3 // Guardian

 

 

*You… demon.*

 

A mixture of hurt, fear, and disbelief struck at Yumi's heart as she continued to stare at Daehyun. He was glaring at her with such intensity that she felt as if he was burning lasers into her body.

 

"Daehyun, what are you talking about?" AeMi questioned. "Yumi can't be a demon."

 

"You saw how she manipulated that snow and turned it into ice," he coldly replied, without removing Yumi from his sight. He walked up to where she was still sitting in the snow and swiftly held his katana to . "Only demons can manipulate water. And of them, only the most powerful can control ice."

 

Yumi swallowed a gasp and didn't dare move a muscle. Now that he was like this, she couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't hurt her if she made even one wrong move. But apparently she had already done so, otherwise he wouldn't even be like this.

 

"Daehyun!" AeMi screamed. "Please stop! We need to talk to her first."

 

"There is no compromising with demons! You don't show them any mercy!"

 

Youngjae ran forward and quickly held onto his friend's arm. "Calm down. There could be another explanation for all of this. She came here from another world, right?"

 

Daehyun furrowed his brow. "What, did she tell you that? Don't believe the words of a demon."

 

"She didn't tell me. I know."

 

There was something about the way he said that last word that seemed to signify something unsaid. Daehyun noticed this and unwillingly retracted his sword after sending Yumi another scornful look. AeMi went over to her side.

 

"You came here from another world? Are there others in your world who can control the water element as well?" she asked.

 

Yumi looked at her confusedly.

 

"W-wait, hang on a minute." She pointed an index finger at herself. "You can't possibly be saying that I…"

 

She pointed at the ice sculpture.

 

"… did that?"

 

"You mean you didn't know?" Youngjae asked.

 

She gave them the slightest shake of her head as she looked the sculpture up and down with wide, round eyes. This was all beginning to be too much for her.

 

First she was into a pool, then was transported to this unknown world, then was attacked by a demon, then was even accused of being a demon, and then after that little scare, was now being told that she could control water and had actually trapped those demons in that ice?

 

It was just about the right time for her to start doubting her own sanity.

 

After all, what was the possibility of all of this even happening for real? She was definitely imagining all of this. Everything was just her imagination.

 

... Right?

 

She sighed. It all felt too real. She could even feel the pain.

 

"We should head back to the house," the fragment of her imagination in the form of a scholarly young man said, interrupting her thoughts. He looked up at the illuminating entity in the night sky. "I'm becoming more and more certain that the appearance of this blue moon has something to do with Yumi's arrival in this world. And we need to figure out what exactly is going on."

 

AeMi nodded in agreement whilst Daehyun huffed in displeasure and stalked off ahead. Yumi followed him with her eyes and sighed yet again. It didn't look like he was going to start trusting her anytime soon. Even if it was him who had saved her in the very beginning.

 

AeMi put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't take it personally. He just doesn't trust demons or anyone even remotely suspicious," she reassured.

 

"There's a reason for it and that's why he lives with us," Youngjae added. "He's gone through a lot, so I hope you can understand."

 

Yumi nodded softly.

 

*I wonder where Daehyun's parents are? He doesn't look much older than I am, and yet he's already a professional demon-slayer.*

 

They reached the house and returned to the same living room they were in before. Daehyun was already leaning against the wall and was now refusing to look at her.

 

Youngjae cleared his throat.

 

"Yumi, how did you get here?"

 

"Through a pool of water," she replied, only to receive three pairs of raised eyebrows.

 

"Could you... elaborate more on that?"

 

Yumi explained everything to them from beginning to end as best as she could remember. She desperately needed to get home, so she was riding on the hopes that perhaps they could find a way for her to get back to where she belonged.

 

"So everything started with that pendant of yours," AeMi pondered. "And where is it now?"

 

"It's right h..."

 

Yumi's voice trailed off as she touched her empty neck.

 

*That's right! I took it off and held it in my hand!* she remembered. *I must've either dropped it in the snow or lost it in the pool of water.*

 

"I-I must've dropped it in the forest somewhere," she replied distressingly. She needed to have that pendant with her.

 

"We must find it," Youngjae declared. "We should rest ourselves now and rise early tomorrow morning to look for it. Does that sound good to you, Daehyun?"

 

The demon-slayer pushed himself off the wall and started making his way out of the room. "If you suggest."

 

"Where are you going?" AeMi asked.

 

"To take care of those demons."

 

Daehyun sent Yumi a sideward glance. "We can't afford to have anybody setting them free in the middle of the night."

 

Yumi was close to glaring at him as he left and had to remind herself that he had his own reasons for being like that.

 

*But he still doesn't have to treat me like I'm one of those demons!* she fumed in her mind.

 

"AeMi," Youngjae called. "Make sure you stay with Yumi. It'll be dangerous for her to be by herself."

 

"Understood!"

 

She got up and cheerfully led Yumi to her room. "Let's stay up all night and talk!"

 

"Hey, you need to rest yourself for tomorrow!" her brother called after her.

 

 

~~~

 

 

"You seem excited, AeMi."

 

"Of course!" she beamed. "It's not everyday I meet a girl around my age."

 

"How old are you?" Yumi asked. "I'm 19."

 

"I'm 18. My brother and Daehyun are both 21."

 

"Wow," she marvelled. "You're all so young, yet you're already professional demon-slayers."

 

AeMi shook her head. "Not at all, Daehyun's the only actual demon-slayer among us. My brother and I are only able to help him out with the spells he cast on our weapons."

 

"Spells?!" Yumi gasped. "Daehyun can use magic?"

 

"Yeah, he's a powerful spellcaster. His spells allow me to transform my needles into daggers, and Youngjae to channel energy through his sword," she explained. "The village is really fortunate to have him here protecting them."

 

*He may have a horrible attitude towards me,* Yumi thought, *but he IS a righteous person after all.*

 

An idea suddenly came to her. "Hang on. If Daehyun can use magic, then couldn't he possibly control water and ice as well?"

 

"Most definitely not," AeMi answered. "No one, no matter how powerful a spellcaster they are, can control the four elements of fire, earth, wind, and water."

 

Yumi went quiet, as she was finally starting to understand why the whole situation seemed so serious now. "… but I can?"

 

The younger girl smiled at her softly. "And that's why we need to find out why."

 

 

~~~

 

 

The next morning, the four got up at the break of dawn to search for Yumi's pendant.

 

"Is it okay to leave the village undefended with all of you coming with me?" she sniffed as the cold air nipped at her face.

 

"Don't underestimate me," Daehyun snapped without any further explanation.

 

AeMi nudged her arm. "What he means is that he created a few warding talismans that he put around the village to act as an alarm for any potential demon attacks," she grinned. "His magic is becoming more powerful day after day."

 

Yumi's eyes caught sight of the pool she climbed out of. "There it is!" she pointed. "That's the pool!"

 

Youngjae pulled his sword from its sheathe and stabbed it into the snow. He closed his eyes in concentration as the sword turned black. It looked as if he was channelling his energy into the ground.

 

"I don't sense any pendant around here," he finally said. His eyes glanced at the pool. "And I don't sense anything strange about that pool over there either, although I'm surprised that it still hasn't frozen over yet in this temperature."

 

Yumi looked around worriedly. "Then… how am I supposed to find my pendant and go back home? My little brother must be looking everywhere for me! I need to get back!"

 

"Yumi, we'll find a way for you to go back to your world," AeMi promised, as she patted her back comfortingly.

 

The few moments of silence that followed was broken by the sound of Daehyun drawing his katana. He whipped around to look behind him into the forest of trees. "Be quiet and stay alert. I can sense something sinister approaching us."

 

The other three got their weapons ready for attack.

 

The ground was rumbling now from the heavy footsteps of whatever was approaching them, and it was most definitely a huge monster.

 

With a deafening roar, the monster finally appeared from above as it leapt over the trees and landed right before the four of them. It looked like a smaller, more feline-looking version of Godzilla, and the horrific sight of its size did more than just intimidate Yumi.

 

*This thing's at least two times the size of those water-wielding demons from yesterday!*

 

"Yumi, stay back," Youngjae warned, as he eyed how the snow around the demon's claws turned into ice. "This thing can control ice as well."

 

He, Daehyun and AeMi spread out into a line to barricade it from getting to Yumi. The demon snarled at them menacingly before swinging an arm at them. In an attempt to counter the huge paw, the three tried using attacks of their own, however they did not realise that the demon's objective was not to kill them. It had no intention of specifically fighting them.

 

An unexpected wall of ice rose from the snow and knocked into them violently, pushing them off to the side. The demon pounced forward past them towards where Yumi was standing. She quickly shot an arrow towards its head, but the demon swiped it away effortlessly.

 

*Why are they always after ME?* she frantically thought, as she pulled back another arrow and shot it only to end up with the same result.

 

There wasn't much she could do like this, but she could at least buy some time for the others to recover from the earlier attack.

 

The demon suddenly howled in pain as its body became covered with lines of electricity. It was the lightning that Daehyun could generate from his katana. Surely enough, the three were back up on their feet again and were fighting the disfigured feline.

 

Youngjae jumped up with a yell and stabbed his sword into the demon's back before channelling his black energy into its body, while AeMi quickly covered its body with her daggers. It thrashed around in pain as it tried to throw Youngjae off of its back.

 

"Daehyun, hurry!"

 

The young demon-slayer didn't need to be told twice as he swiftly ran around to the demon's front to where he could have a clear shot at its head. He leapt up with unbelievable agility and stabbed it with two hands on his katana, only to be pushed back by another barrier of ice the demon had created around its head area.

 

"Tsk. These things have been getting harder to kill lately," he remarked in annoyance.

 

He pulled a white, paper talisman from his clothing and stuck it onto the flat surface of his katana. Daehyun chanted a few words of a spell until the writing on the talisman lit up and seemed to pulse.

 

"Youngjae, AeMi, get ready!"

 

He threw his katana towards the barrier and watched as it soared through the air as one sword before it split into countless beams of orange energy that crashed into the ice, effectively shattering it.

 

Daehyun caught his weapon as it fell from the attack. "Now!"

 

The two siblings wasted no time in running up the demon's back and aiming their weapons at their target point.

 

But what happened next was horrible.

 

"W-what?!" Yumi spluttered in disbelief as the dreadful scene unfolded before her eyes.

 

AeMi's daggers bounced off of its head with a clang, whilst Youngjae was struggling to pierce through its skull with his sword. In its fiery anger, the demon washed the two off its back with a wave of water that transformed into slabs of ice and pinned the siblings to the ground.

 

"Damn it!" Daehyun cursed as he rushed over to their aid. He was hastily intercepted by the enraged demon, who was manipulating large streams of water to shoot towards him. Daehyun managed to jump up before the water crashed into the ground where he was standing just a second ago, but whilst in mid-air he could not dodge the arm that the demon used to strike him with. His injured body fell onto the snow while his blood stained it red.

 

"Get away Daehyun!" Youngjae gasped in desperation as he saw the snow rise around his friend and slowly turn into blades of ice. The demon was going to kill him.

 

"Like hell I will let that happen!" Yumi screamed.

 

She quickly pulled back an arrow and shot it with the intention of only deterring the demon -- but little did she know that her abilities would be awakened at this time.

 

Her arrow glowed with an illuminating blue light and became encrusted with ice as it shot its way into the demon's eye. It stumbled back in pain and let out a deafening screech. In his light-headed state, Daehyun could still make out the outline of the ice blades turning back into snow as it fell back down to the earth. His eyes were threatening to close and he was falling in and out of consciousness from the loss of blood.

 

Yumi stared at her hands in shock. She had just wielded ice -- just like the others had accused her of doing the day before. From where the siblings were pinned to the ground, they were able to witness Yumi's brief encounter with the demon. But they were not surprised with her ability, as they had already seen it first-hand before. What did surprise them was a whole new revelation whatsoever. One that they hadn't even suspected to be possible.

 

On Yumi's forehead, glowing with an illuminating blue light, was the Chinese character for 'water' (水).

 

"B-Brother..." AeMi stammered. "Do you see that, on her forehead?"

 

"Yes," Youngjae responded. "And it can only mean one thing. There's no mistaking it."

 

 

 

"She's one of the long lost Guardians of this land."

 

 

 

"The Guardian of Water."

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

I'm having a lot of fun writing this story :P I should've written something of this genre earlier!

 

Welcome new subscribers and thanks to those who commented :)

 

--- Mistlea