The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon

by Matthew Burkey

  “Are you sure? There isn’t any turning back as soon as you start.”

  “Yeah,” Gabriel sighed.

  “Cool, pick you up tomorrow at seven, tell your mom you’re going to go work out with me, which actually won’t be that far from the truth.”

  “Alright, see you then.”

  And the line went dead. Gabriel fell into bed and wondered what he had gotten himself into it.

  CHAPTER 4

  The morning came entirely too early for Gabriel. He hadn’t gotten very much sleep that night, Gabriel supposed that it was a combination of nerves and excitement about what he was about to undertake. He was up at 6 a.m., showered, dressed, and waiting for Ryan shortly there afterward. Luckily, he caught his parents before they went to sleep and told them about working out with Ryan the next day.

  Needless to say they were both pretty speechless. He expected a bombardment of questions but they both just beamed at him with stupid grins on their faces. He supposed they were happy that he was finally starting to make friends, although he supposed eventually he would have to deal with the questions about him and Ryan possibly being a couple.

  Ryan arrived right at 7 a.m. He parked his black pickup truck in the driveway, waiting for Gabriel to come out. Gabriel waved goodbye to his mom, who was just getting up and then was out the door. He was already pretty nervous, not only because he didn’t know what this training had in store for him but also because he was going to be alone with Ryan, someone he actually wanted to get to know better.

  “Good morning,” Ryan smiled, as Gabriel slid into the truck. “You ready for this?”

  “Um…no,” Gabriel admitted.

  “Good attitude to have.”

  They backed out of the driveway and headed down the street, hard rock playing on the radio.

  “Where are we headed?” Gabriel asked.

  “Aegis,” Ryan responded, as they turned out of Gabriel’s addition. “It’s the company that funds the Guardians and where we get most of our technology, weapons, and other devices.”

  “Wow, cool,” Gabriel said.

  “You’ll also meet the rest of the team,” Ryan went on, as they merged onto the interstate and started south. “They’re pretty cool, you’ve met everyone but Elise and Marissa.”

  “Are they Phoenix’s too?”

  “Nope,” Ryan said. “Marissa is Wolf, like Cody and Elise is a Lion like Ethan and Everett is the only Owl we have on the team.”

  “Will Ethan be there?”

  “Depends,” Ryan shrugged. “Ethan is…well…I can’t really explain it. You’ll get used to him, since he’s technically not Phoenix he doesn’t have to be here for your initial training.”

  Gabriel nodded. They rode in silence for a few minutes, at least until they exited the interstate and made a turn toward a heavy industrial area where Aegis was located. Gabriel had driven through that area before, although he hadn’t really paid attention to the businesses that were located there. Ryan made a few more turns before they approached a large security gate at the front of what appeared to be a massive complex. Ryan nodded to the guard, who opened the gate.

  “You train here?” Gabriel asked.

  “Yeah,” Ryan nodded, as they parked Ryan’s truck. “You’ll get to like it here, I promise.”

  “You do realize that I don’t have any athletic talent at all, right?”

  “You’ve got more than you want to let on.”

  Gabriel wanted to respond to that but didn’t really have anything to say. Ryan led them both into the main building, which opened up into a spacious and luxurious looking lobby that didn’t appear to fit to the industrial area that they were currently in. Gabriel looked around, amazed at the scope of the place.

  “Aegis owns all this?” Gabriel asked, as Ryan led him past the security desk. They ended up in a back hallway, headed toward what Gabriel assumed was the back of the building.

  “Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Aegis is responsible for several new advancements in military hardware, most of which we use.”

  Gabriel just shook his head in amazement as they passed several offices.

  “Where are we going exactly?” Gabriel asked.

  “Our main facility is located underneath the research and development division, which is across the complex, right across from the administration building, which we are currently in.”

  “Oh, right.”

  They made their way through the rest of the building, emerging on the back end to find several golf carts. Ryan gestured for Gabriel to get in and they moved smoothly into motion, cutting across the driving paths and toward the research and development building.

  “The first thing that we’ll do is take a tour,” Ryan explained. “Then we’ll get you off to the academy to get your weapon made…”

  “Wait a second, weapon? Academy? What are you talking about?”

  "We actually start off training in Paris, at the academy," Ryan explained, as they continued down the corridor. "Once we hit fourteen we generally get sent out to various bases. Aegis has operations all over the world, so it works well for us.”

  “And weapon?” Gabriel asked. “I mean what does that entail? I can barely wield a golf club, let alone a sword.”

  “Who says it will be a sword?” Ryan asked.

  “Huh?” Gabriel asked, now he was really confused.

  “We’ll take you to the weapons master at the academy, she’ll look you over, figure out what is the best weapon to suit you and then build it for you, she’ll makes it personal.”

  Gabriel wasn’t too sure that he liked the sound of that, although he had a feeling that he was about to hear a lot of things that he wasn’t going to really like the sound of. He suppressed the urge to ask any more questions and continued to follow Ryan.

  “After we get that sorted out we’ll actually start your training,” Ryan went on. “We’ll probably start off with basic conditioning training and weight training to get you in shape. After that we can move into the fun stuff. You know the gun range and Martial arts.”

  “Martial arts training? Gun range?” Gabriel asked, as they slipped in another door. “I can think of at least a dozen reasons not to give me a gun.”

  Ryan punched in a code to another set of elevators. “Don’t worry; the shooting thing is probably the easiest thing to get a handle on really. After that we need to start bringing you up to speed on the world that you just stepped into.”

  “You mean demons, vampires, magic, and all that?” Gabriel asked. Even as he spoke the words he was still having a hard time believing that this was all real.

  “Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “You’re going to have a lot of catching up to do. Really, it’s not much different than what you already know, except of course all that stuff is real now. Luckily, most stuff is pretty easy to kill when needed.”

  That prospect brought Gabriel to a dead halt. He had yet to really grasp what it was that he was about to embark on, including the fact that he might be terminating the life of another being. Regardless of the evilness of that being, he wasn’t sure that he would be able to go through with such an act. Ryan must have sensed his hesitation and turned to look at him.

  “Sorry about that,” he sighed. “I should have chosen my words more carefully but it’s the truth. Some of what we do isn’t pretty but it needs to be done.”

  Gabriel just nodded, numbly aware that really hadn’t thought all of this through. They continued moving toward the elevator and stepped inside. A second later the car moved smoothly into motion and then opened up to the underground complex that actually held the Guardian’s main base.

  “Wow,” Gabriel said, as they stepped out of the elevator.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Ryan asked.

  “This place looks huge!”

  “It’s a lot bigger than you would think,” Ryan explained. “Come on; let’s have a look at the training rooms first.”

  Gabriel nodded and fell into step behind Ryan, passing through the brightly lit corrid
or. There weren’t a huge number of people milling about but it was a lot more active than Gabriel would have thought. They passed several doors, all made entirely of frosted glass before stopping in front of a large set of double doors that looked like they belonged onboard some futuristic space station.

  “This is our training facility,” Ryan explained, punching in another code.

  The training room looked like something right out of a comic book. It was vast, the ceiling as high as his school’s gymnasium. The entire right side of the gym had a variety of gym equipment; free weights, treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical trainers, and stationary bikes. It all looked brand new as well, like no one had ever used it, although given the way that most of the Guardians he had met looked, he found that hard to believe.

  The other side the gym held a vast array of what looked like sparring areas. The mats, like the rest of the stuff in the training room looked like it was brand new. Again, Gabriel had a hard time believing that and assumed that the Guardians just took really good care of their stuff. He was surprised to see Cody and Tony in a ring. Both were holding short swords, though unlike the rest of the stuff in the gym, these looked like they had seen a great deal of wear and tear.

  “What are they doing?” Gabriel asked, as they approached the ring.

  “Sparring,” Ryan smiled.

  Even as he spoke the two of them leapt into action again, coming at each other at what seemed like a furious pace. The speed and fluidity of their attacks and parries was mind boggling, making the match look like something out of a movie and not real life.

  “Still too slow,” Cody grunted, dodging another blow. Tony struck back with renewed vigor, launching into an assault that included a series of kicks as well as sword strikes. But Cody moved to counter each one, pushing them aside or blocking them all together.

  “Maybe I’m just warming up,” Tony responded.

  “I would have thought that you'd be warmed up by now,” Cody responded, he back flipped away from Tony.

  That only seemed to up the ante and Tony was striking back harder than he had before, driving Cody toward the edge of the training ring. Cody vaulted over Tony, slamming the pommel of his sword into Tony’s back as he land, pitching him forward. Tony recovered, whirling around and nearly taking Cody’s head off.

  “They’re gonna kill each other,” Gabriel yelped.

  “Nah,” Ryan responded. “Actually, I think that Tony is about to win.”

  “What?”

  Gabriel wasn’t entirely sure what Ryan meant by that, mainly because he couldn’t see that either person was even close to making a mistake. Cody faked to the left and then was knocked completely off balanced by a snap kick to the chest. He faltered slightly, which was all the opening that Tony needed. He exploded into action, slamming into Cody with a series of precise blows that disarmed him in a matter of seconds.

  “Damn it,” Cody cursed, breathing heavy. “How is that you do that every single time?”

  “Because I’m that good,” Tony smiled.

  Cody rolled his eyes, grabbing a towel and wiping off his face. “Still beat your butt on the ranged course though.”

  Tony shrugged, appearing not to offer any resistance to that comment. It was commonly known that Cody was probably the best shot of out all the Guardians at this division of Aegis. They both turned to look at Gabriel and Ryan, who were standing at the edge of the ring.

  “Hey, nice to see you again,” Tony said, stepping out of the ring. “Decide to finally take a walk on the wild side?”

  “Um…yeah I guess so,” Gabriel shrugged. “Weren’t you afraid that you were going to hurt him? I mean you were both moving so fast.”

  “Pft,” Cody said, with a wave of his hand. “I’m not that slow.”

  “We train hard so that we can fight hard,” Tony explained, as they started to walk toward the other end of the gym. “I was in control the whole time; if I wanted to hurt him I could have just like if he wanted to hurt me he could have.”

  “But it was so fast,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “It didn’t seem humanly possible.”

  “Because we aren’t entirely human,” Ryan smiled. “The Rite changes us; like you said before. We’re better than human, faster, stronger, more agile all the things you would need to take on the bad guys.”

  Gabriel was really starting to think that he made a mistake in deciding to join. There was no way that he would ever be able to even handle a sword let alone move as fast and with such grace as either Cody or Tony had just displayed. He was getting more and more anxious that he would be nothing but a disappointment to his new-found friends.

  “You learn to be that fast,” Ryan added. “We’ve been training since we were old enough to walk, its second nature to us.”

  “I doubt that I will ever be that fast,” Gabriel grunted. “I can barely handle walking, let alone twirling around swords and whatnot.”

  “I wasn’t twirling,” Tony frowned. “It was called striking, parrying maybe, but not twirling.”

  “There was some twirling going on,” Ryan admitted. “For most of your training you’ll be with either me or Tony, we’re both Phoenix, so it’s up to us to bring you up to speed.”

  “I think you are being punished for something.”

  They all turned to see Ethan standing there. Again, Gabriel had to stop himself from staring like an idiot. Ethan looked like he had just finished his own workout, his face was flushed and he looked to be a sweaty mess…but even in that condition Gabriel still felt attracted to him.

  Maybe it was his arms, which were tanned and muscular. Or maybe it was his unwavering confidence in himself or perhaps it was his eyes, which seemed to display a combination of both mischievousness and danger.

  And it was then that he noticed the same glowing lines, although this time blue in color that seemed to flow out and around his shoulders. Gabriel couldn’t see much, he suspected that most of his tattoo was on Ethan’s back, unlike the one that he was now sporting. The addition of the tattoo added another layer of attraction to Ethan.

  Stop it, he admonished himself. He’s not into you that way! Just concentrate on learning and not standing around staring at him!

  “Gee, way to make him feel welcome,” Ryan grunted.

  “Sorry,” Ethan said. “It’s good to have you man, really.”

  Gabriel took the extended hand and shook it.

  “Not a bad grip,” Ethan nodded. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, Ryan and Tony are almost as good as teachers are I am. I need to get going, I think that Jonathan wants to yell at me some more.”

  “For what?” Gabriel asked.

  Ethan shrugged. “I honestly don’t know I tune him out a lot.”

  And then Ethan turned and walked away. Gabriel quickly turned back around to the other side of the gym, lest be caught leering at Ethan as he made his way out of the gym.

  “Is he always like that?” Gabriel asked.

  “Yup,” Tony said. “Sad thing is he can be like that because he is that good.”

  “And he’s always been arrogant, he seems to think that he’s God’s gift to well…everyone I suppose. But yeah, he is that good, which is maddening sometimes.”

  Gabriel refrained from saying anything else as they continued down toward the end of the gym. They happened on another ring, this one held two stunningly attractive females. Like Cody and Tony, they were both covered in sweat and looked like they had been sparing for hours. One had dark skin, dark hair, and deep brown eyes. The other was taller and blonde with gray eyes and short hair. Like the other girl, she appeared to very lean and athletic.

  Had Gabriel been into girls he was pretty sure that his jaw would have ended up on the floor. Like everyone else in the Guardians that he had so far met they exuded an aura of confidence and power…and something else, something dangerous. But these two women did it and still managed to hold onto their beauty as well.

  “Gabriel, this is Elise,” Ryan said, gesturing toward the girl w
ith the dark hair. Gabriel took note of the look that Ryan gave Elise, although it appeared that she didn’t notice. If he had known Ryan better he would have asked what was up with that.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Elise smiled.

  “And this is Marissa,” Ryan said, indicating the blonde.

  “It is my pleasure,” Marissa nodded.

  “Elise is Lion like Ethan, and Marissa is Wolf like Cody.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” Gabriel said.

  “Pleasure is all ours,” Elise smiled. Gabriel liked her at once; she seemed very much like Ryan. Warm, caring, and radiating something that made him feel almost instantly at ease.

  “Do you know where Everett is?” Ryan asked.

  “Magic range,” Marissa said. “Blowing stuff up like usual.”

  “Blowing stuff up?” Gabriel asked. “She is joking, right?”

  “Probably not,” Tony responded, as they started toward the entrance.

  “We keep the magic range away from the gun range,” Ryan explained. “They tend to react badly to each other, you know with all our explosives and whatnot.”

  “You have explosives?” Gabriel asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Tony smiled. “Lots.”

  They exited the gym and continued down the hallway and around a corner. Again, Ryan had to punch in a code and the door opened, admitting them to a room that appeared to be just as large as the gym. What was different and immediately noticeable was the electric charge that seemed to run through the air, causing the hair on his arms to stand on end.

  Most of the room was wide open space, littered with targeting dummies.

  Seemingly out of nowhere, brilliant blue-white lighting arced across the room, slamming into a training dummy and causing it to explode. Gabriel blinked his eyes several times and looked left just in time to see Everett hold his hand and watched as he launched another arc of lighting from it, destroying another dummy.

  “Whoa,” Gabriel breathed.

  “Told you magic was real,” Ryan said, from his side.

  Everett had was now charging forward, holding a staff that that looked almost like it was composed entirely of glass. As he approached the downed training dummies several shapes emerged from the ground. They were transparent humanoids, lacking any real features.