The Guardians of the Relic

Alastair stood stroking his grey beard and contemplating his next move. Erhan stood beside him trying to calm the argument down between Glohone and Zugast. Izdel sat on an old rusted chair. They were in an abandoned building a few blocks away from the shop. He felt a change of location was necessary after hearing about Glohone’s encounter with Athena. Athena was the reason the two men were arguing.

“Enough,” said Alastair. His voice echoed through the halls. They all stopped immediately and looked at him. “Glohone, do you think Athena is after the pendant?”

Glohone’s face looked pained. Alastair was sure he felt conflicted. “I don’t know for sure. All I know is that she would never betray us,” said Glohone.

“How can you be sure of this?” asked Zugast.

Glohone moved closer to his face, his eyes turned a fiery red. “I just know.”

“Calm down Glohone. Take it easy,” said Izdel who, in an instant, was off the chair and had his hand on Glohone’s shoulder.

Zugast stepped back warily and turned to Alastair. “My Lord, will we take his word? He is clearly emotionally attached to her.”

Alastair said nothing. He thought of when they first sought the help of the Morelli sisters. It was a few years ago. Their great grandmother was a good friend of his. She was a powerful witch, but her great granddaughter Fay was said to be even more powerful than her. The magic had passed down through the generations, with the exception of Athena.

She didn’t possess any powers. The reason was that her mother had fallen in love with a mortal, the first mortal to marry a Morelli witch. Athena didn’t hold it against her mother, but it didn’t mean she never hated being different. It was why she had become a skilled fighter. It was a constant effort to keep up with her sister.

After being asked for help, Fay had done her best but was not able to locate Alkron. She said it was beyond even her ability. As far as Alastair knew the Morelli’s were loyal. They always had been. He finally looked at Zugast, who was waiting for his response.

“Glohone is right. Athena would never betray us in any way,” he said. Zugast was about to protest when he interrupted him. “However, we still must seek the truth from her. She is still hiding something.”

Alastair noticed that Erhan narrowed his eyes and took off his glasses. Erhan usually took off his glasses when he was nervous or worried. “What is it Erhan?” he asked.

“Maybe she seeks the pendant for her personal benefit. To become immortal,” said Erhan.

Alastair toyed with the possibility a little. “As much as it pains me to say this, it could be true. Perhaps she is tired of being in the shadow of her sister. She could be obsessed with having power.”

“But why would she risk it? She knows that Alkron is also searching for it, and that he would think nothing of killing her if he finds out what she is up too,” said Izdel.

“The obsession with power is blinding,” said Alastair.

Glohone just turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” asked Izdel.

“I am not going to stand here and listen to these preposterous theories. I am going to find her and get her to tell me the truth,” said Glohone.

“Foolish,” Zugast whispered under his breath.

Before Glohone could leave he turned around and muttered a spell. Instantly an invisible force swept Zugast off the ground and threw him against a gigantic concrete pillar. The pillar cracked all the way up into the ceiling. Glohone’s eyes glowed like fire. He walked slowly towards Zugast, who was now pinned by Glohone’s magic to the pillar and gasping for breath. Erhan just stood and watched, shocked. Alastair stretched both his hands in front of him, shut his eyes, and created a force field in front of Glohone, blocking his path.

“Release him. Now,” he yelled.

Glohone released him and he fell to the ground. Izdel ran to his side. Zugast lay slouched on the ground holding the back of his head. He glared up at Glohone with disgust. “Do you see what I mean my Lord? He is not in his right mind,” he said and sucked in air. Glohone walked out without a word. Izdel followed him. “Glohone wait.”

“Let him go, Izdel. His temper always gets the better of him. He will calm down soon,” said Alastair.

“I will just follow him to make sure he is okay,” said Izdel.

Alastair noticed the concern on Izdel’s face. “Very well. You may go.” Izdel was out the door before he had the chance to say anything else. Alastair then looked at Zugast. “Do not aggravate Glohone again. We have more pressing matters to deal with right now than to worry about the two of you.”

Zugast just nodded his head.

“Am I clear, Zugast?” asked Alastair, raising his voice this time.

“Yes, Alastair,” answered Zugast.

“Good. Erhan you need to track Athena’s whereabouts. Maybe that will give us a clue as to what’s really going on with her.”

“Let me do it,” said Zugast. Erhan looked at him surprised.

“Erhan is better equipped for this kind of thing. It will be better for him to handle it,” said Alastair.

Zugast stood up and dusted off his clothes. “Yes, but Erhan has his hands full with searching for the pendant now. I will stay out of Glohone’s way. I promise.”

“Okay, but be very careful,” said Alastair.

“Yes, of course my Lord,” said Zugast.

* *

Across town in Elgin Central a parade was passing through the town. Emily looked out of her apartment window to see the marching band go past. They had on blue and white uniforms and blew on their trumpets. Some played drums and others the bagpipe. The atmosphere was so exciting.

The parade took place every year and she loved it. When she was younger, she and her brother would get up bright and early to make sure they didn’t miss out on any of it. Her mom would make finger foods for their little excursion. The event was one of the highlights of the year. She wanted to go this year with Jason, but he had to work and left for London the day before. He wouldn’t be back for two days. She felt disappointed. It would have been nice to go with him. Just then her phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hello Miss Carson.” It was Sheriff Archibald. She hoped he didn’t have any more questions about the so-called robbery at Ethan’s.

“Oh hello sheriff. What can I do for you?”

“Sorry to trouble you but, I was wondering if you could come down to the station today.”

“Well I would,” she answered, “but the traffic is crazy in town.” She peered through the window again. “I mean with the parade going on. I would be happy to answer any more questions you have about the robbery over the phone, though,” she said.

There was a brief silence. “Oh yes I see. But…” He sounded hesitant. “It has nothing to do with the robbery. I may have some new findings about your parent’s case.” Emily froze. The noise of the parade died down, replaced by a ringing in her ears.

“Miss Carson, are you still there?”

“Yes I am,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts. “I will be there as soon as I can. Thank you, Sheriff.”

“See you soon then.”

When she hung up, she stood paralyzed by the window. She saw a little girl and boy dressed up in blue and white outfits giggling wildly as their dad tried to get them a little closer to the chariot going down the street. They looked so happy. Emily pictured her dad grabbing her hand when she tried to get near the marching band. He was always scared she would get lost in the crowd. Michael was busy enjoying cotton candy. Their dad always bought him candy to keep him occupied. All the while, Michael was concentrating on nothing else but eating his treat. She must have been around eight years old and Michael only six. The memory made her smile.

After all these years, the sheriff had found more evidence in her parent’s case. The police department had said they would have to write it off as a hiking accident given the lack of evidence to the contrary. She wondered what he could have possibly found now, after all this time.

Before she got the call she had been planning to go to Ethan’s again. She had been stopping by his place every day after work for the past week. He didn’t mind, or at least she thought he didn’t. It was always hard to read him. He still didn’t have much to tell her, but she stayed to talk with him anyway. In their own way, they were becoming friends.

Emily walked to the station. It was far, but driving there would be crazy. The cars were bumper to bumper and most of the roads were closed. Traffic was not going anywhere anytime soon. She took in the smell of freshly made hot dogs as she passed a food stand. They were tempting, but she didn’t want to waste time stopping to buy one. Maybe on the way back, she thought. It was a great idea to walk. The parade was amazing, and she would have missed the view if she had driven.

When she arrived at the station, a tall skinny guy sat lazily at the front desk. At first, he didn’t even notice her because he was busy fiddling with a figurine on his desk. It was a very colorful bird. She cleared her throat to get his attention. He quickly straightened his shoulders and sat up straight.

“Hello madam, how can I help you?” he asked. He scanned her up and down with his eyes and smiled at her, showing his yellow teeth. She didn’t remember seeing him there before. He must be new.

“Yes. I am here to see Sheriff Archibald. He called me earlier,” she said.

“Oh, you must be Miss Carson. Go right in, he’s expecting you.”

“Thanks,” she said. He gave her another big grin before she stepped inside the sheriff’s office.

The office reeked of tobacco. There were small clouds of smoke in the air. The sheriff sat puffing away and reading a file. His eyes shifted to hers.

“Hello Miss Carson, please come right in.” She was standing by the door covering her nose.

“Hi sheriff.” She suddenly coughed when she inhaled too much of the smoke and he looked at her apologetically.

“Sorry, it’s an old habit.”

She noticed, from the stubs in the bin, that it was indeed an old bad habit. He was a chain smoker. “You should really try to quit. It’s very bad for your health.”

He put the cigarette out in the ashtray on his desk. “I know. I did quit once before, but I started again when Donna died.”

“Oh I’m sorry. I know it must be hard for you,” she said, suddenly feeling a bit guilty for saying anything. Donna was his wife, and she had died of cancer two years ago.

“It’s okay, Miss Carson. I manage okay. She was my second great loss after your parents.”

Sheriff Archibald was a family friend. He and her dad had been high school friends. He had been devastated when he got the call. She still remembered his face when he showed up at her doorstep that night to tell her that he had found them dead. He couldn’t even get the words out right, but she knew even before he opened his mouth that something terrible had happened. She tried not to get emotional thinking about it again.

“We all miss them. And please, call me Emily. I’ve known you from the time I was a little kid.” He grinned at her then, and she was glad she got him to smile.

“So what new evidence did you find?” she asked.

“Well, I never really gave up on looking for evidence even though the department shut the investigation down.” He leaned forward on his desk. “You see, the thing is I knew your parents never hiked. They never even tried it. It just didn’t make any sense to me.” He took a sip of his coffee and cringed. She guessed he started getting edgy without a cigarette.

“So recently I went back to the place where we found them.” He looked up at her again, she was still standing.

“I thought that the police hadn’t been able to find anything else at the scene,” she said.

“Please Emily, have a seat. You’re making me nervous. I’ll explain everything.” She put her bag down and sat on the leather chair. She noticed that there were papers and files lying everywhere: on the floor, on the small desk next to his main desk, on the filing cabinets. She wondered how he got anything done in all that mess.

He continued when he got her attention again. “It was hard to gain access to that area since some damn rich tycoon owns nearly all that property now. Anyway, when I eventually got there, I found this buried in the sand.” He handed her a small plastic bag with a piece of cloth in it. She studied it. It looked like it was torn off of a garment. The white piece of cloth was faded brown now and she couldn’t make out what was written on it.

“I think it may have belonged to the killer, unless it was your parents. Do you recognize it?”

“No I don’t,” she answered. “I’ve never seen it before. But how can you be sure that it has anything to do with my parent’s death?” The phone rang. She noticed he looked irritated at the interruption.

“Hello?” he answered. For a short while he didn’t speak and only listened. She saw his face change suddenly. He creased his eyebrows. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

When he put down the receiver he said, “Sorry I need to go. There has been an incident.” He took the plastic bag from the desk. She had managed to take a picture of it while he was on the phone.

“I really don’t know whether this is connected or not. I need to send it to forensics. It’s not guaranteed I will find anything. It’s a long shot. I just thought I would check with you first to see if it belonged to your parents,” he said.

“Thank you sheriff. I appreciate it.” She got up to leave.

“Why don’t I give you a lift home? It’s on my way.”

“Sure, that’d be great,” she answered.

Emily sat silently in the sheriff’s car. It wasn’t that she was upset with him or anything. He was a good man and her parents were virtually like family to him. So naturally he would want to do everything in his power to help

She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was feeling depressed. Maybe it was best to just leave the case closed. She wanted more than anything else to get closure, but at what cost would it come? If the investigation started again, it would be like reopening a wound. She could endure it, but she wasn’t sure her little brother could. He was finally happy and moving forward. He had a thriving career and had even found love.

Emily felt conflicted. She needed to get her mind off it. So instead of the sheriff dropping her off at home, she told him to drop her at EC Tech. She lied to him and told him that she needed to pick up her laptop. As nice as his intentions were, she already had too many unsolved mysteries to deal with. Better still, they didn’t hurt as much.