Chapter 6: A Guardian Rises
Nuzzling her scaly face into the warm fuzzy comfortable thing she found herself on, Illuyana purred loudly as she pressed her face firmly into her nest. It was warm, comfortable, and sang a sweet symphony of comforting emotions, melodic heartbeats, and complementary head scratches.
That was, until it spoke.
"'Yana, come on. It's time to get up. The sun is up, and I promised Saint I would help the lightbearers today."
Keeping her eyes firmly closed, she continued to nuzzle her face into the furs in hope that the nesting would just keep quiet. "That's right. You promised. I did no such thing."
Laughing, Brynden shook his head. Thankfully for her, she seemed to have convinced him to remain put. Closing her eyes, she felt satisfied that she asserted her dominance over him as she settled back in. Kneading his furs, she placed her head back down between her crossed paws.
That is, until her nest began to move.
"You know, you transform into a cat one time, and now you are acting exactly like one."
Hissing like a rabid animal, she dug her claws violently into the now shifting furs. Holding onto the formerly-comfey nest for dear life, she ended up dangling awkwardly onto the side of her bonded partner as he stood up, one claw stuck into the furs of his coat, dangling above the endless abyss below of not comfey.
Thinking about all the awful things that her nest would make her do in the near future, like move, and talk to people, and go outside!
No! I will not be subjected to anything like that!
"Free me! Let me go!" She screeched, but she quickly learned that her phrasing could have been better.
Laughing, her bonded partner only responded with a quick but menacing message as he glared down upon her like a spider who has caught a fly. "Be careful what you wish she for, oh friend mine."
Watching in horror as adrenaline filled her draconic veins, Illuyana saw as he untangled her claw and set her loose. Her eyes widening in horror, she was only able to let out a quick, "Wait! No!"
Falling ungracefully into the ground as her paw became free, Illuyana began her descent to the ground with her two paws outstretched upward. Feeling immensely betrayed, she opened her mouth to let out a scream of horror as she descended, her pupils shifting into paper thin slits before she landed ungracefully with a soft plop and an "Oof." onto the ground.
Staring hatefully up from her undignified position on the ground, she watched as Brynden armed himself with his weapons and placed his hand on the zipper to their tent.
"Come on, we need to go. We might be late already."
Shaking off her sleepiness, she shifted herself into her ghost-disguise and floated up to her partner. "You are lucky that I like you."
Laughing, Brynden opened the tent flap and let in the cold winter air. Stepping out, the two of them saw several children playing tag in the morning sun, happily skipping about without a care in the world. She turned her robotic eye to see Brynden smiling happily at the sight, and she forgave him just a little bit for disturbing her peace.
Turning to his disguised companion, his smile brightened further, seemingly growing happier at the sight of her eye on him. "Yes." He said, his tone blissful and his mind clearly elsewhere. "Yes I am."
—
Winter had arrived with a vengeance, a terrible seemingly endless cold clearly biting any who braved the open windy air, and yet Brynden didn't feel it. Ever since his wish, he hasn't felt much of anything wearing on him when it came to the elements of the world.
Thankfully, due to the strength that his wishes had been granting his draconic friend, she didn't seem to mind the cold either. Floating behind him with a confidence she gained over the time they have been living here, the two made their way down the dirt road towards the meeting point set by Saint. Feeling the impact of the long-rifle on his back with each step, Brynden felt comfortable for the first time in his life.
This place, once he got used to it, was everything he dreamed of and more. Everyone here was protected under the Traveler, guarded by the lightbearers that didn't see themselves any higher than the people they were protecting. Sure, there were disagreements and fights, but nothing close to what he saw back home or on the road here.
Looking over to see a strangely dressed man with a cape, flipping several glowing knives for a gathering of wide-eyed travelers dressed up in furs just as fluffy as his, Brynden smiled as he continued to scan his surroundings with a seriousness that didn't quite reach his face.
Looking up to the mountains in the distance, Brynden couldn't help but think that the Traveler was in a good place. The natural fortifications around the city made it a natural choke point for anyone who wished to attack it… but no matter how peaceful it seemed, he couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding.
He knew something would eventually come for the budding city. The world was too hostile for anything else. Word of the Fallen raiding nearby settlements, warlords prodding the Iron Lord's defenses, and the inability to maintain a reliable fighting force free of the Iron Lords to defend the city were constant talking points of the people in the city.
However, it wasn't only the Fallen that had the city's attention. There were talks around the city of supplies for proper lodging by the lightless. All around them were people wrapped up in everything from heavy winter coats to fur blankets attempting to combat the greatest enemy that has attacked them so far.
The cold.
Remembering a scene he saw just last night of people huddled around a roaring fire set by a sword embedded in the ground by one of the lightbearers, Brynden knew he needed to help however he could.
"There they are." Illuyana said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Looking ahead, Brynden saw a small group of people talking amongst themselves. They appeared to all be lightbearers if the nearby ghosts were any indication, but that wasn't a surprise considering what they were gathered here for. Listening to the woman who was clearly taking charge even as he closed the distance, Brynden took his place among the crowd.
"-supplies are running low. All the nearby stops are picked clean, so we will need to branch out a bit to find something useful." Hearing the mumbled conversation from the groups, the woman waits a moment before continuing. "This will be a simple supply grab, not much else to it… Any volunteers?"
A strange silence came and went as the woman glanced around through the group of lightbearers. Everyone seemed to be examining their nails or finding something far more interesting in the nearby rock formation.
"Since you all seem so enthusiastic, I'll assume this will be just like last time where we struggled to get you mongrels to help!"
Looking around, Brynden was honestly surprised at the attitudes of the lightbearers. It almost seemed like the duty to the community drilled into him by his mother over the years was completely nonexistent among them all.
Raising his hand without hesitation, Brynden volunteered. "I'll go!"
Tallulah turned, pointing animatedly at him with a smile on her face.
"Thank you, finally! Someone with a sense of duty!"
Smiling, Brynden stepped forward even as she continued.
"You all know the deal, three person teams! Who's our lucky third? Volunteer or I'll volun-tell you!"
After a few moments of the crowd grumbling amongst themselves, someone else raised their hand.
"Ah, Venra. Nice to see you." Tallulah said, much to the crowd's relief. It seemed like everyone was happy that they wouldn't need to be sent on the supply run, slowly scattering once they realized they were off the hook.
Even as Brynden made his way forward, Tallulah already began to walk with her companion, leaving Brynden to follow behind.
"Likewise." Said Venra, examining a knife she produced from… somewhere. "Didn't have much else to do right now anyway."
Laughing, the two of them made their way towards the city exit with a silent Brynden and Illuyana behind them.
"Same strategy as always. Find the supplies, clear a drop zone, then call in the ships… not that we are expecting anything fun as it is. Should just be a quick errand for supplies."
Glancing behind her shoulder, Tallulah acknowledged Brynden for the first time since he spoke up.
"Hey newbie!" She yelled, louder than was probably necessary, "Do you know how to ride a sparrow?
—
The wind roared by as she sat nestled in the hood of her bonded, twists and turns shifting her metallic chassis within the confines of his furred hood. The two of them were speeding along rapidly along a mountain trail, following behind the two lightbearers in the crisp air of the mountains.
Not that she could see much of it, stuck in his hood as she was.
Using every sense she could, she glanced out of the hood only to see cool blue skies. She listened to the wind passing by, but the fast passing air told her nothing. She sensed her bonded's emotions, but she felt only determination to succeed and not disappoint the light bearers or the people back in the city.
They had been traveling for hours at this point, making their way to who knows where. Growing agitated, the disguised Ahamkara's mind grew restless.
Throughout this ordeal, Illuyana finally realized that she needed to solve an issue that she didn't know she had until right now. Up until this point, she and her bonded partner had communicated only verbally. Now though, she couldn't communicate with him at all. If she needed to talk with him, she couldn't.
And even if I could, we couldn't talk about everything with those lightbearer's nearby…
Resigned to the fact that she couldn't solve this problem now, she settled in. She would get him alone again eventually, and she could deal with it then.
—
"Alright, we hoof it from here." Said their apparent team leader as she glanced back to Venra and Brynden. "Don't want anyone to know we are here if the fallen decided to scrounge this place first."
Grunting but not saying anything, Venra dismounted. As one, their two sparrows dissipated into thin air next to them.
"There's an overlook nearby. Let's see if there's anything wriggling about in the town before we go in."
Switching his gaze to his ride for a second, he realized that it wasn't doing the same. After a moment of awkward silence, Illuyana floated into view and was staring directly at him with what could only be expectation.
Silently, he wished with everything he had that the sparrow would disappear like theirs did. Thankfully after a moment, it did. Looking up, he saw the two lightbearers staring at him strangely before Tallulah shrugged her shoulders. Making their way into a thicket of snow covered bushes and onto an unseen trail, the two lightbearers didn't seem keen on waiting for him too long. Quickly following, the three began to make their way through the wilderness.
"So… newbie," Tallulah called from ahead as she ducked under a log. "What's your name?"
Ducking under the same log, he called ahead, "Name's Brynden."
Cursing as he snapped yet another twig below his boot. The other two were as silent as a ghost, and yet he felt like his footsteps were louder than the sparrow anyway.
"Well Brynden, I'm glad you've come. Not often I see new faces wanting to go on routine supply missions." She laughed, jumping off a rock and landing a few feet lower. "Honestly, I pegged you as the 'No-fun having stay put and burrow down into a defensive perimeter' type."
Smiling, he landed on the frosty ground with a thunk behind Venra.
"No problem. I came to the city to help however I can. Can't help anyone if they freeze to death right?" He said, picking up the pace to make up even more lost ground. "I guess I'm just tired of all the death. I got the power to make a difference, so I might as well try, right?"
Tallulah stopped in her tracks before turning around. Giving him a bright smile, she slapped him on the shoulder roughly. "That's the spirit! Glad to have you along."
The other two companions acknowledged his words but didn't say anything else as they continued to make their way through the woods. After a few minutes of silent tracking, a ghost floated up to Tallulah from somewhere unseen.
"Someone's in the town."
Losing her lighthearted demeanor for a second, Tallulah addressed the ghost seriously. "Friendly?"
Spinning the metallic chassis behind it, the ghost shook an obvious negative.
"Looks like wandering lightbearers. Seems we weren't the first ones to have this idea."
Holding her hand out under the floating machine, the ghost dissipates in a similar manner to how the sparrows did.
"Alright, we got company. Good thing we decided to scout the area first huh?" Gesturing ahead, she pulled out a pair of binoculars. "Who knows, maybe they are friendlies?"
Nodding, Brynden tried to make his footsteps as quiet as possible as they continued on to the overlook. It didn't take long before they found themselves on a large hill overlooking the former town.
The cool air passed over the hill the three were on, causing the raised voices of those below to blow over them. A quick observation of them showed very clearly that the lightbearers were heavily armed, and also not alone.
"'Join me for a supply run' she says." Venra's annoyed voice cut through the crisp air like a knife. "'We aren't expecting company,' she says."
Tallulah snorted, shaking her head. "We were monitoring the area for fallen ships. Not this."
Lying down onto the rocky ground, Brynden pulled out his sniper. Looking through the scope, Brynden felt his hands tighten painfully on the grip of his gun. Below in plain view, he saw a few obvious travelers being shaken down for supplies by a group of lightbearers. The people looked absolutely devastated as they were forced to hand over their supplies at gunpoint, the lightbearers seemingly not caring in the slightest as they doomed the people to the cold unforgiving world casually.
"It isn't just lightbearers. There are travelers down there too." Gritting his teeth, he aimed the crosshair at what he supposed was the leader's head.
Peeking through her binoculars
"Bastards." Tallulah said before sliding back behind the hilltop. "It's always something…"
Looking over to where one of the lightbearer raiders pointed, she saw a building where they seemed to be collecting all of their Ill-gotten-gains.
"Looks like they took up shop in that building." Tallulah said, talking to Venra behind cover. "This 'errand' just got a lot more interesting."
Venra added her own thoughts. "Yeah, it means they won't be leaving. We might need to find a new town."
Illuyana noticed that Bryn was idly listening, still watching the group below with his sniper. Finding a family below cowering next to a box, Brynden grit his teeth as one of the lightbearers pointed at the family aggressively.
"… Damn. No good options here…"
… Brynden watched silently as a lightbearer grabbed a man and threw him away from a child and his mother, yelling some unheard words at the man as he threw him into the broken road.
"He's going to kill the father." He whispered, causing the other two to go quiet.
Something deep down resonated within Brynden at this scene. He has seen it before. He remembered the day his father died. It was the same scene, exactly the same. In that moment, it wasn't an unknown crying child and a struggling man, it was his father and himself down there.
Feeling his finger move to the trigger, he waited for the point of no return.
"Don't do it." He whispered to no one. "Don't you do it."
"You know we can't take them on without risking the rest, don't you?" He idly heard Tallulah behind him, but he didn't care.
"Won't matter. They are dead by execution or cold anyway." Was Brynden's response.
Venra grunted, studying the scene closely. "I count three. It's an even fight."
The raider pulled out a revolver, loading it casually bullet by bullet as the child's screams could be heard, a siren warning of impending tragedy below.
"We can take them." Illuyana said from over his shoulder, a comforting presence from above.
"Guess we are doing it like this then." Tallulah said as she pulled out a knife.
"At least we have the element of surprise." Was Venra's response as the sound of a safety clicking behind him was easily heard.
The lightbearer pointed the gun at the father.
"No."
Boom.
The resounding gunshot rang across the countryside, declaring war on those below.
—
A moment of tense silence could be heard as the warlord's lifeless body impacted the ground below. Before the ejected shell of the sniper could even hit the dirt next to him, another shot rang out as he shot another lightbearer. Quickly standing up, Brynden then began to sprint as quickly as he could down the hill.
Illuyana, for her part, used the chaos to disguise herself as a small lizard and made her way into the neck of Brynden's coat. Whispering to him from her new spot, she glanced ahead to the oncoming battle below. "I'm here Bryn."
His emotions clear, he whispered back a quick, "I wish those families survive this."
Her eyes glowing as her magics did their work, she glanced forward even as a bullet whizzed by his head. "Couldn't wish that for us huh?"
Another bullet whizzed by. "I don't need you for that!" He yelled, a purple shield appearing on his arm as his entire body was covered in void energy. From her spot on his shoulder, the entire world appeared to take on a purple tint from where she was.
The volume of bullets increased dramatically as Brynden made himself the biggest target, but all he did was hold up his shield and a massive wall of energy appeared in front of him. The pitter patter of small arms fire hitting the wall harmlessly caused a gang filled smile to grace Illuyana's face.
Her bonded was strong, and through him, her.
"Damn it newbie!" Venra yelled even as the two other lightbearers sprinted down the hill after him.
Even as he rushed forward, the raiders took up position around their fallen comrade. His ghost was already above him, resurrecting him. He didn't get to enjoy the free air for long though, as Brynden threw his shield like a frisbee.
Holding his head with an open hand as he sat up, the lightbearer opened his eyes only for the top half of his head to be bisected by a shield of pure void magic.
Well, this got real interesting, real fast. Illuyana idly thought as a fiery knife flew through the air from behind them, sinking itself deeply into the eye of a woman. Trapped between a ricocheting void shield and an expertly thrown knife, the woman stood no chance as both impacted her and she lifelessly crumbled to the ground. Explosions rang around them even as paracausal abilities clashed violently against gunshots and grenades.
Looking over, she saw as the travelers clumped up and rushed toward a building that was somehow miraculously spared from all forms of warfare.
"Tallu, left!" She heard Venra say, causing the woman to dodge expertly out of the way of a flying grenade. Bringing her weapon up, she began to fire at the final remaining lightbearer, but before anything further could happen, the woman burst into flames and produced a sword from… somewhere.
"Let's see how you deal with this!" She yelled, casting a slice of white-hot fiery energy directly at Tallulah.
Unable to do anything about it at that moment, Brynden watched as his new friend was engulfed entirely in flames and disintegrated. Thoroughly pissed off, another shield appeared around his arm.
Summoning the void wall in front of him again, he began to make his way hastily toward the floating woman. Seeing him coming, she threw everything she could at him… to no avail.
Reaching his quarry, he backhands the woman with the shield, sending the woman into the dirt.
Illuyana, for her part, was monitoring her bonded's emotions closely. He was angry, furious even. He wished for this person's death very clearly, a turn that even she didn't see coming.
In fact, this outburst was not like him at all. During their travels, he protected her with fervor and enthusiasm, but this felt different. The undertone of wishing for those people to be safe was still there, but this felt personal.
It felt like vengeance.
Moving forward, he punched her square in the face with a fist that could shatter concrete. One, two, three punches later, and the unrecognizable form of the raider could be seen below him.
Looking around, she didn't see any threats nearby. Nuzzling into her bonded's neck to calm him down, she smiled as he finally allowed his void cloak to dissipate, his anger with it. They watched as two ghosts left their lightbearer's corpses behind in a hurry, the last of which was being held in a death grip by Venra.
Wanting to comfort him again, Illuyana nuzzled him once again.
"Don't worry Brynden. I don't think they will be able to hurt those people anymore."
—
Breathing heavily, Brynden knew she was breathing right. All around them were the glowing, white-hot craters from their short fight. Smoke rose from where he deflected the strange sword-swipes, causing his eyes to widen.
Did that really just happen?
He did it. He fought on an even level with other lightbearers. Not only that, but he won!
He started to laugh. Hysteria replaced his previous anger as he realized that he won! He beat them! He saved that boy from the same pain he went through! Fallen scouting parties and lone warlords in a one on one is one thing, but this?
She threw miniature suns at me, and I blocked them like they were nothing at all!
"Newbie, you alright?" Tallulah called out, walking over from the spot where she does not thirty seconds ago.
I'm as strong as one of them now. I can make a difference!
"Yeah." He said, wiping a joyous tear from his eye. Looking over to the untouched building where the travelers took shelter, he began to walk toward it. "That just felt… really good."
Smiling, she made her way over to the door. Opening it, she called inside.
"Coast is clear. You're safe now."
Slowly, the travelers all made their way outside, their packs once again strapped firmly to them. They eyed the three of them suspiciously before Tallulah spoke up.
"We are guardians of the Last City. I understand if you don't trust us, but we have a jump ship coming to get some supplies." As their eyes lit up, Tallulah continued. "If not, I understand if-"
"You hear that dad? The city! They can take us there!"
Smiling down, the dirt-covered man began to cry even as he tried to hold it back.
"I know, son. It's over now."
The son, father, and mother all then grouped together in a hug even as the remaining group of people whispered amongst themselves on the news.
They were safe now, and it was thanks to the opportunity Illuyana gave him. It would be a debt he could never repay.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked back to see Venra, smiling toward him.
"Stupid move newbie… but you did good."
Feeling a presence over his shoulder, he laughed as Illuyana in her ghost form flew inches from Venra's face.
"Hey! Only I get to call him stupid!"
Laughing, the two of them waited as Tallulah called in the supply ships.
—Blooper Scene—
(Note: blooper scenes like this aren't canon to the story, they are just silly things I like to write in my stories sometimes, and I hope they make y'all laugh.)
Xx-LolGitRekt69420-xX loaded a few rounds into his revolver before pointing it at the NPC. He was super close to not needing to deal with these pesky supply stats on this crappy patrol that the game kept whining at him about.
Never should have clicked on that dang patrol.
"Sorry bud, no hard feelings bruh. Playing O-B-J, ya know?"
Aiming the weapon, he-
GUARDIAN DOWN!
What the?
Pressing the button to respawn, he shook his head as he sat up.
What the hell just hit me?
Opening his eyes, he saw a sentinel shield flying directly toward his face.
"Oh sh-"
GUARDIAN DOWN!
Damn it!
Wanting to respawn again, he saw "RESPAWN UNAVAILABLE" show up right as a hunter threatened his ghost at gunpoint.
Oh come on! Don't send me back to character creation! I JUST got all this gear!
Yelling through his ghost's connection to his fireteam, he starts whining in a tone that could only be described as "butthurt."
"Guys? Why didn't you do callouts? I didn't even see-"
GUARDIAN DOWN!
"Oh my god!" Called out his best teammate ImAStinkyPoo. "They're hacking bro. Report them! Like, that knife was way too accurate."
"Doesn't matter!" Called out SuperSrsGamerGirl. "I got super! Let's see how you deal with this!"
Watching through their ghosts as their teammate pops dawnblade and instantly kills one of the two hunters.
"Aww yea, one v three comeback season baby!"
Only to watch in disbelief as the Titan that somehow still had sentinel shield up casually runs up, eating every dawnblade slice sent his way without taking any damage.
"Bro, titans need to get nerfed. That super lasts waaaay too long! Wtf Bungo!?!"
"Oh damn."
Bop!
Biff!
Bang!
Wha-slam!
GUARDIAN DOWN!
…
…
…
"You guys suck."
"LOOK WHOS TALKING! YOU GOT PICKED EARLY!"
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW PVP WAS ENABLED IN THIS AREA NERD? I just wanted to see if we could kill the NPCs!"
"I hate you both."
—Author's Note—
Hello everyone! Hope you enjoy the update… and the blooper.
Can't say when Ima update any of my stories these days. Motivation seems to be the biggest driving factor. Oh well.
Hope you enjoyed it. Not much else to say, oh reader mine.
Please leave a review. I read all of them even if I haven't posted in a while, and they make my day. Thanks!