To Be Like the Guardians

Part 2: The Protecting, Chapter 9: The Guardians' Problem

A pillar of cloud blew into the lair, bearing the dark-haired woman. The agents and ex-agent- but not for too much longer, fortunately- sprinted down the stairs of the structure and toward her, away from the attacking forces of the Fearlings and Nightmares. It took a minute for the group to reach her, but once they did, she needed only moments to fly them out onto the cold wet ground. Cold and wet. Surrounding them were the black skeletons of trees, shrubs, and other plants, all dripping with water. There were Fearlings and Nightmares in the distance, the fight having retreated away from the flame, but Mother Nature had apparently put out the fire. Some Fearlings were lying on the ground aglow.

"Thank you," Mother Nature told Beth, sending glares at everyone else, "for protecting my father."

"Uh, your welcome."

"I'll take you home now and tell your employers what you've done."

"Thank you. They'll be back sometime this morning."

"Good."

And with that, Beth was soaring in the air once more, her hair whipping around her and the cool night wind sending goosebumps up and down her body. She wondered, with a great sigh of relief that she would be safe, how long it would take to learn to control the element of wind. Probably a long time, but maybe, if she ever found the patience and Mother Nature was willing to teach her, someday she could.

*/*/*/*

Mallory watched as the Fearlings and Nightmares began to retreat back to the lair, their dark swarm funneling through the sky and back to the hole in the ground. He could see through the burned trees- mysterious clouds had formed out of nowhere and put out the fire- and agents looked in confusion as two dark-haired women flew into the sky. Was that? No, it couldn't be...

"Something terrible has happened. Dark things will come."

Mallory opened his mouth to tell the voices to shut up, but he stopped himself. They couldn't control what happened. They could only tell him things. He should be thanking them for the warning.

He watched as the agents,including Graham and his team, returned to his hiding spot of behind a rectangular brick building. Graham stopped glowing, and he ran to Mallory.

"We couldn't kill Pitch," he said, not meeting Mallory's gaze. The words struck his chest like mallets. Even so, he could tell that Graham's statement was missing something: details. But Mallory couldn't see his haze- or anyone's, really- though there were other visible clues that told him Graham was uncomfortable. He wasn't holding eye contact, and his feet were facing away from Mallory. Something was off, for certain.

"Why couldn't you kill him?" Mallory asked.

"Um, he was too strong." Lies. Mallory would be sure to weasel out why later, but this wasn't the optimal place to do it. Somewhere away from human eyes, where he could try to manipulate Graham without his realizing that was what it was, would be better.

"Well, we better catch a plane back." It would be difficult to try to kill Pitch again, but Mallory could do it, before the dark things the voices had warned about happened. He would just have to be extra careful with Matt and Haven around.

*}{/*}{/*}{/*

That night, Beth had a strange dream. She was sitting at Bennett's desk, looking through an orange journal. It had her full name on the inside of the front cover: Annabeth Polly Howard. She didn't know what it was, though, or what it was doing there.

She flipped to the next page. Her high school friend Cynthia began to read from the blurred sentences on it, her red hair nearly hanging in Beth's face. Beth couldn't see what the words said or make out what Cynthia was saying, but she had a feeling it was important.