The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (14 page)

At that, Arkem cleared
his voice in preparation to address the masses.

“Everyone, your
attention please!” he exclaimed. The sea of voices was quickly
reduced to but a hum. “I present to you Veha Lanaru, Guardian of
Af’Mara and chosen protector of Paradius!”

At that, life was
bestowed again to the chorus of muffled voices and cheers that
erupted from the masses before him. Lanaru, taken aback by the
sudden introduction to the sea of Zor, could not utter a sound. His
eyes scanned the crowds, making one observation in particular that
forced a smile onto his face. Far back, near what seemed to be the
end of the massive crowd, stood a number of airships that were
quite familiar to Lanaru. After all, he had been amongst those who
had designed them. Before he had even known it, he had been serving
this vast army that was now known to him by a name that was nothing
short of an inspiring cry to action, sending chills throughout his
body: the Resistance.

“Let
us reclaim the paradise home that is truly ours!” Arkem cried. “Let
us quickly bring an end to Remula’s tyrannous administration and
his unjust army once and for all, and restore peace to the Five
Islands, guided by the new Veha!
To Infinity Together, Guided by
the Gods
!”

“This army is yours
now,” Arkem spoke solely to Lanaru now in a half-whisper of sorts.
“But it is not yours solely.”

“I… I understand,”
Lanaru replied, still in a state of disbelief. “You deserve more
credit than I, sir.”

At that, Arkem sighed.
“My dear Lanaru, I do not mean me!” he clarified. “It belongs to
the Veha; to your brothers – each and every one of
you!”

At that, Lanaru felt
new surges of hope running through his body, revitalizing his soul.
He had never felt so ready to make a difference. He had never felt
so true to who he was.

“Seek out the others!”
Arkem urged. “Prepare them… to fight!”

Chapter XII – The
Mark of Silence

“So,
no word from the others yet then?” Enoke asked, turning to
Kaho.

The female Veha, who
was walking beside him, shook her head. With the help of his newly
found Gauntlets, Enoke had managed to free Kaho from the
underground cavern where she had come to discover new tools of her
own. Two Lanu Twin Blades now rested at her side, constantly
reminding her of who she had become.

“Though I am hardly
surprised; I just hope that this experience proves to be good for
them as well. I must ask, though, how did you manage to find me
down there?” Kaho questioned.

At that, Enoke smiled,
signaling towards the Pendant that hung around his neck, appearing
more or less lifeless now, though it still glowed brightly when
Enoke clasped it in his hand, holding it against his chest
plate.

“As you probably
noticed on your quest to find those Twin Blades, these Pendants
seem to have a mind of their own in a lot of ways. First it guided
me to these Gauntlets back in Af’Lagi,” he recalled, gesturing at
his hands as he did so. “And then it lead me here, all the way
underground to where you were.”

Kaho smiled. “And not a
moment too soon, either,” she stated. “The sight of a familiar face
couldn’t have come at a better time. It makes me wonder if perhaps
this splitting up is exactly what we all needed,” she mused.
“Perhaps our trials apart from our brothers will prove to be of
value in themselves, and in discovering how much we truly need each
other at the same time. Either way, Enoke, I must ask – when did
you become so caught up in the whole idea of teamwork? If I recall
correctly, you seemed pretty intent on working alone back in the
Pit,” she recalled.

“Well…” Enoke began,
flustered and slightly embarrassed. After all, it had been he who
had been so intent on taking on the Stone Giant by himself. “I
guess I just, you know, came to realize…”

“Well then, I am glad
that this is the case,” Kaho replied with a smile. “You are very
wise to think this way; I can only hope that the others may come
around soon and seek us out. In the meanwhile, we must do whatever
we can to inform the other Zor of the dangers that lay ahead of us
all. If Tavar Nuraka does not wish to heed our warnings and take
action, then we must do so ourselves.”

“But what about the
fifth Veha?” Enoke questioned. “What do you suppose his absence
could suggest?”

“Let the answer to such
a question come to us if it may, rather than waste our time seeking
it out ourselves,” Kaho decided. “Ikani has made a poor decision in
concerning himself solely with the task of locating our fifth squad
member – should he even exist in the first place. He has forgotten
that the reason that we have become what we are is to watch over
and protect our people, no matter what the
circumstances.”

At this time, the two
Veha had descended from the side of the northern mountains and were
making their way out of the forest that was quickly thinning around
them. Soon after, they had walked out of the woods altogether and
into a clearing that boasted a massive circular opening in the
ground. It was this clearing and the bowl-shaped opening within it
that was home to the majority of the Zor of Af’Lanu. It was their
village, hidden by the trees and guarded furthermore by the walls
of rocks that rose up all around them in the form of the band of
mountains that bordered most of the Island. On the northern border
of the village, the Veha could see the dam that stretched along its
sides, partially halting the flow of water that ran inland from the
Sea of the Gods. It was here that the water of The Sea was
converted into energy to be distributed far beyond the boundaries
of Af’Lanu – far beyond the fishing outposts that lined the
Satellite’s outskirts, and past the bridges to its neighboring
islands of Af’One to the West and Af’Lagi to the east, as well as
the Central Hub Island. The energy produced here would be used all
throughout Paradius – each and every Zor here depended on
it.

Down below, the
moss-covered walls of the village were dotted with wooden huts and
boardwalks, spanning all around the circumference of the clearing
into a network of civilization that found its heart down below,
where the water that was lead through the Lanu Dam was collected
into a pool at the base of the bowl that was further surrounded by
a variety of houses and other facilities.

“My home,” Kaho
breathed. “I never imagined I’d be looking over this place with
such heavy commitments to its safety.”

Enoke nodded in
response. “I’ve never seen it before,” he began. “Af’Lanu village,
I mean. It’s a far cry from home for me, up in the mountains of
Af’Lagi and in the underground Vaults, but it’s breathtaking all
the same.”

Not much was exchanged
between the two Veha over the next few minutes as they began their
descent into the lower sector of the village, with Kaho leading the
way. Finally, Enoke piped up. “So, where to now?” he
asked.

“I’d like to visit the
Chief Educator,” Kaho replied. “Perhaps he might be able to shed
some light on the events that have occurred and offer us some
direction as to what we must do next.”

“In regards to any
impending danger?”

“Perhaps,” Kaho
figured. “Regardless of the nature of the answers we may find, we
can be sure that they will be of value.”

It was not long after
beginning their descent into the Village, however, that the two
began to notice something was amiss. Kaho could not put her finger
on exactly what it was, but things simply did not seem to
be
right
around her homeland. Then, looking down over
the Village below as they traveled the descending boardwalks,
something caught Kaho’s eye.

“Hold up!” she
exclaimed, lifting an arm to stop Enoke just behind
her.

Down below, she caught
sight of a pack of cloaked figures, marching single-file on either
side of a group of Zor.

“Sirens,” Enoke
breathed, feeling a sense of unease creeping up on
him.

Kaho nodded. “They
appear to be leading them into the Pod Station!” she pointed out.
“But for what purpose?”

“I believe I might have
the answer to that,” came a female voice from behind
them.

The two sung around and
found themselves face to face with a Zor Lanu who bore a striking
resemblance to Kaho prior to her transformation, despite clearly
being more aged than the female Veha. She wore a similar garb that
was indicative of her occupation as an education: a pale green
headscarf coupled with a long, thin robe of the same material that
extended to her ankles.

“Maruni!” Kaho
exclaimed, hurrying towards the fellow instructor.

“
I
am surprised to see you back in these parts to soon, Kaho,” Maruni
remarked. “Especially given the circumstances. Of course, I heard
about your trials in the Hub…”

“Has
word truly traveled this quickly?” Kaho questioned,
surprised.

At this, Maruni gave a
slight chuckle, though her aura was continually suggestive of the
fact that this was no laughing matter. “Of course, my dear Kaho,
though I must say that should hardly strike you as a surprise; word
of the coming of new Veha should understandably travel quickly,
especially with the presence of so many…
unwanted guests
around these parts,” she reasoned, a great bitterness suddenly
audible in her tone.

Kaho nodded somberly.
Then, suddenly, she spun around upon remembering Enoke’s presence
behind her.

“On the topic of new
Veha, Maruni, this is Veha Enoke. Along with myself, he was also
chosen as one of the new Guardians of Paradius, hailing from the
south.”

Maruni examined Enoke
thoroughly with genuine fascination. His strong bearing was
accented by the dark purple color of his armor, covering his tall
figure from head to toe. From his neck hung what she recognized to
be nothing else than one of the legendary Guardians’
Pendants.

“Fascinating,” she
spoke softly in awe. “To see a Veha of Af’Lagi standing again; I
never thought I would live to see the day!” she exclaimed. However,
she quickly composed herself once more. “But that is a story for
another time,” she decided. “I must be off now. You’ll both be
joining me, I hope; we’re holding a special
meeting.”

“Who is?” Kaho
asked.

“The
instructors,” Maruni answered simply, though there was a hint of
agitation apparent in her voice. “Or should I say
former
instructors.”

***

Along with Maruni, the
Veha had traveled to a meeting room beneath the surface of the
Af’Lanu Pool. It was a small, circular room with stone walls that
was dimly lit from above by a window that looked into the Pool
itself, allowing whatever sun that shone through the water to
illuminate the room as well. Upon arriving, they were greeted by
three others, who introduced themselves (specifically to Enoke, as
they were otherwise all well acquainted) as Senma, Nora, and Kahla,
all fellow instructors of Af’Lanu.

“Why have we all
gathered here today?” Kaho asked quickly after sitting down around
a round table in the center of the room.

“We didn’t know what
else to do, nor did we have much of a choice at this point,”
replied Senma, a female who spoke delicately. With the exception of
the Veha, she was the tallest of the group.

“So then what Maruni
said was true,” Kaho began in dismay. “All of the teachers… they’ve
been replaced?”

From all around the
table there were sullen nods from the others. “It was yesterday
morning that it all began,” recalled Senma. “They started arriving
just before sunrise…”

“Who did?” asked
Enoke.

Senma shuddered. “The
Sirens,” she continued, “And Hub Security. I’d always thought the
Sirens to be untrustworthy, but even the Zor who came were
inexplicably cold and harsh towards us all.”

From there, Nora
continued. She was the most experienced of all the Instructors with
more than seventy years of experience here in Af’Lanu, and even
more time spent studying the history of the land herself. In all of
Kaho’s twelve years serving as a teacher she had never come across
anyone who was as knowledgeable as Nora.

“They told us that we
were being reassigned to energy harvesting, and some to the
fisheries as well,” she began. “Those who were demoted to energy
were promptly instructed to head for the power plants or be further
prosecuted by the Authority. Those of us who were so unfortunate as
to have been sent to the fisheries were told to return home and
collect what belongings we would be needing, and that tomorrow we
would be off to whatever outpost to which we were
assigned.”