Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (read aloud .txt) 📕

knew I had to watch my thoughts. If I didn’t, my once regretted memories would haunt me.
“I settled myself behind a Deadwood Tree, and shivered. I shortly forgot how cold the Dominion was.
“Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by her screams.
“‘Stop the pain! It hurts!’
“Her cries were unanswered as I watched her grasp her stomach. Max laid her on a bed of rocks. I watched intently as her screams were silenced. Max had closed his eyes as well as hers with a pass of the hand. He circled an arm over her and chanted something I couldn’t understand.
“That’s when I noticed: my clown friend was no longer human, but a hyena-beast; half-hyena, half-man. His fur was striped, spotted, and patched all at the same time. His colors weren’t too light to be dark, or too dark to be light.
“He seemed to sense me watching. Opening his multi-colored eyes, Max smiled at me. All was silent then, and he returned to Sabrina’s now sleeping body. My attention followed.
“Turns out, she fell asleep, never realizing she’d given birth.
“I turned back to Max, my Heart-Brother, as he calls me. Max’s chant was low and our eyes met for a brief moment.
“It was that moment feelings of pain, hurt, and despair were literally seen in Max’s eyes.
“He raised a silent baby to the air, chanting again in his language. I understood the end when he said, ‘I crown thee Princess Tempest!’
“That’s when I gasped, waking up. I decided to come as soon as I could when I woke this morning, giving you this warning. I would have been here sooner, but Sabrina stopped me on the way.”
Mark looked down. “You know, Max has been with me, as the Hawks were to the two of you, for so long. I considered him my friend. I later began to call him my Heart-Brother.” He looked up at the group. Wolf was watching and listening with attentive ears. “I don’t know what to think of him, now.”
“I knew something like this would happen.” Katherine interrupted, sneaking a glance at Wolf.
“Now what do we do?” Kit asked them softly.
“What can we do but surrender?” Mark replied. “We know now how much power Sabrina is capable of, especially being a new mother.”
“Lord Maximaniac has turned against us.” Toby replied.
“We have no other choice.” Aaron replied, slumping in his seat.
“STOP!” Ariana’s yell made all perk up and pay attention. “Listen to yourselves!” Ariana stood as leader and a voice of reason to her Crusaders. “I’m ashamed at all of you! You guys think that just because Sabrina gave birth that would mean we’d have to surrender.”
“Ariana’s right.” Luna stood next to her twin sister with an equally disgusted look. “You have to keep in mind that Sabrina didn’t know she gave birth. That’s a plus for us.”
“We have to find her weakness, as Damian himself told me.” Ariana explained. “Question is: what’s her weakness?”
All were silent, even Ariana and her sister Luna, in thought.
The Dream Realm Crusaders would have a hard time finding the answer to that question.
They never knew what surprises lay in store for them the next day.

II

Shannon gathered Nick and Shadow together, as planned. They held hands, closed their eyes, and repeated a chant they’d learned together, Dream Lockets aglow.

“Moy Yam Tor Ham Day
“Take us away
“Through the air and breeze
“Time and space,
“Ancient Mystic Magic take us
“To Young Guardian’s place.”

In moments, the trio was in front of an abandoned lot. The lot was dark, so no one suspected anything peculiar. It was only a few blocks away, so they were able to walk to the other Crusaders, silently as they had come.
“I hope we make it in time,” Shane replied, not really to himself, but to the air. He was worried for Luna mostly.
“Hope is something worth having.” Shannon advised him softly, eyes on the path.
They walked until they were directly across the street from the Woods’ house. Shannon stopped then, dead in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Nick took her hand, and Shane placed a concerned arm on her shoulder.
Shannon stared straight ahead and whispered, “I’m not so sure about this.”
“Come on, Shan.” Shane pressed. “We have to tell them.”
Shannon sighed, squeezing his hand and looking at both Nick’s and Shane’s urgent stares. “Okay. Let’s go.”

III

Maximaniac held his daughter close as he made his way to the Palace of the Ancient Mystic Sisters.
I hope they remember my past kindness, Max thought to himself. I need their assistance right now.
His image was that of a hyena-beast, but his daughter Tempest wasn’t old enough to change her image from Immortal yet. She will, in time.
“Need not worry, my precious Tempest.” Max replied to his daughter, who was silent in his arms. Her blood-red eyes glowed, and her black hair was thick to the touch. Her face was pale, as if death was her token of life. In Max’s eyes, she was perfect. “Someday, you and I will rule our own part of the Dream Realm together. Just watch.”
He rung the chime to the Palace, making sure his hood was on right. He didn’t want to run into his brother Orthos anytime soon. To tell him he was a grandfather by his own brother would be hard to explain! Max smiled at the thought.
The big door opened to reveal a surprised Challandra. Enchantra smiled behind her, knowing.
“Wonderful of you to come, Maximaniac.” Enchantra spoke up, since her sister couldn’t.
“You remember me, Enchantra?” Max was amazed.
“I saw you in my Sphere of Enchantment.” Enchantra replied. “I wondered what you were up to.”
“I apologize for my past actions, I assure you.” Max stammered. He held his baby up to the Sisters’ sight.
“Who is this?” Challandra took the baby, who felt cold to her warm touch.
“She is my daughter, the offspring of Sabrina herself.” Max explained. “I wish for her to stay in your care until the Crusade is over.”
“Sabrina’s daughter!” Challandra cried. “Your own grandniece!”
“Yet, my own offspring.” Max replied. “Please, lovely Sisters, say you will take care of Tempest until I return. I do not want her in the middle of battle.”
“Does Sabrina know your daughter is here now?” Enchantra had to know.
“Nay,” Max replied. “She does not even know she gave birth. I placed the Forgetfulness Spell on her.”
“Good thinking, Maximaniac.” Challandra congratulated. “I believe we will take her in – only if you promise, with your goodness attached, you will return to take her yourself.”
Max couldn’t have been happier. “Aye. With my goodness attached, I promise.” He turned to his daughter’s pale white face. “I will return, my precious. A promise is a promise, and Lord Maximaniac never breaks a promise!”
He kissed each his daughter and the Sisters on the cheek before he returned to the Outer Realm.
The Sisters sighed.
“This time, I really think he has changed.” Enchantra took the child.
“Yeah,” Her sister replied sarcastically. “For the worse.”
“Why do you say that? He has shown us he can return anytime he is ready.” Enchantra put the baby down in the old nursery, which used to house her own daughters. Tempest was sleeping peacefully in moments, and Enchantra shut the door quietly with her powers.
“Do you really think he is telling the truth?” Challandra asked. “Last time he promised something, like helping us with Orthos and Jezebel, he decided to flee.”
“Oh, Challie.” Enchantra reasoned. “He was hurt then, and very confused. Once one of us, Jezebel was turned around by Orthos. Maximaniac simply wished to stay out of the fight, for fear of losing Jezebel.”
“In the end, both Sisters Jezebel and Sibylline were lost, correct?” Challandra encountered.
Enchantra sighed, sad. She remembered back then, and was wistful of the sisters she’d left behind in the Wars. She returned to the subject. “I saw it in my sphere. Maximaniac has his good intentions. They may be approached differently, but he does mean to do good for the entire Dream Realm. That is all there is to it.”
Enchantra huffed away and Challandra stared after her.
She wondered if Maximaniac really knew what he was doing being an Earthbound. 
Chapter Fifty-Two:
The First-Generation Crusaders

“Let’s go over what we have so far.” Derrick suggested the next day after gathering all the Dream Realm Crusaders together. Each was sitting in different spots in the Woods’ living room.
“She thought I stole her powers, so she has her Warriors kidnap me.” Ariana replied.
“She haunted my dreams, telling me you didn’t care about me.” Derrick looked her in the eye.
“Which isn’t true, of course.” Ariana assured him with a smile. He tapped her on the shoulder as he sat above her on the arm of the sofa.
From the corner of her eye, Luna noticed Mark looking sad. He was quiet since arriving, barely saying anything short of a soft “hello.” Luna could sense her fellow Crusader was in trouble. It was up to her to find out what was bothering him.
“What’s wrong, Mark?” Luna dared to ask him the precious question.
He was silent, and then looked at each of the twins before resting his eyes on Ariana. “You know.”
Derrick and the others looked to the Young Guardian, who wore a sad look on her face.
“Yes, I do.” Ariana stood and faced Mark. “You love me with your heart, but your soul belongs to Bonnie Marie.”
Mark stared at Ariana, amazed she knew. Before he could say anything, the doorbell rang.
Ariana stood up and opened the door to find Shannon Ryan, Nick McNathaniels, and Shane Morehouse’s worried looks on their faces.
“What are you guys doing here?” Ariana asked as they walked in.
Shane found Luna in the mob of Crusaders and hugged her tightly.
“I’m glad you’re alright.” Shane whispered in Luna’s ear.
“Of course I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?” Luna kissed him then.
“I dreamed of you and Damian. He had you chained to a tree in the Dominion.” Shane explained.
She pulled away, smiling embarrassed.
“Luna, what’s going on?” Shannon and Ariana chorused. They had been watching the scene.
“It’s my fault you’re here.” Luna said softly. “I sent a message to Shane, hoping he’d hear me. I didn’t mean for it to turn out as it did.”
“What message?” Ariana asked.
The other Crusaders gathered around her.
Luna looked around and told her story. “When you and Derrick went out the other night, I was envious of you. Here I was, writing my millionth letter to Shane, while the two of you were out, celebrating your love.”
“So, I decided to reach for my Ancient Mystic Magic Force and pull an image of Shane from my box of memories. Little did I know that the memory of Damian and I fighting each other would come back on me.”
Shannon spoke up. “I think I know what happened next.” She replied. “Damian turned your precious memory of Shadow here into something evil.”
“Maybe that’s what Damian was up to when he told me of Sabrina’s plan?” Ariana confessed. She told Shannon, Nick, and Shane what happened.
“Wait a minute.” Nick replied. “Maybe we should explain ourselves before we tell all.” He turned to Shannon.
“Alright, alright, Nick.” Shannon replied. She fingered the Dream Locket around her neck. “Crusaders, the three of us have come for a reason.”
“We are a part of the original Dream Realm Crusader team of Dixilynne’s.” Nick explained, showing them the necklace he wore.
Shane showed his, looking to Shannon to explain their private Crusade years ago.
Shannon didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t want to remember the very Wars for Power that