The Ones Who were Chosen

by Lady Lilium

  Crystal was on her knees, dirt smeared her white dress as the master held her by the hair. The vile beasts Kreas and Li were flanking her, ensuring there was no way for her to escape.

  ‘Let her go!’ Culture ordered, coming to a stop as the other guardians gathered around him.

  ‘And what?’ The master sneered, ‘you’ll let us live? You’ll kill us quickly? Spare me your worthless lies and face me in a battle like real guardians.’

  Culture charged towards the master without pause, tearing forwards with his burning wheels of fire summoned in his hands. The chakrams whirled, leaving behind streams of blazing red flames which lasted only seconds, before being replaced again by more. The master however was ready, throwing Crystal aside to confront him. He blocked the attack from Culture’s chakrams with his own weapon, twin gun blades. Either side Kreas and Li transform into their human selves. Li summoned forth a mighty scythe, powered by magic. Startling red in colour with a great eye at its head, and what looked like veins pulsing to the tip of the blade. Siren arched her body, swinging her head back and throwing her arms out. The orb she held grew and divided, lifting in the air and spinning bizarrely around her in orbit. Li rushed forwards to meet Siren, as Indigo beside them drew forth a slender sword hidden beneath his robes. He twirled the blade, thrusting it forwards in perfect precision towards Li as she advanced, only to be deflected by Kreas’ weapon, three long blades protruding from a garment he wore on his wrists.

  Siren met Li with her own magic, the blade from the scythe colliding with one of the many circling orbs. Indigo fought viciously with Kreas nearby, the long cruel claws that he wore over his knuckles, exaggerated in length flew about the air wildly. The two dancing around each other and the blades, each already suffered slashes over their bodies and faces. And between the two fighting pairs, Culture fought with the master, quickly however he was losing ground. The master’s attacks were relentless.

  Lucas, Reuben and Venom ran over to Crystal, too close for comfort to the fighting. Crystal was too close to danger; one of the enemies could easily grab her. Just a slit of the throat and her life would be ended.

  How fragile the body could be.

  Lucas reached her as she was attempting to crawl away. Coming to her level and glancing nervously back at the fighting that was happening so close by.

  ‘Crystal.’

  Crystal was hunched over, sobbing into her hands, her white hair dragging in the dirt.

  Reuben dared a glance back to the fighting, and saw Kreas lunge again at Indigo, pushing forward and roaring like an animal. His face seemed to grow, his eyes glowing red and his teeth sharpening. It was like he was teetering on the edge of transformation. A truly frightening sight to behold.

  The master leapt back, throwing his arms out straight he fired. The bullet from one of the guns grazed Culture’s head as he charged towards him. Culture suddenly threw his arms out, cutting the master’s hands with his chakrams and forcing him to disarm. The master with his hands free grabbed him by the throat, Culture made to slash his arm, but the master caught him by the wrist, dangerously close to the flames. Culture made to attack with his free arm, aiming again for the master as he still choked. But blocked again by the master’s other arm Culture coughed violently as he was released. Able to breathe now but with both his wrists held by the master he was trapped, staring back at his opponents red eyes that glinted with pure pleasure and ecstasy. Culture’s head snapped sharply back as the master head butted him. He was released, his nose bloody. He stumbled disorientated, shaking himself to try to clear his mind. The master danced back several steps, holding both is gun blades in his hands, he had summoned them from where they had fallen, and now he lured Culture on teasingly.

  Culture lowered his shoulders, marching laboriously towards him. The master shot again, this time Culture blocked the bullet with the magic from his chakrams. He lowered them, as his pace quickened. They fought again, the master using the blades of his weapons to fight the aberrant, quickly gaining the upper hand. More and more did Culture begin to tire, he was sweating, and short of breath. The discomfort spread to his arms, neck and jaw. The master smiled in satisfaction, and Culture, after several minutes of struggling, dropped his weapons. No longer able to hold them, they slipped from his fingers. He was too weak to wield the magic and so they vanished into thin air. Culture collapsed. All his old symptoms, suddenly magnified by ten. He fell forwards and retched, throwing up the entire contents of his stomach. When he looked up next, the master was before him, though his arms were relaxed. Culture stared blearily up at him, gasping and weak. The master suddenly grabbed him roughly by the shoulder, having dropped one of his gun blades to do so. He now moved backwards with Culture in his grasp, pointing the barrel of the gun blade he held at point blank range to his head. Culture moaned in agony, clutching his chest in panic and fear of his coming end. He fell to his knees again, and the master released him, and watched passively.

  ‘Weak hearts’ he spoke in a dead tone as he watched the aberrant’s demise. ‘Short lives…

  Culture was gasping. He gave a few more breaths, before his body slumped, and he fell to the side. The life left him, and he became utterly still. Finally, the pain had gone away, as his heart stopped beating.

  ‘Rest’ the master said down to him. ‘You are in a better place now.’

  He watched, as the magic left his body, ascending towards the sky. He then turned his attention menacingly, towards Crystal. Towards Venom, and the brothers.

  Reuben’s head shot up, fear filled him as he saw the master approaching. He grabbed Crystal before him, trying to pull her to her feet.

  ‘Crystal! We have to get out of here!’

  ‘It’s no use’ she whispered back, a dead weight in his grip. Reuben barely heard her. ‘There is nowhere I can run where he will not find me. Not now.’

  Reuben rose to his feet, looking around him desperately. As if some solution would come to hand. The master was nearly upon them. Reuben leapt over Crystal’s body, caught by a sudden surge of madness and bravery and foolishness. Fearlessly he charged towards the master, bringing forth his razor light spell. The gold flash from the magic left a white light in his sights, blinding him for seconds from all else.

  The master gasped, as if emotionally hurt. He took a step back, brushing his cheek tenderly. There was only a single narrow cut on his face; the rest of him was unscathed.

  Reuben backed away then, suddenly very frightened.

  ‘What?’ he cried. ‘The spell should have worked!’

  The master lowered his hand. ‘Young guardians’ he said. He furrowed his brow, and then he smiled, revealing sharpened teeth. ‘What fun!’

  He grabbed Reuben by the shoulder, balling his fist and sending an aim at his stomach, twisting his wrist before the impact. Reuben doubled over in agony. He was thrown to the side as Venom rose to meet the master, shooting balls of lighting his way. His magic now as familiar to him as a friend he had known for years, and as easy to summon as it was to breath. The master deflected the bolts of lightning with a mere flick of his hand, reaching out to strike Venom, but suddenly darting to the side, avoiding a strike that came from Lucas.

  The master straightened up, facing each of the three younger guardians who stared at him in defiance.

  ‘Keep away!’ Lucas ordered him. ‘We’re not afraid of you.’

  ‘Oh?’ the master replied curiously. ‘That’s a shame.’

  Reuben lifted himself off the ground, moving towards his brother, he stood hunched, holding his stomach where he had been hit. Reuben with a great effort straightened, grimacing as he did. The master watched his discomfort with pleasure.

  ‘You are not afraid of me’ the master said, ‘we will have to remedy that.’

  They fought then, all three of the younger guardians against the master, attacking him from all sides. But the master hardly seemed to notice them; deflecting their attacks easily and pushing them all back. He struck the brothers upon their head w
ith magic simultaneously, nearly knocking them out. They stumbled back dizzy and in pain, leaving only Venom to face him alone. The master summoned one of the gun blades to his side, stabbing the point of the end into his shoulder. Venom cried out, falling to his knees and trying to push the weapon out of him as the master forced it deeper into his flesh.

  The master gleamed a cruel grin as Venom moaned in agony, eyes wild.

  ‘I love the sound of pain’ the master cried, suddenly mad. ‘When I hear a man scream…my stomach lifts, and I am filled with a lust that nothing else can satisfy!’

  ‘Twisted freak’ Venom gasped.

  The master wrenched the blade from him, pushing him backwards, Venom began to crawl away.

  ‘Hey!’ Lucas called to him as the master advanced towards Venom, no doubt intent on hurting him again.

  The master slowed gradually to a stop, easing his sights towards his new target. He watched.

  Lucas bowed his head, holding himself tense. From his back, something grew. Lucas moaned as he straightened up.

  ‘Ahhhh’ the master purred curiously, lifting his head. ‘Of this I have never seen before. How interesting. How interesting indeed.’

  They were huge in size, and a magnificent dark bronze colour with perfect formation. They had grown slowly from his body, their sharp edges cutting slits in the fabric of his clothes, now they spread outwards, casting great shadows upon the ground.

  ‘Wings’ the master breathed. ‘Fascinating, but they will not save you.’

  Lucas leapt to the sky, taking flight and soaring in an arch. But it was seconds before the master caught him. Lucas didn’t know how he did so, but he was struck with a blow to the head by a spell cast out by the master who remained on the ground. He fell out of the sky, hitting the earth hard and falling awkwardly on his wings. Lucas was out in the open.

  Reuben and Venom ran forwards to confront the master. Reuben slashing the air with his spells, Venom summoning his lightning powers. The master however, watching their approach from a distance could not be caught off guard as he had been with Lucas. He now knew what to expect. He danced with them, using their own attacks against them to his advantage, tricking them, teasing them. The pair grew ever more frustrated, their concentration falling.

  They had lured the master away from Lucas and Crystal. Crystal had risen now, attempting to drag Lucas away from the others and closer to safety. But his unconscious dead weight coupled with his wings rendered him near enough impossible to even budge, and Crystal skidding on her heels fell back down, panting furiously.

  ‘You're so heavy!’ she cried in despair. ‘How do you fly?’ She tried again, pausing in wonder to see Reuben now flying through the sky, with wings just like his brother’s.

  ‘So they have the same powers’ she whispered.

  She watched them fight.

  Venom had been left on the ground, nursing his injury. It was only the master and Reuben who fought now, the master levitating and flying by some invisible force, for he had no wings, but walked, ducked and fought in mid air. He moved as if he stood on the ground, fighting with Reuben as he flew. And as Crystal stared up helplessly, the master met Reuben with a blow. Crystal saw in the sunlight a glint of the knife the master had pulled from his sleeve, so cleverly hidden it was. Reuben gasped, straining for breath. He had been stabbed between the ribs. Slowly, tipping back, he fell out of the sky.

  ‘Lucas!’ Crystal screamed in desperation. ‘Open your eyes!’

  Almost as if under her control his eyes shot open. He rose quickly, moving forwards and soaring through the air towards the master, and towards his brother as he fell. Lucas managed to grab and hold onto Reuben by the arm as he fell, spreading his wings to slow their descent and brining them both gently to the ground.

  He let out a long deep sigh of relief; coming back down to earth he relaxed his grip on Reuben.

  ‘Are you alright brother?’ Lucas hastened.

  ‘Oh yeah’ Reuben groaned through gritted teeth as he lay on his back. ‘I feel fine.’ A smile tweaked his lips, though only for a moment, before turning sour.

  Lucas leant over his brother, seeing the wound inflicted by the knife.

  ‘Reuben’ Lucas whined. ‘You’ve punctured a lung.’

  Reuben spluttered, turning his head to the side and coughing up blood.

  ‘Oh Reuben’ Lucas whispered.

  ‘I’ll be ok’ he groaned, ‘just give me a minute.’

  ‘I don’t have the power to heal him’ Crystal uttered coming over to them. ‘I'm so sorry…’

  Lucas raised his head at the sound of movement to his side. Sian ran to him, with Ebony right behind her.

  ‘Sian, what are you doing…?’ Lucas asked in amazement.

  Sian didn’t answer; instead she stared down at Reuben, who was slowly bleeding out.

  Sian got down on her knees; reaching forwards she touched Reuben at his chest, covering the wound with both her hands. She closed her eyes as a light began to grow from between her fingers and over the wound. She used her newly gained magic to heal.

  Above them, still floating in the air, the master watched coldly. His attention wavered from the young guardians, and towards the beasts Kreas and Li that fought nearby. They were locked in combat with the guardians Indigo and Siren.

  Li screamed in furry, slashing the air with her scythe. Its range was long, and its blade sharp. Siren ducked, saving herself from its blow. She straightened again, throwing back her hood. One of the many orbs flew towards Li in a gentle curve. Li leant back, arm thrown upwards, her scythe back behind her. The ball rippled, as if made of water. The atmosphere turned grey, Li’s movements slowed, and she struggled to steady herself. Siren directed her orbs, smooth and steady she was, her movements controlled. Li then screwed her eyes tight shut, she stumbled. Dropping her scythe and throwing her head back in a scream of agony. Siren sent another orb her way, trapping her way now. Li gasped as she became surrounded, gripped by a raw and primal fear only those faced with their own deaths experienced. Siren cast her hands out, completing the spell. The orbs shattered into a thousand million pieces, littering the floor all around them with tiny shards of dark glass.

  Li collapsed as dead weight, her eyes glazed over. Siren turned from her, sparing her not a second thought. She ran to help Indigo, who struggled under the rage and might that was Kreas. She joined Indigo in the fight. Kreas spun round at the sight of her, swinging both his arms. In seconds he transformed to his animal self, screeching and crying. Indigo leapt onto his back, showering the beast with a spell that cut and dug deep into his spine and forehead, while Siren attacked the legs from behind.

  From above the master watched as the scuttling black creature was tormented by the two guardians. He struggled, not to attack, but to defend and keep himself alive. When the master had had enough, he called down to Kreas in a short sharp whistle. Kreas broke away from the two guardians, turning he fled, howling in pain at his injuries, and at the sight of Li, who lay there dead in his sight. Kreas howled in pain and frustration, fleeing from the scene into places unknown. When the elder guardians Siren and Indigo looked up at the sky together, they saw that the master too, was gone.

  Lucas embraced his brother tightly in relief that he was still alive. The wound in seconds had been fully healed by Sian, who was now by Venom’s side, healing his injury also.

  Ebony and Crystal looked on sadly, as Siren and Indigo knelt by the dead body of the aberrant Culture.

  They surrounded him, and began to mourn.

  Chapter Ten

  Lagoon

  Indigo lifted the body of Culture in his arms, turning from the others and walking away.

  ‘What about the other one?’ Siren asked his back, glancing towards the still body of Li.

  Indigo hesitated.

  ‘We cannot leave her’ Siren insisted. ‘It wouldn’t be right.’

  Indigo nodded, holding Culture close to him. The aberrant’s large wings dragged on the ground as he walked away.


  ‘Can one of you carry her?’ Siren said to the young guardians.

  Venom stepped forwards tentatively. The others watched as he approached the body, his footsteps crunching on the broken glass that surrounded Li. He knelt, lifting her in his arms. He looked into her face.

  ‘She’s beautiful’ he said sadly.

  Siren came to his side, staring down at Li.

  ‘We must honour the dead’ Siren told him. ‘Be they a friend, or an enemy.’

  A short way away Indigo had used his magic to disappear into thin air.

  ‘Come’ Siren whispered to Venom, lifting her hand towards him to do the same. The others drew closer to her.

  Reuben and Lucas stuck close to each other, as did the philosophers stones Ebony and Crystal.

  Sian stopped to look back at the sky behind them, towards the direction that Kreas had fled. His cries of pain for his loss still echoed in her heart. She bowed her head in sorrow.

  Lucas put his hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. Sian put her hand upon Venom’s shoulder, and the group, all making contact with those nearest them, slipped into the magic cast out by Siren.

  Everything went white for a moment, before turning clear again. They were standing in a meadow, with Indigo nearby, who had been waiting for them.

  ‘So Reuben, you’ve been brought back from a dangerous situation yet again’ Indigo drawled. ‘Lucky you.’

  Reuben touched the point of his chest where the injury had been. Now fully healed, there wasn’t even a scar.

  Indigo lifted his arm out before him, letting the dirt he held crumble between his fingers and fall back down to earth.

  The meadow within which they stood was speckled with the colour of the wild flowers that grew. The tall grass was swaying and rustling in the wind, and above them, a skylark sang a sad song, as if to help send those who had passed on their way.