The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (5 page)

Although they could not
very well see where it was that they were going, the journey was
nonetheless long. It was filled with unrelenting uncertainties that
persisted silently through their travels as the minds of the Zor
remained as clouded as their field of vision.

“Excuse me,” Ikani
finally piped up. “Where exactly are we going?” he
asked.

“We must leave this
mist,” replied X. “The Shadowed Spirits thrive where the light
cannot easily penetrate; they sensed the power of your
Pendants.”

“Power?” Ikani
questioned. Then, wide-eyed with surprise, he turned to Kaho. “Do
you mean to say that you’ve got one, too?” he asked. “The
Pendants?”

The Zor all paused now.
Kaho raised her headscarf, revealing a head jewel that bore the
same peculiar appearance as the Pendants of the
others.

“I found mine down in
an empty Vault a while back,” Enoke recalled. “I figured someone
dropped it or something.”

“Mine simply appeared
one morning; upon waking up, it was inside my
dwelling.”

“Unbelievable,” Ikani
breathed in awe. “So we’ve all got them then.”

There were collective
nods from the other Zor, all of whom were captivated by this new
discovery. Then, the enigmatic voice of X sounded once again
through the mist.

“Hurry now; we have
almost arrived.”

“But where are we
going, anyways?” Lanaru complained.

“Shh!” Kaho hissed,
elbowing him as she passed. “Just follow her, will you? Or would
you rather stay here and wait for those Shadowed Spirits to
return?”

“
Well,
” Lanaru began, “After
thinking about it, I think I value my life a little too much to
stick around these parts, so I’ll follow you guys.”

Staying close behind X,
the Zor continued to follow her lead as the mist began to disperse
around them. Gradually their surroundings grew clearer; the
emergence of this clarity also gave way to more lively surroundings
as grass now grew beneath their feet. The landscape around them was
mostly rocky still, with patches of grass, both of which lead the
way to a large temple that stood in the middle of the space where
the mist would not penetrate. Ikani looked on in awe, marveling at
the way that the central temple appeared to give off an aura that
kept the fogs of evil at bay.

“We have arrived,”
declared X. “You may all go now.”

“Go?” Kaho asked,
confused.

“Climb the steps of the
temple, and have faith; the Spirits of those who came before will
guide you along your journey.”

“But what about you?”
Ikani blurted suddenly, mostly out of confusion.

“My duty to escort you
ends here,” she replied simply. Then, without another word, she
stepped back into the looming mist and was gone.

All eyes turned towards
the temple now. The Zor glanced around at each other, both hesitant
and unsure as to what they should do.

“Well,” Enoke began,
expelling a sigh. “I guess our choices are either to do what X said
and head for the temple or go back into the mist,” he
figured.

“And the best choice in
that is an obvious answer if there ever was one,” Lanaru
added.

At that, the four
started towards the temple in unison. Reaching the steps first,
Ikani hesitated initially, but soon began to climb. It was a long
hike up the steep staircase, but the four eventually made it,
standing high above the ground below.

If it were not for the
perpetual mist around them, their field of vision would have
extended endlessly across the flat surface below. In the distance,
however, the four could still make out the peculiar scenes on the
horizon. The fallen city in the distance appeared to surround them
in every which way.

“Where do you figure
that is?” Lanaru asked, gazing into the distance.

“I don’t know,” Ikani
replied. “Let’s just hope it’s nowhere we’re
headed.”

At that, there was a
burst of light that emanated from each of their jewels, filling the
air once again with the same blue aura that hung about their
bodies.

“What’s going on?” Kaho
asked, taken aback.

The light grew
brighter, eventually growing to the point where it had become
blinding. Ikani squinted at first, attempting to see beyond the
wall of light that had encompassed them. By then, however, it was
too late. He shut his eyes, not daring to open them anew. Then,
suddenly, he was overcome with a peculiar feeling that gave him the
impression that he was being lifted upwards, away from the ground
below and towards the hazed out skies.

Then there was great
pain. Its onset was abrupt, sending shockwaves of searing torment
through every inch of his body. He attempted to cry out in pain,
though his voice would not sound. Rather, there came the echoing
sounding of another voice, seemingly coming from all
around.

“
Brave Zor; let my voice be
heard.”

It was
X.

“Paradius stands in the
face of great evil. As we speak, a dark power far greater than the
Shadowed Spirits who roam this Realm threaten your own. To protect
against these forces of evil, it was declared long ago that a team
of chosen guardians would stand bravely to fight against the forces
of darkness, and restore light to all lands. Let the pain that
impairs you now turn to great strength.”

Contrary to what Ikani
wanted to feel, something from deep within was telling him to
relax. And so he did. In doing so, he could feel everything that he
had been promised coming to light. Untold amounts of energy surged
through his body now, making him stronger, taking him further as he
whirled through the celestial light that surrounded
him.

“Allow your bodies and
your minds to lift you beyond this sacred realm, and serve your
homeland well.”

Even through closed
eyes, Ikani could sense his journey through the light reaching its
end.

“Farewell… chosen
Veha.”

Chapter V – A
Farewell Message

“Ikani …
wait.”

Just as he had begun to
think it was over, the familiar voice of X was pulling Ikani
through the light once again. This time, however, he was whirling
backwards, beyond even the first specks of the blinding light as he
was returned to the hazy darkness.

Ikani opened his eyes.
The fog seemed to be closing in on him again. He spun around,
scanning his surroundings for any means of escape. Luckily, he
caught sight of one in the form of an archway that appeared almost
to have been carved out of the walls of mist. He hurried down the
path in search of what might lay beyond, figuring that anything
would be better than being lost in the mist anew.

“X?” Ikani cried, his
voice echoing from every direction. “Kaho? Lanaru?
Anyone?”

“Follow my voice,”
X’s voice sounded once again.
“There is something I must show you … before you may
return
.
”

Not second-guessing the
familiar voice, Ikani strayed from the path in the mist, hurrying
now through the perpetual haziness until the air finally began to
show signs of clearing around him. He emerged from the mist now,
walking out onto a ledge of sorts, overlooking a fallen city below,
though this one was different than that of before.

“What happened here?” Ikani muttered to himself, moving
closer and overlooking the barren landscape below.

Suddenly, he caught
sight of another figure standing beside him. He stood tall,
towering above Ikani’s head, gazing out over the city below with
his arms crossed.

“Veha Oren!” Ikani
exclaimed, rushing towards him. “You’re alive!”

Oren, however, said
nothing. He simply maintained the same focused position, standing
cross-armed and gazing out at the scene before him.

“Is this… the Hub?”
Ikani asked him, turning back towards the city below. “What’s going
on?”

At that, Ikani spun
around, gazing back at the wall of mist that stood behind
him.

“What’s going on, X?”
he cried. “Is this really happening?”

There was no answer.
Clenching his fists, Ikani turned around once more and gazed out at
the city below. At that moment, something inside of him clicked,
and there was no longer any need for asking questions. He knew
where he was; he was standing atop the Tavar Tower – the same place
where Nuraka had made his induction speech.
Therefore, Ikani realized, this
was
the Hub
that he was seeing below. But what had happened? He looked on in
shock at the desolation and destruction written all over the fallen
city, still smoldering in the ashes of what had come before. Was
this a vision of what was to come? Was this the impending danger
that X had warned of?

Helpless, he turned once again to
Oren, who had now assumed a different position. His right arm was
pointed upwards towards the sky. Ikani followed the length of his
arm upwards, his eyes running up his hand and beyond the tip of his
pointer finger, traveling higher until he came upon the shocking
sight of the entire sky, shattered like a pane of glass over the
fallen city below.

He tried to call out for X again; to
hear the sounding of a familiar voice, but before Ikani could do
anything he felt himself whirling through the light once again. He
forced his eyes open, only to find that the scenery around him was
changing once again. He was whirling through the Web now. However,
it was not the Web in the way which he had previously known it.
Flames shot out from every direction around him; the walls and the
very rails beneath Ikani became warped as they melted in the
overwhelming heat. Hundreds of other Pods swarmed the blazing
tunnels around him until the Web suddenly gave way, leaving them
all seemingly flying through mid-air over the fallen Central Island
below.

“
Beware the shadows,
Ikani… until we meet again, farewell.”

“
No; come back!” Ikani’s
eyes shot open, quickly shutting again in response to the blazing
sunlight. He was shocked to find himself lying in the middle of
what seemed to be nothing more than a vast, rocky desert
unmistakable to the environment of the southernmost district of
Af’Lagi. Had it all been a dream?

Ikani rose to his feet and attempted
to gather his bearings. He scanned his surroundings for any sign of
the other three. His eyes quickly fell upon the silhouette of
another figure seemingly sprawled across the ground in the distance
before him. Instinctively, he ran for the figure, assuming it was
one of the others. As he did, Ikani couldn’t help but notice the
great energy that he felt in running, as if he had been revitalized
by his mysterious sleep in a way that he could not
explain.

As he grew closer to the figure,
however, Ikani began to slow when he realized that he did not
recognize the Zor lying on the ground before him. Tall and built,
the figure possessed the same blue-brown complexion as a Zor of
Af’Mara.

“
Are you okay?” Ikani
asked instinctively, kneeling down before the Mara. He hesitated
for a moment before bending forward and shaking him
slightly.

“
Whoa there!” the figure
exclaimed, shocked back into consciousness as he rolled over onto
his back. “Don’t just shake me awake!”

The
voice
. Ikani leaped to his feet in
shock.

“
Lanaru?” he asked in
disbelief. “Is that you?”

“
Of course it is! Who did
you…”

He froze as well upon taking his first
good look at Ikani. His mouth moved in an attempt to form words,
though nothing was made of it beyond disbelieving
stammers.

“
Your- your body! You’ve
changed!”

Ikani held his arms out
before his eyes, startled once again when he came to the discovery
that Lanaru was right. He
had
changed.

“
Are we… have we
become
Veha?
”
Lanaru questioned in disbelief.

“
I believe we have…” Ikani
breathed in disbelief, a smile spreading across his face as he
began to laugh.

Lanaru soon joined in. “This is
incredible!” he exclaimed in amazement. “Woo-hoo! The Gods got it
right this time; we are Veha!”

“
How quickly you seem to
take to celebrating, my brother,” remarked another familiar voice,
approaching from behind.

Ikani spun around now as both Kaho and
Enoke had come into view. They, too, had undergone the same
physical changes as he and Lanaru. They both stood much taller in
stature, though still just about level with him and Lanaru, bearing
the easily-distinguishable armor of the colors from their
respective homelands.