XV-Dragon - Thanks for you enthusiasm! ^^


Amnesia and Lies

Four days later

Hay-Lin sat silently in the garden, the Heart of Rakardnak poised between her cupped hands, her eyes staring unblinkingly at it. The cold jewel gave the impression that it sucked the very light from its very surroundings, but it still pulsed slightly with an ethereal darkness that fascinated her and intrigued her. She had no recollection of her past, but she knew...felt that this dark jewel was somehow connected with her forgotten past.. She was dimly aware of a noise to her side, and then a voice spoke into her ear,

"You really sshouldn't stare at that thing too long, it can't be good for you." Startled, Hay-Lin instinctly moved back, before seeing who it was,

"Cedric...you scared me." the Naga, currently in his Human form he often used to speak with the Air Guardian gave a quiet chuckle,

"I doubt I sscared you." he said, a trace of serpentine hissing present in his voice, "But anyway, you really shouldn't ssstare at the Heart for so long, I doubt it can be good for your health." Hay-Lin gave a friendly harrumph,

"Since when did you become a doctor?" the Naga smiled, replying,

"I've alwaysss been a doctor. I got a PhD during an undercover operation on Earth."

"Well perhaps you should use your doctor skills on yourself, you're looking very tired." Cedric nodded, settling himself besides Hay-Lin, trying to get comfortable,

"Yess, it's the rebel ressistance. There are still pockets of rebelss here and there. And we have yet to find the Guardians. The Prince is particularly overworked," he smiled a conspiratorial smile, "he'll ssuffer a stroke if he's not careful. But don't tell him I sssaid that."

Hay-Lin sat without speaking for some time, her thoughts churning through her mind. The word 'Guardian' and the names Cedric had given them struck a chord of her lost memories, Phobos had informed her that this was because they had been her worst enemies, and enemies of the entirety of Metamoor. She turned back to Cedric,

"Tell me about them, the Guardians." Cedric seemed surprised, raising an eyebrow,

"Ssimple really. They are the tools of Kandrakar. The Council's foolish leadersss want to keep their grip upon the worlds and refuse to let anybody rule themsselves. As thus, the peoples of the universse suffer cruelly under their iron fisted rule. When the Prince made it clear he wanted to free Metamoor from their oppressive rule, they sent the Guardianssss who helped to incite a rebellion against the true ruler of Meridian." he recited, having been strictly told by Phobos to tell the amnesiac Air Guardian this version of the story, and only this version, "They use the elemental powerssss of earth, fire and water and are..." Hay-Lin interrupted him,

"What about air? Why don't they use wind?" she asked quizzically. Cedric hesitated for a few seconds, before remembering what the Prince had told him was the 'reason' there was no Air Guardian,

"They did have an Air Guardian, but sshe returned to Kandrakar to keep the decadent Council sssafe." he sighed, "Coincidently, the Prince told me to warn you that he believessss the Guardians know of your amnesia, and might try to use it against you. Sso beware if you meet them again." Cedric felt it was such a phony lie, but Hay-Lin seemed to buy it, he gave her a winning smile, "But let's not talk of such depressing ssubjects."

As Hay-Lin opened her mouth to speak, a Lurden burst into the garden, interrupting the two,

"Lord Cedric, Prince Phobos wishes to speak to both you and Hay-Lin at once." Cedric frowned, dismissing the Lurden. He turned to the amnesiac Earth-girl,

"Shall we?" he held out his arm in a mock-gentlemanly way. Hay-Lin laughed and took it.

The walk to Phobos' throne-room was short, they passed through the main hallway of the castle, arriving at a small side-door that led into the side of the chamber. The two entered silently, moving to the centre of the room. Phobos sat, scowling, on his throne. Cedric bowed while Hay-Lin curtsied, and Phobos gestured towards a large map of Metamoor that stood to the side.

They moved over and Hay-Lin examined the map, it was one of those large-scale maps of the planet surface, with mines and outposts painstakingly carved into the stone of the map. Various figured lay scattered in places on the map, representing the Prince's troops. Phobos strode silently past the two, pointing angrily, towards a large blue circular statuette that had been placed on a large plateau far to the east of Meridian.

"Cedric, care to tell me what that it?" he asked, venom dripping from his voice. Hay-Lin felt a stab of fear at the Prince's's tone. To tell the truth, he had always scared her, from the moment she had seen him, in that cold chamber where the Prince's medics had apparently saved her from death. But she knew that he faced many challenges to his benevolent rule each day, and that he was less than happy with Kandrakar's scheming.

Cedric cleared his throat noisily,

"It...it appearsss to be a portal, sire." he replied. Phobos nodded, a furious gleam in his eye,

"Not just any portal, my serpentine servant. A huge portal, created by the very Mage of Kandrakar. A huge portal that I would quite like to know how your scouts managed to miss, since all evidence suggests it has been there for the better part of the month."

"Ah...well..." Phobos held up a hand, silencing Cedric. Despite her fear of also facing Phobos' wrath, Hay-Lin managed to ask,

"What does it mean? I mean, it isn't the first portal that's appeared, is it? Can't you just close i..." Phobos whirled round to her. While his voice was softer, it still held an edge of ire,

"It means, my dear Hay-Lin. That Kandrakar has somehow managed to agree on something, and have decided to bring together an army composed of troops from many many thousands of worlds. It means that Metamoor is about to be host to the largest invasion force ever to grace the universe."


Phobos is in trouble. ^_^