by S. I. Dogo
Chapter 14
The Sting of Betrayal
After the death of Blaze, the remaining Guardians on seeing the blue beam of light that shot up from The Prime's location journeyed towards Sentinel Blade and began to give him the fight of his life. Being stronger, and faster, he managed to evade and recover from most of their attacks but a furious lightning bolt from Suraya brought him down to a single knee. However, the victory was short lived as a Kelkis spear shot from a distant chariot charging angrily towards the Guardians pierced through the red air to sink a fatal hole into the chest of Sev Havora.
The Guardians, now turning away from Blade, parried the plethora of metallic shards and fire that a Syt warlord, who had just assimilated over twelve terabytes of information, rained upon them. Landing in the centre, next to a fully recovered Sentinel, the two birds turned the tide against the Guardians. Azel proved particularly good at using her shield and evading spells, seeing as she was battling with level 5 Guardians and her regenerative abilities could only be compared with that of a level 3 Myt creature.
Just before the last three Guardians could be killed, Sev, who was now drowning in his own blood, cast one final teleport spell which sent the surviving Guardians, Max, Nico and Suraya, beaming away to Seva.
Moments after Max and Suraya arrived in Seva, Azel, using a teleportation spell, sent half of her army, led by Blade, to The Weapons Base at Buldo.
Blade on arriving in Buldo sent a powerful beam of fire arcing through the steel barricade set up around the huge weapons base located at Amira'Galare. The Black Dragons made quick work of the helicopters and air fighters which came flying in to save the day. During the battle, Blade always had to shield himself from the steady fire he kept receiving from the patriotic soldiers guarding the base. For they knew that if Blade got control of the Weapons Base, nowhere on Prime Circle would be safe.
When Max and Suraya narrated their story to Natareh, she ordered the entire War Guards be spread across Low-Land, as they had no way to defend themselves. Max and Nico then asked Natareh to send them to their respective kingdoms.
Getting into the partly destroyed weapons base Blade found an enraged Max bolting towards him with an energy punch he just couldn't escape from. After flying halfway across the base the Sentinel unsheathed his red-silver sword and began making his way back into the playfield. "You child! You think you can fight me, boy! I was taming dragons before you even learnt to crawl!"
Leaping into the air, the Sentinel swung his powerful blade at Max who parried with the Golden Bracelet of Buldo he was wearing; a bracelet he had been given by his father to help him channel even greater joules of energy. Swinging to the rear Max gave the red and black armour clothed Sentinel a quick powerful punch to the back of his left knee. Then a side kick which sent him flying into a small custom made battle tank about twenty meters away.
In the end, Blade got mad and gave Max the beating of his life. But before the Sentinel could drop the final blow with his king-sized sword Natareh swooped in with a winged horse kick and teleported Max back to Seva.
High-Land had been overrun by the sheer might of Azel and her furious Banes of Syt which invaded Seva barely five seconds after Max left.
Azel had a knack for not leaving her chariot, pulled by two pairs of demon Rovlins, and this was the platform upon which most of her battle with Natareh had taken place. Natareh was an expert in using a weapon called the Tears of Summer; a weapon similar to The Kyoketsu Shoge on your planet. Natareh had put up a good fight but Azel proved too powerful, deflecting most of her strikes and leaving Natareh near breathless, having been at the receiving end of multiple quick, short, blasts of electricity and fire.
When Azel slipped and told Natareh about the surprise waiting for Max at Buldo, Natareh had disappeared almost instantly. Suraya had taken up the fight in her stead and had not been faring too well. Azel had better control over almost all the Syt abilities Suraya had.
Recovering from a hard blast of lightning from Azel, which had made her crash near the pair that had just returned from Buldo, she told Max to focus on the Banes. Who were causing way too much damage in her opinion. "Don't attack them with Syt directly. They'll just wave it off and send you something in return!" With that, Suraya shot herself back in the air aiming towards the chariot she had just fallen from.
Max, after several failed attempts, managed to get one of the Banes to fall into a large gathering of long-horned level 3 creatures. But when the war crafts from Buldo, piloted by cursed soldiers of Azel's army, began to fly in, the Bane became the least of his worries. Ramming himself into a fighter jet which came speeding towards Sev's Manor to drop an explosive gift Max soon found himself staggering towards Natareh. Natareh was standing next to her sister and Jayti's family; whom Natareh had previously sent a squad to fetch. The crash of the fighter jet had led to the destruction of some parts of the front elevation of Sev's Manor.
Azel, getting tired of fighting with Suraya, cast a spell of vanishing, leaving Suraya with the task of controlling the cursed Rovlins. Suraya soon crashed the chariot into the large White Manor which once belonged to the Crown Nobles of Seva. Barely a second after she alighted from the Steeds of Death Azel chimed a whistle from the skyscraper she now stood on top, which made the spirited beasts rise from their slumber to reunite with their master in the air once again.
Seeing that the entire pride had been packed into one den, Sentinel Blade, who had now arrived at the war scene, ordered the entire demon military force he had brought along with him to focus their fire on Sev's Manor.
Holding a large chunk of regenerative ice suspended in the air to protect those behind her from the heavy artillery fire they were receiving, Suraya told Natareh to send everyone to Slyfar. "He's the Prime now. If he can't do something about this, no one can!"
As Natareh began creating the cloudy, blue teleport loop to take them all to Prime Castle, Suraya told Natareh, "No matter what happens, don't come back for me."
After they had left, upon a chariot high in the sky, two warriors in red created a double powered ball of flame and sent it towards the large floating chunk of ice which was standing between them and their prey. Suraya's eyes opened wide at the sight of the large fireball coming her way and thought to herself. Perhaps today, after all, would be the day she met her end.
Chapter 15
The Sting of Betrayal 2
After the events of the Resurrection Gala Slyfar woke up at noontime the next day with a strange little noise ringing in his head and a heart full of thoughts. What if things had gone a little differently? What was the meaning of the vision he had seen and why did his father run out of the hall the way he did?
While still seated on his bed thinking about these things a teleport circle appeared in his room and out of it came Natareh, Loretta, Aunt Jay and her two children. Aunt Jay was supporting a war-weary Max on her shoulders.
“What happened?!”
“Buldo has fallen…” Max reported.
“Seva as well,” Natareh added.
“What about the Guardians? What about my father?”Slyfar asked bewildered.
With a scared look on his face, Max said, "They're all dead! Sentinel Blade, he killed everyone."
The news hit Slyfar hard. He had to lean on the desk next to his bed for support. Staring blankly at the floor he muttered to himself, no, no, this cannot be happening!” Lifting his face towards the window Slyfar could see the diaphanous spelt walls around his city, meant to keep dark creatures out, crumbling to the ground.
Just then Ragnal came into his chambers. Surprised to find so many people in The Prince’s chambers, he nonetheless said what he had come to say, “Sabotage my lord. Someone within our ranks has blown up the crystal generator that powers our shields and…”
“Ragnal, Blaze is dead,” Slyfar said.
“My, ma… My lord, how can this…”
“Blade killed him. His best friend killed him.”
“My lord, I promise you on my life, Blade will pay for what he has done.” Ragnal was deeply troubled, but focused, “If we're to live to see that day, I suggest you come with me right away.”
Slyfar, who had only been wearing a black jean trouser and a golden pendant around his neck, picked up a grey shirt and a black trench coat on his way out of the room. The rest of the crew followed closely behind.
As they followed Ragnal down the castle stairs Max filled the commander in on what had transpired on Cynax and how Azel's army would soon be arriving to take down the jewel city of Arvilon.
Natareh, spotting a small group of guards, ordered them to make sure Loretta, Aunt Jay and her kids were kept safe. When the guards seemed to hesitate Slyfar turned to the guards and commanded that they do as she had said.
Meanwhile, the moment Ragnal had told Slyfar to follow him Slyfar had sent Jimmy a Spark Message.
A Spark Message can be said to be a telepathic intercommunication between two or more individuals who are gifted with Syt abilities. The longer the distance, the more powerful the transmitter has to be to pull it off successfully. Slyfar had told his brother to meet them at the ballroom hallway; which was where they were currently headed.
Meeting up with the crew that had just dropped off Jayti's family, Jimmy was filled in on the basics by Slyfar. Still confused, he journeyed along with his friends towards Kalahan's study room which Ragnal was now leading them to.
Slyfar noticed that the spiral staircase down the secret door Ragnal had just opened led to an underground passage. “Heh! Commander, I thought you were trying to lead us back to the troops?”
The old commander gave off a sigh and drew the young Prime closer to him while gesturing to the others to continue moving. “You see my boy, a long time ago when I was young, when I was still rising through the ranks of the great army of Kalahan, your grandfather began to notice how close your father and I were. One day he summoned me. In this library, he told me a tale of things to come. Stories about a day Arvilon will fall. He made me promise that if this day arrived, I would make sure the last surviving Guardian Heirs made it safely to The Invincible.
“Now I don't know where this passage ends. But I do know one thing, by the time you reach the end of the tunnel, the pathway to The Invincible will be revealed to you.” Putting an arm on Slyfar's shoulder, “Son, It's been an honour serving the house of Prime. Now go. Hurry!”
With that Ragnal left the room and shut the door behind him He returned the large shelf that once covered the entrance back to its place.
Getting back to his troops, he was informed that the traitor had been caught. To Ragnal's dismay, the spy was none other than his younger brother ‘Ron Kalcrof'. "Why? Why would you try to destroy your own home?"
"You have no idea what's coming, brother!"
Looking away from his brother, Ragnal saw a large chariot landing just outside the entrance to Prime Castle.
Now stepping out of the castle, onto its grounds, to meet Blade and Azel, he looked at the blue Arvilonian skies which had now turned red with war and noticed how the streets were littered with dead bodies of both beast and man.
“Commander, call off your men and Arvilon will be spared. Resist and we'll kill every last one of you.” Blade commanded.
“And the Guardian Heirs, what happens to them?”
Azel stepped down from her chariot, “Like all threats to a new empire they must be crushed before they get a chance to strike back. Now tell me old man, where, are, the children?”
Ragnal readied himself in his battle stance. “Rest assured witch. Your arms of death will not snuff out the light of any more Guardians today.”
“Oh, Ragnal, did you really think Blaze didn't tell me about the secret passage in Kalahan’s Study! And unlike you chancellor …I know where it ends!” Blade countered.
Tightening his face to conceal the fear in his eyes Ragnal lifted up his sword in the air and shouted: "For Arvilon and for Prime!" Launching he and his men into a battle they could not win.
...
While walking through the passage Slyfar kept feeling as if someone was tracking his spark.
When he and his three friends at long last arrived at the stone door leading out of the tunnel Jimmy switched off the flame he had created to light their way through the dark passage. A now fully recovered Max blast open the doors with a short but effective burst of energy. Stepping into the light the crew found themselves on a large wheat farm, located a few hundred meters behind the castle forest.
They were completely surrounded by two thousand level 1-4 dark creatures, a thousand cursed men and two black dragons.
“Max, Natareh …Ren! Jimmy, stay close to me.” Slyfar shouted.
Circling slowly along with the group Jimmy agreed, “Roger that!”
The enemies which had previously been moving slowly towards the group that had emerged from the centre of the field began to charge angrily towards their target. But just as the fight was about to begin a powerful blast of lightning from the sky created an electrifying circle around the crew. All the evil ringleaders were sent flying into the arms of their beastly partners in crime.
The source of the lightning was a Guardian, whom Natareh had told Slyfar was certainly dead. When she landed amongst them she told Natareh to create a teleport loop leading to the Temple of Nobles.
In obedience to the voice of Suraya, an excited Guardian of Seva began creating a teleport circle beneath the crew which would carry them away from this hell and into the arms of a green continent whose spelt walls had never been breached.
...to be continued.
