Strikler is nowhere in sight. Then, a frown creases my face. Wait... do they even have pixies on the surface. My face pales. Angor Rot is the only one old school enough to use pixies again. I should've realized! I slam my locker closed and race through the halls, trying to find and protect Jim before it is too late...