Guardian(Part III): Desolation

Chapter 10: Eris

Ina, Gythca, and I pulled ourselves onto the shore of one of the few islands on the fourth Spark installation's vast ocean. It seemed as though Ina's portal was just a tiny bit off when she set its destination, so we landed in the ocean instead of on the island. Our aura shields allowed the air from the water to reach us, but blocked the water itself so we wouldn't drown, making it no trouble to swim to the beach. I wanted to appreciate the warm air and sandy beach void of snow, but I was here with Gythca and Ina for something else. I didn't know what exactly that was, but it must have been serious for Gythca, of all people, to come and find me to help her. She at least had the sense to bring Ina with her, possibly to keep herself from trying to kill me. Still, we had a common goal, and I realized that as we began to sense an aura of darkness in the jungles of the island.

"What's our mission, here?" I asked.

"Neithus and Artemisa have both been captured and brought here," Ina enlightened. "But we don't know who's responsible."

"Not for sure, anyway," said Gythca. "Possibly a Tuatha, given that they are the only ones powerful enough to successfully capture two Ilentia."

"A single one?" I wondered. "It could be one of the Seven."

"It could be," Ina agreed. "But there's only one way we'll know for sure."

"Come on, then," I urged, taking out my aura blade emitter. We went into the jungle beyond the beach, following the darkness hanging over it. I kept my eyes open and forward the entire time, as I felt the darkness over the island growing stronger the further forward we went. I wouldn't set my emitter to a weapon until I knew what we were up against, but I still had it in my hand in case we were ambushed, so I would have to make do with whatever the weapon was set to. Eventually, we began to hear voices in the distance. One was Neithus, and the other was Artemisa, but there were two more that I couldn't hear clearly.

"What are they saying?" Ina wondered.

"I don't know," Gythca answered. We went further, until we came to a wide, deep pit in the ground. Neithus, and his sister, Artemisa, were both tied to a stake with chains that kept them powerless. I instantly recognized the two people interrogating them. The Archdemon of Wrath, Artoreus, was one of them, but I couldn't believe that the second one was even there! It was the same darkened Ilentia that attacked me and Finn at our home, cursed with undeath for betraying Zenartha three decades ago. It was Arion! His red, glowing eyes immediately found mine as we reached the edge of the cliff.

"Artoreus!" he shouted. The Archdemon of Wrath turned his head and found us, too.

"Oh, hello, Eris," Arion growled. "Long time no see, right?"

"Eris?" Artemisa gasped. "Get out of here!"

"Not without you two!" I shouted, jumping into the pit. I ignited my emitter, with whatever weapon it was set to. A long staff with metal blunts on the ends.

"Nice new toy," Arion taunted. "I suppose Turmeon is as talented as people claim."

Ina and Gythca jumped down from the cliff and rushed at Artoreus, while Arion began to charge at me. I instinctively swung my staff at him as he swung his fist at me. His fist crashed against the blunt of my weapon, and we were both thrown backward with the force of our blows. I kept myself on my feet, and so did Arion. I saw Gythca charging Artoreus with as much strength as she could with her two poison-enchanted daggers, with Ina supporting her with spells cast from her wand, while I still had Arion to deal with. For a moment, I could better choose a weapon to properly fight such a fast enemy with, especially since a blunt weapon would do nothing to Arion. The one I ended up settling on was a wakizashi, a short, single-edged blade from Torriban. It was small, but effective, and it would have to be enough as Arion charged at me again. As he pulled his fist back to throw it at me, I thrust my blade forward, plunging it into his abdomen before dragging it to the side. Blood sprayed all over the ground, and I saw his red eyes roll into the back of his head, but they quickly returned forward, and he swung his fist again, crashing it into my chest. I remembered when he first landed a punch there, two years ago, now. I wore nothing more than a leather cuirass then. I could only imagine how painful it must have been to slam a bare fist into a suit of white Ilentia-forged armor. I didn't feel a thing from it, but I heard several "cracks" from Arion's fingers. I wasn't concerned with his pain, though. I grabbed the arm of the fist that hit me, then sliced it off with my wakizashi.