Kayden had never felt so vulnerable.

He had been always able to rely on his powers, for as long as he could remember. But, as he rode on Haroken’s back into the high city that was Anthalopus, he knew that wouldn’t be the case this time. He could breathe well enough, but Lawbending took up so much oxygen, it would deplete him before he could actually put it to use.

“Come on!” the Mimicker exclaimed from Kayden’s back. “We need to get to the others!”

Haroken sprinted through the busy city streets, sowing chaos among the crowds as he did, his massive body toppling carts and small edifications. Kayden held on tight, the Mimicker on his back, his body leaned forward so as to not be blown away. Towards the city center –towards the tallest tower.

A loud alarm started ringing throughout the city as Haroken sped through, but soldiers were useless against this wingless dragon. They couldn’t even catch up.

The tallest tower was a black, stylish building that seemed to have been carved directly out of the mountain rock. It zigzagged up into the air, rendering it impossible to climb for any thieves.

But Haroken didn’t care.

The rest of the Skyguard was nowhere to be seen at its base, and panic filled Kayden as he glanced up, up, at the very top. He could see three small dots, held against the edge by several armored figures. Those were them, weren’t they?

“Go!” Kayden called at Haroken, desperate.

Haroken didn’t even slow down. He had no wings, and Kayden knew that terrified him. But, even so, Haroken leaped onto the side of the thick building, burying his claws into the rock surface and starting to climb, pulling himself up.

Haroken roared, spewing fire as he slowly but consistently started going up.

It’ll be okay, Kayden kept telling himself. We’ve managed to get this far. We’ll get through this one too.

Haroken continued up through the tallest tower, grabbing onto whatever he could, even climbing upside down on the tower’s sharp twists. But he was getting exhausted. It was too much; the tower was too tall. He continued.

Kayden was desperate. Every next second could mean the end of his friends. But Haroken started to slow down. The lack of oxygen was hitting him hard, and each pull-up was harder and slower than the one before.

There was still about a quarter of the tower left.

They wouldn’t make it.

Haroken slowed down to a halt, struggling with his breath.

They wouldn’t make it.

Haroken roared in frustration and rage.

“Now what?!” the Mimicker asked.

“You two,” Haroken then said, fighting to catch his breath. “Go.”

He started breathing a steady stream of fire into the wall surface, blue fire, as hot as it got. And the rock started to melt. Seconds later, Haroken dug into it with his claws, pulling away a melted block, throwing it into the distance below and revealing the inside of the tower.

“I’m sorry I can’t… carry you any further,” Haroken gasped. “But I… I trust in you. Go.”

“What about you?” Kayden said, hesitant. “Are you well enough to climb back down and get away?!”

“Don’t worry… about me,” Haroken replied. “I trust in you. Go!”

Kayden paused for a moment, but then nodded firmly. “See you soon.”

With the Mimicker on his back, he jumped inside the tower.

And then, he heard Haroken let go.

“No!” Kayden shouted.

He ran back to the edge, looking down as he saw Haroken topple down the side of the tower into the abyss of clouds Kayden now saw below them. Haroken was too far down, and too big, for Kayden to Timebend. There was nothing he could do.

“He’ll be fine!” the Mimicker exclaimed. “He’s a dragon; he’s used to falls. He’ll be okay!”

Kayden’s heart was beating hard in his chest. He pursed his lips hard and winced.

“Yeah,” Kayden nodded. “He better be.”

As they ran up the tower, Kayden thought the stairs would never end. The long winding steps would occasionally open up into chambers lined with bookshelves filled to the brim, or chest rooms, all full with knowledge Kayden knew they probably needed but had no time to retrieve. Once every fifty steps or so they’d find a guard, but they were all either too surprised or too weak to offer any resistance.

Kayden was so tired. He couldn’t Timebend himself forward; he couldn’t afford to run out of oxygen now. He could just continue up. It was tough. But he had no choice.

Kayden could feel his heart banging in his ears, and the world was shaking.

And then, unexpectedly, the stairs opened up into the sky. Into a blue, cloudless sky, so bright and dazzling Kayden was surprised for a moment.

“Took you long enough.”

A smug and sharp voice he didn’t know called out to him from the other side of the wide towertop surface.

Kayden spun, exhausted but ready for anything.

The figures holding Merdilen, Tham, and Hassah against the edge of the tower were a group of five people outfitted in black armor and red capes, each cape reading “SG-Ω”.

The one talking was a grinning blond man with bright blue eyes, holding Tham by his shirt’s neck.

“Let them go,” Kayden said. “Or I’ll kill you all.”

“Oh?” the blond man said. “You can barely breathe and you want to fight us all at once by yourself?”

“Shut up,” Kayden muttered, his narrowed eyes not leaving the man. “Let them go.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Okay, let’s make a deal,” the man said. “An easy one. You for them.”

“Done,” Kayden said.

He had no strength to think, but he fully trusted in that he could easily defeat all these pompous guys in capes as soon as he had the chance to breathe.

“Let them go,” Kayden repeated. “I’ll hand myself over, but not before I see them set free.”

The world was beating.

“Of course,” the blond man nodded. “Don’t you trust me?”

The world was thumping.

“Uh,” the blond man hesitated. “What is that?”

Everything was physically pulsating rhythmically. Like an earthquake, but beat by beat.

What is going on? Kayden thought, frowning.

And then, the sky started to rip.

A long vertical streak cut through the sky, and the very fabric of reality tore open to reveal a dark sky beyond the rift. And from it fell a figure in a cloak.

More accurately, the figure seemed to leap out of the crack in the sky, and before Kayden could blink it landed in the midst of them all with a hand on the surface of the towertop and another holding a broadsword over his back.

The hood obscured his face. Kayden’s heart stopped nonetheless.

“Hey, Kayden,” the voice muttered in a weak and raspy voice. “Long time no see.”

“Hey, who is this guy?” the blond man protested as the tear in the sky closed up.

The man in the hood raised his broadsword high in the air.

Could it really be…?

Then the sword disappeared. It reappeared impaled in the blond man’s stomach. Then it disappeared again, and reappeared again, and again, and again, dropping caped soldier after caped soldier with no trial nor mercy. It reappeared on the newcomer’s hand after all soldiers were down.

Kayden was frozen.

The man in the hood trembled, his legs giving way.

“I did it,” he said, his voice shaky. “I managed to reach you, Kayden. Here you are.”

He fell to his knees, pulling out a ragged small book and tossing it at Kayden.

“...Yeah,” the man muttered. “Here you are.”

Bakor.

Kayden would recognize his voice anywhere. Even after all these years. It was him.

– – –

A childhood. A betrayal. A misunderstanding. A brawl on the top of the world. Two young teenagers fighting it off over a girl. Skylands. Idyllic. Perfection set to the sky. A horrible mistake. A long, long, fall. Regrets.

An adventure. A quest to save the world. High hopes. Big dreams. A team. Skyguard. Power.

A civil war. A rise to power. An enmity turned to brotherhood to stop the one they loved.

An alleged death. Spiral into despair. A massacre. Loss. Grief. A lone survivor. An imprisonment.

214 years.

– – –

Kayden snapped out of his stupor.

“Hey. Hey, hey.” He rushed over to Bakor’s side, his voice trembling. “You’re back. What happened? I… I thought you were… dead. Oh, God, Bakor. You’re alive.”

“Not for long,” Bakor whispered. “I was dying before. The massive release of power froze me in the Echo. I’m back. But I’m still dying.”

“...The Echo?” Kayden asked.

“There’s so much you really don’t remember, huh,” Bakor muttered.

Merdilen and Hassah approached them slowly as they talked. But not Tham. Kayden could see him staring at the bodies from the other side of the towertop, shocked by the sudden massacre.

Kayden realized too late that they were not all dead yet.

“My Empress…” the blond man whispered.

And he, lying on the ground in a bloody pond, pulled out a knife, tossed it weakly at Tham… and then Speedbent.

The knife shot at high speed through the air, straight towards Tham’s face.

“No!” Kayden shouted. He was too far to Timebend the knife.

So he progressed time on himself, moving forward to reach Tham, begging for it to be enough. But it was too strong a lack of oxygen for him, and he fell to his knees just steps away from where Tham stood.

Tham struggled to dodge, twisting to the side.

But it was too late.

The thrown knife slashed Tham’s eyes, cutting through their surface and falling past and over the edge of the towertop.

Tham stumbled backward, screaming and grabbing his face. Back towards the edge of the towertop as well.

Kayden dashed to him with the last of his second wind, grabbing him by the hand even as he struggled to breathe before the teenager could trip over the edge.

“Kayden!” Tham called out, desperate. “I can’t see!”

Kayden was horrified. He pulled Tham close to him, holding him hard in an embrace.

“Regulate your breath,” Kayden said, trying to stay calm. “Whatever you do, don’t open your eyes. Sit down slowly –don’t move too sharply.”

“I can’t see, Kayden,” Tham said, his voice shaking, struggling with his words as he complied and fought to stay conscious. “I can’t feel my eyes. My face is numb. I can’t see!”

“Oh, God,” Hassah said, rushing over to them while Merdilen stood with Bakor. “Oh, no, no.”

“Hassah?” Tham asked, trembling.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Hassah replied, trying to steady her voice. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Kayden winced. “Stay here with him. I’ll be right back.”

“No, Kayden!” Tham begged. “Don’t leave me.”

Kayden was suffering too. “I’ll go get Merdilen. He can help.”

He stumbled over to Bakor and Merdilen’s side, his vision swimming.

“Kayden,” Merdilen told him, “this man is dying. I Transmutated some flesh into his wounds and burns, but he’s really badly hurt. There’s… I’m afraid that… there’s nothing we can do here.”

“No…” Kayden muttered. “Bakor. Come on, man! I just got you back and you’re leaving me already?”

“It’s fine, Kayden,” Bakor said, pulling back his hood and revealing chestnut hair, a burnt face, and a slight smile. “I’ve been following you in the Echo since you left the cave. You woke me up with your power discharge, and I’ve since gone with you in everything you’ve done. I was desperate to cross over to this reality, but I couldn’t. I finally did. I knew I would die, but I need to tell you something.”

“...What is it?” Kayden asked, glancing back at Tham, conflicted and in pain.

“It’s not your fault,” Bakor said. “None of it. Even though you’ve played a part in some stuff, you can’t take the whole blame for any of it. You’ve tried your best, and that’s what matters. You’ve done your very best ever since we came down from the Skylands. Even if I couldn’t get that at first.”

Kayden pursed his lips, closing his eyes hard. “Don’t say that, Bakor. I don’t… wanna cry here.”

“I think we’re a little past hiding,” Bakor mentioned with a weak laugh. “You’re a wonderful person, Kayden. Never lose your spark again. So please, move forward however you do best. In whatever path you choose to follow. I know you’ll do great. Be you. Don’t carry the guilt of the world on your shoulders, because it’s not yours to carry. Listen clearly: it’s not your fault. Remember it. It’s not your fault.”

Kayden stared down even as tears flowed down his cheeks.

“You have no idea how much I needed to hear that,” he said.

“Heh,” Bakor replied. “Well then, I can die in peace now. Not even the ridiculously cool amount of power granted to me by the Echo can save me from death. But I’m okay with it now. At least I’ve got a proper ending now, right?” He winked. “Well… I wish you the best, Kayden. I really do. For you and your friends. The new Skyguard.”

“Wait!” Kayden exclaimed. “Don’t–”

But then they were all gone. Next thing he knew, they were far away, the Mimicker, Merdilen, Hassah, Tham, and himself, back outside Anthalopus. The book Bakor had given them was on the ground next to Kayden. Haroken, his massive body bruised and bleeding, was lying on the ground a distance away –hurt, but alive.

Kayden could see Tham was no longer bleeding, and his face was dry, but the bandanna wrapped around his eyes said enough. Merdilen was no healer, but he seemed to have closed Tham’s eye wounds, though there was no way for him to restore something as complex as an eye.

Bakor was nowhere to be seen.

Kayden looked down at the book. He trusted it had what they needed. Because he didn’t know what they’d do if it didn’t.

He looked at each and every one of them. They were the Skyguard now, and that meant things would never be easy.

But they were ready for anything. No matter how much it hurt.

…Right?

Nevertheless, they had to get going.

Because one thing was certain… they had a lot of work to do.