The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (17 page)

“Unauthorized teleportation stream detected,” said a lieutenant. “It is headed for the moon.”

“Ignore it,” said the admiral. “Ready a Devastator missile.”

“Devastator missile is ready to fire,” said the weapons officer, as he ran his fingers across the computer panel.

“Target the moon,” said the admiral.

“The moon has been targeted.”

“Open fire.”

“Opening fire!”

A small hole on the side of the supreme warship opened up. A bright yellow light was launched from the hole. The missile was on its way! The admiral watched the main monitor of the bridge as the missile flew straight at the red moon. On screen, the yellow glow of the missile grew smaller as it flew farther into the distance.

“Track the missile using the holographic display,” said the admiral.

The lights on the bridge dimmed as the hologram emerged in front of the admiral. The hologram depicted the missile in flight. Just as it was about to reach the red moon, the missile slowed to halt. The yellow glow that had surrounded the missile had vanished. Then, in the blink of an eye, the missile was encased in a ball of water, which became ice instantly.

“Zoom in,” said the admiral.

The image zoomed in. Behind the frozen missile was a large figure. It looked like a giant creature that almost looked half man and half fish. It had gills on its lungs, and its feet and hands were like fins.

“That must be a Guardian,” the admiral said. “So it’s true. They are here, hiding on this moon. Commence the assault now! All ships may fire at will! Save the Devastator missiles. Eraser missiles are authorized. Full power to weapons and shields! Launch all starfighters! Set the Atom Pulser to maximum intensity.” He slammed his fist against the armrest. “And blast that moon to kingdom come!”

The green beam of light sailed past several Federation ships, arrived at a red moon, and touched down to the surface. Darek and Slade emerged from it. The red moon was a barren wasteland.

Slade said, “Darek, we shouldn’t be here. This has nothing to do with us. We should be out there hunting Lyonil—”

“This has everything to do with us,” said Darek. “What Windzer said makes sense. Yes, we have problems of our own. But the galaxy is still in trouble, even more so now that the Judges are stranded. Are we just going to focus on bringing down one guy while everything falls apart around us?”

“Helping people is the way of a Hero,” said Slade. “Judges are different. We have our jobs, our own special roles to fill.”

“No,” said Darek. “Helping people is the way of everyone who wants to do good. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hero or a Judge or even an assassin. Helping people shouldn’t have requirements! It should just be what we do when we see people in trouble!”

“But you don’t even know what’s going on here!”

“That’s why we have to find out!”
 

Shooooom!
Something was falling from the sky.

“Watch it!” Darek jumped out of the way.

Slade looked up. Upon seeing the falling glimmer, he fell to the ground in haste. A loud boom shook the earth. His hands protecting his head, Darek looked back to see what had fallen.

“What is it? A meteorite?” Slade dusted himself off and looked at the strange object—a large crystal that was nearly eight-feet in height. Inside the crystal was the figure of a human being.

Darek gulped. “A Guardian…!”

“I wonder what happened,” said Slade. “Must be dead.”

“Dead?” In the past Darek had seen two other Guardians, Reza and Drey, locked up inside crystals. But he was able to free them and they looked alive after he released them.

Slade replied, “Yeah, I’ve read up on Guardians. Our library has information on them. Guardians are spirits so their death is different. When they receive a fatal blow, they become trapped inside crystals—”

Darek glanced up. “There’s more! We’ve got to get out of here!”

It came steadily at first. A few more crystals fell to the ground, leaving craters in their wake. Then more crystals rained down, crashing all around them. The impacts were loud, like the sound of bombs dropping.

There was no time for them to breathe. They ran across the field, watching the skies closely to avoid being flattened by these projectiles. It didn’t look like there was going to be an end to the shower of deadly crystals.

“We need cover,” Slade screamed. He pointed ahead toward a sturdy hole in the ground. They dashed inside, eager to get out of harm’s way.

Hands on his knees, Darek wheezed, “What just happened?”

A loud bang rattled the cave. Everything around him trembled. He glanced back and caught a glimpse of a fiery explosion several miles away. Then another eruption happened…and another. It was endless. Balls of intense fire came raining down, sending shockwave after shockwave across the land.

His eyes widening, he slowly raised his head, staring into the sky. Darek gasped. The scene was unsettling. There was a battle raging above them like none he had ever seen.

Starfighters roared as they passed overhead, firing missiles and lasers. Guardians transformed into mythical beasts and unleashed the power of ice, fire and lightning against Federation battleships. The Federation fighters were easily torn apart by the powers of the Guardians and were sent down to the earth as flaming scraps of metal. Battleships unleashed the power of their mighty cannons and launched brilliant beams of red and orange through the sky, instantly vaporizing some hapless Guardians, turning them into useless crystals that plummeted to the dirt.

Several battleships remained nearby, unmoving, as they unleashed a giant beam of crackling sparks upon the moon. The moon wasn’t harmed, however, because the moon was protected by a thick blue barrier created by hundreds of Guardians that dotted the sky, hanging in midair like puppets on a string.

Slade said, “What’s going on here? This makes no sense. This isn’t even Federation space! Why are they here?”

“Humans!” A voice shouted. “Humans have landed! Seize them!”

The unexpected voice startled Darek. He spun around to find that the cave was not empty; there was a group of people inside.

Before they could even react, swords were drawn all around them. They were fenced in.

A tall brazen man approached the two young Judges. “I know not why you’ve come, humans. But I will give you one chance to explain yourself. Tell me why I should let you live.”

“Don’t waste your breath on these humans, Beld,” another Guardian said.

The tall Guardian, Beld, said in reply, “I will waste my breath if I so choose.” Then Beld turned to the Judges and said, “Well? What is your reason?”

“Please, listen to me,” said Darek. “We are Judges. We saw trouble and came to help.”

“You have nothing to offer but your pitiful help? You may as well be spies!” Beld turned away and threw his hand down. “Kill them.”

The Guardians stepped in closer.

Surrounded on all sides, Slade and Darek put their backs together.

“Should we…fight back?” asked Darek.

“These are Guardians,” Slade said. “We don’t stand a chance.”

“WAIT!” Darek shouted in a voice not his own. “BELD, DO YOU MEAN TO HARM YOUR FELLOW BRETHREN?”

Beld raised his hand and the Guardians stopped advancing. “Fellow brethren?”

Beld turned to Darek and examined him, drawing closer, his hands behind his back.

Darek gulped, staring back wide-eyed.

Beld sniffed the air. “That’s peculiar. You do…smell like a Guardian. But I’ve never seen your face before.” Beld got close to Darek’s face and breathed, “Who are you? Tell me your name.”

“Summon me, Darek,” Darek said to himself in a deep voice.

“We don’t have fire here,” Darek replied. “I need fire to summon you.”

“We don’t need fire. Not anymore. Your spiritual powers have grown to the point where you should be able to bring me out easily. Link our spirits. Make our wills one. And I will take control of your body. If you don’t mind, of course.”

Darek nodded. “If it’ll save our skins, I don’t see why not.”

He closed his eyes. A bright light beam of light wrapped around the crown of his head and slowly descended, changing his appearance to that of an older man, bit by bit. When the transformation was complete, Darek was no longer there. In his place was Chrovel, the Guardian of fire.

Slade gaped at him. He had no idea Darek could transform.

“Chrovel!” Beld was stunned. “You’re alive. But I saw you die during the Great War!”

“I did die,” Chrovel said. “But now I have returned, all thanks to this boy whom I now reside in.”

“This boy…” Beld looked solemnly at Chrovel. “You mean to tell me that this boy…saved you? He saved you from your death? Does that mean he’s—”

“Yes, it is him,” said Chrovel. “This boy is the key to destruction. I have decided to protect him. And so I must ask that you do not harm this boy or his friend.”

Whispers broke out among the crowd.

“The key to destruction…!”

“This boy is the key to destruction?”

“Is it time? Has he finally come? The end of all things.”

“I apologize to the Judge,” Beld said to Chrovel. “I did not know you were the key to destruction. I would never bring harm to the key to destruction.”

“Now I demand to know what is happening here,” said Chrovel. “Why are humans attacking this moon?”

Beld answered, “Within this moon resides one of the seven seals.”

“What is this seal?” asked Chrovel slowly.

Beld said, “After the Great War, the universe went through a drastic change, as you can see. In the past, spirits and humans lived in one realm, on one world. After the war the realm was split in two, and the humans were scattered across the stars. The two realms overlap. The seals act as a protection to keep the two realms from merging together.”

“Why would they want to destroy it?” asked Chrovel.

Beld replied, “I don’t know where they get their ideas from, but thy seem to believe that destroying the seals will stop us from coming into this realm. It’s just a big misunderstanding.”

“This is terrible,” said Chrovel. “If the realms merge, the Coranites will be set free upon the galaxy. They will wreak great havoc and revive the dreadful war!”

“Is there a way we can help?” Chrovel said in Darek’s voice.

Chrovel looked surprised. Jagged lines formed on his skin, making outlines like that of a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces of his body began breaking apart. A bright glow came from beneath his skin and burst out, illuminating the cavern. Then, after the light faded, Chrovel had transformed back into Darek.

“Okay…” Darek examined his hands to see if they were normal. “That was weird.” He paused. “So, as I was saying, is there a way we can help?”

“You humans truly wish to help?” said Beld.

Slade nodded. “Darek speaks for both of us. We want to help. Though the Order of Judges may very well be destroyed, we are still Judges to the end. We will uphold justice.”

“Seems like there are a few trustworthy humans after all.” Beld grinned. “Fine, we could use the help.” Beld gestured for them to follow. “Come with me.”

Beld walked over to the exit of the hole and looked out at the battlefield.

He waved his hand across. “Do you see the blue covering over this world?”

Darek leaned back and lifted his gaze. “Is that a shield?”

“Yes,” said Beld. “Using our powers we have created a shield to protect us from their weapons. However, it can only block energy. Physical objects can pass through.” He pointed at the battleships in the distance. “Their ships of war pose no threat at the moment, as long as we can maintain this shield. Their large warships are easy prey for us, and so they stay away. As I said before, solid objects will pass through. Their smaller starships—”

“Starfighters,” Slade informed him.

“Yes, their starfighters and missiles go right through our shields. They’ve been trying to attack the Guardians that form the shield. If we lose too many Guardians, the shield will weaken. We need to stop those starfighters and missiles from breaking in.”

“Are we expecting them to just give up?” said Darek. “I mean, you really can’t win a battle just by defending.”

“We are waiting for our fellow Guardians to arrive,” said Beld. “We are defending because we are few in number. We have about three thousand Guardians here. Ten thousand more are on their way. When our forces have gathered, we can push forward.”

“So…we just have to take down some starfighters?” Darek folded his arms, considering it. “Wait, how are we supposed to do that?”

Beld shrugged. “You asked how you could help. That’s our present need.”

Darek scratched his cheek. “But that would involve flying…through space.”

“We can do that,” said Slade.

Darek narrowed his eyes at him. He exhaled and paced in a circle for a while. Then he finally got the courage to ask Slade, “Wait, did you say something?”

Slade had a smug look on his face. “I said, ‘We can do that.’”