Free Guardian: Darkness Rising by Melanie Houtman

to keep all forms of Dark Magic out. That stone
wouldn’t get in there. Plus, Asura wouldn’t last long inside this
castle anyway – there’d be too much Light Magic for him to survive
here.”
    “ So... it’d be safe to resurrect
him inside this castle, because he’d be powerless for as long as
he’s in here?” James said, sounding as if he was up to
mischief.
    “ James...” the judging sound of
Thomas’s voice sounded – he knew that his brother-in-law was up to
no good. “What are you planning?”
    James looked aside to reassure his friend – it
didn’t quite help, though. It was probably a good idea to explain
the full plan – if not the best idea. “
    “ Well, we can
only banish him for good if we get rid of both him and his body – at the same time,”
James said, his fingers nervously tapping the table. “So – I just
thought – if we did it here, in the castle – we might have a shot
at it?”
    “ ARE YOU NUTS,
RIVERDALE!?” Antonio exploded, his hands meeting the table’s
surface in a rather unfriendly fashion. He didn’t explode at James
like this often – only at the rare occasion where Antonio believed
James’s ideas went too far. And this was one of those moments.
“You’ll be leading the enemy straight to us! If we were to use that
stone to resurrect him, he’d be back at full power, ready to
destroy us! What do you think our chances would possibly be then?”
    James gave Antonio a small nod, directed
toward the Spirits. “Look who we’ve got here with us, Tonio,” he
said. “I don’t think the Master stands a chance.”
    Antonio snorted, obviously unimpressed. He
wanted to say something, but the chance to do so was taken from him
by Akilah.
    “ Despite the fact that what you
just said was very flattering, James,” Akilah said, “you shouldn’t
think lightly of Asura. Our brother has beaten us before, and I am
sure that he might succeed in doing so again.”
    James had a sinking feeling as he
watched the other Spirits nod, confirming what their sister had
just told him. “But – it’s always worth a try,” he tried, hopeful
to get a positive reaction to his plan this time, unwilling to give
up.
    “ You’re being way too reckless,
Dad,” Luke said. “It’s too dangerous.”
    James looked at his son; he
honestly didn’t know what to say. Yes, he knew he was being
reckless and that it was a risky move to make – but was it
truly that dangerous? Too dangerous for Luke, the mischief maker, to try
out?
    “ I must admit that I agree with
uncle James,” Tony said silently. “You don’t know whether it’ll
work or not until you’ve tried. There must be some extra
precautions we can take to make sure the Master won’t break loose,
right?”
    “ Actually,” Marco said, patting
Tony on the shoulder, “I agree with Tony, too. We can find a way to
secure our own safety... I think we should give Mr Riverdale’s plan
a shot.”
    The Spirits exchanged looks with
each other, looking genuinely surprised – but, at the same time,
something in their expressions hinted at something that seemed to
resemble either pride or intrigue.
    “ Alright, very well then,”
Aharnish said, one eyebrow raised in mischief. “I believe we can
arrange something – we can make special chains that keep him from
using magic, for example. We’ll look into it.” His expression then
turned stone cold, yet the mischief still didn’t fade from his
mismatched blue and golden eyes. “But, in return, we expect you to
lead the entire operation, James. You’ll be in charge and
responsible.”
    James swallowed. ‘Responsible’ was
a word he still had to get used to, even after raising four kids.
For how much of the operation would he be responsible? At first, he
wanted to ask, but decided not to do so. He’d claim full
responsibility, no matter what would happen.
    *
    Not much later, the ten Guardians and Mari
were called by the Spirits. They’d been requested to join the
Spirits in the