Chapter Four
The mannequin jumped up using only its arm and did a couple flips before sticking out its leg, trying to kick me. I stumbled up onto my feet and barely fell out of the way again, scrambling to stand up just as it stomped down where my chest used to be. I wasn’t strong enough to deal with it in hand to hand combat, but if I could find my weapon, I thought that I might stand a chance. I ran in the opposite direction of the mannequin, through the forest. It chased after me and it was catching up, it not being human and therefore not needing to breathe.
As I ran through the forest, I saw more and more weapons, some I lunged out to get and I got shocked and others I didn’t want to get as they looked too confusing. The unfortunate part was that every time I tried to get a weapon, I would get shocked and then I would get a beating from the mannequin, but for some reason I was able to run faster and farther than I was at the start. It was strange, I felt faster and stronger than I did at the start of this training and it felt good, ‘maybe it’s from the energy training’ I thought, thinking that I was just putting energy into my legs without thinking.
Just then, I ran out into a grassy meadow in the middle of the forest. I looked back and realized that I must have lost the mannequin somehow, so I stopped running and looked around. It was odd, the meadow seemed to be surreal some how, like it was something from a dream. In the middle of the meadow stood two swords, they were put into the ground in an X-shape and they seemed to give off a light green energy. I looked at them curiously and walked up to them.
The swords looked like they could collapse into themselves like those cheap swords you would get at a dollar tree on the end of flash lights or one of those cheap light-sabers that didn’t light up. In every one of the separations was a small cut that seemed to cut through the blade. I reached out to pick them up, expecting a shock but realized once my hand had closed around the handle that I would receive no shock. I slid one out of the ground and looked at the sword; it was hollow and made of a very sturdy metal.
I kind of gave the blade a swing and it felt pretty good in my hands, like I had held it before. The blade almost felt like it knew who I was. I pulled the other blade out and I felt like I was holding two armies in my hands. I felt like no one could stop me with the two blades, and just as I picked them up, the mannequin came charging into the clearing. I turned to face it and it stopped charging, looking at me.
I stood, defiantly standing against it, and it seemed to realize that I wasn’t going to back down this time. It looked as though it was smiling even though I couldn’t see its mouth and then it drew the large sword on its back. Suddenly, I felt like I should be running again, I felt as though I shouldn’t be here and that I didn’t want to fight anymore. It was overwhelming, I fell down to one knee ‘what the heck is going on with me’ was all I had time to think before the mannequin came charging at me.
I tried to move and I did, but I started to run instead of blocking the attack. The mannequin had swung at me and I had tried to block it but all I seemed to be able to do was run from the onslaught. I realized that this must have been the other part of the training, that without my will to fight I would have to gain the ability to fight even against odds greater than my own and that I would have to realize that I have to fight no matter what. Even though I realized this I still couldn’t stop myself from running. It was odd, I was thinking rationally yet I couldn’t keep my body from running.
The mannequin gave chase and I felt like I ran for several hours. I was getting more and more tired until finally I just forced myself to stop moving and turn towards the mannequin to face it.
“You won’t beat me this time,” I said to the mannequin but I didn’t think it would answer.
I stood my ground this time, somehow keeping my legs from moving and then the mannequin lunged at me, sweeping its great sword for my neck. This time I brought the sword in my left hand up and let it block the giant sword, feeling myself hold it there. I smiled and jabbed forward with the blade in my right hand. It was odd, I could see the blade coming slowly yet it felt like he had swung it really fast and hard. I realized it must have been the speed eye and this must be what Rein meant, I jabbed as fast as I could into the mannequin and it stumbled back, it seemed to bleed a slimy light-like liquid. It was strange; I had never seen such a thing. It looked like light but in a liquid form, I was fascinated by it.
I smiled and lunged forward, slashing down, across the mannequin’s chest, causing more of the light-liquid to ooze out. I stabbed the mannequin square in the heart, or where its heart should have been and it fell over onto the ground. I stood over it and slashed right through the mid section of the armor, cutting it clean in half. For some reason the blades cut through the armor like hot butter. I didn’t even add pressure the swords just slid through the armor.
What happened next was amazing. The armor around the mannequin seemed to dissipate and it turned into a small baseball sized light orb. The orb flew at me and then went inside my chest and I suddenly felt revitalized, like the fight I just went through was nothing major and I could do it again, easily.
I stumbled up into a standing position and looked down at the spot where the mannequin had been. I smiled and my accomplishments and then walked off, looking for the end to the forest and to get back to Rein. I walked a couple of feet and then fell over. I also just realized how tired I was, I smiled to myself and then fell asleep right there on the ground.
The room I woke up to was dark. it had only felt like I had slept for only a few seconds, but I knew it was much longer than that. I was lying in a soft bed, under the blankets. I was wearing what I had been in the forest, and my swords lay only a couple feet away, but they looked like small metal rods to me. I groggily got up and picked them up. I felt around for the door and opened it, walking out into the dimly lit corridor beyond.
“Damn this place is so big; I wouldn’t be surprised if I got lost in here.” I said to myself, taking a right and walking toward a pounding noise down the corridor. It was coming from a door half way down the hall.
When I got to the door I knocked and when there was no response I opened it and walked in. It was a large warehouse like room that held work out equipment, but the banging was coming from the back of the room. As I headed for it, it got progressively louder and then I finally saw what was making it. It was Amelia, pounding away at a three foot thick steel wall. She wore what looked like a teddy bear costume and every time she hit the steel wall it would get an increasingly larger dent.
“Holy crap! How do you hit that so hard?” I said, incredulously looking at the large dent in the steel.
“I have a lot of strength for my size and it is my power,” she said with a bright, innocent smile.
“I can see that, so what is with the bear suit?” I asked, walking over to her.
“It’s like armor, it’s my spiritual weapon. My teddy bear can expand to fit me like armor,” Amelia smiled sweetly at me, “would you like to give it a try. The metal is made so that we feel like we are hitting a soft pillow, but it still has the resistance of steel.”
“Really? How odd,” I ran up and hit the steel as hard as I could.
Amelia wasn’t lying, it felt like I was hitting a pillow and my hand didn’t brake like I thought it would. The sad part was that I only put a tiny imprint on the steel. I sighed and jumped back, adding energy to my arms and then I lunged at the steel and hit it as hard as I could and there was a large and shallow dent in the steel when I pulled my hand away.
“Whoa, cool, I see what Rein means. So what do you do in here?” I asked looking around.
“We work out, silly” Amelia said with a sweet smile.
“I know that, I meant what do YOU do in here all day?” I asked again, emphasizing ‘you’ so she knew I was talking about her.
“OH! I work on my strength and my speed. I wouldn’t want a stray sword swing to land in on one of my armor’s weak spots” she said the whole sentence with a smile and a giddy voice, but I could tell she meant that she was working on making her harder to hit and making sure she hit harder. She was training to kill people, specifically enemies of her and Rein’s cause.
“Interesting, so how old are you?” I asked, curiously
“OH, I’m nine years-old,” she looked up at me and grinned from ear to ear.
“Wow, that young?” I said and just as I said it, I barely dodged a punch to my face she had thrown.
“That is not YOUNG! Age doesn’t matter!” she practically yelled at me.
“Oh, sorry, sorry, I wasn’t aware of that,” I said quickly, trying to get her to calm down as she threw a few more kicks and punches, and I knew that if any one of them landed, I would be dead.
Amelia calmed down as soon as Verge walked in from seemingly out of nowhere. He seemed to just materialize in front of and she immediately stopped, almost freezing in place. Verge turned to me and smiled, though his eyes seemed to be angry.
“Sorry about that, she is kind of touchy about her age,” he said, trying to apologetic, yet not accomplishing it.
“Oh, it’s okay, I’ll be sure to be careful next time,” I said, not lying. I would be sure not to mention her age to Amelia again.
“Oh, and Kai, Rein was looking for you, he needs you in the training hall,” Verge gestured for me to head for the door and I turned, heading for it.
Verge followed behind me, and I could sense Amelia close behind him. As we stepped out into the corridor he made me take a left and we headed in the opposite direction I had been going to get to the work out room. We passed the door I had come out of and headed all the way down to the end of the hall and walked through the door. It lead into the mess hall I had been in a while ago.
Rein sat against the far wall, to the right of the door I just walked in, he was eating with Zzyzk and Fate and as soon as I walked in he looked up and smiled.
“AH! Kai, come over, you must be hungry, please, eat” Rein waved me over to sit next to him.
I walked over and sat, a little put off for some reason, like this was all about to go south real fast. Rein set some steak in front me and I pulled out a knife and vigorously devoured it. Rein finished his meal about the same time I finished mine and then he looked at me.
“There are some things I need to show you and some things I need to tell you. Which would you like me to do first?” He asked, like a riddle.
I thought for a second. “Uhh…I’ll go with telling me first. What is it that you need to tell me?” I asked as the atmosphere seemed to get really serious all of a sudden.
“Well, have you been wondering why you fell into our world, or why so many people want to get a hold of you?” asked Rein.
“Yeah, I have been wondering that, actually,” I said, suddenly wondering what this was about.
“Well, about thirty years ago a war ended on our world that had been going for several hundred thousand years before between demons and guardians, a race of humans that have greater abilities over other humans. This war ended when the last guardian and the last saviors, the people the guardians protected, were sent to Earth,” said Rein, looking me directly in the eye.
“Okay, what does that have to do with me?” I asked, looking around at all of them curiously.
“Well, this is hard to believe, but you are that last guardian, YOU are the most important being alive, aside from the five saviors. You will decide the fate of our world and yours. Sorry but this is the burden you have, as it is your birthright,” Rein looked totally serious and I know he couldn’t be lying.
I just sat there gaping at him. “No that can’t be possible. I’m just me, I’m no important person, I don’t have any important decision to make” I said, almost incredulous.
“That we have proof for, which is what I need to show you. If you will come with me, I will take you to the scene painted at the last battle. It was a painting done by a man who saw it through a special mirror, he painted it specifically so that you would remember,” Rein stood up and started walking towards the door.
I got up and quickly followed him, watching as Zzyzk and Fate followed as well. Verge and Amelia had disappeared. We left the cafeteria through a different door and we stepped out into the gloomy, rainy outside world and we were headed down a dirt path through a small patch of forest. When we cleared the forest, a small stone structure came into view. It looked like some ruins that had been destroyed for years.
“I thought you said that it had been thirty years ago?” I said, looking curiously at Rein.
“OH, it was thirty years ago your time, but here it has been thousands of years. We haven’t gone through much change in that time, but the forces of evil were dealt a serious blow. This shrine was erected in your honor. You were the only guardian to survive that fateful battle,” Rein looked at me quickly and then faced the door to the ruin.
It was a large stone door with odd designs etched into it. Rein pressed his hand flat against the door and the designs started to glow. Then the stone doors grudgingly started to inch open, covering everyone near it in dust. As we brushed ourselves off, we walked into the dark room beyond. As we stepped into the ruin, torches lit along the walls and the stone doors behind us slid shut. Rein didn’t stop moving, he started heading for a door to the right in the large circular room we were standing in.
Rein walked through the open door way and down a long corridor, and we followed. The corridor came to an end in a large room about the size of the work out room. Three of the four walls were blank and the fourth was decorated in a huge tapestry that held a painting of a horrific battle across a desolate landscape. Almost all the painting was covered in a large black blob and as we got closer turned out to be a demon army and they were surrounding a small circlet of white. A small band of ten people. They stood against the army and in the detail of the paint you could see them striking down demons that ventured too close to the little band. Two of the ten were on the ground, one looked dead, a boy that seemed to be no older than ten, and a beautiful girl of teenage years. She was on the ground close to another figure that seemed to be dressed in a red and black armor and a cat that looked half human dressed in a ninja costume. The other six of the ten were standing around a small green circle that looked like the portal I fell through when I got here; and then I gasped.
One of the six standing near the portal was me. In perfect detail, I could even see the color of my eyes. It was amazing and I could barely believe my eyes. It was really me; I looked around the room and at the tapestry. It all looked extremely old yet it was me on the painting. How could that be possible, unless he really was the last guardian Rein was talking about. I really am the last guardian. All of a sudden, the world seemed darker and I fell backwards, unconscious before I hit the ground.
