Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 8: Zephyr

I was nervous about sailing to Arcadis. It was the one island in the entire world where non-human races could live in peace, free from discrimination and injustice that most humans on the mainland subject them to. I could very well be the first human to set foot on it in centuries, but I had a feeling that would only be an insult to the people living on it. They lived there to escape humans, and a human was coming to their island. Hopefully, they would allow me there because I was a Guardian, but I had a feeling I would have a long talk with whoever was in charge before I was allowed to leave the ship that was bringing me there. My reason for going there may be good enough, though, and I was a Guardian, so they might have the idea that something warranted one's presence. Water Rock, the island's main port, was close, now, and I could already sense an aura of darkness hanging over the island. The Captain of the ship, a male ocean-scaled draconian trading sailor, had warned me that he was afraid to come back here because of recent strange disappearances of the residents, and hoped that I would be able to figure out what was going on here. The ship docked, and I thanked the Captain before I went to the dock from Water Rock, but before I even stepped off the ship, an epsilon man stopped me. He wore long, gilded robes, and had long, ginger hair. He must have been someone with power, and lots of it.

"You!" he called. "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"

"Captain Zephyr West, sir," I answered. "I'm a Guardian."

"And a human," the man reminded, coldly. "What is your business on Arcadis?"

"I'm tracking a coven," I enlightened. "And their trail leads here."

"What rumor about this place did you hear that led you to believe that?" the epsilon man wondered.

"None," I answered. "I prefer hard proof, not rumors, anyway. Can I...?"

"I'm not done," the epsilon growled. "Now, I imagine you're unfamiliar with our laws and way of life, but this is not the mainland. We're an independent country, founded so we could escape human prejudice."

"I know," I understood. "And I won't cause any trouble while I'm here."

"No, you won't," the epsilon agreed. "Now, what were you about to ask?"

"Do you know of someone named 'Shtriga'?" I asked.

"Shtriga?" the epsilon man whispered. "It sounds vaguely familiar."

"Anything helps," I said.

"I swear I've heard the name before," the epsilon recalled. "I believe it could have to do with the Fire Obelisk."

"Where's that?" I questioned.

"On that hill there," the epsilon directed, pointing to a tall, white hill behind the town. I could see a tall, sharp rock of flame malakyte at the top of it, with the snow melted around it to reveal the circle of grass under it.

"Well, thank you," I said, stepping off the ship.

"Remember, human, we're watching you," the epsilon growled.

I could understand the man's rudeness towards me. The people on Arcadis had known a lifetime of prejudice, oppression, injustice, discrimination, and hatred forced upon them by humans. The people had colonized the island to escape such things, to escape humans, and now I was here. With that in mind, I began to think that my very presence on Arcadis was an insult more than anything else, but I wouldn't have been there if I didn't have to be. There was a coven of Necromancers active on Arcadis, and for all I knew, all of the one million people there were in danger from them. I made my way out of the gates of Water Rock, and began towards the Fire Obelisk. The aura of darkness surrounding the island began to grow stronger as I came closer to the tall crystal, and once I was close enough, I could clearly see that what I thought was grass under melted snow, was actually a pool of a thick, black, bubbling substance.

"The hell?" I whispered.

I bent down to take a closer look at the base of the Obelisk, and could see what looked like black cracks just above where the base met the substance. Whatever it was, it was slowly corrupting the Fire Obelisk. There was only one kind of substance I knew of that was capable of corrupting anything with its touch.

"Dark matter," I concluded.

I didn't know what this Fire Obelisk meant to the people living on Arcadis, but if there was dark matter corrupting it, nothing good would come of it if it finished. I had to stop the corruption. I formed my aura blade, which had the shape of a bladestaff, and stabbed one of the blades into the pool of dark matter. My aura blade cracked the substance with white light, and it began to grow brighter, until the dark matter dissipated completely, and the light faded. The darkness from the dark matter, though, was still there, and I looked at the other side of the Fire Obelisk to see that it wasn't gone. It was streaming down the hill, and then it lifted off the ground as a giant blob that stood at twenty feet tall. It grew arms out of its sides, and had a single red, glowing eye where a head would have been. It slithered slowly towards me like a slug rather than walked with legs. I wasn't concerned with its speed, since my Ranger's cuirass allowed me to move as fast as I wanted. Suddenly, it stretched one of its liquid arms my way, and I warped sideways to avoid the attack before swinging my bladestaff at it. Dark matter splashed from where my aura blade made contact with it, but it passed right through it!

"Oh, no," I whispered. If this monster was completely made from dark matter and not flesh and bone like other demons, then my aura blade would only pass through its body like water, unless its red eye was some sort of weak spot. I thought about jumping up to reach it with an aura blast from my feet, but if I missed the eye, I would get stuck in the dark matter that it was made of, which was something that I imagined would only end badly. I had no idea how I would fight this thing. Suddenly, though, I heard a shout in Draconic and Fae from behind me, and a blast of fire shot right over my head, crashing against the blob, beginning to burn it. Its entire body incinerated, until the dark matter it was made of was completely gone. Its darkness faded as the last bit of dark matter disappeared. I looked to where the flames came from, and saw a familiar face. A blonde-haired Mage, not much older than I was, and just inches taller than me. I didn't remember her name, but I saw her at the Home Base before it was attacked.

"Thanks for the help," I said.

"You look familiar," the Mage observed. "You're..."

"Zephyr," I introduced. "I was at the Home Base in Illondas. I saw you there with Nato, but I didn't really get your name."

"It's Daisy," the Mage greeted, smiling, then offering her hand. I faded my aura blade and shook her hand.

"So, what brings you to Arcadis?" Daisy wondered.

"Necromancy," I answered. "A coven."

"Oh," said Daisy. "Me, too. How crazy is that?"

"No kidding," I agreed. "What made you think they were on Arcadis?"

"Corrupted mana residue trails that led across the water from the mainland," Daisy enlightened. "And I think I know who was giving them off."

"Is his name 'Shtriga', maybe?" I wondered.

"Yes!" Daisy shouted, then she grabbed both of my shoulders and screamed, "I need to know everything you know!"

For a moment, I couldn't speak. Daisy suddenly grabbing me, and a look of anger in her eyes suggested that finding Shtriga meant more to her than it did to me. I wouldn't question why, since we were both on Arcadis for the same reason.

"There were strange disappearances from Water Rock," I informed. "And before that, I sensed something from a village on the mainland, so I went there and found a ritual site, but everyone was dead before I could get to it. There were other rituals, all being performed at the same time, but they all stopped, and now they're here."

"Okay," Daisy sighed, releasing me. "I'm sorry."

"So, I'm guessing finding Shtriga is personal to you," I said. "We should work together."

"You think so?" asked Daisy.

"This entire island could be at stake," I reminded. "Going alone would be a bad idea. Especially if one of us isn't thinking straight."

"Yeah, you're right," Daisy understood. "I don't know if I could control myself if we meet him."

"Well, first things first," I said. "We have to find him."