The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (11 page)

“They’d let those
things take charge of the Five Islands,” Enoke scoffed, “but the
moment we even step foot in front of the Tavar we’re told we’re
useless!”

Frustrated, Enoke
waited to be sure that the last of the Sirens had passed before
moving to descend the tree. As he attempted to swing his legs to
the side of the branch, however, he was shocked to find that they
would not move an inch. Initially he wondered if they were caught
up in some of the smaller branches, but as he attempted to move his
arms to free them, however, Enoke began to realize just what was
going on.

He glanced downward
and was horrified to find that his limbs had been unknowingly bound
to both the branch on which he was laying as well as tree trunk
behind his back, done completely without his knowledge. Growing
frantic now, Enoke struggled fiercely against the force that was
holding him captive, hoping that whoever had tied him up would not
be returning anytime soon. However, as he began to take notice of
the adhesive, threadlike nature of the binding that encased his
limps, Enoke was filled with the sudden horrifying realization of
just what he had gotten himself into.

His eyes shot upwards.
There they were, climbing about the branches above him, slowly
inching their ways back down towards the trapped Veha. They were
Bari Spiders – the largest species of arachnids known to inhabit
the Five Islands. The fact that they were also renowned as the most
ruthless and aggressive spiders was of no help to Enoke, who
struggled violently against the increasingly tight webs that bound
him to the tree.

Enoke tried his best
not to scream as the first of the Bari descended from the closest
branch above his head, landing on his left leg. He knew that his
protective armor would not be a match for the Bari’s webs for long,
either, given their extreme acidity capable of boring through just
about any material known to the Zor of Paradius. As the single
spider was quickly joined with a half a dozen others, each one
about the size of the Veha’s hand, Enoke wondered if this was how
things were going to end. Was he going to die like this? As a Veha
who had gone off to prove that he was worthy of his title, only to
die at the hands of a family of hungry Bari atop a tree in the
middle of nowhere? The thoughts were racing through his mind amidst
the panic that was slowly eating him alive before the Bari could
even begin their meal; he could feel himself beginning to black out
as a result of nothing more than the sheer fear of imminent death.
Then, through the thickness of the treetops, there came a response
that silently screamed only one thing – that this was not the end
for Veha Enoke.

It came first in the
form of a dagger that shot through the wall of leaves before him,
penetrating to body of the Bari nearest to his open flesh, pinning
it against the tree trunk. Soon, that singular dagger was joined by
several others, cutting through the bindings that held Enoke
captive, freeing his once immobilized limbs. From the surrounding
sea of green, a figure leapt high into the tree, standing perfectly
balanced on a nearby branch. His face – with the exception of his
eyes – was covered by a scarf and he was clothed in a tattered,
sandy cloak. He stood slightly hunched, and appeared to be of
significant age while still maintaining the strength and energy of
his long-gone youthful days.

“You – you saved me,”
Enoke stammered, unsure of what to say.

The figure, however,
offered nothing in response. He merely stared.

Enoke frowned.
Admittedly, he was frustrated – he did not like being in debt to
others, even more so now given his new Veha status. “Thank you,” he
said finally after sighing.

“Don’t die out here,”
the mysterious figure responded finally in a monotonous and
surprisingly icy tone.

“What do you mean?”
Enoke asked. “Is there something you want from me?”

The figure turned away
now, appearing to be preoccupied by something that lay beyond the
forest below. “I mean don’t die out here,” he offered once again,
this time coming off just as coldly as the last.

“Who are you?” Enoke
demanded, standing up now. “Answer me!” he cried, his temper
heating up anew.

“Gather the others,”
the mystery Zor replied simply. With nothing more, he once again
leapt into the greenery below and was gone.

“Gather the others?”
Enoke repeated under his breath, confused. Who was this mysterious
Zoe? And, most importantly, what did he want with him and the other
Veha?

Enoke descended the
tree once again, taking the renewed glowing of his Pendant as a
sign that he should continue along his way. And so he did, once
again navigating the thick forest landscape – albeit more warily
this time – until the trees gradually began to dwindle in numbers
and the forest began to grow thinner and thinner around him. The
ground below Enoke’s feet changed from dirt and thick grass to
barren rock as he suddenly found himself stepping out of the forest
and onto the edge of a cliff, overlooking the vast Af’Lagi desert
far below and, in the distance, the mountains that were home to his
home Village and the Historical Vaults below, barely visible from
beyond the hazy air that hung over the stretch of desert land
before the Veha.

“Well, I suppose
that’s a start,” Enoke figured, gazing out at the distant
village.

Suddenly, from behind
him, there came the sound of footsteps from the edge of the forest.
Enoke glanced back just in time to spot the cloaked bodies of two
Sirens making their way out of the brush. Not daring to take a
moment to stop and think, Enoke leapt over the edge, landing with
ease on a ledge only a few feet below. Gaining his balance now,
Enoke stood up, pressing his body against the rock wall behind him
as he watched the Sirens take to the air above him, soaring off
towards the village beyond the humid afternoon haze. Enoke breathed
a sigh of relief, however, it was short lived as he came to realize
that he had dropped too far to return to the edge of the cliff
above, off by at least a foot or so.

“This is just great,”
he muttered, glancing hopelessly upward. Then, out of the corner of
his eye, something caught the Veha’s attention.

Perched on another
ledge not too far down was a pair of gauntlets that appeared to be
made of the same material as his guardian’s armor. Inching closer,
Enoke’s eyes widened in surprise when he became aware of the way
that his Pendant also appeared to be drawn to the new pieces of
armor, which lay just out of reach from where Enoke stood now.
Taking a deep breath, he figured that if he had come this far and
managed to make it out alive, a little more risk-taking would not
do any harm. Readying his sword, he forced it into the rock wall
before him, using the blade as a means of support as he leapt over
the drop-off below, landing just barely on the ledge where the
gauntlets lay. However, the ground below him was not nearly as
sturdy as that of the first ledge, and with but a single step
forward it suddenly gave way, and Enoke was sent plummeting towards
the ground. He fought hard, clawing at the gauntlets, managing to
free them from the ledge before he was sent whirling towards the
distant surface in what was a fall where direct impact would surely
prove to be fatal. Trying not to scream and attempting to compose
himself, something inside Enoke’s mind began to tell him that the
key to his survival rested in the gauntlets that he now held.
Hastily putting them on, he clawed through the open air, fighting
to grab hold of the edge of the cliff before him.

As he did, he was
shocked to find that the rock wall proved to be no match for the
strength of his hand, which dug through the solid rock almost
effortlessly. For a moment, Enoke merely hung by one hand,
attempting to catch his breath as he stared down at the barren
ground below that suddenly did not seem to be so far away. Quickly,
however, his attention returned to his right hand, which remained
lodged in the wall of the cliff, outfitted with one of the
mysterious gauntlets that seemed to possess more power than he ever
could have imagined.

“My strength…” Enoke
breathed, fascinated. Then, readying his other hand, he dug that
one, too, into the bed of rock before him, scaling the wall
effortlessly as he descended towards the surface, his mind suddenly
focused on the task given to him by the stranger from the
woods.

Chapter X – The
Seaside Cavern

The waves seemed to
come from all directions, crashing into the sharp rocks that dotted
the shoreline. In the distance, the jagged cliffs that bordered the
eastern side of Af’Lanu Island opened up into an enigmatic cavern
that was barely visible from where Kaho stood. Watching as her
Pendant once again lifted itself from her breast, pointing straight
forward, Kaho no longer had any doubt in her mind that whatever it
was that she was to find lay within the gaping mouth of the distant
cliff side.

Luckily, the female
Veha was gifted with a great deal of balance and agility as she
leapt swiftly across the jagged rocks, avoiding the icy water that
lay only inches below, crashing up against the sides of the very
rocks on which she now stood. Far removed from the fishing outposts
of Dal’Lanu and Fe’Lanu on the western and southern edges of the
Island respectively, the waters on the eastern side were known to
be especially stormy and unforgiving; not to mention the fact that
they were home to some of the largest and most aggressive sea
creatures that inhabited the waters of the Five Islands. Kaho
shuddered at the thought of what would result from her falling in –
undoubtedly there were plenty of hungry creatures lurking below,
and certainly none that would pass up a free meal.

As the rocks grew
scarcer, however, and the mouth of the cavern slowly began to grow
nearer, Kaho’s mind was at ease anew. As she leapt across the last
of the protruding rocks and onto the cold, jagged surface of the
mouth of the cave, she peered in with a great deal of apprehension.
However, it was not all due to her current situation; rather, she
worried about the others, who had all gone their own separate ways
by now.

“I do hope everyone’s
all right,” she murmured under her breath, noticing how even the
slightest of voices seemed to echo through the cavern that was
otherwise filled only with the sound of dripping water and the
crashing of the waves behind her. “I wonder how Ikani is holding
up,” she mused, thinking of her fellow squad member from Af’One,
who had been the first of the four of them to depart in search of
the missing Veha Oren. “And Enoke…”

She paused, shaking
the thoughts from her mind. Kaho knew very well that there was no
sense in dwelling on what had happened back in the Pit or on the
events that had taken place afterwards. The task which was
currently at hand lay before her, Kaho reminded herself as she
clasped her Pendant in one hand. Once all was said and done here,
then she could direct her attention towards finding the
others.

Upon entering the
cavern, Kaho became aware of the way that the ocean waters seemed
capable of penetrating even the cliff side hole. She shuddered as
she trudged through the ankle deep water, allowing the darkness of
the cavern to consume her as she left behind the stormy weather of
the outside world. Her path was lit by nothing more than the faint
glow of her Pendant, guiding her way through narrow, winding
tunnels that appeared to be leading the lone Veha fairly far inland
underneath the mountains and forests at the Island’s
surface.

“I wonder what could
be down here,” Kaho murmured to herself. She thought back to the
various lessons that she had taught in her classes on the known
history of the Veha Guardians. There were numerous possibilities as
to what may be lying in wait for her, as journeys into the unknown
were all too common for the Veha of the past, and certainly her
experiences would be sure to hold many of the same trials. She
thought also of Oren, and the possibility that the missing Veha
might actually still be amongst them, either lost or captured
somewhere in these tunnels. Still, however, that thought remained a
distant one, lost beyond the words of the Tavar, asserting that
Oren was indeed no longer present on the Five
Islands.

Kaho’s mind remained
busy as she navigated her way deeper into the tunnel system,
eventually coming across a large hole in the wall that appeared to
open up into complete blackness. She would not have thought much of
the hole were it not for the Veha’s Pendant that hung around her
neck, pulling her towards the sizable hole which lay just above her
head on the left side of the cavern. Sloshing through the
ankle-deep water that still filled her pathway, Kaho scaled the
wall, carefully steadying herself on the jagged rocks below her
feet as she clambered up the wall towards the hole. Finally gaining
enough leverage, Kaho pulled herself through the hole, stooping
over at first until the aperture opened up into a spacious room
that seemed initially to be of perpetual darkness. However, as she
further examined the large clearance, guided only by the dim light
of her Pendant, Kaho took notice – from the corner of her eye – of
something glistening deeper inside of the underground
room.