by Jarod Meyer
“Then you think he will succeed?” asked a Guardian Katrina didn’t recognize.
“I will pray every day for our brother’s safe return, but even I argued against this mission,” Brock responded, shaking his large head.
“That is bullshit, Brock. William will make it,” Katrina shot back, very nearly shouting at her friend and captain.
“Little sister, I care for him as well, which is why I argued against him going. It is not a pleasant place, even for a battalion of the strongest guardians.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry I’m just distraught,” she replied, falling back into step and dropping her head.
“We all are, Kat,” Juarez said softly putting an arm on her shoulder.
They were now in a part of the castle Kat had never seen before. They descended down flight after flight of stairs, moving deep under the ground, and it became uncomfortably dark. No one asked anymore questions or spoke, until Brock came to a stop in front of a small, black door.
“Brock, where are we?” Juarez asked.
“We are in the bowels of Valhalla. This is a passage that will lead you out of the city discreetly.”
“Why are we going to exit the city? We have done nothing wrong,” Samuel demanded.
“My friends, it may not be plain for you to see, but we have chosen a side. With our inaction, we will all likely be pulled into an inquisition. The devices at the justicar’s disposal would expose William’s secrets, as well as your true feelings towards him. We are all implicated in this secret now, and it will only be a matter of time before we are arrested for treason as well,” Brock finished, yanking the seemingly heavy door open.
The group filed through, except for the large captain.
“Captain, aren’t you coming?” another of the guardians Kat didn’t recognize, asked.
“No, my brother, Achilles will deem me exempt from the Adjudicator’s questioning. He, however, cannot do so for all of you. I will keep an eye on the inside and try to send information to you when I can. Go into hiding. Do not summon your armor, and do not carry your weapons. Blend into the city, or find a place in the far reaches of Archonia to hide. Once young William returns, things will be set right.”
“And if he does not return?” Samuel asked slowly, as if speaking for the whole group.
Brock didn’t respond immediately. “Good luck, my friends,” he said finally, pulling on the door.
The door sealed shut, casting them in almost complete darkness. A small corridor only large enough for one person to walk abreast lay before them.
The small group proceeded in the only direction the passage allowed. Katrina guessed it was northwest, but the passage began to twist and turn. The darkness would have been blinding, but Samuel and the others produced small orbs of light in and lit up the passage. Katrina was too distraught, simply followed the group in silence.
The passage was plain. There were no intricate murals or sculptures lining the walls or floors. The tunnel was quite simply cut out of the stone, and although it was tall enough so they didn’t have to stoop down many of the walls were uneven and at times half-completed.
“Who do you suppose created this passage?” Samuel asked, breaking the silence.
Judging by the lack of detail and general disregard for direction, I would say that a child did it.”
“You’re probably right, but children aren’t allowed into Valhalla. Why would one be trying to escape from here?” Samuel asked.
“They weren’t trying to escape. They were trying to sneak in. Probably because they were curious about the military,” Katrina cut in, finishing Juarez’s thought for him.
“That’s interesting, but it still leaves the question as to what the hell we are going to do now,” Katrina scoffed.
“Well, mi amigo, I must stay in the city. I cannot leave my family in these troubled times.”
“What!? Juarez, if what Brock said is true I don’t think we should be anywhere near the city. They won’t hurt your family. They have not done anything wrong,” Katrina breathed in exasperation.
“Neither have we,” Samuel chimed in.
“Regardless, I will not leave without letting my family know that I am safe, and so they know the truth from my mouth. I’m sorry, Katrina, I know you do not have family here in Archonia, but you must try to understand. My loyalty is to my family first,” Juarez said softly.
“Well, that is just great. And what about you, Samuel?” Katrina asked.
Samuel looked from her to the fourth member of the group, who had, so far, not spoken at all. The soldier seemed to understand the silence and spoke up.
“Have no fear, my friends. I would never betray William of Archonia. I was a coward, fleeing the battle of the twin soul. Had William not rallied the men we would have surely lost the day and my life would be forfeit. Had William required it of me, I would have followed him to Dichonia. Any friends of his are friends of mine.”
“What is your name, brother?” Juarez asked.
“My name is Parsa. I too have no family left… just this simple soul and my duty to Archonia.”
Samuel nodded in in approval. “I know of a village in the northern mountains. I would take holidays there with Ulifrig, before we decided to join the Guardian Corps.”
“I didn’t know that you knew each other before training,” Juarez said solemnly.
“I’m surprised that none of you guessed that we were lovers,” Samuel said sadly.
Katrina watched even Juarez’s eyes widen in surprise. Katrina was a bit put off by the notion. She came from a time when it wasn’t acceptable for two men to love one another. They would have been ridiculed and likely killed for their perversion. The same was said about her being a soldier however, and her empathy overtook the uncomfortable feeling.
“You will see him again in the next life, Amigo,” Juarez offered with a kind smile. He was by far the best of souls, noble and honest to no end.
“This village? Will anyone recognize us?” Katrina asked.
“I should think not. If we dress in the normal fashions of the area and adopt their style of speaking, I think we will be fine.”
“What is this place called?” Parsa asked.
“The locals call it Shambhala. The creators of this oasis descended from the Himalayan tribes of Earth. They keep to themselves mostly,” Samuel replied.
The tunnel widened a bit, but soon it narrowed again, and shortly thereafter it curved upwards drastically for a moment. Finally they came face to face with a dead end.
“Did we miss the exit?” Samuel asked.
“More likely this passage was blocked to prevent its discovery,” Juarez replied, putting an ear to the stone wall.
Katrina, struggling with her impatience, walked up and knocked a hole through the wall with her fist. Stone collapsed, filling the tunnel with noise and dust. Juarez turned back to Kat, wiping dust from his eyes and sighing animatedly.
“Always so discreet, Kat,” Juarez said as she walked past.
“I apologize, but I’m in no mood to mess around,” she responded causally.
The dust began to clear and light filled the cavern. Katrina floated out through the hole and into the sky to get her bearings as a scout she hated not knowing exactly where she was. The others filed out of the hole behind her, squinting as their eyes adjusted to the light. They ended up outside of the Islamic district which was on the northern most part of Helios. They were perhaps ten or so miles away from the city in a small oasis of hills covered in olive trees and a small pond.
“How quaint,” Parsa said to nobody in particular.
“I guess this is where we leave you, Juarez,” Samuel said.
“I cannot believe you are doing this to me,” Katrina huffed, before wrapping her arms around Juarez’s skinny frame.
“Send word to me when you are all settled and safe. Address any correspondence to my cousin Fernando,” Juarez stated.
Katrina’s arms lingered around him for a moment, and he
whispered into her ear. “William will be fine. He is a natural warrior. His training has given him everything he needs.”
Katrina felt a single tear creep out of the corner of her eye and she quickly brushed it away with her sleeve so that nobody would see. As Juarez turned from his friends, a shimmering light passed over his body and produced a flowing, silken cloak, something to help him blend into the crowds of Archonia.
Katrina and the rest of the group headed in the opposite direction. They too summoned simple, cotton cloaks covered in patterns that would be considered mundane or ordinary. They moved at an excruciatingly slow pace, deciding that moving quickly would likely draw all the wrong kind of attention.
By midday they made it deep into the vast plains of Archonia. The seemingly endless fields stretched out in front of them, fields of white grasses dotted with sporadic trees or rocks. They shied away from the beautifully paved roads, for fear of meeting people along the way. People meant attention, and attention often led to questions. Instead, they chose to be cautious.
“How many days do you think it will take us to reach Shambhala?” Parsa asked Samuel.
“At this pace it could take a week or more to reach the northern mountains.”
“That should allow some time for things to settle down,” Parsa countered.
“…or, a lot could happen in that amount of time as well,” Katrina butted in.
“We have little choice. We do not need to stop for nightfall, food or water. Let’s keep moving,” Parsa shot back harshly.
Luckily they hadn’t seen anyone else so far, but were still well within sight of the looming city of Helios. They crested a hill and passed a herd of wooly, buffalo-like creatures. Kat picked up on the disturbance in air, She saw Parsa already scouring the sky with his eyes.
“Act casually, everyone,” Parsa hissed.
A rush of air fell over them as a group of sentinels, led by an adjudicator, floated overhead.
“Greetings, travelers,” the purple clad Justicar stated.
“Hail, Justicar. What can we help you with?” Samuel asked, with a kind smile.
“Thank you for asking. We are out warning citizens of a group of rogue guardians that have fled the capitol city. They should be considered armed and extremely dangerous,” the Adjudicator said importantly.
Katrina held her breath. Justicars were walking lie detectors. Parsa, however, proved to be extremely clever.
“We have seen no others along the road, Justicar,” he offered casually, and with a smile. This was the truth, in fact, as they hadn’t encountered any others along the road.
“Your friends seem nervous, my brother. What is troubling them?” the justicar asked, descending to the ground to meet Parsa’s eyes.
“I convinced them to return north with me. They fear another attack upon these lands.”
Again everyone in the group likely feared an attack, but this was a half-truth, and Parsa likely knew it. His face didn’t falter though.
“Where in the north are you heading?”
“We travel to Shambala,” Parsa replied, this time with utter confidence.
The Adjudicator studied the group a moment longer, and when it seemed he was about to speak, a sonic boom shook them and another Adjudicator floated to the ground.
“Justicar Tien, a group of sentinels has engaged rebels near the east road.”
Tien turned away from Kat’s group to nod at his fellow adjudicator, before turning back to Parsa.
“Safe travels, brethren. Be sure to report any suspicious activity to your nearest judge,” he finished, rocketing off into the sky with his fellow adjudicator.
They smiled and waved as they left. Relief poured in. Katrina realized that she hadn’t been breathing that entire time. The fear wasn’t because of the threat of a fight. She knew that three guardians could have easily overpowered a justicar, but had it come to a fight, she didn’t know if she could bring herself to hurt another Archonian soul.
The soldiers she fought against in the revolutionary war were killing innocent people. The twisted abominations at Mount Olympus were violent, mindless husks. She had no intention of ever killing an innocent person. The adjudicator was only doing his job.
“Guys, we need to set rules of engagement. If we fight our brothers, could any of us destroy them?” Katrina asked the group.
The group shook their heads, but didn’t speak. They appeared to be mulling over that difficult question, just like she was.
“If we are discovered, do we even want to engage them?” Samuel asked.
“They are already calling us rebels. I think that this is more serious than we thought. The use of the word rebels not only indicates that we are traitors, but that we are enemy combatants. That justicar was interrogating me. I could feel him trying to get inside my head. Now he thought that we were civilians. If an adjudicator has the authorization to interrogate civilians, then Archonia is in a state of war,” Parsa finished, his tone decisive.
“My goodness, then if we are discovered we engage, but use non-lethal force,” Katrina stated.
“Agreed,” Samuel replied.
“Fine but where do we go from here?” Parsa asked.
Katrina thought for a moment looking in all directions for some sort of idea. There was only one solution she could think of.
“Guys, the northwestern lands of Archonia are flat and open. There are many bodies of water and not much cover. If we want to avoid any more of these entanglements, I suggest we go northeast to the sprawling forests of Astoria. We will find cover and perhaps some more speed. If we cannot openly run across the plains, then let us fly through the trees of the north,” she said.
“That would put us way out of the way of Shambala, but it would help us increase our speed,” Samuel said optimistically.
“When would we start heading west?” Parsa asked with obvious concern.
“There are little to no settlements near the northern mountains,” Samuel replied.
“Yes, but the scarred land beneath mount Olympus is likely being patrolled. They want to ensure that none of Dichonia’s vile creatures yet linger there,” Parsa replied.
“I can confirm this statement,” Katrina added.
“We should continue on our current course,” Parsa objected.
“And risk another of these encounters? My friend, you did well in evading a lie, but I doubt your cleverness will save us the next time. We can count on many more of these interrogations if we continue on our current course. They will not all ask the same simple questions. Adjudicators are far more intelligent, and far too talented at finding the truth, than that,” Katrina snapped back.
“Then what would you have us do to avoid the patrols at Mount Olympus? Parsa asked, irritably. “Either way we will be questioned.”
“We could climb the mountains and hug the edge of oblivion on the far side,” Katrina responded.
Parsa’s mouth hung open but he didn’t respond.
“I like this plan,” Samuel agreed after a few moments.
Kat could tell that Para didn’t know how to respond. His mouth opened and closed, he took in a short breath, but every time he moved to speak, he faltered. She couldn’t blame him either. If he broke from the group, he would lose the strength provided in numbers. Also, she figured he didn’t want to lose their trust if he said the wrong thing. He claimed to be on William’s side, but if his actions proved otherwise…well, he’d already proven to have a clever tongue. A lie was a lie, no matter who you told it to. Parsa was backed into a corner.
The group amended their Journey, and was able to reach the forest before nightfall. As promised, they didn’t stop. Instead they sped up, keeping just inside the tree line. The guardians followed Katrina as she skipped from branch to branch, the ground whipping along beneath her feet in a blur.”
Katrina caught sight of a purple blur along the forest floor below. She came to a halt so fast the others travelled a half a mile before they realized it and stopped as well. Katri
na crouched down, gripping the branch beneath her as she peered into the brush below.
“Why have we stopped?” Parsa asked aloud.
“Shush,” Katrina whispered, putting a finger to her mouth.
She had never seen any other creatures like this one during her numerous scouting missions. It was unique, and not only this, but the last time she saw it, it led her to the creature in the clearing. It clearly had some sort of intelligence.
The creature slunk in the shadows, and one glance back at the rest of the group told her that they couldn’t see it.
“Go on ahead. I will meet you at the base of the northern mountains,” Katrina said, not looking away from the purple creature.
“Kat, what are you talking about? We need to keep moving,” Samuel growled impatiently.
“What is it that you see?” Parsa inquired, now peering into the darkening woods.
“I’m not sure,” she lied, “but I need to check something out. Please trust me. I will be ok, and I will meet you where the forest ends and the mountains begin. Wait for me there. I have run through these trees many times,” she finished and hopped off her perch and into the thick underbrush.
The strange, purple creature shot off in a blur, moving east as soon as her feet hit the ground. She bolted after it, not bothering to look back to see if the others were following her, for fear of losing sight of her friend.
She didn’t know if it was curiosity or something more that drew her to this creature. She only knew that she had to follow it. Before it had simply been a game, to try and catch it, now she felt some purpose behind it. Perhaps this was some sort of manifestation of Archonia itself, trying to defend itself from the lingering demons left over from the battle. Like a white blood cell in a human immune system.
Part of Kat guessed the creature was leading her to another injured creature. Soon, however, she became worried that she could be facing more serious opposition. It hadn’t occurred to her until now that a fallen Archonian could be hiding in the trees around her. If she came across one that was older and more powerful than her, she would be dead before she knew what hit her. Still, she had a feeling that she needed to follow the creature, so she continued on.
