Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 32

"You made it."

It was surreal seeing Ryder standing in front of me with all of the confidence in the world. He seemed completely unphased by everything, like this was just any other day. Having him there beam at me excitedly with relief surrounding his entire essence put me at ease.

"Of course I did, Ace. I'm getting you out of here," he promised softly.

"After how we left things I just wasn't sure..." My voice trailed off as I averted my eyes from his gaze even though it remained gentle.

"If I would come for you? Tara, I may be your Handler but I'm also your friend. And I'm sorry I haven't really been acting like it," he looked like he was in pain this time.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you..."

"This little reunion is real nice and all but can you save it for later? I would really love to get out of here," Seraphina interrupted.

"She's right. Where are the others?" I asked him.

"We had to split up. Hazel was able to tap into the vibrations of the earth material that these stones are made of and sensed you were this way..."

"Wait, she can do that?

"She must be a very gifted earth mage to tap into the magic essence of someone through the earth itself," Avani acknowledged.

"Yeah, it's apparently a new trick she picked up. So I came to find you and Cooper went with her to find the other Guardians while Naudia and Iris went looking for the keys to your cells. Those stupid bandit-assassins are also all over this place which is why it took me a little longer to reach you," he explained apologetically.

"Iris is okay? What a relief," I let out an exasperated breath, feeling the exhaustion beginning to take over my body.

I stepped forward to grab the bar of the jail cell, worried I might collapse while wanting to rip down this barrier separating me from Ryder. I forgot about the magic barrier placed on the cell so when I touched the metal it felt as if it was draining all of the magic essence I had left and I quickly let go. The light-hearted look suddenly left Ryder's face and I realized it was because it was the first time he was actually able to get a good look at me and when he did he saw Aaron's handywork.

"It's not as bad as it looks," I tried to conceal my injuries from him but it was no use.

He took a step closer so that we were only inches apart and he lowered his voice into a growl. "Tara, you're bleeding from a hole in your head, your whole face looks like a swollen grapefruit and you're telling me it isn't as bad as it looks?"

"You sure do know how to charm a girl." I tried to tease him but he just gave me a stern look. "Hey, I'm fine. Now isn't really the time for a lecture either." Then I noticed the red stains on his shirt. "Why are you covered in blood?"

"It's not mine," he waved it off.

"Well that's reassuring."

"Look, I'm going to scout the area to see if there's anything else around here I can use to get you guys out. The others can only hold off those psycho ninjas for so long."

"The others? You mean the Master and everyone?"

"Well I know you think highly of us Tara but there is a whole group of loyal, mind controlled bandits here plus Stanton and Aaron, plus an unstable Guardian on the loose..."

"And yet the four of you came down here on your own, leaving everyone else behind. You couldn't wait for the Guild to devise some kind of plan together?"