Guardian (Part I): Last Winter

Chapter 31: Emma

Under Glencore's orders, I entered Cordinshire's warpgate to travel to Auldrin, the capital city of Camnora. I was to look for any sort of intelligence that could connect the country's King to Finn MacHilles, or a reason that he would want to kill him. I wanted no more harm to come to Finn, so I wasted no time making sure I went through the Blades' Camnorish branch to get into the city. I then scaled the tall watchtower above its bunker to observe the city. Auldrin was a city much larger than Valedon, Idrasyll, and Cordinshire. The sheer size was hardly the only thing that alarmed me, though. I heard the honking of cars and the clamor of people in the streets below me. Auldrin was a city more lively than the remaining three in Chardan. The people were happy, and it seemed their lifestyle was thriving. That wouldn't be so if every single one of them could sense the faint aura of darkness hanging over the city they called home. It would terrify them, just as it terrified me. I thought of Finn, though, and how his life would continue to be in danger if I didn't do this. I concentrated on finding the source of this aura of darkness, and sensed that it was coming from the tall, blue spire in the center of Auldrin. The Blue Palace.

"There you are," I whispered to myself. Whatever I needed would be in there, the palace. I looked to the streets under the watchtower, seeing a squad of Camnorish soldiers marching right under me. They wore blue armor with gold trim, and plasma shield bracers on their left arms. I saw scabbards for basket-hilted swords called schiavonas on their hips, but they carried assault rifles in their hands while they marched. The blades and shields must have been for monsters, in case any made it past the warded walls. Officially, anyway. I would have to stay out of their sight unless I wanted to find out what the swords were truly meant for. I waited for the patrolling squad to pass me by, then I climbed down from the watchtower. It must have been several miles to the Blue Palace in the center of the city. I had a lot of climbing to do. I stayed off the street as much as I could, climbing from roof to roof with my hood over my head. It seemed like every single road had soldiers patrolling them, and would likely attack me instantly if they spotted me. I had to stay on the roofs, no matter what. As I drew closer and closer to the Blue Palace, I could sense this aura of darkness surrounding it growing stronger with every street I jumped across. I wasn't paying attention to how close I was to the Blue Palace because I was trying to get there while avoiding patrols, but I climbed to the roof of a house to look at my progress. I still wasn't even close!

"Wow," I groaned. My lack of progress, and the growing intensity of this aura of darkness made me think that something powerful was in the Blue Palace. Something more powerful than I had ever sensed was there, waiting for me. My mission depended on me avoiding it, and Finn's life may also very well depend on whether or not I was spotted. I wouldn't check my distance to the Blue Palace the rest of the way there. It would only feel like I was taking longer than I actually was. I jumped across the streets that I could jump across, and launched my grappling hooks to a distance any longer. I did the same for the taller buildings, shooting my hook to the top of the buildings and reeling it in to pull myself to the roof. I must have done this over and over again until I noticed that the patrols were more active and alert. Not alert enough to spot me, but still alert enough to where I was more alert of my surroundings. I continued, though, and saw that my skills of staying out of sight would be put to the test. Every other street, there was a watchtower with a soldier armed with a sniper rifle standing on top of them. I couldn't tell if they were there to keep order among the citizens, or for their protection. In my experience, the first reason was more likely, but it was a rather dark reason for having those men positioned where they were.

"Damn," I cursed. Rifles so powerful were easily strong enough to shatter an aura shield. Especially one worn by a Blade of Midnight instead of a Guardian of Zenartha. I had to keep myself completely out of sight if I was to get past the snipers and live. Every move I made had to be flawless. I could either take my chances in the streets, or risk myself with the snipers. As I thought about it, though, I noticed something about the snipers. They were only looking down, at the streets below them, not at the other watchtowers, or even their own. They wouldn't notice me if I was right under them. I approached the first one, and went under it, then continued past it. I didn't look back to see if the sniper had seen me. Hopefully, none of the ones between here and the Blue Palace wouldn't. I continued, ducking my head as I went either under or around every watchtower between myself and my destination. I focused on getting where I was and not getting seen so much that I must have been going crazy. When I bothered to look up again to see how close I was, I couldn't believe how much progress I had made since the last time I looked. I was only two streets away from the Blue Palace, now. From the building's courtyard, anyway. The darkness I sensed from the building would have frightened even a Guardian. Sensing it brought a feeling of terror that I never thought I would have. My skin turned white, my blood went cold, and I felt my heart pounding against the inside of my chest. I wanted to rush back to the warpgate and back to Cordinshire, but I knew exactly what this aura could be. It could very well be the one who was looking for Finn. As much as whatever it was terrified me, I thought of Finn, and how much danger he would be in if I didn't get to the bottom of this. I saw nothing to use for cover in the courtyard before the Blue Palace. I spotted a small balcony high above the ground, just high enough to see over the buildings before the courtyard. I wondered if there was anyone in the room that the balcony was behind, but it didn't matter. I couldn't see anyone in the courtyard, other than a small noble-born toddler playing in the snow with his mother. If they were to see a stranger such as myself, they would be terrified. They were probably the Queen and Prince, but I had no real way to be sure in what little time I had. My priority was getting up to the balcony to get inside the palace. I drew my pistol and fixed a suppressor to the end of its barrel. It would dim the glow and muffle the sound of the plasma round fired from it, and the radiant crystal enchanting the weapon made it capable of harming creatures of darkness, such as Turned if they were inside. If I ran into anyone or anything that wanted to kill me, or get in the way of my mission, I would be ready.