The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (18 page)

“All of you, watch
yourselves down here,” Enoke piped up suddenly as they entered the
underground tunnel. “Expect security to be tight as can be, and
don’t expect the Sirens to stay off our trail forever, either,” he
added bitterly.

“Right,” Lanaru said. “Now, Enoke, since you’re the resident
expert on these tunnels, why don’t you give us a few pointers as to
where we might find this Shrine that our brother tells us about?”
he asked somewhat cheerily with but a hint of sarcasm and
skepticism.

“Don’t ask me,” Enoke
replied, clueless. “These Vaults are endless; the tunnels go on
forever. I could spent a lifetime down here and never know where
everything is.”

“
Nobody
know where it is, Lanaru,” Ikani snapped.
“Which means that record keepers – Enoke included – haven’t a clue.
Therefore, there is only one question to ask: are there any areas
down here that are completely restricted, even to ordinary
workers?”

Enoke nodded. “Of
course,” he replied. “The most notable of them being Floor X, but
the only thing that’s known to be down there to my knowledge is a
wall of verses and carvings left over from Distant
Past.”

“That would seem like a logical place to start,” Kaho
figured.

“There’s a catch,
though,” Enoke added gloomily. “It’s nearly impossible to get down
there to see it.”

“And why is that?” Kaho
asked.

Enoke frowned. “It’s
heavily guarded,” he answered. “By Stone Giants.”

Silence was the only
response from the other Veha at this time, as they stepped into the
elevator that would inevitably be bound for a place of great
uncertainty for all of them shortly. They had no choice but to take
the risk and go to the forbidden Floor X. Their spirits were
further dragged down, however, by the bitter memories of the way
they had paled in comparison to the Stone Giant in the Pit before
the Tavar, and that had been but a single Giant at
that.

“It’s different this time,” Ikani spoke suddenly. All heads
turned towards him. “Back then, we had hardly any idea of who we
were and, most importantly, we hadn’t a clue who we had come to be.
And now? We stand united against whatever forces may challenge us,
regardless of our total numbers falling short. We
are
as we were chosen to be!” Ikani declared. “I believe that now;
we must all believe that!”

Ikani looked around at
the other Veha who stood before them in the descending elevator,
watching as encouraged smiles slowly crept across their faces one
by one.

“Well said, miner!”
Lanaru answered finally, holding out his left arm before them.
“Now, who’s ready to fight for our homeland? Who’s ready to live up
to our title and serve Paradius as the chosen Veha that we
are?”

One by one more hands
joined Lanaru’s until four hands were now assembled and their
individual wills become one. The Pendants around their necks glowed
brightly as the elevator grew near to its
destination.

“
To Infinity
Together
!” the declared in unison.
“And,” Ikani added, “to Tavar Havea, for showing us the
way.”

They shared one last
moment together united in encouragement and shared duty before the
elevator came to a halt. Ikani reached behind his back and drew his
sword, preparing himself as the doors pulled open.

“Well,” Lanaru started
nervously, tapping his foot. “Ladies first.”

Kaho scoffed, and
before the former could say another word, the other three Veha had
exited the elevator before him. After making their way through the
main sector of the Floor X Vaults, The four – with Lanaru now
caught up – found their way into a large circular room at the end
of the corridor, blocked off by a large metal double doors that,
surprisingly, were unlocked. The walls were made of solid rock,
extending a great distance upwards towards an unseen ceiling that
was lost in the complete darkness above. The ground below them was
rough and uneven, dotted with jagged rocks of all shapes and sizes.
Far away on the other side of the room, Ikani spotted
something.

“Hey!” he exclaimed.
“Over there; it’s a door! Do you reckon it leads to the wall you
were talking about?” he asked Enoke.

Instinctively, he went
to run towards it, but was quickly halted by Enoke, who’s
outstretched arm suddenly obstructed his path. “Don’t move,” he
commanded. “You make it sound far too easy, Ikani, and believe me
when I say it won’t me. Look at the ground.”

At that, Ikani peered
down at his feet, expanding his gaze outward as he scanned the
rocky surface below. At first he saw nothing, but then – gradually,
he saw them: the small ripples that moved the rocks ever so
slightly in wavelike formations, extending subtly in many
directions.

“Giants,” Enoke
muttered, frowning. “Underneath our feet… they’ve been known to
take to burrowing underground while attempting an ambush attack.
Watch out.”

The Veha hardly had any
time to process Enoke’s warnings before the rippling suddenly grew
greater, accompanied now by a loud rumbling noise as the ground
began to give way in five distinct areas around them. Lanaru lost
his footing as an enormous figure emerged in front of him, towering
over his fallen body. He scrambled to his feet, but could not
escape in time. Lanaru cried out for help as he was lifted off the
ground by the giant hand of the golem and tossed effortlessly
across the room, falling to the ground with a loud
thud.

There were five of them
in total, Ikani realized as he frantically dodged his way around
the enormous feet of the two Ores on his way towards Kaho. Enoke,
meanwhile, was to their right, helping Lanaru back onto his
feet.

“I have a plan!’ Kaho
informed him. “But it’s going to take a while lot of luck for it to
work,” she added. “And even more teamwork.”

At the sound of the
word, Ikani’s eyes shot towards the other two. “Lanaru!” he cried.
“Enoke!”

The sound of his voice,
however, seemed only to work towards upsetting the Giants.
further.

“Couldn’t it have
waited, Ikani?” Lanaru snapped, ducking to dodge an attempted blow
from one of the beasts. “What is it?”

“Kaho has a plan,” he
explained, eyeing the female Veha in desperation. “Don’t
you?”

She hesitated. “Well,
yes, but… it’s not going to be easy.:

“Well, neither is a
slow and painful death at the hands of these Giants!” Lanaru
retorted as the four began running anew, hoping to stall for some
time. “What is it?”

“I’ll explain it in
steps,” she answered. “Enoke!” Kaho exclaimed, turning to him. “Can
you use your Gauntlets to break down these rocks as finely as
possible? We’re going to need sand, and lots of
it!”

“What?” Enoke asked,
eyeing her strangely.

“Look out!” Ikani
cried.

He and Enoke rolled out
of the way just in time as another Giant came charging forward.
Instead, they sent it slamming directly into the wall behind them.
As Ikani scrambled back onto his feet, he caught sight of the would
running down the beast’s back – a scar, undoubtedly coming at the
hands of Lanaru’s sword boring into its flesh on that day long
before. It was clear now that this particular Giant was no stranger
to them.

“Do you think you can
do it?” Kaho asked Enoke again as they began to
regroup.

“Well… yeah,” he
figured. “I’ll give it a shot.”

Enoke clenched his
hands into fists now, boring them into the ground with the help of
the supreme strength offered to him with the help of his Gauntlets.
The earth shook as if a mini quake had been started around them.
The other three struggled to maintain their
footing.

“Here goes nothing!”
Enoke exclaimed, taking off, keeping close to the walls as he ran,
keeping his hands beneath the ground as the bed of rocks around him
crumbled into a sandy rubble. The Giants quickly took notice of the
running Veha and were fast on his tracks. Luckily Enoke, however,
he seemed to have the upper hand in terms of speed, though it was
not by much.

“Hurry!” Kaho cried
from across the room as the Veha Lagi continued to run. “And be
ready to hold your breath!” she added almost nonchalantly, as if it
had been an expected statement.

“What are you on about,
sister?” Lanaru demanded to know.

“You too, engineer!”
she snapped. “And get on it!”

Before he could protest
any further, there was an eruption of roaring waters from Kaho’s
Twin Blades, firing out in the direction of both Enoke and the
Stone Giants. Ikani and Lanaru prepared themselves at the last
minute as they were sucked into the roaring waters themselves,
being tossed around violently beneath the newly formed waves. Ikani
could already feel the need to breathe returning to him, only
increasing with each passing moment. His eyes shot open. Even
beneath the water he could see the silhouette of Enoke swimming
back towards them. To his right was Kaho, controlling the waters
and looking focused yet surprisingly calm. Beneath him, Lanaru was
clawing at his neck, indicating that he was faring even worse than
Ikani. Desperate now, Ikani eyed the distant surface above and shot
upwards towards it in a last ditch effort. At just the same time,
however, the waters suddenly began to recede, bringing them down
once again. He and Lanaru broke the surface and soon fell to the
ground once again, gasping for air.

“Lanaru!” Kaho’s voice
bellowed once more, filled with desperation.

Within a moment, the
Veha Mara was alert and on his feet. He caught sight of the pile of
Giants at the far side of the room, dazed and confused and
appearing to have barely escaped the roaring
waters.

“Draw on the powers of
the wind, quickly!” the female Veha urged.

At that, Lanaru fell
suddenly into a state of complete concentration, gathering what he
could of his remaining energy. As his Fan Blade-equipped arms shot
outward, a great gale force of wind was drawn seemingly from
nowhere. The sand that had been formed previously by Enoke filled
the air around them in a howling dust storm as the Veha shielded
their eyes, struggling to see what was happening.

“Aim for the Giants!”
Kaho cried.

Squinting as the sand
began to enter his eyes, Lanaru forced himself to maintain
concentration as he guided the winds towards the dazed Stone Giants
that had fallen into the corner at the hands of Kaho, covering them
with the mounds of sand.

“Now, Ikani; use your
Fireblade!” came the sound of Kaho’s final command.

Ikani knew what to do.
He drew his sword once more. Readying it, his eyes locked in on his
target. With one swipe of his sword, he sent a wave of searing
flames towards the golems encased in sand. For a moment they were
lost in the blazing inferno, unseen to the Veha who watched on with
uncertain expressions. Then, as the flames began to clear, they
realized that had come of Kaho’s plan. There lay the Giants now,
motionless, encased in solid glass.

“Sand and fire…” Ikani
breathed.

Kaho smiled. “And you
doubted me?” she asked.

“I… no, of course not!”
he insisted.

“You can thank me
later,” she replied simply, shifting her attention now to the door
that lay before them at the other end of the room.

“Shall we be going,
then?” Enoke asked.

Lanaru nodded,
chuckling. “Let’s do this!” he exclaimed.

After taking one last
look at the frozen Giants to ensure that they had indeed been
defeated, the Veha continued on to the door. Kaho grabbed hold of
it and slid it to the left, opening up the pathway before them. As
the Veha stepped inside, the room unfolded around the four.
Contrary to their great expectations, however, the room appeared to
be a far cry from anything spectacular.

“Nice going, Enoke!”
Lanaru scoffed. “Way to lead us all the way down here for nothing;
this room is completely empty, save for this rock!”

“Always examine the
tools with which you are presented carefully,” Kaho interrupted,
glaring at the Mara. “Examining the scriptures inscribed on this
wall may prove to be of great value, you know.”

At that, Kaho made her
way towards the far wall, studying the various images and verses
that decorated its surface. There was no doubt that it was indeed
an artifact of a time long forgotten. As her eyes closed in on one
particular excerpt from the wall’s surface, Kaho began to
read.

Secrets we keep for the
chosen who seek