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//Story: Whats Left of Us
//Author: Graybard
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//Chapter Three: Dark Days Ahead
He was a Guardian errant, and what a thing that was. Well technically he was and errand boy, but it was still improtant, "Because all clocks had to have well oiled gears" Thraseus had told him "no matter how big or small the gear is, it was important."
"Sharpen this, tack that, craft this, hammer that. This is so boring!"
That was Hagan, the smithmaster Heimenger's other apprentice. Orpheus was a smith now, finishing his second and a half year under Heimenger's tutelage, that made Orpheus twelve years old. Heimenger had once said he was a natural, but that hadn't stopped the smithmaster from working both boys to near death within the first week.
It was nice though, what he mended and repaired protected the other Guardians from harm and armed them against their foes, what better a job was their? Or at least Orpheus thought so, which is why Hagan was the only one slapped in the back of the head, because he's the only one of the two who would think like that.
"And what would you do if not this, eh?" retorted Heimenger "be a big brave knight and save the day?"
"Yeah, I would be right there in the action, saving the day and getting the girl." Orpheus couldn't help but laugh at this.
"An' what would you be if you were out there boy?" Orpheus turned to Heimenger, the smithmasters dark brown scales shone in the light of the furnace, even through all the soot that covered him. His eyes were intent on Orpheus' answer.
"I would be a Scholar." Hagan scoffed at this.
"A useful thing, but I never thought you the scholarly type!"
"I really really like books..."
The smithmaster began to chuckle, "Thats all well and good, but not my question."
Orpheus reached up and grabbed at the pendant at his neck. It had never left his neck since the day of his trial. He flipped in over in his grasp thinking hard. "Out there? I'd be a Relikair." his voice unwavering
"Noble work, bein' a Relikair." Heimenger said "Dangerous, but noble. The seekers of the past, those who delve deep to find our oldest knowledge, fighting traps and mosters alike! Would you really be willing to sacrifice yourself for simple knowledge and dusty old trinkets?"
Orpheus' answer was simple, but it was right from his heart "Knowledge is our greatest weapon, without it we are ignorant and blind. Sacrifice is the risk we all take being Guardians. Everyday our brothers face death head on, should I do any less than that?"
Heimenger laughed at this, "Aye boy, you have the heart of a hero in you! However it is here we must work, because without us, there is nothin' between our brothers and sisters and the enemy steel! Now finish up lads, we be closin' early today for the festival!"
It was with quick hammerwork and an even quicker cleanup that the anxious dragon boys scurried off for the festivities. It was the festival of stars, held in the castles great courtyard, in commemoration of the end of the War between Princess Celestia and her Sister, the corrupted Nightmare Moon. It was on this day the last real threat the Guardians had faced came to an end. It had almost been a thousand years since a true war was fought by them, and no war was good war.
Hagan said his farewells and Orpheus rushed through the crowd, trying to reach the back of the courtyard, that would lead strait home. Raine waited there, at the bottom of the steps up to the castle. "Come on tike, we gotta get you cleaned up before the big event!"
Raine had stayed close to Orpheus even after the trial was complete, continuing to train him hard even with the smith teaching going on in the backround. "Making sure you aren't going to get soft" was her excuse, but at the end of the day Orpheus knew better.
Raine pushed them a path through the crowd, pulling Orpheus behind her. The castle was bustling with exitement, all turned their eyes on the castle strewn with banners and streamers and wind chimes and all other sorts of "fanciful nonsense" as Seragi had once said.
Yes Seragi, all the things he could say about that old coot. Powerful wizard or no, good intentions or no, he was a pain. Even so, it didn't stop him from casting shining light and beautiful flame spells to entertain the children.
Orpheus let his eyes wander, and let Raine lead, and who could blame him? The castle had never been so decked out in wonderful treasures for the eyes to behold, the whole thing was an explosion of color, shining bightly in the midday sun.
And before he realized, they were home, walking in the front door to the sight of his father, standing tall in a new velvet robe. "Ah, there he is! The man of the hour!" Cried Raine looking on the edge of collapsing from laughter.
Thraseus looked on at her with a grimace "Oh, I hate these things, I feel bloody naked out there without at least chainmail on underneath, but its so tight I can't wear any! And you young man! You need to go clean all that soot off of you before the festival, your dress armor is back on the rack, try not to fall down any steps this time. Or at least if you do have the decency not to ding it up so much!"
Orpheus scuttled off to the back, ready to scrub the grime out of his light blue scales and get on with the fun.
The soot stuck fast for awhile, but finally it had come off. He looked up from the bowl, full of black water, and into his own green eyes in the mirror.
Then he noticed it.
It seemed as though the light from the window behind him was fading, almost as if sunset at great speeds. Orpheus walked to the window and looked out, the sun was being covered by darkness, an eclipse. A chill of fear ran up his spine, the feeling of something horrible, almost a vileness in the air.
"TO ARMS! TO ARMS!" Orpheus could hear it being yelled in the distance, being picked up by more and more voices as the black moved closer and closer to covering the sun.
Orpheus ran back to his work clothes, a simple cloth shirt and pants, no protection there. A bang at the door made him nearly leap out of his scales. "Orpheus, somethings wrong we need to get you safe" it was Raine.
Orpheus swung the door back a bolted past Raine "Hey!" she shouted, but he was to engaged to listen. He ran to his room and to the window. The north wall was being flooded by Guardians, preparing their ranks for whatever was coming, in the distance beyond, a great dark fog rolled toward the wall. Its evil could almost be smelled from here.
He looked over to his dress armor, better protection than sack cloth. No time to get it on, but his claymore...there was always time to arm himself. He lifted the heavy sword and pulled back on the sheath, fear welling in his chest at the thought of open combat before the end of the day, but now was not a time for fear. He lifted the sword over his shoulder and tyed the braid that held it their.
"COME ON!" Raine was at his door staring in at him "We have to go now before they seal the sanctuary!" The sanctuary was a large stronghold deep withing the mountain that castle Heavensgate sat apon. All non-combatants had to go their during battles on the fortress.
Through the front doors and down the hall they fled, the tip of Orpheus' claymore dragging in the sheath behind him. Raine should have been at the battle, but she believed her first duty was to protect the son of the Hyperion. They were closing on the doors to the tunnels, turning the last corner...
Closed...
"What!? Thats not possible, they never close this door so early!" Raine pulled on the doors, bolted and barred. Both of them knew this made no sense yet there it was. "Orpheus come on, help me pull! You listening Orpheus?" she turned to him, his face pale and contorted with horror, but she didn't understand why.
"Its okay kid. They'll open it for us once they've heard us. C'mon we need to figure out how to..." Orpheus began to shake "You okay kiddo? What wrong?"
Orpheus' could barely compose a proper sentence, the breath in his lungs burned, the smell of vileness, comeing from inside the door. "Can't y-you smell it...C-can't you h-hear it? They're screaming..."
Raine was concerned now, she knew he had a sixth sense about certain things, but this? It was stronghold down there, how could anything but Guardians be within "Calm down Orpheus, there's nothing to fear down...there..."
She heard it now, screaming coming up the tunnels then all at once banging and the sounds of people, Guardians, screaming for escape. She was horrified, as the screaming intesified, now behind them, on the walls. The screams quieted behind the door, only the last words of those beyond, gurgled out with mouths of blood.
THUM THUM THUM, like a great drumbeat against the door, THUM THUM THUM, the door shook with the great blows of thousands of hands. The hands of whatever evil lay beyond.
THUM THUM THUM
"Run, Orpheus, for the love of wind and sky RUN!" This sent them both running in a flurry back toward the Hyperions chambers. THUM THUM CRACKLE CRASH the door gave way, to the monsters beneath them, chasing them down the hall and up the stairs to the doors of the only place Orpheus thought safe.
Raine and Orpheus pushed the mighty doors shut behind them, barring them and bracing them with everybit of furniture they could find. THUM THUM THUM, it began again on the door to his home. THUM THUM THUM, there was nowhere to run now, all they could do was ready themselves, Orpheus' trembling hands holding his claymore before him. Raine, both her swords, steady and battleworn.
It was the battle below that pulled Orpheus' fears away, he was close enough to the window to look down on the walls below. They were crawling with dark figures of fire and shadow, swinging sword and claw alike, tearing the greatist force on the face of this planet down before Orpheus' very eyes. Through the darkness of the eclipse it was hard to make out any real resistance, but there at the center of the hoard, was Thraseus and Seragi.
Seragi throwing lighting and fire in all directions, his words casting far off into the sky as Thraseus' magical war hammer swung across the demons ranks its light a divine white lighting the area around them like a wall of power.
THUM THUM THUM
Seragi jerked, one of the vile weapons had reached him, even from here Orpheus could tell he was bleeding heavily, his words volume weakened on the wind. Thraseus looked up to the window, almost matching eyes with little Orpheus reaching out to him, with only the proudest smile on his face.
"NO!" Orpheus cried out, hoping his retaliation of what he saw would happen, would be enough to change it. And in that moment the duo were swallowed by the mass of shadows.
THUM THUM THUM
"Orpheus! Their almost through!" Raine cried out to him, the boy seemed almost about to faint, but she needed him clear for this. She grabbed out and smacked him across the face. "You have to get out."
"What?" The question was uncomposed, confused from the blow.
Raine was on the edge of tears now "I know how hard this is, but you have to find a way out!" He had never seen her cry before now
"There is no way out, and I can't just leave you." Orpheus retorted. She openly began to weep right there in front of him, he could not help but join in, realizing this was the end.
"Boy, I have been there for you since you were almost a baby. I have watched over you, cared for you, and watched you grow. You were so young when I met you, and yet you are still young, but theres not more time for us."
THUM THUM THUM
"You have to flee, do whatever it takes to go on, tell the other nations of these things or all of the lands will fall before them. You have to go on, find whatever remains of us after this day and go on. You must hurry now, they'll be through soon."
"But, I can't..."
Raine rose off her knees "NO BUTS! A Guardian can do anything, just believe you can. Listen close now, this is important! Go through the Elderwood to the west, follow the flow of the river of Cradiis to the dark wood of Everfree, through it you will find the land of Equestria under their monarch Celestia, find her, she is an old friend of your fathers and will help you in any way she can. Warn them of these creatures."
Orpheus didn't understand, how could he even reach the Elderwood?
The wood behind cracked and splintered, dark shapes flooding through the holes into the room behind them, thrashing at the air enraged that anything still lived. Raine grabbed Orpheus by his arm and ran.
She led them into the longest and narrowest hallway, in the back of their home. The claws of the dark beasts tearing at their sides as they flew down the hall. Raine screamed, the words from he lips sounding of gibberish. She push Orpheus ahead of her, their pace frantic into a dead end.
Orpheus never had payed much attention to the mirror at the end of the hall, never thought twice about its strangely ornate frame, or the markings adorning its sides. The mirrors smooth surface began to ripple like liquid, each of her words lighting the runes on the sides.
Raine reached forward and scooped Orpheus up, his shock about the lift was witheld by the even greater shock at the sight in the mirror, treetops. Raine felt them almost over them now, there was no more time and little hope, she pushed herself, running with all her speed.
Then threw him through the mirror.
In those last moment before his body slipped through, seemed almost still. The woman who had cared for him for so long, somehow smiling through her tears, her arms outstretched toward him. Thousands of red eyes behind her reaching out hungrily toward her. Then all he could see was the empty sky, small ripples of where he had come through growing farther away as he plummeted to earth, falling farther and farther down toward the ground.
Then all at once he hit something, bouncing under cracking branches as the trees beneath him broke his fall, he slowed as if the branches were reaching up to grab at him and help him down. Nonetheless he tumbled downward uncontrollably simply trying to orient himself, he felt a hard smack against the back of his head, then darkness.