The Guardians' Pendants (The Zor Chronicles Part I) (4 page)

“Hold up a minute –
Kaho, shouldn’t you know where the exit is? Didn’t you just say
that you’d been here before?” Lanaru asked,
confused.

Kaho sighed. “During
the
daytime
, yes. You know, after
giving security
notice
that we would be coming; after
having
permission
.”

There was a pause.
Lanaru appeared puzzled.

Kaho rolled her eyes.
“The Historical Vaults aren’t a place to be fooling around. They
find you down here without permission and you’re done for. Not to
mention, with Oren no longer around and with Remula running around
this place again, that’s not a situation I’d like to have to face
anytime soon.”

Lanaru held his breath,
shifting around uneasily.

“Good,” Kaho declared. “Stay quiet. Lanaru, search the upper
floors for any sign of an Exit Station, and
don’t
get caught,” she stressed. Ikani and Lanaru both nodded. Kaho
signaled to the symbol in front of the door, signaling a Pod
Station. It was understood that they were to look for another like
it.

“Then it’s decided;
we’ll meet back here in half an hour,” she added, pointing at the
door behind them – H-42. At that, the three went on their own
separate ways.

The journey down
through the floors of the Vaults quickly grew difficult for Ikani,
who realized that the further downward he ventured the more his
surroundings began to deviate from the standard structure of the
higher levels. No longer were floors limited to a single
rectangular formation of vaults. Branches broke off in all
directions, creating an erratic maze of passageways upon more
passageways for Ikani to navigate in search of another Pod station
from which they could exit. He made his way through one winding
tunnel after the next, trying to keep his location in relation to
their meeting point in check while also remaining on guard for any
signs of patrolling security guards. Luckily, they seemed to be few
and far between (which Ikani attributed to the fortunate fact that
many were probably still in the Hub following the Induction
ceremony, or were still in the process of making their way
back).

As he was about to turn
down yet another branch of the tunnels, Ikani froze when he heard
footsteps moving forward from within. He held his back tightly to
the wall, holding his breath and attempting to listen to the murmur
of voices that were gradually growing nearer.

“Ah yes, and what is
the revised Security Plan for Quadrant Three, sir?” one of the
voices sounded.

Still pressed against
the wall, Ikani peered around the corner down the dimly lit path
before him. From further down, he spotted the silhouettes of two
figures, seemingly engaged in conversation.

“It is absolutely
necessary that security be heightened there, and I demand that it
go into effect first thing tomorrow morning,” the second voice
replied sternly. “As a matter of fact, I’ll see to
it.”

Ikani knew the voice
well – in fact, he had heard it only hours ago.
Remula.

“But sir, with all due
respect, has never been a breech in security in Quadrant Three. And
it’s been at maximum -”

“But
there
was
a breech, Nirune,” Remula spat bitterly. “Five
weeks ago. I do hope you of all people – the Head of Vault Security
– would have received this news; am I mistaken?”

“No sir – I mean, yes
sir, I did,” the one called Nirune stammered. “But it was not in
Quad -”

“I
don’t
care
where it was, Nirune. You are Head of Security
here, and I expect you to take your job seriously! A break-in in
Quadrant Four still means a break-in in the Vaults – and what’s
more, the assailant was never caught and brought to justice on that
night. And if your so-called
Vault
Security
cannot track down and
capture a single wrongdoer, who’s to say you will not fail again
the next time around?”

“But Chief Rem
-”

“No
more, Nirune. I will be deploying a squad of Sirens to tend to the
Vaults immediately, and will be giving them the complete authority
to do what is needed to ensure these Vaults are – and remain
–
protected
.”

“Y-yes sir, absolutely;
understood, sir,” Nirune stuttered nervously.

What were they talking
about? A break-in? Why hadn’t Ikani heard of it before? And what
was of such importance in Quadrant Four that would have caused a
thief to attempt to break into it?

“Now,” Remula began. “With all due respect, Nirune, you must
excuse me while I tend to… our little
guest
.”

Ikani froze. Caught up
in the conversation, he had accidentally exposed himself to the two
figures who lurked in the shadows. At first there was an instinct
to turn him over – to surrender and attempt to explain himself. But
after hearing how Remula spoke of the break-in of five weeks prior,
Ikani was terrified of facing any consequences at the hands of the
former. He felt an inexplicable sense of anger build up inside of
him, accompanied by a desire to run. And so he did.

“Should I call for
backup, sir?” Nirune asked.

“Backup will not
needed,” Remula replied firmly. “I’ll take care of this
one.”

Darting down one narrow
corridor after another, Ikani tried to stay close to the walls,
hoping that the shadows would conceal him as he fled from the
approaching Security Chief. He could hear his footsteps approaching
from behind now, echoing throughout the tunnels.
It’s not too late,
a voice in his head urged.
Surrender. Explain yourself; it’ll be all
right.

But he didn’t. One
branch of the tunnels broke off into another, and Ikani fled
frantically, still hurrying forward and not daring to look back. As
he rounded the next corner, Ikani’s foot suddenly caught on the
edge of the turn in the tunnel and he was sent crashing to the
ground.

His head struck the
floor hard, sending shockwaves of pain coursing through his body.
The world around him was blurred and spinning, slowly losing its
shape before his eyes.

There was a great burst
of blue light. Then, there was nothing.

Chapter IV – The
Spirit Realm

At first there was only
darkness. Then, gradually, the light began to invade the world
around Ikani once more as his eyes flickered open.

“Ugh,” Ikani groaned. “What happened?” he muttered to
himself, glancing around and rubbing his head.

Immediately, he began
to wonder what light had penetrated the darkness of his unconscious
state, citing his bleak and hazy surroundings. Then, from around
his neck, there came an answer. Once again, his Pendant glowed
bright blue, illuminating the world around him. Ultimately,
however, even the lustrous glow of his pendant failed to shed any
light on where exactly he was.

“What is this place?”
Ikani wondered aloud as he rose to his feet, taking a look around.
The air was thick with an unrelenting mist that made it difficult
to make out anything in the distance. However, if what lay beyond
was anything reminiscent of what lay in close range to Ikani, it
was nothing to be excited about. The ground below was thick with
rubble, barren otherwise and void of any signs of
life.

“Hey!” came a voice from the distance. “Who’s got the bright
light?”

“Lanaru!” Ikani cried out.

“Ore-miner?” Lanaru shot back through the perpetual
haze.

Ikani followed the
sound of the Mara’s voice, his silhouette finally taking shape in
the mist before him.

“You’re here too then?”
Ikani remarked.

“Unless I’m a figment of your imagination,” Lanaru retorted
cheekily.

Ikani frowned. “I hit
my head; that’s the last thing I remember.”

“I
just saw bright light,” Lanaru recalled. At that, he reached
beneath his tunic and revealed an item that brought a look of great
surprise to Ikani’s face. “Look familiar?”

“Remarkable,” Ikani breathed, gazing down in awe at the
Pendant around Lanaru’s neck as he clutched his own. Right down to
its jagged nature, it was nearly identical.

“Hey, who’s there?” a deep and unfamiliar voice penetrated
the stillness of the surrounding mist now.

“Show yourself!” Ikani
cried.

From out of the mist
emerged the dark body of a Zor hailing from Af’Lagi itself. He
appeared on edge, as if he had been disturbed by something; perhaps
their sudden appearance.

“It’s fine,” Ikani
insisted, “We mean no harm – we were just… trying to find out where
we’ve been taken, that’s all.”

“You and me both,”
muttered the Lagi. He sighed. “The name’s Enoke, by the way. I’m a
historian back in Af’Lagi. And you?”

“I’m
Ikani.”

“Lanaru’s the name,”
the Mara replied.

“Wait a second. Did you just say
back in
Af’Lagi
?” Ikani asked, puzzled.
“Aren’t we…”

Enoke shook his head,
pointing to Ikani’s right. Beyond the haze, the ground seemed to
give way to a bird’s-eye view of a city of sorts, though it was no
city familiar to Ikani or Lanaru.

Suddenly, there came a
rustling sound of sorts from behind them and all three Zor spun
around in anticipation. Enoke backed up a couple of steps in
fear.

“What’s wrong with
you?” Lanaru asked mockingly.

“I think it’s
back…”

“What is?” Ikani
asked.

“The…
monster
.”

From the haze there was
a great roaring sound as their surrounding suddenly grew dark. From
the darkness emerged a truly terrible creature, appearing almost
vaporous in its nature. The three Zor stood frozen in fear as the
figure moved forward, appearing to join forces with the mist itself
as shadows encompassed their field of vision.

“What in the name of the Gods is – wait,
you
too
?” Lanaru exclaimed, turning
suddenly to Enoke as he began to bask in the same familiar blue
glow.

The light from the
three Pendants only seemed to aggravate the creature further. The
dark mist continued to swallow them up, extinguishing all light
save for that which emanated from the jewels around their necks.
Then, as if out of nowhere, there came a fourth figure. She stood
tall before them, waving her hands as she sent a great beacon of
light through the darkness towards the creature, banishing him from
sight.

“Whoa,” Ikani breathed.
Then, suddenly, he caught sight of another familiar face. “Kaho!’
he exclaimed.

She smiled weakly,
approaching them. “It seems that once again we have all been
brought together,” she remarked, her eyes falling upon the
unfamiliar face of Enoke. She smiled.

“What was that thing?”
Lanaru begged, turning to the tall, enigmatic figure who still
stood before them, her back facing the four Zor while her long hair
appeared to be frozen in the midst of a gust of an invisible
breeze.

“It was a Shadowed
Spirit,” she replied simply. “It sensed your
presence.”

“Our presence?” Ikani
asked, puzzled. “Where are we, anyways?”

“You have been
transported to the Spirit Realm,” the female replied, turning
around now. She was pearl-white in her complexion and with black
spots. She did not appear to be of their race.

“The Spirit Realm?”
Ikani repeated. “But why? And by whom?”

“It was your pendants,”
she replied simply, her face expressionless. “It is in their nature
to do so.”

“Who are you?” Enoke
asked.

“My name is X. It is my
duty to oversee this sacred Realm until the arrival of the next
Spirit Lords. But that is beside the point for now,” she added.
“Come.”

At that, X turned and
ventured into the surrounding mist.

“Well, what are we
waiting for?” Lanaru asked. At that, the four Zor followed close
behind her.