“Okay, okay. “Allan said as they traveled up the mountainside. “Let’s pretend for a minute that I believe that this place is real and we’re not inside Conquest. What are we doing here? And where’s Lily?”

“Those are some loaded questions.” John hesitated. “I’ll do my best to answer them, but you need a little background first.”

“Whatever.” Allan huffed. “Let’s hear it.”

John took a deep breath. “After Enoch transported this land from Earth, God visited Enoch in this world and gave him explicit instructions to send his own first-born son Methuselah back to Earth as a protector. Upon fusing his blood with an ancient race from a distant galaxy called the Malakhim, God blessed Methuselah and returned him to Earth as the first Seraph. Like you, he became the first of the Guardians.”

“Let me get this straight.” Allan trampled over the foliage that covered the not-too-obvious trail. “You want me to believe that I’m one of these so-called Guardians? You’ve seriously got the wrong man.”

“I don’t choose who the next Seraph is, I just train them.”

“Train them to do what?”

“Transport, protect the Earth, and wield weaponry.”

“Weaponry?” Allan scoffed. “I just hit level fourteen. I don’t need some old man showing me how to use a sword. I got this already.”

John stared at him incredulously. “You can wield a sword in defense of the lives of your people?”

“I can also wield a spear like a boss!” Allan gloated. “My class is Warrior.”

John stared at him, eyebrows raised, as if Allan had just spoken a foreign language.

“You don’t believe me.” Allan said in a clipped tone. “Give me a sword, and I’ll prove it to you.”

“As you wish.”

Allan watched as John closed his eyes and pressed his hands together as if praying. Moments later, a white light seeped from his closed eyelids and an aura of light surrounded him. In a blinding flash of light, John disappeared.

“What the…”

Allan blinked several times in the bright daylight.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

And he expects me to think we aren’t in the game?

John reappeared in another flash of light, wielding two swords. He reversed the hilt of one, offering it to Allan.

“Shall we test your competence?”

A fierce determination was set in Allan’s jaw. “You better prep your respawning point.”

Allan grasped the hilt with both hands and backed away quickly, throwing the sheath aside. They circled each other cautiously, until Allan lunged forward with a yell. John parried the swing effortlessly. Thrown off balance, Allan staggered forward and whipped around to face his opponent. John casually held his own broadsword with only his right hand, and had an obnoxious smirk on his face.

“Is that the best you can do, boy?”

Allan’s eyes flashed with contempt. “Now you asked for it!”

Allan brought the sword above his head and closed in with his signature kill swing. A split-second before impact, John dodged the blow as if Allan was a mere amateur. Allan lost his balance and fell on his face, tripping over his own sword and ripping a deep gash in his calf.

Allan screamed out in agony as the blood pooled around his feet. A silver light then blasted from his wide eyes, forming an aura around him. Seconds later, the wound had healed itself, and the aura dissipated.

Allan sucked in deep breath as John helped him back to his feet. Allan pressed on his right temple absently, but there was no response.

“What was my Damage?” Allan seethed. “And how much Mana did I lose with that Healing?”

John pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You still don’t get it.”

Allan retrieved his sword and returned to a fighting stance. “Let’s go, old man!”

John sheathed his sword and turned back to the upward incline of the trail.

“Coward!”

John ignored the remark and continued onward.

“Come on!” Allan bellowed. “Don’t leave me hanging!”

John rounded on him. “You have much to learn, my young apprentice.”

“Apprentice? I didn’t sign up for any such thing.”

“You want to rescue Lily, do you not?”

“Yes, but that’s a job for the police. I’m a lawyer. My salary and the high taxes I pay entitle me to certain protection rights.”

“Maybe on Earth, but here in Zion you don’t have that luxury. If you don’t rescue her, nobody will. And if you don’t take action quickly, Timur will likely kill her.”

John resumed his trek up the trail. Allan rolled his eyes, and picked up the discarded sheath from the foliage. Taking a moment to strap it around his waist, he sheathed the sword and hurried after his retreating comrade.

“If what you say is true,” Allan pointed behind them with his thumb, “then why are we heading away from that city? Didn’t you say that’s where she is?”

“Despite its charred appearance, the city is heavily fortified. Not only do we need weapons, but we need a small army to breach the walls of the city.”

“And where might we be getting such an army?”

For the first time since their arrival, John’s face broke into a wide grin. “I have many friends.”

“I see…”

“Don’t worry. They aren’t far from here.”

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© Copyright 2022 R.M. Mulder. All rights reserved.