“Where are you leading me?” Chen asked the light as if it would reply.

Chen continued running after the line of light as it disappeared before him. Eventually, the light stopped in its path. Chen slowly lifted his head up to see what looked like a hill, only there was an opening at the base of the small hill. Cautiously, Chen stepped towards it. He leaned forward, gazing into the hole.

“Hello?” Chen called into the hole. “Muh!”

Chen gasped and backed away as an army of scorpions marched out of the opening. He scrambled backwards, getting away from the poisonous creatures. At last the scorpion army began to disperse, disappearing in every which way. Chen stared at the entrance to the scorpion den as a rather large, dominant scorpion sauntered out, waving his pincers about.

Chen’s eyes widened as his heart began to race at the sight of the scorpion. His mind went completely blank and the area around him seemed to disappear in his vision. Chen stepped forward unconsciously and kneeled down on one knee. The scorpion danced over to Chen, cocking his head from side to side. Chen gulped.

“Are you… is this…” Chen questioned the scorpion to no avail, the words failing to come from his mouth.

“Are you trying to ask me if I am your guardian?” The scorpion questioned Chen.

Chen’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

“You… you spoke!” Chen gasped.

“Well, of course I did,” the scorpion retorted.

“Okay then,” Chen seemed a bit offended by the scorpion’s remark. “Well… are you my guardian?”

The scorpion clacked his pincers and bounced up and down as if he were laughing.

“What an unusual question to ask. Do you really think it is up to me to decide who I am the guardian of? I have never met you once in my life!” The scorpion laughed. “But truthfully, it is up to you. What do you think? Am I your guardian?”

Chen stared at the scorpion for a while, thinking. Eventually he nodded. He placed his hand flat on the ground and the scorpion climbed on top. Chen lifted it to his face and stared into its beady black eyes.

“Yes,” Chen replied, nodding confidently. “I do think you are my guardian.”

The scorpion seemed to smile as it shifted on Chen’s hand.

“You are quite a confident young man. I like that. And,” the Scorpion whipped his tail around. “I agree. I may be your guardian. I can see it in your bright eyes. That electrifying passion, that sharp wit, you may be the person I am waiting for after all, Mr…”

“Chen,” Chen introduced himself, shaking a pincer. “My name is Chen.”

“Well, Chen, you realize what comes next right?”

“Um, MAMA said something about a gem,” Chen furrowed his eyebrows, recalling the familiar word. “The EXO gem?”

The scorpion nodded his head. “Indeed. Are you ready?”

“More than I’ll ever be,” Chen replied, beaming with pride that he had found his guardian already.

“Chen! There you are! Do you know how long it took me to find you? I mean, we’re in the middle of a desert for Tree of Life’s sakes,” MAMA complained, gasping for air.

She spotted the scorpion in Chen’s hand and pointed at it questionably. Chen knew exactly what she was thinking and nodded. He stood up and walked over to MAMA, bearing the scorpion proudly.

“I can’t believe it. You actually found your guardian,” MAMA said in disbelief. “But how?”

As Chen began to tell his wild of story about the path of light, MAMA listened carefully, hoping for hints as to where the other guardians may be. Out of the corner of her highly skilled eyes, she spotted a wispy, dark cloud. MAMA continued to listen to Chen as she kept her eye on that cloud… which slowly got closer… and closer… With her adrenaline racing, MAMA pushed Chen down and covered him with her own body.

“MAMA?” Chen yelped as he pushed her down. “What’s wrong?”

“Darkness minions!” MAMA shouted as the cloud engulfed them.

A circular wall of darkness encaged the three as MAMA stood up defensively. She took her fighting stance as three shadowy figures stepped out from the darkness. Their piercing red eyes glared at MAMA, not phasing her one bit. In the blink of an eye, they drew their weapons and lunged at MAMA.

MAMA ducked and fought them off, trying her best to keep them away from Chen. They were quick, but she had an agility to match. As equal as they could get in speed, MAMA was no match for their weaponry. As she fought off two of them, the third figure ran up behind her, dragging its dagger across her side. MAMA let out a piercing cry as blood seeped through her clothing, and she fell to the ground.

In a panic, Chen dropped his guardian and rushed to MAMA’s side. In a blind flurry of anguish, Chen grabbed his axe and swung it aimlessly. The minions dodged every attack with ease. One of them grabbed the scurrying scorpion on the ground and nodded to his allies. They nodded back at him and pulled off their facemasks.

“Kill it!” They shouted in unison.

Chen realized what was happening but turned far too late to save his guardian. The minion holding the scorpion tightened his grip around it, squeezing the life out of it.

“Chen!” The scorpion shouted out in despair.

“No!” Chen roared, lunging forward.

The other two minions held Chen back and laughed maniacally as the scorpion squirmed and stabbed aimlessly at the minion who was immune to his poisons. Soon the scorpion grew too tired to fight, and he gave up. His lifeless husk drooped and stopped flailing in the minion’s hand. With a content sneer, the minion dropped the scorpion and stomped on it with his boots before disappearing into the darkness with his friends. Chen fell to his knees and crawled towards the scorpion as the darkness around them dissipated. Chen scooped the dying scorpion into his hands and shook it violently. MAMA grasped her side painfully and lugged herself to Chen’s side, patting his back.

“Chen…” MAMA said in a monotone voice.

“Guardian! Wake up! Please, you can’t die! We just met. We haven’t had time to get to know each other,” Chen cried, shaking the scorpion’s body. “Answer me!”

The scorpion twitched slightly, and Chen turned it towards him. Weakly, the scorpion lifted his tail and excreted what seemed to be poison, but then grew and grew before hardening into a large gem. Chen stared at the floating gem in surprise and glanced at the scorpion.

Q_Q Mr. Scorpion, NOOOO. So how do you like it so far? Please do comment and leave me feedback ~ And I am still looking for a beta reader/co author x3 so if you are interested, please do contact me!