Miles For Smiles

“Grab a map, and get into your groups. Don’t forget to give us the name of each member and a contact number, in case something happens. It’s a hot day, we don’t want anyone collapsing from heat exhaustion and not being able to tell us.” Mr. Smith grinned in Liam’s direction; he was wearing a suit of armour, complete with helmet and sword. Nobody knew how much money he had raised for the Miles for Smiles walk, but everyone knew he would struggle.

“Looks cool though” Jamie whispered to our little group, he ran his hand through his black hair, and looked longingly at the shiny armour his friend was wearing. John covered his mouth, laughing softly.

“Well, team” Jamie said to his friends, grinning yet again. “Team Winner!” He whooped, causing the rest of them, Tanya, Michael and John to look at him oddly, and then burst out laughing. He strolled over to the teacher with the forms, and took one triumphantly.

“The aim of this is for us to come first. We have to win!” Jamie’s eyes were shining with anticipation, while the rest of them sat eating the chocolaty treats lying on the table for them to consume. Barnes looked round.

“Well, we are doing a great job of it so far” he gestured to the massive line of people already leaving. Jamie yelped, and Tanya passed him a brightly wrapped chocolate.

“We can always overtake, will be more impressive that way.” She suggested. “People will remember our names, as champions amongst men!” She chuckled, and sat down at a table closer to the end of the line.

 

“WHAT!?” Jamie shouted at Ms. Mills. She’d made them wait behind. They had got all the way to the front, and were following the group of teachers leading the expedition.

“I’m sorry, but they told me to hold you back” She explained.

“That doesn’t explain anything! The group behind is going to catch us up now!” He was frantic, while the rest of his group filled up their water bottles.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them again.” Michael said, quietly. His brown eyes were focussed on the water flowing into his bottle. He was thirsty, very thirsty. It was a hot day, sun shining bright in the cloudless sky, no breeze, just dust and heat. This water was a much needed necessity. Tanya was regretting wearing the long sleeved, baggy t-shirt and long trousers. They hid her shape, something she was very grateful for, she preferred to keep her skin hidden. It helped her to not be noticed. Jamie was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt, and three quarter length trousers. He was strong, and defiantly in charge of the group.

“Can we go now?” He pulled himself up to his full height, and tried to look menacing. The group behind were just approaching, ready to fill up their water bottles. The lead was at stake. The shorter teacher nodded, and the group set off.

 

“Whoa…” John gasped, looking into the purple haze in front of them. It was a window, tall enough for a person, and wide enough for two. Jamie, the most inquisitive, stuck his head around it. It was only a few centimetres thick.

Another group approached them, but it wasn’t the girls who had been following them.

“I think we took the wrong turning…” One of them pointed it out. He was then glared at by the entire group. He introduced himself as Martin, and then his friend, a taller, short haired guy by the name of Shaun. Martin himself had shoulder length, untidy brown hair, and startling blue eyes. He was very much like a longer haired version of John, and this fact was obvious to Tanya, who proceeded to give them strange looks.

Shaking his head at the distraction, Jamie went back to studying the window.

“Have the teachers gone through, do you think?” Jamie asked nobody in particular.

“They probably went the RIGHT way!” Shaun pointed back down the steep hill, where a smaller road turned off. Some of the group had turned down there, but a lot of them had followed the four.

“We going to go through?” Tanya asked nervously, studying it, while nervously covering her hands with the sleeves of her t-shirt. Another girl approached, introduced herself as Alex, and watched nervously as they all decided to go through. Liam marched up to the now larger group, and offered to go first. Wearing his armour, he was quite intimidating, and it seemed the right thing to do. He drew his sword and pushed himself through the portal.

“Alright guys, everyone ready? Just think of it as an adventure!” Jamie shouted to the rest of the group, and charged through.

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It was cold, a bleak nothing that stopped his bones from moving, tensed his muscles and cause his eyes to turn to ice. He tried to scream, but no sound would come. He had no control. Suddenly, there was a bright light. He screamed silently, the bright light; don’t go towards it, death. All his thoughts were muddled as he tried to prevent his unresponsive body to stop. He gasped.

Sand. He moved his hand, and pushed himself up. Sitting, he brushed the golden debris off his arms, grating it against his skin. He looked back at the portal; the last of the group had followed him through. He couldn’t see it. No purple doorway, just people falling from nowhere. He stood up, suddenly remembering Liam. Turning sharply, he saw the armour-clad boy standing, staring into the distance.

“Oi! Liam!” Jamie shouted, but to no avail. Turning his attention elsewhere, he saw his group getting to their feet, checking their eyeballs for ice. He wasn’t the only one to experience that, then. He located his friends, and pulled them onto their feet.

“What now?” someone in the large mass of bodies asked, looking around. There was nothing to be seen for miles. Sand up to, and presumably beyond, the horizon. The group of people gathered around, looking for guidance. They had been led through this portal, unknowing what was on the other side.

“I honestly don’t know…” Jamie said, looking a bit unsure. He had felt something pulling at him through this portal, wishing him to come through. He looked at his friends, and knew they had felt it too. He gestured for them to follow.

“You felt it, right?” He asked them

“We had to come through, it wanted us to, didn’t it?” Tanya asked, looking around.

“You felt it too?” Martin and Shaun had walked over to them. The group nodded vaguely, unsure of exactly what they felt, but knowing the others knew what they were saying.

“Perhaps we are meant to be here…” Jamie wondered aloud “Perhaps…” He didn’t finish the sentence. A shrill scream came from the direction of the larger group. Everyone’s heads shot round, looking at the group. They were all running, one mass of bodies. They started to split into directions. Leadership took instinct in Jamie.

“Round them up, make sure they don’t hurt themselves or each other. We need to find out what the problem is.” He motioned for everyone to go to it, and they split up.

He ran against the crowds, pushing people out of the way, making sure he wasn’t hurting them. Something moved above.

 

A pterodactyl. He knew it, it had a large wingspan, reaching from its torso to its toes, and a large beak –like mouth, filled to the brim with teeth. It was larger than he had expected, and dark brown in colour. He felt his heart beating stronger beneath his ribs. Where were they?

Another thought hit him, Liam. With his armour on, he would have no way of getting away from these massive airborne dinosaurs. He ran as fast as he could, but he was built for strength, not speed. The people were calming, the pterodactyls had called off their attack, and were surrounding a large flashing object like ravens would. Jamie yelped, the shining object in the dust, was the armour of his friend.

All coherent thought was pushed out of the front of his brain, rescue was the only thing he knew. A burst of adrenaline hit his bloodstream, and he ran towards the carnivorous bird-like creatures in a blind fury. Waving his arms and screeching, he managed to shock the creatures, so that they lifted off the group enough from him to duck under and survey the damage.

His friend lay on the ground, unmoving. Jamie didn’t have time to check for any signs of life, choosing instead to grasp the weapon that his friend was holding. Liam had obviously tried to fight, there was a hint of blood on the tip of the blade, and splattered over the armour. Brandishing it like a madman, Jamie lifted the blade above his head, and sliced into the flesh of the nearest creature.

The scream the creature made was deafening, and it flapped its wings, trying to dislodge the blade and the boy attached to it. Rising up, the blade stuck, and Jamie held onto it. Finally he managed to twist it, and he fell back to the ground. The creature flailed, and then fell, bleeding and echausted from its fight. The sword sliced through its neck, through the links between bones, and into the sand. Dark, red blood flowed out of the empty neck, gurgling with the creatures final attempts at life.

Jamie turned his back on his kill, his head lowered, breathing heavily from the effort. He was a hunter back home, killed things often. But never something that large. And never with a sword. He looked up again, and watched to creatures fly off. He knew they would return, either to mourn the one he had killed, or to see if he was still around. He wasn’t planning on staying.

 

“Liam?” He dropped the sword beside his friend, and attempted to wake him. “Liam??” The helmet had been smashed inwards, claw marks, teeth marks embedded into it, the indents filled with blood. Jamie tried to pull it off, but it wouldn’t budge. He gulped, the adrenaline well and truly gone from his system. His hand shook as he flipped the visor upwards. He gagged at the sight.

The helmet had gone inwards, crushing the skull of his friend. Some claws had broken through the various weak points, crushing Liam’s eyes, pulling them out of their sockets. Jamie pushed the visor back down. There were scuff marks in the sand, Liam had obviously put his life on the line to save his friends. He was a true man of honour. With his hands, Jamie formed a makeshift grave, rolling his friend into it, and covering him.

“Liam, you died with honour, you died in your armour, fighting like a true knight.” He let a few tears flow, and the choked back a small, nervous laugh. “But we’ve never seen something like this before, I’m going to need to borrow your sword.” He smiled, and got to his feet. There were no more screams, just silence. He walked over the hill of sand, and looked into the valley. The descent towards the living was filled with dread.

 

 

No words were spoken. They story had been explained to them by the fleeing group. Jamie did a headcount, comparing it to before they left. Three were missing. One was Liam, the other two obviously had not been fortunate enough to escape the claws and teeth of their predators.

“There is something interesting…” Tanya spoke up, her baggy clothes covered in dust. She walked over to the squirming mass of people, and over to a small collection of injured. Alex was there, and looking carefully at peoples wounds.

“Watch.” Tanya whispered. Alex stood up, moved over to the next patient and kicked off her sandals. There was blood gushing from a wound on the shoulder, and the girl had her hand covering it, whimpering softly. Alex smiled gently at them, and her greenish eyes shone. She carefully lifted the hand off the wound, and replaced it with her own.

All the others had been bandaged, plastered and otherwise cared for, but this wound, Jamie saw, needed professional help.

“She can’t help” He began but was interrupted.

“Ssssh… just watch.” Was the reply from his friend. Suddenly, Alex’s hand began to glow, an eerie yellow light coming from her palm. Jamie gasped, and Tanya smiled knowingly. Alex’s glasses slid down her nose, sweating from the effort that she was putting into the light. Suddenly, her eyes flicked open. She sighed heavily, and fell back, panting from the effort. Jamie ran over, Tanya close behind.

“Takes – a lot- of effort” the broken sentence came from Alex, her eyes shut against the exhaustion. Jamie raised an eyebrow, and looked over at the girl with the wound. But it wasn’t there. The blood, dried and stained on the shirt and skin, but no gaping hole in the flesh, no source of all the blood.

“That’s… some kind of trick, right?” Jamie asked. Tanya shook her head, grabbing a backpack and making a makeshift pillow. “But… how?” He was puzzled.

“From what I understand” Tanya explained “She felt the same we did. Nobody else, just us.  Out of all these people, we are different. I have a suspicion that we are more different than we first thought.” She grinned, and looked down at Alex. Alex chuckled dryly.

Jamie slowly walked back to his group. He still had the sword, felt it pushing into his leg. He had taken the sheath from his dead comrade as well, feeling it was a necessity for travelling, and he had a suspicion they had a long journey ahead. IF Alex had felt it, maybe that’s why they had powers. This wasn’t home, wasn’t Earth. Not the Earth they knew anyway. Maybe, just maybe, this world was what gave them that feeling of power.

He knew he wouldn’t have defeated that pterodactyl back home. He felt something, some power deep inside himself. Maybe. Just Maybe.

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The mood of the entire group was less than happy. Many were mourning the death of their friends; others were feeling they would never get home. Morale was very low all round. Jamie knew he had to keep everyone moving.

“Come on, staying here is suicide! We’ll never get home if we sit here and let them get us!” He shouted towards the assembled group. His gaze circled the group, not really taking in who was there, only noticing who wasn’t. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes.

“They aren’t listening.” He said to his assembled friends, his team. There had been people added, but it was still the same group of friends he left with. Martin was looking at his phone. Tapping a few buttons, he then held it up to his ear. Surprisingly enough, it began to ring.

“…Hello?” Everyone was silent Martins end of the line.

“Hannah?” He grinned “YES!!! It worked!” He whooped and danced around on the spot.

“So we can ring each other? What about the teachers? Can we get a lift home? What about water, in a desert we will surely dehydrate!” Hannah was frantic on the phone, babbling on, question after question.

“Whoa, hang on. I haven’t tried. I’ll ring them and see. Bye.” He hung up “She has a point, we could try ringing the teachers, and what are we going to do for water?” He questioned, almost to himself more than anyone. Punching in a few buttons he tried phoning Mr. Smith.

The whole groups face fell when they heard the no signal tone. He was out of reach of communication, so they were stuck by themselves. The upside was they could communicate within the group. Dialling Hannah again, Martin took control of the situation.

“I need you to get everyone moving, following us. We don’t know where we are going, but we know the monsters will come back. The best thing to do is keep moving, try and find water.” Jamie leaned in, listening closely to the reply. It was affirmative. The group was on the move.

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Three days. They walked as far as they could, everyone sharing their supplies, working together. Screeching was heard in the distance behind them, and Jamie’s thoughts ran back, over the sand, over the distance, back to where Liam lay under the dust. Mentally, he created images of the beats crushing the armour, digging away at his lifeless body, consuming the flesh. He shuddered involuntarily. His teeth began to chatter, and he realised he was freezing. He flicked his head around, and saw friends huddling together for warmth. It was time for them to stop.

“I think we better rest for the night.” He suggested to his friends, halting their movement. The large group started to settle down, huddling together, packing bags into pillows, and using what little spare clothing they had as blankets.

Shaun went round the group, checking everyone for their supplies, and how they were. Many were tired, but more were too afraid to close their eyes. Fear of the darkness, the creatures out there and the cold kept them awake.

“Rest.” Shaun whispered to them, helping to calm them. He returned to the smaller group. They had separated themselves from the larger part of the group, they knew they were the reason for some of the fear the others were feeling.

“We are different, aren’t we?” Alex put forward, after a time. The silence was deafening as each thought how and why they were different. Only Alex was truly sure of her gift, the others hadn’t risen yet, but they knew it was only a matter of time.

“Why?” Tanya reached out, pushing forward the question everyone wanted to know.

“Maybe, we have been chosen for a reason.” John suggested, Michael nodding reverently in agreement.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Alex replied, quietly. “I guess, its just a waiting game.”

“Waiting game?” John spluttered. “WAITING game? This is our future, people are depending on us! We need to sort this out NOW!” He half-shouted, getting angry.

“You need to calm down, this is obviously getting to you.” Jamie attempted to calm him, but Michael was not having any of it.

“Don’t tell him to calm down! He’s right, we need to get this sorted. We have power, don’t you see? We can use it for whatever we want. For all we know, this is a new world, we can build it up, make it our own! We can rule!” His eyes lit up, imagining all the things they could do with total power.

“That’s it. I have had it. Michael, they obviously don’t want power.” John stood up abruptly. Michael followed suit. Jamie gasped, and sat opened mouthed as two of his best friends walked away. Nobody tried to stop them, it wasn’t their place. This was what they had chosen. They all knew that somehow, this wasn’t going to be the last they saw of them.

Tears in her eyes, Tanya lay down next to her remaining friends, and tried to sleep. Why hadn’t she tried to stop them? Something had held her back, a part of her told her that this was destiny. Shutting her eyes against the tears, she screamed inside herself. To hell with destiny, they were her friends!

She didn’t move. She couldn’t.

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Jamie had decided he would keep watch first, and as he sat in the silence of the night, he felt unsure. Why had he been pulled through the portal? He ran a hand through his hair. Something wasn’t right. Not just in the whole situation.

“What is wrong?” he wondered aloud to himself, and then listened. Nothing. That’s it, nothing.

He shook Tanya awake.

“What’s wrong?” She whispered, not wanting to wake the others. Her eyes were wide with fright.

“There is not sound, no animals, no nothing. And look, no stars, not even a moon!” Sure enough, the night was a blanket of darkness, wrapped tightly, no stars shone, no moon smiled down at them. Chuckling slightly, Tanya looked at Jamie.

“Jamie, there is no moon, no stars. We are not on Earth anymore. Don’t worry.” She smiled comfortingly at him.

When they awoke in the morning, Shaun had been on watch. He stood up and stretched. Nobody else had noticed the discrepancies in the night sky. Jamie smiled, inwardly laughing at himself for being so ready to jump to conclusions. Then his heart clenched, as he remembered why he was so ready to get to those conclusions. People had died, anything perceived as a threat must be treated like one. It was the only way to save his friends.

The group continued walking, the now reduced group of five walking ahead, the others following behind. A few of them had recruited themselves to be watchmen, and stood on the outsides of the main group, scouting around for any sign of danger or rescue.

They walked all day, the scouts swapping with friends while they rested, supplies being measured and consumed in immense amounts. They were walking as fast as they could, knowing that too much further without water would kill some of them.

One boy had collapsed, heat had caused him to faint. Alex tried to heal him, but could only heal his flesh wounds. She pushed herself to her limits, as much as she could muster her power, she could not awaken him.

Making a makeshift stretcher from rucksacks, the continued onwards, carrying him. When he awoke, he apologised profusely, refusing to accept extra water or help. Stumbling slightly as he got up, he found his land legs again, and continued to walk, if a little slower than before.

Finally, nightfall came again. Resting quietly, Jamie and Tanya thought of their old friends, and their new ones. Sighing gently, Martin took first watch. He looked over at his new friends, and smiled. They were good people. He was glad he was experiencing this…mystery with them. As he watched the night carefully, he felt himself drifting, floating.

“It’s the heat…” he whispered to himself, settling back on to solid ground. “Just the heat, that’s all.” He yawned, and drifted again, this time to sleep.

He woke to shadows. Hundreds of shadows, over his face and arms. Covering his body from the sun. Yawning, he roused himself, sitting upright, and taking in his surroundings. Finally, his brain kicked in, and he yelped. Standing, he ran over to his friends. Laughing, he crashed down onto the sand beside them.

“We made it! We bloomin’ made it!” He shouted gleefully, shaking Jamie and Shaun awake. The girls awoke, rubbing their eyes and groaning about the racket. Suddenly, they all noticed the houses only metres away.

They stood up, shouting in amazement.

“We made it, and didn’t realise! Metres away!” Martin was ecstatic, waving his hands at the others to join him.

In front of them, a row of pink houses stood proudly. Cottages, with thatched roofs. Jamie looked around them, they sat in a building site, sand surrounding their arms and legs.

“What the hell is this place?” Shaun whispered. He didn’t want to be heard by the cottages occupants. They could be dangerous.

“Someone has to live here…I suppose we could ask for directions?” Jamie suggested to the others. Shaun and Martin nodded, and went over to the house. Drawing in a sharp breath, Martin knocked on the door.

After a short time of scuffling coming from behind the door, it opened, revealing a large man in army combat gear, including helmet and pack. On his belt was a line of grenades. Shaun gulped.

“Well?” The army guy barked. Tanya tried her best to hide her laughter. The army mans voice was tinny, like that you imagine small GI Joe dolls would sound like if they could talk. That’s exactly what he was, she thought. She took a few steps back. The house was built in the traditional dolls house style. He didn’t sound like GI Joe actions figure… he WAS one!

“This is a combat zone, children” Joe’s voice continued. “Either sign up, or get out!” He finished, and glared.

The team looked at each other.

“We want to get home.” Jamie ventured. “We came through a portal…” Joe’s face suddenly changed. He roared, still high pitched, which caused Tanya to convulse in silent laughter once again.

“You have to get through my house, the back garden leads to the edge of the war zone, and the trees will provide cover. Come in.” He opened his door wider, and to the amazement of the onlookers, his corridor was littered with potholes, bullet holes and barbed wire.

They entered, and the door shut behind them. Looking forward, Jamie wondered what they had gotten into this time.

They burst through into the living room, it seemed to be miles long. In the distance, the flash of light of glass could be seen.

“That flash, is the dining room doors. Beyond there, is the window leading out of here. You ready?” Joe looked at the team. They nodded, swallowing hard, and fixing their view on what they saw. Hundreds of GI Joe soldiers were marching across the living room, towards them. They were identical to Joe, but he was missing something. A lighter patch on his jacket indicated he did have a badge. He caught the eye of Tanya, who was studying the patch-less arm intently.

“I broke away, didn’t like what they were up to. They started taking orders from some wimp, just turned up out of the blue.” He sneered at them, and raised his gun. He raised his other arm, and pointed towards the oncoming army.

“Go get ‘em!” He screamed.

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They charged in, voiding the bullets where they could, Jamie’s sword raised. Shaun was dodging the bullet well, his speed and agility superior to that of his enemy. They followed him, sniper rifles raised, but couldn’t shoot him.

“Follow his lead! Weave!” Jamie shouted, slicing through the head of an un-helmeted GI. The sword sliced through the plastic of his face, his features unmoving even with the pain of death. Bullets flew around him, but his sword deflected many. Alex was healing those with less able ability to weave and dodge, but Jamie saw many fall. Closing his eyes, his anger rose. He bellowed, and charged into the closest group.

Tanya was keeping the others safe, alongside Martin. They pushed and weaved the others away from the danger, towards the door. Suddenly, Tanya found herself surrounded. One of the GI’s raised his gun, and sneered at her.

“Time to die, pretty girl!” And pulled the trigger. Slowly, very slowly. He’d almost stopped. Why was he dragging it out?

She turned around. Martin was floating mid-air, a glowing dark orange light emanating from his hands similar to that of Alex. But his was stopping, rather slowing, the target. Suddenly, Tanya felt energy, she felt faster. By the look of shock and excitement on the others faces, they felt it too. Running the speed of the slowed bullets, Tanya and her group made it safely to the other side, and pushed through the doors, alongside Shaun.

Jamie sliced through the slowed GI’s, pushing through their plastic flesh, cutting them cleanly into two. Joe was following him, shooting bullets through the skulls of the ones Jamie was missing. Together, all were defeated.

He walked through the doors, and joined his friends.

“Thanks for your help, but this is where we must part.” Joe pointed to two separate paths. “The left leads to the windows, the right leads to the underground. That’s where we are created.” He smiled. “I’m not afraid to die.” He walked sedately over to the path, and took two grenades in his hands. “Thanks again.” He said, without looking back, and walked down the path to the underground.

“Should we follow him?” Alex asked.

“We better get out…” Shaun said, fear lacing his voice. They all knew what he was going to do.

They climbed out of the window, and walked to the edge of the forest. The cottage exploded behind them, in a giant red ball of fire. Melted plastic limbs fell from the sky, and the grass was tinted red. Jamie saluted, and the others did the same, honouring the brave soldier.

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Jamie was being more careful than the rest, watching the shadows. One thing he could say was an upside to the desert was the small amount of cover it gave the enemy. Whatever the enemy may be.

Pacing into the shade of the forest, a feeling of wonder washed over Tanya. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, hardly believing what she saw.

Flowers of every colour littered the dark, lush green of the grass and trees. Everything was so alive, a complete contrast to the harsh desert that everything refused to grow in. The trees reached up to the sky, branches waving gently in the breeze. A breeze! She let the refreshing current of air flow over her skin, absorbing the cold and moisture. Smiling, she skipped over to the rest of her team.

“We have to go carefully through here, guys.” Jamie spoke up, his smile and relief at the sight of this haven suddenly gone, replaced with a harsh glare, waiting and watching for any sign of danger.

“Yeah” Alex agreed “For one, we have no idea what we will face here. We may be out of the desert, but we aren’t out of the woods yet.” She grinned lopsidedly at her pathetic joke, which caused everyone to laugh loudly, hearing the echoes in the trees.

“Still no birds…” Jamie said, aside to Tanya.

“Yeah, and no John and Michael.” She replied. She looked at the ground, and tilted her head. Confused, she pointed to the ground.

“What’s that?” She mused, and the others looked at her finger, then down to what it was pointed at.

A set of footprints, leading into the forest. Martin looked up, and his mouth dropped open at the sight of the flattened plant life. It was a crudely made path, leading deeper into the lush green. Jamie drew his sword from its sheath, the metal ringing as he lifted it, ready to attack. Motioning his team to their places, Shaun ran back to inform the rest of the group of the danger. They had no idea what they were up against.

“We need to rest!” Someone from the back of the large group piped up. It had shrunk in size when the battle had ended; many had died inside, left behind. Trampled underneath the feet of the soldiers, and then blown to oblivion by the last action of an unsung hero.

“Alright, but we continue in the morning, ok?” They all agreed.

Jamie sat in a circle with the others, Tanya mindlessly flicking a twig with her nail.

“I’m guessing Michael and John caused that rabble back there…” Shaun suggested.

“I thought that too” Jamie growled “He set them on each other. Amusement or a test of power I suppose.”

“Which did he change though?” Alex piped up. She made a good point, did they make the good one good, or the bad ones bad. Maybe it had been an accident.

“We better get some sleep, I’ll take first watch. Seeing as SOMEONE cant do it properly.” She grinned and looked at Martin. It wasn’t his fault, and they had been fine in the end. They owed him one for his time controlling magic. “It was good timing though, I must admit!” She giggled another bad joke in the midst of all the mess.

In the morning, the sun shone through the dense cover of leaves and branches. The group all awoke, slowly and groggily. Forgetting all the pain and suffering for a minute, Jamie rolled over and went back to sleep. He was prodded in the back by an upset team member. They had to keep moving, following the tracks of the owner of the footprints.

After walking for about six hours, they made it to a clearing. Peering through a bush, Shaun spied out the area. He knew what his skills were, he was built to be hidden, disguising himself as other objects, blending in. He had increased speed and agility, while Jamie was slower, but stronger. He was like a Ninja. He liked the thought of that. It seemed Tanya was the only one who hadn’t gained her powers. The thought of this made Shaun even more proud of his individual skills.

He peered out of the bushes, and saw an amazing sight. Large green men, twice the size of an ordinary man, and by the looks of it, twice as strong. Ugly, deformed faces scrunched up in unrecognisable emotion. They held weapons of all sorts, mallets, axes, blades the size of a child’s body. They were worshipping something, a tall obelisk, made of solid stone. It had carvings in it, and reached up, about three stories high. There were paths leading to and from it, joining up in a circle around it. Lined by trees, and reaching towards the horizon, the path is what they needed to follow. But to get everyone around it… It was a miracle he hadn’t been seen.
He slinked back to where his team had made camp.

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“Orcs!” Alex bounced slightly when she listened to the description Shaun gave the group. “You just described Orcs! Like the fantasy style big green evil men!” She grinned, the corners of her mouth desperately trying to reach her ears, and almost managing to. Suddenly, her face fell.

The group shared a look that screamed the same message ‘Bugger’.

As they sat in a solemn circle, each of them thought about the power they had gained, and the power they were still to uncover. Jamie had his sword, and his strength. Courage and leadership were two virtues he was proud to possess. Alex was glad to be able to help her friends, healing their wounds and helping them feel much better. Compassion and friendship made her powerful. Shaun, able to sneak and run much faster than any other he knew could gather information and get through any defence others put up. Patience and diligence were his virtues, and he would uphold them to the end. Martin, with his powers over time, could disable enemies and keep himself levitated through corruption of time. He had the virtues of fortitude and justice that helped him follow his path.

As Tanya sat, silent in the group that had been brought together by fate and shared experience, a great sense of loss descended upon her. Not only had she lost her friends, she found herself unable to defend the rest. She had no power like the others, no way of protecting them. She felt useless. As the night descended upon them and they slept in turn, she laid thinking, getting angrier by the second.

By morning, the anger had grown to an amazing height. She was ready to fight, arming the less fortunate ‘normal’ people with whatever they could find, grabbing a thick branch for herself.

Jamie stared at the rabble, and at Tanya. He knew there was little hope, fighting giant Orcs with sticks and stones. It was futile, but it had to be done. There was no other way. Shaun had double, even triple checked the area, Orc guards were stationed at specific points, even with his sneak skills, he had difficulty remaining unseen. Tanya’s rage was well hidden, and would certainly reveal itself with time, but even that would be too little success, he feared. Sighing lightly, and putting on a brave face he drew his sword and raised it above his head. The light refracted off the shining, blood stained blade, and he pointed towards the target. No words were needed, but with a silent agreement, they charged.

The Orcs were slow to react, as is their nature, so the rabble of half-armed ‘normal’ people managed to bring down a couple. Their skin was like iron, but Jamie’s sword cut through it like butter. A few well placed jabs with sharpened sticks went through their eye sockets and into their small brains, at least maiming the target if not killing it. It didn’t matter; the Orcs overpowered them in strength and in number. There was no chance of a win; the only way was to retreat. The Orcs were large but slow, a strategic retreat was the most recommendable way.

“Everyone! BACK!” Jamie shouted, leadership instincts and the instinct to keep as many of his people alive took over, slashing and thrusting at all the Orcs, attempting to create a path for the injured and fighting ‘normals’ as Alex healed them, and Martin concentrated on defending rather than slowing, the Orcs were slow enough without his help.

“Jamie, get everyone out of the way, would you? Tanya’s voice floated over the din of roaring giants thrashing in pain and anger. Jamie turned, surprised at the calm, quiet tone his friends voice had taken. Tanya’s eyes were closed, and her hands seemed to be glowing. The glow, a deep red, grew, and everything stopped around her. The Orcs attention was drawn to the light, and the humans looked in awe at their friend. Suddenly, her eyes opened.

Blazing red eyes glared at the enemies, and a voice of pure hatred spoke out over the area.

“Well, this has been fun!” It grated on the nerve of even the strongest Orc, and the humans shuddered with dread at the sound, like nails across a chalk board. Suddenly, everything went dark. The light had been absorbed into the fiery red aura of the girl. Smiling, grinning, the light flashed, and everything went white.

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Everything was fuzzy, and her head hurt like hell. It was bright again, all the light she had drained from the area had returned to its rightful place. She remembered how strong she had felt, the power. She looked around her, careful not to move her head too much.

“Hey, she’s awake!” A voice said hurriedly. The loud, sudden noise hurt her eardrums. The footsteps to the top left of her skull sounded like a pneumatic drill.

“Shurrup” She managed to mutter, slurring her words. She managed to focus on the concerned face of her carer, Alex.

“Well, she’s conscious, and grumpy… sounds normal to me!” Alex said, a smile creeping over her face. She chuckled lightly, and helped Tanya into a sitting position.

“What happened?” Tanya managed to whisper, and Jamie passed her a bottle of water.

“Well,” He began “We saw you, glowing red, absorbing all the light around you. We are guessing that’s your power…” he stopped, thinking about it “but everything went dark, we think you overdid it. Especially as you have been unconscious for a day” He smiled at his friend, and cleared his throat. “Alex was rather… miffed, shall we say. My advice, for your own health and mine, that you avoid overusing and abusing your power. Moderation is key here.” He took the now empty bottle, and threw it to a normal, which caught it deftly and jogged to the spring they had discovered.

“We didn’t want to move you, and this place seemed like a good place to settle down for a bit. Easily defendable and the like.” Martin wandered over. “Welcome back to the real world… if you can call it that!” He grimaced at the deft clip round the ear he got from Alex at his joke. He rubbed it dejectedly, smiled at Tanya, and wandered away again to rally the troops.

“If you are up to it, we really need to make a move.” Jamie asked, wary of how weak Tanya could be feeling. Alex could heal physical wounds, but fatigue and unconsciousness were two things her powers were weak against.

Getting up slowly, she held her head high, and looked down her nose at him.

“Sir,” She said, mock saluting and holding back a grin “D’ya mind if I grab something to eat first?”

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In the time they had been waiting for the revival of Tanya, the others had had time to check out the area. The obelisk had been of specific interest. It was written in English, as well as a few other languages they had been able to recognise, and a couple that were new to them all. It had spoken of a house, a gate and a key. The gate led to the real world, and the key opened the gate. The house held within its walls, the key. The problem was, only those true of heart could enter the walls. For Alex, this was a problem. She was of the view that nobody was true of heart in every respect. Everyone had a dark side.

The path had created a circle round the obelisk, and then joined back again at the exit to the clearing it was in. It was a beautiful place, greenest grass, most perfect trees. Blue sky and clouds like fluff. It was amazing, yet it was too different. They were used to the bad weather, the unforgiving sands of the desert before them. It made the whole group uncomfortable.

They had no idea of time, either they were walking faster than the day was moving, or the magic light-absorbing power that Tanya had used had messed up the day-night sequence. It was a whole new world, and they had seen enough to prove that it wasn’t all it seemed.

As the walked, they saw a river. A bridge. A wall. A mansion.

A glint flashed in the eye of each of them, greed becoming them. That house held the key to their escape. A movement caught Shaun’s eye. A body, maybe a person, was moving through the field, just going over the horizon. He shook it off as a stray Orc or something; at least it was going away from them, not towards them.

Smiles spread across the tired faces of the group, and excited chatter began to heat up, discussing what they would tell their friends and family when they got home. A bit premature, Jamie thought to himself, but they deserve the light relief and temporary distraction. They rested in the field, with the lighted house in view. Sitting around the fire, the light in the distance, Jamie realised that it had been somewhere around two weeks since they first stepped trough to portal. He remembered that pull, the inescapable, irresistible draw of that doorway. Shuddering at the thought, he looked around. A lopsided grin grew on his face, and he tilted his head, thinking of his family and friends back home. He slowly began to realise that after this short time, which seemed like an eternity, his friends, his power and his whole attitude had changed. He would go home changed, but he would miss this place. He knew by the looks on the others faces that they felt the same. That mansion, that lighted beacon, represented end of an era, the end of a journey, the beginning of new friendships, and freedom.

When they had woken, rested and eager to get to the mansion, they gathered their belongings and looked at the surrounding area. The only way to get to the building was over the larger part of the river, over a small and rather inadequate looking bridge.

They walked across the field, and approached the edge of the water. Jamie signalled for the rest to wait, and Shaun scouted around for danger. Nothing seemed to indicate an ambush, or any kind of danger. Jamie looked at his reflection. Two large, black, deep shadows were beside each of his reflections shoulders. Jamie blinked. The large, black, deep shadows blinked, and rose out of the water. Jumping back, instinctively grabbing his sword, Jamie shouted a warning to the rabble behind him.

“It’s a bloody great octopus!” Martins eyes widened in amazement

Tanya rolled her eyes at the obvious statement, and then screamed as a large tentacle dropped just above her head. Water droplets splashed everywhere, instantly soaking all the people in the immediate area. Tanya absorbed the liquid, and shot it back at the beast. She had to be careful not to overdo it, if she absorbed too much, she knew she would be more of a disadvantage than an asset. Unconsciousness wasn’t helpful.. Forming a triangle, Jamie at the front, they fought.

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Jamie ran in at the giant octopus that was flailing its tentacles around, its main body hidden beneath the waters. He slashed at the tentacles, blood flying, ink spraying, but it had no real effect on the monster. Tanya fired every magic she knew at the tentacles, at the body underneath the water, but she just wasn’t strong enough.

“This monster can take too much damage; we won’t kill it with brute force!” She screamed at her friends, her sleeves rolled up, and her arms tiring. “We need a plan!” She looked at Jamie.

He looked around at his friends, old and new, sizing them up. Their talents, their abilities. He sized up the monster. It was amazingly large, but didn’t seem to have much tactical ability. He then glanced at the large building behind them. The lights were on. Lights. Electricity!

“I have a plan!” He shouted across to his friends. Five pairs of ears perked up, ready to receive their orders. “Tanya, you use surrounding elements to charge your spells, right?”

“Right… I don’t see…” She followed the look of her friend to the mansion. Her eyes widened. “Brilliant! But I can’t get to it from here!” she groaned.

“Covered!” Jamie grinned again, seeing it all come together in his mind. “The monster is between us and the building, right?” Unanimous answers of yes echoed. “There’s a bridge to the other side!” He laughed outrageously.

“That doesn’t help us you fool!” Shaun screamed, anger building up inside him.

“Yes it does. How fast can you get across?” He asked, a knowing grin working its way up his cheeks.

“You’ve lost it, completely insane. I could do it easily, but the monster would get me before I got halfway.” He leaped out of the way of a tentacle. Jamie fought off another.

“But you could get halfway. What if you had double the time?” He looked over at Martin. Shaun glanced over between avoiding hits, and laughed out loud.

“Insane like a fox!” Woody shouted. “Martin, hit it with all you’ve got, slow it down as much as you can!” Martin picked up on the idea, and grinned. Summing up all the power he could muster, he slowed down the monster. It was moving in slow motion, a dark orange glow surrounding it, its tentacles moving in the air like through treacle. Shaun grinned, and ran. He had all the time he needed to get across, jumping over a tentacle, weaving past another; it was like a walk in the park for him. He was by the house in minutes, and watched his friends as the battle sped up again. Grabbing the generators power cords, he ran back, the weight of the cord only slightly slowing him.

“What now?” He shouted across the water.

“Throw it into the water!” Jamie waved his arms in the air, signifying the excitement and that Shaun should hurry. Alex was starting to struggle with healing the cuts and bruises the team was getting when the tentacles scraped them. The skin of the beast was like sandpaper against their skin, ripping holes into their arms and torsos.

The electricity went through the water; every centimetre was flashing blue with sparks. Tanya drew on this energy, sending bursts of electricity focussed onto the beasts head underwater. Finally, the tentacles stopped flailing.

“YES! Team winner!” Jamie whooped and bounced around. They had worked as a team, and it had worked well. Finally, with the powers they had gained, they had combined their power to become a powerful group. They could take on anything.

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They stood at the door of the mansion, fountains spurting water either side of them. The unnatural light burnt their eyes, and the squinted at the large doors in front of them. Alex walked up to them, and knocked. Looking around at her friends, she shrugged.

“It’s only polite.” She grinned at the raised eyebrow look she was getting from Jamie.

The doors slowly swung open, and a great booming voice spoke out.

ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS MAY ENTER!

Gulping, Jamie took a step forward.
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?

He struggled to think, the voice booming through his thoughts. He said the one thing that had been running through his mind since he had got here.

“Home”

HMM…

Jamie had never thought you could actually hear pondering, but the sound he heard could only be described as that. The voice pondered momentarily.

ENTER.

Jamie sighed in relief, and his friends let out a breath they hadn’t noticed they had been holding. Jamie stepped through into the building.

YOU MUST WAIT HERE.

The voice was directed at the majority standing outside. Jamie had to go in alone. He waved jovially at his friends as the doors slowly closed. He drew in a deep breath, and looked into the hallway.

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Everything was covered in cobwebs. Hundreds of moving cobwebs, climbing over each other with the lines of hundreds of tiny spiders. It was like the walls were alive. Thousands of tiny eyes watched him, as he stepped forward, disturbing the dust. Carefully peering into the dark, Jamie held the hilt of his sword nervously. The one thing that he feared was being unable to protect himself from an enemy he couldn’t see. A shadow brushed past his waist.

As he swung round to face the shadow, he drew his sword swiftly, holding the blade up, ready to strike double handed at the enemy below. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed on, unsettling hundreds of years worth of dust. Coughing roughly, Jamie kept his eyes fixed on the young child in front of him.

HELLO.

It said. The older boy jumped at the sound. The child’s voice rang out, echoing off the walls, but his mouth hadn’t moved. It tilted its head, and blinked its large purple eyes at him. Regaining his composure, Jamie replyed with as much dignity he could muster.

“Um….H… Hello…” Jamie scowled at himself, his voice had squeaked when he had begun talking.

HELLO.

The younger boy grinned up at Jamie, and it clicked in the sword wielding boy that the purple-eyed boy was messing with him.

“Hello!” He laughed, and sheathed his sword. An eerie giggle echoed through the hall, and a shiver worked its way up his spine at the voice coming from the walls, not the body.

YOU WANT THE KEY?

It looked up at him, smiling kindly. It blinked, its long eyelashes contrasting to the paper-thinness of its skin. If you happened to look closely, you could see through the eyelids to the black irises underneath. Jamie acknowledged the question with a curt nod.

HM.

It looked him up and down.

WE’LL SEE.

Jamie took a step back; the boy tilted his head again. The surroundings began to change. The hallway became a large arena. Everything in the house rose up, floating mid-air in a threatening manner. They began to circle, and Jamie drew his sword again.

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The golden gates stood high. John and Michael stood in front of them. The portal glowed.

“It’s almost time.” John sneered. Michael nodded. The army cheered.

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As Jamie slashed as the objects that were thrown towards him, he questioned the child over the din.

“What are you?”

I AM A GUARDIAN

A carpet, rolled up, attacked him with vigour. He blocked it, slashing at the soft fabric, shavings of fluff flying off at every angle.

“Of what?”

PORTALS.

“So, you got us here?”

A lamp wrapped itself around his sword arm, the cable digging into his flesh. He bit the wire, and with a flash, it fell to the ground and shattered.

THAT WAS NOT MY DECISION. I AM JUST A GUARDIAN. A PAWN.

“Not your decision… same for us then.”

WELCOME TO MY WORLD.

“Is it your decision to fight me? Why not just give me the key?”

NOT MY DECISION.

A pot smashed into the wall behind him.

“They use you don’t they”

THEY ALL DO.

Jamie ducked as a table threw itself at his head. He ran at the child.

I DON’T EXIST WITHOUT THEM.

“Who are they?”

THE OTHER GUARDIANS.

“WHO?” Jamie jumped and crashed to the ground, grabbing the child by the shoulders and forcing him to the floor. “Explain it to me. Nicely.”

AS YOU WISH. YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF.

Jamie shrugged and sheathed his sword as the flailing contents of the mansion crashed, causing a large dust cloud.

I AM THE KEY.

A flash of purple light blinded Jamie, and he covered his eyes, pushing his palms into his eye sockets. As the light subsided, he gingerly peered through the cracks between his fingers. In front of him was the original hallway, cobwebs and all. In front of him lay the key, glinting in the limited light. The voice sounded again.

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN. THE GUARDIANS SENT YOU TO ME. I AM YOUR SERVANT. I AM THE KEY.

Jamie crawled over to the glinting golden key. Over it hovered a small shadow, with large purple eyes. Somehow, Jamie understood that the child, whatever it was, was the spirit of the house. Maybe the first person to ever live in this house. Maybe just how the house imagined itself. Maybe it was the portals themselves, if they were sentient.

He brushed some dust of his shirt, and exited the building. As the doors shut behind him, he looked through the gap. He was almost certain that the spiders were applauding.

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“What happened?” A babble of noise hit Jamie as he faced his friends. Alex was fussing over him, bursts of white hitting his flesh, tingling slightly as it repaired the small cuts that he had gained in his fight. He shrugged off the various questions, and held out his fist in front of him. His hand twisted, and opened. On the palm, sat the golden key.

Gasps travelled around the entire group, this key was the key to get them home. Now all they had to do was get to the gates.

As they walked across the open fields, they began to think of home. Would they still have their power when they got back? Would they even remember this? They all fell in step, one foot in front of the other, and an average pace. Jamie played with the hilt of his sword, thinking back to how he first got hold of it, first discovered his power. He thought it was unfair that a great friend and a good man had to die for him to realise his strength. So many people had been lost, only a few, battle hardened stragglers remained. Their clothes were dirty and torn, great sword slashes in them, bullet holes and near-miss gashes torn into the cloth. Many had taken their friends belongings, water bottles, clothes, food. They had found berries and other food during their travels, but they were still hungry and tired. It wasn’t the same as a good meal and a good nights sleep. It was torture. But home didn’t seem like home anymore. Home was neither here nor there. Nowhere.

Before he had realised, there was a light, and scenery like that of the Garden of Eden. Everything seemed to float on clouds of perfect grass and flowers. Paradise. Then he noticed what his friends eyes were drawn to, fixated on.

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The golden gates. Amazing, tall structures of gold, reaching upwards towards the heavens. Two matching pieces, like angels wings. Walls higher than could be seen by the naked eye. The team walked up to them, heads tilting back, looking upwards as the approached.

“This is it.” Martin whispered, breaking the silence. Behind the gates, the portal shone purple. It reached almost as high as the walls, almost as wide. The walls were built around it, a roof over it. The gates the only way in.

“It’s… beautiful” Alex said. She meant it. The portal, the gates, the walls. The end of their journey. After all they had been through, all they had seen. This was it.

“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that, friends.” A voice said from behind them. John stepped out from the shadows of the trees, five arrows ready to fire in his bow.  They turned to see Michael appearing the other side of them. Pterodactyls flew overhead, circling the group. Orcs stood beside him, like disfigured bodyguards. One held an axe the size of Michael’s body, the other a mallet, various bones and stones lodged into its wooden weapon. The group knew the undoubtedly there would be other creatures they had encountered hidden behind him.

“Why are you doing this?” Jamie growled at his old friends.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” John spoke melodiously, carefully sizing up his old friends. “I expected better of you, old friend.” He smiled, and lowered his bow.

“I am NOT your friend!” Jamie raised his blade, ready for a fight. John tutted his tongue.

“You never did understand how much I dislike you… but now it seems the shoe is on the other foot.” He looked down to the ground and the back up at Jamie’s face. “Such a pity.”

John suddenly realised to existence of the others.

“You kept the normals?” He sniggered. “Much use they would be.” He sighed pitifully. He gestured to Michael.

“Give us the key, ol’ buddy o’l pal.” Michael sniggered as his creatures moved in. “My beasties won’t bite if you behave…” He looked around, and laughed at the others.

“What do you mean, ‘normals?” one of them spoke up.

“That’s just what we call you, the ones who aren’t supposed to be here.” Michael explained. “Want my beasties to show you why you don’t belong?” The ‘normal’ slinked back into the crowd, whimpering softly. “Didn’t think so.” Michael sneered.

“We need to hold them off long enough for everyone to get through. Martin?” Jamie looked round at each member, explaining what hey should do.

Everyone nodded, their eyes not leaving the two boys and the creatures surrounding them.

Jamie roared and charged and one of the Orcs. Time and Black magic flew through the air, slamming Michael back a few feet, and causing John’s arrows to fly off in different directions. Martin teleported himself up to the height of the keyhole and Jamie threw the key to him. He pushed it into the lock, and turned it.

 

A howling whistled through the air, blasting everyone off their feet. As they clambered back up, the ‘normals’ began running through, to safety. Away from the monsters and the journey. Towards home.

Alex healed as much as she could, glowing white bursts of light flowing from her fingers, blasting from her palms. An arrow removal here, a scratch or two there. Shields as well, bright white bubbles helping to prevent the attacks. She was tiring fast, but sheer willpower held her up.

Jamie’s sword cut through the Orcs armour like butter, slicing through flesh and bone. These ones were stronger than they had encountered before. There was no time to check on the others, he focused everything onto killing these monsters.

Shaun flitted from place to place, lending a hand to each and everyone that needed it. Alex was concentrating so much on healing her friends and protecting them, she didn’t notice a small goblin creature sneak up behind her. Shaun took it down, swooping in from a branch of the tree closest. She smiled at him thankfully, tears flowing down her face from the pain and effort she was putting into assisting her friends.

Martin was now looking down on the action from above, casting slow on enemies when needed, and speeding up allies, helping the through the portal. He had no idea what was awaiting them on the other side, but he needed to help his friends. He looked down at the Tanya, the black mage, firing every element she could at the enemies. Her hair flew into her eyes, and she swept it back with a quick movement of her hand. She was moving slowly towards Alex, protecting her friend with everything she could. Martin helped shield the two in a dark orange bubble of speed, helping Tanya protect Alex, and Alex save everyone else.

The battle raged on, normals running through the gaps in the battle, falling, being helped up by friends, healed by Alex and then moved along by Martin. Orcs were appearing out of nowhere, avenging the death of their friends, goblins throwing themselves kamikaze-style at the wall of fire Tanya had built. Finally, the last was through.

“Everyone, through!” Martin shouted down to his friends, pushing them with bursts of speed. Slowing the enemies as much as he could.
”This is it then, Michael, John. Last chance to end this now, and come with us.” Jamie made his offer, face set like stone, covered in blood and dirt.

“I think we’ve already made our decision perfectly clear.” John sneered, spitting on the ground next to him.

“Your choice!” Jamie charged at them, pushing them away to either side. Orcs set up a chorus of angry howling and growling as their master lay on the ground, and rushed at Jamie as a berserker would. He jumped through the gates, and stood inside the wall with his friends.

“SHUT THE GATE!” He roared at Martin, shouting over the chorus of berserker Orcs after his blood. The gates shut, and Martin locked them with a flourish. Each of them collapsed on the ground.

 

Sitting up, Jamie rubbed his forehead. Dried blood crumbled off like scraps of paint falling off a wall. He ran his hand through his short, black hair, and looked around. All the other members of his team, his friends, were waking from their exhaustion-caused sleep. John and Michael were nowhere to be seen.

“I guess this means we finished the miles for smiles then?” Martin said groggily. He grinned, and then laughed. The entire team started laughing.

“We won! Team Winner!” Jamie screeched through the tears of laughter running down his face, causing the others to laugh even harder. Relief flooded though them. As they stopped laughing, the seriousness of the situation dawned on them again. People had been killed; Liam was still buried in the desert where they started. Parents needed to be told, things needed to be explained. Questions needed answers. They had been missing for a couple of weeks now; going home like this couldn’t be good. Standing up, thoughts ran back to everything they had been through here. How it had started.

“Well, we need to get back.” Jamie said, and grabbed Alex’s hand. Looking over at her he grinned.
”Better now than never” She agreed, hey eyes sparkling.

“What are they going to say?” Shaun laughed

“Who cares?” Tanya said. Martin replied, quietly.

“As long as they give us answers…” He stepped towards Jamie.

“Just in case.” He smiled warmly “Thanks.” He grabbed Jamie’s hand and shook it. Everyone broke into smiles, and in all seriousness exchanged congratulations and thanks. Lining up, all equal, they stepped through the portal.

 

Jamie pulled out his sword, brandishing it in Mr. Smiths face.

“Explain yourself!” He growled. Alex put a hand on his shoulder, in warning. Killing the teachers would be of no use to them.

“Let me explain.” Sighed Mr. Seville. “Mr. Smith has no idea about this. Follow me.” He led the group to a small building away from the crowd. They passed their friends, all sitting and eating, no marks on their bodies, their clothes fine.

“What the hell is going on?” Martin growled

 “It all began about 25 years ago. We were all the same age as you are now, give or take a few months. Miles for smiles existed then, too. Just like this. We found a portal, were drawn to it. Undoubtedly so were you.” He paused. “We got out, to be greeted like you were. We saw everything you have seen, and understand a little more. We set up the portal!” Mr. Seville finished with a flourish.

“You aren’t making much sense.” Mrs Cookes said harshly to the other teacher. “As you have probably figured out, each of you has unique powers. I myself am a black mage. Mr. Court is the ninja of our group, Mr. Elfley the time mage, Ms Mills, our healer. Mr. Seville our undisputed leader and muscle, the soldier.” She smiled at Jamie’s group, and then at her own. “We protect this realm from itself.” She drew herself up to her full height, obviously proud of that fact.

“From what?” Tanya said incredulously, mouth open, confused as the rest of them.

“This realm” Mrs Cookes said, obviously deflated at the lack of understand or enthusiasm coming from the youngsters “All the war, hatred, everything bad, is controlled by the forces in the realm you just visited. The more the forces get out of control there, the more there is war and suffering in this world. It was our job to stop that.” She smiled, but it was strained. “We are getting older now, and less able to keep the forces at bay. It was time for a new set of heroes. You.” Again, she smiled, but it was genuinely warm this time.

“I still don’t quite understand…” Shaun began

“I think I get it.” Jamie interrupted. “We have to stop the evil in that world. There are no good things in that world, but in ours there is. So by defeating evil in that world, we are making more space for evil, and therefore it draws it out of this realm, which is its parallel?” Jamie ran his speech off as fast as he could. His group looked astonished, while the older versions of themselves beamed at him.

“Perfect, pretty much.” Mr. Court spoke quietly.

“So, how long have we been there, and what about those that died?” Alex said angrily.

“Both good questions, and I shall answer them for you!” Mr Elfley almost shouted, drawing some rolling of eyes and raised eyebrow looks from his friends. “What are you DOING?” he almost screamed to his friends, who then decided to back away and let him get on with it. For teachers, they had a sense of humour about them. The teachers stood back, and while Mr. Elfley explained, they were amazed at how these youngsters in front of them reminded them of…themselves.

“There is a time distinction between the two parallel realms. This one goes a lot slower. Weeks in the evil realm, are mere hours in the normal realm. Also, anyone who isn’t destined to be one of the protectors forgets and is forgotten as soon as the protectors return. So, those who died never existed here, as good only truly exist in this realm. Do you understand?” Mr Elfley finished, and nodded at the group.

“So, Liam died there, and never existed here?” Jamie cautiously asked.

“That’s about right, though he did exist, but not as far as anyone who isn’t a protector knows. They will miss something, but won’t be able to remember what. You, though, get to remember everything. It’s a blessing and a curse.” Mr. Elfley sighed, shrugged and stepped back.

“What about John and Michael?” Tanya asked. “They had…powers… too. They chose to stay.” She lowered her gaze.

“What?” Ms. Mills stepped forward. “That’s not possible…”

“They stayed behind. They were using their powers to control the beasts, to become more powerful. They wanted to stay.” Jamie continued “John was fed up with us, and Michael stayed with him. They are going to try and stop us, control the evil. Control that realm, and then move onto this one…” He finished, and gulped. He hadn’t realised before now. They had known all of this, they had figured it out.

“Oh no…” Ms. Mills was gob smacked. “It’s never happened before… This isn’t good. You are going to have to stop them.”

“Cant you help us?” Alex pleaded with them

“I’m sorry; it’s no longer in our hands. You have the key. It’s up to you to stop them. We will give you as much guidance as we can, and stay alert on this side. But as soon as you go through of your own accord, we lose our powers. You are our replacements, not our helpers.” Mr. Court rubbed his temples, lines of worry creasing his face.

The younger heroes looked at each other, remembering the blood, the sweat and the tears that accompanied their journey through that realm. None of them wanted to go back there.

Their gaze fell upon the key. It wasn’t up to them. Their quest wasn’t over.

 

Not now, not ever.