The Legend of Tantus - Book 1

Chapter 10 - Those who meet

    The group now remained in Lieben. For seven exact days Seth was still frightened by the responsibilities of a king, by the speed with which everything happened, but he had friends, mother and a woman who loved him to support him in every way, and from then on the initial scare would be in the past. There was still a lot to say, a lot to tell, and everything flowed naturally, but on the story of the fateful night, when Adria lost her life, it was decided not to reveal it to the queen, only Seth, Shayera, John, Enghon and Sumith knew the truth and chose to make a pact of silence:

- Do not you think she deserves to know? – Seth.

- Deserve. But maybe she should not. – Shayera.

- Why?

- I suffered a lot, you know, but she, being a mother, suffered in a way that no one would be able to understand.

- ...

- But today she is happy as I have never seen her before, a true happiness, and it's not worth reopening a wound so painful...

- You... are much wiser than me.

- It's because I love you. – She said as she hugged him.

- Hey! – said Solphie approaching them. – Can not you guys just hang out for a second now?

- No! – Shayera replied by squeezing more.

- Aaahhh! You are very strong! Do not break my bones! – Seth.

- Hahaha...

- Hahaha...

- Hahaha...

- Could you stop hypnotizing me with those eyes? – Shayera.

- And why would I do that? – Seth.

- Ah... All right! I give you privacy! I am leaving now! – Solphie, she was hilarious.

    As for Seth's atesaki, something that should be easily identifiable to the woman who gave him life, on the fateful night Litos incredibly did not notice, first because of the fear of everything that was happening, and then by the desperation to see her dead daughter, it was so terrible for her that she could not look directly at him, and for no one else for many months, the sss herself did not pay attention when swords were briefly crossed, for the shinobi mask also contributed slightly. They were just curious: who hired the mercenaries? Thorgele tried to find out before leaving the continent, but was unsuccessful, in fact only Sazuki had access to this information, because he was the only one who dealt personally with the mysterious contractor, although he did not know exactly who he was either, for it was a matter of course the discretion and right of anonymity in these cases, as well as revenge in case of non-compliance. Anyway this was an issue that should now be forgotten. The king also give full attention to all matters of the kingdom, showing himself to be an excellent ruler and captivating even more the heart of his people, becoming as worthy as his father was. Six letters came from the other kingdoms greeting him as a great king, he obviously could not fail to visit the graves of Adria, his sister, and Loki, his father:

- You were my sister... If I was stronger, I would have changed your destiny. – said Seth in front of Adria's tombstone. – No tear I shed was enough for you, but all my acts from that day on are my penance for having failed you. – It was an oath. – Father, give me your blessing to protect our people, and never allow me to fail again in life.

    A sadness that could not be ignored, but now they were watching and protecting him from the other world next to his other father, Riyan. According to Sumith, they should wait for news of Anarky about Zeijadel's plans, they still had no idea what awaited them, but they should be ready for everything. Sumith and Iris were now the new inseparable and made many walks throughout the kingdom, Seth and Shayera more together than ever, Solphie and John spent a lot of time talking and playing cards with Ehron, Enghon accompanied them, but he was again in his studies with the book, the captain was a great player, but such was the surprise of all when they discovered that queen Litos was the great authority on the subject:

- My queen? – asked Solphie in surprise.

- Could you defeat Arkan? – asked John.

- Hahahahaha... – laughed Ehron.

- The old sailor already owes me for other bets. – replied the queen.

- !!!

- !!!

- !!!

    They found that Solphie, through Litos, was referred to among sorcerers as "Storm", but looking at her, contemplating an image of beauty and sweetness, it became difficult to imagine how she could fit into that nickname, that clearly suggested something indomitable, this had much more the face of Shayera, who by the way only said that one day, if they were lucky, they would understand. The time passed pleasant, almost causing them to forget everything that happened until then, but in their minds they knew that the great hour was coming, the great moment for all. Three weeks later Anarky finally returned, directly to the king, he and Sumith brought the most awaited news of that time:

- Great king. – said Anarky. – Zeijadel's army began to concentrate on the Dead Land, on the continent of Scyra.

- So does that mean...? – said Seth.

- The lord of darkness has found his way back, and he will be free, through Kraven, in the coming days. – said Sumith.

- What is the contingent of the army? – asked the king.

- Two hundred thousand soldiers. – replied Anarky.

- Two hundred thousand?! – said the queen Litos.

- To them, we will go! – The king finished.

    Of course everyone understood the necessity of the battle, Zeijadel should be stopped at all costs or a new discord of the power would begin, even with the slightest chance they should fight, or even with no chance, to stand idly by, it would be just like inviting him to bring everything up again. Anarky also revealed the enemy's goal to eliminate the lord of life and take the greatest step in this way to his complete victory. Each element possessed means of being weakened, and no doubt life was the most conducive to it in order to remain hidden, with death, for if he tried to weaken any other he would have to do it himself and would be immediately found, having to confront an enemy of equal, war and loss of life were the full plate that Zeijadel coveted, eliminating the lord of life he would inherit his powers and could, from there, eliminate all the rest, becoming the great god of Tantus. "Disgrace is part of his game, not of the lords." – said Zeon some time ago.

    Preparations for the definitive battle would now begin. Seth recruited all the soldiers of the kingdom, who attended promptly, but after the cruel battles of Mérit could not reach an acceptable number, but the surprise was before them again, all warriors of Lieben, from all over the continent, fit for battle presented themselves spontaneously, impressing everyone, there was the people who wanted to fight for their land and their king, against the great enemy and once and for all. Seth gathered an impressive twenty-five thousand soldiers, even after the heavy losses of the four battles, the maximum of Lieben's forces was there at his service, he sent messengers to all the other continents, explaining the whole situation and summoning them to war, he was sure that everyone would attend, but the time was against them, it would take them ten days to travel to Scyra and meet with king Korn, but more time would be required for the other armies to arrive, and the longer they delayed, more Zeijadel would be near to escape, he should definitely be confronted there. There was no other choice, Lieben would travel to Scyra immediately in front of everyone, the privilege of the early information was now more to a disadvantage...

    Sumith and Anarky now set out on their own summoning journey:

- You must wonder why this has not been done before, has it? – Anarky asked Sumith.

- Yes.

- “The moment you decide to start, it is the exact moment”. I always waited for this day, when we would leave for the battle all at once and with nothing on the way to delay us.

- I understand.

- I hate to sound arrogant, but I enjoy the full confidence of the lords, and I would rather die than disappoint them.

- So you have my trust. – finished Sumith.

    Finally it was time, and all the other guardians were to be brought into battle as well, but only Lekard was at disposition, the others were still missing and under Kraven's manipulation. Lieben's young man also learned the door to tomorrow, just for this occasion, and thanks to Anarky their location would be much easier, but it also meant hostility, a fight between guardians was a risk they should necessarily take, everyone should be present in the great battle alongside the summons to eliminate Zeijadel once and for all. The guardian prime was magnificent, bipedal, with gleaming golden scales as well as the eyes, he mixed all the features of the six guardians, such as tail, claws and scale shape, also had six pairs of wings, really the leader of the great dragons and his artifact was also an earring, similar to Lekard. Sumith also became the silver guardian after saying goodbye to Iris, to the delirium of the army, and they left... Seth said goodbye to his mother:

- I have spent too much time away from you, my son. – said the queen. – Promise you will come back.

- I can not promise that, mom. – said the king.

- So promise, like your father, that you will protect our people.

- This I already promised.

    It was heartbreaking for Litos to see her beloved newfound son go to another terrible battle, that would probably take his life, but this time the fight would be for the future, without hesitation, without retreating, she was very proud to see the same courage and Loki's determination in him, feelings that made her fall in love, and alongside John, her new adoption son, her husband and daughter would also be proud of it, the queen never doubted. She also had a word with Shayera:

- Know Shayera, that you will make a great queen, and I will be proud to have you as daughter-in-law. – These words provoked immense happiness in the heart of the sss, who even shed a tear before hug Litos.

    The king departed taking all Lieben's army with him, he and his best warriors left the continent towards the Dead Land. A treacherous attack was no longer a concern, for Anarky ensured that all enemy forces would be there waiting to defend his master's arrival.

*****

    Kraven arrived with the whole great army at the foot of the Empty Mountains, a mountain range that had a curious formation, seeming to taper toward the central mountain, which was the largest of them, no matter where it came from, before the discord of the power they were known as the Sun Mountains, until the region died because of Zeijadel. Guided by his master the dark vassal located the passage on the main mountain, it led to a great altar where a magnificent elemental seal stood, floating a few feet above the ground, brilliant, traversed by almost every element in a union of power absolutely huge, in the shape of a snake devouring its own tail, the key to Solitary Prison, uroboros! All the dark clouds that covered the region without rain became darker now, no life form survived there naturally, it was indeed a lifeless land. The black sorcerer immediately began to prepare to break, with all his powerful elements, the prison seal, knew that the enemies were already moving in that direction, Zeijadel would soon be released and the battle would be in charge of his generals, that they should at least protect him until his master was free after all, but Kraven's contingent was much more than goblins and cyclops, also griphons... and dragons were at his service, ready.

*****

    Anarky went to Zelante where he met Lekard, the green guardian, in the city of Vamyar, promptly the fearless man joined the guardian prime in search of the other fellows. Sumith followed, according to Anarky, who was the only one able to sense the presence of the guardians, southeast of Tantus, between the fourth arm and the village of Esgaion. On the advice of the guardian prime, he had only to be transformed that the guardian present there would find him quickly, and he was right, it took a little over an hour to fly over and Lieben's young man spotted, in the open field, a woman in black dress (not Ultima), she had a necklace as her artifact, and immediately became the black guardian, the guardian of Tantus, her scales dark as burnt wood, bipedal and two magnificent pairs of gray wings, she, under the control of manipulation, took flight and the fighting between the two guardians began unceremoniously in the skies. Sumith led her to the ocean, relatively far from the continent, he should touch her back to use the door to tomorrow, which was a curiosity about this magic, but the meaning being quite simple according to the lords themselves, touching the back suggested an action indefensible, as well as decisively expel something undesirable. In fact this could be considered irrelevant, but obviously it would not be easy at all. A terrible exchange of flames began and its heat was even evaporating the waters, under total control now Sumith fought spectacularly, the physical combat generated an impact that agitated the sea, the Lieben's young man also had to reach her back untransformed to use the magic, the power of the guardian in common form would be quite useful right now.

- Easier said than done, huh Anarky!

    The black guardian prepared her extreme power, and Sumith had a lot of work to get her to shoot skyward, clearing clouds, but was surprised by her right claw, receiving a beautiful shoulder wound, he did not wish to hurt her but to it would do no good to be killed by her. Both exchanged violent blows across the length of their breastplates, after a relentless pursuit the young man managed to disguise her among the highest clouds, and cunningly descended on her back, already returning to human form and undoing the guardian's manipulation. The black dragon immediately transformed herself and the two began to fall into the ocean, Sumith transformed again, and at the last second managed to catch her before crashing into the water, saving and taking her to the beach. After a few hours of unconsciousness she finally awoke:

- Where am I? – asked the guardian.

- You are free now. – said Sumith. – I am the guardian of Lieben.

- The battle between us... is the last thing I remember. – said the woman, still disoriented, looking at Sumith's bracelet and proving that he was really the guardian. – I am Shizune Deacon. – And noticing her partner's injuries, she worried. – You are hurt... – She noted that she was also injured and cleverly deduced that they fought. – Kraven! – And after a few seconds. – I suppose you had a hard time bringing me back?

- You can not imagine.

    Shizune was a black-skinned woman with light brown eyes, beautifully curly hair, charming and of unparalleled beauty, she was thirty-seven winters in age, and indeed was in the guardian's struggle over the continent of Talarr. She was an extremely intelligent person who could easily deduce anything, even in battle, which explained her quick and accurate understanding of the situation, and it would also be a huge problem for Sumith if he was fighting her in full consciousness. She carried a beautiful golden spear, which was also retrieved by the young man in the fall, as the guardian's weapons and costumes disappeared curiously when they transformed, reappearing when they returned to normal, and this was yet another mystery that was never revealed.

- So many winters have passed, and I have remained in darkness all this time. – Shizune.

- ... – Sumith.

- I am afraid... to remember the things I did. – she said looking at her hands, a feeling similar to that of the green guardian when he was released.

- It was not your fault. – said the young man touching her shoulder.

    Shizune listened attentively to Sumith's revelation, and her eyes flaring when she heard the names of Kraven and Zeijadel again, she quickly understood that she should not look back, for that was not where they were going. She promptly healed her wounds and those of her new friend, the black guardian was an expert in the element of life, her level was very high, and the healing was quick and efficient, the two went on to the next guardian to be released.

*****

    Anarky and Lekard arrived at Meira, on the central island near the temple of the summons. Without much work they found the gray guardian of Zelante standing in the forest, bipedal, beautiful in scale and with a pair of huge wings, the largest wings among the guardians, he was already transformed and attacked them immediately, his destructive power was used right off the bat, Lekard and Anarky swerved at the last second, watching the deadly beam disappear into the sky, seen by many people on the continent, he was incredibly fast and they had a lot of work to finally disorient him, after hellfire flared, the green guardian managed to hold him on the ground while the leader executed the door to tomorrow releasing him. The gray guardian was Uxas, a great moghran carrying a large black-hilt sword, his fur was slightly gray and his mane black, wearing typical Zelante garb in its color, his artifact was a ring on his left hand, he was not in the fight of the guardians, because received the power only a few winters later, of the last guardian of Zelante, which evidenced a suspicion of the guardian prime: the manipulation was so powerful that it could literally follow the guardian's power transmitted at the time of succession. Since the former guardian, being at the end of his life, would no longer be useful, the will that was not his own would also belong to his successor, not for nothing was classified as f*******n magic, and Anarky called it contagious disease. With the call of the leader and the clarification of the situation was ready for war without hesitation.

*****

    Sumith and Shizune traveled to Saitar, the advantage of moving thousands of miles quickly was really convenient. They arrived through the White Mountains, but it was very difficult to find the guardian there, so it took several days on a search that was almost disheartening. Shizune proved to be a trusted friend, her company was very pleasant, and she was a great and addicted card player (she always brought cards with her) as much as Arkan. After much frustrated search on the ice they finally saw a magnificent lobime watching them, and with the glow of a bracelet on his right wrist he became Saitar's blue guardian, he was quadrupedal, his scales resembled ice crystals and his two pairs of magnificent wings smoked impressively, but his fire was very hot! Sumith proved Shizune's tremendous intelligence in involving an opponent without wanting to kill him, the fight was dangerous, melting a lot of ice from the place, but thanks to her the opponent was disoriented efficiently, not having a chance to fire his maximum power, the mountaintops were used as battle platforms and even under heavy snowfall the fight was unfolding, ending with the two immobilizing the enemy together, and the young man set him free. Fawk was the name of Saitar's mighty lobime guardian, he had no weapon at all, for his wolf claws were powerful enough for that, he was black and his silver eyes were very flashy, he was another who was not in the battle of the guardians, but he was extremely understanding and eager for the fight against Zeijadel. Now only one guardian remained to be recovered, Scyra's red guardian.

*****

    Anarky, Lekard and Uxas arrived at Scyra, flying over the Dead Land quickly to prove Kraven's great army, that battle was promised to be the most terrible and final of the entire war. They looked for Thryr, Anarky's friendly tartar and Scyra's red guardian, but his location was extremely difficult, taking far longer than the leader's predicted, they only found traces of his power through the Korn Desert, and even though the three of them split into a scavenger hunt it took days to finally locate, Thryr was a large tartar and looked like pure steel! His artifact was a belt, and after a conversation with the leader, his old friend, he was keen to get rid of the manipulation, for he was the only one who could partially control himself, even for a short time. Red as twilight, quadrupedal, Scyra's guardian had two pairs of wings that seemed to reflect the sunlight, his own eyes seemed to be always on fire, after his transformation the leader himself warned his fellows about Thryr's great physical strength, strength proven in the direct fight. The tartar had a very powerful mind and was able to control himself to the point of not using his destructive power, they flew low in pursuit, raising sandstorms in their battle, but were having no effective result on immobilizing him until they noticed more approaching three allies, Sumith, Shizune and Fawk arrived. The six guardians together should have been easier to hold an opponent, but it was a mistake, the red guardian, immobilized by all of them, managed to throw them up with incredible force, Thryr was too strong! It was hard work to finally immobilize and release him after two attempts, Anarky's first, and Sumith's second. In fact all this led to thinking about how Iris, Solphie and Shayera had a delicate luck in the days when they sought the remaining summons, because in this place and in Meira the guardians were very close, their lives would be in great danger in case of an encounter, and a summon fight against guardians would be unheard of, terrible and likely to end disastrously for both of them, but perhaps Arkan (and Laguna) had already planned everything in advance, and probably Anarky himself would have intervened and never allowed them to take such a risk, because the leader was really trustworthy. Now the seven guardians were reunited, Zeijadel was promised, but it took too long for that and the battle could be critical by the time they reached it.