Chapter 8
“Perhaps you can fly up ahead and gather some intelligence about the Master, and warn us of any more advances,” suggested Calana.
Hiler nodded. “I'll come when you really need me.” He suddenly shot into the air and flew out of sight.
Calana shook her head.
“What do you think about Hiler? Do you think we can trust him?” asked Penni.
“I think so,” said Calana, looking at Penni, “but remember, he’s still partially influenced by the Master. We’ll see what happens, I guess.”
Penni nodded.
“I think we should keep moving,” said Calana, noticing the sun was moving up in the sky. “Judging by the strength of that negativity, we're not far away from our goal.”
The Guardians once again raced through the forest. This time they moved with haste. The Master had gone too far this time, and they were eager to put an end to his little show.
They weren't very far from the source when the forest started to get really dark and evil. It was like the trees were trying to reach out and grab them. It was like an old horror movie.
Something did reach out of the tree for Sari. She looked up to see a huge, black serpent with red eyes hissing at her. She threw her discus, slicing off its head.
“The Master is controlling nature,” said Penni.
“I don't think a Master has that sort of power,” said Calana.
More snakes came out of the forest, rearing up and hissing. Penni fired bolts at them, while Calana and Sari cut them down with their respective weapons.
“Quick, let's get past here,” said Calana.
They raced on further, but the darkness of the forest made it difficult. Sari didn't see strands of web coming down from one of the trees and ran right into them. She tried to pull herself free, but was stuck.
A huge black spider with rows of red eyes raced down from above, alerted by the movement on its web. It moved quickly and was almost on top of Sari when a bolt smote its thorax. The spider started turning white as it crashed to the forest floor, its legs folding under its body.
“Thanks, Penni,” said Sari, freeing herself from the sticky web. But Penni was looking up at a huge number of spiders free-falling from strands of web above.
“Run!” cried Calana.
The girls ran, but the spiders were coming down too fast! They had no choice but to engage them.
Calana split one in front of her down the middle and bounced off its abdomen, slicing another spider in the air.
Penni was sending out bolts, and whitened spider bodies rained down around them.
Sari threw her discus, trimming legs off several spiders, incapacitating them. The girls ran out of there as soon as they could and finally made it into a clearing.
Then they saw pillars, a dome and a large Oracle. They'd made it to the centre of the realm.
The pillars and dome were still intact, and if it wasn't for the Master standing in the centre of the scene, it would have looked very auspicious. He was standing on top of the giant Oracle, which had blackened.
The Master looked like a black, giant bull. He was holding a huge black mace. On top of that mace three crude spikes protruded.
The Guardians walked toward the Master, weapons raised.
“Well, you made it,” said the Master. “Rather surprising, considering your maturity.”
“Well, don't be fooled by the schoolgirl look,” said Calana.
The Master laughed. He dropped the mace for a moment, and then clapped his hands together. Two new black shapes broke away from the Master and quickly formed into exact copies of the original bull, but with one difference: instead of being nine feet high the three were now about seven feet high, and each bull held a giant mace with only one large spike poking out.
“Let's say I'm good at multi-tasking,” quipped the original Master.
The three women all thought the same thing: they needed to lead the Masters away from the Planetary Oracle and into the forest.
“Another surprise,” said Sari, running beside Penni. “What next?”
“Prepare for anything.” There weren't any reports of a Master splitting into several forms, thought Penni.
Calana had already disappeared into the forest, and the other two followed.
Each of the three Master forms followed its respective opponent, crashing through the forest as it went.
With the three Masters in pursuit, each Guardian had to quickly make a plan to outsmart her opponent. They would each have to use the territory to fight the Master and limit hand-to-hand combat. Although they still had the Incarnational powers, one of the Master's opposing powers of the three Ways might become more powerful and overcome them.
The Master of the Left Way was frustrated with Sari, destroying much of the forest while trying to find her. Each time he honed in on her position, she eluded him. She even managed to slice him with her disk from time to time.
Penni was using the canopy of the forest, climbing to the tops of large trees so she could fire bolts down at the Master of the Central Way from this vantage point. The Master tried to shake her out of the trees, but she quickly jumped to the next one.
Meanwhile, Calana was on the ground dodging the odd swipe of the Master's mace. She managed to hide behind trees and come out to cut the bull's legs and run off again. The Master's legs were becoming more and more wounded. She hoped that eventually he would tumble, bringing his heart closer to the ground.
Just as the Masters became used to their tactics, the women would pass each other in the forest and quickly swap tactics.
Now, Sari was climbing up the large trees and throwing her disk down at the Master. Penni was firing from the ground and running off again, while Calana climbed halfway up trees and sliced the Master on the arms and torso, before fleeing again.
This went on for a while, and the girls became more deadly and precise, until Sari's opponent got lucky. She had thrown her disk from high in a tree and cut off one of her Master's horns. The Master angrily responded by hurling his mace at her, clipping her right shoulder.
Sari cried out, falling through branches and landing hard on the ground.
At that moment, Penni had mortally wounded her Master, with a bolt passing straight through the bull's neck. The beast held the bolt and slowly fell to the ground.
Penni raced through the forest at the sound of her sister's cries. Luckily, she wasn't far away, as Sari's Master was bearing down on her.
Penni fired bolts at Sari's opponent, one hitting the Shadow right between the eyes. The bull fell forward, face down, and was silent.
Penni looked at the wound on Sari's shoulder. It was deep. She held her Oracle over it, and the wound began slowly repairing itself. In the end, there was only a small scar.
“Just lie there a bit,” ordered Penni.
“Thanks.”
They suddenly heard roars getting closer and closer. Calana broke out of the bush nearby, closely followed by the Master of the Right Way. Its legs were badly injured.
“Look, your other powers have been defeated,” yelled Calana. “And by the look of you, you nearly are, too.”
Penni looked at the Master and thought he looked impressed, instead of concerned. Something didn't feel right: they'd defeated the Master's powers a little too easily.
“Calana...”
Calana looked around at Penni as if in understanding.
The Master laughed a long, evil laugh.
“Things aren't always as they seem, are they, Calana?”
He walked toward her, but his weakened legs caught a root and he suddenly fell forward.
Calana quickly ran toward him and stuck her sword through his heart.
There was a moment of silence. The girls stared at each other, as they knew it wasn't over. Then, the three forms of the Master suddenly melted in unison, and the swirling black goo reunited. It began spinning anti-clockwise and, after a short time, was a raging tornado. Lightning bolts shot out here and there, and it was quickly moving back toward the Temple.
The girls followed at a jog, not speaking as they watched the mini-storm hovering over the Planetary Oracle. The rotation of the storm slowed, and through the dissipating black cloud, they could see a form appearing. It was a woman. She was surrounded by a mass of black, squid-like, spidery tentacles. She had red eyes, a tangle of black hair, a cruel face and a long, dark, high-collared dress.
She lifted her arms in the air as if in triumph, and the tentacles followed suit. Five larger tentacles headed out into space, looking more translucent than the others around her. They also weren’t spidery in appearance like the rest. They made their connection with the planets that corresponded with the five realms above the Realm of Innocence. The sixth, which was also translucent, buried itself into the ground at her feet. This one represented the Realm of Innocence. This was also Rune's place at this quadrant.
The weather deteriorated suddenly, and Rune's orbital path was thrown off its natural course. It became very windy and rainy, and the storm quickly turned into a terrible blizzard. Soon the girls could hardly stand in the thick snow! But they were not getting stuck in the snow because the gravity was becoming weaker and weaker.
They had no choice but to attempt to fly. Calana was the first to levitate, as she had already used this ability before, but the other two struggled to do the same, as the snow hindered their progress.
Penni managed to shoot out of the snow, but fell flat on her face. Sari grabbed a large over-hanging tree branch. She climbed on top of it and looked out toward the Wraith. They all flew toward the Wraith, knowing that they would have to try and re-stabilise this realm very quickly, as the whole galaxy was at stake.
They all looked at each other in the air in understanding. They would have to spin around the Wraith in a clockwise direction. They flew around the Wraith several times, but the force of the opposing rotation was great. After all, this was a Wraith, a monster loyal to the Shadow One. They were mere Guardians, only recently able to challenge the Masters, who were subordinates of the Wraiths.
But it didn't matter; they would either die trying to fight this monster, or die for not trying. They couldn't run away, as the Wraith’s reach was at least a solar system long.
The Wraith suddenly plucked them out of the vortex and threw them into the snow. The weather had now settled down to a light rain.
“Well, I finally get to meet the all-powerful threesome,” snarled the Wraith.
“So, it was you all along,” said Calana, ignoring the Wraith's comment. “There never was a Master.”
The Wraith glared at Calana in contempt. “Because of you, because of what you've become,” she said, looking at Penni and Sari, “the Masters have proven to be inadequate.”
“So you’ve taken things into your own hands,” said Sari.
The Wraith glared at Sari like she was a child who had spoken in church. “Well, the little ones speak.” Her face softened cunningly.
“We might be small, but we've destroyed your army,” snapped Penni.
“My army?” mocked the Wraith. “Or yours...”
“Why, you...” started Calana, angrily. Penni glared at her not to react. That was exactly what she wanted.
“Well, I like the older, feisty one,” said the Wraith, “but the little ones might be of use also.”
Penni knew she was now considering transforming them, but she, like other the two, would prefer to die in an honourable fight than turn into a Shadow.
The weapons of the three transformed, and they immediately began firing them. Calana sent spirals of positive energy, Penni sent waves of bolts and Sari hurled her discus.
The Wraith responded with a huge wave of anti-clockwise energy which pushed back their energy, and knocked down the bolts and the discus attempting to cut through her tangle of spidery tentacles.
“You see, your powers are no match for me,” snarled the Wraith.
But she'd suddenly lost sight of the Guardians. They'd disappeared with their high-speed run. “So, you want to be elusive and find a weak point. Very nice tactics.”
She noticed a glint of silver at her side and grabbed Calana with one of her tentacles. “Excellent work. No other human has ever got so close to me so quickly.” She held her up to her side and looked out for the others.
There was a rustle in the trees above, like birds landing. The Wraith knew one of them was up there. Very impressive, she thought. Bolts suddenly rained down on her, but she shrugged them off with her powers. One bolt managed to find its target and pierced her right shoulder. The Wraith cried out angrily, as a small white infection spread there.
Annoyed, she honed in on any meagre sound, shooting a tentacle into the trees to try and find the Guardian. After several attempts, she pulled Penni out of the canopy. She held Penni up next to Calana, and tried to find Sari.
Calana noticed her anguish. “You can hold this whole solar system down, but you can't find a little girl in the forest.”
The Wraith wasn't accustomed to disrespect; all her Masters spoke to her like a Queen. “You will soon learn to respect me!” said the Wraith, squeezing Calana with the tentacle. “I will find this little mouse and squash it. Then you will bow to me as your Queen!”
So, she was the Shadow Queen, thought Penni. The next in line to the Shadow One. But why would the Queen be out on the front line? Have the Shadows become so desperate?
“I will...never...bow to you!” roared Calana. “Not now. Not ever! Go to hell!”
The Wraith would have killed Calana right then, but she had plans for her.
Suddenly, something shot out of the ground right in front the Wraith. It was Sari. Sari had gone far enough in the air to slice the Shadow Queen in the heart. She somersaulted backward and watched as the Wraith held her wound and faltered on her feet. The others were then able to free themselves from her hold.
The Wraith sagged a little with her head down, but suddenly looked back up and grinned an evil grin.
“I'm so impressed that I want the three of you as my Masters.” She glared at the three who now stood before her. “But not ordinary Masters. You'll be special ones, like no others.”
Sari looked at Penni and Calana. “I'm sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” said Calana. “You would have killed her if she was a Master. Apparently, she doesn't die the same way.”
“...be a powerful force driving back the advancement of the Guardians...”
“Remember, too,” said Penni, “she's not using her full power. She's still holding this system down and if she wasn't she'd probably kill us with a look.”
“You are not listening to me!” roared the Wraith, glaring at them for talking amongst themselves.
“That's because we're bored with your talk,” said Calana. “Your voice is irritating and we can't be bothered listening.”
Penni noticed that struck a chord, and didn't give Calana a flash of disagreement this time. She was right: the Wraith was creating a drama that would ultimately end in their transformation to the dark side. Why not fight with words as well?
“Yes, you can stick your Mastership,” spat Sari.
"Very well, if you won’t listen to me," said the Wraith smugly, "I'll make you listen!"
A few black tentacles shot out and picked Calana up in the air. A black web came out of her tentacles, winding around and around her until she was almost completely covered. In the end, she looked like a black cocoon, with only her head poking out.
"Put me down, you witch!" spat Calana. She tried to summon the Oracle to break through it, but she was overpowered.
Penni and Sari began attacking the Wraith, but she pushed the bolts and discus back as if she had a new surge of power.
"It's frustrating, isn't it? Don't worry. Soon you will be under new management."
At that moment, Hiler the half-angel, shot out of the sky, firing jets of fire from his mouth. He managed to singe the tentacles and the cocoon holding Calana. This burned it enough to lessen the pressure in the cocoon, aiding her escape.
“Why, you traitor...” snarled the Wraith, directing a huge surge of energy toward Hiler, singing one of his wings. He crash-landed between the Guardians and the Wraith, but was quickly on his feet, swinging his tail.
“You’re losing the connection to the One,” said the Wraith, curiously. “How can that be?”
His will is strong, thought Penni. She doesn’t realise how powerful the Guardian’s will and desire and the other powers of the Left Way can be.
The four Guardians all began fighting the Wraith in unison. Hiler jumped up on one of the Wraith’s tentacles and was swinging his tail toward her face. Suddenly, a tentacle shot toward Hiler and pierced him through the chest. The Wraith flung him to the ground where he landed in front of the other three.
“It’s been an honour to serve with you...” managed Hiler. Blood was coming out of his mouth.
“We’ll tell your world that you fought a noble battle and died; as a Guardian, defending this important realm,” said Penni.
He didn’t have the strength to say anything and died. A light appeared at the top of his head and headed up into the sky.
Suddenly, the whole scene around them changed, as if someone turned on a virtual reality program. It was the Planetary Oracle; it had been activated. The three Guardians hadn’t done it, because they needed all the Keepers’ attention to do so. But Incarnations could activate it if they were close by. Or the Goddess could activate any of them, anywhere, from wherever she desired to be.
The Wraith quickly acted on this and transformed the scene to her advantage.
The three girls were suddenly in Varlia, a long time ago.
“You see,” said Calana’s mother, with the Wraith’s voice. She was holding Calana as a baby. “I’ve been with you all along. I’ve been waiting for this time.”
“But you’re not my mother. You’re the one who drove my mother mad! You put voices in her head,” roared Calana, with sudden realisation.
Larn entered the scene, and the Wraith, as her mother, threw a piece of crockery at him, shouting abuse. The object hit his head, hard.
Penni and Sari suddenly realised: Larn was Calana’s father, too. This was the previous relationship he had mentioned.
The Wraith probably drove their mother to madness, too, thought Penni. She said, “You’ve been there all along, even through our family...”
Just to prove her point, the Wraith changed the scene to a long time ago in Bersia. Two little girls were running around the house, giggling. Penni looked about six years old, Sari three.
“You’re turning strange, just like all those cult people you hang around with!” roared Rosi. “You just need something to cling on to...a god...symbols...”
Larn said nothing, but Rosi grinned at the girls, appearing as the Wraith from the past. “You see, he was good-for-nothing, your father...”
“Was he! Was he!” snapped Penni. Calana looked at Penni, bewildered. “Look at him now. You’re frightened of him. He’s one of the most powerful Keepers ever. He’s the reason there are no Shadows between here and Udicia!”
“Well, well. The middle one can be a little feisty, too,” said the Wraith as her mother. ‘But I’m bored with all this.”
The scene changed back to the temple of Rune.
“Eenie Meenie Miney Mo,” said the Wraith, pointing at each girl. “Which one will be the first to go? Perhaps I’ll convert the little one. She hasn’t said much. She can be my silent killer.”
“Leave her alone,” said Penni, shooting a bolt at the approaching tentacle. The tentacle suddenly wrapped around Penni and held her up before the Wraith.
“You’ll do. I don’t care in which order...”
At that a blinding light appeared, followed by a huge golden Mandala. A dirty, white-robed Incarnation walked into the scene. It was Arden. He looked like he’d been doing a lot of fighting.
“Put her down!” he ordered.