Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 30

"Iris, I think you should fly back to Nexus. You'll be safe there," Elliot suggested as he lead the team deeper into the courtyard.

"Tara is my Charge so I am not going to be sitting on the sidelines for this one. She needs me." She was adamant. There was no way she was going to just wait and see what happened next. There was too much at stake.

And no one else objected.

"Here. This is it. I've only ever seen them use magic to open the door," Elliot gestured to one of the garden hedges.

At first they all just stared blankly at him, skeptical about a hedge being a door to an underground tunnel system. But then Hazel felt it. She could sense the intricate pathways beneath her feet leading in all directions and she could see exactly what Elliot was talking about. So she took her stance, squatted down and shifted her arms to the side. The ground beneath the hedge began to slowly shift along with her and just like that there was an opening in the ground. A set of stairs leading into the depths of the Earth.

"I can feel Tara again! She isn't far from here!" she gasped, jumping headfirst into unfamiliar territory without a second thought.

The others followed closely behind her as Ryder used his flames to light the way until they reached the bottom. The hallway that stretched out in front of them was dimly lit with torches that lined the walls and even through the darkness they didn't stop running for even a second. Whenever they would reach a crossroads Hazel would place a hand on the stone path beneath their feet and then would take off again. It was taking too long though.

"Something isn't right. The deeper we go the more Tara's essence gets spread around. I can't pinpoint her location anymore," Hazel slammed her fist against the stones.

"Lucky for us it rained last night," Cooper suddenly spoke, closing his eyes.

"How is that lucky for us? This humidity has been killing my hair all day," Naudia smoothed out the tips of her blonde strands.

"The water in the air can help us narrow down Tara's location. The reason behind Hazel not being able to sense Tara's essence anymore is most likely because of a misting spray that is meant to coat and cover up someone's tracks. Handy if you're trying to disappear and confuse those tracking you down, but with the misting spray mixing in with the moist air I might be able to manipulate it."

"I did notice that the earth down here is damp. That would explain why I keep losing her!" Hazel nodded vigorously.

"Exactly. So while I sift through the water in the air I need you to focus on the strongest strand of essence. That one will be Tara."

"Got it," she nodded, placing both hands back on the solid stone.

The others remained quiet as they let the two of them concentrate. Cooper focused on every molecule of water in the air, forcing the magic properties from the mist to dissipate while Hazel used her affinity for earth to search every inch of every tunnel. With Cooper's help her vision became clearer.

"I found her!" she exclaimed, jumping back up to her feet. "I found the other Guardians as well, but they're in opposite directions."

"Then we split up. Naudia, Iris and I will go get Tara. Cooper and Hazel will go to the other Guardians and Elliot, we'll need you for cover. There's no doubt that Anya has eyes all over this place. You also have a connection to her as her Handler so your job is to find her and try to knock some sense into her. Sound good?" Ryder delegated.

When he saw no one objected to his plan he took it as a sign of agreement. However, before Hazel could even tell him how to reach Tara the walls around them began to tremble as the ceiling above them started to cave in. Ryder held Iris close as they all dove out of the way right while rubble crumbled around them. The shock to their systems had them all rattled and when the dust began to settle they all saw Vera and Cal standing tall amidst the mess surrounding them.

"Vera? Cal? How did you get here so fast?" Naudia squinted through the settling dust.

"A bunch of us were enjoying the festival in town when we ran into Dillon and Bella in town and they told us what was going on. No way were we just going to wait around while you kids needed help. You don't have to worry about going it alone. Nexus is here. Go on with your rescue mission. We'll handle them," Cal gestured to two men who rose up from under the cement.

Ryder recognized the insignia on their clothes and realized they were the same group of bandits that had been terrorizing multiple towns across the country earlier in the year. Except they weren't just your typical group of thieving miscreants, they also had the skill-sets of well trained assassins. And they were the ones who were able to kidnap the Guardians so effortlessly.

"Ryder! Make sure you bring our girl home safe and sound," Vera flashed a bright smile at him and all he could do was nod back at her.

The commotion coming from the upper level sounded like Nexus was dealing with more than just a dozen bandits. Something more sinister was lurking above them, holding back the Guild from rushing in to save the day. Ryder could feel it in his chest. But before the worry and concern could settle in he replaced the feeling with courage and resolve. They had made it just in time and he wasn't about to let their help go to waste.

"Stick to the plan. We are getting all of the Guardians out of here!" Ryder's voice brought everyone back to their senses.

"I'll send you the map that connected Tara's essence to mine just now," Hazel clicked some buttons on her wrist communicator.

"Got it," Ryder nodded at her as a holographic map projected itself through his own device.

Then, Cooper and Hazel took off down one of the hallways right as Elliot launched himself up through the new door in the ceiling.

"You ready?" Ryder asked Naudia.

"Absolutely," she nodded back at him.

"We're coming, Tara!" Iris' voice echoed between the walls, her ferocity being felt by everyone trapped in the tunnels.