by S. I. Dogo
“How did you guys find her?”
“Actually, she found us!” Max clarified. “Told me to give you this,” and he handed him a small white envelope.
The writing on a small paper within the envelope read: To a prince who deserves a second chance.
“What are you waiting for man? Go!” Max encouraged.
Slyfar started towards the lady who was wearing an elegant, blue, long dinner dress. On getting to where she stood he first praised the work of Aunt Lima. Which was written all over Aunt Jay and her kids. Aunt Lima then introduced Slyfar to her new friend. “Slyfar, I'd like you to meet this beautiful new friend I have here. I believe her name is…”
“Natareh; Crown Heir to Lord Sev.”
Aunt Lima, noticing the way the two were looking at each other, began to excuse herself, “Well then, seeing as you two have got a lot of catching up to do, we'll just…”
Loretta, who was now beaming with a smile, told her sister not to make it too easy for the prince. Then quickly ran off to go play with Kozmi and fun Aunt Lima.
Slyfar looked briefly towards the dance floor and caught sight of his brother dancing happily with an elderly woman. Then giving Natareh his hand, “Dance with me.”
With a look as if she had just been caught off guard Natareh stuttered, “Uh-uh, maybe some other time.”
“Well, today's your lucky day, cause I'm not taking no for an answer.”
That having been said he took hold of her left hand with his right and guided her towards the reflective floors which made the silver ornamental designs around her waist glitter. Slyfar placed his left hand at the spot and began to glide stylishly across the dance floor with this princess who was now excitedly blushing.
Chapter 12
Blue Phoenix
When a Prime enters the state of Phoenix while wielding Aiden's Triumph, his eyes and runes, both the one on his neck and the ones branded upon the twin blades, glow with a fiery blue of controlled rage. However, when the heir of a Prime is fully engulfed in blue flame, it means he's no longer in control. A Prime in Blue Phoenix is the most potent agent of destructive power and anyone nearby rarely lives to tell the tale. The last Prime to enter the state of Blue Phoenix was Drako. When all attempts to save him failed, the ruling Guardians at the time forged a dagger called Drako's Flame; the only weapon besides Aiden's Triumph powerful enough to break a weapon or cut through armour made with Kelkis Metal. Drako was killed in the end with the blade and all the Guardians mourned his death. His son Kalahan was crowned Prime Sovereign seven days later.
...
Blaze stood smiling with his queen as he watched, with the eyes of a Prime, two bright sparkles dancing across the ballroom. Not wanting to be the one who spoiled the fun for his son he asked Ragnal to make the announcement in is stead.
“The trail is about to begin!” Ragnal announced to the room.
Sadly letting go of Natareh's waist, which he had grown quite attached to, Slyfar made his way to the clearing which had now been created at the centre of the ballroom.
Stepping into the blue circle at the centre of the ballroom, which contained all the Mystical Runes of the seven Guardians, Aiden's Triumph was presented to him on a blue pillow tray. As his eyes caught sight of the legendary weapon which had been used to defeat even the most powerful Syt warlord to ever walk The Circle a scary thought came to his mind. What if he wasn't able to control himself when he came back?
Now holding the mystical twin blades with runes still dormant he knelt down with one knee and began to recite the Oath of Resurrection.
“I am Slyfar, first son of Blaze, grandson of Kalahan, Guardian of Prime Circle and bearer of the Aiden's Triumph. If I be worthy, bless me great Circle, with the light of a Prime.”
The clouds above the castle began to turn dark and a cold wind began to blow across the land of Arvilon. All across the kingdom, the citizens, standing in groups, looked towards Prime Castle with a smile and wonder on their faces as a new Prime was about to be born.
When Slyfar began to scream, Blaze thought back to the time he had stood in the same circle where his son now knelt. How he battled the guilt of letting Suraya go in Haress and how he had returned only to discover that she was no longer present in the ballroom. How Milo had been the one present to bring him back. How he had never looked back since.
In Haress, Slyfar walked through a parallel line of all the Primes that had come before him. At the end of the line stood a god-like figure with incredibly long, white hair.
“Welcome Slyfar Blaze,” Spoke Aiden. “What you are about to see might be confusing at first, but the essence of this trail is not for you to prove that you are a great warrior. On the contrary, the Trial of Resurrection is meant to reveal to you that which you must overcome in order to become the Guardian you're meant to be.
“Follow me.” Aiden lead Slyfar to a single door standing alone. “When you've acquired all the knowledge you need, your spirit will return to your body.”
As the door flung open a bright light sucked Slyfar into a trance. He saw himself kneeling down with warm blood on his hands. He was in a war-torn city with very tall buildings. He knew that the blood on his hands belonged to another. As he tried to identify the people he saw in the vision, he discovered that one of them looked very much like him… a very different version of him who looked drunk with rage and had hair engulfed in blue flame. He recognized this version as a replica of himself in the state of Blue Phoenix.
Two people whom he could not identify clearly were fighting like gods in the distance. When these two figures saw his replica, which was now walking slowly towards them, they stopped fighting and the smaller amongst the two figures began to approach him. The figure walked confidently as if to convince him not to do something. But then with just a single wave of his hand, the smaller figure was sent flying across the city. The second figure on seeing this sent a steady strong blast of fire towards the replica. Before Slyfar could see what happened he found himself being drawn out of the vision, out of the room, which was now closing, and back into his body.
Seeing The Prince stand from his kneeling position with his hair burning a fiery blue, a wave of terror engulfed the occupants of the ballroom. For even though Aiden's Triumph was clearly trying its best to subdue the beast that had been unleashed, Slyfar's hair had not stopped burning blue.
All the Guardians present in the room stood with a conflicted look on their faces. Were they to simply stand and watch, hoping for some miracle to happen which would calm this angry Prime? Or were they to try and contain this prince with more power than even Aiden's Triumph could handle.
Ordinarily, if Slyfar had entered the state of Blue Phoenix without the twin blades everyone within the ballroom would have already been dead.
As all the nobles stood around the prince, frozen with fear, Slyfar saw a familiar spark rush out of the crowd to stand a few meters from where he now stood with a look of indecision.
“Sly, can you hear me?
“No, no don’t look at them, look… look at me!” Natareh pleaded, slowly drawing closer to her dance partner. ”You can fight it Sly! I know you can. Fight it, fight it! Fight it!”
Natareh’s voice was echoing through Slyfar’s head.
Soon the thick lightning clouds that had previously engulfed the castle began to disappear. The windows of the ballroom stopped shaking. The prince's fiery blue hair slowly turned back to its usual black-white nature.
When Slyfar came back to his senses he found himself in the arms of Natareh. Surrounded by a crowd still in awe of what they had just seen.
Barely a minute after Slyfar had let go of Aiden's Triumph and fallen into the arms of a lady in blue, three guards came rushing through the ballroom door looking for Blaze.
The first guard, clearly exhausted and out of breath, managed to get the first words in, “My Lord, we've just received word from our patrol squad at Dahkat…�
��
Stammering, the second guard took up the tale, "and, they… claim the doors of Sentinel Keep, have be, be… been opened!"
Looking at the nobles in the hall who were now more terrified than ever, Blaze stretched his left hand towards Aiden's Triumph and the blades came rushing in. "The party is over! Guards, escort everyone safely back to their homes. All Guardian Heirs are to return to their Kingdoms as well. All ruling Guardians, come with me."
As the guards directed all the nobles back to their homes, Slyfar, who was now feeling weak and being supported by Jimmy, watched as the daughters of Lord Sev Havora, along with Aunt Jay's family, were being escorted back to Seva by Natareh's personal guards. Slyfar's friends, Max and Nico Nis had already followed Blaze to the Hall of Guardians.
Chapter 13
Darkness Returns
Before our journey continues, let me indulge you with a short interlude about one of the three Guardian Gates on Prime Circle: called Sentinel Keep.
Sentinel Keep (also called Sentinel Gate) is located on the East Coast overlooking The Sea of Remembrance in the black wasteland of Dakhat. It got its name from the heroic act of the first Sentinel Guardian, who sacrificed her life to create a prison powerful enough to trap the souls bound to a powerful Syt warlord that threatened to destroy The Circle: The Demon Army of Azel.
Azel was a level 6 Syt Warlord with Elemental, Suma, Joreh and Creation Syt abilities. She was also the only one to have ever read the entire complete version of the Ancient Scrolls of Syt; which had since been torn into several smaller parts so no one man could ever grow to become as powerful as she was. The scrolls contained all the spells that could be cast by an individual strong enough to survive the energy toll spell casting consumes. Certain spells, however, can only be cast by a Guardian.
During the battle, it was evident that even though Aiden was powerful enough to defeat the warlord, Azel's legion would not let him battle the warlord alone. Azel's army was made up of approximately two hundred thousand level 1, 2 and 3 dark creatures, one thousand level 4 dark creatures, sixteen level 5 dark creatures - which included eight black dragons and three Banes of Syt. Accompanying the dark creatures the army was filled out with one hundred and fifty thousand cursed warriors with eyes and hearts made out of fire, enslaved to the will of Azel but still retaining the basic intellect of their previous selves.
When all else failed The First Crown Nobles of Xadonia and Ratasu, at the request of The Sentinel, created a ten-storey gateway of rock and fire while The First Crown Noble of Seva created the largest teleport loop she had ever made. The loop was large and powerful enough to transport Azel and her entire demon army at once.
The First Sentinel then channelled all her essence of Maximus to trap every creature within the loop.
In the end, even though The Guardians had won the battle, none was left without a tear in their eye; least of all The Prime.
…
Two hours before The Resurrection Gala, somewhere near the East Coast, four guards were on patrol.
“This place gives me the creeps!”
“Yeah, you're not the only one.”
“Why don't they ever send us anywhere nice huh!” Agreed a third, “They claim we're the best, yet they send us to watch this dreaded door in the middle of nowhere. In fact, how can you be sure anyone's truly trapped behind these doors? You ask me, it's just a story made up by The Guardians to further strengthen their dominance over the masses.”
“Silence!” Proclaimed their leader, “We've been given an assignment. We're to patrol this area for the next three days and that's exactly what we're going to do.”
“Ah! Finally, she returns.”
Everyone went silent. The first guard to speak once again broke the silence, “Did you hear that?”
“I think it came from the gate,” the third guard offered.
Spotting a red figure in the distance the patrol leader shouted, “Heh! Stop. Identify yourself.”
The next thing the patrol team saw was a huge ball of fire travelling towards their current position.
On getting to the door Sentinel Blade walked past the pile of corpses and pulled out a black ruby ring alongside a shiny orange gem. Then placing the blood pact ring on the gate he said, “You know why I'm here.”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Just open the gate and I'll help you retrieve your little queen from the hands of death itself. You have my word.”
Putting the ring onto his finger, which had now turned bright red to signify the irreversible contract he had just signed with the harbinger of death, he stretched out the orange gem which contained the trapped soul of Crown Noble Odir towards the gate.
“A life for a life,” Blade agreed. “Riyaktra'ur Odir Ra Azel Lunifas!”
The ground beneath his feet began to shake, the vultures, which stood around the bodies of the recently deceased, flew away in fright, and a peal of terrifying laughter echoed through the gate as its giant black doors flung open for the first time in over fifty centuries.
A certain guard whose life had refused to fade to dust as he lay in a bloody mess a few meters away from the door pulled out his radio and sent one last transmission flying through the air towards The War Study Arena in Prime City. "The Gate is open, death is now upon us!"
Azel walked towards Blade while lifting the guard towards her, “It's about time a Guardian did something right!” Now turning towards the guard, ‘Hmm, to kill or not to kill? You lovely little thing!”
She flung him onto the ground and his body began to burn; changing him into one of her soldiers. Then she turned towards the open doors of Sentinel Keep and shouted the words, "Riyaktra'ur Lunifas." Which translates as I break the bonds that bind the darkness within you. The walls of the gate began to crack and from the cracks escaped bright streams of light. In less than a minute, the gate shattered with a blast and in its stead stood an army. An Army that would surely be able to aid Blade on his quest to bring back Zara.
“Our first target is Buldo,” declared Blade. “If we can take control over their weapon bases and war crafts, taking down the rest of Prime Circle will be like a walk through the park. Plus, the kingdom holds a vast supply of weak souls you can add to your army.”
“Yes dear, a flawless plan, but you seem to be forgetting one little thing. I possess very little knowledge about your current world. One might say… I'm a little outdated.”
Blade threw Azel a small, glowing, blue stone, “That's why I brought you a little gift. It might take you a few years to fully assimilate the information held in the stone so I suggest you start with the basics.”
Azel levitated into the air as if to meditate. “A few years! Ha-ha-ha! Just give me a few minutes. Besides, if I were you, I'd be more concerned with what The Prime might do when he gets here.”
Starring away from Azel who was now wrapped in a transparent blue bubble of data being sucked out of the information stone he had given her, “I have a plan for that.”
Within the Hall of Guardians, located at the topmost part of Prime Castle, Blaze made it clear to the Guardians that the army they were about to face was like nothing they had ever encountered before. But together, they could banish Azel and her demon forces from Prime Circle once and for all. That being said, he asked Sev Havora to teleport them to Dakhat. On getting to Dakhat, what the Guardians saw in the distance from where they stood made them marvel in horror.
“This is bound to be the fight of our lives.” Hazu mused in a matter of fact manner.
“No kidding!” Nico agreed.
Blaze addressed the group, “Once their leader is dead, her hold on them will be broken. Suraya, Hazu, try to keep the Banes and black dragons away from me for as long as possible. Sev, Nico, take the lower dark creatures for a walk.
“The infected soldiers still have a soul. When Azel dies it'll be best they're still alive so they can help us clear out the remaining demons. Max, it's your jo
b to round them up and keep them out of harm's way.
“As for the witch… leave her to me.”
The Guardians closed their eyes, put their right fists into their open left palms and recited the ascension spell "Kaz’Ren Mayatanai".
When they had all ascended to the state of Ren they jumped down from the cliff they had been standing on and started towards the angry legion that was now making its way towards them. As Blaze was about to fit Aiden's Triumph into the ground with both hands, kneel with one knee and recite the ascension spell, which would propel him into the state of Phoenix, he saw a fast flying figure propelled by flames coming towards him. It was Sentinel Blade.
Blaze greeted Blade happily as he landed, “I knew you would come!”
“Wouldn't miss it for the world.”
“From what I've read, Azel never leaves the safety of her chariot which is most likely located at the centre of her army where the Kelkis cages for the Banes are. This is where I'll need your help.” Turning towards the sentinel who was now standing next to him, “I still don't understand how the warlord was able to …Ahhhhh!”
The Prime felt a sudden sharp pain pulsing through his body as his best friend trust a blue, flaming dagger through his heart; the dagger known as Drako's Flame.
Letting go of Aiden's Triumph and clenching his hands around the dagger still held by Blade he gasped, “Why?”
Blade spoke with tears in his eyes, “I'm sorry old friend. You wouldn't understand.”
Lifting his eyes from having found the pendent Zara gave to Blade hanging around his neck he understood, “You would sacrifice the entire world, just to bring her back?”
“If that's what it'll cost. Yes.”
With a sad smile, Blaze let go of his friend and fell to the ground. With his dying breath, he whispered to Aiden's Triumph which lay next to him, "Zaxtos… Luminos" Rest in the Invincible. As the body of Blaze began to fade away, the sadness on Blade's face quickly turned into an angry roar as he saw the mystical blades glowing brightly and whisking themselves away in a teleport loop which led to a place only a Prime could find.
