“Welcome to Scoldar. This is the planet Neburion lives on.” Elizabeth explained, as she took a step out of the portal and into an alleyway. Greyson wobbled out behind her as he tried to catch his balance, before hunching over and grabbing his stomach.
“I think I’m going to be sick…” He complained.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she turned away from him and began to exit the alley.
“It’s just an aftereffect from going through a portal for the first time. You’ll get over it.”
Elizabeth peeped out of the alley only to see a crowded street ahead of her. She looked around until she saw a hanging sign with a drawing of a book with swirls coming out of it at the beginning of a street that led out of the town’s square. That was Neburion’s shop.
“Come on liar, Neburion isn’t far from here, he’s just down this street.” She said while looking back at Greyson.
“Can you give me a second to catch myself…geez”
“You earth mortals love to complain! You can catch yourself once we’re in Neburion’s shop, now come on!” With that Elizabeth grabbed his hand and dragged Greyson out of the backstreet and into the busy heart of the town.
It was bustling with life as people gathered around stands that filled the area. Children ran around and played while other people danced around musicians. The sound of music, along with laughter, chatter, and haggling merchants filled the square, as the smell of food and spice’s wafted through the air.
“Stay close, it’s easy to get lost here.” Elizabeth said she tightened her grip on Greyson’s hand and began to push through the crowd of people.
The two squished and squeezed through crowds of people as they passed by stands selling spices and clothing, crystals, and jewelry, vegetables and fruits, along with meats, cooked and raw. They navigated through the busy square until they found themselves in front of Neburion’s shop.
It was dinky, and rundown looking. It’s sign that read “Neburion’s Magic” was rusted and holding onto the cracked up brick wall for dear life. The street lights in front of his shop flickered as if they were about to go out.
“Are you sure this is the Neburion? This place looks…terrible.”
Elizabeth stepped up to the door on its cracked up stone platform, and knocked. The door was old amd rickety looking, it let out an ear aching screech as it pushed open from her light rapping. It opens all the way to reveal a dark room.
“Neburion? Are you here?” Elizabeth called out.
Silenced followed shortly after. “That’s strange…he’s always here.”
“I think we’re in the wrong place.”
“No, this is just how he keeps it.”
Elizabeth looked around the room. It was a mess. There were spilled potions on the counters, broken glass on the floor, and booked scattered across the room, on the shelves, floor, and every surface. It looked as if a tornado passed through it.
“Something’s not right here, it’s never this messy in here…”
Elizabeth noticed that behind the counter, there was a door that was crack, revealing dim lighting. She made her way over the counter and peeped through the crack in the door. Behind it was a staircase. Elizabeth opened it slowly in an attempt to not make noise, she slowly entered the stairway and heard whispering in the distance.
“Neburion.” She whispered under her breath.
She quickly turned to make her way back into the shop to meet Greyson. She snapped her fingers to get his attention before gesturing to him to follow her.
“Be quiet, something is off here, and we have to get to the bottom of it.” She warned him before they made their way down the stairwell and into the mystery room.
As they walked farther down the stairs, the whispers became louder.
“Mimlot said you would know where the other Guardians are. Now where are they, or has one already come and you’re covering for them? An unfamiliar voice said. His tone was bone chilling, causing shivers to run down Elizabeth’s spine.
“I have no reason to lie! No guardian has come here I swear on my life!” It was Neburions voice, a squeaky high pitch tone that Elizabeth can recognize from anywhere.
Elizabeth made her way down the last couple of stairs, and peeped out from the wall that separated the staircase from the rest of the room. It led to a huge library, with books on wooden shelves that started on the floor and ended at the ceiling. Elizabeth got a good look at the person Neburion was talking to. From what she saw he was tall, with honey colored skin, cyan hair, and lifeless violet eyes. He was dressed in all black from his cloak, all the way down to his boots.
“Who is that guy?” She whispered under her breath, as she squinted at him, like it was meant to help her get a better look.
“Besides, if you put the commander is out of commission, and you caught the other three, the last two aren’t a threat! They can’t even use the full potential of their powers for goodness sake!” Mimlot continued.
Elizabeth let out a loud gasp at Neburion’s words. She quickly covered her mouth and scanned the little space available for a place to hide, until she found what looked like a closet door. She grabbed Greyson’s hand and rushed to it, quickly opening it, and closing it as quietly as she can. It was a closet, filled with many bits and bobs, from swords, to books, and many other things.
“What’s going on…” Greyson asked.
“Shhh! That’s Axel, a traitor to the order. He’s a henchman for Mimlot, and if what Neburion said is true he’s even more of a threat than we thought he was.” Elizabeth whispered.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Axel heard Elizabeth’s gasp, he turned to face the staircase and began to draw his sword.
“It seems to me that you don’t value your life that much, Neburion.” Axel said while turning back to glare at him. With that he slowly began to make his way to the stairwell.
Elizabeth and Greyson heard, Axel’s slow, heavy footsteps and panic began to flood in the both of them
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do, because all of our answers are in here!” Elizabeth said.
“What are we gonna do!? What are you gonna do?! I can’t protect myself against some…guardian beater! You and your magic fate dragged me here!” Greyson whisperer shouted.
“Now is not the time to try and separate like this! We need to put aside our differences and be a team if we want to come out of this unscathed!” Elizabeth replied in the same tone as Greyson.
“Unscathed? It looks like I’m leaving this dead! You can’t even use your powers!”
“And neither can you! What kind of keeper can’t even do magic?”
“The kind that doesn’t practice anymore! That's who! What’s your excuse?!
The two had gotten so caught up in their bickering that they didn’t notice Axel had already found them until he finally spoke up,
“And which one are you? One of the powerless ones I’m assuming.” He asked.
Elizabeth’s heart dropped when she heard his voice. Fear filled her soul as she slowly turned around away from Greyson to face Axel. She quickly tried to wipe the scared look from her face and mask it with a confident one.
‘Fake it till you make it?’ She thought to herself as she faced him with an unimpressed look on her face. She eyed him up and down before replying,
“So you’re Axel? The commander told me so much about you.”
A confident smile formed on her face, but deep down, she was scared. Replaying the conversation between Neburion and Axel made her realize that the fate of the realms was truly in her hands.
“Elizabeth, the sixth guardian, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said smugly while placing a hand on the pommel of her sword and holding the other out for Axel to shake
Axel eyed her up and down, then fixed his gaze on Elizabeth’s blade. Her hand was already firmly placed on, ready to pull it from its sheath.
“You won’t be needing that where you’re going…in a cell with your friends at Mimlot’s castle.”
“Oh this? I’m sorry but I don’t go anywhere without it.” Elizabeth drew her blade from its sheath and held it in a defensive stance. “Plus, I think Preyford calls your name louder than Mimlot’s cell calls mine.”
Axel chuckled at her bold actions and words, when he followed suit in taking a fighting stance with his weapon. “It’s better to come peacefully than put up a fight, that way you’ll look nothing like your friends back at the castle.”
“Hmm, I don’t think peace is an option…it’s far from it.”
“Now can you make this quick? I have realms to save, a god to stop, plus, I, need to return you, back to Pryeford where you belong.”
“I don’t think so, if anything, you’re coming with me.” Axel replied.
Elizabeth chuckled, “Yeah right.”
With that, she swung at him with all of her might. The force behind her swing was enough to knock Axel back a bit and up the stairs. She swung again, and this time, Axel was able to block, causing their blades to clash and scrape together. Elizabeth looked him straight in the eye and a smug smirk formed on her face.
“Liar, make sure Neburion doesn’t leave this dump, I’ll take care of this one.” She ordered Greyson while never looking away from Axel’s lifeless, violet orbs.
The two dueled up the steps and into Neburion’s shop. They swung and swiped at each other but never landed a scratch on the other. Elizabeth swung her blade at Axel causing him to lose balance, then she rushed past him and slid across the counter in an attempt to escape out of the shop’s door. Axel grabbed her by her arm and pulled her, throwing her back into the counter. With a loud groan Elizabeth hit the counter and dropped to the ground. Axel prepared to swing at her, lifting his sword over his preparing to strike Elizabeth with it. In that moment Elizabeth kicked him away from her with all of her might and bolted out of the door and into the busy road of the town.
The clash of swords continued into the square. The busy streets began to clear out as the two dueled in them. They swung and slashed at each other, then blocked and charged as they maneuvered through the merchant stands in attempts to evade each other’s attacks. With a strong blow Axel hit Elizabeth back into a stand filled with spices and powders with his sword, before he could strike again, Elizabeth grabbed a powder nearby and threw it into the air, creating an orange cloud that distracted Axel. She then took it as an opportunity to get away, and form a plan. As she ran through the shops, Elizabeth threw down anything that could be an obstacle for Axel onto the ground, from pots, to fabrics, beads, and foods.
“How do I get away from him?” She thought to herself,
Elizabeth knew this couldn’t go on forever, time was of the essence, and the realms needed saving. This was the last thing she needed. She scanned around the shops, the chaos of people trying to scatter had finally died down and she could see everything clearly. Then it hit her, she stopped in her tracks, and huffed until caught her breath, then, Elizabeth held her sword down and to her side. She didn’t have a completely thought out plan, but she didn’t need one. She only needed to immobilize him, and the merchant shops were the best place to do it.
“You know, for being powerless, I’m impressed I’ve managed to fight you off for this long. You should be embarrassed.” Elizabeth called out into the empty town square.
“Not only are you a coward for turning your back on the order, but you’re also about to lose to the it’s newest guardian. How does that feel?”
Silence fell over her, and out of nowhere, Axel came charging at her from in the air. She blocked his attack before backing up and trying to run back into the stands but Axel grabbed a hold of her blade.
“I’m getting tired of your games, it’s time to put an end to this.” He spat angrily.
Elizabeth tugged and pulled at the weapon but Axel only tightened his grip on the sword. She pulled with all of her might until she felt herself moving, and Axel’s grip loosening. When she looked she noticed her sword glowing. In her hands was a new blade, while the old one still rested in Axel’s hand. Elizabeth looked down at the sword in shock and amazement.
“That’s new!” She exclaimed, before raising it and striking Axel with it, knocking him back into a nearby stand. It collapsed on top of him, trapping him inside of its mess. Axel fought to get out of the rubble while he let out a loud groan in pain as he grabbed the pin attached to his sheath. The pin was ,add up of a red stone in its center, with gold surrounding it. In addition, the pin gained a new scratch on it when the stand fell on Axel.
-
Meanwhile with Greyson, he had failed, and he failed miserably. Elizabeth left him with specific orders to not let Neburion go, and he let Neburion go, Reflecting on it, he didn’t even know how Neburion managed to escape. One moment he was listening to Elizabeth’s orders, and the next, he had stepped out of his closet hiding space and found Neburion stepping into a portal, just like that, he was gone.
“Elizabeth is going to KILL me once she comes back.” He sighed as he pulled out a chair from the library and slouched down in it.
Greyson looked around the library, it was just as messy as the potion shop above him. On every bookshelf, some of the books were neatly stacked, while others were hanging off of the shelf, and sloppily placed. Books were stacked into piles on the floor, and chairs. Papers were scattered across every table that could be found in that big yet small room.
“Wow. This guy really knows how to keep.”
Greyson picked up a book from a stack in the chair next to him. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s read a book like this, he doesn’t even remember much about the language of the keeper. Greyson just flipped through the book while looking at the symbols and pictures, he looked through until he came across a page that was covered in a huge ink spot.
“I thought keepers were supposed to maintain ancient history on the realms, not destroy them.” He grumbled, before closing it and taking another book off of the stack.
‘Neburion may be gone, but his knowledge is still here. I might as well make use of it, besides, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can go home.’ Greyson thought to himself as pulled a piece of paper from the table that broke down the symbols and their translations.
-
Elizabeth needed to get Axel as close to the end of the merchant square as possible right near Neburion’s shop, that way she could trap him. She dashed past him and grabbed a corner of the stand’s tarp, dragging it behind her. As she ran she pulled down the tenting of the other stalls and tied them together creating one huge sheet. Once she saw the shabby store had come into view, Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and tightened her grip on the tarps as she waited for Axel. She huffed in attempts to catch her breath before calling out for him.
“Giving up already? Don’t be like that, I still have more fighting left in me!” She didn’t get a response, until she heard rustling in the distance. Then Elizabeth heard rustling in the distance.
“Got ya,” she whispered with a smile on her face. In a flash, a huge gust of wind blew through the tied tarps as Axel charged toward her, preparing to swing again with his sword. As he grew closer, Elizabeth reinforced her grip on the tarp and took a stance preparing herself to pull the tenting.
“There’s nowhere to run, little guardian! Give up while you still have the chance!” Axel yelled.
“Why didn’t you give up when you had the chance.” Once he was close enough to her, right in the center of merchant square, Elizabeth began to pull the tarp with all her might as she made her way to the very end of the square, right in front of Neburion’s shop. All of the stands collapsed in unison, trapping Axel in the middle of its rubble. Dust surrounded the area, making it hard for Elizabeth to see, but as soon as it began to clear up, Elizabeth drew her new sword out of its holder and dashed toward the former center of the shopping district, now covered in ruins.