God of War, Ares: Guardian

by Brandon Chen

  Amon grunted. They will be challenging opponents.

  “Nothing that we can’t handle, though,” Ares said optimistically and pointed over the towering sand dunes in the distance. “Let’s go, Amon. We don’t have time to waste.”

  ***

  Ramses’ eyes fluttered open, his blurry gaze wandering around the blank ceiling. He groaned, reaching up and running a coarse hand through his black hair. A throbbing headache pounded in his head and he blinked, realizing that he was lying on a soft, leather couch. A tight, bloody bandage was wrapped around the wound in his shoulder. The pain was mostly gone except for a slight ache. On a glass table beside him was a cup of still water. The man reached out and gulped down the water without hesitation. With his thirst slightly satisfied, his mind was cleared.

  The Magus placed the cup down and scanned his surroundings, spotting a man sitting on a leather chair, gazing at a blazing fire. Ramses frowned, realizing that this man had not reacted at all to his awakening. The stranger simply stared emptily into the hearth, unmoving.

  Ramses stood, and blinked when suddenly a man in a black cloak teleported in front of him, gripping a diamond hourglass. “Tetsu, was it?” Ramses muttered, his eyes on the gleaming artifact that the man held. The Sands of Time allowed the man to freeze or slow time, at the cost of physical energy. But judging from Tetsu’s expert use of the relic, it seemed that he had had the object in his possession for quite some time now. Time was his to control. “I’m rather surprised that you haven’t killed me yet.”

  “You should be,” Tetsu said, his burning gaze piercing through the Magus, sending a disconcerting sensation shivering through Ramses. The Demon Mercenary placed the Sands of Time down on the glass table in front of Ramses and sighed, walking past the mage and casually sitting on the couch. “Ares, however, apparently insisted that you were to be given a second chance.”

  “Is that so?” Ramses said, his eyes not leaving the Sands of Time.

  “I didn’t hear the words myself,” Tetsu said, observing the Magus. “But that was what Kira and Lord Alkaios told me.”

  There was a flash of movement as Ramses lunged for the Sands of Time but Tetsu kicked the table, sending the hourglass twirling through the air. The mercenary leapt forward and relentlessly tackled the mage, slamming him hard into the wooden ground. “But I knew that you were just another damned Persian!” he barked, raising a fist, ready to bash Ramses’ face in.

  “Stop it, you two,” Kira called, walking into the room with a platter of grapes in one hand. She snapped her fingers with the other hand and the two men were both smacked by an invisible force and sent sliding to opposite sides of the room. “Be mature about the situation. Ramses, if you value your life then you won’t try something as dumb as that again. I understand that you don’t trust us, but you have to take our word that we won’t hurt you.” She pushed the glass table back into place and sighed, realizing that it had been cracked by Tetsu’s kick. She put the plate of fruit on the table and pulled a chair over, plopping into the seat.

  Ramses wiped his mouth, glaring at Tetsu. “I have no reason to trust Tetsu. Especially after the way that he talked about executing General Shazir. There’s no doubt that you’ll have me executed as well.”

  “Maybe I should have you executed then,” Tetsu growled.

  “Tetsu,” Kira warned, “stop it!”

  Tetsu walked over to the couch and sank into the cushions, folding his arms with a jaded sigh.

  “Surely you’ve kept me alive for a reason other than just Ares’ word,” Ramses said, standing up tall. He put his hands on his waist as he turned his attention to Kira, who plopped a juicy grape into her mouth. “Tell me why.”

  “A war between eastern and western Dastia will break out soon,” Kira explained. “Lord Alkaios has already called for the United Eastern Nations’ army to arrive at Yuusus. They will be here in several weeks, fully ready to begin their march on Persia.”

  “And you want me to fight against Persia?”

  “Correct,” Kira said.

  Ramses lowered his gaze. The Persian Empire was not a nation that he wanted to fight for. But he didn’t want to battle against it either, not again. The last time that he had done so, he had almost lost everything. His friends, his home — all that he had left was his family, and the only reason they were still alive was because he had dedicated himself to the Persians. “My family is still in Persia. If Cambyses learns of my betrayal, he will have them executed.”

  “Then we’ll save them,” Kira said. “We have a couple weeks until the army arrives anyway. Tetsu and I needed something to do, right?”

  “We have to go all the way to Persia for his family?” Tetsu winced at the very thought of such a venture.

  “Yes, Tetsu.” Kira shot him a fiery glare.

  Tetsu sighed. Ramses was a Magus and would prove extremely useful, especially when the enemy was the Persian army. A Magus could defeat a thousand warriors alone if he was skilled. If they could save Ramses’ family and secure the mage’s allegiance without any losses, then the operation would definitely be worth it. But there was a potential risk. Tetsu knew that the families of the Magi, nobles, and higher officials in Persia all lived in the king’s palace in Persepolis. Infiltrating such a fortified fortress without being spotted would be nearly impossible. Even if their little incursion succeeded, there was no guarantee that they would make it out alive.

  The Hayashi clansman grabbed a fistful of his hair and exhaled through his nose. Sitting here doing nothing while Ares and Aleysha were out there trying to stop the revival of a god made Tetsu feel absolutely useless. Besides waiting for an army to arrive, there had to be something else that he could do to help. He supposed that this quest was it. “Alright,” Tetsu murmured. “Lord Alkaios will be the Supreme General of the United Eastern Nations’ army and will lead our soldiers to Persia in my stead, just in case we don’t return in time. Ramses, do you know where your family is located?”

  “Y-Yes,” Ramses stammered, rather surprised that these two strangers were willing to go and save his family from the clutches of the Persian Empire.

  Lord Alkaios turned his attention to the three guests in his living room and sighed. “So you’re leaving me to manage the United Army, huh? What a drag that is.” He smirked at Tetsu. “Always trying to squeeze out of the leadership role, aren’t you?”

  Tetsu shrugged. “I don’t think I’d be a great leader.”

  “You don’t know until you try,” the king murmured. “At any rate, if you aren’t home by the time the army arrives, we’ll be storming across the deserts after you. You understand?”

  “Loud and clear.”

  “Good,” Lord Alkaios turned back to staring into the flickering flames of his hearth. “Now go and pack some food. I know how hungry you get when you go on long journeys.”

  ***

  Yuu’s eyes were closed as he lay in a white tent beside Zahir, enjoying the little rest that he could snatch in the Lost Sands. Every second that they spent in this forsaken desert seemed to jeopardize their lives. A myriad of dangerous creatures of myth had leapt up and attacked them while traps, set by the desert itself, claimed the lives of countless Persians. Yet there was still no sign of Ahriman’s fault. What if all of this was just superstition? What if the fall of the Persian god of darkness and death was just a tale? Persia was sacrificing a lot of resources in order to find this god’s body. Thousands of lives had been claimed by the Lost Sands already. If there were nothing here then all of this would be an absolute waste.

  A scream ripped through the silent morning and Yuu’s eyes immediately snapped open. He flung his sheets off his body, grabbing his sword from next to him, and was on his feet without a single moment of hesitation. He brushed aside the flaps of his tent as he ventured out into the dry, hot desert. The noble was wearing a white cloak, leaving his suit of metal armor back in his tent. A red scarf curled around his neck and he pulled his hood over his head to block the sweltering heat
of the blazing sun from cooking him. Brushing some white hair from his turquoise eyes, he gazed coldly over the dozens of tents that were set up in the campsite.

  A gigantic scorpion, triple the size of the largest horse that Yuu had ever seen, ripped straight through one of the tents with a bleeding man caught between his pincers. Its massive tail skewered a second Persian who was running away, picking the man up and bashing him back into the desert sand. The shell of the creature was a pale golden color and its eyes were gleaming as red as rubies. The scorpion made a high-pitched screeching noise that echoed as it scampered across the earth towards Yuu, murderously ready to slaughter anything that moved.

  The noble rolled up his sleeves, revealing that his hands were both covered in tightly wounded white bandages that hid every inch of his skin up to his forearms. Yuu broke into a sprint, bursting forward with speed, pumping his arms as he accelerated towards the barbaric beast. Kicking off of the ground, sending sand spraying backwards, the Magus leapt high into the air. He flew down at the scorpion with incredible speed, watching as the creature prepared to lunge out with its bloody stinger. Just as the scorpion was about to lash out at Yuu, the noble crashed down on the beast’s head, squashing it like a watermelon.

  Yellow liquids splattered all over the noble’s boots and into the sand, looking like sticky honey. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the same smell as honey and created a rancid miasma that made Yuu’s nose twitch. The other Persian warriors were now awake, scrambling out of their tents at the sound of the ambush. It seemed that the creatures of the Lost Sands were eager to drive out the human intruders, because within moments of killing the scorpion, the Magus spotted dozens of enormous scorpions racing down a sand dune in the distance, skidding down the hill towards the Persian campsite.

  Yuu’s face didn’t give off a single sign of emotion as he reached to his side towards his sheathed weapon. His relaxed touch drew his fingers slowly down the golden pommel at the end of his weapon to the grip of the hilt of his sword. He grasped the handle, yanking the weapon from its sheathe with a gentle motion, brandishing the beautiful steel into the air. His blade was golden and glowed in the beaming sunlight, cutting through the air elegantly. The mage exhaled and he pointed the tip of his sword at the oncoming scorpions that charged the Persians.

  The Persian warriors didn’t stand a chance against such monstrous beasts. They began to totter backwards, fearing for their lives. Turning around, they fled behind Yuu’s tent for salvation for they knew that Zahir and Yuu would be able to protect them. Unfortunately for them, Zahir was somehow still sleeping through all of this commotion.

  Yuu’s cold gaze never faltered and he waited patiently until the scorpions were within a hundred meters of him. Suddenly the noble shot forward with a burst of speed. Adrenaline coursed through his body, giving him a newfound explosion of energy. He whipped his sword with one hand in a vicious uppercut that split a scorpion’s face in two, sending yellow bodily fluids splattering across the sand. But Yuu’s body continued to rotate, spinning around as he grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and forcefully wrenched the blade downwards, severing another scorpion’s claw. The beast screeched as Yuu spun the opposite direction, bringing himself around to the creature’s side. Ripping his sword backwards, he jammed his weapon back into the scorpion’s ribs. All of this happened in such a fluent motion that it looked as if Yuu was performing a dance rather than mercilessly slaying these dangerous monsters.

  The Magus tore his sword from the slain creature’s body, spilling the yellow liquid onto the sand, filling the air with the pungent scent of the scorpion’s blood. Yuu’s eyes flickered between the remaining dozen of giant scorpions that raced towards him. They flitted with incredible speed but Yuu took every movement that they made into account. He calculated everything that these beasts would do and prepared his strategy. After all, he never made a mistake. He was the perfect warrior.

  Yuu broke into a sprint as he rushed straight at one of the scorpions that snapped at him with one of its claws. The noble kicked off the ground and flipped through the air, gliding over the scorpion’s body. He slammed his sword down into the creature’s head and dragged it across the monster’s body as he flew over it. Landing behind the slain scorpion, he continued to dash forward, slashing each beast down with ease. Each movement remained graceful and each step was just as he had practiced, not an inch out of place. Within a minute there were only three scorpions left, screeching at the corpses of their brethren that lay scattered across the sand.

  “Go, Yuu!” a Persian cheered.

  “He’s saved us!” another cried.

  Yuu looked at the surviving scorpions expressionlessly and exhaled. The creatures all scampered towards him in unison, their claws snapping loudly as their stingers all flexed, ready to skewer the noble. But the Magus unwrapped one of his bandages on his right hand, revealing a blue tattoo of a rabbit. The marking glowed for a brief moment and Yuu exhaled once more. But this time his breath was visible and appeared as a tiny mist that left his lips, as if he were in the winter of a frozen tundra. Without warning, the three scorpions all became encased in ice.

  Water began to trickle off the blocks of ice from the sun’s pounding heat, but Yuu closed his palm and all of the creatures immediately exploded into tiny bits. The Magus looked at the pieces of ice that were scattered on the ground with pity and then twirled his sword, sliding it back into its sheath.

  As the noble was rewinding his bandages, he turned to notice that Zahir had emerged from the tent and was walking towards Yuu, holding a letter that one of the Persian soldiers had given him. “We’ve got a location on Ahriman’s corpse. Luckily for us, it’s not far from here. Hopefully we won’t run into any more nuisances along the way.” His gaze scanned the defeated scorpions but he didn’t seem the slightest bit impressed. He simply nodded, as if the massacre was what he expected of his apprentice. “Gather your things. We’re leaving.”

  It didn’t take long for the party of Persians to gather their belongings and leave the area; most of the soldiers didn’t want to stay anyway after that encounter with the scorpions. They were eager to reach the end of this accursed journey.

  Yuu was simply relieved that they wouldn’t have to stay in the desert for long before they discovered Ahriman’s body. He couldn’t imagine spending prolonged months in this hell.

  Galloping across the Lost Sands for two hours finally brought Yuu and his fellow comrades to the top of a mountain of sand that overlooked a stretching wasteland, filled with statues of hundreds of creatures like demons, dragons, and phoenixes. These monsters were all from various cultural stories of an amalgam of religions throughout Terrador. All of these statues stood between Yuu’s party and the gigantic tear in the earth that seemed to span at least five miles long. Inside of the fault was nothing but darkness for as far as Yuu could see.

  The noble had no idea how they were going to get to the bottom of that chasm without dying. Climbing down definitely seemed like an insane option at this point. Yuu turned his head and saw the thousands of other Persians who had already arrived at the site and were waiting at the bottom of the hill, near the statues.

  Yuu narrowed his eyes. “Those soldiers should not be so close. They’ll awaken the hundreds of Guardians that lay on this wasteland. Should those Guardians awaken, we’ll all perish. Did you not say that you would order these Persian warriors to turn back and return to Persepolis?”

  “I already gave an order earlier today demanding that a majority of the Persian army return to Persepolis,” Zahir said, his arms folded as he stared across the flat desert before him. “The remaining three thousand Persians that are at the bottom of the hill will serve as bait so that you and I will be able to make it through these Guardians and to the chasm.”

  “That’s still a lot of men that you’re sacrificing!” Yuu protested.

  “A few thousand lives for the power of a god is not a high price to pay by my standards.”

  “I disagre
e,” Yuu said. “These are men with families and homes to return to. You cannot simply put a price on their head as if….”

  “I beg to differ.” Zahir turned and glared at the noble with his gleaming purple eyes, causing Yuu to stiffen. A cold sensation surged through the apprentice and he ground his teeth, annoyed that he still felt intimidated by his master. “The lives of ordinary men are nowhere near as precious as magical humans such as you and I. Those soldiers down there volunteered to join the Persian army, knowing very well that on any occasion they might die.”

  “But this isn’t fair! They won’t stand a chance against the Guardians out there!” Yuu argued. “The gods have chosen their greatest creations to guard the corpse of Ahriman. Those men down there will be massacred.”

  “And they will be remembered,” Zahir said stubbornly and turned his attention away from Yuu. “If you don’t want to watch their gallant sacrifices then look away. When you finally harden your heart and become a man, you’re free to follow me into that abyss to claim the power that will make Persia the strongest empire in this world.” He extended his hand outward and yelled so that everyone could hear him. “Forward!”

  Yuu’s hands balled into tight fists at his side and he scowled, watching as the thousands of Persian soldiers began to march forward across the Lost Sands. They only knew that their mission was to get to the chasm several miles away. They weren’t aware that these statues would be brought to life the moment that they stepped onto that wasteland. The Magus watched as the dauntless warriors marched proudly in the direction of the army of Guardians in the near distance. Zahir was tricking those warriors down there. This wasn’t right! Yuu’s throat tightened and he found it harder to breathe the closer that the Persian ranks got to the stagnant figurines. Sweat formed on his brow and his hands began to ball up into tightly clenched fists at his side, his knuckles turning a ghostly white.