The Guardians of Light: Second Edition CHAPTER TWO- CLOSED, ACCEPTING CHARS FOR NEXT CHAPTER

[Xero Scythe]

Damien laughed. "Oh God. you think this is gonna be cut 'n dry?" He shook his head and turned around. He kicked open the case, revealing all the guns collected over the years. "Get some of the kids in here. It's time for Christmas in July- I think we all need a little something to get us through the day." He grinned as he picked out a black modified revolver, snapped his wrist down and loaded all 6 silver bullets in a smooth motion. A flick of the wrist snapped it back into place. "This is mine. Bottom left side for werewolves."

 

[Hussmann54]

Edmund Smithfield was an plain, simple man. A secondary school teacher, well aged and quite accustomed to his daily routine of twenty years so far. Up at six o`clock, catch the seven thirty into town where he taught history and politics. Back home in time to the Ms. and a home cooked dinner at five thirty, and then his favorite radio show at quarter after six. He quite like his life, it had been long and happy and usually care free.

However the only thing more unsettling than the cloaked figure wearing the gold "fish-bowl" mask, sitting still as a statue next to Edmund that foggy morning at the train station was when the figure looked over to find Edmund starring and simply replied.
"Top o` the morning..."
Edmund gave a nervous cough to clear his throat. "Indeed, same to you sir."
The figure looked over at the newspaper lying next to Edmund.
" `scuse me, you wouldnt happen to be done with that would you?"
"Uhhh yes..." He handed the paper over sheepishly.
"Bless you, sir." He said in a cheery tone.
He opened the paper, flapping it a bit to straighten it.
"More down pours expected this week, typical Mother England eh?"

Kin had never been one to blend in public when there was no need, and for some reason, he felt no need today. He had his full suit of armor on underneath a cloak which concealed it surprisingly well. His mask was down over his face, and he had installed the back plate made of steel and painted white to match the rest of the armor, making it a full helmet.

Later he saw Silas and Damien. He walked up behind them examining the contents of the case.
"Good lord... got any revolutions planned this afternoon?" he remarked at all the weapons

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Silas quirked his eyebrows before cocking the arsonator. "Nah, just some friendly domestic terrorism to spice up the morning. We've chartered a private train in Paris to take us to Romania, we'll be stopping in Geneva to meet up with one of our contacts. Says he's been catching wind of a lot of activity out in Romania wanted to give us the info in person. However you must remember Romania is not part of the Midnight Council, their warlock clans have a small problem with us committing genocide on them and aren't partial to diplomacy unless you count bullets. But hey, apprentices are a dime a dozen eh? We'll get moving once the rest of the team gets here."

Silas looked around "You know, just once I'd like to get a non-dawdling team"

 

[Hussmann54]

Kin perked up. He hadnt been to Geneva in a few months. "If we need to stay over night, Im sure I can procure us some shelter. And what is taking them so long anyways?"

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

"Team you have less than ten minutes, hurry here please." said Silas into his communicator.

"That'd be grand, Kin. Do that, this is going to be a long train ride." said Silas, pulling out a deck of cards "And I just think I might be able to win back all the money I lost last night."

 

[Meta_Trooper]

"i'm already here." came Ivan's reply over the communicator, he was down at the end of the platform, waiting for the train, his mind was racing, he didn't know what it was but something was speaking to him, giving him doubts and ideas of the darkest sort, normally these things wouldn't get to him, but what did was the fact that he agreed with them, they made sense, he had tried to deny them but every time the thing spoke he felt more inclined to go along with it, the world around him seemed darker, the people in were always looking at him, plotting something, but he'd show them, in time.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Silas stood up saying "Trains here, everyone get your stuff." stretching, Silas picked up the arsonator and slung it over his shoulder. "This should be an interesting train ride."

 

[Hussmann54]

"Please tell me we are getting our own cab." Kin said as he picked up his haversack.

He hated sitting on long trips around strangers. As social as he was, it just wasnt his thing.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

"Oh I'm pretty sure we will. Guardians, move out. Our mission begins now." said Silas, stepping onto the train and flashing his badge at the conductor. He nodded and waved everybody in.

As the train began to speed away from the station, Silas sat down in one of the few sealed cabs with Kin and Damien. "Kin, let me ask you something. What do you know about the Guardians of Light from the Rhyle?"

 

[Hussmann54]

"I know only what the records tell me." Kin said through the mask. "The guardians investigate crimes pertaining to the paranormal, unnatural, supernatural etc. trained in diplomacy, both aggressive and non. I was aware of your organization before I was asked to join you, but my knowledge was very minimal back then. Those amongst our ranks who have intimate knowledge of the guardians tend to keep quiet. They like to make sure they can keep valuable assets and such secure."

The steel scar marked orb of a face gazed out the window. "From what I hear, some of the best Rhyle got there starts as Guardians. The training gives a variety of valuable skill sets. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Guardians used to be based solely in London, but have over time expanded."

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Silas nodded "The Guardians are the remnants of the ancient Order of Avalon displaced on earth and betrayed by one they trusted. They reformed and dedicated themselves to the extermination of evil, but that has since changed. The UK was our home, and we defended it zealously. Now we are an arm of a kind of law & order, keeping the peace between monsters and men. The ancient families who started it all, the ones who were the first dragon-born, they founded the warrior heritage we cling to.

"You know, it's funny. Our allies all used to be enemies except for the Ordus Sanctorum. We nearly hunted lycans and vamps to extinction, burned the homes of necromancers and did lots of terrible things in the name of righteousness. The Great Guardians we served supported us against evil but counseled us to use reason and judgement when fighting. Thats why we are what we are today, no more crusading, and the Guardians are better off. But still, its hard to trust us especially when theres a history of violence behind us. Three betrayers were prophecised and that prophecy has failed since Ignacio died, we are still wary about the dark forces we've upset over the years and whether or not we've doomed humanity during the days of our war against evil. The Great Darks are powerful and scary, huge things of unimaginable cruelty but they care nothing for the planes. They like to command their peons and wade in when victory is assured. For all their power, even the Great Dark Ones are vulnerable to a blade though they cannot truly be destroyed. Then theres the Maledictii, the Betrayed Ones, the ones who rebelled against the dark spawn of the Great Dark Ones. If there are powerful allies against the evils of the Far Veil its them. The Obsidian Flame is a Maledictii, though he does not confirm this. To the Guardians and most of the world they are a myth...but something tells me theres more to that myth than smoke and mirrors."

Silas' speech was punctuated by long glances at the rolling countryside.

 

[Hussmann54]

"Sounds a bit like the old Hellnaughts." Kin reminisced. "It used to be that they were nearly indestructible. One could decimate an army. But recently there powers have diminished and with them, their size and strength. Some theorized that they came from a force that sounds a lot like the Great Darks."

Kin projected images of Rhyle cutting through them en mass into Silas` mind. Then he projected old stories and memories extracted and carefully passed on through record keepers and Imperiomancers of the Rhyle. The older projections show towering beasts, easily fifteen feet tall or more. Towers of muscles wielding ungodly strength. The mouth was the only discernible feature. The nose rotted off, the ears as well. The eyes gouged, black rotting skin in their place. Row upon row of razor sharp teeth in their mouths. They used void energy to see, smell, hear etc. As far as fighting, they were a league of their own. Massive and heavy, yet nimble and agile. One launched itself onto a rooftop that shouldnt have been able to support the creature, but it held.

"You may recognize stories of these two." Kin said.

Two of them, one a humanoid, the other resembled more of a dog. Kulilio. They stood amongst the flames of a burning smoldering London.

"This was the only memory we could extract from a Rhyle named Felix who died in that battle."
The vision was horrific. A first person perspective of Felix`s last moments.

He was running towards a church. Darkspawn swarmed the inside. He was planning to meet up with three others. Suddenly he stopped and turned in time to do nothing more than see the hound lunge and tackle him to the ground, ripping a massive chunk of his chest off. The teeth cutting through the armor like paper. The shock set in immediately, and the very last thing he saw was those eyes that didnt see, starring at him before biting into his head.

"We managed to kill the humanoid one, but Kulilio resurrected and escaped, even after Io ate him. Recently they have become weaker, but we cant help but wonder if something big is comming. Ya know?"

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Silas rubbed his chin, "Well theres one other thing..."

Silas used the metal filing in a bag to form a halfway decent image of an armored figure with a horned helm and evil glowing eyes. "The Forgotten, once they were alive but now...they are servants of the Great Dark Ones. Empowered by their lust for demonic power they scour the world searching for demons to destroy or corrupt. The Great Dark ones awoke because something pissed them off, interrupted their slumber. They slept because they weren't ready, didn't care for our worlds, and now woken they are just angry at everything. I've seen only one kind of Great Dark in my lifetime and then only in the drawing of Scarlett the mentally damaged Guardian who looked into its eyes. She hasn't been sane since. It was a Jahi-Oros, one of the Queen Jahi whose eyes are doom to those who look into them. It gives you a lying vision of death and betrayal, it means to make you betray your friends and submit to its evil whispers long after its death....she paints its image over and over again......poor girl."

Silas gazed out the window, dispelling the spell and forming a new image, a whipping mass of tentacles. "The only Great Dark we know of, it is called "The Dweller Upon The Threshold" and he commands the power of doors and entrances. You know the old saying about having to invite someone in or they'd leave their power at the door? Its true and he controls that, the least caring Great Dark One but when angered as he is now it makes passing a simple door frame tough when it might strip you of your powers but it hasn't happened yet so its hard to tell...makes you..."

Silas stopped, he could hear a voice whispering in his ears You are your father's shadow, heroic to the last. The Conclave feels your power, reach out to usssssssss Silas shook his head. "The Forgotten's own ruler is a great being, The Naga, a great serpent monster with four arms and with the strength of twenty men. But no one has ever seen him and lived..."

 

[Hussmann54]

"Aye." Kin nodded. "I have heard of him alright. More of a myth to the outside world."
He thought about The Forgotten.
"Hmmmm.... Im trying to remember where.....Somalia! Thats where it was." As he searched his memory, flashes of it appeared on the "fishbowl". "In the Sanaag provice. We found one. It was buried in a cave underneath a city. It went bezerk, went on a killing spree in the city."
Images of his perspective, he and another Rhyle, jumping rooftops, trying to keep up.
"Nicholas! Move!" A voice was heard as his instructor vaulted a gap between buildings with no problem. Looking down below and about twenty steps ahead was the armored figure.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

"The Forgotten are more powerful than any creature any mortal human has faced. They are swift, strong and they cannot be slain. Their forms are rebuilt in sepulchers in their homeland. Their blades are passed down through their generations, each new iteration inheriting the armor and weapons of the one before. There are females and males, but they do not mate save for the Empress and the Emperor. Their children are the Dark Knights, the most vicious and maleficent of the Forgotten. You fought a foot soldier, bred only to kill. It had probably died a thousand times before, it had no fear of you but it had no allies. Outnumbered, a Forgotten will flee to a place where it may find advantage. Forogtten have no voices but for the whistles of the dust within their withered bodies. They are animated from the evil sands the Forgotten themselves live within, the City of Mordre'kai is their home within the shifting sands of their home realm.

I've read of the Traveler, when he walked the Far Veil before he stepped beyond the Gates of the Scorpion and into the realm of the Great Darks, Ahn'quoria. The Forgotten were once like us, mortal humans snatched from Aurica during the Dark War against Set. They were corrupted by dark magic and thrown to the shifting sands of Ssinda. What emerged was the Forgotten, bred with the strength of ten men and the dark power to slice through any enchantment, turn back any spell, and the Dark Knights are well known for their dark magic powers. They corrupt the very earth they walk on, their blades are chilled with dark ice rime from the cold tombs they are created in. Everywhere they step, things freeze and wither. The Forgotten soldiers, archers and mages that act as foot soldiers are paltry sand zombies compared to the vast intellect of a Dark Knight. Some say they are blessed by the Great Dark Lord of Endless Winter who rules from the dark tower of Arctis Tor somewhere within the lands of the Great Darks..."

Silas spoke to Kin, his long explanation rambling on and on. Outside, things had been swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel built by the Guardians. The image floating in the metal bits was that of a Dark Knight, evil spiked armor glowing with malevolence. "Dark Knights may die, but their spirit cannot be slain in this world. It must be faced in the Far Veil to release one from the possession and corruption of the spirit of a Dark Knight, long ago one man on earth was corrupted by this evil force. Though I have not the heart to speak his true name, he was once an angel and paragon of goodness before falling to far as to be cast even from hell's fire to the Far Veil's cold touch. He Whom Rules The Nameless is merged with a Dark Knight of immense and terrible power, and I pray none shall ever face him in battle."

Silas dismissed the metal shavings and gathered them up. "Tell me Kin, have you ever heard of the Archivum?"

 

[Hussmann54]

"No." Kin responded. "Sounds like some kind of record though." He looked at the passing country side.

So it was a lesser he faced and not a potent foe. They truly must be fierce opponents.....

 

[The Clown]

Deios who had been sitting in silence beside them, watching the landscape pass by slowly, the greens blending with the blues.
After a while he zoned back in, turning back to the others he heard the last scraps of a conversation "sounds like some kind of record though"

"How long is this journey going to be? I am at my strongest at sunset." He said gently, he then coughed once and sat back, blinking as he refocused on the world. He then took a pure red apple out of an inside pocket and began to eat it carefully.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

"Hmm?" said Silas, staring off into the middle distance. "We are going to change trains soon and head off to Geneva." Silas stretched and turned to Kin. "It's an archive in Geneva, sort of neutral ground anyone can get into if they need it. Tons of old books, artifacts and magic weapons are kept there for safekeeping. Mostly to keep our best toys out of our hands, in case two members of the Midnight Council decide to start fighting. The Sword of Damocles is there along with some other lesser things. But I want to try to find the Cylix of Vision."

 

[Hussmann54]

"Oh yes, now I remember." Kin said. He had been there a few times to study.
"We use it sometimes, but we mainly refer to it as "The Vault."
He stopped for a moment, looking out into the aisle of the train. A man was outside with a small stone in his hand.
"Oh shi...." Kin stood up and opened the door. The man gave him the stone. "Word from home Kin."
"Thanks" Kin said, all though he much rather would have not gotten it.
He played with the stone in his hands for a moment.
"Easy lines of communication for Imperiomancers. Small simple objects, subtle, but embedded with messages. A high value Asmur target is in Geneva. they need an Imperiomance to get into his head and extract information before they kill him."
He looked at Silas for a moment...
"Oh yeah, should probably clear that up. If you havent heard of the Asmur, they are a world wide cult of demon worshipers. Tricked into thinking the demons will give them some kind of reward for handing their lives over. They dont know they have had the wool pulled over their lives. They are willing to fight for the other side, even die, and most of them wont give up. The demons use them as fighters, messengers, bodies to posses. You name it, they do it. This one is apparently a big business banker who is supplying other Asmur financial . We are going to locate his sources and associates and bring them down. This operation has been in the works for months. But his entering what is effectivly "Our turf" is a huge mistake, and we are going to capitalize on it."
He looked over the stone again. "It looks like I will have to hit the ground running, there is only a small window of time before this guy is back out of the city. If you all need to, I can meet back up with you all afterwords at The Vault. er I mean the Archivum."

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

Silas nodded, "They sound like a blast." They were pulling into the station as Silas finished. "Everyone be calm, my friend Genn can be....intimidating at first." said Silas, stepping off the train. The totally unsubtle werewolf rubbing his hands together nervously perked up when he saw Silas. "Silas Grey how good it is to see you!" he shouted and gave him a great big hug. "Genn, the train?" asked Silas. "On the tracks, my friend. Come on Guardians! Who is that fabulously beautiful strumpet in tow?" asked Genn. "Maive, she was an Ordu-Serai but the Ordus Sanctorum has banished her for a string of failures. She claims she killed the men she killed because they were consorting with who knows what vile things...so she's a Guardian until she atones..." said Silas, frowning while he said it. "Kind of sad, Silas. She looks to be OK from here but what I wouldn't give to have that mind-reading magic."

The train on the tracks was a black steamer with silver highlights, a grand vessel indeed. "All aboard, one way ride straight to Romania!" shouted Genn, holding his arms wide. "She is a beauty, Genn. Thanks a lot, I'll have to pay you back." returned Silas. "Alright everyone, scoot on in. Its got all the luxuries of home...oh and whens dinner?" he asked Genn. "Supper is taken at six o'clock, dining car is near the rear its the one with the big windows."

Silas made his was through the train and sat in one of the observation cars, his feet up on a cushion and a newspaper in his hands. The front headline blared "TRAGIC STRING OF MURDERS IN PARIS CLAIMS ANOTHER LIFE, POLICE STILL BAFFLED" Genn sat next to Silas, shifted back into his human form, his shaggy mop hair tussled. "Problems in Paris?" asked Silas.
"Serial killer, flays the skin from his victims and then poses them. Its disgusting but there can't be any leads without the skin yeah?"
Silas was puzzled and shook his head "Some people are sick aren't they. Wonder if Kin would know what would do that..."