The Phoenix's Maiden

Guardian (Part Three)

Arthur’s Point of View

I watched how the guardian flames faded into thin air and the santelmos who are surrounding me from earlier breaks the circle ignoring me as if nothing happened earlier. I guess they only did that with the command of the guardian from earlier.

I collapsed on my knees with extreme fatigue taking all of my body and my eyes felt so heavy, I want to sleep again but this time in the cave, but I don’t have any strength left to get back there. The sun is setting and soon it will be dark and predators will hunt soon.

I don’t want any unnecessary battles anymore as it destroys my body as this goes on. I don’t want any of that to happen again to me anymore. I really thought that I am going to die that time but unexpected things happened. The next time I won’t be so lucky anymore.

I felt my eyes are so heavy that I cannot resist it anymore, and even against my will, I felt my eyes closing, the darkness is consuming me little by little. Until I fell asleep…

.               .               .

I woke up when I felt someone shaking my body, I can still feel the pain all over my body. I fell asleep again huh. I opened my eyes with a bit strength I had and there I saw something familiar in my eyes. Kamandag? She is here? I guess she saw me here while she is scouting the area.

“Hey wake up,” she said and I grunted telling her that I am awake already. “Wake up! Why are you sleeping in a place like this in the middle of the night?’ she asked me and I wondered why he asked me that question. Isn’t it obvious? I am covered in wounds weakened by the battle earlier with the guardian I encountered.

“I opened my eyes,” and there her eyes met mine. Looking at her eyes I think she is othered by waking me up. That’s not how you wake your wounded comrade. I raised my hand asking for her assistance for me to stand back up again on my two feet. She accepted the offer and helped me to stand up.

Strange… I can’t feel any pain while I stand up, I prepared myself for that painful experience since Kamandag here is complaining about my actions.

“What are you doing here?” she asked me when I stood up.

“Training my body,” I answered.

“Training or sleeping?” she asked me sarcastically. What’s the point of asking that question if you are going to treat me like that? I just can’t express these thoughts into words since it will only worsen our situation, and my body, it cannot handle another intense battle. From learning that she erased the whole camp of the enemies off this region, she is a fearful enemy to have. So I want to avoid that as much as possible.

“Can’t you see the wounds all over my body?” I asked her frustrated with her actions.

“What wounds?” she asked again and my frustrate meter is overloading.

“These wounds!” I shouted while I used both of my hands to show her my body. Strange, I still have the energy to shout like this? Oh geez!

“Oh yeah,” she laughs a little like I am telling her a joke. “All I can see is ripped clothes,” she added and I quickly look on my body and surprised as I am, I saw my body completely healed. Woah! What happened? What pain did I feel earlier? So strange.

“I swear!” I said trying to prove myself honest. “I fought with this guardian earlier and I was knocked down after the battle,” I explained further and she is just there listening to my explanations trying her best to believe all of my words.

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” she said but she still doesn’t sound like that she is convinced with my explanations. Do I have the energy to heal myself with my aqua Excalibur while I was asleep? I guess not, because the healing only works when I command my body to do so, since healing consumes a lot of my energy. “Just go back to the cave already,” she said like she was in a rush.

She flew high up disappearing in the middle of the clouds. I just watched her there fly away to resume her scouting, I embarrassed myself earlier. Just what happened during I was asleep? I am so confused right now. I looked for my sword and I saw it nearby and a memory of what happened earlier with the guardian flashed in my head.

I slightly tumbled as the dizziness strikes me in the head but I quickly regained my balance and I went on picking up the sword and observed it for a brief moment as I remembered how it behaved earlier. No… that’s so strange for me to say, the sword behaving on its own is strange enough for me. I don’t have any telekinetic ability to move that while I am far away on my own.

On the brink of my death in the hands of that fire guardian of this place, it stabs its chest without my hands on it. When it looked around there is no one there behind him. I can understand if Amber is there since there is a physical force acting up on the sword. But no, there is none. Don’t tell me that it has its own lif-

“Greetings Master,” I was surprised to the point that I jumped. The same deep voice again from earlier, it was the guardian’s. I turned around immediately and there I saw him and points my sword towards him and he raised both of his hands to the air. “I don’t intend to fight you master,” he said politely and I put down my swords as I remembered that the guardians will become loyal to any mystics who defeated them.

So that means that this fire guardian is my servant now?

Nothing will hurt if I accept him to be my ally, since he can add up any fire power to me, or yet additional hands on fighting someone.

“I apologize for healing you without your consent,” he bowed down to show his respect to me and to show that he is sincere with his apology.

“Oh,” I said answering my questions earlier, why I was healed completely all of a sudden. I don’t have my sword on me that time. “It’s okay,” I added. “Can you hide yourself?” I asked. 

“As you wish master,” he said and he transformed into a small fireball as big as my fist and he just flies towards me.

“I said hide not to shrink yourself,” I said.

“This is the best that I can do master,” he said and I just shake my head. I guess I have to introduce him to the others this soon. I don’t have any choice since the goddess, Amaterasu, can detect him especially a powerful creature like him.

“Let’s go, and be my light towards the way,” I invited him back to the cave and he led the way since he is the embodiment of fire between the two of us. He strengthens his flames to produce more light and at the same time getting rid of the coldness of the night. Much better.

The cave is not that far away from here so maybe we can reach that cave in a couple of minutes.

“Master,” he called to my attention.

“Hmm,” I responded.

“I am tempted to ask you something,” he said. “If that’s okay with you,” he asked for my permission.

“Go on,” I gave him the permission since there is nothing wrong asking me some question.

“Why are you killing the mystics that I am sworn to protect in this land?” he asked me and I felt awkward towards him since that is bit sensitive question for me. Should I tell him the truth? I understand why he asked me that question. He is the guardian ordered by the great one in these lands, and yet here I am challenging and killing them nonstop. I guess he deserves the truth.

“I uh uhmm,” I hesitated since this is a somewhat insensitive answer for me to spit out of my mouth. “Training hehe,” I answered feeling a bit nervous.

“That’s it?” he asked again and the awkward feeling between us intensifies.

“That’s it,” I said awkwardly.

“Why?” he asked again to me.

“The goddess told me so,” I answered him honestly since that is the training routine that she gave me, find stronger creatures everyday and fight them to death, as she said back then.

“Goddess?” he asked again. “I believe that there is no such goddess in these lands, master,” he added politely. Oh so dumb of me! Of course! Since Amaterasu is a foreign god that came from the other lands, the guardian is not aware of her presence. She did a good job hiding her presence, because guardians can sense threats immediately that might endanger the lands they protect. It just happened that we appeared first on the camp of the underworld’s army before he does.

“You will see,” I cheaply said and we walked quietly.

I can’t help but to wonder more as we embark our path towards the cave, on how the sword Excalibur did that. I remember a legend from my grandfather, who passed down the sword to me since father did not pass being a knight in the kingdom.

The real Arthur, I was just named after him our great descendant who defended his human kingdom with loyalty and love. The one who established a chivalry code by the knights, and our family’s own commandment. We must obey that code at all times.

My kind once came from the human realm, as I believe it to be based on the stories that my grandparents told me. The sword was enchanted by an angel to fight the demons who strived to conquer the kingdom but the whole potential of this sword remains unknown to us throughout the generation only King Arthur himself knows.

I remained quiet wondering for the rest of the Journey.

-The Phoenix’s Maiden-