"Today we celebrate the giver of light, the vanquisher of shadows and darkness. Today, we celebrate the sun" 

The crowd cheered as King Francis began his annual speech. He was standing on one of the large balconies of his castle, looking down at the people before him, in the courtyard. It was a sea of golden flags and waving hands, with a few tall bodies and children on shoulders sticking out from the crowd.

The kingdom was celebrating the Festival of the Sun, a time they use to commemorate the great sacrifice of the Sun Queen Solaria, to save Luxia from the evil guardian Caine. It was a festival that everyone in the kingdom celebrated. They decorated the town with gold flags, ribbons and banners. There were even pastries shaped like sunflowers. Songs were sung and events reenacted, until it was time for the King to give his speech. As he did, the people would be in front of him, and his family and his dignitaries would be sitting behind him, like they always did in official events like these. Directly behind him was his wife the Queen, his daughter the Princess and her husband, and his grandson the Prince. Behind them were the Dukes, Counts, Barons, Knights and Lords.

Among these dignitaries were the royal advisers, Alistair and Zoricus, the past guardians. 

With these dignitaries were their families, who only accompanied them to the balcony on very special occasions like this. For the adults  in these families, being able to sit on that balcony was an honor. For the young members, it was  the most boring thing ever. Their friends thought it was neat, but they saw nothing neat about sitting through the King 's long speeches, up close.

Prepared for a boring speech, Alianor hand snuck in a small leather covered book full of poetry. It's leather cover was covered with blue paper, and the initials "I.C" was on it. It was he  grandmother's, and her grandfather, Alistair, had given it to her on her  eighteenth birthday some days ago, knowing how much she liked writing poetry. Her parents would have been mad at her for bringing the book with her, but she was sitting next to her grandfather, and he was a bit slack with disciplining her and her little brother.

Eighteen year old Alianor was a replica of her mother Alice, with the pale skin and and long brown wavy hair. They had the same olive shaped blue eyes. She had an oval face, small nose, and pink lush lips.  Though she looked like her mother, her clumsiness and quietness was  all her father.

She was never good at activities that required a lot of  physicality, so she often found herself sitting alone, entirely focused on the poetry she was writing. She was very introverted and always seemed to be the calm one around. To others, her personality was weird but comforting all at the same time.

As the King 's speech continued, she looked up from her grandmother's book and to the empty seat between her and her grandfather's best friend. Jacquelyn was late, again.

As a child, Zoricus' granddaughter was a chatter box (still is), and would always be disruptive while she sat on the balcony. He discovered that sitting her next to the quiet Alianor made her less chatty and calm, and had been doing it for years to keep her in check. Sitting next to the younger talkative girl was annoying for Alianor at first, but they soon became friends, and now, they were best friends. Even though they were  opposites, they complimented each other well as best friends. Jacquelyn was often forgetful and late, like she was now, and it was always up to her best friend to keep her on track. And for Alianor, Jacquelyn was  always her mouth piece.

"Excuse me, sorry" Alianor heard  

She looked up and saw Jacquelyn making her way through the other seated guests towards them. She finally made it through, and took her seat. She gave her grandfather and apologetic smile before turning to Alianor.

"What took you so long?" Alianor asked

"My shoes" the blonde haired, green eyed girl answered, looking down at her high heeled shoes "I couldn't find it"

Zoricus shook his head at her answer with a small smile, she was just like her mother, especially when it came to shoes.

Like her daughter, Jacquelyn's mother Zanna was on the short side and would rely on the high heeled shoes that her father got made for her to give her the extra height she believed she needed. His granddaughter's spunk and confidence reminded him of his daughter, and he wishes  she was here to see hos her little girl had grown up.

Jacquelyn's parents had traveled and they had never returned. The worst was confirmed when the wreckage of their ship had washed up ashore and human blood was smeared on a few broken planks.

Jacquelyn was only ten when that happened and she had took it really hard. The many condolences and the compliments of how much she looked like her mother upset her, and when it was too much, she cut off her long blonde locks, hoping that the reminder and the compliments about her mother would go away. Zoricus was very grateful for Alianor then, she had gotten his granddaughter through a tough time. 

Now, she rocked a pixie cut and was dealing well with her parents' death.

"Of course you couldn't" Alianor said to her answer before putting her attention back on the book. 

"What did I miss?" Jacquelyn asked on a whisper

"The usual" her best friend answered

"Did King Francis sing yet?"

"It's coming"

As if on queue, the King began to sing. Even though the girls hated the King 's speech, there was always one thing they looked forward to, him singing the "Sun Song". This was a song sung every year as part of the celebration, and the King believed he could sing it the best. To everyone's amusement, he couldn't.

"I came just in time" Jacquelyn said, giving the King her full attention

Alianor joined her and the two made faces and held back laughter as they watched the King hit notes they weren't sure could be considered as notes.

"Someone should really tell him he can't sing" Jacquelyn commented as the King continued his rendition

"No one wants to be the one to tell the King he can't sing" Alianor responded

The King finally finished the song, causing the crowd to erupt in applause. Alianor was right, no one wanted to tell the King he couldn't sing. It was  better to feed the old man's ego than to be thrown into the dungeons.

The speech went on for some more minutes before the King started making his final statements.

"Our Sun Queen may have left us, but she didn't leave us without hope. She promised me herself, that Luxia, will one day, be restored to it's former glory!" The King said concluding his speech. He waited for the applause and cheers to die down before saying "Now, let us journey to the town square and pay our tribute to the Sun Queen"

The King stepped down from the wooden podium. Behind him, his family, his officials, dignitaries and their families, stood up. He walked down the aisle and out the double doors the guards opened for him. Soon, everyone else started following him off the balcony. The crowd in the courtyard began to move around, and soon a clear path was seen through them, from the castle entrance to the gates.

The large stain glass double doors opened and the King stepped out. He walked down the three steps, and along the path between the crowd, his guards following closely behind. Behind the guards, the rest of the balcony occupants followed. Once everyone was out the door, the people of the crowd fell in line.

The progression from the castle to the town square, where the Sun Queen statue was located, was part of the celebration every year. The walk was a time to reflect on the Queen's sacrifice.

As the progression passed the gates, and into the upper class living quarters, Alianor and Jacquelyn found themselves walking side by side. They were both in elegant gowns that were almost touching the floor and their sleeves widened as it got to their hands. Alianor's gown was light blue and silver. The laces tying the corset in the front were white. Jacquelyn's gown was pink and gold, the laces of the corset being gold. Jacquelyn was wearing a magenta cloak with a hood, it had belonged to her mother.

The younger blonde hooked her arm around the brunette's.

"So, now that you've finished school, what are you going to do? Still thinking about working in your grandfather's book shop?" Jacquelyn asked

Children in the kingdom attended school from the ages four to eighteen. They enter the lower school when they're four, and once they turn twelve they enter higher school. At eighteen they were allowed to leave and live their lives.

Most go straight into marriage and family, but Alianor had other things in mind when she left school last week.

"Yeah, its much better than teaching at the school" she answered

Because of he outstanding performance in school, she was offered a teaching job at the lower school, but she'd rather work with her grandfather. Alistair had taken over his old mentor's shop when he had left. Caine's spell had cut them off from the outside world, stopping their shipments of new books and other supplies. Soon, Alistair and Zoricus, along with their wives, used their talent and knowledge to write new books for the kingdom. Alianor loved what their grandparents were doing, and wanted to be apart of educating her whole kingdom, not just the children.

Their progression towards the town square continued and the sun was no longer high in the sky like it was when the festivities at the castle began earlier that day. Once out of the upper class quarters, they finally entered the town. It didn't take long for them to reach the statue, and for everyone to gather around it.

Carved from wood, and coated with gold, the slender body of the Sun Queen stood before them. Her long wavy hair went down to her hips, and her arms spread out beside her, her palms facing upwards. A closer look showed revealed that her eyes were closed, and her mouth slightly opened. Tiny star shapes could be seen on her long flowing gown, portraying the sparkle it gave off. There, on her neck, was her pendant, the one no one could find after her destruction. This was the final stance the Queen took before banishing Caine, and falling powerless to the ground. Around the bottom of the long gown were five candles, all different colors, each representing a guardian.

Alistair and Zoricus took their places on either side of the statue, and began the tradition of lighting each candle. After each candle was lit, they stepped back to their places, queuing the King to take his place on the platform built around the statue. He raised his hand, prompting everyone to be quiet.

"Now, let us all have a moment of silence for the Sun Queen" he said

The crowd got even quieter as some heads began to bow. Alianor's head was up, scanning the area as she kept quiet. She looked at the people, then at the buildings behind them. Some of the buildings were shops own by the  people, those further back were the houses of the middle and lower class. As her eyes went further back, she saw the waves floating off the  ground  into the air, like the rays of the sun hitting on an oily flat surface.

But these waves weren't a result of the sun, it was the force field separating their side of the kingdom from the forest on the other side.

The waves were opaque and lavender, with tiny specks of light floating up with them. As pretty as it looked, she knew how dangerous it was. Any living thing that touched it died. She heard stories of people who had touched it and died in an instant.

As a child, she remembered watching a bird fly right into it. As soon as the bird hit it, a ripple of dark purple spread, and she watched the bird fall and land in front of her with a thud. She remembered thinking that it must have been new to the island, because the birds on the island somehow knew to stay away from the lavender waves.

There was a wall along the force field, it was built by Caine. It was tall, and the only thing they could see above it were the very tops of the tall trees on the other side.

Alianor continued thinking to herself. All of this, just to keep the guardians apart. Caine may have been evil, but he was smart too. Him building the wall had nothing to do with protecting the people from it. He knew the combined powers of the guardians could defeat him, and his best chance of success was to keep them apart. She wondered if there was ever a way to get through it, or break it.

Her eyes went back to the crowd, and then back to the statue of the Sun Queen. Her grandfather had told her many stories about her, she wished she could somehow have a chance to meet her.

Alianor was pulled from her thoughts by the shaking under her feet. She turned to Jacquelyn, she had noticed it too. Her eyes once again went to the crowd, their their heads shot up and their eyes widened as they froze in place.

Alistair and Zoricus also stood frozen. They looked to the ground and saw the small pebbles begin to bounce off the surface. There was a crackling sound, and the older men felt the ground beneath their feet move. They watch as the ground under them began to sink. They immediately jumped forward, off the spot, and Alistair reach for the King, pulling him of the the statue platform into the crowd with them. Calls of panic erupted from the crowd as they watched the spot where former guardians once stood completely disappear in the earth, leaving a hole in the ground.

The quake was getting stronger, and it was getting harder to stand upright. Some gave up and knelt on the ground, while others held unto each other for support.

Suddenly, black smoke began to rise from the hole in the earth, spilling over the sides. People began to back away from the toxic looking fumes, but a cry of "Look!" from the crowd stopped them in their tracks.

In the middle of the smoke concentrated hole, a hooded figure began to emerge. The King's guards and knights rushed to the front of the crowd, surrounding the hole, with their swords out and ready.

The figure kept ascending, and the stone pillar it was standing on became visible.

Alistair and Zoricus looked at each other, worried looks on their faces. This couldn't be who they thought it was.

The stopped ascending, and the quake stopped. It raised its hands and pulled the hood of its head.

Dread settled in the former guardians heart as they saw the face.

"Caine" they whispered

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

There you have it, the second chapter. If you like it, please vote, and if you have anything you'd like to say, don't hesitate to post a comment. I'll try to post the new chapter as soon as possible.

Be sure to check out a book I did with TeaceFindlay called Work For It...

Until next time.