DEATH OF ELROS
By Enkeli

He was born a citizen of Midgard. Skaray was special even when he was a child. He had shown extra ordinary powers like talking to wild beasts and moving objects with his mind. Praetor, the head of the guardians, saw his potential and granted Skaray passage to godhood.

But the powers of a guardian were consuming him. Everyday, he sought for power not just within the ranks but also where mortals reside. His thirst for power has grown so much that his beloved Celestine, a fellow guardian who was also granted passage, began to fear him.

Eventually, he wanted total control over the land. Skaray wanted to share his dreams with Celestine, but she refused to join him and his plans. Her loyalty to the gods was steadfast, though she loves Skaray dearly. Skaray took it as betrayal of their love and vowed to make her see things his way. He left her behind and started to put his plan into action.

Using his powers, Skaray amassed an army of creatures, from wild beasts in the forest to the undead demons in catacombs. They started attacking villages and towns, wreaking havoc in the land. Tough with every appearance of a monster, guardians would to their best to come to the rescue. But try as they might to be in every places at once, the number of guardians were no match to help the whole land.

Finally, after much discussion amongst each other, the guardians decided to teach the citizens how to fight. It would at least give them a chance to survive the onslaught of Skaray's army.

But even with the citizens learning to protect themselves, Skaray still continued his quest for control. He attempted to take over Midgard's capital, Prontera.

He came out of nowhere, monsters appearing by groups at random areas of the city. Even with the citizens who had learned to fight were still outmatched by Skaray's minions. The citizens cry for help from the guardians, which they readily answered.

A battle waged in Prontera. Guardians and monsters fought. Everything around the city was chaotic. Citizens', monsters' and even guardians' bodies could be found lying mortally wounded or even dead. And amidst the chaos, two guardians continued to fight them off. Twin guardians named Elros and Enkeli were born from guardian parents. These two not only share the heritage of godhood but also a bond that only twins could have. They can sense each others movements and tell if they need assistance during battles. They complement each other in their strengths and weaknesses. But even their bond can be tested and broken.

"Behind you!" cried Enkeli, her gray eyes intently focused on her brother as she cast a spell to increase his agility.

Elros blocked a galion's attempt to bite onto him, and delivered a killing blow. He smiled at his sister, his gray eyes showed gratitude for the assistance she gave. He turned once more to fend off another attacker. Enkeli did her best to keep up. While her brother attacks, she tries her best to heal him and increase his powers and mobility, at the same time shooting off any attackers who would try to attack them from above using her bow and arrows.

Eventually, the guardians were starting to gain the upper hand. The guardians started chasing away the monsters out of the city and some were killed off if they refuse to leave. While Enkeli and Elros were busy fighting off a baphomet, Skaray struck once more.

Both guardians were busy fighting off the baphomet and were getting the upper hand of the fight. Enkeli delivered the killing blow by shooting him through the heart. But as she lowered her defenses, Skaray charged at her, armed with a short sword ready to thrust into Enkeli's heart. But Elros was quicker. Before the blade even reached its destination, it passed through something else. Elros took the attack at full force, the sword penetrated his body. Enkeli saw everything and was frozen on the spot.

Skaray claimed his sword once more as he released Elros's body from its blade. The guardian slumped to the ground unceremoniously. A smile curled upon the former guardian's lips and licked the blood off his blade. He looked at Enkeli with eyes hungry for more.

But Enkeli wasn't paying attention. Her eyes followed Elros's body as it fell to the ground. Her body still rooted to the spot, all she could do was croak out her brother's name.

"Elros?"

But of course, the corpse did not answer back. She heard an evil chuckle in the background but she ignored it. She slowly bent down and collected her brother's body to her.

"Elros?" she called out again. But still the body did not move.

"Care to join your twin, Enkeli?" Skaray asked sarcastically. Trying to get the attention of the guardian but still failed to do so. Getting frustrated of being ignored, he raised his short sword once again and added, "I guess your silence means 'yes'."

But before he could strike, an arrow flew towards him hitting the arm that held the sword. Skaray dropped his weapon and cried out in pain. Searching for the person who did the deed, he found Chaos, standing amidst the turmoil. He nocked another arrow and got ready to aim the weapon at Skaray once more.

"Retreat!" ordered Skaray to his army. Still holding his injured arm, he looked at the guardian with his blazing red eyes and added, "This is not over yet, guardian."

With that, Skaray disappeared.

Chaos hurriedly went to Enkeli who was holding her brother in a tight embrace. Chaos realized that Enkeli was crying.

"Elros, please wake up!" she cried. Enkeli shook her twin hard trying to get a reaction from his body but as before, nothing happened.

"Enkeli," Chaos gently said, reaching out to the guardian and touched her shoulder tentatively. His green eyes showed worry and concern. "Elros is dead. There's nothing we can do about it now."

"No!" Enkeli exclaimed. "He's not dead! We're twins. I'm still alive! We're connected. He can't be dead. He can't be! It's impossible! Elros, wake up!!!"

Enkeli held onto her twin as if her life depended on it, but Chaos started to gently pry her hands away. But Enkeli was steadfast. She continued to hold on very tightly.

"No!" she cried again. "He's just asleep. He can't be dead…Come on Elros. This isn't funny anymore. Wake up!!!"

There was desperation in her voice now. More words came out but they were already incomprehensible to Chaos. He continued to pry Enkeli's arms from her twin, but failed miserably. It was only until someone came that he became successful.

"Enkeli," said a very authoritative voice from behind Chaos. "You need to let go of our brother. There is nothing you can do about him now."

"Elron?"

"Our brother is dead, dear sister," Elron, her older brother remarked softly. "You need to let him go."

"Please, Enkeli," Chaos pleaded softly beside the other guardian.

Eventually, Enkeli let Elros go. Chaos helped her up and led her to her older brother where she cried freely in his arms. Chaos returned to Elros's body and quickly covered him with Chaos's own robes. Then he watched from afar as Elron tried his best to console his younger sister.

"I couldn't stop him, Elron," she cried, holding on to his brother tightly. "It's all my fault! I wasn't quick enough to notice. Elros's dead because of me!"

"It wasn't your fault," Elron assured her. "Skaray was quick and cunning. You wouldn't be able to stop him even if you did notice. You know how well he moves. Not even Justice could have noticed his movements."

"But Elros did," Enkeli insisted. "He saw him as he was about to stab me. I didn't even see it coming."

Enkeli continued to cry in his brother's arms. Elron was trying his best to keep his sister from breaking down when he heard his name being called by one of the younger guardians, a guardian recently given passage to godhood.

"Chaos," Elron called out. "Escort my sister back to the Haven. Don't leave her alone unprotected. And don't let her come near Elros. She'll break down again if you left her with him."

Chaos did as he was told and escorted Enkeli back to the Guardian Keep. But Enkeli struggled a bit, trying to go back to her twin's body.

"Enkeli," Chaos said locking Enkeli in a tight embrace from behind so that she could not get away. "Please, don't let this be harder than it already is. We'll take Elros back to the haven with the others and give him a proper burial."

"He's really dead," Enkeli cried. "It's all my fault that he's dead. He left me, Chaos. Elros left me!"

"Hush now, Enkeli," he calmly replied. "Everything will be alright."

He quickly made a portal to the Haven, and escorted the young guardian back home.

The devastation caused by Skaray in Prontera was great, that it took all the guardians help and the citizens to clear up dead bodies and bury them in graves. The wild beasts and monsters were burned outside the city walls. Guardians who fell were sent back to the "Haven", the guardian keep where they reside, to have them cleaned up for a proper burial.

During the guardian's ceremonial burial, Enkeli was silent and devoid of emotions. Standing between her brother Elron and Chaos during the whole ordeal, Enkeli was trying her best to stop herself from crying. She must not show her loss to anyone. Crying could be done later when she was alone once more.

When the ceremony finally ended and the guardians finally laid to rest, Enkeli disappeared. Everyone searched for her but no one could find her anywhere.

Any attempt to search for the grieving guardian was halted by another attempted assault of Skaray at another town of Midgard. But that also failed miserably as Skaray's army suffered major losses during their last battle.

The war between Skaray and the guardians were at a stalemate. And while minor attacks from monsters were reported every now and then, no major attacks in cities were done. All the citizens' lives went back to normal.