The Guardians
Chapter 1: The Origin
Magnus stood on the deck with his friends, standing on either side of him, near the railings, looking out into the cresting fields beyond. They had settled their airship on a level piece of ground, and gingerly touched down, the dimensional engines powering down with a groan. Gazing around at the countryside, it was an empty place, standing in a valley; several large rolling hills surrounding them, the site seemed lush and green. Hard to imagine that this would soon become a battleground for all of them, where the conflict they had been waging for the world would be decided. Saving the elements from certain destruction, what cause could be greater?
Below them, stood four figures, to match the four on the deck of the ship. To Magnus's left was their half-elven ranger Vinir, suffering from the curse known as lycanthropey. Nonetheless, he had coped and was already in his hybrid werebear form. Easily eleven spans tall, heavily bulging with muscle and flesh, with the long shaggy brown fur of a great bear. His wet snout was testing the air, and his jagged teeth were protruding from his gums. He stood, his massive body straining against his magical armor, which had been designed to expand with his body as he transformed. His long swords were clenched in his meaty hairy fists, waiting.
To his right was the elven girl, Ferowyn, their quote unquote thief. She was very fair, young as well, with a head of long red hair, like a waterfall of fire, and deep, penetrating black eyes. She was looking down, nervous, being the groups most inexperienced with battle, her hands straying to her hips, where two short swords hung. Yes, she had come a long way, but they were facing their greatest enemies. And she was stroking a leather gauntlet on her right hand, a gift of her beloved, Tahlik, an enchanted bracer he had constructed for her.
Standing in front of them all was their leader, their elven bladesinger, an elven fighter with extensive knowledge of magic. Teriwyn, Ferowyn's older sister. Though they looked rather dissimilar for siblings, Teriwyn having a softer pair of blue eyes, and long brunette hair, soft and fine as silk. Her magical long sword was already in her hand, watching the four down below.
And Magnus, perhaps their most unique member. He was the most recent arrival; Teriwyn, Ferowyn, and Vinir had been companions since the adventure began. They had another man on their journey, but he met with a cruel fate under the Mountains of Fulk, in a so-called abandoned Dwarven city, now infested by duergar. That was where they had met Magnus as well, as he had been slipping around the ruins, using his "gifts" to inspect buildings, to see if any treasure was to be found.
He had used a mystical power to transform himself into a corporal mist, and stuck his head through a wall, only to come face to face with a startled Ferowyn, who was also snooping around for something to steal. Magnus joined their company out of necessity more than anything else, but he too was soon caught up in a battle the proved greater than he. He was the only human of the party, but he wasn't any ordinary man.
It was clear that he was no wizard, for he was garbed in a regular tunic, and studded leather, and he had two finely crafted scimitars at his side. But still, he was able to do seemingly magical things without any casting. He was, as they eventually found out, a psionicist, one who utilized the power of their mind to perform incredible feats. He was the tallest of the group, eight spans tall, except when Vinir did his werebear change.
He was handsome in an almost sinister sort of way, with long slick black hair, reaching his shoulders, and eyes that were often mistaken for black, but really brown. Right now, he didn't look exactly like that, standing with his friends, in that valley observing their foes. His skin, normally pale, had grown gray with hints of green, and the texture was scaly; his face extended, and was now sporting a snout like a reptile. He, using a power of the psionicist, began to take traits of his inner animal, the lizard.
He hadn't planned on joining these elves on their quest, but soon found himself in their group, following them through many perils, such as fighting a horde of fire giants and their iron golems. Also finding themselves banished to another dimension, only to purchase a githzerai airship, and return to the Prime material plane. Then, to face off against a great wyrm red dragon, who was the keeper of a certain artifact that they were searching for.
The whole quest had to do with elements, the four lesser elements, Lightning, Ice, Magma, and Steam, had wished to overthrow their more powerful parents, Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. In doing so, they had dispatched an avatar of themselves, warriors looking like evil samurai, to meddle on the Prime material and accomplish this. In order to do so, four elemental artifacts were needed to perform this process. Teriwyn already had one artifact when he met them, a magical bracer of Air. They were searching for scattered pieces of a blade of Fire, a shield of Water, and an armor of Earth.
They had been successful in hunting them all down, save the armor. It had vanished, with no signs as to where it was. Ferowyn had taken the shield, and while she did not use it, so long as it was strapped to her back, she gained its enchanting abilities. Magnus was given the sword of Fire, the weapon polymorphing itself into his blade of choice, the scimitar. As they were resting themselves after gathering the last pieces of the shield, a letter for their group came. There was no signature, but the content was familiar and the origin, unmistakable.
"We have the armor in our possession. There will be one final battle; the winner decided the fate of this world. All artifacts will be placed in the hands of those who are victorious. We are waiting." It went on to give an exact time and place for this final battle.
The samurai had been clever, letting Teriwyn's group do all the work, hunting down the artifacts, and the Avatars would simply slay them to finish their mission. None of the group were going to let that happen. So, after they had prepared themselves as best they could, they boarded their airship, and made their way across the world. They had arrived at the meeting spot described in the letter. They were here to finish things. Their enemies were waiting. They would fight. And the outcome would decide the fate of many.
Finally after a moment, Teriwyn glanced behind at her friends. Without a word, she nodded, and leapt over the railing. Vinir, who was secretly in love with Teriwyn followed after her, growling as he vaulted over the rails. Ferowyn took in a deep breath and nimbly hopped over the side. Magnus stood for a moment more, and casually, almost leisurely walked to the rail, stepped up onto it and then stepped off, only to hover in the air, with the power of levitation. Then he began to descend, and gently lowered to the ground, and joined the others. The four of them formed a line, and gazed back at their four enemies.
First, was their old friend, the Lightning samurai, who had fought them back when they had been less experienced. Magnus hadn't been present for that encounter, but had heard that this creature was wickedly fast and savage, its speed being hard to combat. It was still wearing the same golden samurai armor, with buzzing and crackling azure skin.
Then another old acquaintance, the Magma samurai, in its scarlet blood armor. Its skin being too hot to touch, it had ambushed the group just as they returned to the prime. Though they had grown stronger, this fiend had beaten the group, one by one, Teriwyn, Vinir, and Ferowyn. But Magnus, having unlocked some of his own abilities during a near-death experience, used his psionics to draw out his inner potential, and faced off with this foe, one on one. He soon took the upper hand and proceeded to hammer the avatar into submission, causing the beast retreat in defeat.
The others were Steam, letting off burning hot vapors, in an almost translucent set of armor. And Ice, their leader wearing the magical Earthen armor. Each wielded a long deadly sharp katana, Ice and Lightning each had two; Magma and Steam only had one. In their minds, the group took their own samurai that they would face. Teriwyn chose Ice, being leader vs. leader. Vinir wanted Magma, ready to pay it back for the last encounter. Ferowyn wanted Lightning, as she now had enchanted blades that made her faster than ever. Magnus took Steam, being all that was left.
Facing one another, all was silent. Neither party spoke, but they were poised, weapons out, ready to begin. Eager to end this.
"You will not walk away from this," Teriwyn told them quietly, breaking the silence. She then whirled her sword around, and waited. Ice let out a grinding laugh.
"You're right. You won't."
Those words began it, and yet, only two saw it happen. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a boom of thunder all around them. Lightning had vanished in a blaze, but then…so had Ferowyn. They were both moving at unreal speeds, clashing with one another, their movements unobservable. There was only the ringing of steel from their unseen struggle which echoed around them all. With a roar of rage, Vinir in all of his werebear anger charged Magma, brandishing his swords. Magnus silently began to run towards Steam, which braced for his swift assault, and Teriwyn moved in and began exchanging blows with Ice.
Steam fell first. Magnus's enhanced powers and twin swords were more than it could handle, and after a few attempts to block the psionicist fierce and yet calculated attacks, one arm severed in a blistering cloud of steam. Then, its midsection was sliced open, sending out another billowing column. And finally, its head was removed. The body stood for a moment more, and then with a strange surge of power, the body exploded outward in a huge gust of boiling hot wind, enough to fry a mans skin. Magnus held up his blade of Fire and using it as a conductor, it absorbed all of the stinging heat.
With Steam vanquished, Magnus looked around. Ferowyn was still nowhere to be seen, neither was Lightning, but he could still hear their raging battle. Both Vinir and Teriwyn were not faring so well. Vinir was badly wounded, despite his werebear form's ability to absorb damage; he was bleeding heavily from several deep lacerations, while Magma still looked relatively unharmed. Teriwyn was an excellent fighter as well, but Ice was better, and with its two swords, it was gradually wearing her down.
Magnus wasn't sure which to help, and finally resolved to head for Vinir, trusting his leader's skills. Then the situation changed. Vinir, in a thundering bellow, and in a impressive move, got around Magma's sword, and with a single slice, sheared off Magma's head. It stood there, quivering for a moment, but Magnus knew it was about to explode in a fountain of lava, which Vinir could never survive.
He moved quickly, and using a surge of telekinetic force, knocked Vinir aside, yelling, "Aid Teriwyn. Now!" And suddenly, Magma blew like a volcano, covering Magnus in a wave of lava that would kill any mortal. Vinir couldn't believe the sacrifice his friend had made, watching him be swallowed up by the liquid fire. But behind, things were getting bad. Teriwyn couldn't hold anymore, and Ice was able to get a stab in, right through the bladesinger's midsection, causing her to fall to the ground with a cry.
Seeing his beloved being slain, Vinir in an understandable rage stampeded Ice with an infuriated roar, catching the evil spirit off guard. Using his massive body, he broadsided it, sending it flying. Vinir fell to the ground, dropping his swords, checking on Teriwyn. She was alive, but just barely. Vinir clasped his huge hairy hands together, evoking elven magic to heal her wound.
Unfortunately Ice, not being able to feel pain, stood up the moment it touched ground, and came charging back on the run. Vinir saw it coming, but there wasn't anything he could do. He was locked in the spell, if he broke it, the magic would dissipate, and Teriwyn would die. He couldn't live with that, planning on healing her at all costs. So, he continued with the ceremony. And as the whistling blade of Ice descended upon his head, Vinir clenched his eyes shut, hoping the magic would work in time. But the blade never struck him. They instead struck steel.
There standing over Vinir, both swords up, holding the attack at bay was Magnus, his skin steaming and burnt and his hair singed, but alive.
"You want them," said he, glaring the sub-elemental spirit in the eyes, "Then you come through me first."
Having no problem with that, Ice began to attack Magnus, and thus the fight went on. Both had two swords, so Magnus was able to hold Ice off long enough for Vinir to finish his task. Teriwyn's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up with a groan.
Vinir, seeing her awake, but knowing this wasn't the time to embrace, quickly snatched up his swords, and leapt up. Teriwyn also saw Magnus battling Ice, and swept up her sword, and both werebear and bladesinger stepped up to join the pressed psionicist, and the three of them encircled Ice. It didn't take long after that for the lone samurai to succumb to the incredible power of all those swords, and in an arctic blast of air and chunks of hail, Ice was no more.
Then, there was a huge flare of brilliance as well as an enormous thunderclap, and knocked back into sight almost from nowhere, was Ferowyn, looking a little crispy herself. She stood for a moment, then sat down heavily. She was sweating and smoking, but she was grinning.
"Lightning?" Magnus asked her, to which she pointed. All that remained of the evil samurai was a large charred spot on the ground, as well as his empty golden armor.
"Then…it's over," Teriwyn said aloud, the unmistakable note of relief in her voice.
"Not quiet," Vinir countered, in his growling bear voice, "We must destroy the artifacts, so this may never be attempted again."
They agreed. Re-boarding their airship, the four went to a primary elemental temple, where they placed each artifact upon a smoldering anvil, and it was destroyed. But something peculiar happened as each hammer stroke fell upon each artifact.
When the Earthen armor, taken from Ice, exploded in a cloud of dust and dirt, Vinir vanished from sight. As the bracer of Air went in a wave of wind, so went Teriwyn. When the shield of Water burst in a flood of liquid, Ferowyn was gone. And as the sword of Fire blasted into a column of fire, Magnus faded along with it. To where? Where indeed...