W.I.T.C.H

Chapter 16

Equal and Opposite Reaction

Balsilide

5 Years Ago

Endarno sits at his desk and remembers. He remembers the words of Ezerial, and the warning he gave. He remembers what he saw when he touched the Heart of Balsilide. He remembers the terrible events that will come to pass, and he remembers that it is up to him alone to stop it.

Much has changed in the three years since that event. He is much older now, and, he felt, wiser. He now holds a position of political power on Balsilide's high council. He has done much to help the people of Balsilide, despite much opposition. He does not have the backing of any political party, but does not need it. He is his own man, as he always has been.

As he stares at the papers on his desk, his thoughts are carried once more into the past. He remembers the one word that was repeated to him throughout his contact with the Heart, the one word that has driven him these past years.

Kandrakar.

He did not know what that word meant when he had heard it three years ago. Since then, however, he has been doing research. It is this research that is now spread upon his desk. He has learned that Kandrakar is a fabled city and the center of infinity. Some people, most people, believe the city to be a myth. Nothing more then an old fairy tale used to put children to sleep. Were it not for Endarno's experience three years ago, he would have felt the same way.

There were others, though, ones who spoke Kandrakar's role when they toppled the dictator Ari hundreds of years ago. For a while, he was puzzled by what he had learned about Kandrakar. Those who lived there seemed kind, caring, people. How could they be connected to the predicted disaster? Were they the cause, or the victims? Things did not become clear until he learned about the Guardians. Kandrakar's soldiers, the Guardians were five magical beings, often girls, who controlled the elements. After he had learned this, Kandrakar's role became clear.

A flash of light behind him interrupts his thoughts. He turns to see a small, pointy-eared man standing in his room, staring at him.

"Are you Endarno?" the man askes.

Endarno quickly recovers from his initial shock. After all he had seen and done, it took a lot more then this to rattle him.

"Yes." he says. "Who are you?"

"My name is Minnio." the small man says. "I am from the fortress of Kandrakar."

Endarno smiles. He has been planning on this. He had quickly realized that getting to Karndrakar was well out of his means, but there had been rumors of those that had been accepted as elders of Kandrakar. Becoming a member of Kandrakar would give him unlimited access to the fortress, and put him in a perfect position to stop what was going to happen. He had done his best to raise as much attention to himself as possible, striving to be the perfect elder candidate. In his role on the council, he tried to do what he thought Kandrakar was looking for. He had been as generous and as caring as he could in an effort to get Kandrakar to notice him. It appeared to have worked.

"Minnio has been watching you closely." Minnio says. "You have been an excellent leader on Balsilide. The things you have accomplished are quite impressive, especially considering your lack of outside support."

Endarno grits his teeth. People always thought his independence was a handicap, something he's had to overcome. They never realized what a strength it was.

"Thank you for saying so." Endarno says.

"Minnio has also noticed your interest in the fortress." Minnio says. "You've been asking a lot about Kandrakar, have you not?"

"This is true." Endarno says. "My accomplishes pale in comparison to that of Kandrakars'. I wanted to find out as much as I can about the fortress so I can strive to be more like their elders."

"And what if Minnio told you that you could become and elder?" Minnio says.

"It has been my life dream." Endarno lies.

"Then Minnio brings good news." Minnio says with a smile. "Your dream has come true."

Meridian

Raythor watched as Grath drove Vathek through a wall.

"Quickly, I have him pinned! Attack!" Grath called to his Balsilidian teammates, while trying to keep Vathek on the ground at the same time.

Laris began to run towards the pair, but Raythor tackled her.

"We got your back, big guy. Try not to screw this one up." Raythor said, drawing his sword and attacking Laris.

Laris was the lone female on the R.E.G., but was clearly faster and stronger then Raythor. She wore a featureless mask that was quite successful at freaking out the average criminal, but Raythor was not going to be that easily intimidated.

Laris charged but Raythor managed to side step and deliver a blow to Laris back.

"You would attack a woman?" Laris asked through her mask.

"Do you have any idea how many times I've beaten by girls?" Raythor said. "I'm starting to think your whole gender is out to get me."

Laris said nothing. She brought out her sword and once again attacked. Raythor parried, but was surprised at the strength of the attack. He feared he had under estimated his opponent. He spent the next few minutes retreating from the Balsilidian warrior.

"I see you're the strong silent type." He said, dodging another attack.

Laris continued to silently attack.

"You know, this may be tough to imagine, but normally I'm the quiet one." Raythor said.

Laris kept attacking and Raythor kept dodging.

"I'm sure if we got to know each other, we'd be best of friends." Raythor said. "Really."

Laris swung hard and missed Raythor by mere inches.

"Murderer." She growed.

Laris attacked with a flurry of strikes with her sword, but Raythor blocked them all.

"True." Raythor admitted, "But slightly irrelevant. You know, you've got a lot to learn about first dates.

Laris continued to attack, but her strikes were getting sloppy.

"I should introduce you to this guy I know." Raythor said. "His name's Frost. I think you'd like him. See, he's bigger and stronger then me, just like you are, but I always knew how to defeat him."

Laris backed up and started to growl. Raythor could tell she was getting angry.

"What I would do," he continued, "is I would get him so annoyed that he would end up hurting himself, instead of me."

Laris charged at Raythor, who calmly stepped to one side, revealing the stone wall behind him. Laris crashed into the wall.

"Yeah, like that."

Raythor had deliberately positioned himself in front of a building that had once been used as a storm shelter. The stone walls were three feet thick and nearly unbreakable. Laris, not noticing this, had hit the wall head first at top speed. She remained standing for a few seconds, before falling to the ground unconscious.

Raythor looked down at his vanquished foe. He smiled. One down…

Far away from this battle, Caleb was being thrown to the ground. The thrower, R.E.G. leader Balken, stood over him, smiling.

"Don't you ever get tired of this?" Balken said.

Caleb swept Balken's leg and the Balsilidian hit the ground. Caleb quickly got back to his feet.

"Tired of what?" he asked.

Balken stood up and attacked with his sword. Caleb blocked, and countered with a strike of his own.

"Tired of being outmanned, outmatched and outmaneuvered." Balked said, avoiding Caleb's attack. "The Guardians aren't here, and you're all on your own."

"Your point?" Caleb asked.

The two warriors struck at each other, their colliding swords creating sparks in the air. Both men were shaken after the impact of their weapons, but Caleb managed to recover faster and lunged at Balken. Balken moved at the last second. He was fast enough to save his life, but not enough to dodge the attack completely. The tip of Caleb's sword nicked Balken's arm. Balken held it, grimacing in pain. Caleb kept on the offensive with a swing of his sword. Balken ducked it and delivered a roundhouse kick that sent Caleb flying backwards.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot." Balken said. "You're the brave rebel hero. You're the defender of Meridian. You're the boy who managed to fight Phobos all on his own. Except history forgot one thing, didn't it?"

"What?" Caleb said, catching his breath.

"You we're losing." Balken said. "And you knew it. It was only a matter of time before Phobos crushed you like bugs. And it was your fault. You were the chosen one. You were the rebel leader, but you were failing. Meridian was falling."

Caleb roared and attacked. Balken easily blocked.

"Until the Guardians showed up. Five girls, younger then you, and with no battle experience. Yet, they managed to do what you couldn't. They defeated Phobos! And in under a year too! They saved Meridian. Not you."

Another attack from Caleb. Balken easily dodged it and shoved Caleb away.

"But you got another chance." Balken continued. "Elyon liked you. You were made head of Meridian's military. You we're in charge of making sure nothing ever happened to Elyon. And you know what?"

Caleb charged Balken, who stopped Caleb and grabbed him by the neck.

"You failed."

Balken threw Caleb to the ground for the second time that day.

"Twice, actually" Balken said, dusting himself off. "Nerissa, your own mother, managed to steal Elyon's power's in a couple weeks. And once the Guardians had saved her? You let it happen again. This time to Dee."

Caleb stood up, furious, but did not attack.

"And now this? You so called Honor Guard?" Balken said. "What a joke! Nothing more then one last attempt to prove yourself a hero. Well guess what, Caleb. Without the Guardians, you're nothing! You're a failure!"

Balken laughed.

"And it's only a matter of time until you fail your girlfriend." Balken said. "Perhaps I should show Cornelia what a real man is like!"

Caleb took a deep breath, and dropped his sword. He once again charged at Balken, unarmed this time. Balken swung his sword, but Caleb was too fast and ducked underneath it. He then caught the unsuspecting Balken with a powerful punch.

POW

Caleb grabbed the dazed Balken by the collar.

"You can insult Meridian." Caleb said. "You can insult my team. You can even insult me, and I can take it. But you!"

POW

"Do not!"

POW

"Insult!"

POW

"Cornelia!"

POW

Caleb sent Balken flying with a final uppercut. To Caleb's surprise, Balken quickly got to his feet after landing.

"Looks like I hit a nerve." Balken said, wiping the blood from his face. "Compensating for something?"

Caleb clenched his fists, ready to attack again, but was interrupted by a bolt of lighting from the sky.

"ENOUGH!"

Kandrakar

3 Months Ago

Endarno walks through the halls of Kandrakar, stroking his beard. He had let it grown in a few weeks ago, and is quite pleased with how it feels on his face.

A lot had happened over the last few years. He had not had much time to adjust to life on Kandrakar. He had to admit; there were times when missed Balsilide, but Kandrakar was stunning. He remained focus to his mission, however, and had used recent events to his favor as only he could.

He had managed to use his experience as a politician and as a lawyer to make himself prominent during Phobos's defeat. He had spoken well enough to gain quite a few followers, including Minnio, while learning a lot about how the fortress operated. His name was now quite well known in the Kandrakar, especially considering his lack of experience.

His real breakthrough came after Nerissa's attack on Kandrakar. He had played enough of a role in Kandrakar's protection to get him noticed by his fellow elders, but not enough to put him in any harm. The fact that it was an ex-guardian that attacked also boded well for him.

By the time the Oracle had made his questionable decision regarding Zamballa, Endarno had become the most popular elder in Kandrakar. His new and unique ideas were regarded by many as the breath of fresh air the fortress needed. And with the fortress now on lockdown, he needed only one more slip-up from the Oracle to put the final phase of his plan into action.

Endarno's thoughts are interrupted by a spike of intense psychic pain. He grabs at his head until the pain recedes.

"Minnio!" He calls to his nearby elder. "What happened?"

Minnio, also recovering from the intense pain, staggers over to Endarno.

"Is Endarno alright?" Minnio asks. "Can Minnio help?"

"I'm fine." Endarno says. "But what…?"

"There is only one thing that could cause such discomfort." Tibor says, coming over to join the group. "Someone has broken the seal of lockdown, and made contact with the outside universe."

"But who would… The Oracle." Endarno says.

"I'm afraid that is the only logical option." Tibor says.

"But if he broke lockdown…" Endarno begins.

"Yes." Tibor says. "There is only one option left to the council."

Endarno does his best to hide a smile. This is exactly the opportunity he was waiting for.

"Judgement."