Cornelia's POV

Chapter One

I flipped my hair over my shoulder, staring out the window. The History teacher was talking about something that happened in some sort of war. I wasn't paying any attention, though history's my favorite class. I was too busy thinking of my love life. Which was, by the way, doomed. Because I don't even have a love life. Because I was only in love with one person in my life. And I rarely even see him. Because he lives far away. Which was…

Well, in another dimension.

Because that's where we meet. In another dimension, I mean. But he rarely even talks to me. Because our relationship is messed up. A lot.

But I never got to finish my day dream. Because in the middle of it, I heard the teacher call me name.

"Miss Hale!" He yelled. I looked away from the window, and looked at my teacher's impatient face.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly. All the class was staring at me now.

"Well," Mr. Walden, our history teacher, said. "If you're done day dreaming, can you answer my question?"

"Um," I said. Thanks to my luck, the bell rang that exact moment. Everybody in the classroom started getting up from their seats, carrying their bags and storming out of the classroom. I got up, and headed over to the cafeteria. Finally, free period. I've been waiting for free period all day. It's the only period when I'm free to talk with my four friends.

I went over to the cafeteria, and found them sitting in our usual table. They were waiting for someone. Me, apparently. And from the looks on their faces, they had important news to tell me. And not about school, or boys, or work, but because of something else.

We share a very special gift. Power, is what you could call it. We all are, well…

Guardians of the veil.

What's a Guardian, you ask? Well, we sort of have these awesome powers, each with a gorgeous outfit.

Hay Lin, my friend with the most unique style, controls the air. She also has stealth; she can turn invisible at any time she wants. There's Irma, the joking one, can do magic tricks with water. Taranee, who was sitting on the bench with a book on her lap, can control fire. She's also the only telepathic one in this group. Will, the leader of the group, connects us together, and can also produce electric shocks. She controls electricity, I mean. And she's the owner of the Heart of Candracar. Me, well, I have the power to control the earth. I can grow vines, plants; I can control anything that has a relationship with the ground. Oh, and did I mention that we all have wings? That's the cool part.

But as I walked over the table, I didn't see anything cool about it. Will first saw me, she got up, walked over to me, and held my arm.

"We have a meeting with the Oracle," she whispered to me.

"Now?" I asked. It was school time. We never had to meet with the Oracle when we still have school. And besides, it's been a while since the Oracle had something he wanted to tell us.

"It's urgent," Will explained. "I just got the call. He says he needs to talk to us about some demon, or something."

I nodded, walking along with her to the others. They were all standing up, waiting for us to reach them. Irma was the first one to speak when she saw me.

"A demon." She mumbled. "A demon! Can you believe it? First Phobos, then Narissa, then this? What the hell is a demon?"

"Yeah," Hay Lin joined. "I have never heard of such a thing. At least in the magic world."

"It's an evil spirit," Taranee explained. "At least, that's what it says in the dictionary." Taranee held up the book she was holding, and pointed to a word. A demon was an evil spirit. But that was for cartoons, movies, TV series, and was for story telling. But it was real, apparently. And if it was real, it was bad news. Because I've watched Charmed, and if there is more than one demon, that was major bad news. Demons have a lot of kinds, powers, shapes. And it looks like the other girls knew that.

Will nodded over the ladies' room, and said, "Let's go."

We walked over to the ladies' room, acting casual. Will was already digging into her jacket, ready to get out the Heart. But when we entered the bathroom, a lot of freshman girls filed in. Will gestured toward the bathroom door, and we all went out.

"Soccer field?" Hay Lin suggested.

"No," Will said. "They have practice there now."

"How about chess club?" Irma joked. Typical Irma.

"People actually go there, you know." I told her. Irma shrugged her shoulders. I saw Taranee roll her eyes. She held Will's arm, and started pulling her.

"Come on," she said. "Follow me."

We followed her to a dark area, where the gates were covered by tall trees. It was safe to transform here.

Will got the pink orb out of her jacket pocket. She held it in front of her, and the Heart started to glimmer. Light reflected out of it, and the Heart was divided into five other orbs. Each one flew to each one of us, and carried us in the air. The orbs formed shields of energy around each one of us, and the familiar shimmer ran down my spine. I felt the familiar whoosh of green whirling around my body, and an electric thrill tingled down my spine. My body grew taller and stronger, pulsating with power. Leafy wings emerged from her back, making me feel weight-less. The swirls around my body disappeared, revealing her blue-and-purple outfit. I felt the power and strength of a Guardian of the veil.

I saw that the others were also fully transformed. Hay Lin, with her thin, pale figure and her long, dark hair pulled into two pony tales by her side. Taranee, with her short dark hair, and her round glasses, making her look like a girl from a superhero comic book. Irma, with the blue-colored eyes of hers, and short, glittery brown hair. Will, the one with her tall figure, short, red hair, and the blue glimmer radiating from around her body.

We all landed on the ground, our feet making no sound at all. It was like we didn't even land on the ground. The Heart, which was now glowing with pink, landed in Will's hand.

"To Candracar." Irma said. Will smiled at her, and held the Heart in front of us. The Heart glowed, and swirls of blue magic emerged from it, and created a blue, round portal in front of us. Once the portal was opened, the glow in the Heart faded, and it landed in Will's hand.

"Let's go." Hay Lin said excitedly. She entered the portal, and once walked through it, she was gone. Irma entered after her, the Taranee, then Will, then me.

On the other side, we had to fly. Because the only thing that was there was nothingness. A lot of nothingness. There was the bright blue sky, the stars that always exist there. The purple lights coming from the bottom of this dimension. The stars above glowed, making it seem like its night. Bright white clouds covered the sky. And there was fog in the center of all of this, surrounding the huge sacred temple that was considered as the center of Candracar.

"I never get bored of this scene." Irma commented the view. We fluttered our wings and flew over to the temple. Once we reached the entrance – as big as a landing area for a helicopter – we saw that the Oracle was waiting for us. He usually lets his most trusted advisor, Tibor, escort us to see him. Or he would send Luba – the catlike council member who was sometimes tough in her assessments and always skeptical of us – show us the way. But this time, he was there to greet us, with Tibor by his right side, and Luba on his left. We landed without effort, and walked towards them. The Oracle smiled at us pleasantly. When we reached them, Luba started her act to try and accept that the Guardians of the veil were us.

"Welcome, Guardians," The Oracle greeted us pleasantly.

"Hi." Irma waved her hand at him jokingly. Luba growled at Irma's joke, which made Irma drop her hand and wipe the smile off her face.

"So," Will said nervously. "What's going on? Is everything alright in Meridian?"

"Yes," The Oracle said. "Everything's fine there."

"So why are we here?" Irma asked. "I thought we were called here because there was some kind of trouble."

"Just listen to what he has to say." Luba growled impatiently.

"Luba." The Oracle warned her before her looked back to us. "Yes, there is trouble. But this time, it's not in Meridian, it's on Earth. There has been a warning in the council that a magical creature was set loose from the Meridian prison, and that it has found its way to Earth. The creature is quite dangerous, and you must find it soon, and stop it.

"However," He continued in that voice that was full of majesty. "The danger is not from the creature itself, it's from what the creature possesses."

The Oracle stopped for a moment, his face twisted into a disturbed expression, and then continued. "The demon – that's what the creature's called – has possessed a magical knife. The Legend says that the knife is cursed with such a horrible curse. It doesn't just make you die right away, but it lets you suffer first in the process."

God. A knife that makes you suffer, and then lets you die? Wow, talk about pure evil. And which idiot would have invented that thing? Unless he was evil, that would change everything.

"Wow," Hay Lin said as the words the Oracle said had sunk in. "Does a thing like that actually exist?"

The Oracle nodded, waiting for our reactions. Hay Lin was confused, Irma was thoughtful, Will was shocked, Taranee was calculating. And I, well, I was sort of shocked, confused and a little bit disbelieving. I mean, come on, would a thing like that actually exist? I mean, I ran through a lot of objects with weird powers, but nothing like a knife that causes suffer and death.

"That's actually kinda cool." Irma finally said. We all stared at her, including the Oracle, Tibor and Luba.

"What?" She said defensibly. "It is."

"God," I said. "Who hit Irma on her head?"

"I don't know," Taranee said. "But I'm betting it was one of her dad's bowling balls."

"Guys," Will yelled at us. "Stop it."

We only stopped when we saw Luba's furious face. Okay, I'll admit it; she kind of freaks me out. I mean, she looks like a giant cat!

I heard Taranee chuckle quietly at my observation. I turned my head and smiled at her.

"Alright," Will said to the Oracle. "We'll do our best and try to find him. The demon, I mean."

The Oracle's gentle smile returned as he nodded. "Yes, I trust that you will."

"Okay," Hay Lin said. "We'll be going now. We still have school, y'know."

"Yes," The Oracle agreed. "You may go now."

"'Kay," Irma said, fluttering her wings. "See ya."

We all started flying toward the portal we opened in the sky. As we went through it, the stars disappeared and were replaced by the sky's clouds, and the temple was gone, replaced by the huge building that created Sheffield institute. We were back in Heather field now.

For our luck, the bell rang, announcing that free period was now over.

"See you guys at the restaurant." Hay Lin said, heading with Irma and Taranee to Math class. We always go to Hay Lin's parents' restaurant once we get news from the Oracle. We needed to see Hay Lin's grandmother, Yan Lin, and talk about the demon.

"See you guys," I said waved to them. To Will, I said, "See you later."

"'Kay." She said as we both walked off to our next classes.