Temple of the Light

by Antoine Henderson

  Master Enbu touched her shoulders and looked at her with a soft smile. She exhaled when she realized he could sense her inner reservations. Or, he could see it on her face.

  “Avon, you expression betrays your feelings,” said Master Enbu. “To be frank, I know it’s an enormous responsibility and burden. But we could see no other taking this on and succeeding as you would.”

  “What about Jaha?” Avon suggested. “He wants nothing more than to rise in the ranks of the Order and be among you—he would be perfect for this.”

  “He’s ambitious, passionate and talented beyond our imagination,” Master Enbu said, nodding. “But it is because of his ambition, he was not considered for this and you were. Jaha is a talented Paladin, but ready to take on the role as Guardian? He is not, but we believe you are.”

  “I—I don’t know what to say, Master,” said Avon. “This is all—”

  “We cannot force this on you.”

  “Master, I appreciate the thought, I—”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Master Enbu interrupted. “Before your next meditation session, go visit him. I think you’ll understand why we chose you if you do.”

  Avon relented. “I will, Master.”

  “Thank you Avon, I’ll meet with you in the morning for your final decision,” said Master Enbu as the bell tolled. “I must take my leave, I am to meet with the Council and give them an update. I’ll let them know I’ve given you until the morning to make your decision. Remember, Avon, there’s no pressure and you have a choice.” Master Enbu bowed before saying the Starlight Order’s customary farewell. “Let the light guide you, Cleric.”

  “Let the Light guide you too, Master.”

  2

  The Light Bearer

  The Guardian’s Chambers were on the third floor of the temple. It had taken Avon longer than usual to get there as she’d struggled with what Master Enbu asked of her. The honor the council bestowed upon her was both tremendous and overwhelming, but she couldn’t dodge or deny the truth she felt in her heart. As much of an honor it was to be chosen, she didn’t want it.

  She walked through the main hall before turning left and climbed a set of stairs, bowing to Seekers and other Clerics as she passed. Reaching the third floor, Avon turned right and walked into the corridor. At the end of the hall was a large wooden door where a group in white cloaks seemingly stood guard. They held golden glaivecasters in their hands. It was the same group that led Eloy into the temple’s Ceremonial Chamber. Noticing Avon’s approach, the group fell in line behind the tallest one as he removed his hood with his free hand, revealing his face to her.

  “Guardian Avon, it’s a pleasure,” he introduced himself with a bow. “I am Roga.” He had angular features and tan skin with big brown eyes. A scar divided his left eyebrow matching others around various parts of his face. The other four kept their hoods on, but introduced themselves with a bow, one-by-one.

  “I am Baru,” a soft male voice greeted.

  “Tuya,” a female’s voice said firmly.

  “It’s a pleasure, I am Qapa,” a scratchy male voice greeted.

  “Furi, it’s a pleasure, Guardian Avon,” a warm male voice welcomed.

  “We are the Light Guard,” Roga said. “Tasked with protecting the Light Bearer with our lives and since the Council has chosen you to be Eloy’s Guardian, that means you’re our new boss.”

  The Council must have assumed she would accept the position and informed the Light Guard. Avon thought it best not to correct them as Master Enbu wanted her to meet Eloy before she decided.

  Tuya, the only female member Light Guard scoffed heavily under their cloak.

  “Tuya!” Roga snapped through gritted teeth as he turned to the group, giving the shortest Guard a glaring look. “Now is not the time.”

  “She’s just a damn Cleric—barely been in the Order for two years, she has no place with us!”

  “Enough! That’s an order—”

  “No, Roga, let her speak her mind if she wishes,” Avon suggested.

  Avon felt confident there was nothing Tuya could say to her to incite sadness or anger. She sensed this had more to do with Tuya not being chosen than Avon being chosen and was willing to hear her gripe.

  Roga raised an eyebrow at Avon, eyes wide. “But, Avon?”

  “It’s all right,” Avon added with a wry smile.

  “Here we go…” Baru sighed loudly.

  Roga bit his lip, and Avon could see he wanted to protest, but he didn’t. Her attention fell to Tuya, who stood to next to Roga. She removed the hood of her cloak, revealing her green eyes and scarred features on her light skin. The sides of her head were shaven and bore similar tribal tattoos while long brown hair filled the center and was styled into a braid that Avon saw hanging in front of her shoulder as she removed her hood.

  “Fine, I don’t think the Council made the best choice. I know you were just given the rank of Cleric only two months ago, and you still have the inexperienced features of a Seeker all over you. I doubt you have any real experience in combat like the rest of us. A Paladin should have been chosen for this job!” Tuya argued.

  Avon didn’t respond. Everything Tuya stated was true. She had only mastered the arrowcaster and bladecaster respectively—two of the five weapons used for combat while Paladins mastered all of them. Everyone who’s chosen to become a Cleric has to have mastered handcasting, so that didn’t make her special. Handcasting was the most basic form of combat in the Order. Harnessing the power of Starlight, a handcaster used their hands to manipulate its energy, using it for healing, shielding and attacking.

  Appreciating the protest, but resenting being talked down to, Avon stepped forward. “Everything you said was accurate, Tuya—was it? There’s only one problem.”

  Tuya raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

  “It’s not up to you—it’s up to the Council, those that are much wiser and intelligent than you are,” Avon said with a smile. “So, unless you would like to take your protest up with them—I just finished speaking with Master Enbu a second ago, we can go meet him now if you’d like? If not, then I’d suggest we try to get along and focus more on our duty as opposed to our individual resumes.”

  Tuya’s lip curled into a snarl as she took a step forward, glaivecaster first, before Roga put his hands out, stopping her from continuing her aggressive advance.

  “Remember your place, Tuya,” he warned.

  “My place?” Tuya scoffed. She retracted back in line, still locking her eyes with Avon’s. “Right. I’ll be sure to do that, Captain.”

  “You must excuse Tuya’s behavior, Avon. Considering Master Uriq’s declining health and choosing a new Light Bearer things have been on edge for us all, I hope you understand.”

  “I do,” said Avon as she turned to Roga. “Master Enbu wants me to see Eloy at once.”

  “Of course,” said Roga stepping aside. “Take your time, but I caution you, he’s a bit… imaginative.”

  “That’s putting it lightly,” Furi remarked, as he joined the others and stepped aside with Tuya being the last, lip still curled as Avon walked swiftly past them, ignoring the urge to turn to her and give her a smile, knowing it would only cause more trouble than it was worth.

  Avon entered the room and closed the wooden door behind her. She could overhear Roga lambasting Tuya on the other side, but she couldn’t make out what was being said. In that moment she heard another voice in the distance as she passed through blue curtains that revealed a large circular room, furnished with sofas, a bed, tables and chairs and a bookcase filled to the brim.

  The voice was soft and sporadic, drawing her closer until she exited onto the balcony and found Eloy running around holding toy spaceships high above his head having what she could only figure to be an epic space battle.

  “Pew! Pew! The Great Captain Eloy fires the laser cannons, but the enemy ship evades it!”

  Avon stood in silence and smiled as she w
atched Eloy play. The Great Captain Eloy piloted the Light Bringer spaceship and was locked in combat with the evil Captain Blackhook and his pirates aboard their ship, the Enemy, stopping them from attacking the people of Metamora and while they tried to steal their resources.

  Avon watched as Eloy reenacted the greatest space battle of all time. The lives of everyone in the System was at stake as the evil Captain Blackhook got the upper hand, but the Great Captain Eloy, using his awesome Starlight powers, blasted the ship to oblivion, saving the people of Metamora. For his courage in the face of certain death and saving the System, they congratulated the Great Captain Eloy by honoring him with a medal. A ceremony was held where millions from around the System came to thank him.

  Avon laughed while giving a standing ovation at the conclusion of Eloy’s adventure, alerting him to her presence, and hiding his toy spaceships behind his back in a panic.

  “Who are you? Uh—how long have you been there? Where’s Roga?”

  “I’ve been here long enough to know the Great Captain Eloy saved the System from the evil pirate Captain Blackhook,” Avon smiled. “Roga was right, you are imaginative.”

  “What are you talking about? I was—I was about to meditate,” Eloy said, tossing the toy ships aside and dropping to a seated position on the floor, interlocking his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment, but slowly peeked with one eye to see Avon still smiling at him. “You’re not buying it are you?”

  “Well, I’m Avon, your potential Guardian, and no—I’m not buying it,” she said folding her arms with a smile. “All the other space ships and figurines around you give it away. Nice try though.”

  Eloy sighed before rising and scrambling to Avon, still interlocking his fingers. “Please, whatever you do, don’t tell Roga, please! I’m supposed to be studying, but I thought I’d take a break for only a few minutes. Please don’t tell him! He’ll kill me if you do!”

  Avon sighed. “I don’t think he’d go that far, but okay I won’t tell him, if you get back to your studies.”

  “Thank you! I’ll get right—”

  Avon’s attention went around the balcony, away from Eloy. She heard what sounded like several muffled beeps and chirps in the distance and her eyes immediately focused into the forest that surrounded the temple, scanning it to find out its source.

  “Hey lady, what is it?”

  “Avon.”

  “What?” Eloy questioned.

  “My name is Avon—hey, Eloy, Roga told me you like spaceships, so I got a surprise for you,” she lied, as she placed her hand on Eloy’s shoulder, her gaze never leaving the surrounding.

  The wind shifted. The forest outside didn’t move or sound it once was, there was only silence. Something was coming fast, and she had to think fast to get Eloy off of the balcony and in the safety of the temple.

  “Really?” Eloy question with a wide smile.

  “I left it in the refresher, but I hid it and you have to find it.”

  Eloy tilted his head and paused. He raised an eyebrow. “Why would you hide it in the refresher?”

  The boy wasn’t easy to fool as Avon expected.

  “You won’t know until you find it, will you?”

  Eloy shrugged and hurried past Avon and she watched him enter the refresher to begin his search. She quickly retreated into the room, closing the wooden framed glass doors of the balcony. Fixing the sleeves of her cloak she steadied her breathing.

  There was no mistaking it, something was hiding in the forest, but she didn’t know who or what. A moment passed before Eloy’s voice called out from the refresher.

  “I’m not seeing it anywhere!”

  “It’s there, you have to look hard,” Avon insisted.

  She hated having to lie, but she didn’t know what was coming and they needed to keep out of sight. The thought of turning away from the balcony and alerting the Light Guard crossed her mind for a split second, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Exhaling, Avon relaxed her muscles and extended her arms, using the power of Starlight to tune hear senses with the surrounding area.

  Three loud and earth-shaking explosions rattled the temple one after the other, nearly knocking her off balance as the glass of the balcony door shattered inward and five masked, well-armored men rolled inside the room in its wake. The masked assailants drew assault blasters as they rose to their feet.

  “What was that?” Eloy shouted as he exited the refresher in a panic with fear riddled on his face.

  Their entry startled her. She tried to process what was occurring when she finally got a clear view of them. Within three seconds, Avon analyzed their heavy, silver armored plates covering their black battledress. They wore black helmets, and she immediately recognized the emblem engraved on their side.

  The emblem was a large eight-pointed star with twenty-seven smaller four-pointed stars surrounding it, representative of Solaris and the twenty-nine planets that surround it. The crimson shoulder plates signified they weren’t run-of-the-mill soldiers. This concerned her greatly as she would need to focus on all three of the soldiers at once. Taking her eyes off of them for a second could mean the end of both their lives. The soldiers were part of an elite Special Forces branch of the Solaris military, the Hyperion. They were used to hunt and kill members of the Starlight Order.

  Avon raised her hands above her chest and gold circular energy appeared in front of her palms, spinning in the air. The golden energy zipped through the air with a thrust of her palms toward the closest soldier. An arch of golden Starlight exited the circle and slammed into the soldier’s chest, sending him flying off of the balcony. As the other two steadied their aim, Avon quickly waved her hands fluidly and sent them flying into the opposite walls of the room.

  The front door to the room burst opened and the Light Guard entered with their glaivecasters poised and their hoods still drawn over their heads. Multiple explosions shook the temple as continuous blaster fire rained around them. Eloy ran to Roga’s side, grabbing hold of his leg as Avon turned to them.

  “We’re under attack,” said Roga. “We have to get him out of here!”

  Avon nodded.

  “How did the military find us?” Baru asked as he walked next to Avon.

  “We’ll figure that out later. Our priority is getting Eloy out of the temple. There are escape ships hidden in the east just outside the temple. Qapa, Furi and I will take the lead, Avon and Eloy will be behind us, Tuya and Baru you’ll take the rear. Let’s move!” Roga ordered.

  Without a word, everyone followed Roga’s plan as he led the group out of the room. As they turned the corridor, the temple alarms blared, drowning out the blaster fire and screams coming from every direction. Moving swiftly down the stairs, a squadron of soldiers met them as they ascended.

  Roga, Qapa and Furi eliminated the threat with masterful use of their glaivecasters within seconds. Avon stood in awe at the Light Guards’ skills as she held Eloy’s face away from the brutality. The soldiers had no time to react to their skill and efficiency using their blades. After a few seconds, only the lifeless bodies of the soldiers remained as the group continued past them and onto the main floor, when a familiar voice rang through the air.

  “Avon!” Jaha screamed as he ran toward the group. “Avon, you’re safe and you’re with—”

  “Jaha, what’s going on?” Avon asked.

  “Soldiers are attacking on all sides, their numbers are overwhelming,” said Jaha.

  “We need to get to the ships and get Eloy to safety,” said Roga.

  “We’re surrounded and they have the main exit covered,” Jaha said, eyeing Roga. “A few escaped in escape pods, but soon the hanger was overrun.”

  Roga sighed heavily. “We have to go to Plan B.”

  “What’s Plan B?” Avon asked.

  “There’s a tunnel entrance in the Archive which we used to transfer Master Uriq to the temple. It’s hidden, and the door is encoded, so no one would be able to follow
unless they know the codes.”

  “The Archive is sealed off, just in case an attack like this one occurs. The only way you’re going to reach it, is if we open it from the terminal in the Council’s chamber,” Jaha said. “And that’s on the other side of the temple.”

  “We have to split up,” said Tuya stepping forward.

  “That’s not an option!” Roga argued. “We have to stick—”

  “Right now we don’t have a choice, Roga! You heard him; we can’t even enter the Archive until it’s opened from the terminal!” Tuya argued.

  “She’s right, Roga,” Furi added. “It’s the only option we got.”

  Roga bit his lip and his eyes wandered. “Fine, go.”

  “Baru and I will follow the Paladin to the Council’s chamber, while you three take Eloy and the girl to the Archive,” Tuya offered.

  Avon ignored Tuya’s comment given the current situation, while Roga nodded.

  “We better hurry, we don’t have much time,” Jaha said. “Take care of yourself, Avon!”

  She and Jaha shared a nod before, he ran to the wall to peek down the hallway. Tuya and Baru saluted Roga before following on Jaha’s heels.

  Motioning a hand forward, Jaha signaled to them that the coast was clear and led Tuya and Baru down another hallway out of their view. Avon turned to Eloy who stood frightened and shaken as he held on to her waist. The boy’s fear mirrored how she felt inside, but she kept a calm, cool demeanor as Roga and the other Light Guard readied their weapons.

  “It’s going to be okay, Eloy,” said Avon trying her best to comfort the boy. “We’re getting you out of here.”

  Eloy nodded.

  She turned to Roga and saw the anger growing within him. Their eyes met and with a firm voice, he spoke.

  “Let’s go,” Roga ordered.