I'm hoping you'll get a feel for what the Powers are by the end of the first chapter so I'm not going to bother explaining them. All you need to know is that there are only two Guardians, one dark and one light (guess who they are!). Everyone in the city pretty much believes the Guardians exist but no one knows who they really are, not even the king, and most people are wary of their powers because no one really knows anything about them, except that they guard the stones that protect the world. Oh, and Hiwatari has no relationship with Satoshi.

If there's anything that's really confusing, just ask and I'll explain. Minor note: If you're a Dark fan, he's in here, just really later on. I don't own D.N.Angel.

Krad: Ruler of the Shadows

Chapter 1

The First Attack

"He's come." Satoshi turned slightly against the smooth stone pillar in order to watch the door.

"I don't need your help," he replied icily.

"How ungrateful you are," Krad said. "Why, there are thousands of people in this city who would die just for the chance to meet me."

"And if they met you they would die," Satoshi retorted. Krad's laugh reverberated through Satoshi's mind.

"Only if they tried to hurt you, little Tamer. No one shall hurt you and live." Satoshi's eyes fluttered closed as he remembered.

He was younger, curled up in a bare corner with his shirt off and his legs drawn up to his chest. His head rested against the wall. Strands of fine blue hair were plastered to his sweaty face. It hurt to move a lot. There were splotchy blue bruises decorating his arms and chest. Some part of him knew he was sick but he was too tired to do anything about it. The floor stretched out in front of him; the pale, bare carpet that seemed to stretch into infinity at his feet. But the house was empty and silent. It felt so cold. He leaned back against the wall, shivering and half delirious. If only he wasn't so weak!

Krad was furious and concerned and torn between worry for Satoshi and the desire to kill the one responsible. Maybe he could do both. That brat! No one got away with hurting his Tamer. And it was easy to slip past Satoshi's weakened defenses.

Satoshi was only half conscious; the world seemed to be disappearing as fast as he tried to hang on to it. He thought he only went to sleep for a few minutes but when he woke up... The first thing he noticed was that he was in bed, not on the floor. There were blankets draped over him and he was warm. He moved slightly, expecting the nausea and soreness to come rushing back. It didn't. That's when he realized the bruises had completely disappeared. So had the horrible weakness. In fact, he felt as strong as ever. Everything would have been fine... if it weren't for the blood he was covered in. It was everywhere; splashed down his front, matted in his hair, drying under his fingernails. There were great brownish-red streaks of it everywhere. His white sheets and blankets were stained and there were smears of it across the carpet like footsteps.

"Krad!" he snarled. The sickness seemed to come rushing back and he sprang out of bed. He'd never taken a longer bath in his life. It took hours to feel even remotely clean. He didn't figure out where all the blood had come from until a couple days later when the body was found. The body of the guy who'd beat him up. It had been shredded into pieces. They never did find all of it. He'd never let anyone hurt him again.

"Satoshi!" He was jerked out of his reverie at Krad's warning. There was a sudden flurry at the door and the air seemed to sing and hum with power. A man stepped into the room. He was wearing long black robes that trailed on the stone behind him. Satoshi didn't recognize his face as he pulled his hood back but the nimbus of white magic he was standing in was unmistakable.

"What the…?" Krad started to ask, focusing sharply on the man. A second later Satoshi could almost feel him jerk backwards.

"No!" All of Krad's attention was suddenly focused, like a cat ready to pounce, and he stirred agitatedly in the back of Satoshi's mind. "Give me control, now!"

Satoshi's eyes slowly widened in shock as he, too, realized what they were dealing with.

"He's one of the Powers!" Satoshi whispered as he watched the man walk closer, down the length of the chamber. Each step carried him a little further toward the glowing white light, beating like a heart at the center of the room—the light that emanated from a single white stone hovering several feet above the floor. It was vitally important that nothing happen to that stone.

"Why is he doing this?" Satoshi wondered to himself. "The six Powers are supposed to protect the stones, not steal them, otherwise the city will fall." There was an intense sort of alarm radiating from Krad.

"He's too powerful for you. Give me control!"

"One of the Powers or not, I don't need you."

"Now, Tamer!" Krad attacked Satoshi's mind but Satoshi was ready for it and easily fended it off, wincing only slightly. "Blast you!" But Satoshi wasn't listening. The man was getting too close to the white stone. Satoshi slid easily out from behind the pillar and had tackled the man to the floor before he knew what was happening. The man snarled in rage. A second later there was a blinding white flash and Satoshi was lifted off his feet and flung backwards, hitting the far wall. The man got to his feet, the white nimbus around him seething.

"You fool!" he said. "You will pay for that!" Light gathered in his hand. Satoshi was crumpled in a heap at the base of the wall where he'd fallen. The world had gone slightly fuzzy from the impact. He hurt but he knew he couldn't stay there. He scrambled to his feet and just managed to duck behind a pillar as a blinding ball of light hit the wall where he'd been. It left a crater. Krad and Satoshi both stared at the hole in shock.

"We're in trouble," Satoshi thought. "He's strong." Not that he was particularly powerful for a Power—they were all strong—but Satoshi had never had to face one before.

"If he can do that to stone..." Krad said, "...Imagine what he can do to you."

"You're stronger," Satoshi replied. Krad tried again to shove Satoshi aside while he was distracted but Satoshi clung to control, gritting his teeth. "Stop it, Krad!"

"And when you die?" Krad said. Satoshi tried to think. There was no way he was going to defeat the man on his own. He needed a plan. Pushing suddenly away from the pillar, he ran. The man attacked again but he was too slow. Satoshi made it to the next pillar. One more to go and the stone would be between them, then the stone's shields would protect him. He just had to make it a little further!

"It's hopeless you know!" the man laughed. "You can't hope to defeat me! I am one of the six Powers, those chosen by the king to protect the throne and the world. No human can defeat me."

"Tell me, Power," Satoshi replied, "why you are trying to steal one of the white stones."

"I really don't think you need to know that. Come out, you can't hide forever."

"You are a traitor, to the honor of the Powers and to your own name!"

"Ah, but who is the real traitor? The traitor, or the traitor who follows him?" He started to walk toward the pillar. Satoshi gripped the rough stone tightly, took a deep breath, and ran. One more. Just one more. He wasn't quite fast enough. The ball of white light grazed his shoulder. He cried out as the force spun him around and flung him almost senseless against the wall. A huge chunk of his shoulder, where the light had hit, was missing. Satoshi slumped to the floor, one hand clutching his shoulder in an attempt to stop the blood flow. His arm hung useless at his side. The man laughed and quickly pinned him down with more of the white light. It didn't matter, Satoshi wasn't sure he could have gotten up again anyway.

Krad pushed frantically at his mind, fighting for control. Satoshi watched as the man approached him.

"It ends here." Light started to gather in the man's hand and Satoshi knew it was over. He was going to die. The white bands of light that bound him were pressing him mercilessly into the wall, biting deep into his skin. Satoshi gritted his teeth as blood welled from the restraints, ran down his hands in little rivulets, and dripped rain-like from the tips of his fingers onto the floor. His shoulder was little more than ragged flesh and cartilage and had soaked his shirt red in a nightmarish sunburst pattern of streaks.

"Tamer!" Krad yelled. "Let me out!" Satoshi couldn't let Krad take control. He just couldn't. He shook his head slightly. Even that seemed to hurt.

"No more bodies found days later in pieces!" Satoshi replied. Krad snarled in fury and desperation. This couldn't happen. It couldn't end like this! If Satoshi died... The Power was not going to get away with it. Krad vowed that if he lived the man would suffer.

"Then you'll be the one torn to pieces! He will kill you!" Krad replied. Satoshi stared up at the man, the white nimbus still glowing around him. It was hard to lift his head; everything was so blurry, so far away. That's when he realized Krad was right. Sometimes... sometimes there was no choice. "Hurry, Tamer!" There wasn't much time left. Satoshi closed his eyes as the world narrowed down to only two possibilities. Live or die. And he found that he wanted very much to live. With that realization he did the one thing that he had never done before and had never thought he'd ever do. He pulled down his own shields, the ones barricading his mind, and snapped all the restraints he'd fought so hard to maintain. It was easy because he was so weak. He let Krad take control.

Though Krad was slightly surprised Satoshi had actually given him control he didn't waste any time. His Tamer was fading; there wasn't much time. He brought his good right arm up and a shield, shimmering silver, appeared in front of him. It looked to be only paper-thin but it was strong as steel and the magical attack dissipated on contact with it.

"It is not so near the end as you think," Krad said as he broke the blinding white restraints that had pinned him down and stood up.

"You're a Guardian!" the man said, his eyes widening slightly. He took a step back in alarm.

"Very observant," Krad replied. "Did you actually believe you could just walk in here and take the stone? You know the legends."

"Without the stones the Guardians fade from existence," he whispered. "I should have known." Krad laughed.

"Surrender now and I might let you live." But the man only shook his head.

"The consequences of failure would be unimaginable," he said. "Besides, you are weakened. There can't be that much strength left in you." Krad looked at him sharply.

"Did someone send you?" In response, white light gathered in the man's hands.

"Enough chat, I came for the stone." Krad erected a shield just in time to block the assault. But the man was right; he was weakened. He'd lost a lot of blood and the bite out of his shoulder was on fire, shooting searing jolts of pain through his body. The arm was utterly useless. At this rate, he wasn't going to hold out for long. He knew there was only one chance. He had to reach the stone.