The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (25 page)

“Are you insane?”
Lanaru snapped. “That tower is about to collapse; we can’t risk
going in there!”

“We swore we would
protect the Zor at all costs!” Ikani exclaimed in retort. “That’s
what being Veha means – it means standing by our people at all
costs, even if it means putting our own lives at
risk!”

“Ikani!!”

Both Ikani and Lanaru
spun around at the sound of Kaho’s frantic voice. She was pinned
against the side of the tower by her own Avatar, its sword held up
to her neck.

“Go, Lanaru!” Ikani
commanded before readying his own weapon. “Drop her, now!” he
commanded. The Avatar remained expressionless, not moving an
inch.

“Bring down the Tower,
Ikani,” Kaho urged. “Bring it down… at all costs,” she was stopped
as the Avatar’s sword drew nearer, the metal of the blade feeling
cold against her exposed neck. “And whatever you do… do not be
afraid!”

“I…” Ikani hesitated,
his entire body shaking as he struggled against his desires to
strike the Avatar down in desperation, not wanting to put Kaho’s
life at any more of a risk than it already was. “I will,” he
replied finally. Hearing the thundering footsteps of Demias
approaching, Ikani reappeared from behind the towering, revealing
himself to the enemy once again.

“Demias, over here!” he
spat.

Demias turned his head
towards Ikani, following him in the other direction. He sent
another blast of dark energy towards the fleeing Veha, but Ikani
was quick to counter with his own attack. The dark cloud collided
with his flame in the air, canceling each other
out.

“Only cowards run!”
Demias barked. “And so my minions are able to feed once again off
of your fear.”

Ikani’s Avatar began
advancing towards him once again. He struggled hard to divulge some
form of a plan as to what more he could do. His attention turned
from the Tower to Demias and back to his Avatar once more. If he
were to bring down the tower right now, there would be no chance of
having it fall on Demias. He needed him to move closer towards the
structure.

“Veha don’t run!” Ikani
retorted. “I’m not afraid of you, or your mind
games!”

At that, something
peculiar began to happen. A light began to glow from around Ikani’s
Avatar, seeming to emanate from within. Demias’ expression shifted
to one of great concern while Ikani could do nothing more than
watch on, appearing truly perplexed as he attempted to make sense
of the situation.

“Fear…” Ikani breathed, thinking hard now. He thought back to
what Kaho had said to him moments before:
Do not be
afraid
.

“Yes, of course!” Ikani murmured to himself, reaching an
epiphany. “The Avatars exist not as an embodiment of our spirits,
but of our
fears
! We fear being seen
merely as shadows of who we were before; our self-consciousness
lies within those who doubt us!” he thought, coming to this
enlightening realization.

“Demias!” Ikani
sneered. “I’ve got you all figured out now!”

“Is that so?” Demias
growled, readying Doomscythe.

“You
think that you can rule over the Zor by instilling fear within
them; by exploiting their insecurities and taking advantage of them
while they are at their weakest. You never truly wanted me to join
you,” Ikani scoffed. “Rather, you exploited my fears of failing my
people and took advantage of those insecurities by offering me a
form of consolidation that would ultimately only lead to me
succumbing to your scheme! I don’t know how many fell for your
little
game
before, but mark my word when I say that none
shall succumb to your deceit and lies this time around!” he barked
triumphantly.

“How
dare
you?” Demias bellowed.

Ikani smirked. “And to
think you could have ever considered yourself a more worthy leader
of Paradius,” he added. “I believe I can speak for all of my
brothers when I say that we now know very well who we are; we no
longer fear those who doubt us and we certainly no longer have any
doubt in our ability to prevail beyond your attempts to instill
dark order here! Tonight, the Resistance shall stand victorious,
and you shall fall. We are not afraid!”

“No!” Demias cried. All around him, the other Veha’s Avatars
began to glow in the same manner as his own. Their Guardians’
Pendants began glowing in unison as the light emanating from their
Avatars became of the same bright blue. Beyond the sight of the
Avatars shattering into nothingness, Ikani spotted Lanaru escaping
the Tower with the three guards staggering by his sides.

“You
fool!” Demias cursed. “You can never hope to extinguish fear
itself, even without my Avatars!” he cried. “For I
am
fear.”

“And I am courage!”
Ikani retorted. “As well as light, penetrating the dark curtain of
your evil wrath!”

Ikani swung his sword,
emitting a raging ball of fire that hurtled towards Demias. He
jumped skyward, avoiding the blast with ease.

“Foolish Veha,” Demias
mocked him. “Still, your attempts remain feeble.”

“I’d
check again,
Demias
!”

There was a great
cracking noise heard from down below. The Tower itself seemed to be
emitting pained cries as the foundation began to give
way.

“No!” Demias exclaimed, landing finally, scrambling to escape
the eye of the falling structure. It was too late. His cries were
soon muffled by the sound of both steel and stone falling to the
ground, surrounding and burying him beneath the rubble of the
fallen structure.

“Kaho!” Ikani
exclaimed, catching sight of her from behind the foundation. “Are
you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, just fine,” she
replied, breathing heavily. “And you?”

“Never better,” Ikani answered, even managing a slight smile
as he approached the rubble.

Suddenly, a hand shot
up from beneath the wreckage, followed by the re-emergence of
Demias’ mangled face.

“How… could
you
… a mere mortal,
defeat
me
?” he
struggled.

“Because,” Ikani began,
stepping forward. “While we may remain mortal in our physical sense
of being, our loyalty to the other Gods and their plan for us all
remains endless!” he explained. “Your evil plan will never prevail,
Demias! For a new day will only ever dawn for those who stay true
to the very nature of our being; those for whom the dawning of a
new day signals but one thing: the coming of the
light!”

With that, Ikani
readied his sword one final time, expelling a wave of lava that
covered the bed of debris around Demias’ buried
body.

“Kaho!” Ikani cried.
“Hurry up and cool that down!”

She nodded, readying
her Twin Blades. She quickly flooded the wreckage with a wave of
water, cooling the molten shell and freezing the outstretched arm
of Demias in time beneath a bed of solid rock.

“Well then,” Ikani
began, turning back to his sister. “I suppose that’s that,” he
figured. Out of the corner of his eye, Ikani suddenly caught sight
of an object shining at his feet.

“The Tavar Ring,” he
breathed, picking the miniscule object up, examining it. “Giving
its bearer the title of rightful ruler of this land. I suppose
Nuraka won’t be needing this again anytime soon.”

From behind the, there
was a sudden groaning. Both heads turned to find Enoke struggling
to his feet.

“Enoke!” Kaho
exclaimed, hurrying towards her brother, embracing him. “Are you
sure you’re okay to walk?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah…” Enoke grunted.
“Just fine.”

“So, looks like the
gang’s all here,” remarked Lanaru as he re-appeared from the
distance. “And just in time for the sunrise!”

It was true. To the
east, the first rays of light were beginning to rise from beyond
the shattered skies over the remnants of their homeland, serving as
a beacon of hope for everything that was to come.

“
Thank
you
,” a familiar female voice
echoed suddenly in the back of Ikani’s head. He was not startled by
the returned presence of this voice, for he knew of its origins. He
reached up, clasping the two Pendants that hung around his
neck.”

“You are welcome, X,”
replied Ikani.

“Uh… come again,
miner?”

“What?” Ikani asked,
snapping back into reality. He turned to his left to find Lanaru
eyeing him curiously. “Oh, sorry, I…”

“Tell me he’s not
daydreaming again,” Lanaru complained. “Then again, those volcanoes
out west probably cook your brains in no time.”

“Lanaru!” Kaho scolded
the Mara.

“What?” he begged. “I
was only saying…”

“Say, Lanaru,” began
Ikani. “You never did tell me how you managed to make it back here
after the Vaults collapsed.”

“Well, I… you see,” Lanaru stammered, embarrassed. “I… I got
a little help. You see, Arkem and Fau somehow founded out about our
supposed whereabouts and ended up trying to track us down after we
hadn’t yet arrived here in the City. Of course, they were a little
late for the party in the end – but hey, they ended up finding me,”
he explained.

“And not a moment too
soon,” echoed a familiar, wise voice from behind the four
Veha.

Chapter XXII – The
Horizon Opens

The Veha all turned
around. Standing before them were three familiar faces that could
not have arrived with better timing.

“Tavar Havea!” Ikani
exclaimed, hurrying towards the former leader. At his side was his
Firewolf, Kanae, and behind him stood two more wise-looking figures
whom Ikani could only presume to be Arkem and Fau.

“Hey!” Enoke exclaimed suddenly, pointing at Fau. “It’s you!
You were the one who saved my life… in the forest,” he breathed in
awe.

Fau merely smiled. “You
didn’t die,” he responded flatly. “Good job.”

Havea smiled as Ikani
approached him. “Once again Ikani, you flatter me,” he replied.
“For I am no longer Tavar of this land,” he corrected him,
winking.

Ikani offered a smile
in return, placing a hand on the wise Zor’s shoulder. “The way I
see it, you never truly vacated that post,” he responded. At that,
he extended his other hand, revealing the ring that he had
recovered. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Havea chuckled. “Ah,
you mustn’t tempt me with such things!” he insisted. “You
misunderstand me, Ikani,” he added. “For at this point in my life,
I also no longer wish to rule over Paradius anew. Rather, I believe
that my destiny has come to lie somewhere else
now.”

Ikani merely nodded,
silently acknowledging Havea’s decision, though he still did not
completely understand it, either. In fact, there were many things
which he did not comprehend at this time; his mind was cluttered
with questions.

“How
did you survive back there?” Ikani asked. “In Af’One, I mean; the
roof of the cavern had completely caved in on you!”

Havea cracked another
smile. “Sheer luck, I suppose,” he mused. “Or perhaps the Gods did
not mean for me to leave this place so soon. Though I must admit I
cannot complain – it would certainly have been a shame to miss the
legendary unfolding of this story.”

Ikani eyed the wise
Zor, perplexed. “I… don’t understand,” he admitted
sheepishly.

“Your development into
true heroes,” replied Havea matter-of-factly. “You learned how to
overcome your differences and to look beyond what others thought of
you. Most importantly, however, you learned the importance of
remaining united! I am proud to be able to call you all true and
worthy Veha of Paradius.”

“Thank you,” replied
Ikani, bowing to Havea. “Though we could never have managed it
without your help. Therefore, I should be the one extending my
thanks to you,” he admitted.

“I
somehow doubt that,” Havea replied simply. “For the power to better
oneself always lies within… in the light in your
heart
,” the wise Zor added, raising his walking stick and tapping
it against Ikani’s chest plate.