The Guardians of the Relic

Ethan sat in the back of his chauffeur driven white Chrysler 300c. He preferred to drive rather than be chauffeured, but his father would not allow it after the incident in London. It wasn’t that bad, he thought. Okay maybe it did look bad. He had been booked for reckless driving while trying to help a friend escape from the police. Ethan had also been charged as his accomplice. In his defence, his friend was innocent. He had been framed for a white collar crime, but that didn’t matter to his father. He had been furious with him. After all, he had the family name to honor and uphold.

Ethan couldn’t care less what people thought of him. He didn’t care about the fame or money of his family. Well...maybe he did care about the money. Money was useful in getting things done and afforded him the opportunity to pursue his interests. In any case, most of his wealth he had earned himself. He wasn’t one of those rich kids who took daddy’s money.

As he made his way home from the library, he stared out the window and saw an old man walking his small dog, a Dandie Dinmount Terrier. Ethan loved Elgin. He had missed it when he moved to London, but he had just needed his own space, away from the glitz and glamour of being a Cunningham. He owned an IT company in London, a company that was now shut down thanks to his father.

He would have never allowed it had it not been for his mother, Caroline. She asked him to come back home, claiming he seemed to find nothing but trouble in the city. He had no real friends to speak of, and had never had a significant girlfriend in his life. According to his mom the one friend he did have didn’t count because he was a criminal. She also said he had a problem ‘connecting’ with people, which he thought was ridiculous.

Ethan never met many people on his intellectual level, which made it hard to make friends. It was hard to carry on a conversation with someone who didn’t have similar interests and couldn’t keep up. Jack Railey, his so-called ‘criminal hacker’ friend, was the exception. Ethan could relate to him. He would never agree with his mother about Jack, but she was his only weakness. He could refuse anyone, but never her. So he moved back to Elgin.

He had conditions, of course; there had to be ground rules on which he agreed to return. One of them was that he would live on the opposite side of town from his parents. The other was that his father sold him two buildings in Elgin Central. Part of one he personally occupied and ran a small computer shop.

The car pulled up to the side of his building. His driver Rupert got out from the front and opened his door.

“Thank you Rupert. I will be staying in the rest of this evening, so you can take the night off,” said Ethan as he got out of the car.

“Very well, sir. Enjoy your evening,” said Rupert. No matter how many times he told Rupert to call him by his first name, he never listened. Rupert was disciplined. He guessed his father would have it no other way.

“You too, Rupert,” he said and ran up the stairs.

When he entered his apartment he took off his coat and switched on his computer. He took out the flash drive from his backpack and plugged it in. At least his trip to the library today had been useful. He couldn’t remember how he had become so involved in all this.

Ethan had been back home for two years, and out of those two years he had spent more than half of his time researching supernatural activities in Elgin. He usually wasn’t a believer in supernatural nonsense, but even he couldn’t deny what he had seen with his own eyes.

As he began to read all the data he had collected, he heard a knock on the door. Strange, he thought, I’m not expecting anybody. He went to open the door, and was surprised to find that nobody was there. He stepped through the doorway and glanced to the left and right. No sign of anyone. That’s odd, he thought. He was sure he had heard someone knock. He closed the door and turned around, and then suddenly jumped in a fright. A man in a long coat stood next to his computer. The hood of the coat covered most of his face.

Multiple thoughts went through Ethan’s head in a flash. The baseball bat he kept in the side of his table. The gun he bought a few months ago in his top desk drawer. He could grab any of those weapons within seconds, but as he ran the calculations in his head, he realized he wouldn’t make it to either before the intruder could react.

“You are right. You would not make it in time to grab either one of those weapons…not that they would have done you any good,” said the man and slowly pulled of his hood.

Ethan stood shocked. How did he know what I was thinking? He paused for what seemed like forever. “Alastair,” he said finally. Alastair smiled at him. He couldn’t believe it. Ethan hadn’t met him in eight months.

“I am delighted that you still remember me Ethan,” said Alastair. He walked around and studied the place. “Since when did you start keeping guns in your apartment?”

Alastair turned to look at the boy. His eyes had dark circles around them. The boy obviously hadn’t been getting much sleep, he thought.

“First off, how could I ever forget you? The last time I saw you has been etched into my brain.” He started to pace. “Second, I only have one gun, and it’s only because I recently had some trouble with my tenants.”

There was an incident where one of his tenants had been in a little bit of trouble. Okay maybe more than a little bit, he thought. But how was he supposed to know that the man was running from the mob? Needless to say, it wasn’t a very pleasant encounter when they finally found the man in his apartment.

Alastair was about to say something when Ethan lifted his hand. “I am not finished. Third, it still freaks me out that you can read my mind as well as enter my apartment without me even seeing you.”

“Ethan, I understand you don’t like the fact that you cannot explain our kind. I also understand that it is very scary to a person like you. But all will be revealed in due time.” Alastair watched him pace and hoped he could be off help to him. He was running out of options and Emily would be in grave danger soon if he couldn’t find Alkron or the pendant. “I have come because I need your help.”

Ethan stopped pacing and looked at Alastair. Why would Alastair need his help? He knew he was smart, but he didn’t understand how that could be any help to Alastair.

“Why do you need my help?” asked Ethan. He locked the front door and made sure the window was closed so that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

Alastair appreciated Ethan’s ability to be discreet and keep a secret, especially considering that he really didn’t know exactly what that secret was yet. He hadn’t said anything to anyone about what he knew thus far, and they had been talking for over eight months. That’s the reason he will be perfect for the job, thought Alastair.

“As you already know, the council seeks to protect the people of Elgin at all costs. But there is one person in particular whom I fear is in great danger,” said Alastair.

“I see. And that would be Emily Carson, right?” asked Ethan. He had been watching her and figured out that she was part of the story, perhaps bigger than he could yet understand.

“How did you know that?” asked Alastair and looked at him with surprise. Ethan just smiled.

“Well, I may not be able to read minds like you, but I can deduce what’s going on by information I have.”

Before Alastair could respond, a noise came from the kitchen. Ethan jolted at the sound. Alastair signaled for him to stay put and keep quiet. Ethan nodded in response. Alastair slowly approached the kitchen and saw a figure hovering over a jar on the counter. He sent a single lightning bolt at the figure that lit up the entire apartment with a crystal blue ray. Ethan covered his eyes at the sudden brightness. The figure dodged and barely missed the lightning bolt. As Alastair watched carefully, the figure slowly turned and he saw Izdel with his shoulders slouched, both hands in the air and one eye half closed.

“Izdel you fool, I could have killed you. What on earth are you doing here? You were supposed to be watching Emily,” said Alastair shouting at him.

“I was watching her, but then Glohone said he couldn’t stand being alone in the shop, so he wanted to swap places with me.” He hesitated and then quickly grabbed a cookie from the jar and took a bite. Alastair eyed him. “I just thought I would check on you,” said Izdel.

Alastair shook his head. “You could have made your presence known.” He suddenly realized something. “Why was Glohone alone? Where is Zugast?”

“He left suddenly, said there was something he needed to take care of. And Erhan is not back yet.” Izdel walked around, picked up a snow globe of London lying on the table and studied it. Ethan, who was now standing next to the table, snatched it from his hand quickly.

“Don’t touch anything,” he said to Izdel.

Ethan’s head was still spinning as he tried to understand what he had just witnessed. He was not sure whether he should be intrigued or scared.

“Sorry. I don’t think we have been properly introduced. The name is Izdel, but you can call me Izzy.” He extended his hand to him and smiled. Ethan shook it.

“Ethan Cunningham,” he said. He studied Izdel and noticed that he was very different from Alastair. He was smaller in size, less intimidating, and he looked nothing like any of the rest of the ones he had seen in the books he had read. He placed the snow globe back in its spot on the table. It was a gift from Jack’s sister and he was fond of it because it reminded him of his time in London. Maybe he did have a little sentiment in him after all.

“Pleasure to meet you Ethan,” said Izdel. As he glanced at Alastair standing behind him, he noticed that he still looked angry. He decided it was best to retreat. “Well then, I will be over in the kitchen if you need me.” He hurried away.

Ethan turned to Alastair. “So I know you need my help to protect Emily, but the question is...why is she in danger?”

Alastair knew it was not going to be easy asking a person like Ethan for help. Ethan was inquisitive, and he would have to know the answers before he proceeded. “Have a seat, I will explain,” he said.

He told him about the three relics, the great power that they possessed and how Alkron had come close to getting the medallion pendant. He then went on to tell him how they had managed to track him back to Elgin and that they have been searching for him for the last three years. “Every time we get close to finding him he slips away.”

Ethan sat forward at the desk. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. His lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to him. He knew most of what Alastair just told him. He had managed to figure that much out through his research. But it still didn’t answer most of his questions. “What’s Emily’s connection in all this?”

Alastair noticed in his peripheral vision that Izdel sat on the kitchen counter and eyed him, waiting for his response. The rest of the council didn’t remember Emily Carson. But he did. He could never forget Emily or her brother Michael. He had watched over both of them since they were teenagers. He didn’t know how to reveal what he had done at this point. He was afraid that the rest of the council might not understand why he felt it was his personal duty to protect the Carsons, or why they were so important to him. He had to come up with a plausible explanation, and fast.

“She is getting very close to finding out the truth about the council and the relics. I need you to lead her astray and keep her out of harm’s way.” He paused a few seconds to let it sink in. “If Alkron gets any idea of what she is doing, he will put an end to her himself. Since he is always one step ahead of us, there’s no telling how soon that will be.”

“But why did she start looking in the first place?” asked Ethan.

“She was spying on one of our private meetings in Elgin Central Park just two weeks ago, and we caught her. She has been searching for clues ever since.”

Something’s just not adding up, thought Ethan. When he spotted Alastair in town about three months ago, he had followed him. That’s when he saw him outside Emily’s apartment. That’s how he had figured out she was involved in some way. But if the incident in the park only happened two weeks ago, why was he watching her before then?

He went through the different reasons in his head and decided it was best he learn the truth on his own. He didn’t think Alastair would tell him the truth anyway, and he didn’t want him to know he had been spying on him. Ethan stood up.

“I will help you keep her safe.” He looked at Izdel, who got off the counter.

“I can tell you it’s not going to be easy. Emily is a feisty girl and persistent. And gorgeous,” said Izdel with an impish smile on his face.

“I can handle it. After all, this is not my first time protecting someone,” said Ethan. Of course the first time he was protecting his friend from the police, not from a crazy sorcerer who wanted to destroy the world, but what the hell. It was a challenge, thought Ethan.

“I am forever indebted to you for doing this Ethan,” said Alastair. He could see that Ethan felt awkward by his statement so he held out his hand. They shook hands.

Alastair thought of Emily. It had taken many years to reach this point. He had always feared it, but he couldn’t avoid it forever. Maybe she would finally learn the truth, or maybe Ethan would succeed in steering her away from all this. He hoped it would be the latter.