To the Stars

"Well, now each of us have three Guardians Invoked," Sasha stated, "But I have heard legends of where another Guardian lives. His name is Rigdobrite, the Guardian of the Stars. The crater in the north edge of this planet, where a Meteor fell in ancient times. Rigdobrite is has an attack that is derived from no element. If we see enemies that are immune to elemental magic, we can change our Guardian setup in order to attack without those additions. We'll have to head there next."

"Wherever you think we should go. I'm not a Shaman, nor a Baskar, so I don't have any ideas of what to do. So, I've decided to follow your lead in times like this," Sierra replied. She then gave a Heal Berry to Kyoku, who was still smarting from her attempts to claw poor Sierra earlier.

They returned to the ship, and sailed to an isle north of Adlehyde. At the northern end, they found a crater, with a large shrine inside. Figuring it was where Rigdobrite dwelt, they went inside. It appeared to be constructed like a cave, even though human hands had fixed it up. Jacob deduced that the outside of the fallen meteor had been fixed up, while the necessary components of a shrine were added to its hollowed out core. It would be fitting for a Guardian of the Stars to live inside of a meteor.

The whole place was lit up by torches, made of holes in the wall. Kyoku jumped on one, and got a hot foot. She ended up landing right back on Sierra's shoulder, where the gunner began to laugh. They then began to bicker with one another, and continued through the rest of the way.

"How amusing, a human and a rat arguing about such petty things when the Guardians are here before you. It is just fitting for your weak kind, whose ancestors refused the nanomachines back in the days of old. While our people gained power and immorality from them," a female voice echoed throughout the cavern. Then, a pale woman with red eyes and green hair appeared before them. She was also wearing a red dress, and carried no weapons. It appeared as if she was a demon sorceress.

Sasha demanded, "Who are you and why have you come to us?" She picked up her staff, and held it before her, determination in her eyes. The young sorceress knew that this one was going to have to be her fight, after all, magical duels were one of her specialties.

The woman cackled. "My name is Kachikina. I am the sorceress of the Knights of Death. I know that you fools are here to find the Star Guardian. I cannot allow that to happen. You will all die here. Unless you decide to turn tail and run, like all good little servant races. Which is what you rightfully are, your foolish ancestors left their posts in order to join with the Elw against us in the war."

"Like we'd just run away," Jacob yelled, "I am a sacred servant of the Guardians, as is Sasha. We are not servants of the Demons, not since the days of the old war. Our ancestors were no more than slaves to your kind, the Elw freeing us was a blessing that will always stay with us. Meaning we should never let their kindness go to waste, and join up with creeps like you ever again."

"I'd like to see you even try to defeat us. We are superior life forms, and you are just weak and frail beings. Mere humans can never hope to kill a demons," Kachikina stated.

Sierra ran at her, sword drawn. She attacked, leaving a large gash in the Demoness's arm. Black blood cascaded down to the ground, but that didn't stop Kachikina's advancement. If anything, she just laughed it off, regarding it as a minor irritation at the most. That puzzled Sierra, surely the wound was a great one. Even a Demon should be worried when he or she is injured.

The wicked sorceress said, "Foolish human, do you call that a wound? I could do better than that one, let's just say I can sever your arm from your body." And she would have too, if a bright glow hadn't distracted her from the task at hand. A large meteor with eyes in the hole in front, and star points on the top, bottom, left, and right was floating before them, looking like it wanted to destroy the Demoness.

Sasha's eyes became bright. "Rigdobrite, you're here! Oh, great Guardian of Stars, please help us in our endeavors against those that wish to bring harm to our beloved Filgaia. We will fight against the Demons with every power we possess, until they are gone from this world. A Guardian of your might should prove a useful ally in such a battle, so can you come along with all of us?"

*Yes, child,* Rigdobrite answered, *I will help those who wish to fight the wicked ones. You will have to protect our world, the world that adopted your ancestors. The Guardians would do anything to save the people from their oppression, even if they are our enemies. And once the neosapians were taken in by Filgaia, they became some of the most staunch supporters of those that wished to kill the demons, those that had once been their overlords. Take with you my powers, Shaman Princess.*

With that, Rigdobrite's body became light, and then a Medium. Not liking the instant death effect of Ge Ramtos, Sierra switched her Mediums. They then stared Kachikina down, ready to fight with the demon sorceress. The Demoness just laughed, she had no fear of simple humans.

"You humans may have a new ally at your side, but you will still fail. Try me on for size," she yelled at the humans. Then, the wicked one cast a spell, knocking Sierra out. But for some reason, that was all the Demoness wanted. Once done, she fled, returning back to her hideout.

Lyle called out, "Sierra! Oh, Guardians! Please don't die!" He ran to her, and held her in his arms. She still appeared o be breathing, but she was knocked out cold.

Jacob began to think. "I've got an idea. We can take her to Baskar, I'm sure there's some way to reverse the spell that has been cast. We can ask Marco for help in saving Sierra."

Lyle lifted her on his back, and began to carry her out of the crater, on their way back to Baskar. But what he couldn't see was that she was dreaming, fevered dreams that held the stench of death. She could only wonder why such dreams were becoming a part of her life.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I know the Robotech joke was cheesy, but it was fitting for this Guardian. Well, I figured since Siegfried said that humans were a lesser race of his kind, that maybe they were his slaves before the war. That's where that story came from.