The Key To Terra

Chapter Six

"Hello? May I come in?" Marina's mother knocked firmly on the hospital room door, staring at it intently. She awaited a response in the affirmative before slowly opening the door and entering the room.

The door handle turned and the door swooshed open quietly, making the sound of her scrub bottoms rubbing against themselves more audible. She was not as thin as she once was so her scrubs did make a soft sound whenever she walked. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could manage before making her way into the dim hospital room.

Inside the room, a young woman lay in the lone hospital bed with all of the main lights off.

She had a groggy look on her face and her hair was pulled back into a very messy, obviously slept on, ponytail. It no longer hung from the back of her head and now held her hair back at the neck. She wore only a hospital gown bland in color and warm socks on her feet.

Pushing a button on the nearest hand rail on the side of the hospital bed, the young woman raised it so that she was laying more upright.

Marina's mother clearly had woken her up from her nap with her entrance. Her newborn baby was snuggly wrapped in a swaddle blanket beside the bed. Soft snores could be heard coming from the newborn baby. The innocent face looked blissful in sleep.

Thankfully the baby was still sound asleep, completely oblivious to everything around them for now. She tried to work as quietly as possible to let the baby continue to sleep. Both mom and baby definitely needed their rest while they could get it. The new mother certainly would not be getting much once she left the hospital, Marina's mother knew. And the new mother would need plenty of rest to heal after the birth of her baby.

"I just need to check your blood pressure real quick and then you can go back to sleep." The young woman nodded and held out one arm as she had every other time throughout the day and night. It was clearly quickly becoming second nature for the new mom to get woken up from her naps off and on for blood drawings and having her vitals checked.

Marina's mother took out a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around the offered arm, wincing at the loud sound of the velcro both times that she unwrapped the cuff. But the baby remained sound asleep.

"And you're all set for now. Do you need anything before I leave? Maybe some more water?" Marina's mother removed the stethoscope from her ears and put it around her neck, as she did multiple times every night for years, before gesturing to the cup that was situated next to the hospital bed. But the young woman merely shook her head.

Once finished with everything, Marina's mother apologized for disturbing the new mom and left the room quietly. She eased the door closed with a tired sigh.

It was proving to be a long shift. She could not help but worry about her daughter. Working as a nurse in labor and delivery, seeing all the newborn babies all night long certainly did not help. It only served as a reminder of her own baby all the way up in Vermont even if said baby was now a teenager. She also undoubtably would not appreciate being called a baby.

Marina's mother had received a text from her daughter when she first arrived and met up with her father but she had yet to hear anything from her since then. She hoped that Marina was doing alright and was not too bored up in Vermont. The area that she was spending her summer at this year did not have a lot going on except forests. There was especially a lack in entertainment for younger people and children.

She felt guilty for having Marina spend the summer there. It was the last summer before she would be graduating from high school. But her father did deserve to see her before she graduated. What better chance to spend time with him than during her summer vacation? Hopefully the next time she checked her phone Marina will have sent another message saying that she was still doing fine and getting along with her father.

Breaking her out of her thoughts, the receptionist called out to her softly by clearing her throat. Marina's mother turned towards the receptionist expectantly. The receptionist had the phone up to her ear and handed it out to Marina's mother.

"It's your husband. He says that it's really important." Ignoring the lack of an ex before the husband when addressing Marina's father, her mother swiped the phone out of the receptionist's hand. She put the phone to her ear.

"Is Marina okay?" A sigh sounded on the other end of the phone. Other than that there was silence. Marina's mother grew impatient. She was about to snap at him to tell her why he had called her during her shift already when he finally spoke.

"I...I can't find her, Lori."

"What do you MEAN you can't find her?"

"I don't know. We had dinner and she went up to her room. I came up no more than a couple hours later to talk to her about what we could go do tomorrow and couldn't find her anywhere."

"So what you're telling me is that our daughter is missing? You've had her for only a day!" Marina's mother, Lori, fumed. She wanted to strangle her ex husband. How could he lose their daughter? And how on earth were they going to find her when his house was surrounded by forest?

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose. She was so tired. She could not believe this. Of all the irresponsible things that her ex husband could do he goes and loses their teenage daughter. And Marina's summer vacation had only just started.

She glanced back at the receptionist. The receptionist sat in her seat, obviously trying not to appear to be listening but clearly was. Her rounded glasses hung low on her nose as she pretended to find the computer screen in front of her to be the most interesting thing in the world. She even pretended to be typing something on the keyboard and absentmindedly tuck a lock of stray, quickly graying short blond hair behind one ear.

Lori sighed and turned her back to the receptionist, trying to ignore her blatant eavesdropping. Knowing where Marina was was more important than telling the receptionist to mind her own business.

"I'm coming over as soon as I can. We'll find her together." Marina's mother hung up on her ex husband before he could get another word in and handed the phone back to the receptionist. She quietly returned it to its cradle.

Without saying a word, Lori sauntered off. Her mind was filled with worry over where her daughter was. She sure hoped that Marina was alright. She knew her teenage daughter could take care of herself in many situations but it was so easy for anyone to get lost in the forests of southern Vermont.

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The sun hung low in the sky over the training arena. Crickets chirped loudly from off in the distance. All the other guardians in training were long gone after their designated practice had ended for the day. Gabriel alone was still in the arena.

He swung at standing dummies made to closely resemble the human body. Their shape and density were designed to mimic that of a human opponent. His sword humming through the air with each slice.

Gabriel had been at it for a while and he was beginning to feel it. He breathed loudly with fatigue. Sweat beaded down his forehead and stung his eyes. His muscles ached and burned from overuse, screaming at him for rest. He was so focused on his solo practicing that he failed to notice someone join him in the arena.

"You can practice all you want, Half Breed. It won't change a thing. You'll never be able to surpass me. Just give up now."

Gabriel did not need to turn around to recognize who it was that was taunting him. It was Cameron of course. Who else would be so bold? All the other guardians in training did not dare pick on him unless Cameron was around. He had always been an instigator. The rest just followed his lead.

Instead of giving him the satisfaction of getting a reaction, Gabriel kept his back to him and continued on with his training. Cameron threw a few more stinging insults at Gabriel, all of which were also ignored. It eventually evolved into some angry cursing spat his way.

Soon afterwards, he heard Cameron scoff and storm off. Clearly he had not appreciated being ignored. But Gabriel did not care. He actually felt a fair bit of satisfaction over that fact. He felt like he had won a small battle against the other guardian in training.

Despite what Cameron said to him, Gabriel would most certainly NOT give up. Adrenaline and testosterone surged through him from all of the exercise, giving him a natural high. He was gaining confidence in himself and it was beginning to show. Normally he would have cowered before Cameron's insults. But not anymore.

He felt like he was on top of the world. Now more than ever he felt determined to get better. And once he thought he was ready he would challenge Cameron in front of all the other guardians in training and he would win. He would then be the new top guardian in training at the Citadel. Victory was going to taste so sweet. He just had to be patient and do things right.

Gabriel gave a few hard swings at the dummies before calling it a night. The stars were beginning to pop up in the sky and his arms were so tired that he was finding it difficult to keep lifting his weapon. A perfect time to stop and get some much needed rest before practice resumed tomorrow.

More exhausted than he remembered ever being, he soon found his room and his bed as stars continued to multiply in the sky. He promptly plopped down on it and quickly passed out. Too exhausted to bother changing beforehand. His sword lay beside him on the bed, properly sheathed.

His last thoughts before falling asleep were of his impending victory against Cameron and how impressed Marina surely would be of all of the progress he had made. It would not be long before mages were begging Pontiff Voss for Gabriel to be their appointed guardian. He would be considered the best guardian in training currently studying at the Citadel and thus would have his pick of the mages.

But he decided that he would reject all of them but one no matter how hard they may try to convince him to change his mind. The lovely Marina would be the mage he was sworn to protect. He would make sure of that. And once she discovered what her affinity was they would make the ultimate team.

Side by side they would help people in need every day around the world. In time everyone would know their names and their many accomplishments. The civilians across the world would sing their praises and they would be the envy of every mage and guardian, present and future. Children would hear stories about their adventures at bedtime and aspire to be like them when they grew up. A satisfied smile formed on his sleeping face.