Generations

Chapter 9: Heroes of Old

Chapter 9: Heroes of Old

He could feel the voices around him, their distant, solemn whispers. Beyond his eyelids he saw the light, the kind of light that peeks through darkness, and blinds the unready souls. And even in his unconscious state, he could touch the power around him. This wasn’t a place mortals saw; all but the select didn’t even know it existed. And for him to be here, well, even for him, it was a miracle.

“Awaken Justin.”

He stirred in his sleep. But the command seemed too intense, the voice too powerful for him to sleep through for long. “Angela,” he said, rubbing his eyes from the sleep, and the light all around him. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“No, it was our belief that the war had ended. There was no further need for contact.”

“I thought the same thing.”

“Do you know why you were brought here?”

He did, although he was surprised that it had come to that. This was the refuge of the Guardians of Truth, the immortal beings that watched over the world, both the seen and unseen. It was a land that the humans called Atlantis those many years ago, but now was lost to the passing of time, and the rumors spread through out the generations. “I was too valuable to lose in the battle,” he replied. He knew also what that meant. That this wasn’t just a simple anomaly, though he guessed as much when he saw Cameron’s fervor. Even if he had grown weaker with age, there was no way a single Nightwing should have the power to rival his own strength. And that mistake had nearly cost him his life; it would have if they hadn’t brought him here before Cameron could kill him.

“Precisely. And you have been informed already by Andrew and Walter on the state of the portal, have you not?”

“Yeah, the seal we placed on their realm was supposed to keep them contained, but a few of the Nightwings were able to make it out. I was supposed to ensure they did not leave the realm of dreams.” It wasn’t supposed to be difficult. The first group of Nightwings he met were no match for him. If anything, they were weaker than those from the war. And if they were part of the few to make it through the portal, he had assumed they’d all be of similar strength.

“New information has arisen in regards to the realm of dreams.”

“Let me guess, it’s not good news?” Anytime the Guardians missed something, it wasn’t good. Their eyes saw everything in the world, and even beyond. Thoughts, actions, seen, and unseen, they saw it all. Never caught unprepared, or, so it seemed.

Until things went wrong.

“It would appear that three Nightwings have already made their way to earth. Their magic has evolved over the years, they made it here completely undetected.”

“How is that possible?”

“We are still looking into that.”

Of course, for all their sight, all their illusions of omnipotence, there were some things that they didn’t have the answers too. And when that happened, when their foes managed to outsmart them, the world waited in unconscious fear.

Justin got up, his wounds gone from the battle, just as he expected. It was no surprise that their magic had worked that fast. He knew the Guardians possessed powers beyond even his own. He wondered how strong they truly were, and why they needed him to fight these battles. Still, he had asked that question many times before, but each time he was given the same vague response to get him to move on, though something in him told him that was okay. It was strange, he normally liked to know everything, but this one time, he was content not knowing. He knew the part he had to play, and no matter what questions he asked or how persistent he was, there was never a time where they told him more than they deemed he had to know. And he’d come to live with that.