The Prophecy (The Guardians) - By Wendy Owens Page 0,7

it felt like he was a little more complete, like a limb had been reattached.

Gabe slid the leather strap over his head, allowing the sword to come to rest on his hip. He turned, and making great haste, exited the front door. Looking from side to side for any sign of where Rachel may have gone, he decided on a path. Without anything telling him which direction to go, Gabe trusted his instincts and took off towards the south side of the cabin. He would search the woods until he reached the riverbed. Rachel was not familiar with a lot of the territory in the valley, so he decided he would visit the places he knew she was familiar with. He just hoped he could find her before nightfall. Though the wolves did not worry him, he did not think she would have the skills to fend off the wild creatures in their own territory.

“Rachel, can you hear me?” Gabe called out as he emerged from the tree line. As the water came into view, he remembered this had been the exact location Rachel had done her dance with the butterflies. Now that she was missing, Gabe was regretting that he had upset her so deeply. He didn’t know why he had to push everyone so far away from him; he had been like that longer than he could remember.

“Rachel!” Gabe cried angrily, consumed by aggravation about the situation.

Still, there was only silence in response. Suddenly all of the disastrous possibilities began to filter through his thoughts. Though his tiny valley had provided him with a shield from the demons to track him thanks to the copper in the hillsides, it posed countless other threats. The rocky areas of the cliff sides were far beyond stable from all the mining that had occurred years ago. They were also a minefield of rattlesnakes, ready to pounce. Then there were the mines themselves, recklessly abandoned air shafts. There was no way she would have ventured that far, right? Gabe told himself.

Gabe continued to search the waterside for a few more minutes until he decided it best to put his mind at ease and search the area surrounding the abandoned copper mines. He hadn’t visited the areas much. When he first had arrived to the valley, he hid away some of his belongings that he had collected and brought with him from Rampart, unable to give them up and also unable to look at them every day. Gabe approached the first mine. Pressing against the wooden slats that covered the entrance, Gabe yelled, “Rachel?”

Listening to his echo, he waited for a response. After a moment he moved on, by the time he reached the third opening he began doubting his approach. Perhaps she was already back at the cabin waiting for him. Gabe carefully climbed the steep hillside that led to the next mining cave. He remembered when he had made this same climb a year ago; this had been where he tucked away all the treasures from his past.

Grabbing a hold of a boulder, Gabe pulled his weight up onto the flat ground outside the open cave. Gabe saw the boards lying off to the side that he had pried loose when he first had discovered the place. They were now weathered and heavily rotted from lying in the dirt. Gabe leaned in, expecting to find nothing just as he had in the last two caves. The light beamed in all around his head, he opened his mouth to shout Rachel’s name, but the word stuck in his throat.

There, before him, on her knees sat Rachel. She was holding up a crystal looking through it, as if trying to figure out if it were valuable in some way. Startled by Gabe’s shadow, she jumped slightly.

“Oh, Gabe. It’s you.” Rachel said, pressing a hand to her heart. “You scared me.”

The memory of the night Gabe first saw that crystal rushed over him. He had been deep in the depths of Rampart, under the library with Sophie. He could see young Sophie in his mind for an instant, holding up the crystal and revealing its magical properties.

“What are you doing?” Gabe shrieked, unable to move at first.

“Look at all this great stuff I found.” Rachel replied, lifting the bag so he could see the magnificent find.

“You mean stole!” Gabe snapped, rushing in and ripping the bag from her hands.

Rachel dropped the crystal into the dirt, complete and utter shock washing over her. Without hesitation,