Truth Within Lies, A Dark Romance (completed)

Ch. 6 Home Comming

Guardian. I had forgotten about guardians. They had all been presumably wiped out or integrated into his army of inanimus. Another grand and spectacular treaty that only served to cripple his enemy. The guardians were created by the council on the sole purpose of keeping the encroaching darkness at bay. Destroyer had never seen them as more than an annoyance until after the fall of Lucifer's army. Something about that day triggered something in him. It became a pivotal moment that swept through the darkness changing everything. He was no longer content with an uneasy peace. No longer ok with simply stopping the encroachment of light into his realm. He had snapped or so the story goes, but he never seemed anything less than calculated. He wanted Haven to fall and no one ever had a clear reason for that.

He claimed responsibility for Lucifer and the assault on Haven. Guaranteeing it would never happen again the guardian treaty was drawn up. It ordered the council to give him every guardian to do with as he pleased, and in exchange Haven would be free of war and death. Their depraved sense of self preservation sent thousands to die. There was no peace anywhere but in Haven. A sick and twisted bargain that allowed him nearly free range, except for where the dragons were involved. It's not something we really talked about, and what he meant by, my guardian, was beyond me. I would have to remember to ask.

Within hours Destroyer had launched a full scale attack on the academy. This wasn't his normal rage, there was something else to it that I couldn't put my finger on. Maybe I was in denial. Yes he was angry, but this anger seemed to be more about Aurora escaping then a personal loss. I stood back with him listening to the lords handle the assault. He kept them focused on the grounds and not the escaping ships. He was uninterested in his normal thirst for blood, focused on her alone, or perhaps just punishing me for keeping her from him.

"Commander?" We listened in as a voice crackled over the radio.

'Fuck I cringed.' We had opened fire on the teams still on the ground and she was definitely there. I hung my head low preparing myself for the worst.

"Get out of here, that's an order." Aurora responded out of our view. "Destroyer." She called over the radio with the assumption we would be listening. Destroyer stood callous watching his army rain hell down on what had to be her position. "You want to dance?" She was obviously taunting him. The idea causing a cold smile to draw across his face. " Come get me." We moved closer with every second, catching the sight of her slipping off the wing of the fighter, using it as cover from the hail of bullets.

"Aurora what are you doing?" One of her commander's voices cracked over the radio. He had to be nearly out of range, making a last ditch effort to persuade her.

"Giving you a chance." Destroyer continued to move forward despite the flames that now engulfed the flight line. She had lit leaking fuel in what had to be a desperate measure to mask the fighters still leaving the runway. IDamaged aircraft caused a series of explosive fireballs that brought down several of our fighters, preventing troop transports from landing directly on the flight line. Destroyer paused, seemingly amused with her actions.

"You've sacrificed enough, get out of there." The commander tried to plead with her. I wanted to plead with her too. I wanted her to go. To run from him again. If he kept her alive he would destroy everything she was.

"You saw him. You saw what he is. I can't run from this, but I can protect you. I can protect them." There was something somber about her tone that made my lip quiver with sadness.

"Aurora, you don't have the Pleiadians to hide what you are. They will kill you and the council." I caught the glint of rage in Destroyer's eyes. Something about those words dug deep, hitting a nerve. He was making a mental note to kill them all. At least that explained how the inspection team missed a guardian in plain sight.