Guardians of Muraycia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Seasons passed and summer changed to autumn, autumn changed to winter.

“Those new guardians are getting too powerful. I don’t like it!” Vaulda screeched to her daughter, who was trembling in fear at her mother’s rage.
“We must get rid of them before they become too much of a threat,” she told her, “Fetch Sasha and Silver.”
Midnight was delighted to leave her mother’s room to fetch the wolves. She turned and made her way swiftly to the door.

A pair of yellow eyes stared down at the training room. Corriett and Anna climbed up a rope, while Mimi practiced hitting targets with water. Genie was turning things to gold, and Sinbad was doing an obstacle course, while Periwinkle waited for her turn in the corner. The fierce yellow eyes scanned the room searching for prey, and they found it. The great wolf crouched on its hind legs, its massive tail twitching back and forth with anticipation. Then it sprang. Periwinkle reared on her hind legs and whinnied. She bucked and pranced around, as the wolf sank its teeth into her shoulder. “SPlOOSH!” a blast of water erupted from Mimi’s direction drenching both Periwinkle and the wolf, which tumbled off the horse and to the ground. Then it spread its wings and took off. Every one rushed to Periwinkle.
“Was that a winged wolf?” asked a bewildered Anna. Cooper nodded.
“But they only live…”
“Yes, in Cyn Yan.” Cooper finished. “We have a problem.”


The tall clock clicked all though the night. Corriett knew something was wrong. Cooper had been in a meeting with the Queen for a solid hour, and neither had come out looking happy. Corriett got up and fumbled her way through the darkness to the bathroom. She sat on the floor and spoke.
“Luminarium” and dazzling light appeared in front of her, revealing a winged child in the corner. “So you could not sleep either?” asked Genie. Of the six guardians Genie was the one Corriett did not know well, so she merely nodded.
“Cooper seems awfully worried,” Genie commented.
“Yea,” Corriett agreed.
“What is Cyn Yan anyway?”
“I don’t know,” she replied.
For a moment they sat in silence. Corriett stared at the light and let it sooth her. Like a candle burning through the sorrow and eerie madness of it all, until Genie broke the silence.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“Oh, Greastes, Icara,” she replied distractedly.
“That’s in Lindle, right?”
“Yeah, where are you from?” Corriett asked in return.
“The mountains of Satche” Genie answered sadly.
“What’s wrong with them?” Corriett asked. Genie looked up at her startled.
“I beg your pardon.”
“I’m sorry,” said Corriett apologetically. “You just sounded sort of sad when you said that, so I just thought… never mind.”
“No the mountains are fine,” replied Genie. “It’ just I don’t have very good memories there.” She added reluctantly.
“What happened,” asked Corriett, hoping she wasn’t intruding “or is it personal?” she then added hastily.
Genie’s face twitched before saying, “I’m an orphan.”
“Oh” Corriett did not know what to say. “My parents died when I was seventeen” Muraycians live to be up to fifteen thousand years old, so it was awfully young to a Muraycian.
“That’s so sad” Corriett said in a hushed voice.
“How did it happen?” she wished she hadn’t said it as soon as she did. Genie looked at the ground and said in a whisper barely audible, “I don’t know.”
“It must be awful,” said Corriett kindly.
At this Genie simply shrugged and asked, “Do you like cookies?”
Corriett recognized that Genie was trying to change the subject, so she went along with it.
“Yes I do actually,” she replied in a friendly tone. So they talked of cookies until Anna shouted at them, “SHUT UP!” At which point, they finally went back to bed.


The air had a cold stony feeling the next morning as if a poison arrow had pierced the pleasant dreams of the previous night. There was an odd silence at the breakfast table. Breakfast was delicious but Corriett could hardly taste it. She scooped moon cakes into her mouth with trembling hands that could barely hold her fork. Genie sat next to her that morning, but they did not talk. Corriett was thinking about Cooper’s secret meeting with Queen Anastova. It was here that she recalled something that was said right before the meeting. She put down her fork and said, “Anna, what is Cyn Yan?” Anna’s fork stopped half way to her mouth. She put it down.
All eyes were on Anna who, glanced around the table before saying, “It’s another world, a hell dimension.”
“Why is Cooper so worried about it” asked Periwinkle, tossing her mane.
“They’re servants of Vaulda,” replied Anna.
“Who is she?” piped Mimi.
“Some sorceress, I don’t know really.” Anna spoke so quickly that Corriett had trouble understanding her, giving her the impression that Anna was not being entirely truthful, which did not surprise her. Anna was, after all, a bully.

Cooper seemed distracted all afternoon. For the first ten minutes of class they forced themselves to sit quietly and wait. At one point Cooper forgot he was teaching the lesson. Anna took this to mean that class dismissed.

Later Corriett went to the castle library to find a book on Cyn Yan. She found one all right. Corriett was just about to head back when she heard a snarl. Slowly she turned around. There in the center of the room was a great silver beast, not so unlike the one that had attacked Periwinkle.
“FULGAR” she shouted, but the lightning bounced right of the wolf’s smoky grey fur
“CALXUS,” but again her spell bounced off the gleaming coat. It was immune to magic. It was then that Corriett decided she should probably run, but the wolf was faster. It had her pinned to the ground in two mighty leaps. Corriett struggled against it, but it was no use. It opened its jaws wide. Corriett squeezed her eyes shut ready for the end, but it didn’t come. The wolf let out a painstaking howl and clambered off of her. An arrow was lodged deep in its side. Feebly it spread its wings and took off into the distance.
“Come on” ordered Anna jerking her head towards the door and slinging her bow over her shoulder. “Let’s go see Cooper.”

Seeing Cooper was the last thing Corriett wanted to do, if Cooper had anymore on his mind they might as well not show up for lessons at all; however, seeing as Anna did just save her life Corriett decided she should probably do what she said.