Guardians of Solas: Raid on the Holy Capital

Chapter 22: The Guardians of Solas

Alesha

The eight of us rushed through the dirt littered hallway. Everywhere pieces of fine vases covered the ground. Beneath us a ripped up carpet of the deeds of the Holy King had been defiled and on either side burnt flags were scratched by the sharpest of claws. Doors were smashed revealing the rooms of the holy family. In each room broken glass pierced the luxurious once white rugs. White fluff was thrown everywhere caused by claw marks in the beds and blankets.
The ceilings were almost too high up to see from what little light we had in the temple, but you could see giant chandeliers, hanging low from the dark ceiling. There were no bodies, but on some of the walls there was blood spatters. I noticed that everytime we would pass one Eva would look a little queazy. I almost wanted to go over to her and talk to her to help her out, but we were rushing to get to the Holy King's coffin.

Finally, we stopped in front of a giant door, with a picture of a giant holding a pure, white shield against hundreds of Demons, some were Fire Demons, others were referred to as "Demons of Darkness" by Aram and the others.

We stood in front of the door, dropping all of the things that would slow us down in a fight. "There might not be a fight," Taylor said. "But it's better to not take that chance. And if there's not, well we can just pick our stuff back up." I didn't have anything I didn't need, so I didn't need to drop my stuff. Kaines, on the other hand, looked like he brought useless junk and it clanked as he dumped his backpack out.

I picked up a crushed soup can in front of his face. "Hey," he explained, "that's very important to me." He snatched it back and hugged his stuff until they stayed in the pile of litter he had.

"Well, I guess any surprise attack is out of the question," I sighed. Everyone nodded and we all glared at Kaines.

He threw up his hands. "Hey! I have a lot of stuff I care about. You see here is..." He began to go on and on about his "treasures" until finally Eva made him put his stuff down.

"We have to finish this," she told him, clutching his hands.

He was already turning dark red. "Oh, right. L-let's go." Eva let go of his hands and we all stood up and clutched our weapons as if our lives depended on it.

Everyone had to push with all of their might to get the door open. When the giant doors had groaned into an open position, we rushed inside, blades at the ready.

But there was nothing inside. It was just a large, mostly empty room. It looked like the hallway on how the ground was littered and the flags were torn. There were two things that took up space in the large room though. A throne made of gold, with two thrones of Silver flanking either side, and in the middle of the room there was a white coffin, with a sword behind a shield inscribed in the sides. It also emitted its own dim, white light.

Everyone was cautious to move forward except for Paxus. He shouted, "My lord!" And rushed to the coffin. It seemed clear, but I was wondering if he was asking to get killed. We hesitated to move forward as Paxus dropped his sword and shield and opened up the coffin.

Then he pulled something out of the coffin and I shielded my eyes, not wishing to see the dead king, but instead he pulled out a purely white sword and shield. Both were plain but magnificent. I basked in its simple beauty as he attached the shield to his left arm and put the long sword into his right.

"Alright foul Demon," he called, "come out and fight me like a man!" He banged the long sword against the shield.

We all stopped except Aram, who continued to inch forward. Sweat bead down his neck and his hair was flat against his forehead. "Leave it Paxus!" Aram whispered. "Whatever is here is too powerful for just you!"