Guardian: Protectors of Light by Melanie Houtman

goes again,” he said. “The
little kid trying to be a man. Give it up, James.”
    James didn’t respond,
which was probably the wisest thing to do. He simply walked out the
door, shutting it behind him.
    “ Well... I
think we should go to sleep, then?” Thomas said carefully. Everyone
was staring at the door, except for Antonio, who’d already walked
into the shelter’s sleeping area.
    “ Maybe we
should...” Samira said silently. “Antonio can be so insensitive
sometimes.”
    “ Yeah,”
Thomas said, “but James takes it well. I think we should just leave
him alone with his thoughts for tonight. I think something’s
bothering him.”
    “ Then why don’t you ask what ’s bothering him?” Bella said. “If you’re so sure... we
should help him rest his mind, right?”
    “ No, Thom is
right,” Samira said. “We should just leave him alone. He’ll come
get one of us when he’s tired. Don’t worry.”
    But James didn’t come.
And it wouldn’t be until Samira would wake up hours later, until
someone would notice.
    James just sat outside
the shelter, going through his thoughts. There was something about
everything they’d experienced for the past few days which made him
feel uneasy.
    A part of him was still
blaming himself for getting his friends involved into this mess;
but when he thought back of what Rikki had told him about all of
this just being fate, he started to wonder whether or not this
truly was his fault.
    Maybe it was his father’s
fault, for reading that story to him and Samira over and over
again.
    Maybe his father knew? He
probably didn’t.
    How could he possibly have, after
all? James’s father was probably just one of the many people who
thought that it was just a fairytale, just another bedtime story to
tell to their kids.
    But what if his father did know? Even just
the slightest bit?
    James kept shaking his
head every time this particular “what if” popped up in his mind.
His father didn’t know. He never did. And secondly, what if he did
know, what did it matter?
    He wasn’t there for James
to be able to ask him, anyway. And he never would be
again.
    *
    James woke up,
discovering that the leather of his gloves had left an imprint on
his cheek due to sleeping on his arm. How long had he been sitting
outside?
    Where were his
friends?
    He quickly rose to his
feet, and went inside the cabin. His friends were still asleep;
Samira turned around on her bed and looked at James.
    “ Hey there,”
she said. “You look like you had a wonderful night’s sleep.” She
got up, putting her boots and gloves back on and retying the cape
around her neck. While running her fingers through her hair,
readying it to braid it, she walked up to her brother. “Morning,
bro-bro,” she said.
    “ Morning,
Sam,” James said. “Gosh, do I really look that terrible?” He was
referring to Samira’s first comment.
    “ Yeah, you
do,” Samira replied. “What did you do all night? You look like you
ran a marathon and then got a bad haircut.”
    James quickly started to
rub over the flaming red mess on his head, trying to make it look
somewhat bearable.
    “ The others
should be up soon,” Samira said, while tying her braided hair
together. “We could go fish by the river, if you want.”
    “ Sure,” James
said, taking a quick sniff at his armpits and pulling a disgusted
face. “I know what else I’ll be doing there...” Samira
chuckled.
    The river was right
behind the cabin; the teenagers had crossed the bridge the previous
night. Samira used James’s sword to fish, which was easier than
she’d expected. When James had finished washing up, Samira had
caught three fish big enough to share between the five of
them.
    It was a frugal meal, but
it would do. Especially if they could pluck some fruit to eat
somewhere along the way later that day.
    Brother and sister
returned to the cabin. “I’ll see if I can find something to cook
those fish with,” James said, as they entered the small,