Best Enemies

Archer moved first, drawing a dagger with striking speed and swiping at Sebastian’s face. A square shield of light appeared in the air to block the weapon. A moment later, it was gone. Sebastian held up a hand. A beam of light materialized in front of his palm and took on the shape of a dagger. Sebastian grabbed it out of the air and swung at Archer, who dodged easily.

Felix glanced at Kendra. “So, Sebastian’s ability is…?”

“Light magic,” Kendra said. “He can temporarily convert light into solid objects. Or into energy to use in attacks.”

It was hard to keep up with the action. Sebastian and Archer’s strikes all seemed to miss each other by the narrowest of gaps, but when they each took a step back for a moment of air, Felix noticed a few thin gashes. Most were on their hands, but Sebastian had one down the side of his face.

Arisa noticed Felix’s concern. “This is normal for practice fights,” she said. “Nothing to worry about. There are a few Guardians with healing abilities at the castle.”

“And items with healing properties, too,” Kendra added. “In fact, the skin under your bandage should be completely healed up by now. You’d never even know the cut was there.”

Felix reached up to peel off the bandage. Sure enough, when he touched the skin underneath, it was perfectly smooth. He noticed for the first time faint sigils printed on the underside of the bandage.

Sebastian and Archer were moving at full speed again, delivering blows in a blur. Lowering his voice, Felix asked, “Who do you think would win in a real fight between them?”

Kendra blew out a breath of air. “In terms of raw magical energy, Sebastian’s unmatched. But Archer’s got much more discipline. He’s learned to channel some of his magical energy into speed and physical strength.”

“Sebastian’s the most powerful?”

“ One of the most powerful. It’s hard to compare Guardians directly, though. Different environments favor different abilities. Plus, raw power’s only half the battle,” Kendra said. “Learning to use your magic in clever ways is the real trick. You can beat someone stronger than you if you know what you’re doing.”

Kendra was right. Archer was unbelievably fast. Still, Sebastian managed to dodge most of his blows seemingly without much effort.

Archer slowed down and spun his dagger in his hand. Instead of going for another strike, he hooked his foot around Sebastian’s ankle and sent him stumbling toward the edge of the rectangle. But Before Sebastian could step out of the box, the lines of light shifted a few feet, keeping him in. Archer was now standing outside.

“See? I win,” Sebastian said.

“Isn’t that cheating?” Felix asked.

“No,” Sebastian said, in the same moment that Archer said, “Yes.”

Archer stepped back in and swung again. While Sebastian ducked, Archer’s other hand drew a second dagger from his side. His thumb slid along the edge of the blade as he brought it forward. He tossed it into the air, caught it by the handle, and stepped forward to slice through Sebastian’s shirt and graze his shoulder.

“Ah.” Sebastian pressed a hand to the wound and took a step back. “Poison.”

“Not much,” Archer replied, voice cold. “You should be able to handle it.”

“Good way to slow me down, though.” Sebastian lifted his light dagger.

Felix heard the door leading inside swing open behind him. Before he could turn to see who had come to join them, shadows swallowed the training yard. The sudden darkness sent his heart racing.

“Fighting again, boys?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“Who is that?” Felix whispered, his eyes searching the black for any sign of movement.

“Relax,” Arisa replied. “It’s Hana.”

The darkness retreated into an orb that hovered over their heads. Hana flicked her wrist, and the orb separated into tendrils of pure black that melted into the natural shadow beneath the southern wall.

Hana smiled and waved. “Hello, Felix!” she called aloud. Felix waved back before glancing at Arisa.

“Her ability is similar to Sebastian’s, but she uses shadow instead of light,” Arisa explained.

Kendra walked forward to meet Hana. Arisa’s eyes were on the two of them as their hands moved intently. Whatever conversation they were having in sign language put a concerned expression on her face.

Felix glanced back at Sebastian and Archer. Archer already had his mask back up and was pulling his gloves on. Sebastian shrugged on his jacket as he walked up to Felix.

“He was definitely breathing poison during the fight,” Sebastian said. “I’d steer clear of the air around the rectangle for a few minutes.”

“Are you okay?” Felix asked.

“Sure, just a little lightheaded. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Sebastian zipped up his jacket. “Archer has perfect control over his ability.”

Arisa nudged Felix in the arm. “I have to go,” she said.

“Is everything okay?” Felix asked, his gaze darting briefly to Kendra and Hana. “I caught something about parents at the start of their conversation.”

“Yeah, my parents just got back from a mission. They’ve been gone for a few days. Hana and I are going to see them.” Arisa waved. “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.”

Kendra kissed Hana and signed goodbye to her before strolling over to Felix, Sebastian, and Archer. “I’m off to handle the last few details of the sale,” she said.

“Great. Call me if you need anything else from me,” Sebastian told her.

As Kendra walked off, Felix looked to Sebastian. “Sale?”

“Kendra will explain tomorrow,” Sebastian said. “Now, we should probably go get you a uniform.” He turned. “Archer, you coming with?”

“I suppose I should make sure he gets what he needs,” Archer said.

“You think I could screw up getting the kid a couple of uniforms?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past you.”

Felix grabbed his bag and sword, and the three entered the castle. They took several flights of stairs up to the fourth floor. Felix did his best to hide how out of breath he was when they reached the top. He was in decent shape from tennis, but the match with Arisa had worn him out quickly. And the fact that had hadn’t slept well the night before was catching up with him.

“What color are you thinking?” Sebastian asked as they neared the end of a hallway.

Felix considered for a moment. “Do the colors mean anything?”

“Not really. Guardians get to pick their own. Some people go with a color related to their power.” Sebastian shrugged. “I just like blue. It brings out my eyes.”

Archer rolled his eyes at that.

“You don’t have to stick to one color, either,” Sebastian added as they entered a long room occupied by racks of clothing. He gestured to the overwhelming selection. “Help yourself. It’s organized by size. Shoes are at the back.”

Archer paused next to Sebastian. “You’ll need a formal suit, too. I’d recommend wearing it to any future council meetings you attend.”

Felix wandered the aisles, selecting uniform and suit jackets—and pants—in his size. After a couple minutes of deliberation, he picked out button-ups and plain shirts in a few different shades of green and blue. Finally, he grabbed a pair of black boots and a pair of black dress shoes.

“I don’t have to pay for all this, do I?” Felix asked as he balanced the shoes on top of his stack of clothes.

“Nope,” Sebastian replied. He folded his arms, thought for a moment, then added, “Go ahead and take the rest of the day for yourself. You, Kendra, and Archer are leaving at eight tomorrow morning.”

“Archer’s coming too?” Felix mentally winced. He hoped it didn’t sound like he didn’t want Archer to come. He didn’t, but he didn’t want Archer to know that.

“I won’t be following you around. I’m only going to supervise, since the funeral’s being held by Guardians,” Archer said. “Kendra’s still going to be the one accompanying you.” He started toward the door. “I have a meeting, but I’ll see you in the morning.”

Archer paused in the middle of the doorway. “Oh, and Felix?”

“Yeah?” Felix asked.

“Probably best not to take any ghosts to the funeral.”

With that, Archer was gone.

“Has he always been that terrifying?” Felix asked.

Sebastian lifted an eyebrow. “You’re scared of him?”

“I feel like he wants to murder me.”

“A lot of people think that. But he won’t bite. Archer’s the King’s Hand for a reason.” Sebastian headed for the door. “He’s one of the best.”

Felix followed Sebastian into the hall, balancing his belongings precariously in his arms. “Better than you?”

Sebastian laughed. “Hard to say. Now, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you want to get out of training? Do you want to be a Bright Guardian?”

Felix stopped. “Honestly, I just…I want to know why Gideon attacked my family. I mean, it doesn’t seem like they were super important Guardians.”

“We don’t know why he targeted them, yet.” Sebastian paused and turned to face Felix. “But I can tell you that Gideon wasn’t acting on his own. He works for someone who’s trying to destroy our entire organization.”

“Who?”

“I don’t want to throw too much information at you at once.”

“Well, it’s the Uprising, right?”

Sebastian continued walking. Felix rushed to catch up.

“Yes. Though, they’ve started calling themselves the Moonlit Army, in recent years,” Sebastian said. Quieter, he added, “Apparently, their leader has developed a flair for the dramatic.”

“I want to help stop them, then,” Felix said.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Sebastian replied. “Even without an army standing against us, the Bright Guardians have always had it rough. Taking on monsters and demons and spirits isn’t the most pleasant day job.”

“Yeah, I figured. That training session was a little more…dangerous than I expected.”

“Guardians have a skewed sense of safety compared to ordinary people. And we’re not used to outsiders.” Sebastian shot Felix a hesitant glance. “If you’re going to be here, you’ll have to accept that. This is a place where it’s normal to send teenagers out to fight monsters.”

If Helena and May and Ezra could handle this life, then Felix would, too. He lifted his chin. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Then I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

Felix shifted the pile of clothes and adjusted his grip on the sword. “Is there someone who can train me to use my sister’s sword? Helena gave me a couple of pointers once when we were bored, but I’m really not that good with it.”

Sebastian rubbed his chin. “I don’t really use swords. Archer’s good with them, but he’s pretty busy, and he’s not really the teaching type anyway.” He thought for a moment. “Honestly, Hana might be your best bet. She’s excellent.”

“The librarian?”

“She fights, too. And she’s really good,” Sebastian said. “She was at the top of her class growing up. I mean, you saw her in the training yard.”

“I guess if she can counteract your power, she must be good.”

Before Sebastian could respond to that, Felix stopped and groaned. They’d reached the door to the southwest tower, where a spider was perched on the handle. “Is this place always full of spiders?” Felix asked.

Sebastian’s expression darkened for a brief moment. Then, he chuckled. “It’s okay, they won’t hurt you. And they keep out more annoying bugs.”

“I guess.” The spider scuttled off as Felix reached for the handle.

“Any other burning questions about the Guardians I can answer for you?”

Felix did have a couple, actually. “Do you need another material to channel your ability? Like how my mom and sister need metal?”

“Nope. Neither does Hana, actually.”

“Why not?”

“We’re not sure,” Sebastian said. He lifted the small painting of a bird that hid the elevator call button and pressed it. “We all know the ins and outs of how to use our abilities, but it’s not easy to study why they work the way they do. Every other magician I know of does require a secondary material to channel their magic. That, or their power acts on an object, in which case the object channels their magic instead.”

Right. Arisa had said something along those lines earlier. The elevator door opened, and the two stepped inside. “Also, what’s up with your hair?” Felix asked. “Is that part of your ability?”

Sebastian absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair as he answered, emphasizing its iridescence. “Oh, sort of. It’s rare, but some Guardians have random physical quirks.”

A minute later, they were stepping off the elevator onto the ninth floor. “One last thing about that uniform,” Sebastian said as they stopped in front of Felix’s door. “The material has sigils sewn into it. They make it resistant to magic and sharp objects, but it’s inevitable that it’ll get torn up eventually. Help yourself to that room anytime you need new clothes.”

As he rubbed his arm where Archer had cut him earlier, Sebastian added, “They have mild healing properties, too, so you’ll want to make sure you’re wearing some that are in good shape.”

“Got it,” Felix said with a nod. He said goodbye and stepped into his room. As he dumped his pile of new clothing on the bed, he wondered just how much more dangerous things were going to get for him.