The Venerate Order

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Strafe

I learned a cruel truth about life that day; everything you know and love can change in an instant. Nothing would ever be the same for me. Little did I know that I would have to become a savior of two worlds. I was just a kid from New Santa Barbara.

The portal that led me to this new world had been created by Tiras' Power of Desire. He had activated the Guardian Key, which acted as a conduit between both realities, opening up a way to get here.

All of the tattoos began to fade away, and my hair that had turned red returned to its normal almond-brown. The fast travel through the portal made me feel dizzy, but after a few shakes of the head, I saw the professor and I were standing in a blue-hued pasture. Flowers abounded around us in a rainbow of colors, and we were surrounded by purple mountains. The air smelled of freshly cut grass. Off in the distance, I could make out what looked to be a small town. A large glass clock tower overlooked the town square. The town looked unlike any I had ever seen. I didn't get to admire it for long, though.

I heard the professor cough and saw blood coming out of his mouth. He was laying in the grass, bleeding from his severe chest wound. I knelt down and held him and was surprised to see that the fading light of the setting sunlight made the blood around his wound sparkle. He still had a pulse but wasn't breathing, so I tried to resuscitate him. His chest wound worried me because the bleeding wouldn't stop. C'mon damn it, c'mon! You can make it! I gave it everything I could, but the Professor couldn't take a gasp of air.

The day was winding down and taking him to the town was the only shot he had. When I began to pick him up, he started coughing.

"Professor! Can you hear me!?" I yelled.

Between coughs, he managed to speak, "Ahhh, the shores of Elysium are hopefully awaiting this old-timer." It sounded like each breath was a struggle.

As a scholar of Greek and Roman mythology, Professor Sighter was a believer of Elysium as his heaven. He believed that when you died, if you had lived a virtuous and heroic life, you would be granted entrance. Located in what the Greeks referred to as the most Western part of the world, Elysium was the place where their believers would travel, to live out their afterlife in peaceful eternity.

"Professor, we need to get you out of here and get you medical attention," I said.

Trying to pick him up only seemed to worsen his condition. The Professor groaned in pain. The shot from Tiras must have collapsed one of his lungs. Looking as though he knew his fate, he grabbed my hand and looked in my eyes with conviction and concern.

"Strafe, I am afraid I have reached the end the end of the line." He paused as he coughed up blood, "I don't mind, though. I've lived a good life and I'm going to die doing what I love. I'm a lucky man to have lived long enough to see this day. You have proved that we are not alone in the universe, answering the question that has been asked by every generation in human history."

"Save your strength professor," I pleaded with him, "I can carry you!"

"No Strafe. I can feel my life slipping away. My body is growing cold, but I am not afraid. I have lived a beautiful life and have done what I thought was right," again he coughed up some blood, "Strafe, listen to me. After hearing what they said about your Power of Passion, I know you are part of the Guardian's Prophecy, a story I heard long ago. The sword you are carrying is called The God Blade! Inside it dwells the spirit of all who have protected the good, and it chooses to protect only those with a pure heart. I don't know the tale in its entirety but the last wielder of the blade lived over 1000 years ago. Maybe they came here just like you. There are others. You must seek out the other Guardians in this world. I feel there is more to all this than just Tiras and the Federation."