Chapter 75 PART TWO
Guardian
Knuckles rocked back and forth on his heels. He had been surprised by their first attack and could not afford to give the Wardens another opportunity to catch him with their massive hands. Knuckles exploded forward with his fist cocked back. His target instinctively covered its head and shielded the punch with its hulking arms.
That didn't bother Knuckles; his attack was simply a feint. As soon as he made contact he doubled back to escape the counterattack. Their arms slashed like giant clubs almost crushing Knuckles into the cold stone. The impact of their attacks cracked the ground and gave Knuckles an idea. He let out a yell and smashed his fists on the ground further shattering the stone. The Wardens were knocked off balance. Knuckles seized fistfulls of shattered rock and hurled them forward.
None of the projectiles even got close to reaching their targets. The Wardens' arms moved like flashing whips creating an impenetrable barrier. Knuckles groaned. How do I get close? He would have to wait to solve that riddle. The Wardens took the offensive, lashing with their great arms in huge swiping motions. Knuckles rolled to his left and pushed himself off the ground. He somersaulted in midair to avoid a blow and glided for the far wall. As soon as he reached it, Knuckles started to climb upward so he could take the high ground.
That didn't help. The Wardens simply extended their torsos and rose up to meet him. Their eyes flashed as they whipped the wall. Knuckles managed to get away but was brought down by a shower of falling rock. He rolled into a spin dash as soon as he hit the ground. Knuckles took that speed and tried to use it to propel himself into an attack. He was inches away from punching one of the Wardens in the face but the other interfered and smacked Knuckles across the side.
The blow hit like a truck and sent Knuckles crashing to the ground. He gasped for pain but had no time to let himself recover. Both Wardens renewed their assault, smashing their arms down in every direction. Knuckles protected his face and was forced to absorb blows to the leg and torso. When they tried to wrap their fingers around him, Knuckles just managed to slip away and create distance.
Damn it. Knuckles was already breathing hard. It was taking everything he had just to stay alive. And I haven't even gotten close to scoring a hit. The Wardens formed up and started inching towards him. "You cannot win. This fate has long been prepared for you. It is the judgment for those who would mishandle the Mantle."
"I don't even know what that is," Knuckles snarled.
"But you do. It was embedded in you through instinct. It is what led you to start guarding the emerald in the first place."
"I did my part. There was nothing I could do to stop what happened. What do you want from me?"
"The Mantle of the Guardian was all that kept you alive. It is what preserved you from the judgment. Your race was marked for destruction as a penalty for all your crimes. Yet death alone would not absolve you. The evil that had possessed your race would rise again. As you had scarred the land, so you have borne a scar." The Wardens pointed to the mark of white fur on Knuckles's chest. "This brands you as a Guardian. They alone of the Echidnas would live on to guard and protect the land they once tried to destroy. Now that time has ended and the long delayed vengeance will be complete."
"That's madness! Everything you're saying happened so long ago even the ruins are fading away! Why hold onto the past for so long? It's over."
"You cannot escape this doom. As all those who begged and pleaded were not spared, neither shall you be. The peaceful have become the vengeful and the fruitful have become the reavers. The cycle of destruction, ruin and hatred has no beginning and we are merely the Arbiters of its completion. Time and time again we shall be reborn to execute our function until the flame of life burns out and everything is pulled back into the center. We are the Wardens of the Abyss."
Knuckles raised his fists in challenge. "I don't care what you are. I won't give up. You're just a pair of monsters." Knuckles charged forward and this time he waited for the Wardens to respond. As soon as one tried to attack him, he shifted gears and jumped onto its outstretched arms. He sprinted up the limb and pulled back his fist to attack. At the last moment, Knuckles stopped mid motion. The other Warden had flung its arms forward to protect its twin, just as Knuckles had expected it to. He seized the outstretched arms and pulled on them with all his might. This yanked the Warden forward and Knuckles punched. His fist cratered into the creature's eye. It let out a horrible, piercing scream and shrank back.
The cry echoed throughout the entire temple causing the very foundations to tremble. Knuckles covered his ears to try and mitigate the pressure building in his head. The injured Warden let his limbs shake and twist like a pair of serpents set ablaze. When it finally moved its head, Knuckles saw that he had shattered one of its eyes leaving a gaping black hole. A solid black puss oozed out of the empty socket.
"At least I can tell you guys apart now," Knuckles quipped.
The Wardens did not laugh. They swelled in size and let loose two terrible roars. Dozens of arms sprouted out of their torsos. Knuckles froze in horror as the writhing limbs hissed. The next second they came rushing at him. All he could think to do was escape. Knuckles sprang backward and revved into a spin dash. He sped towards the exit but a shadow moved overhead.
Before Knuckles could reach the arch, the shadow descended from the ceiling. One of the Wardens crashed onto the arch breaking it into pieces. Knuckles was now stuck between the two monsters. Their limbs thrashed forward. Knuckles stood his ground and tried to fight back. He swiped and punched as fast as he could to try and beat back the Wardens' attempts to seize him. However, there were simply too many arms to keep track of. Eventually, Knuckles was grabbed around the ankles and pulled down. More arms seized him by the neck and wrists and he was painfully lifted up.
Knuckles hung suspended in the air. The grip tightened around his throat while the other arms pulled at his wrist and ankles. He let out a cry of pain as he felt himself being wrenched apart. "We have killed thousands of Echidna. Their best warriors are nothing to us."
Knuckles tried to look around for someway of escape, but he couldn't even move his head. He gasped as a horrible snapping sound issued from his ribs. The Wardens were laughing now. It was a sound that chilled the bone. Cold dread slipped into Knuckles's veins. Again he was tempted to give in, to accept his fate. Without direction from his mind, Knuckles wrapped his hands around the arms holding his wrists. Knuckles summoned every ounce of energy he had in his body and pulled. With a stupendous effort that left him light headed, Knuckles pulled the arms forward causing the Wardens to nearly run into each other.
Their concentration broke and Knuckles managed to break free a second time. He landed on his knees and covered his side. One of his ribs had been broken and the pain was surging through his body. The Wardens encircle him yet again. There was nowhere left to go. Knuckles could not hope to avoid their arms any longer. He glanced up at the ceiling but that way brought no hope. The Wardens could change their size at will.
"You are a testament to the fortitude of your race," They said. "But it will not save you."
Knuckles grimaced and rose back to his feet, ready to spring forward. If he had to die, he would do so with his fists raised. He shifted his feet and felt the ground beneath him. Knuckles glanced down and saw that beneath the stone of the flat landing there was a floor of sand. He acted immediately. Before the Wardens could renew their assault, Knuckles punched through the stone floor and delved into the sand. He burrowed underground just as the arms snapped against the floor.
He could not see and had to rely on pure instinct to direct himself. The soil was thick and dry, filling into his eyes and mouth as he dug. Knuckles felt the pressure of the world around him and the slight changes in temperature and used these findings to direct himself. He went to every corner of the room and started breaking down the foundations. Great pillars descended even further below Knuckles which were used as the supports of the mural room. Knuckles found their roots and smashed them apart with his fists. Once they were all weakened, Knuckles directed himself back to the start.
He emerged behind the Wardens who were searching fruitlessly for him. Knuckles pressed his fists together audibly to get their attention. They hissed when they saw him. "I don't care what you call yourselves. I don't care how you came to be or what your purpose is. You may have killed thousands of Echidnas, but you haven't killed me."
The Wardens crept forward. Knuckles waited until they were in the right spot. At that moment, he raised his foot and stomped down as hard as he could. The weakened foundations broke. The stone platform split apart as did the walls and ceiling. Stone and rumble rained down upon them. Knuckles covered his head and dived into the safety of the sand below. He dug until he was several feet deep.
He felt the earth shake violently as the room above collapsed. The Wardens shrieked in pain, but their cries were not nearly as frightening as before. Once all was quiet, Knuckles swam back up. It was difficult to push aside the broken stones, but after a while he managed to find a place to stand. There was now a hole in the ceiling giving him sight into the floor above. Miraculously, the only wall that had been preserved was the one with the mural.
Knuckles strode towards it when his foot stepped into a puddle. He looked down and saw a collection of black water. One of the Wardens's eyes floated in the ooze. Knuckles cringed back and quickly stomped on the eye. It exploded with an ear grating plop!
Knuckles wiped the resulting sludge off his shoe and resumed his inspection of the mural. The temple was completely silent now. After the raucous of the battle, the silence felt eerie. After a while, Knuckles became aware of a faint dripping sound. He turned back and started making his way to the broken arch.
A half formed mass of black liquid was slowly emerging out of the rubble. Two eyes floated limply at its side. They blinked and whirled over to stare at Knuckles as he approached. The Warden did not seem to have the power to direct its body. The eyes simply gazed upward with spine tingling alertness. Knuckles seized them both and tried not to wretch as he felt their slimy skin. He turned away and squeezed. The eyes popped and Knuckles jumped away. He nearly gagged as he wiped his hands clean.
Exhausted, squeamish and utterly dejected, Knuckles returned to the mural. Battle had awoken his dormant spirit, but now he felt as lifeless as he had on the beach. Why had the orb brought him here? Had Takal intended for Knuckles to die? Was she trying to reunite him with his people? Knuckles stared at the mural hoping it would give him an answer. Instead, it simply showed him the monster his people had created.
Knuckles felt a sudden, undirected rage surge through his body. He reared back and slammed his fist against the wall. It cracked only slightly. Something stronger than stone lay behind the image. Knuckles gasped for breath and checked his hand. The blow had torn his gloves and cut the skin open. Knuckles didn't care. He was possessed by a rage so profound he had to express it otherwise it would consume him. Again and again he punched the wall. The cracks on the mural spread slowly. Both of his gloves were torn apart and his hands were soaked in blood. It didn't matter. Knuckles did not even feel the pain. He did not even see the mural anymore. He only saw the pink light, the flash of death.
Punch after punch the cracks slowly widened until at last with one great effort, Knuckles finally broke it down. The mural shattered revealing a great opening. Wind howled out of the crater. Knuckles paused to catch his breath. He leaned forward to inspect the hole. The air was far cleaner and colder than he would have expected. Knuckles stuck his head into the darkness and took a whiff. He was surprised to find the smell of open air. There was another room ahead, one far more spacious than the one he stood in.
Knuckles climbed through the hole. He lost balance and found himself falling down a narrow shoot. A few seconds later he landed on a floor of smooth marble. While encased in near complete darkness, Knuckles could already tell that the ceiling was far above him, the shoot he had fallen through must have been only an entrance. Knuckles crouched down and felt the floor with his hands. The pressure in the room told him that the walls were separated by massive distances. This must be the base of the entire temple.
He walked forward. Knuckles was surprised but no longer afraid. The sense of vigilant menace that had followed him inside the temple was gone. What he felt now was harder to describe. It felt as if he were entering an ancient place, nearly forgotten by time, but he was not an intruder here, in fact, he had a strange feeling of belonging.
Knuckles noticed something in the center of the cavern. He could not make it out only that it was incredibly large. The darkness seemed to swell at the center, giving an outline of some massive structure. As he got closer, Knuckles saw that the center was encased inside a shrine. One very similar to the one that protected the Master Emerald only increased in scale by several times.
At last, Knuckles reached a dais with huge flat steps. He ascended them with his eyes locked onto the figure in the center. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark and Knuckles was starting to see the edges of the statue. At the top of the dais, Knuckles could finally see. It was a tall stone bust of an Echidna king. He carried a long spear in his hand and his head was marked with a crystal crown. Knuckles approached and looked up into the graven king's face. The echidna looked very similar to himself, only the king was solemn and his expression was cold and unfeeling.
Knuckles reached out and touched the stone. At that moment several torches sprang to life. All throughout the cavern flames ignited upon cold pedestals. The previously dark room was suddenly filled with golden light. Knuckles gasped in amazement. The cavern was not empty. Covering the floor were piles and piles of treasure. Gold piled onto gold, sapphires on sapphires, rubies showered with emeralds and diamonds. Everywhere his eyes looked there was more for Knuckles to see. Golden swords, crystal shields, cups encrusted with gems as large as his own hand.
It was a treasure hoard to encompass all treasure hoards. Knuckles had not noticed it all as he approached because there was one quadrant of the room left barren and it was the one he had entered from. The light of the torches reflected off the gold creating a light that seemed to shimmer.
Knuckles looked past the treasure and noticed a series of structures outlining the walls. It took him a moment to recognize them as tombs. Leveled tombs were carved into the walls, each section carrying at least fifty graves. The tombs wrapped around the entire room leaving the number of honored dead beyond counting.
At last, Knuckles understood where he was. His heart squeezed with pain. This was the tomb of the kings and great lords of the echidna, and this hoard was the treasure they had stolen on their conquests. In the end, what they had taken did not even service the living, but had been used to swell the ego of those already fallen. When the doom of the echidna race fell, even the existence of this bounty, this monument to all their sins had been forgotten.
Knuckles collapsed onto the top step of the dais. He covered his face in his still bleeding hands. Knuckles did not cry, but he wanted to. He felt that his people and their cruel fate deserved lamentation, but who would sing it? Who would remember them when they were gone? Was their legacy nothing more than a treasure long lost to time?
As he sat there, alone among the wealth of his ancestors, Knuckles became aware of a sound. He sat upright and looked but he did not see anything. He tried to find the sound again but it had slipped past his senses. Knuckles resumed his brooding but stopped again a few seconds later. The sound had returned…someone was singing.
Knuckles searched all around the room, but the source of the music could not be found. Am I going mad? At last, Knuckles looked up and saw the pink orb. It floated above him and from it came the music. The orb expanded until its light nearly blinded Knuckles. He looked away until the light became less violent. When Knuckles let down his arms he could not believe what he was seeing. Takal descended from the light accompanied by a host of singing Chao. They were not blue anymore. Their skin had turned white and halos hung over their heads.
Takal wore a white dress and shone with a vibrancy that made it difficult to even look at her. She smiled brightly at Knuckles. "Why are you so despondent, Guardian?"
Knuckles let his mouth hang open in amazement. He struggled to find his tongue. "I…what is-"
"Speak freely kinsman. I have been given leave to speak to you, but only for a short time. Say what is in your heart."
"I…I failed…Angel Island…the Master Emerald…the Chao…everything is gone."
"But all is not lost."
"It is! I was supposed to protect it. It was my duty to make everything right, to atone."
"You have been speaking with the Wardens. They are creatures of wrath, born of hatred and despair. You defeated them. They understand only curses and doom, they cannot see the hope and life within you."
"What does it matter? I am the Guardian, cursed to guard the Master Emerald, and I failed."
Takal laughed. It was a sound so sweet that it brought a tangible warmth. "That is their language, not yours. You never thought of it as a curse, not really. Your presence, your duty was a blessing, a blessing on the island and those that resided there. See they have come to you, to thank you. You did not fail them, but protected them for years." Takal stepped aside. The angelic Chao hurried forward and encircled Knuckles. They sang to him and offered up their hands. Knuckles recognized one as the Chao he had rescued from the cliff. He reached down and scooped it up into his arms. It smiled at him and sang joyfully. The long delayed tears had finally come.
"Time and time again you were their savior. If it was not for you they would have met an even crueler fate at the hands of Robotnik. They have no resentment towards you."
"But I failed them..I failed you all."
"You have not failed. You will conquer." Takal motioned to the great treasury around them. "Our ancestors were warriors, brave and true. Yet they made their conquest about possessions, wealth and power. Their legacy has been one of destruction and of doom, but that does not need to always be the case. You still live, you carry the flame for us all." Takal strode towards him and placed her hand on the emblem on Knuckles's chest. He felt his heart skip a beat as heat radiated into his skin. The pain in his side subsided as his rib was healed. "You are not defined by the sins of our people, but by what you choose to do with your own life. Not all is lost. There is still a wider world to protect, innocents in need of a shield. The Earth needs a Guardian."
Takal looked deep into his eyes. "You must conquer yourself, rise above your despair and fear. Take charge of the power within you and use it to protect those that cannot save themselves. Let that be the legacy of the Echidna. Of all these treasures, none is as precious to us as you, the last of us." She smiled again and placed her hand on his cheek. "Do not despair. You are not alone in this fight."
With that, Takal removed her hand and stepped away from him. The Chao returned to her, still singing their sweet song. A white light encompassed them and Takal and the Chao started to ascend into the air. "Good luck Guardian, the spirit and hope of the green world go with you!" There was a flash of white light and they were gone. Knuckles was alone. The torches slowly died out and the light faded.
Knuckles sat in the darkness for a long time. After a while, he rose and returned to the statue. He reached up and took the crown from its head and placed it on his own. There would be a new chieftain of the Echidnas and he would forge a new legacy.