The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (3 page)

Ikani looked upwards, facing the great
Tavar Tower that pointed towards the sky, as if trying to reach up
to the Gods themselves. Giant screens covered several walls of the
surrounding buildings of the Mafa, extending even to the adjacent
streets as the masses overflowed into the general city
jurisdiction, catering to what was nearly the entire population of
the Five Islands. The gathering crowd of Zor gradually began to
settle down as the screens began to turn on, proudly displaying the
emblem of Paradius accompanied by the loud, distinct sounding of a
voice.

“
Long ago, this land
which we now call our home - the glorious island of Paradius, stood
in the shadow of untold desolation and destruction. It represented
the darker side of our nature - of war and, ultimately, of
annihilation. And so legend has it that five mighty Gods descended
upon this land, and allowed for new life to cover these shadows.
Paradius was created, and with it came our people, the Zor; spread
out onto five islands, yet connected by the same ever-crossing
paths, all heading in the same direction: To Infinity Together,
Guided by the Gods.”

“To Infinity Together!”
The masses cheered, raising their left arms toward the heavens,
“Guided by the Gods!”

“We are grateful for
the opportunities which we are presented with today, to unite all
Zor from the Five Islands to induct our new Tavar. This is an honor
that many of us dream of having for ourselves – to proudly bear the
title of noble leader of this great land. One to guide us all on
our quest to continue what the Gods began so long ago, in
continuously bettering ourselves as we move towards a bright and
prosperous future. It is with great honor on this night that I
proudly proclaim Tavar Nuraka the newly crowned leader of
Paradius!”

The crowds erupted in a
uniform cheer of congratulation as they were faced for the first
time with their new leader. Nuraka, as he was called, stood atop of
the Tavar Tower, overlooking the masses of Zor below and,
seemingly, the entirety of the central island. There was something
odd, Ikani realized at that moment, about hailing someone of whom
you had more than likely never even heard before as the new leader
of the entirety of the Five Islands. Even seeing him for the first
time now, Ikani realized that there was a mysterious element about
him – nothing bad necessarily; just mysterious.

Dressed in the
traditional Tavar’s garb – a sandy colored, multi-layer garb
complete with a cloak and a glassy, lustrous mask fitted over the
upper portion of his face. As the roaring crowds began to settle
anew, Tavar Nuraka moved towards his amplifier and, clearing his
throat, began to speak.

“Citizens of Paradius!”

There was another loud
cheer.

Nuraka chuckled. “I
must say, being able to stand here before you all tonight comes as
quite the surprise. It was only a few hours ago that I had gotten
the news of the resignation of the other two candidates who were
being examined,” he recalled, pausing for a moment to gather his
thoughts.

“As I am sure you
recall, we all had the misfortune of awakening this morning to the
terrible and truly saddening news of the disappearance of Veha
Oren. In an attempt to put your fears to rest, you should all rest
assured in knowing that searches are being conducted as we speak
for the missing Veha and will be continued into the coming
days.”

There was a shallow
wave of voices that began to make its way through the crowds as
many Zor shared their thoughts and concerns with each other in
regards to Oren’s disappearance.

“On a lighter note, it
is with great pleasure that I welcome our new Chief of Security. I
am sure that some of you are familiar with him, as this is not his
first tenure as Chief, but rather he will be resuming this post
under the new administration. Please welcome back Chief
Remula!”

There was a mix of
cheers and jeers erupting from the masses below. Ikani turned to a
fellow Zor One beside him.

“What have they got
against him?” he asked confusedly.

“He was the old Chief
of Security under Havea’s administration,” the Zor explained.
“Until eighteen years ago, that is. They say that Havea let him go,
but nobody really knows why,” he continued. “I’m just surprised to
see him here at all; most of us thought he’d be dead by now – no
one really saw much of him after he left.”

All eyes returned to
the top of the Tower above as Remula began to
speak.

“It is important for
each and every one of you to be aware of a few changes that will be
seen around the Hub and the Satellite islands commencing
immediately,” he began. “Due to the whereabouts of Oren being
unknown at this time, as previously mentioned, security in all
areas of Paradius will be heightened in order to protect against
any potential dangers that may threaten our peace and our
collective safety. Commencing at the start of the hour, we began
deploying Sirens to act as additional guards throughout the city,
and they will be making their way to the Satellites commencing
tomorrow morning.”

“Did
you hear that?” a Zor Mara piped up beside Ikani, turning to him.
“They’re deploying
Sirens!
Sirens as
guards!”

“What
are-?”

“It
is important that nobody fear the Sirens that will be acting as
Paradius security. It is unfortunate for us to have to note the
historic unreliability of Sirens in working alongside the Zor, but
it is my greatest hope that I can reassure you
all
when I insist that the Sirens we are deploying are highly
trained and, to put it simply, harmless to all rule-abiding
citizens.”

Remula continued. “I am
well aware that these must be times of great uncertainty for many
of you, though I firmly stand by my beliefs that the Gods will
guide us along the right path. As citizens of Paradius, it is the
duty of each and every one of us to live every day remembering what
the Gods intended for us.”

“To Infinity Together,
Guided by the Gods!” the masses roared anew, every ounce of energy
within the Zor coming together as they once again raised their arms
towards the sky, a million luminous bands of light and Life glowing
skyward.

“Goodnight to you all,
and let the Gods gift us with a prosperous future to shape for
ourselves,” Nuraka declared.

***

Ikani had left the Mafa
now and was heading back in the direction of the Pod station. In
reality it had not been that long since he had left Af’One, but the
fatigue of traveling and the great amount of walking on top of a
day’s worth of work had finally caught up with him. Given this, it
came as a strange sort of relief to Ikani when he finally sat down
in his Pod.

“Choose your destination,”
the voice sounded once
again.

“Af’One village,
Station 6,” Ikani declared.

The response, however,
was not the one he was expecting.

“Destination Selected.
Next stop – Af’Lagi Historical Vaults.”

Chapter III – The
Vaults

“
What?”
the mental exclamation was representative of
the great confusion that overcame Ikani’s mind.
“Af’Lagi Historical Vaults?
No!”

“I said Af’One, Station
6!” Ikani cried as he was spun around as to avoid a Pod shooting
towards him, heading the other direction. As expected, there was no
response from the robotic voice that send him propelling through
the Web in the opposite direction of his home
satellite.

There was a sudden
jolting as Ikani’s Pod strayed from the main tunnel. He was now
being ushered through a narrow passageway that further lead hi into
a dark room with black metallic walls, dimly lit with lights whose
feint glow reflected off the glasslike surface of the walls behind
them.

“Welcome to Af’Lagi Historical Vaults. We hope you enjoyed
your travels.
To Infinity
Together, Guided by the Gods.”

At that, the door to
his Pod swung open. Perplexed and frustrated but without any other
options, Ikani stepped out of the Pod and watched as it promptly
disappeared down the single track and through the exit
hole.

“What the…” Ikani
muttered to himself, expelling an exasperated sigh as he began to
take in his surroundings. There were no Operators on duty here. As
a matter of fact, Ikani was beginning to wonder whether this was
even an officially recognized public station to begin with. There
was an aura about the dim, silent metallic room that gave Ikani the
impression that he was somewhere where he was not meant to
be.

“Hello?” Ikani called.
There was no response. “He -”

“Shh! Quiet down!” A
voice hissed from behind.

Ikani swung around. A
Zor stepped out from the shadows of the room’s right-hand corner
and into plain sight. The brown patches on the skin of his face and
his demeanor were dead giveaways as to where he was from. He hailed
from Af’Mara, the satellite of architecture and
engineering.

“My
apologies, architect,” Ikani replied politely.

“
Engineer
,” the Mara corrected
him, frowning. “What business do
you
have here, ore-
miner?”

“I could ask the same
of you,” Ikani retorted somewhat bitterly. “I think my Pod
malfunctioned,” he went on to explain. “I was attempting to return
to Af’One but -”

“Same here,” the Mara
replied, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “I’m not surprised; I
never did have much faith in Pod travel; I’d much rather use
aircraft myself.”

At that, there was a
whistling sort of sound as yet another Pod came flying through the
entrance hole. Ikani and the Mara stepped backwards as the door
swung upwards, unveiling the figure of a female Zor Lanu, dressed
in the thin traditional garb of Af’Lanu’s educators, complete with
headscarf.

“It appears I am not
alone,” remarked the Lanu as she exited the Pod. “Have either of
you any idea what’s going on?” she asked, under the assumption that
the cause of the others’ presence was the same as her
own.

“Beats me,” the Mara
replied, scratching his head. “
But
I’m certain a mind as
great as mine will find out in no time!”

Ikani scoffed. “Oh save
it, brother! You Mara are always so full of
yourselves.”

“Hey!” the Mara
protested. “I was only trying to help!”

“Do you two know each
other?” the female questioned.

Ikani shook his head.
“No,” he replied. “But I am called Ikani.”

“Lanaru’s the name,”
the Mara piped up. “Second in command of Af’Mara’s aviation
research squad,” he added with a wink.

The female rolled her
eyes. “My name is Kaho; I am an educator back in Af’Lanu. Pleasure
to meet you both.”

“So, shall we find a
way out of here then?” Ikani asked, looking around at the other
two.

Kaho nodded, her eyes
locking on the door in the back-right corner of the room. “This
way,” she declared, heading towards it. Cracking it open and
peeking out at first, Kaho slowly opened the door and motioned for
the others to follow.

“Whoa,” Ikani breathed,
observing his surroundings in awe. Narrow walkways lined all sides
of the long, rectangular building, spreading downward into what
seemed like an endless abyss of lower floors. From what Ikani could
see, it appeared that they were about seven stories down. Vaults,
lettered in accordance the floor and further marked by numbers
surrounding them in every which way.

“So these are the
Af’Lagi Historical Vaults,” Ikani spoke in awe. “I’d never seen
them before...”

“I would doubt that
many outsiders have,” Kaho figured. “Save for us educators, of
course. It’s a part of our training – coming here. After all, the
lessons offered to us by the past are essential to our lives even
today.”

“
Wow
sister, you sure know your stuff. Perhaps I
should pursue an education if Af’Lanu as well – strictly under your
intelligent mi-”

“Oh
shut it, Lanaru,” Ikani snapped. “We’re trying to find a way out of
here, remember? And
I
suggest we split
up.”

“I second that,” Kaho
replied quickly. “I’ll search this floor.”

“I’ll head downward,”
Ikani added.