The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon

by Matthew Burkey

  Everett flipped over the first one, landing and sending it flying sideways with a blow to the head. He spun the staff in a circle in front of him before slamming it down, releasing a shockwave of purple energy that toppled two more of the ghostly combatants. He dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and his remaining enemies and then launched into a full scale assault with his staff. Within minutes all the ghostly soldiers were strewn about the area, slowly fading from view.

  Everett, breathing heavily and sweaty approached the group. He seemed to be wearing a grin that was similar to what Gabriel had seen in the faces of the others in the training rooms. He let go of the staff, which seemed to evaporate.

  Gabriel found himself looking for the tattoo that he knew was gracing Everett’s skin. As if reading his mind, Everett sighed and lifted up his shirt, revealing a purple tattoo in the outline of an owl, with its wings spread out across the center of Everett’s chest.

  “Everett here really enjoys psychology,” Ryan explained. “He probably read your body language or something. Either that or you were checking him out.”

  Gabriel blushed at the comment and looked right down at the floor.

  “Must be your first time seeing actual magic,” Everett smiled.

  “How…what…when…” Gabriel stammered. “What were those things?”

  “They were magical training constructs,” Everett explained, grabbing a water bottle and gesturing toward a group of teens across the room. Gabriel hadn’t noticed them until now, although they all looked like they had been training just as hard as Everett. “It takes a lot of mages to summon and control them. The more complicated the fight, the more concentration it takes out of you.”

  Gabriel nodded like he actually understood what it was that Everett was talking about.

  “How do you like the place so far?” Everett asked.

  “It’s big,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “He’s a man of few words,” Tony added.

  “If you can do all that then why do you need…”

  “The rest of them,” Everett smiled, looking at Ryan and Tony. “Because as much fun as it would be to go around smiting everyone with lighting big offensive spells like that are taxing, really taxing, and require a lot of concentration. Others, like that repulsion spell aren’t nearly as bad.”

  “Do I even want to know what else you can do?” Gabriel asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

  “He can’t pull a rabbit out of his hat,” Tony offered. “He tries but usually he just ends up with some sort of fireball.”

  “He’s joking, right?” Gabriel asked.

  “I never could get that trick right,” Everett sighed.

  “Wait, are you being serious?”

  “Guess you’ll just have to find out,” Tony smiled.

  Gabriel turned to Everett only to find that he also was smiling.

  “What are those?” Gabriel asked, pointing to several glowing symbols on the floor of the training area.

  “Glyphs or wards,” Everett explained.

  “What do they do?”

  “It depends on the glyph. Some of them like the ones that you see here, dampen our magic slightly so we don’t blow too many holes in the walls. Others, like the ones on the helicopters or the fixed wing aircraft, dampen the electronic signature. You can even use glyphs to seal a room or block out noise. Comes in awful handy if you have, how shall we say, adventurous roommates.”

  “Hey!” Tony quipped. “You were warned.”

  “I don’t think that I want to know what he means by that,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. Though he didn’t know Tony all that well, he surmised that his reputation for being a ladies man was well deserved. That last comment from Everett only furthered that assumption.

  “Alright, see you later,” Ryan said, steering Gabriel toward the door. “We’ve got a few more stops to make.”

  Gabriel nodded as they headed out of the room. If he ever had had any doubts about what Ryan was telling him, most of them had evaporated just like the weapon that Everett had been using. This was a world completely unknown to him and he wasn’t entirely sure that he was going to fit into it.

  “What’s next?” Gabriel asked.

  “Gun range,” Tony smiled.

  “He really likes his guns,” Ryan explained, as they continued down the hall.

  Tony only smiled at that comment, which made Gabriel a little nervous. Ryan stopped at another door, punching in a code again. The door opened and soon Gabriel found himself standing in a room much smaller than the other two. Thick glass separated the entryway from the rest of the room. Beyond the glass barrier there were ten rows of stalls, all of which were unoccupied at the moment. To the right and left of the door stood several gun lockers, all encased in glass. Tony walked over to one and entered a code.

  “We have a lot of weapons in here,” Tony smiled, taking a handgun from the locker and then grabbing a clip.

  “Wait, you aren’t actually going to fire that are you?” Gabriel asked, as they walked through the door to the other side of the barrier.

  Tony only smiled, walking up to one of the stalls and flipping a switch that sent several targets popping up down range, all of them at different distances. Tony slipped the clip into the gun brought it up and unloaded every round in the clip, sending them all down range with deadly accuracy. Tony toggled another switch, bringing the targets racing to him.

  “Holy crap,” Gabriel muttered, after getting a good look at the targets. All of the targets had clean holes through the heads and center mass.

  “Are you kidding me?” Tony snapped. “That’s really not all that impressive. Watch this.”

  Tony toggled another switch and then everything changed. Targets popped up from every angle and at different distances, disappearing at random, while others raced around. Tony jammed another clip into his gun, brought it up and fired rapidly. It was so fast that Gabriel couldn’t tell whether or not that he hit anything. Seconds later, Tony hit another switch, stopping the program.

  “Now take a look at this,” Tony said, pointing above their heads.

  A small LCD screen was blinking at them.

  “Ninety nine percent,” Gabriel read. “Really, you hit every single one of those targets?”

  “The computer only counts kill shots,” Tony said, making sure the weapon was safe.

  Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should be impressed or disturbed by that fact.

  “Here,” Tony offered, handing Gabriel the gun. “Take a shot.”

  “I’ve never fired one of these things before in my life.”

  “Good a time as any to start.”

  Tony flipped a switch and a targeting dummy popped out of the floor.

  Gabriel took the weapon and held it just like he was instructed to do so. He squeezed the trigger, sending a glowing blue projectile down range. The bullet impacted the targeting dummy, sending a net of electricity sizzling and popping along the dummy’s surface.

  Gabriel yelped in surprise, Tony and Ryan both let out a giggle.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “That was a stinger round,” Tony explained. “It does...well that. It’s designed as a less than lethal way to take someone one down.”

  “That does not look anywhere near non-violent,” Gabriel huffed.

  “It only kicks out as much voltage as a taser,” Ryan assured him. He went to the wall and grabbed another clip and swapped it out with the one that was currently in the weapon. “Try this one.”

  Gabriel hesitated, though he supposed he would have to get used to these weapons eventually. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger, sending three shots down range in rapid succession. Unlike the stinger round, these glowed red. All three shots impacted the target dummy, leaving smoking holes behind.

  “Heat rounds,” Ryan explained. “Basically incendiary rounds, they work great for when you want to use lethal force.”

  Gabriel didn’t even want to think about what ki
nd of damage that could do to a human being. Though, he supposed that he needed so start remembering that the kind of people that the Guardians dealt with were ones that had already harmed innocents several times over.

  “This next place is really cool,” Ryan said, as they exited the gun range. He led them down the hall, this time stopping next to a door that didn’t have a keypad. Gabriel could clearly read infirmary across it, he had a feeling that he had been here before.

  “Get injured a lot?” Gabriel asked, as they stepped through the doors.

  Although given his own experience with the sort of work that they did – and now he was doing – he believed that they needed a fairly expansive medical facility to deal with a variety of job related injuries. The room was bathed in a soft blue glow and looked much like a modern ER. Curtains could be closed off around the twelve beds that were scattered about the room in a horse shoe shaped pattern.

  “It’s good to see you up and moving my friend.”

  Gabriel turned to see a young man walking toward him.

  “Gabriel, this is Aadesh, he’s our surgeon and the guy that helped save your life,” Ryan explained.

  Aadesh merely smiled. “Although it wasn’t all me, has he seen the Phoenix Tanks yet?”

  “Not yet,” Ryan said. “We were just about to show them to him.”

  “Right this way.”

  The trio followed Aadesh through a door at the far end of the room. They entered into a room that was smaller than the infirmary, although still bathed in the same soft blue light. Six horizontal cylinders were spread throughout the room; each cylinder had several monitors attached to it.

  "What are those things?" Gabriel asked.

  "Phoenix Tanks," Aadesh explained, waving his hand around the room. "They contain a powerful serum recently developed by Aegis that promotes cellular growth and rapid healing. They are what saved your life, well that and timely battlefield intervention by your friends there."

  Gabriel turned to look at both Tony and Ryan. "Wait a minute, what?"

  "It wasn't us actually," Tony admitted. "It was Cody, he's our medic. He started treating you right after the attack but Aadesh is too modest, he deserves some of the credit too."

  Although he had never really thought anything bad about Cody, he was starting to see him in a whole new light. In fact, he was starting to see them all in a whole new light...and it wasn't just because of the physical abilities that they all possessed. They actually sounded like...heroes. The Guardians fought for those that couldn't fight for themselves, keeping the forces of darkness at bay and did it all in the shadows, knowing full well they would never receive credit for their deeds. Suddenly a whole new wave of anxiety washed over Gabriel and he started to think that this was a really bad idea.

  "So, that stuff healed me?" Gabriel asked, trying to push away the thoughts in his head that were threatening to send him into a panic attack.

  "Among other things, including Aadesh's skilled hands," Ryan said.

  "If this stuff is so revolutionary why not share it with everyone?" Gabriel asked.

  Aadesh sighed heavily. "The technology is still somewhat inefficient for mass production and we have only a limited supply of the solution. We are working on ways to correct that at the moment."

  “Come on, we have a few more rooms left to see.”

  “Geez, how many rooms are down here?” Gabriel asked.

  “Just the portal and armory left,” Ryan explained.

  "Portals?" Gabriel asked. "You guys can create portals?"

  "Not us," Tony reminded him. "Mages can, although it takes a tremendous amount of concentration and power. It's not as easy as they make it look in the movies, which why we only have one and it’s permanently opened to the academy."

  "It stays open all the time?" Gabriel asked.

  "Yeah," Ryan nodded. "They created it when this base was first established. Magical glyphs keep it open permanently. Only members of the Circle of Magi can close it down."

  "Huh?" Gabriel asked, making a face. "Should I be taking notes?"

  "The Circle of Magi," Ryan went on, they came back out through the main corridor and took a turn down toward one of two smaller ones. "The ruling body of the magical world, they generally spend most of their time at their home base in England.”

  "How many mages are there in the world?" Gabriel asked.

  "Last count was around three thousand," Tony shrugged. "A lot of them are Guardians or work with us. Some are rogues, running about and causing havoc and whatnot, and still others lead normal lives. There are some that don’t even know that they are mages and never learn to tap into magic at all.”

  "That doesn't seem like a lot.”

  "It isn't," Ryan said. "It's nature's way of ensuring that they don't drain all the magical energy off the planet."

  "I take it that's not good?"

  "Epic disasters would occur," Tony shrugged. "So, yeah not good."

  Gabriel only nodded. They came to a room at the end of the corridor, again with a keypad attached. Ryan tapped in another code and the door slid open, revealing a softly lit room beyond.

  “This is the armory,” Ryan smiled, as they walked inside.

  There were row after row of glass cases, every one of them had a first initial and a last name stenciled on it. Ryan led them toward the second row and stopped by the case that had R. Cloud stenciled on the top. He put his hand on a section of the glass, it glowed blue for a moment before sliding up and out of the way, allowing them access to the weapons inside.

  The first thing that Gabriel noticed was two daggers. Both had blades 12 inches long but what was the most incredible thing about the weapons was the vibrant silver/blue glow that seemed to emanate from the blades of the weapons. The handles were elegant as well, although entirely simplistic.

  “Wow,” Gabriel said, looking at the weapons.

  “Daylighter,” Ryan said, grabbing the first dagger. “And Darklighter.”

  “They have names?” Gabriel asked.

  “When the weapon master makes your weapon she names it,” Ryan explained, twirling the blades around. He seemed to handle the weapons as if they were mere extensions of his own body. Along with the daggers, there were several other items in the case, including several parts of what looked like armor and a very futuristic looking shotgun.

  “Reaper,” Ryan smiled, hefting the shotgun after placing the daggers back in the case. “Designed it myself, it has increased range and even an increased ammo capacity.”

  “Wow,” was all that Gabriel could say. “Why do they glow like that?”

  “It’s blessed metal,” Ryan explained.

  “Blessed metal?”

  “Blessed metal,” Ryan went on, placing Reaper back in the case. “Is the only metal in the world that can permanently kill a demon.”

  Gabriel just stood there, assuming that they would fill him in later on how important this blessed metal was and exactly how you killed a demon with it.

  “Over here,” Tony motioned.

  Gabriel walked over to another case, this one with T. Rawlins stenciled above it. Unlike the daggers that Ryan used, Tony’s case held a katana, which like the daggers gave off a silver/blue glow.

  “Stormbringer,” Tony said, taking the katana from the case. He handed the weapon to Gabriel, who took it reluctantly. It felt odd in his hand, nothing like the toy swords that he handled when he was much younger. Tony directed his attention back to the case and a pair of futuristic looking handguns.

  “I haven’t made many modifications to these,” he stated, taking them out. “But they are Aegis’s latest version the M9 Enforcer.”

  Gabriel pretended to know what it was that Tony was talking about. His limited knowledge of firearms barely allowed him to know the difference between a handgun and a rifle. Tony placed the weapons back in the case before locking it back up as well. Looking down the rows he could see several other cases, each containing a variety of weapons.

  “We learn to use ever
y weapon,” Ryan explained, as they continued to move through the room. “But you do a lot of specialized training with your personal weapon.”

  They stopped in front of Ethan’s case. Inside were two swords, he was about to ask what they were called when a voice rang out behind them.

  “Avenger and Soulwolf.”

  They all turned around to see Ethan standing there. It appeared as though he had showered and changed. He was wearing dark jeans, a dark tee-shirt that clung to his muscular frame, and what looked like a very well-worn leather jacket.

  “They’re based off the Roman gladius,” Ethan explained, striding forward. “Found the fun room, did we?”

  “We were just showing him around,” Ryan shrugged.

  “Cool,” Ethan nodded. “And what do you think of it so far?”

  “Seems…interesting,” Gabriel offered, hoping that he didn’t sound too lame.

  “Interesting is good,” Ethan chuckled. “You take him to the weapons master yet?”

  “That was our next stop,” Ryan responded.

  “Maybe he can make you a nerf bat or something.”

  “Stop being an ass,” Tony growled.

  “Well, that is one of the finer parts of me…or so I am told,” Ethan said, winking at Tony. Tony rolled his eyes in annoyance.

  “You do know that arrogant stuff is completely lost on us, right?” Ryan asked, folding his arms across his chest. “On account of the fact that none of us want to jump into bed with you.”

  Well, that’s not entirely true of all of us, Gabriel thought.

  “First off, you make pretty dumb decisions when you drink,” Ethan stated, pointing at Ryan. “Secondly, we both know that Gabriel here hasn’t been able to take his eyes off me.”

  Gabriel felt himself blush instantly; he looked down at the ground, avoiding all eye contact with Ethan.

  “Anyway, I need to get going people to see and hearts to break and all that.”

  Ethan headed out of the room but not before tossing a wink over his shoulder toward Gabriel. Again, Gabriel blushed and Ryan sighed heavily.