Dark Guardian

by Ammar Habib

  Jaing laughed at the blatant, sarcastic lie.

  Anthony’s voice became darker with his next words as his sinful smirk grew. “I’m afraid that life can be extremely tough for a pretty girl in a third-world country with not a cent to her name. She’s to be transported far away from here. She’ll be put somewhere where even you cannot find her. She’ll be put someplace so low, in a hell so deep, that even she won’t remember the high life she once lived. She won’t remember you. She’ll be nothing more than a piece of meat to the people there. Nothing more than merchandise.”

  The two captor’s and the hostage could see the anger that consumed Ethan’s eyes as each word seeped into his soul, but he did not do anything. Brett’s own eyes widened with fury as he heard Katrina’s fate in the underbelly of society. His hands formed into a fist

  But Anthony gloated the more he saw Ethan’s anger and distress. “Not to worry, though. The painful thought of her living in a place like that won’t last forever. By this time tomorrow, you won’t even remember her. She’ll be less than a faint memory; she’ll be nonexistent. You won’t remember anything from your past. All you will know is the future. All you will care about is advancing our banner.”

  Looking over at Jaing, Anthony nodded. In a flash, the assassin aimed the revolver at Ethan and fired off a shot before anybody could react. The deadly bullet went straight through the side of his ribs and his legs gave out under him. With a quick, piercing cry, Ethan fell onto his back as blood poured out of the wound.

  Brett tried to run to his son’s aid, but Anthony’s powerful grip kept him in place. He spoke above Ethan’s short grunt of pain as Jaing cocked his weapon once more and aimed it at his hostage’s head. “Sorry, brother…sometimes tough love is required.”

  Jaing snorted as Brett looked on with horror.

  From his pocket, Griffin pulled out a small vial. Putting it on the floor, he lightly kicked it and it rolled all the way towards Ethan before stopping against his hand. The wounded man looked at it and the green liquid that filled it as he heard his captor’s voice. “That’s more than enough to keep you out until we reach our father. Drink it, or this man dies.”

  Ethan looked up from the floor and his eyes locked with his father’s. They both knew that as long as Brett lived, Ethan could not do anything. He could not sacrifice the life of his father for Katrina. He would not be responsible for the death of both his parents.

  But Brett knew what needed to be done.

  He knew that it would only take one instant of courage. There was a sudden moment of peace, where Ethan could see nothing but the eyes of his true father. The only one he ever needed. As they looked at one another, they both knew it was the end. That this was their silent goodbye. That they would not grow old together. That Brett would never get to see Ethan’s marriage. He would never get to see his grandchildren. That they would not be sharing any more happy days together in this life.

  In a sudden move, Brett knocked the gun away from his head and lunged at Anthony. Without thinking, Anthony instinctively stabbed the dagger right into his hostage’s chest, stopping the assault. Brett staggered backwards with the blade lodged in his torso. He went a few steps before looking over at Ethan. His legs gave in and he fell onto his back.

  There was an earsplitting roar as Ethan called out his father’s name.

  Ethan watched it all unfold in complete horror. His own pain became nonexistent as he looked upon the dead body of his father. The father he had failed to save.

  Anthony wiped the blood from his face with his finger before carelessly flicking it onto the corpse. Reaching down, he roughly pulled the dagger out of the body.

  The now-orphan’s grief was replaced by hate. His body shook with an uncontrollable rage as he slowly rose to his feet. No pain could stop him now. Nothing could. Seeing what was happening, Anthony suddenly charged the wounded man. By the time he rose to his feet, Anthony grabbed him by his throat and crushed down on it. Lifting him off the ground, he put the tip of his dagger against Ethan’s stomach. “By tomorrow, you will become one of us. You will know nothing else except for your true father and our glorious destiny.”

  Through the choking, Ethan managed a solitary sentence. “Your glori…your glorious dest…destiny is that I’m going to beat you to death …and send you to Hell.”

  Before Anthony could digest those words, Ethan knocked away the dagger with his knee and violently brought down his elbow to break Anthony’s grasp. Falling back down on his feet, he blocked Anthony’s next strike and skillfully disarmed him of the dagger by delivering two quick strikes to his arm. By the time the blade loudly hit the floor, Ethan blocked Griffin’s next assault and kicked his foe hard in the ribs. Anthony ignored the pain, grabbed Ethan’s leg and threw him across the room.

  He flew several meters before landing roughly on his back. Without even a cry of pain, he instantaneously sprung back to his feet and looked in the direction of Brett’s body.

  All life had left him now. His eyes were closed. His body was still. Blood came out of the deep wound and streamed out, staining his cloths and running onto the floor as color left his face.

  But he was smiling.

  Ethan’s eyes left the body and looked for Jaing, but he was nowhere to be found. Ethan looked back at his foe.

  Anthony Griffin had both his fists clenched as he came at Ethan. Only thirty yards away, his wicked expression had been replaced with anger and rage. “No matter what you do, Daken will always be inside of you. Nothing will change that. You can kill me and deny it, but you can’t destroy who you are. You can’t escape your destiny.”

  Ethan’s hands formed into fists. The two men came at each other, walking tall with their eyes locked. Neither had any fear. Neither had any hesitation. Ethan wore the eyes of a wounded lion. Anthony possessed the eyes of a soldier.

  Meeting halfway, Anthony sent his fist with lightning speed. Ethan knocked it away and immediately followed by sending his own strike. Anthony blocked it by catching it in midflight. Ethan instinctively sent his other fist, but Griffin caught it before it could make contact. Without hesitating, Ethan stepped forward and powerfully head bunted Anthony, causing a crack to echo through the room.

  Anthony yelped in pain as he let go of Ethan’s wrists and took a few steps backwards. Ethan kept up with him and sent his next blow just as Griffin regained his senses. Anthony slapped away Ethan’s wrist and sent his own fist at the younger man. Ducking, Ethan avoided the attack and followed through by crashing his elbow in Griffin’s stomach before coming back up and smashing the sharp part of his elbow right into Anthony’s jaw.

  As Anthony backed up once more, Ethan again came at him. He sent his fist, but Griffin sidestepped the attack before grabbing Ethan’s arm. He instinctively struck Ethan across the face with his forearm before powerfully kicking him in the back. As Ethan groaned, Anthony brought his foot around Ethan’s body, while still holding his arm, and crashed his heel right into his foe’s stomach.

  Ethan slightly bent over as Griffin brought up his leg to strike him in the face. At the last moment, Ethan caught Anthony’s ankle with his free hand and pushed it back down while he freed his other arm from Anthony’s grasp. Ethan pivoted on his right foot and sent his left boot into Griffin’s ribs.

  The powerful brawl continued as the two of them came at each other with everything they had. Fists flew through the air with lightning speed. It would have been a blur for any spectator. Each blow was enough to take out any normal man. Nothing was heard except the colliding of limbs and the roars and grunts that were emitted with each strike. These two men were the best of the best. Most blows were countered, sidestepped, parried, or blocked, but some managed to land powerfully on their targets and leave their mark. And whenever they did, a thunderous sound echoed through the room that shook the very columns.

  At first, neither yielded any ground. Neither man backed away from their adversary. The fight was nothing but a fury of swift moves that were delivered and counte
red on pure instinct alone. The echoes of limbs striking one another were the only thing that could be heard. The two lions stood tall as they sent blow after blow and as they attempted to block or avoid the other man’s strikes. To give up an inch would be to start losing the fight and neither of them could afford that.

  Ethan knocked away Griffin’s boot with his own before ducking to avoid his foe’s swipe. Coming back up, Ethan blocked Anthony’s next blow before striking his elbow across Griffin’s face, causing a stream of blood to start running out of his mouth. Griffin roared as he sent his next three swift blows, all of which Ethan blocked or masterfully sidestepped before he stepped up, grabbed Griffin by both shoulders, and plunged his knee right into his stomach. As Anthony groaned, Ethan powerfully head bunted him and a loud clap resonated through the room once more. Before he could recover, Ethan forcefully kicked him in the chest, causing Griffin to back up a few steps.

  Ethan knew that he had the upper hand. Inch by inch, Ethan backed his foe towards the open door that led to the balcony. The two of them headed towards the balustrade as they sent their deafening and inhuman strikes at one another. But Ethan did not back away. He parried nearly every strike and the few he took did not faze him. Ethan gained ground as Anthony became covered in his own blood.

  As Anthony backed up, he realized that Ethan had given him a long, deep cut in the middle of his forehead. The blood seeped down from the wound and blinded him. He desperately tried to wipe it away to clear his vision. But as he did, Ethan ferociously struck him across the face several times with his fists and elbows. With each blow, Ethan roared in anger as Griffin grunted in pain. The thunderous sound of the impact rang through the floor. Griffin gave up even more ground, trying to back far away to regain his senses. Ethan became even more merciless. With a powerful kick to the stomach, Ethan sent Anthony stumbling backwards through the doorway and onto the balcony. Anthony regained his balance as Ethan followed him onto the veranda.

  Griffin wiped away more blood from his eyes, trying desperately to find a way to end the fight in his favor. The younger man ducked to successfully dodge Griffin’s swipe. Without thinking, he avoided Griffin’s boot by kicking it away with his own. Coming to his feet with a quick spin, he slammed his elbow into Griffin’s face, covering it in even more blood. He dodged Griffin’s next blow before grabbing his fist mid-punch.

  With a quick move, Ethan mercilessly twisted his foe’s arm and hit it in a way that dislocated Anthony’s shoulder from its socket. Anthony let out a scream of agony—his first in years—as Ethan let go of his arm and let it fall uselessly to his side. Ethan immediately knocked away Anthony’s other desperate fist before violently elbowing him right across the face once more, making Anthony spit out more blood. As Griffin groaned, Ethan roared and violently kicked him in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards yet again. The infamous and untouchable crime lord was barely on his feet now.

  As he growled in rage, Griffin sent another frantic swing with his one good arm, hoping to find a lucky knockout blow. But again Ethan caught the fist with ease. With a masterful and ruthless move, Ethan broke the arm at the elbow before letting it go. Griffin screamed in pain, but his cry fell on deaf ears. He would receive no mercy this night.

  Grabbing Anthony by the throat, Ethan slammed him against the balcony’s railing. His gloved grip crushed down on Anthony’s trachea.

  As he suffocated his victim, Ethan looked into the man’s eyes. Even through all the blood that covered his face, he could still see Anthony’s devilish eyes. And even through all the pain he had endured, Griffin still showed no fear. He would not ask for mercy. He did not want mercy. Somehow, he spoke as Ethan continued to choke him. “You’re going to lose, Ethan. You won’t be able to save her…not with a wound like that. My father will succeed…he will still come for you.”

  Ignoring the taunt, Ethan brought his face only inches away from Griffin’s. His face was full of hate and it shook with rage. He growled in his cruel voice. “Anthony Griffin, I am the creation of your sins…and they want you dead.”

  Ethan flung Anthony over the balcony, never to be seen again.

  Chapter 29

  Destiny

  It was an hour before dawn. This part of the city was always deserted, especially at night. The only thing here was ramshackle warehouses that had not been used in ages. Even the homeless would not bother to make them their dwellings.

  But tonight there were signs of life. Atop of a cracked parking lot between two buildings, six men stood in front of their parked vans. Wearing dark jackets, each of them was armed; some with mere handguns, others with deadly rifles. They silently looked towards the parking lot entrance as they waited, trying to ignore the freezing wind. The only light came from a few lamp poles that were still functioning.

  After a few minutes the headlights of a white twelve-passenger-van aimed right at them as it drove into the parking lot. Its rotating wheels squealed over the gravel. Making its way through the parking lot, the van finally stopped about thirty yards out from the group with its right side facing them.

  The armed assembly watched as the side door slid open. A man in a black leather jacket, who held a pistol in his hand, hopped out. Turning back around, he roughly yanked his prisoner from the vehicle. She was wearing a black mask over her face, which completely blinded her. Dressed in her light red coat, her scarf had fallen off during her rough handling and now lay on the floor of the vehicle. Her long black hair was mostly clumped up in the mask, but a few strands hung out. Even from where they stood, the group could see that she was trembling with fear.

  Two of the men facilitated the exchange. The larger of the two carried a metal briefcase in his hands. The other man grabbed the mask of the prisoner and ripped it off, revealing Katrina’s distraught face. She took several deep breaths, now free from the suffocating mask. As the mercenary tossed the mask onto the ground, her eyes suddenly widened as she looked upon the face of the man who had unmasked her. “Jason?”

  He did not reply as he let his emotionless stare stay on her shocked face.

  His partner was the one to speak with an evilness in his eyes. “She really is a pretty one. She’ll sell for a high price for sure.”

  Jason replied as he kept his gaze on her, “We have our orders; sell her to the lowest and most vile pit we can. Then she can live the rest of her tortured days there.”

  Katrina could not believe the words that came out of his mouth as her eyes filled with horror. The man who had been working for her for the past few months was nothing more than a slave trafficker. “Why… why are you doing this?”

  Jason looked away as his friend handed over the metal briefcase. As they took it, he turned around and roughly grabbed Katrina’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  She tried to resist his pull. “Jason, please…”

  He whipped his head back as his voice spiked. “Shut up and move!”

  Just as they took their first step, a sound stopped them.

  It was a roar. A mighty roar from a beast that did not fear death. His angry roar told every man down in that parking lot that he was coming to deliver them to the afterlife.

  All eyes went to the rooftop of the three-story-building. An unmasked, dark figure leapt off of it and dived towards the group. His red and black tactical suit was covered in blood. His face had multiple bruises and cuts, but his eyes showed no pain or hesitation. They only showed hatred.

  Before any man had a chance to react or even understand what was happening, Ethan fell right on top of the man closest to him. His weight slammed the man’s skull onto the hard, concrete floor and crushed it with a deafening crack. Without thinking, he lunged at the next mercenary.

  In a matter of seconds, the second thug staggered backwards with the dagger lodged in his throat and the group finally regained enough sense to fire upon the unwanted intruder. Grabbing the wounded man by the hair, Ethan threw him into the line of fire. His body was riddled by bullets and collapsed dead as streams of blood pour
ed out of his wounds.

  Swiftly turning, Ethan sidestepped the mercenary who tried to shoot him from point-blank-range. As he quickly re-aimed and pulled the trigger again, Ethan pushed his arm, forcing him to aim right at another mercenary as his gun went off. The new target collapsed with a bullet in his brain. Ethan grabbed the shooter and killed him with his bare hands.

  Surrounded by five men, Katrina watched in awe and disbelief as Ethan killed the traffickers. Four of the men around her aimed their weapons at the intruder, but Jason grabbed her arm and aimed his weapon at her head from point-blank-range. “You move, you die.”

  Turning around, Ethan faced the five remaining men who were about thirty yards out. They all simultaneously pulled the triggers to their weapons and the onslaught was headed towards Ethan in an instant. He charged right at his foes with full speed, but a second before the bullets nailed him, he pushed off the ground and leapt high in the air above them. He soared through the air above their heads as they unsuccessfully tried to gun him down. He loudly landed crouched down on the white van, causing its roof to cave in just a bit.

  Under the streetlight, Ethan took all of them on simultaneously. Avoiding and knocking away their assaults, Ethan retaliated with his own powerful strikes. Each time he made contact, the thunderous sound of his blow echoed throughout the entire parking lot as bones were cracked and limbs were broken. As Ethan took on the mercenaries, Katrina watched with Jason’s gun still pointed to her head. Her eyes could not keep up with the fight as Ethan dealt with his foes with inhuman speed. She saw nothing but a blur under of black and red.

  Realizing her captor’s focus on the battle, she seized the opportunity. Katrina suddenly knocked the gun away from her head and with her shoulder she pushed Jason off of her before he had a chance to react. Swiftly turning, she violently struck him on the face and gave Jason a long cut across his cheek. With an angry roar, he took a step back and aimed his weapon at her, ready to end her life.