The Sentinel by Holly Martin Page B

stay upright in the gust that was getting stronger. And then the wind ripped through the church, howling loudly like the dead that were buried beneath the gravestones had risen again. It pulled at my clothes and my hair. I laughed loudly and ran outside so I could feel the full force of what I had done. The wind tore around me and I raised my arms so I could feel its strength on me. My Guardians quickly surrounded me, though they remained unmoved and unaffected by the torrent tearing around them. The wind wailed and moaned as it flooded through the graveyard like a tidal wave. The branches snapped and leaves flew round me like confetti. I could barely stand up it was so strong. But then a sparrow blew past me, fluttering helplessly in the gale, its wings bent at an odd angle and I realised what I was doing. How arrogant I was. I had to be more responsible than this, my powers had consequences. I immediately wanted the wind to stop and within seconds it died down, until the graveyard was silent once more. I cast around for the sparrow, not sure what I would do if I did find it. Maybe it was lucky for the sparrow that I didn’t, I would probably cause more damage than do good for it.
    Suddenly we became aware of a man standing in the graveyard watching us. He was tall and was wrapped in a long blue cloak.
    Eli swore under his breath and walked down to meet him.
    ‘Who’s that?’ I whispered.
    ‘Samuel,’ muttered Mason, though I was still none the wiser.
    ‘I believe there was an incident this morning,’ said Samuel as Eli bowed his head slightly.
    ‘Nothing we couldn’t handle.’
    ‘It shouldn’t have happened at all.’
    ‘I handpicked the Personal Guard, the other Guardians you send me are nothing to do with me.’
    ‘Are you doubting our ability to choose the right Guardians for the job.’
    Eli clearly chose his words carefully. ‘The Guardians in charge of her protection are all strong warriors, they are willing to die for her. Some of them have more enthusiasm than skill. Abe is very young. I was surprised that someone so young would be put in charge of the Outer Guard.’
    ‘He showed tremendous promise.’
    ‘He still does, but…he’s not there yet.’
    ‘I shall remove him. Take him back to the Fort.’
    Eli sighed. ‘He can stay, but maybe we could put someone else in charge. Matthew maybe or Noah.’
    ‘Not Noah.’
    ‘Very well, Matthew then.’
    ‘I’ll inform them.’ Samuel’s eyes flicked to me for a second and then around the graveyard at the broken branches. ‘Party tricks,’ he muttered disdainfully.
    Seth took my hand.
    ‘She has incredible strength. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,’ said Eli.
    Samuel clearly bristled at this. ‘Stronger than us?’
    Eli cocked his head in confusion. ‘Undoubtedly. But you knew that. If you were strong enough to save the world you wouldn’t need her.’
    Samuel glared at Eli for a second before he looked back at me, his eyes taking in Seth’s hand in mine. ‘I don’t like that either.’
    Eli looked at me and Seth and turned back to Samuel. ‘I do.’
    Samuel tightened the cloak around him and vanished.
    ‘Who was that?’
    ‘Samuel of the Oraculum.’
    My eyebrows shot up. One of the Oraculum had been here and hadn’t bothered to speak to me. I had so many questions for them, so much I wanted to know.
    Just then Quinn, Persia and her sisters arrived. Quinn and Izri stayed near the car for a second, talking quietly as Persia walked over towards me.
    ‘Life is never dull with you around eh Eve.’ She hugged me. ‘I heard about your near death experience this morning, you ok?’
    ‘Just one of many.’
    She smiled, sadly. ‘Come for a walk with me for a bit before we start, we can have a little chat.’
    ‘Ok,’ I nodded, with some confusion, whatever she wanted to say she obviously wanted to say it in private.
    Eli and Caleb fell in behind us, but with a respectful gap, so they probably couldn’t hear.
    ‘What’s up