Guardians of the Light (Book 1: Rebirth)

Chapter 8

Ronin had been driving nonstop for the last five hours in order to get to The Circle to speak with Elder Theokritos. This was no matter that could wait a few days Ronin needed answers now. If there, was some type of threat or plan the Guardians needed to know about it before something happened. They also needed to know why or even how someone could come back from the dead before their enemies found out and used it against them. Ronin hated thinking the past could repeat itself and he did not want to think such thoughts but it was hard when similar things were playing out again just like before.

There had been little reported activity from any creatures or signs that The Darkness was returning, it would only be a matter of time now that the Children of Light were found the Guardians still had time to prepare because only James had embraced his light energy, Sara on the other hand still hadn’t.

Light from the sun was starting to break from behind the tree line in front of Ronin signaling that day was starting. He knew that he should stop and get some rest before continuing on his drive. However, the matter at hand was too important to stop; if he did not through, he might not arrive at The Circle in one piece. There was a drive-in motel and diner not far up the road, he could grab something to eat, a quick nap before hitting the road again.

Ronin pulled off at the exit sign and into the parking lot, there were not too many vehicles, which meant that the motel and diner would not be full of people. After renting a room, he headed into the diner part, talking a seat. The older women taking orders smiled at him then asked what he wanted to eat.

Ronin smiled back asking her what she thought was good to eat. She replied that the house special was popular among visitors. Ronin trusted her ordering that and a cup of coffee; he was rewarded with a large plate containing 2 eggs, 2 stripes of bacon, a slice of ham and lastly a couple of slices of toast. The coffee was rich with flavours and it did not take Ronin long to finish off the plate in front of him, he had not realized how hungry he was until he finished everything.

He thanked the server for the meal and coffee before heading to the motel side of the building. Once he found room number 30, Ronin unpacked his things, took a quick shower and settled on top of the bed. He was only taking a quick nap so there was no point messing the bed up by sleeping under the covers. It took a while before Ronin stopped staring at the ceiling and closed his eyes to sleep.

He was not sure how long he had been asleep for but he was awoken by the sound of crackling and hissing coming from inside the room. Ronin’s eyes shot open and he sat up quickly to see a ring of blazing flames form within his eyesight, he reached for the knife hidden under his pillow. The room started to get hot as the flames jumped and danced around a figure as it started to take shape. Ronin knew all to well that it was only a matter of time before the fire demon took shape and could destroy this building in an inferno of flames, killing every human within. He had to act fast and was about to throw the knife when he stopped mid throw, the demon took full shape and it turned its head to reveal his friend Pyrros. The smirk of the fire demons face made Ronin’s blood boil until he put the knife down.

“Bloody hell Pyrros I could have turned you to ash, you know not to sneak up on me like that”, the smirk across his face got wilder before he spoke, “But you didn’t my friend so that’s a plus”.

Ronin shook his head, “What are you doing here anyways?” Pyrros had originally been a fire demon molded by the flames of the internal prison, which had held The Darkness. The Darkness had created Pyrros to lead his army of fire demons against the Guardians and destroy the Children of the Light. On the battlefield of the endless war between light and dark Pyrros slayed Nicanor, one of the twin Children of the Light, his twin sister Roxana took the last remaining light energy combined it with her own, sacrificing her life to stop the battle and The Darkness.

Because of the raw and much more powerful light energy shared between twins it was able to wipe out all the demons turning them to ash and dust. The Darkness was not able to fight, melting into a shadowy figure and disappeared. When the dust settled, all that was left were the few Guardians left and Pyrros. Somehow the light energy had not turned the fire demon into ash, but instead did something much more, it had sparred him, flipping a switch in the demon that made him more human than demon. To this day, Elders cannot piece together how or why this happened but they took it as a sign from powers above.

Ever since then Pyrros has been helping the Guardians and the Elders with details about demon movement and sightings of The Darkness. Ronin had known Pyrros since his Guardian training days, they had fought many battles together and he had been there to help Ronin through the event years earlier with Lillian.

Ronin watched as the demon moved to sit in a chair in the room, all demons could appear human if they choose too, many did not but because of the small piece of humanity inside Pyrros he was able to switch between forms easily and could stay in a human state much longer than other demons. “I heard that there was this mysterious Guardian running around that no one had a clue who they were”. Ronin nodded his head, explaining everything to Pyrros that had happened over the last few days and where he was headed. After telling him everything, Pyrros confirmed Ronin thoughts when the demon told him that he went to the pub Lillian worked at and she did not recognize him at all.

It was just more information that Ronin could take to Elder Theokritos when he arrived at The Circle. Pyrros offers to come with Ronin to The Circle as a witness if needed by the Elders, agreeing that it is a good idea that he comes with him. Grabbing an instant coffee from the motel room, Ronin and Pyrros got into the jeep and headed back onto the highway.

The rest of the way was filled with silence between the two of them until they reached the wooded area; the Circle was located inside hidden away from the outside world.

Long ago when it was built for the Elders, High King Dante Delacroix of the Coven of the Enlightened, set up a system of magic wards so that no human could see it and no creatures of The Darkness could enter. The Circle is considered one of the most holy places in New Haven. Ronin stopped the jeep just inside the forest line, they would hike the rest of the way, and the location was not accessible by vehicle.

Ronin unpacked his things from the jeep locked it and headed onto the forest trail with Pyrros alongside him. The hike did not take long for them and were already reaching the stone path that lead up a long slope. This was the last part in their journey to reach the Circle before dark. While they could handle themselves if they happened upon wild animals, Ronin still did not want to take that chance.

The closer they got the darker the sky started to change, thankfully the path was lit with touches infused with magic so the flame never died always lighting the path for those seeking the Circle. When they both reached the magical ward barrier, Pyrros told Ronin he would wait outside until he was finished with his business, because he was a demon even with his humanity; the ward saw him as an unholy creature and could not step onto holy land.