The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon

by Matthew Burkey

  “You have no idea what you are, do you?” the figure asked after he came to a stop a few feet from Gabriel.

  “I’m a Guardian,” Gabriel answered. He was surprised at how confident he sounded when he said that considering that just last night he was wondering if he would be able to do this job.

  The figure laughed. It was a haunting sound that seemed to echo despite the vastness of the space they were standing in.

  “Do you truly believe that?”

  Gabriel wasn’t sure what to make of that question.

  “Do you really believe that you would be good enough for them? That you would be strong enough for them?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I can help you unleash your power and help you discover your true nature.”

  Now, Gabriel was really confused. He didn’t have any idea what it was that this strange man in his dream was talking about. Of course it could have just been a dream but knowing what he now knew about the supernatural, he had a feeling that wasn’t entirely the case. And there was the warning that Imogene had given him.

  “No thanks,” Gabriel grunted.

  “I was afraid that you were going to say that,” the figure sighed. He pulled a weapon from his back, a blade that was as black as night. A white glow surrounded the edges of the weapon and instantly Gabriel recognized it as an Immortal blade. It was a weapon forged by dark magic, usually used by dark mages and other undesirables. He hadn’t faced one in combat before and although he technically wasn’t really facing one now, he was slightly nervous.

  “This is a dream, you can’t hurt me,” Gabriel snapped.

  “After all you have been shown these past months, do you really know for sure that I can’t hurt you?”

  “That thought had occurred to me,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “But I’m willing to take my chances, for all I know you could just be the result of that burrito that I had before going to bed.”

  “You have no idea what’s coming.”

  Gabriel was expecting some sort of attack with his blade; instead the figure raised his and sent tendrils of black/red energy stretching out toward him. He brought Aequitas up quickly, catching the first burst on his blade, wrapping his blade in an angry red glow. The figure let loose with another, and then another, each time Gabriel was able to bring his weapon around to block the attack.

  “Impressive work,” the figure commented. “But you know that you can’t hold out against me forever.”

  “Since this is my dream I’m sorta of hoping that I wake up long before that.”

  “Assuming you wake up at all.”

  “Nice try...”

  And then Gabriel was knocked off his feet as a ripple of energy slammed into him, sending him bouncing along the roof of the pyramid. He rolled back to his feet just in time to be hit by more tendrils of energy, sending pain rippling throughout his body. He dropped to one knee and was hit again, sending him to the ground writhing in agony.

  Gabriel’s whole body felt like it was on fire. His muscles failed to respond to his commands, which allowed the approaching figure to hit with the tendrils of painful energy again. Gabriel cried out as pain tore through his body, whatever it was that he was hitting him with was causing him pain like he had never experienced before.

  “What you fail to see,” the figure stated, as he reached down and grabbed Gabriel by the throat. “Is that you already lost. I gave you a chance to join me and you turned me down, it’s such a shame you were so promising.”

  Gabriel went flying through the air, tossed as if he were nothing more than a mere rag doll. He landed painfully on his back, sucking the air from his lungs. The figure was on him again, dragging him back to his feet just to slam him across the face with several vicious blows. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.

  The figure dropped Gabriel to the ground. Gabriel landed on his knees and spit blood out several times. He called for Aequitas but the sword never came to him, it set in an instant feeling of panic which lasted just long enough for Gabriel to realize that he should be blocking the uppercut that was coming for his chin. The blow connected, sending Gabriel stumbling backwards and more blood filling his mouth.

  “I will crush you and all those who you love...you will watch this world burn in the fires of revolution and then, just as the last breath leaves the last Guardian, I’ll kill you.”

  Gabriel rolled onto his back, his mind desperately searching for a way to defend himself. The figure whipped his sword around stabbed Gabriel right through the chest.

  Gabriel bolted up in bed, covered in a sheet of sweat. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. There was something disturbing about the dream, especially the way that the man in it felt so familiar. Gabriel swung his legs out of bed and went to the bathroom, splashing water on his face. He took a look at himself in the mirror, taking note of the small bruise that had appeared in the center of his chest.

  He went back to his bed and flopped down in it. What Imogene said kept running through his head, about how your heart turned dark. What worried him was the fact that he couldn’t see the figure’s face... maybe it was himself that he was fighting? If that was true was it a reflection of what he would be like if he let his heart turn dark? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something?

  He shook his head and closed his eyes, using a calming technique that Tony had taught. Thankfully, he drifted off to sleep several moments later. Luckily, the rest of his night was free of any sort of dreams.

  He awoke the next morning only slightly sore. He rolled out of bed and stretched, Jonathan had given them the day off considering what they had been through the night before. Well, actually he had given everyone but Marissa and Everett the day off, both of them were busy sifting through all the data that they had pulled from Daniel’s computer network.

  He showered, dressed, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Sean was already down stairs, scarfing down a bowl of cereal. Sean was one of the first ones to notice the changes in Gabriel, probably because he was one of the few people that he was close too.

  “Working out again?” Sean asked. “You better be careful you’ll end up having to buy more clothes.”

  Gabriel smiled at that comment; it did feel good to know that people noticed the changes in him, physically and mentally.

  “Just going over to Ryan’s for a bit,” Gabriel shrugged. He grabbed an apple from the table before taking a large bite out of it. “What are you and Tim going to do today?”

  “Don’t know yet,” Sean said. “He said something about wanting to check out the new indoor waterpark out west.”

  “Sounds like it outta be a good time.”

  “You and Ryan should come with us,” Sean offered. “It would be a great way to show off your body…maybe get some guys interested in you.”

  “I think you and mom are conspiring to set me up,” Gabriel grunted. “Would you two just let it go.”

  “Oh no,” Sean said, shaking his head. “You hounded me for weeks about asking a girl out and I so going to repay the favor. You sure Ryan isn’t gay? He’s a pretty snappy dresser…what about that Cody guy, accents are hot, right?”

  “Yes,” Gabriel sighed. “Accents are hot but he’s not gay either.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes!”

  “So, you have a bunch of hot straight friends?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Isn’t that like me having a bunch of hot friends that are girls?” Sean asked. “Because I really think that would get me into trouble.”

  “Contrary to popular belief I do not want to jump every guy that I see,” Gabriel grunted.

  “Really, because if I had a bunch of hot girlfriends…”

  “I don't need details.”

  “If you insist,” Sean shrugged. “Really though man, you look good. These past three months have made a real difference in you.”

  “Thanks Sean,” Gabriel said. “But it’s nothing magical, just har
d work and lots and lots of exercise.”

  “I’m not just talking about your buffness.”

  Gabriel arched an eyebrow at that comment. “Buffness?”

  “Yes, it’s a word. Well, it’s a word now,” Sean shrugged again. “I’m talking about your whole attitude.”

  Although he would be the first to admit that he thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of his labors; at least when it came to his physical condition. What he enjoyed even more than that is the fact that he had more confidence and for the first time in a long felt that he had friends that he could really count on. Sure, he wasn’t as close as the rest of the team appeared to be but he still felt like part of the team.

  “Just had to have an attitude adjustment I guess.”

  “Usually dad is the one giving the attitude adjustments,” Sean remarked. “Whatever it is, seriously keep it up. You’re going to have to start beating guys off with a stick pretty soon.”

  Gabriel gave snort of laughter at that comment. “Somehow I don’t really see that being an issue.”

  “Oh come on,” Sean snorted.

  The kitchen door opened and Tim sauntered in. He grabbed an apple from the bowl and then hopped up on the counter. If Gabriel and Sean’s mom saw them do that they would have gotten yelled at for sure, for some reason however, Tim seemed to be able to get away with murder in the eyes of their parents.

  “What you talking about?” Tim asked, as he took a bite out of the apple.

  “Gabriel’s newfound buffness and how he’s going to have to start beating guys off with a stick...”

  Tim laughed so hard that he spit out some chunks of apple. “HA! Do you know what you just said!”

  “I said...oh wait,” Sean started, realizing his faux pas. “Dude, come on you know exactly what I meant...not another word!”

  Sean glared at both Gabriel and Tim.

  “Wouldn’t his...”

  “Stop it!” Sean yelled. Tim took the hint and decided to shut up, at least about that subject. “He’s right though man, you keep looking better and better. What sort of work does Ryan have you doing?”

  “Oh lots of things,” Gabriel shrugged. “He’s a pretty good coach really.”

  “I’ll say,” Tim said, as he finished his apple. “Maybe I’ll have to start taking tips from him.”

  Gabriel didn’t think that Tim needed any pointers on working out, at fourteen he was just as built as some of the Guardians that Gabriel had encountered.

  “I don’t think you need to get any bigger either,” Sean huffed. “You’re going to start pulling the ladies away from me and I am so not ok with that.”

  “I need to get going,” Gabriel said, as he grabbed his tablet. “Try and not get into too much trouble, ok?”

  “No promises,” Tim smiled.

  Gabriel waved goodbye to Sean before bounding out the door and to his car. Everett and Marissa had been hard at work decoding the information found in Daniel’s system and he was anxious to hear if they managed to get any information on the whereabouts of Sainte-Pierre.

  He also wanted to apologize to Ryan for asking about his feelings toward Elise. The way that he responded made Gabriel realize that it was a sensitive subject and probably not one that he should broach lightly, it at all. If there was anything that Gabriel had learned in the last few months it was that Ryan was a private person. Asking him about his feelings toward Elise might have been crossing into an area that he undoubtedly wanted to keep to himself, especially given the fact that Ethan and Elise had once been an item.

  He started his car, turned up the radio and took off toward Aegis.

  He arrived at Aegis after a stop to get breakfast and coffee and then headed down to the command center. Everett and Marissa had been working through the night, sifting through all the information on Daniel’s computers, in an attempt to figure out exactly where Saint-Pierre was hiding.

  As he made his way down the hall, he got congratulatory nods and remarks from pretty much everyone; he met up with Elise as she came out of the lounge, carrying a steaming mug of coffee.

  “Hey there killer,” Elise smiled.

  Gabriel shook his head. “I wish people would stop calling me that, everyone is acting so surprised that I managed to not get killed on my first mission out. Do your new guys make a habit of getting killed on their first time out?”

  “Not usually,” Elise said. “But you didn’t have nearly the amount of training that they did. Ryan and Tony really talked you up to the rest of Phoenix.”

  Ethan, on the other hand, had been silent ever since they returned from Vertias. He didn’t say a word once they arrived back at Aegis, though given what Gabriel now knew about Ethan’s and Dominic’s past, he could understand why.

  “The slayer returns.”

  Gabriel turned to see Cody jogging up behind them. “Get any sleep last night?”

  Cody draped his arm over Gabriel’s shoulder as they continued down the hall.

  “Some,” Gabriel sighed, apparently no one was going to let the killer thing drop. “How about you?”

  “Slept like a babe,” Cody smiled. “You think they pulled anything out of all that information that we got from Daniel?”

  “Who knows.”

  “I hope they did,” Cody sighed. “If not we’re going to be buggered for sure.”

  “Yeah, I heard about that,” Gabriel nodded, as Cody punched in the code for the command center. “Do you think that Ethan will agree to it? After hearing about what was said, it sounded more like an order than a request.”

  “Not really,” Cody said, with a shrug. “Ethan’s stubborn and even though the council suggested it highly, they really don’t have a way to enforce it. I mean they could pull him off the team but everyone knows that rarely happens. Maybe Elise manage to talk some sense into him, she does know him pretty well.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Elise responded, as she came around the corner. “I just pointed out the obvious, hopefully he sees that.”

  The trio continued toward the command center, Marissa and Everett were already inside, surrounded by a night’s worth of fast food wrappers and coffee cups. Both looked like they could use some serious sleep, which they probably weren’t going to get until they made it all the way through the information that had been on Daniel’s computer.

  “You two look like hell,” Cody frowned.

  “Thank you captain obvious,” Everett snapped. “We’ve been up all night while the rest of you got to go off and have a nice nap.”

  “Your fault for being the tech savvy one,” Cody responded.

  “We got through everything he had on there,” Marissa explained. “And he had a lot of nasty things on here...”

  “We need stuff to tie him to Sainte-Pierre I mean we already know that this guys a bastard...”

  “If you would just me finish,” Marissa went on. “We found a series of emails that he sent to Sainte-Pierre.”

  “Any mention on where he was hiding?” Gabriel asked. “Or can you know, track the IP address or something.”

  “First off, do you even know what that is?” Everett said, making a face. “Second off, Sainte-Pierre is way too smart leave behind a simple clue like that. Mostly likely he would have bounced his address off servers all over the world.”

  The door to the command center opened again and Ryan, Tony, and Ethan walked in. Ethan looked like he hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest either, though after what happened last night at castle Vertias, Gabriel wasn’t stupid enough to ask.

  “Tell me you found something,” Ethan demanded.

  “We found many things,” Everett admitted. “But as to the actual location of Sainte-Pierre, no, we haven’t found anything concrete. We’re still looking through it though. The FBI is going to have a field day when we turn over the information to them.”

  “What we did find, well it wasn’t good,” Marissa stated, typing a few keys. The screens in the command centered shifted to show what appeared to be an inventory list. “Da
niel got a lot of stuff from Sainte-Pierre, including RPGs, AK-47’s, materials for IED’s, and whole laundry list of more conventional weapons.”

  “I thought we made all of those go boom?” Ryan asked.

  “We did,” Marissa confirmed. “What is more distressing so some of the stuff that he promised to Daniel but hadn’t yet delivered.”

  “Such as?” Tony asked.

  “You aren’t going to like this,” Everett warned.

  “Just spill it.”

  Marissa shrugged and entered a few more commands. “Along with the conventional weaponry, Sainte-Pierre also promised Immortal Blades, Greek fire grenades, armor with glyphs, and well, here is the scary part. He sent schematics of biotech implants, Pulse Plasma Rifles, and even Sonic Shock Cannons...”

  “That’s all Aegis tech!” Tony exclaimed.

  Everett nodded. “Yeah, that’s what we figured too.”

  “We already checked with research and development,” Marissa said. “They aren’t missing any prototypes or any materials that would be used in making those prototypes.”

  “Wait a minute,” Gabriel asked. “What are those things?”

  “The biotech implants are devices which release a series of nanites,” Everett explained. “They work on reconfiguring the body, giving a person the same abilities that we have without having to go through the Rite. It’s still a work in progress, though; nowhere near ready for actual testing.”

  “We were working on a way to use the implants to harness the latent bioelectric field that your body creates,” Marissa added. “But Everett is right; none of this stuff is even close to ready for actual application.”

  “And the Plasma Pulse Rifle?” Gabriel asked.

  “Directed energy weapon,” Tony explained. “The Sonic Shock Cannon uses focused sound waves to smash through pretty much anything...at least that’s the theory; they are still working on practical application.”

  “So, some seriously dangerous stuff,” Gabriel nodded. “Well, that’s just great.”

  “It’s not just the tech that’s disturbing,” Everett went on. “We couldn’t find any of the armor, the blades, or the grenades, which means that they are still out there and that someone has their hands on them.”