Star Warden: Slayer of Evil. Chapter 2.

 

2

It was all burning, Castle Bailey a great ancient hold, high in the mountains, was slowly turning into a smoldering ruin. The castle guards were eviscerated as the machines advanced through the building. Sam was running as the screams of both soldiers and servants rang in the air. The tattered remains of the white star, red tails, on blue field banners of House Bailey, flew through the smoke covered sky. But only one thought was on Sam's mind; where was his father?

It was only hours ago that he left the planet Earth through the Celestial Mirror. The surprise was total as the Dark Lord's rocket fleet arrived in a fog-filled sky. He managed to arm himself at least before the SWAT-bots raided the armory and so far avoided the fate of the others. But he only had the clothes on his back and was no match for the computer-guided precision of these robots in a firefight.

Right now he just wanted to find his father for new orders, or at least to find and protect his beloved Kaguya. If he could help her and others escape then they could at least fight another day. His thoughts were interrupted as he felt his throat constrict. A cold metallic hand lifted his body off the ground and turned him around. He recognized the hand and the black mirrored face-plate, this was Daimos, The Dark Lord, God-Tyrant of Aetherium, Herald of Eternal Darkness, Prince of Steel, and Grand Marshal of the Forces of Evil.

The Dark Lord cut a towering figure, near seven feet, in his armored military uniform with a crown of steel upon his black helm. Three gemstones were fitted into it, each one emitting a malevolent glare. However, his manner of dress could not hide the hum of electricity and gears that whirled with each move he made. Sam never could admit it but part of him felt small and fearful in his presence, but he ensured his face never showed an inch of it.

A sinister laugh emerged from beneath the mask as Sam was brought closer and he saw his face did show fear, he made the attempt to change it but to his shock found it completely frozen.

“Put him down!” Those words were in his father's, Eli Bailey, voice. Sam remembered those words as those were the last he heard from his father.

“A penance must be exacted,” said Daimos. A metallic echo emanated from behind the mask. For a brief moment, two bright lights manifested where eyes would be which unleashed a devilish heat onto Sam's skin. His body spontaneously combusts and became weightless as he felt the last of his consciousness fade away and his body falls into the void.

He opened his eyes as his body tingled with the sensation of phantom flames and beads of sweat. He felt a firm grip upon his hand, reminding him that he was still alive, he recognized it was Kaguya's hand. He found her face was filled with concern and posed a question that Sam understood without it crossing her lips. 

“Yeah it was the same one,” he said as the phantom flames dissipated. He started to calm down and his heart no longer raced.

No further words were exchanged as Kaguya's embrace was enough to bring the message across. The memories of that night still haunted Sam, while the nightmare did not accurately re-create all the events, it did not deviate much from the truth. While his body had no scars his mind did. His mind could replicate the sensations of skin burning, choking on smoke, the wind blowing on his exposed muscles, and the cold hand of death upon his soul as he struggled for dear life. It was a trauma that could take years to get over, Samuel Bailey did not have years.

For he had sworn a sacred oath to defeat the Dark Lord and return freedom to the people of Aetherium. Daimos had swept the realms with his mechanical warriors and dark creatures. Those not destroyed were made slaves forced to despoil their natural lands to feed his empire of steel. Many have tried to resist only to be destroyed, it was the Star Warden's duty to raise the beacon of hope and inspire others to resist again. 

His father was one of those who lost their lives attempting to resist and thus one could be drawn to believe that Sam desired vengeance. But neither vengeance, pride, or glory drove him. Glory is a fleeting emotion and pride was self-destructive, vengeance can consume a man and distract him from aiding others. Turn him bitter and hateful to everything and throw life away to soothe a wounded heart or bruised ego. 

A true knight was a weapon in service of all that is good and holy but also a protector for those who could not defend themselves. Under Daimos' reign, he had decreed the worship of Aetherium's gods to be outlawed and had all who serve him hunt down and slay or capture any priest. Vengeance would have him ignore this for the larger picture focusing only on slaying evil and not protect the good that remained. So it could be restored once the tyrant had been dethroned. 

Samuel Bailey was a man driven by one thing duty, the duty to do what is right because it was right. It was all the reason that he needed, as his parents' examples and teachings had solidified that a good man is honor-bound to fight the good fight when called to do so. So nightmares would be bared, fears acknowledged, and he would fight on regardless.

He is Samuel Bailey, the Star Warden and he would not be found wanting in the face of evil.

The moon of Fomoria slowly departed from sight leaving only blue and green bands of light in the sky. For a brief few minutes, one could imagine they were looking at the northern lights. However, Koba was nowhere near the poles of Aetherium and these lights could be seen at any point in the world. These lights took the place of the moonlight that Fomoria lacked. 

In the town, some of the survivors had woken up early to search for things to salvage. The broken SWAT-bots were stripped for parts and power cells. The dead were collected and wrapped up to be taken away for burial. The Star Warden was powering on his white mechanical horse as his beloved walked up with a cup of tea. 

“Are you feeling any better,” she asked smiling with a concerned tone.

“I was good,” He said expressing nothing but confidence. “Seeing you makes the day better.” He took a sip of his tea.

Kaguya blushed deeply at the comment. “My inquiry was quite serious.”

“I was completely serious.” Sam watched her eyes light up. He couldn't tell if it was something biological, mystical, or something unique to her. But he noticed it only added to the beauty she already possessed.

“My heart sings to see you are still in high spirits. After all of the recurring nightmares, I grew concerned for your health.”

“Nightmares are easy and I can deal with them. What's getting to me is the fact is we spent the entire year fighting and we're still at square one,” A hint of annoyance slipped into his words. 

“That is not accurate,” Kaguya reminded him. “We saved lives where we could and hurt the enemy when we did it.”

“No argument there,” He said. “I just rather do more than just play cops and rebels all day and make some progress.” As he finished the tea he asked. “Where is your cup?”

“That was the last of our supply, as I wanted to ensure you could stay calm and focused. I know you are emotionally resilient. Oh, just ignore me I worry too much.”

“No, I get it. Speaking of, how are you holding up?” Sam tenderly put his arm around her.

Kaguya leaned in closer and placed her head on his chest. “Just tired from all the fighting and running. I do not believe my body will ever get used to living so roughly.”

“The fact we have to sleep with one eye open all the time doesn't help matters. When we get back to the Mystic Woods I'll make you some tea and you can just rest up, let me take care of you.”

A loving purr emerged from the Princess's lips. “My love, you are very sweet. Have I told you how fortunate I feel every day knowing you are in my life?”

“No surprise, after all I'm a walking good luck charm.”

“As modest as ever.” She shared a laugh with him.

The peaceful moment ended as the young couple heard the sound of roaring rockets disturbing the air. Sam wasted not a moment as he donned his helm and mounted his horse. 

“All aboard,” He shouted. “set sail now while we hold them off.” He turned his horse and left in the direction of the enemy.

Kaguya jumped onto the horse from one of the rooftops. “SWAT-bots backed up by a SWAT-carrier. It appears to be a scout force.” She summoned a silver staff, crowned with a white heart-shaped diamond, into her right hand.

As the horse stormed across the stone road, he moved the still dented buckler from his right gauntlet. Placing it on his back and replacing it with a weapon with twin barrels. SWAT-carriers were flight-capable half-tank and half-infantry fighting vehicles. They were fast and maneuverable despite their heavy armor. This new weapon was designed to deal with them directly. A field test was still required to know its viability.

The squad of SWAT-bots flew into view with the black and white SWAT-carrier not far behind, heavily armed, and most likely stocked with reinforcements. When their audio receptors picked up the sound of thundering steel hooves their right arms transformed into particle cannons and opened fire.

Such precision fire would have shredded their targets if not for the barrier of light surrounding them. Dawnbringer was drawn from its scabbard as Sam charged down the machines, the carrier opened fire with its own heavy weaponry and readied a rack of missiles. A burst of light appeared over the heads of the robots flooding their optical sensor suites with a mass of data to process.

When the light dimmed it appeared their targets had disappeared from sight and the machines communicated amongst themselves as they swept the area. Two streams of hot plasma slammed into the SWAT-carrier sending it into a spin and crashing into a building. The victory was bittersweet as the Warden saw that while the weapon was effective the barrels had become warped making the weapon unusable. Filing that away for later he leaped into action seeking to attack the bots before they noticed him.

The SWAT-bots did notice him and responded swiftly, taking to the sky, forcing the Warden and Princess to join an aerial battle. The robots coordinated themselves well, keeping themselves scattered and maneuvering to ensure Sam's ray gun only hit their reinforced armor avoiding their thrusters or heads. He did attempt to close the gap with Dawnbringer only to be struck from the flank or rear by one of their wing-men. 

So Sam tried a new tactic, after a quick glance at Kaguya, He swung around and grabbed the enemy rocket pack. He felt his bones and muscles fortify with newfound strength. This strength allowed him to overpower the robot and send it toward the ground while driving Dawnbringer through its skull.

In the sky, Kaguya's voice turned to song and from her lips, a melody of power flowed through the winds. The robots attempted to take advantage of the Warden's back being turned only to see their weapons fail as the beams fly off course or are dragged to the earth. One of them sought to engage the Princess in close quarters, a bolt of light from her staff skewered the machine. The last SWAT-bot was destroyed when Sam's ray gun ignited its rocket pack consuming it in the explosion. 

Before they could celebrate their victory the building where the fallen carrier had landed exploded, three SWAT-bots stormed out of the fire, guns and rocket packs blazing. They cornered Kaguya in the sky forcing her behind her light barrier, Sam's focus on her let him be blindsided by a particle blast to his chest plate.

Flung down the street he crashed into another building falling into and breaking the glass of a display case. He suppressed his pain and stood up to fire randomly with his ray gun. Hoping the enemy would keep their head down and give him time. The sound of wood splintering alerted him that the plan failed and only a split second to turn and face the fist of a Minotaur who sent him back to the street.

The Minotaur matched Sam in height due to both being over six feet, with the beast being only a few inches taller. But its weight and girth ensured that he could overshadow and outmuscle the Warden. It had a deep red hide with blood-red eyes. It wore bronzed armor plating and possessed a wrist-mounted energy weapon. A dual-headed ax in its hand vibrated at rapid frequency causing it to glow with intense heat. 

The Star Warden called all his reserves of strength determined not to be beaten so easily. When the monster leaped into the streets to crush him underfoot, in one fluid motion he evaded it and stood upright while swinging which cut into the thin armor around its neck. The beast hissed and drew back to avoid decapitation, but Sam did not hold back and pressed the attack.

Both warriors were brutal and unflinching toward each other, with the Minotaur's brute strength against human agility pushed to their limits. Sam was hurled through stone and the Minotaur was struck for each blow it gave. When their weapons clashed the Minotaur pressed down on Sam's sword using its strength to bring him to his knees. The Warden responded by striking the Minotaur's head with his own and in a swift motion brought Dawnbringer down upon its neck searing its flesh upon contact.

The horned monster was not dead yet as it grabbed the Warden's sword arm holding the blade in place and bashed the ax into the Warden's helm. The heads up displayed fractured as he was thrown off balance while Dawnbringer was wrenched from his hand by the Minotaur. Now with the advantage, it went to crush his head only for the Warden to respond with a beam into the Minotaur's neck wound and a swift kick to send it to the ground.

Sam rushed over and secured Dawnbringer in his hand as the Minotaur rose again ready for battle. Blood still oozed from its neck but it seemed none the worse for wear. With brute force doing little he took off for Koba's bell tower with the Minotaur in hot pursuit with its own rocket pack. The tower was old and in disrepair and thus easy for him to kick the bell off the rope and cause it to fall upon the Minotaur.

“Saved by the bell,” Sam said.

The stone beneath them both crumbled and both combatants went into free fall. Sam was able to stabilize himself and land safely while the Minotaur was crushed underneath the bell. He laughed for a bit as he defeated the beast only to wince in pain as the adrenaline started to flow out of his system. He summoned his will power to cope with the pain and remain standing. He spoke a prayer asking God to keep Kaguya safe and to give him the strength to find her. 

“Sam,” Kaguya’s voice cried out. Calling what he felt relief would be an understatement as she saw her land. Scorch marks and dust-covered her clothes.

“You okay, honey,” Sam asked.

“I am no worse for wear,” she said. “How hurt are you?”

“Me? I’m doing great. You should see the other guy,” While the pain in his voice was clear the confident tone was not damped. Sam fell to his knees and hugged Kaguya, she returned the gesture as her body started to glow. The pain and aches receded from Sam's body as it mended and relaxed.

Returning to their horse they left town swiftly and traveled upriver catching up to the barge in a few hours. Allowed to board after a quick stop, they collapsed into each other's arms and shared a quiet moment as the ruined town sunk over the horizon. 

Chapter 1

Chapter 3