The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (23 page)

“Sorry about that, brother; I realized I hadn’t bid you
goodbye before I, err,
died
. So I owed you that, I
guess.”

Looking up at the
tall-standing Zor Mara before him, Enoke couldn’t believe his
eyes.

***

Ikani could only stare
in shock at the Pendant that Remula now held out before him, still
suspended around his neck. It glowed the same color as his own, yet
it served the shadows of Remula’s wrath – in the same manner as it
would serve a worthy guardian; in the same way that it had served
Oren before him.

“Y – you!” Ikani
stammered, pointing at the Chief in disbelief. “You killed him!” he
roared.

Remula smirked. “I
prefer to consider it putting him out of his misery,” he replied
simply, the nonchalant nature of his tone instilling rage in Ikani,
who listened on. “After I had gotten wind of Oren making his way
around the Five Islands, blindly dishing out these lovely Pendants
to a bunch of
nobodies,
I felt I had had
enough of waiting for my turn to come. I figured it would do him
some good to take the easy way out instead of watching Paradius
crumble before his eyes!”

“You make me sick!”
Ikani snapped in retort. “Paradius shall never fall! Even if the
Hub falls tonight; even if many are lost to the war below, the
legacy of the great heroes who lead the Zor to victory shall live
on within the hearts of those who prevail!”

“The only soul alive
who is anything reminiscent of a hero is me!” exclaimed Remula.
“But that will not hold true for much longer. For soon, I shall go
down in history as the one who revived Lord Demias in all of his
glory, as the chosen catalyst to usher in the legendary empire of
his dreams, ruled by the power that should have rightfully been his
from the beginning!” he cried, a grin spreading across his face.
“And it is almost time,” he added. “Soon, Lord Demias shall awaken
once again from the confines of Nuraka’s mind.”

“I’m sorry to
disappoint you,” Ikani growled. “But you won’t live to see the
return of your beloved ruler; not if I can help
it!”

There were mirrored
cries of battle from the two sides as they both charged
simultaneously. Remula swung first, but he missed as Ikani veered
out of harm’s way, striking from the side. His blow was a direct
close-range hit, striking Remula in the center of his chest. He
tensed up, struggling against Remula’s attempted retaliations as he
channeled every bit of energy he had left into his Fireblade. He
could feel it pushing deeper now, melting the armor that acted as
the Remula’s only barrier between life and the beyond. With one
final exertion of force, Ikani finally felt his blade make contact
as Remula was pushed to the edge of the Tower.

“You fool!” Remula spat
between cries of agony. “Do you honestly believe… that defeating
me… will put an end to all of this?” he demanded.

“I don’t,” Ikani
replied somberly. “But it shall bring us one step
closer.”

With that, Ikani jabbed
his sword forward one last time, sending Remula’s body spiraling
over the edge of the tower top, plummeting into the darkness below.
There were no cries for help; not a single scream echoed through
the night. Remula fell through the blackness in absolute silence,
save for the evil grin still visible on his face, speaking louder
than words ever could.

Chapter XX – The
Enemy Revealed

Ikani hurried down the
Tower.

There was an eerie
feeling about traveling in the elevator during his descent. The
sound of the lift gliding downwards gave Ikani the impression that
he was back in the mines of his homeland, descending into the
tunnels for another day’s work. The familiar sounds brought him
back to the day on which he had retrieved his Guardian’s Pendant
from the edge of the underground chasm with Niru while exploring in
sector 13. So much had changed since that day that was still fresh
as ever in Ikani’s recent memory. By now, however, both the Veha
himself and the land which he called home would never be the same
again. As Ikani had now come to realize, the point at which he had
found his Pendant had mostly likely been exceptionally close to the
time when Oren had met his demise at the hands of Remula – the
latter who now lay fallen as well beyond the walls of the Tower,
the victim of a fall from the very top of the Tower at Ikani’s own
hands. He had mixed feelings on the matter as the elevator came to
a halt at the main floor. There was relief, knowing that Remula’s
evil administration had come to an end. There was a feeling of
honor and of closure, with Ikani knowing that he had come to avenge
the death of Veha Oren. Lastly, and most prominently, however,
there was fear and anticipation, as Ikani reminded himself that the
greatest of evils was still certain to be lurking amongst the
shadows, preparing to strike.

As the doors to the
elevator slid open, Ikani froze as gazed upon the scene laid out
before him. Three guards lay slumped over on the ground, unmoving.
Ikani then took notice of the red marks glowing on the sides of
their necks.

“Marks of Shadow,”
Ikani breathed. “But that doesn’t make any sense... shouldn’t they
have been released after Remula…?”

Suddenly, there was a
stirring from the first Zor, whose eyes opened
slowly.

“Wha – what?” he asked
confusedly. “What’s going on?”

“You were cursed,”
Ikani answered bluntly. “And there is still danger about. You must
stay here.”

“No… I have to fight!”
the guard blurted in rebuttal, struggling to his feet. “It’s my
duty…”

Ikani shook his head,
placing a hand reassuringly on the Hub Zor’s shoulder. “Trust me,”
Ikani insisted. “Have faith in the Veha. Stay safe, and it’ll all
be over shortly.”

Not saying another
word, Ikani darted towards the exit, leaving the weakened guards
behind as he stepped out into the shrouded world.

The air was thick with
debris and smoke, billowing from all directions. The fires that had
engulfed nearly the entire surrounding city were beginning to die
out now, leaving endless destruction in their place. Buildings were
burned or crumbled to the ground in every direction Ikani looked,
having fallen victim to the tremors or the inferno, if not both.
The night was filled with an ominous silence now, absent of the
sounds of war that had echoed through the darkness only minutes
before. Ikani coughed as he inhaled the thick black clouds of dust
about him, struggling to see beyond the perpetual smoggy
aura.

Suddenly, there was a
blue light that penetrated the darkness, drawing Ikani towards it.
As he approached it, the shape of Remula’s mangled body came into
view. Ikani cringed, moving closer to stand before
him.

“This is the end of
your corruption,” he declared, his voice echoing through the silent
night. “Thus bringing us all one step closer to the
light.”

With that, Ikani
reached down, unclasping the chain from around Remula’s neck,
retrieving the glowing stone that had belonged to Oren. Its light
penetrated the darkness, serving as a beacon of hope as Ikani
clasped it around his own neck now, allowing the second Pendant to
dangle beside his own. He breathed deeply, marveling at how he
suddenly felt as if he had been filled with renewed energy and
courage. He felt like a different Zor altogether.

At that, Ikani turned
to the south, facing the expanding shadow of the fallen Hub City.
He knew that Kaho and Enoke were out there somewhere. As he started
forward, he could only hope that they were amongst the
living.

“Foolish Veha,” a
familiar voice sneered from behind him, cutting through the dead
silence. “You will be going nowhere tonight.”

Ikani spun around. A
cloaked figure limped towards him, appearing to be struggling with
an invisible force as he did so.

“Nuraka!” Ikani
snapped, staring down the false Tavar for the first time. “Or
should I say, Demias!”

Nuraka laughed
ominously. “Well well, I see we are on a first name basis
here,
Ikani,
” he replied, his voice
seemingly warping, growing deeper as he spoke the Veha’s name.
“Demias is not quite ready to come out yet,” he added with devilish
smile. “But soon enough, yes…”

“There won’t be a
soon
if I can help it!” Ikani
bellowed. With a quick swing of his sword, he sent a blast of fire
spiraling towards Nuraka’s staggering body. However, as if with the
aid of the same invisible aura around his body, the blast was
quickly dispelled and extinguished into nothingness. Ikani bit his
lower lip, tensing up in frustration and concern.

Nuraka now turned to
the fallen body of Remula to his left. “Ah, my dear Remula,” he
spoke affectionately to the corpse of the Security Chief.
“My
savior,
how could I ever repay you?”

Nuraka laughed
devilishly. Once again, his voice seemed to become distorted,
growing significantly lower and almost metallic. “You have been
an
excellent
pawn to me; and what could possibly be a
better reward for all of your tireless work than becoming the final
piece of my new body?”

He stared down at the
motionless figure, his eyes fierce with the power of the shadows.
“To fulfill my dreams; to allow me to return to this world tonight…
I need the soul of my dear savior!”

At that, Nuraka
extended a trembling arm towards Remula’s body. From his fingertips
came something reminiscent of power ties, colored a dark and
piercing shade of red. The ties wound around Remula’s left wrist,
surrounding his Life Ring. The red color slowly began to spread
from the ties to Remula’s body, slowly thereafter creeping up
Nuraka’s own arm, spreading to ultimately form a glowing red aura
around his entire body. Ikani watched on in horror, unable to move
as Nuraka began to cry out, his voice alternating between that
which was his own and the horrid low, booming call of what could
only be that which belonged to the God Demias.

Suddenly, the red aura
shot upwards, climbing high up like a bolt of lightning traveling
skyward. There was a great flash, followed by a tremendous
shattering noise Ikani’s eyes were locked on the sky as the heavens
themselves seemed to crack and splinter like a pane of glass. Ikani
was rigid with terror that was accompanied by a horrible sense of
knowing. He had seen this before. X had shown him the images of the
shattered sky prior to leaving the Spirit Realm. Ikani realized for
the first time that the entire scene that he had witnessed on that
day had now come true – the Web going up in flames, the Hub City in
ruins from atop the Tavar Tower, and finally the shattering of the
heavens themselves.

Ikani’s eyes were
downturned once again now, focusing on the horrific figure that now
stood before him. He was multiple times Ikani’s height – perhaps
even multiple times the height of a mighty Stone Giant. His armor
was black as night, trimmed with a red that was reminiscent of the
aura that still surrounded his towering body. His face appeared to
be a cross between a Zor and something foreign to Ikani; something
very evil. In his hands was Remula’s weapon, Doomscythe,
unmistakable in appearance, though far greater in size than
before.

“At last,” Demias
spoke, his expression alive with poisonous satisfaction. “I have
returned… to finish what I started.”

“You’ll have to get
through me first!” Ikani shot back.

Demias searched the
ground before him for the source of the voice, his eyes finally
falling upon Ikani, standing feebly before him in comparison to his
own mighty stature.

“Ah,” remarked Demias, raising an eyebrow. “So very
bold
.”

“What’s that supposed
to mean?” Ikani asked in retort, raising his
Fireblade.

Demias smirked. “You
have great courage, hero. Certainly you would make an excellent
honorary leader when this city is rebuilt in my
name.”

“In your dreams,
Demias!” Ikani snapped. “The Resistance will arrive soon, along
with the other Veha. And when they do, you will meet the same
demise as Remula did before you!”

Demias merely chuckled
in response, appearing to find this funny. “So bold, yet so naïve
all the same,” he replied. “That pitiful army you call the
Resistance has fallen,” Demias stated. “Scattered few remain of
your kind now.”

Ikani tensed up,
suddenly overridden with worry about the status of the other
Veha.

“But come, now,” Demias
spoke again. “Wouldn’t it be a waste of a precious life to have to
meet that same fate?” he questioned.