The Chosen And the guardians

by Liviu Costin Sociu

  Chapter 14: A Strange Awakening

  Flame Opened his eyes and looked around panicked, tossing the sheets away that were covering him. A gentle hand touched his forehead, the queen of the dark children smiled "Calm down Flame, you are safe" Flame prepared to attack in that moment but, seeing the queen's smile, he calmed down "What happened?" the queen nodded softly, not fearing Flame's rage "We found you unconscious on the ground, after you used most of your powers to restore the land's life, an incredible deed might I say, but you overdone it..." Flame nodded while recollecting the fight "Also, we took you back to our city and gave you a little first aid and a room where you could rest, you slept for quite a time...". Flame looked around, the dark walls and room was dimly enlightened by a simple candle put beside his bed and one beside the door, the queen smiled once more "You should rest here before going to battle" Flame shook his head "Ngh...whatever..." Then he snapped and looked at the queen like he was in a hurry "Did you saw, or found, anyone else on the battlefield?" The queen stood to think a little "No, the guards and I didn't felt nor saw anyone near the battlefield..." Flame sighed and nodded "I see...someone saved the one that bought upon this plague of darkness..." After a while he lift his head and looked at the queen "Ehm, I didn't meant you of course...I meant the ones that are causing troubles..." The queen chuckled a little, amused by Flame "It's all right Flame, I understood what you meant, it's true that we could exit our prison thanks to whoever freed us but the price for that freedom...are the ones that you are fighting right now..." Flame nodded slightly "Yeah, I know..." After that the queen stood up and started to walk toward the door "Rest Flame, you need to regain your powers and stamina, you were quite weak when we found you..." Flame nods lightly again "Yeah...I guess it is for the best..." after those words, the queen went out of the dark room, leaving Flame to rest.

  In the meanwhile, in a unknown location, Xin was in a dark chamber full of a dark but transparent liquid. "My lord, we are treating Xin accordingly to your orders, we are also increasing his power with darkness..." The dark figure nodded "Very well, Any news on the escapee and on the guardian's location, or the traitor's one?" The servant shook his head "No, We are still searching for them, we know that the group of guardians which caused us troubles are not in the known area anymore, but we could not identify their new location in any way. As per the escapee...we tried to follow his possible direction and escape routes, but we managed to find only a camp fire, made by him probably, and nothing else. The traitor however went rogue and disappeared just 2 days ago. His current location is not known by our scouts but we are still searching him." The dark Figure sighs and nods "Very well, keep searching the escapee and the guardians, but recall the scouts searching the traitor, he won't be a problem anyway, and besides, we can use those scouts for better purposes..." the shadow nodded slightly "Yes sir.". Xin in the meanwhile woke up and looked around confused, unable to move in the tank he was in. The dark figure approached the tank and nod "Don't worry Xin, we covered your wounds and we are currently enhancing your powers, The Phoenix was a stronger enemy that we thought, but you will be able to fight him at your best soon enough..." After that Xin nodded lightly and closed his eyes, leaving the rest in the cares of the dark figure.

  Flame, after a good rest, went out of the room that hosted him, the queen was talking to a familiar figure "You know what to do....now go" The young shadow nod and went away while Flame decided to come forward "What was that about?" The queen shook her head with a gentle smile "Nothing to worry about Flame, did you rest well?" Flame nodded lightly "Yeah, I'm better now...problem is...I don't know where the enemy is now...I have to start my searches from the beginning once again..." The queen smiled back "I sent scouts around the area to find the enemy you are searching for, we hope to find their base as soon as possible..." Flame sighs shortly "It's too dangerous, your people might die for this...and if they find you..they will attack and destroy you all. I saw their power...they are not going easy on anyone." the queen nodded "I know, but if we don't end them, they will end us eventually, no matter when, they will, if we do nothing. Also our new ally, if I may call you that, needs our assistance and we never ignore our allies needs." Flame smiled shortly "Tsk...been a while since I had allies...Since the disappearance of the primal beasts, I had been patrolling this world alone..." The queen approached him and touched his face gently "It must've been very lonely and awfully silent to live like that for centuries...." Flame smiled lightly "Kind of, but I am used to that kind of situations, besides...I am the leader of the guardians and the only one that guarded the world from darkness since I can remember...But I can't say I was lonely...Right Firewing?" A voice from inside him answered calmly, and almost half asleep "Yes, I never left your side. Also please call me Firax" Flame smiled "Nah, I like more Firewing..." The queen smiled "Incredible to hear a primal beast, we never had the chance to see, or hear one, if not from far away when battle raged near us...." Flame then nodded shortly "I see, My companion is quite a mystery most of times, very quiet and calm, rarely saw him angry or agitated...and when I saw him like that...usually there was no more anything around me." The queen smiled gently "Well...it's a pleasure to meet you Firax" The phoenix, once again, spoke from Flame "Thank you, for you used my real name dark queen. I hope to never have to destroy you like the millions I already destroyed." The queen seemed a little perplexed but nodded "W...Well, thanks I guess" and smiled gently once again toward Flame which simply was listening.

  A shadow came in the room where the queen and Flame were talking "Excuse me my queen, we have found an enemy camp not far from here..." The queen nod but before she could speak, a injured guard came inside the room as well "We.....are under....a....a....attack" then he fainted on the ground. Flame looked at the queen "Call your guards back, they don't stand a chance, heal this brave one....let me take care of them" The queen tried to stop him "You didn't fully healed yet!" Flame laughed " I don't need to..." Then he jumped out of the window and rushed toward the battle site. At the scene, many guards were confronting big and enormous shadows, resembling a giant with a club made of pure darkness, their power was overwhelming and the guards were sent flying away with every swing of that big weapon "Buahahaha what a pathetic form you are, cannot even sustain 1 hit..." after he finished the sentence, a huge fireball hit him directly in the head and obliterate him in an instant "Listen who's talking..." then he smirked toward the other shadows which were getting ready to fight "Tsk, a guardian, what is a guardian doing here?" another shadows shrugs "Who cares, two birds with one stone, let's get him!" Flame looked at the guards shaking while maintaining position "Retreat, I can handle them..." A guard comments "But they are too many, we won't leave our city to be destroyed by those things!" Flame sighs "Don't worry, I fought worse....now go and protect your queen, if she gets hurt...I will personally destroy you all, am I clear?!" The guards nods "Y...yes sir. Please be careful" the guards took the injured and retreated inside the city limits while the enemies was preparing to attack.

  Flame smiled "Tsk, I had worse but I've been better too...I am kinda weak and tired..." the many giants started to attack him with a flurry of attacks "Let's get this party started!" in a second, a huge pillar of flame surrounded Flame while his blade made of fire started to shine "Let's see what you can do!" Flame started to dash toward the enemy, slashing them like a tornado with countless attacks, his movements were fast and his hits were tremendously powerful and precise. Many giants started falling and disappearing, but even if many started to fall, others came to replace them, like if there were no end to them. After ending some of them he reached the ground once again "Damn, they seem endless...Firewing, can we recall the sacred embody?" A voice from inside him commented calm "No, we are too weak and we won't be able to maintain the form and destroy them all, we might end up helplessly on the ground without any energy, it's a better bet to keep fighting like this while saving energy..." Flame nodded "Got it....but they seem to be quite a huge number, and preventing them to en
ter the dark city is quite a feat..." After a few moments, a giant went down while a dark figure raised his sword and pointed it toward the enemies. The dark figure nodded toward Flame, the dark knight that fought him, Riff, was now fighting alongside him. Flame nodded back to Riff "All right, now it might be a little better....Let us defend this city..." Riff and Flame started to execute a flurry of attacks in air, as if they were dancing in the wind, their swords attacked like in sync and, every attack, was well aimed and strong enough to kill an enemy in a few seconds. Their combination of attacks hit the group of enemies like a tornado, killing them without a break. After a not so long fight, none of them were standing, Riff and Flame got down and looked around in search of any other enemies still alive. A dark figure was identified by Riff, but he quickly ran off "Tch....he went away....he will warn the others of the position of this town......too much power used..." Once again Flame collapsed on the floor but Riff approached him and lent him his shoulder, starting to walk him toward the tower of the queen.

  Once inside, the guards helped Riff to carry Flame who was barely conscious and was looking around until he saw the queen which kissed his forehead "Thank you for defending us Flame...please accept our thanks and hospitality for now..." That said they brought him back in the room in which he rested up until now. This time though, 3 shadows dressed almost like monks came forward in his room. The queen smiled "Please begin..." the 3 shadows began concentrating around Flame's bed and started to free a lot of energy in the air, Flame looked faintly around "What....." The queen smiled, understanding what he wanted to say "They are a particular kind of shadows, they went into temples and sacred places to you humans, studied your behaviors and rituals...and since they are shadows...they started a order of healers and fighters which serves the children of darkness, but few of them mastered the healing arts or fighting arts yet...these 3 are the masters of the order, they came here in order to help you heal faster and give you your energy back...It took them a while to be here, but they might be useful now...." Flame nodded and closed his eyes, strangely being able to entrust the situation to a dark creature. The 3 shadows created a powerful energy upon Flame who was starting to regain energy and power very fast, his condition was getting better by the minute and his energy was filling up incredibly fast but, after a while, the light dispersed and the shadows were huffing tired, they used all their powers to heal him, they were now too tired to do anymore and so retreated to rest themselves, but the ritual was successful and Flame was already blooming with energy and got back up feeling quite well "Thank you..." those were the only words directed toward the retreating shadows who helped him heal and regain powers.

  After getting up, Flame looked up at the queen "I shall protect your city, after the fight a scout escaped...it won't be long until another attack might strike" The queen smiled gently "Thank you Flame, but please don't let us slow down your quest and mission...your objective is our salvation too". Flame looked down for a little, thinking, and after a while, he looked the queen in the eyes "I shall resume my quest, but first I have to protect this town, I will train your guards and guardians...with a little training they might be able to fend for themselves." The queen nodded shortly "As you wish Flame...I will prepare the guards and troops for your training as soon as you see fit to begin." Flame nodded and then walked away from the room without saying anything else.

  That night, Flame was on top of the Tower looking at the stars in utter silence while the gentle wind caressed his face. A young figure approached him "Again alone in the night..." Flame looked toward the young figure, he was the one that parried his attack and was ready to sacrifice his life for the queen "Hm, and you were away if I remember correctly..." the young shadow nodded "Yes, I was sent on a mission, the queen wanted my aid and I gave it without hesitation." Flame looked up in the sky "Why were you ready to sacrifice yourself for her the first time I met your queen?" The young figure sat down beside him and watched the sky as well "Because she is the only one that ever cared about me and protected me countless times since we came out of the seal you used." Flame nodded "I see, but you seem quite capable by yourself, why did you needed protection?" The young figure smiled "I wasn't like this all the time, I was very young and inexperienced at that time, very weak too, but the queen appreciated me and protected me against those who wanted to pick on me or mock me. So I promised myself to become stronger, so I could protect the one who protected me when I was in need and weak..." Flame looked at him "A noble objective, I admire your intentions young one..." The shadow laughed a little "I might be little but I am no young, call me Kirth" Flame smiled back "All right, Kirth. I will train the troops of this city, I would like you to participate at the training sessions." The young shadow stood up and started to walk away "If the queen allows me, I will..." he then disappeared after jumping in the tower, leaving Flame with his thoughts.

  In the morning, the troops were gathered in a huge academy like building, even Riff and Kirth were there and Flame took a look at all the troops. "Very well, I called you all here to train all of you so you will be able to protect this town, or sanctuary if you like, from the ones that search to hunt you down. You might not be used to fight, at least not all of you, but I will teach you the art of war...I hope you are prepared for some hard days..." That said he invoked his flame blade and made a sign toward Riff. Riff draw his sword and went in front of Flame "First things first, watch and learn. I will fight Riff, look at his, and my posture, how we hold the weapons, our movements and skills, try to learn the best you can because, after our sparring exercise, you will do it one on one...." That said he prepared to fight Riff which was already in position. When the fight started, the blades collided many times and the 2 began a fierce duel, still, neither of them used any special technique nor power, they simply hold an exemplary duel to show the troops the best way to fight and best techniques to use in battle, the fight was pretty fierce nonetheless but, at one point, Flame jumped away and put away his sword "Thanks Riff, that would suffice" The troops nodded toward the 2 that stopped fighting, as in trying to remember everything "Very well, now it's your turn, pick a partner and start sparring, no lethal attacks or tricks, for now stick to normal sword fight, any question?" The troops were looking at him, but were too intimidated by him to say anything "Good...START!" The troops started to fight each other with passion, each one of them trying to emulate some techniques seen before and, some of them, were successful but with an imperfect technique and clumsy movement.

  Flame took Riff and Kirth away from the rest "Good, you 2 will be on special training, you both have combat experience and strength to beat all of them in a fight, so, to help you become stronger, I prepared something special..." That said he took the weapons of both of them "Start fighting, no weapons, use your powers as you like, but avoid killing each other. The winner will pass to the next stage...the loser will pass as well but to a different one. Now, I will cast a shield around you so you don't destroy the place and can go all out, hope it won't use all my strength knowing your powers, begin" That said he created a shield around the 2 and shifted to watch the other troops training, correcting them, giving advice and observations where needed. In the barrier, Kirth and Riff got into fighting stance "Sorry young prince..." that said, the knight rushed the young shadow like a train but kirth dashed and avoid him, attacking back with a fierce magic attack. Riff absorbed the attack, not even trying to avoid it, but rather trying to endure it, he then proceeded to punch away the young one but he endured the attack without a scratch and smiled "Don't be sorry, you might regret it if you go easy on me..." Kirth, in a blink of an eye, appeared behind him and launched a furious dark attack from his hand, throwing the dark knight against the barrier, causing a huge noise that made some soldiers stop and look at the barrier. The knight got back up as it was nothing "Tsk..." Then invoked a dark energy around him, many little flames made of darkness started to rotate around him "Game over...." the flames at that point started to rush violently toward kirth, attackin
g him and exploding on contact but, even if he took some hits, kirth assumed a defensive stance to endure the attacks, which seemed to not have an end. Riff, on the other hand, was looking at him while attacking "Defending won't bring victory....you mu..." A huge dark barrier started to expand from Kirth and destroyed every dark flame attacking him, destroying even the ones around Riff. The pressure of that attack made the barrier tremble but Riff withstood it "Hmpf...impressive...".

  Flame was giving direction and warning the troops, in a fight distractions are fatal, so, watching the shield, was a bad idea. Instead They should be focusing on the training. A Huge explosion happened afterwards and the shield got destroyed. Inside, Riff was kneeling down huffing while Kirth was standing but trembling. The fight was over, but whatever happened there, caused such a huge power to be released that the shield collapsed. Flame looked at them "Interesting..." Riff sighed "I lost, although I prefer to fight with my weapon...not fists or magic..." Flame nodded "Fair enough, tomorrow same thing but with weapons. Seems fair to give both of you a fair chance, since one is more skilled with a particular fighting style, also, nice job...to destroy such a shield is quite an achievement...." after that he smiled slightly to the 2 but, Kirth, collapsed on his knees huffing, Riff helped him get up and sustained him while Flame looked back at the soldiers "This should be a lesson for everyone, union and teamwork makes the dreamwork. If you fight together, you win together! Help each other when needed, but remember what I said about distractions...sometimes they are fatal and forces you to choose between your death or your ally's one...." Flame seemed a little sad for a little there but quickly recomposed himself "Anyway, for today it's enough, you fought well and your techniques got quite better, but we aren't done yet. Get some rest and we will resume again tomorrow." Everyone retired to get some rest while Flame followed Riff which was still helping kirth going toward his room "You had quite a fighting there" Riff nodded "The prince is quite powerful but he can't always use his full potential, especially since his body cannot sustain it." Kirth then cut in "Tsk, I tried many times to overcome this limit...but I can't change what I am...and neither my limits it seems..." Flame chuckled "Trust me kiddo, you can overcome them, you just didn't found the way to do so....but maybe one day you will, if you struggle enough..." That said Flame departed from them with a smile "Good rest you 2" and went to rest as well for the day.

  The next day, training was starting again, the soldiers were aligned and ready for a new training day. Riff and Kirth however, were put into a different training session. This time was with weapons, Riff with his blade and Kirth was using his 2 faithful knives. After the training session started, as before, a shield surrounded the 2 and was allowing them a free duel but...no magic attacks allowed today. Riff got his defensive posture "After you...." Kirth didn't even waited long before charging ahead and trying to stab him with one of his knives but Riff was way too prepared for that kind of attack and parried it with haste and agility. Kirth smiled and made a half turn with his body, trying to stab him from the side with the other knife, Riff dashed back just in time to avoid quite a dangerous attack. Kirth was faster than Riff, but he had no skills with weapons and duels, which was a great disadvantage, still he didn't seem to care about that, his objective was to fight and defeat his rival and that was the most important thing right now. The fight started to rage more ferociously, steel kept colliding and doing a lot of sound, which distracted many soldiers, until Flame snapped them back to reality with a blade slap on the head "Focus on the field, worry about yourself first, before you can worry about your allies...". Soldiers were struggling to fight each other, correcting posture, skills and techniques, and, under Flame's careful watch, they were fighting better and better, having the most expert veteran on earth training them was showing its results very fast. In the meanwhile the blade of Riff was colliding furiously against the 2 Knives of Kirth, which was barely able to deflect Riff's violent attacks. Riff then backed a little and looked at Kirth with a proud look "Very good, you hold well against my sword and techniques, but this is the end of this duel..." A dark energy started to surround the dark knight and his blade, a powerful energy started to expand and reinforced him, Kirth was not one to surrender, and so he started to focus his powers into his body and blades, ready to fight back the enemy. In a blink of a second, both started a flurry of attacks, explosions of pressure started to form while they exchanged blows, only a second passed and they exchanged already a lot of blows and seemed like there was no end to those exchanges, until a huge blow destroyed the shield and Kirth was sent flying down while, Riff, was putting his blade back "I have no opponents when it comes to weapon fights..." that said he walked toward Kirth and helped him up, the blow left him quite stunned and was a little confused for a while. Flame watched the whole scene and approached the 2 "It's a tie, but I saw a lot of power from both of you, tomorrow...I shall give you your lesson, to both of you. For now go rest, I have to keep training the soldiers" he then returned to keep an eye on the soldiers while, Riff once again, helped Kirth back into his room and got a good rest.

  The next day was considered a break for the soldiers, since it was a special training day for Riff and Kirth. "Very good, you 2 had quite a duel up until now, but it's time we put those powers to the test and reinforce them..." Riff and Kirth seemed a little confused but Flame smiled "You 2 must battle me together, as a team, using whatever weapon or powers you wish. If you win, then I will serve your queen as her personal guard, but if I win...I will kill you, your queen and I will destroy this city" Most of the soldiers started to chatter and some even tried to stand up to contest, but the look on Flame's face, his fierce and fiery eyes, made them calm down instantly. Riff simply nodded but Kirth got quite agitated "How could you do that? What did you trained us for then? Just to kill us? This is just plain stupid!" Flame still remained serious and got his blade out "Then you better win..." After that his blade started to form, flames from it started to shine but the soldiers then started to stand up and got between Flame and his opponents "We will not allow this, not even from you Flame, even if you protected our sanctuary. If you wanna kill someone...we will stop you!" Flame smiled "Very well" a powerful magic explosion made them all scatter and threw them away, they were little match for Flame, but none of them was killed nonetheless "Tsk, I was not kidding dark beings, my mission is to destroy you all, no exception....now get ready to fight!" Riff and Kirth were perplexed by his behavior but could not allow their city, and queen, to fall like that. The soldiers tried to stand up but were quite weakened by the attack suffered, still, they looked at Riff and Kirth "Only you can defeat this beast...take our energy, we are too weak to fight him" and like that, many soldiers transferred their powers to the 2 that Flame was about to fight.

  With new power and energy from the soldiers, Riff and Kirth nod to each other and so the fight started. Riff charged Flame with his blade while Kirth jumped back and started to focus his energy into his hands. Flame, in the meanwhile, smirked and got in position. The 2 blade collided together and Riff tried to pin Flame down while Kirth started to bombard him with magic attacks, a rain of attacks was heading his way but a powerful phoenix shriek, and a giant flame shield, blocked all of his attacks and Flame started to push back Riff, attacking him with fury and power, using his speed to overpower him. While Riff was having a hard time with Flame, Kirth came to help and jumped over him to attack Flame from behind but, surprisingly, Flame did a upper cut with his blade, hitting both him and Riff, which barely parried his attack but the strong raw force of it sent him sliding back. The 2 could not get an attack against Flame, he was, after all, the most powerful guardian in existence, but again they could not allow the atrocity which Flame intended to carry on. After a short exchange between them, both started to focus energy and began to empower themselves "You will not harm our city phoenix! HRAAA!" Riff started to charge so fast it seemed like he was teleporting toward his enemy, his blade was launched with such a fury that Flame had to use all his streng
th to stop that attack from breaching his defense, but while he was having a showdown of strength, Kirth started to hover into the air with his eyes full of dark energy "NOW!" Riff nod and started to free a huge dark energy wave toward Flame while, Kirth, began to summon hundreds of dark bullets which started to rain toward Flame. The guardian was quite surprised by those attacks and could not defend himself and had to endure both of their punishment. After those heavy attacks finished, and the dust scattered, Flame was kneeling down and huffing "Nice....but it's no use! PHOENIX! EMBODY!" After a while, a powerful energy surrounded his body and he transformed entirely, his eyes became that of a phoenix, his hand began to grow claws, under his arms wings started forming, and fire started to surround him while his transformation was finishing. Flame was again in position and ready to fight "The fight starts now...." Riff and Kirth were astonished, so much power was unbelievable, still they regain their posture and were ready to fight their renewed enemy.

  Flame flew into the air and started to charge them with such a speed that he disappeared from the common eye. Riff and Kirth however, were trained enough to see his movements but little could they do if not defend while, a flurry of fast paced attacks, started to rain upon them. Kirth's defense was quite weak and, the surprise of the new form, got him to take quite some hits. Riff then intervened in front of him and got into a defensive position, starting to parry and counter-attack Flame. Every parry and counter-attack that encountered Flame's fierce and powerful blows were like a ton of pressure released upon Riff, until he was not able to counter-attack anymore and was forced into a defensive stance trying to absorb all the blows while defending Kirth. After a while Riff went down on his knee while Kirth was behind him injured, Flame stopped and looked at them "Weak...." then he pointed a hand toward the Queen's tower. A huge power started to accumulate into his hand and form a huge fireball "Now I shall take my trophy" Kirth in the meanwhile was furious at himself for his weakness and was standing near Riff "You should've worried about yourself..." Riff chucked "We are a team, I have to take care of your weaknesses, as you take care of mines, without your magic we wouldn't even stood a chance from the beginning..." After that he patted Kirth's head and tried to stood up "Well...it's over, but I want to go with a burst.." then he started to accumulate a huge amount of energy into himself but Kirth seemed shocked "NO!" Kirth then put his hand on him and started to accumulate as well energy, trying to avoid Riff from destroying himself to save the city. Flame stopped his attack and turned around "Tsk...Still up hm?" Riff looked at Kirth and then at Flame "We will see how tough you are when a powerful discharge affects you!" Kirth at that point shouted "I WONT LET YOU!" a more powerful energy then started to surround both of them, Kirth started to became dark energy, while Riff was starting to hover over the ground, a powerful bond started to unify them as, Kirth, in the form of pure energy, entered Riff's helmet and started to empower him, make him stronger and bigger, giving him powers beyond any limit seen until now.

  Once the bond was completed, Riff descended slowly on the ground, his body bigger and stronger, filled with energy and ready to fight once again "We shall now show you our strength" Flame smirked once again and nod "Let's see" a fire tornado started to spin around Flame while a dark one started to spin around Riff and, in an instant, the 2 united their blades. Powerful waves of energy were sent in every direction, everything in the vicinity was blown away as their powers discharged into that one blow. Both started to attack relentlessly, with every hit encountering the other blade, countless attacks were launched against each other but Riff jumped back and with one hand he started to launch dark bombs toward Flame. Flame then countered them with his bare hands and laughed "Is that all you can do?" Then Riff appeared behind him "No" Then he stabbed him from behind, piercing flame through the chest, but he disappeared immediately after and reappeared behind Riff and put a hand on his back and, for a second, seemed like time stopped, all sounds were reduced to silence and, with a huge explosion, Riff flew away with incredible speed, crushing down a few walls in the process.

  After the huge crash, Kirth appeared unconscious near Riff, which returned to normal and was barely moving at all. Many soldiers were weak and barely on their feet but they saw everything, and tried to reach Riff and Kirth but Flame watched them with an annoyed face "Enough of you!" But then he transformed back "You all did well..." then he approached Riff and Kirth and gave them a little of his energy to allow them to at least walk and stand up "You 2 are very powerful together, don't forget that...lesson finished" then he smiled and turned toward the soldiers "Well...you learned something today, teamwork makes the dreamwork, you saw if for yourselves....never forget that. Work together and every fight will be easier." Riff shortly smiled since he was expecting something of this sort, but Kirth was quite surprised and, even if tired, he found the strength to land a punch to flame's back "A BLUFF? YOU DAMN BASTARD!" After that he went down on his knee huffing while Flame laughed "You found a way to surpass your limits, I guess it was a good lesson, make good use of it!" then he started to walk away. In the tower, the queen was watching and smiled "Quite a training might I say Flame....".

  Flame kept training the soldiers for some other days, enhancing their battle efficiency and power, helping them to fight better than ever but one day, he gathered everyone "Well, you came a long way, it was a week of hard training this one but you still managed to become so strong and a lot more skilled than before, but today is our last day, since my quest continues...but I have faith that you will defend this city and your queen until I might, one day, come back to see your accomplishments, but I want no failure or weaklings...am I clear?" All the soldiers then together saluted him "YES SIR, FLAME SIR!" And everyone stood at attention while he passed in front of everyone, heading toward the town's tower. The queen was waiting for him near the entrance of his room "So...it's time for you to go?" Flame nodded while preparing himself for the new journey "Darkness will not take a holiday only because I want to take one, and besides, I must still search and destroy the one that opened the seal, and reseal the darkness..." The queen seemed a little sad but still managed to smile a little "You know I didn't mean you" the queen nod and smiled once again "I know, but maybe it's for the best. We are not a part of this world, the others will not accept us. Even if one day, with peace and the permission to remain here, the others will not accept our existence, and, since the power that keeps us from the human eyes concealed is fading, we will be feared by them and we will be hunted down by the other guardians..." Flame then smiled gently "The future is always an unknown fate, You must not give up before you see what present it has for you, don't let the past blind you." that said he gave her a little token, a Phoenix necklace and started to walk toward the exit "Show that to any guardian and let them touch it, they will know" that said he started to head toward the exit of town after exiting the tower. The queen smiled and put the necklace to her neck and nod "Farewell brave Phoenix" and so, again, Flame's Mission continues.

  About The Author

  About me, well it's the first time I have to write something about me personally, but I will share my information nonetheless.

  My name, as you know already, is Sociu Liviu Costin. Friends call me simply Liviu (please feel free to do the same, when and if, you send me a mail or contact me in any other way). I am Romanian, study as an IT Specialist (programmer).

  I am 24, at least, at the time I uploaded this book, and studied in Italy and Romania.

  I started to write simply because I had too many 'adventures' going on in my head and wanted to create a story with them and free my head, also it's a passion of mine to create stories...so why not. As per now I am studying Computer Science in Romania and striving to become a programmer.

  Well that's pretty much all my mind is able to come up with right now, but, if you have a question,curiosity or want to ask something (either about me or the book and it's content/world) please contact me using the mail I provided at the beginning of the book. I will try my be
st to answer everyone, and again, thank you for taking the time and checking my book out! Have a nice day!