Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Oscar

 The darkness tried to take control of Oscar for the hundredth time, and Oscar resisted. He wasn't afraid of the darkness anymore and had learned to resist the dread that it brought. Still, when Oscar tried to go to sleep, his eyes refused to close. Lawson had warned that would happen. When you stare darkness in the face, it haunts you, and after three straight months of it, Oscar still had yet to get used to it. When he found his arm hanging over his bed, he felt a warm hand grab his. It was Amanda. It was the dead of winter, and her hand brought warmth against the cold.

"You can't sleep, either?" Oscar whispered.

"You can't," said Amanda. She was reading his mind again.

"I know," Oscar admitted.

"It's fine," Amanda promised. "Staring into darkness every day isn't easy, is it?"

"No, it's far from easy," said Oscar. "But you've been doing it for a lot longer."

"It still scares me," Amanda admitted. Oscar had heard rumors of what the other Guardians had seen when looking into the Abyss. Visions of things that brought them pain in their lives, loved ones lost, and their worst fears. That's what Guardians spend their time training against. They needed to face up to their fears and not let them get the better of them.

"What have you seen?" Oscar asked. "If you don't mind me asking." There wasn't an answer for a moment, and for some reason, Oscar could tell that Amanda was sorrowful. She was reluctant to answer, and Oscar tightened his grip on her hand.

"My brother," she said. "He was killed by tribesmen five years ago."

"Oh," said Oscar. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Amanda said. "What about you? Have you seen anything, yet?"

"No, not yet," Oscar answered. "Just the face of true evil. I have a good idea of what to expect, though."

"What?" asked Amanda.

"My cousins, my aunt, and my uncle," said Oscar. "They were all murdered by Ballard Redwald."

"You fought in the war, then?" Amanda wondered.

"I did," Oscar answered. "I lost all of the friends I made, but one Guardian arranged for me to be sent here. Good thing, too. If the King and Queen found out that I fought for the Redwalds, I would be dead."

"They forced you to fight?" said Amanda.

"Yeah." Oscar was happy enough to know that there were friends in the south that didn't care about his past. Trevor, Belle, and Melody were all kind to him, and every one of the Guardians at Ice Spear was the same. Maybe if you grew up in the harsh environment of the north, you were more sensible than others.

"That's cruel," said Amanda.

"That's a word for it," Oscar agreed.

"But coming here was your choice?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, it was," Oscar answered.

"I think you turned out alright," said Amanda.

"Thanks," said Oscar. "You, too." He found it easier to fall asleep once he heard Amanda snoring, and his eyes soon closed. The dream he found himself in wouldn't be a pleasant one. The road between the Bronze Mountains of the Sandlands, north of the Shadowgrove, brought him dread. He wasn't wearing the red, leather outfit of a House Redwald soldier, as he had worn during that battle, though. He was in a suit of black power armor, the outfit of a Guardian Squad Captain. In Oscar's hands was his assault rifle, and on his hip was his pistol and a lightsword. He was leading a Guardian squad of his own, and he recognized a few of the faces in his team. His grey-armored Lieutenant was Yazmin, and another member in blue armor was Amanda. The other three faces in his team, he didn't recognize, but he had seen them at Ice Spear before. What didn't make sense was why they were in the Sandlands again.

"Oscar!" Yazmin suddenly screamed, pointing a pair of pistols behind them.

"What?" Oscar asked, and he turned around, to a sight that brought him terror. On the path between the mountains were three beings that were twice the size of him, wearing heavy, black armor, and had the heads of dragons instead of people.

Draconians? Oscar thought. They were more terrifying in person than in any ancient illustration from a book written during or about the Dragon War. One of them stood at a foot taller than the other two and held a war ax made from a black material, like the ones the Empire used during both Great Wars. He must have been their leader, with a familiar sigil of a saber-toothed cat etched into his chest plate. It was House Lysander's sign. The Draconians charged down the path, raising their black blades to cut the Guardian squad down. For some reason, none of them drew their own weapons, igniting their lightswords instead. Oscar did the same, igniting a glowing, silver blade in his hand. His blade clashed with the larger Draconian's ax, while the other two attacked the others. Oscar managed to deflect a swing from the black ax, and swung his own blade at his chest, but the glowing blade bounce off of the black armor. It wasn't made from glass malakyte but seemed to be the same dark material the Draconian's ax was forged with. Oscar jumped to the height of the Draconian's chest and tried to kick him to the ground, but he was thrown to the ground instead, crashing into the desert path. He quickly rolled to the side as the Draconian brought his ax down, and pushed himself to his feet. The only place the black-scaled Draconian didn't wear armor was the head, but it was at twice Oscar's height, and the Draconian was quicker than Oscar thought he was.

"Come on," Oscar mocked. The Draconian swung his war ax to the side, and Oscar quickly ducked under the attack. Before he could attack again, the Draconian brought his ax around and struck him in the chest, cutting straight through his armor, and sending him to the ground, bleeding from a cut that his healing wouldn't heal. The last thing he saw was the black-scaled Draconian raising his ax over him, and bringing it down. Oscar then jumped awake, relieved that he found himself still in the barracks of Ice Spear. Maybe he was attuned enough to see what the Abyss had to show him.