Chapter 1 continued

After thirty minutes, the pizza was gone and the rootbeer bottle was empty. That was actually Todd, Kyle, and Andy’s fault and the tree boys had to get up and got to the restroom every five minutes. The girls shook their heads as they sipped at their cups as opposed to gulping it down in five seconds flat.   
Lightning and thunder cracked through the sky and startled the children. The house suddenly went black and the Game Cube went off.   
“Aaaaahhhh!” someone screamed through the dark.   
“Abigail, was that you screaming?”         
“Nope, ask Todd.”   
“Hey, a lot of guys my age are scared of the dark.”   
“Man, dude! We were winning that game too!”   
“Yeah, right!”   
A light flashed through the room. Serenity came out of the kitchen holding a small flashlight in front of her, her lavender eyes standing out in the dark.   
“Could you guys help me out? I think there are some candles in the attic…”    
“No way! Thunder storms, blackouts, and attics don’t mix.” Abigail interrupted.       
“You’re all babies,” Serenity looked toward the stairs. She gulped.        Serenity bounced up the flight of stairs and headed down the hallway with the flashlight in front of her. She stalked down the hall. Lightning and thunder lit up and shook the house. Serenity could hear her friends down stairs chatting about horror movies they had seen.           
Andy was barely audible. “So, have you guys ever heard of the Amityville House…?” She  knew that story was going to scare the skirt off Todd and Abigail  but didn’t wait to hear the rest.    Serenity’s flashlight started to dim and flicker. She flashed back on the other day when her little sister had left the flashlight on all day. Serenity rolled her eyes as the flashlight went out all the way. She put it in her sweatshirt pocket and continued down the hall.    Serenity climbed up the ladder into the attic. At the back of the room there was an oval stained glass window with a picture of a unicorn painted into it and a full moon in the background. Crates, chests, and cardboard boxes filled the room up. A dusty white sheet covered a long mirror in the corner.   
“Okay… Candles, candles, candles?”  Serenity walked up to a cardboard box and started rummaging through it. “Aha! Here’s one.” She pulled a large blue candle out of the box that read “Sea Breeze” on the label. She looked back in the box and puzzled over what was inside. “Huh?” The box was full of giant black feathers. She blinked her full lavender eyes and looked back in the box. The feathers were gone. Instead there was a pile of old bath toys. She yawned. “Man I’m getting tired.”        
Serenity saw something out of the corner of her eye slide behind some boxes. She whirled around and stared. A flash of lightning lit the room and Serenity could make out a shadow moving among the crates.     
Serenity gasped and backed up into some boxes. She tripped and fell to the wooden floor. Something was slowly emerging from behind the crates. It rose up until it nearly touched the ceiling. Glowing green eyes coldly stared at her. It looked at the necklace around the red head’s neck and hissed. The creature was a giant snake!    
Downstairs, the seven friends heard a scream come from above their heads. The kids exchanged worried looks and then ran toward the attic.    
Todd slammed the attic latch open but nearly fell of the latter when he saw the snake. Kim pushed him up and the others followed. The teens could see the giant snake coiling up, ready to attack. Kim grabbed a small wooden chair from a corner of the room and started to hit the snake with it. The snake whirled around and stared at Kim. There was a thin line of chains around the snake’s neck. Hanging from those chains was a black stone that was carved into the shape of a snake. The jewel had two smaller green jewels that were the snake gem’s eyes.   
The two green gems glowed a sickening green and black color. Suddenly, a spark of light shot from the snake gem and nearly missed Kim’s left leg! Several other sparks shot forward, scattering the screaming kids.   
Serenity was dumbfounded at everything that was happening. Her heart pounded in her chest to the point that it was the only thing she could hear.        
The snake looked toward her and pierced her heart with that cold glare. It frightened Serenity. She couldn’t move. She was in complete shock!    
Without even thinking about it, Serenity moved her hand toward her necklace. She didn’t know what she was doing but she couldn’t help it. As soon as her hand touched the locket, something warm ran through her body.Her necklace let out a blinding silver flare that sparkled and swirled around her like liquid light. Serenity felt herself change. She felt stronger then she had ever been in her life. Raw energy and power filled her senses. Her vision cleared and her muscles tightened. For some reason she could not stand up and was now down on four… paws?   
Serenity gasped. She looked behind her to see a long slender tail that smoothly and slowly waved back and forth. She had white and black stripes that ran down her side. Serenity screamed.   Her vision was so clear and bright it seemed like daytime in the attic. Serenity could now see the snake more clearly.    
It was black with a dark purple and blue stomach. Serenity saw how long the snake really was too. It stretched from one end of the room to the other and rose up to about ten feet. Serenity assumed this creature was about thirty feet long.   
The snake looked at Serenity in shock. It hissed and coiled away from her.       
Serenity felt a fierce threat creep through her new body. Something was itching at the back of her mind. Serenity automatically started to flick her tail and coil her back. She suddenly opened her mouth and a perfect blood-curling roar shook the house. The snake stopped.   
A brown and white blur flew off some boxes and onto the snake’s head. “Leave the kids alone, Serpent!” The small creature clawed at the snakes face until he was shook off.   
“Get down stairs!” The small creature ran up to Alyssa and started tugging at her pant leg.   
Everyone froze.   
“Don’t just stand there, go!” The creature started head butting Andy in the leg to get him to move. The kids gave each other startled looks and then started to head out of the attic in a hurry and climbed down the ladder (Serenity pounced).   
When all the kids were out of the attic the little brown and white animal stood up and took a small pouch out of his green vest. He poured some purple dust into his paw and blew it at the snake.
“Fa kastair, Serpent!” The purple dust clung to the snake. A flash of lightning boomed outside the window as the snake disappeared in a ball of light.   

Chapter 2

When they were in the living room, everyone sat down in a daze. The electricity came back. Serenity screamed when she saw herself in a mirror. Everyone else screamed by just seeing her. The dachshund from the attic sat on the couch and screamed sarcastically.   
“What the—” Serenity looked herself over. “What’s happened to me?”   
“It’s kind of obvious you turned into a tiger.” The dachshund smirked.     
“It’s talking…” Abigail pointed.   
The dachshund got a twinkle in his eye. “All animals can talk. You just have to speak their language. I happen to know four human languages.”   
The kids screamed again. When they stopped the dachshund cautiously took his paws away from his ears.   
“Whoa…” Serenity eyed the dachshund. “Who are you?”    
The dachshund stood on his hind legs and cleared his throat. “I am Canis Domesticus Dachshund Milo. You can call me Milo.” Milo stuck out his paw toward Serenity for her to shake it.   
Serenity examined her paws. “Um… Sorry, but my front paws are bigger then you are. Do you know how I change back?”   
“Easy. Just think of what you looked like before you changed.” Milo winked.   
Serenity made a huffing sound and then closed her eyes. She thought of her long, curly red hair and lavender eyes. The silver light swirled around Serenity. She felt herself change and become weaker than her tiger form. Serenity rose on her two back legs and stood up right. She opened her eyes and looked herself over. Hands, fingers, red hair, favorite Mickey Mouse T-shirt and jeans. Human.   
“That was freaky!” Serenity breathed.   
“I’m waiting for that paw shake.” Milo smiled.   
Serenity shyly smiled back and then shook paws with the small dog. As soon as her hand touched his paw, Serenity felt something. A tickling feeling ran through her body, a warm, good feeling. Milo’s image showed up in her head and permanently stuck there like glue.   
The other kids stood there in shocked silence. Todd was peeking over at them from his hiding place behind the couch, Andy and Abigail could barely stand on two feet, and the twins were clinging to each other   
“What exactly is going on?” Kim shook her head in frustration.   
“That snake you just saw up there is really a young witch named Serpent.” Milo explained. “She’s bad news. I think little miss pussy cat startled her by making that sudden transformation. By the way, how’d you know how to do that anyways?”    
“I have no clue…” Serenity stared at her locket.    
Milo stamped his foot. “I knew it! Unicorn instinct!”     
The kids stared at him blankly.         
“A unicorn.” Milo sighed. “You know. Small white horse with wings and a pointy thing on its head.”   
“We know what you mean.” Andy huffed. “We just don’t know what you mean.”   
Milo said it a little slower this time. “Serenity’s… locket… has… a… piece… to… a… unicorn’s… horn… in… it…” Milo continued. “Your world used to be full of them.”      
“You mean to tell us that ponies with spears coming out of their heads used to live on earth.” Abigail crossed her arms.       
“Not only unicorns, but dragons, phoenixes, Merfolk, fairies, sea serpents, griffins, pegasi, white stags, centaurs. You name it, it was there at one point or another,” Milo explained.   
“We get plenty of white stags here though.” Andy commented.   
“You do?” Milo’s jumped up. “They whiped out long ago!”   
“There not the kind Milo’s talking about.” Serenity was looking through a book she had pulled off a shelf. It read “Fantasies” in gold letters on the front. “White stags were known to be huge deer that could grant wishes to anyone who caught one. I highly doubt we get any of those over here.”   
“May I see that?” Milo pointed to the book.   
“Sure, knock yourself out.” Serenity handed the small dog the book.   
“Why would I want to do that?” he stared at her puzzled.         
“Forget it. It’s just an expression.” Serenity shook her head.   
Milo flipped through the pages of the book, humming a tune as he went along. He suddenly mumbled under his breath. “… okay, ogres look nothing like that… and goblins do not have green skin…”    
Todd turned to Serenity. “You know… that dog is talking.”   
Milo closed the book. He thought for a moment and then became serious. “Where did you find that necklace and when? Don’t leave out one detail.”   
Serenity thought for a moment. “It was about seven years ago, a couple of days after my dad built us the tree house in the woods. I went hiking after dark. I came to two streams that collided into each other to make an X.”   
“Oh yeah! The X Stream! We used to hang out around there.” Kyle exclaimed.   

    Serenity continued. “That’s the stream, yeah. Any ways, I was looking for tadpoles when I saw something shining smack-dab in the middle of the X. I reached in and pulled out this locket.”       
“I’m lost.” Abigail threw up her arms in frustration. “There’s a talking dog in the living room, a giant snake in the attic, a magical necklace, unicorns, and a partridge in a pair tree!”   
“I didn’t say anything about a partridge.” Milo shook his head.    “What she’s trying to say is, we really don’t get what’s going on.” Andy explained.   
“Welp, what’s going on is that this girl has been personally chosen by the necklace to become the new guardian of Kingdom.” Milo stood there smiling as if waiting for applause.    
“Say what again,” Kyle raised his eyebrow.   
“A guardian. You know, someone who watches over something. You and 9 others are supposed to watch over Kingdom and rid it of all dark magic.” Milo thought for a moment. “In fact…”   
Milo took something out of the pocket of the green vest he was wearing. It was a small lilac silk box. He opened it up and took out a necklace that had what looked like a diamond dragonfly wing attached to it. Milo moved it back and forth between the kids like he was scanning them. As soon as the necklace came in front of Kim, it started to glow.   
“Aw ha!” Milo cried. “I knew it! All of you kids are guardians!”    “What!?”   
“How do you know?” Alyssa asked.   
“This necklace reacted to this girl right here because she has been chosen to guard Kingdom just like Serenity. Each necklace is different and each one of you gets one. Kim got a fairy necklace,” Milo took out another necklace.   
This one had a chip from a white antler attached to it. Milo scanned the kids again and this one glowed right in front of Todd. The blond spiky haired boy jumped.   
“Serenity gets a unicorn, Kim gets a fairy, and you, Todd, get a white stag.” Milo handed the necklace to Todd.    
“Great, I love Bambi.” Todd mumbled sarcastically.   
Milo pulled out a necklace with a large fang on the end of it. This one glowed in front of Kyle.   
“You get a sea serpent.”   
“Awesome, man!” Kyle examined the necklace.   
Milo took out a necklace with a faint purple feather on the end of it. This one reacted to Andy. “You’re a Pegasus.”    
Next was a necklace with a sharp, pearl white claw. Christine was the one for this necklace. “You got a griffin.”   
Milo then took out a necklace that was beaded with pearls and the middle was a large sparkling blue one. This one shined in front of Alyssa. “You’re a mermaid.”   
Milo took out the last necklace. It had a round gold disc at the end of it that had a shiny pink scale in the middle. It glowed to Abigail.     Milo looked confused. “That’s funny. Why is this necklace glowing in front of her?”   
“What do you mean?” Abigail put her hands on her hips.   
“You must have gotten the wrong necklace.” Milo examined her closely.   
“Here, let me see that.” Abigail examined the necklace. “It’s so pretty! I must have gotten something beautiful! Like a dryad, or a wood nymph, or maybe a-”   
“Dragon.”   
“What?” Abigail looked at the dachshund.   
“You got a dragon.”   
Abigail went pail.   
The twins laughed. “Abigail is scared to death of reptiles.”   
“That’s a shame. Dragons are one of the most wisest, respected, and popular creatures known…” Milo didn’t get to finish.       
“Fair enough,” Abigail took the necklace and put it on.    Milo grinned. “I’m so glad I found all ten of you! Oh, wait until I rub this in Peter’s face!” He puffed his chest out proudly.   
The kids looked at each other.“There are only eight of us.” Kim spoke up.   
Milo gasped and then took a peek inside the lilac box. There was one necklace left in it.   
“B-b-but, where are the ninth and tenth guardians?!” Milo paced back and forth frazzled.   
“If you’re looking for ten, why is there only one necklace left?” Serenity asked examining the box. The one necklace that was left was a red pea**** feather. Serenity raised her eyebrow. How could a pea**** feather be red?   
Milo’s eyes widened. “What?!” The dachshund took the box and looked through it. He gasped and then started digging through his vest pockets.    
“Oh no.” Milo moaned as he slunk to the floor. “I lost the necklace. I told Jasper not to give me this job.” Milo sat there with his face in his paws.    
He looked like he was about to cry, and Serenity for a second thought she was going to cry too. In fact, a tear rolled down her cheek at the exact same time one rolled down Milo’s.       
“Why are you crying?” Andy noted Serenity’s tear.   
“Oh, I… Uh…” Serenity stared at Milo. “I don’t know…”