The Ancient’s Son -The life and story of Arkanon Leyan

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 2

All he could see was blood. It was splattered all over the living room. In the center though, were two unrecognizable humans. Their bodies mashed into separate piles of organs and flesh with bones sticking out. The sight was so horrifying that Arkanon collapsed to his knees. He wanted to scream, but his throat was clenched so tightly and he had difficulty breathing. Arkanon knew who the piles belonged to and reality seemed to collapse around him. Eventually the stench of the corpses reached him and he vomited. After he got up, he cried as he walked closer towards the remains. Thoughts began to form in his mind trying to sort out this chaos. The biggest one was “Why did this have to happen to them?”

As Arkanon stood there and these questions continued to fly through his mind, he heard a sinister voice from behind him say, “Look what we got here, our little guardian came out to play.”

Arkanon tried to turn around, but he was quickly grabbed by the throat and lifted up. What met his gaze was a man with pure black hair and blazing red eyes that contained within them a certain madness. Fear seized Arkanon as his entire body locked up. This man had the aura of a monster about him. As he was being held up by the throat, the man turned his head around and yelled, “Hey, I found the kid!”

Within a few seconds of the man yelling, two other people came out from behind him. They both looked to be around 20 and had black hair and red eyes as well. They wore black cloaks around their bodies, concealing themselves. These three men were the complete opposite of the man from earlier. Arkanon’s thoughts went back to that warning. The stranger had tried to tell him, but Arkanon in his naivety continued on home thinking nonetheless of it. Now he was about to pay with his life.

“Don’t kill the kid yet boss, we still haven’t had our fun.” One of the two men said in the back.

“Yeah boss, you were the one that killed those two earlier.” The other one said.

Arkanon’s vision had started to black out when the man holding him up sighed then said, “Fine, you two can have him. But first…” He threw Arkanon into a wall. He nearly blacked out after slamming into the wall, the air escaping from his lungs. He landed on his hands and knees after that. Arkanon could barely breathe as he looked up to see the two men from before walking up to him. Terror gripped his heart as he tried to get up and run away. Before he could move very far, Arkanon was grabbed by the hem of his shirt, and he could feel as one of the men kicked his right shin, snapping in half. Arkanon screamed out in agony while one of the men laughed and said, “This brat thinks he can get away from us.” Arkanon, in a desperate attempt to get away, turned around and with as much force as possible punched the man holding him in the gut with his right hand. What his hand hit instead was metal armor, which caused a few fractures in his right hand. The man grunted in a little bit of pain and yelled, “You little shit!” The man grabbed Arkanon’s right forearm, squeezed and twisted it shattering the bone and causing it to go limp. Before Arkanon could scream out again, he was punched in the chest, damaging his organs and cracking a few ribs. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and was released, falling onto his back. Immediately after being released, Arkanon turned over and tried to crawl away using his left arm and leg. Before he could get very far, a boot stomped down onto his back completely crushing his spine and destroying his back bones. Arkanon spat out another mouthful of blood as his body went limp. Blood flowed continuously out of his mouth as he laid there, life fading away.

“Aw, looks like the kid is done already.” One of the men complained.

“I’m surprised, that punch from that brat actually stung a little.” The other said.

“Come on you two, let’s get out of here before any guardians come.” The third one, the boss, said.

While they were getting ready to leave, Arkanon laid there bleeding out. He started to see his short life flash through his eyes. All his experiences, emotions, everything came back. He knew that he was going to die, and he had no control over it. His vision turned blurry and he closed his eyes. Although it was short, he was content with the memories he had.

A sudden voice out of nowhere brought him back though. A voice that he had never heard from before, a voice that carried power with it. Something that was hidden until now. Time seemed to stop as this voice asked Arkanon a question.

“Are you truly content to lay there and die?”

Arkanon then questioned it. Was he really going to lay there and die? What about his parents? Was he not going to take revenge for them? Was he not going to take revenge for himself? What about the other people they might hurt? Was he okay with his early death? No, he wasn’t content with it. How could he be okay with dying, how could he be okay with those three monsters, those three demons, getting away without anything happening to them?

“I… will not… die!” Arkanon forced these words out of his mouth. He could feel something start to roil around in the pit of his stomach. Some strange sensation started to go around his body. He could feel his body starting to heal, everything returning and becoming stronger. His hair faded to pure white and white lightning started to crackle around him. He began to stand up, and while doing so shouted to the heavens, “I WILL LIVE!”

As he finished standing, he turned towards where the three men left and charged after them, no longer fearing them. Before long, he saw them walking around in the night, blending in with the surrounding darkness. Before they could take notice, Arkanon was already behind one of them. Putting all his newfound strength into his right hand, Arkanon punched one of the men’s upper backs. A hole was blown straight through the man’s chest, splattering blood, bone, and flesh all over the other two men. As soon as they turned around to see what happened, the man with the hole in his chest had collapsed and died.

“What in the hell?!” One of the men exclaimed.

The man tried to reach to his dagger on his left side, but Arkanon had already grabbed the man’s arm. Before the man could react, Arkanon pulled with all of his strength and tore the man’s arm off at the shoulder, causing him to cry out in agony. Arkanon then kicked the man in his knee, causing it to bend backwards at an awkward angle. The man fell to his other knee, where Arkanon then rammed his elbow into the man’s chest, causing it to cave in. The man spat a little bit of blood out onto Arkanon’s face, causing him to sneer where he then grabbed the man’s neck and snapped it, causing instant death.

“I should’ve finished you off before we left. No matter though, I’ll still kill you here.” The third man, the boss, said. He had grabbed his short sword already, and had it in front of himself.

Arkanon turned towards the final man and said, “You’re sure awfully full of yourself for someone that can’t kill a simple kid.”

The man’s face contorted while he yelled, “You little piece of shit! I’ll make you regret those words when I gut you like a fish!”

The man started to swing wildly, his anger getting the best of him. Arkanon started to twist his body, dodging all of the oncoming attacks. His senses, now heightened, helped him to move around the blade.

“DAMN YOU!” The man screamed and brought his sword down in a wide arc very fast, nearly catching Arkanon, but missing him because of his small body. Arkanon then took the chance and grabbed at one of the man’s wrists holding the sword, then twisted. The man’s wrist shattered, causing him to drop the sword. Arkanon grabbed the sword as it dropped and with fast reflexes and all of his strength swung at the man’s waist. The combined speed and power split the man in half, sending his torso flying back while his lower body collapsed. Arkanon then walked over to the man’s torso, where he was still somewhat alive. In his bright blue eyes, there was no mercy. His pure white hair seemed to shine in the darkness of the night. Arkanon looked down at the man. The man was terrified of the monster before him. This child had single-handedly killed his two companions and was now about to kill him. The fear he felt was similar to what Arkanon felt when they were about to kill him.

“Oh how the tables have turned.” Arkanon said while grinning and looking down at the man.

“P…Please, spare me!” The man begged.

Arkanon looked like he was contemplating it for a second. The man had a faint sliver of hope. Guardians were supposed to be good, right? They took prisoners, right?

“No.”

Before the man could cry out, the sword was shoved straight through his skull, killing him instantly.

Arkanon stood there for a second before walking a short distance, then collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing wildly. As he lost all strength in his body, he turned around and looked towards the night sky, all the stars visible.

“Please rest in peace, mother and father.” Arkanon said as he sadly smiled before passing out.

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 3

From the sidelines, there was a spectator that watched as Arkanon passed out. Jared, the guardian from earlier, had seen the one sided slaughter and could only tremble in fear. Before his very eyes, he had just witnessed a ten year old kid completely decimate three demons. No matter how weak they may have been, those three demons were fully grown men and equipped with armor and weapons. The power that little kid just displayed rivaled that of a mid-rank guardian, which Jared was at. Although terrified from the event he just witnessed, he knew that after that commotion, he didn’t have much time to sit around and wait. If he delayed any longer, local residents would come out and notice the situation and things would turn problematic from there. So he had to decide whether or not he was going to take the kid with him. If it all worked out in the end, Jared knew that the child could become a high-ranked guardian, or even a general-rank which is the highest rank achievable. If things turned out badly, there would be massive repercussions within the guardians. But he didn’t have time to mull over it. It was either take the kid now or leave him. After a few seconds of thought, Jared ran out to where Arkanon lay, picked him up and strung him over his shoulder. Arkanon was still unconscious, the strain on his body from his awakening was evident. Jared quickly ran out towards where his ship was located, but not before hearing a shrill scream come from behind him. The bodies must’ve been found, so Jared started to run a little faster, but not before a few people noticed him running off. To the local residents, all they saw was a robed man run away from three dead bodies with a child hanging over his shoulder. Before long, they reached his ship. Jared put his palm up to the scanner, and the door opened up. Inside the medium-sized ship was a bed with a bathroom next to it, a small kitchen and a large computer with different monitors that acted as means of communication and various other things. To the back was a door which led to the engine room, at the front was the pilot’s seat. It was similar to a big motor home. Jared put Arkanon down on the bed, and went to the console. After hitting different keys, Jared attempted to contact his superior, a high-ranking guardian. Within a few seconds of ringing, the call went through and a voice came through and asked, “Jared, what is it? Did you find any candidates?”

Jared’s reason for being on Earth was to search for any potential guardians. That was the mission given to him.

“I’m not sure what I’ve found sir, but I’ve certainly found something.” Jared replied back in a respectful manner.

The voice asked, “Oh? What did you happen across?”

Jared responded, “A child, sir. A ten year old boy.”

“A child? What’s so impressive about him?”

“I personally witnessed the boy take down three fully equipped low-ranked demons.”

“He’s killed three demons and he’s only ten, you say.” The voice went silent for a second. “Jared, bring this child to the nearest headquarters. I wish to meet him as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir, Jared Winesk signing off.” The call ended, and Jared breathed a sigh of relief. Talking with his superiors was always something he found difficult at times.

It was around this time that Arkanon started to wake up. Waking up in a place he didn’t recognize, Arkanon looked around his surroundings and noticed he was in some sort of ship. However, every little movement caused his body to cry out. A little further away from himself, he noticed the dirty white-haired man from earlier. Arkanon, not knowing what to think, tried to stand up with the intention to escape. His body reacted differently though and within a few seconds he fell face down on the floor. Jared turned around after hearing a thump and a muffled “Ow”. He noticed that the boy had fallen on the floor and was sprawled out. Jared was a little surprised that child had already woken up.

Arkanon turned his head towards Jared and said, “If you plan on killing me, please make it quick. My body already hurts.”

Jared could only laugh helplessly. He then said, “Giving up so soon, boy? I thought you would’ve had a little more fight in you after how you killed those three demons.”

Arkanon’s body tensed up a little when he remembered that encounter. The pain he experienced at that time was far worse than the pain now and any pain before.

Seeing the reaction Arkanon had to his words, Jared immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up such bad memories so soon.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. You tried to warn me not to go, but I did anyways.”

Jared could still see the pained look on Arkanon’s face. He sighed and said, “I’m Jared Winesk. What about your name?”

“Arkanon. Arkanon Leyan.” Arkanon replied.

Jared received a little shock from that. He asked silently, “Did you say your last name was Leyan?”

Arkanon nodded his head slightly, a look of confusion on his face. “Yes, I did. Why does that matter?”

Jared shook his head a few times. “No reason. It must be a coincidence. Anyways Arkanon, isn’t that a bit of a strange name?”

Arkanon laughed a little as he turned to lay on his back, his body becoming more at ease.

“What, did I ask a funny question?” Jared was confused.

“No, it’s just you’re far from the first to say or ask about my name.” A saddened look entered his eyes.

Jared winced. He stepped on yet another land mine, and apologized again.

“Don’t worry about it.” Arkanon had noticed how his reaction caused Jared to grimace a little.

Jared sighed once more before continuing. “Well Arkanon, I’m going to be honest with you. I want you to join me and other people in the Guardians.”

Guardians? This was the first time Arkanon heard of this. “What is that? Some sort of secret organization?”

Jared chuckled a little before continuing. “Well it is certainly similar. But it isn’t secret and we’re not all from Earth.”

“…What?”

“We’re not all from Earth. In fact, this planet is actually in a more remote region of the galaxy. It’s not common that we pass through here, but I was here on a mission to scout out people like you.”

“So that means I’m on a space ship right now?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

Jared looked at Arkanon, then went silent for a few seconds, a little perplexed at his reaction. But before long Arkanon started to giggle, a wide smile on his face. Even though he was advanced for his age, Arkanon was still a child. After his giggle fit was done, Arkanon got serious once more.

“So, you want me to join you guys to fight against more of those ‘demons’ or whatever, right?”

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hide it from you for long. Yes, that’s the reason I brought you here. So, what is your-“

“No.” Arkanon’s eyes contained a look of hatred and fear. Hatred for how they’ve wronged him, and fear of what they’ll do to him.

“Arkanon, just hear me-“

“No.”

“Arkanon, please just-“

“I said no!”

“God dammit boy, listen to me!” Jared lost his patience and snapped.

“Why should I?! You want me to go out there and fight more of those monsters? Are you mad?” Arkanon snapped back.

“Think about it. Just stop and think about it. Why else would I ask you, despite knowing how you’re scared of them?” After a few seconds of silence, Jared continued, “It’s because we don’t want other people to suffer what we went through.” Jared sat down next to Arkanon and leaned back against the bed. “I know I’m asking for a lot, Arkanon, but do you want other people to suffer what you’ve gone through?”

Arkanon went silent, his face contorted in thought.

“Let me ask you a different question.”

Arkanon looked towards Jared.

“Do you truly think that you can go back to a normal life?”

This question startled Arkanon. He had never thought about what he might do. When he kept saying no before, that was more from fear than anything else. As he thought more about it, he started to see why Jared was asking him. Arkanon had the power to prevent other innocent people from suffering from the demons hands. But he had experienced firsthand how ruthless and cruel the demons were, and the mere thought of facing them again caused his entire body to shake with fear. After taking a few breaths though, he calmed down. Arkanon knew what he had to do.

Arkanon started to stand up, his body crying out in protest. Although it hurt, he only grunted before standing up tall. Arkanon looked at Jared. His shining blue eyes full of resolve.

“Jared, I want to become a Guardian.”

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 4

When Arkanon stood and told Jared that he wanted to become a guardian, there was a sense of pride in Jared’s heart. Even though Arkanon just went through a traumatic experience, he made the resolve to fight the demons. Jared knew Arkanon would become a great guardian in the future if he worked hard enough.

Jared gave a small grin and said, “Although your enthusiasm is admirable, there are still steps to become a guardian.”

Arkanon tilted his head and asked, “What are they?”

Jared stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well for a normal guardian, you would go to a boot camp where you would train up. Usually only low-ranked or mid-ranked guardians come out of there though. You, however, are a special case. I’ve never seen anyone take out three demons like that before.” Jared put his hand on his chin. “If you’re lucky, you may be admitted into the academy were only the children of high-ranking guardians attend. That place produces a prodigy every now and then.”

“Jared, do you really think I could get in there?” Arkanon’s eyes were filled with a sliver of hope.

Seeing a kid look at him with those innocent eyes, even though Arkanon is as clever as an adult, Jared couldn’t straight up tell him there’s almost no chance of it happening. He sighed resignedly.

“I’m not going to be cruel and say that it’s impossible, however the chances are very slim. My word as a veteran mid-ranked guardian isn’t worth much.”

Although Arkanon was disappointed after hearing those words, his resolve didn’t waver. His face still had that determined look.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not if I can make it in, I’ll still give it my best.”

Jared nodded at those words.

“Alright then, we still have some work to do before we can get you trained. First we need to report to my commander at the local galactic HQ.”

“So we’re leaving right now?”

“Yes, unless you have something you want to do before we go.”

Arkanon’s eyes darkened a little.

“No, I have nothing left here. Let’s go now.”

Jared laughed a little. “Alright boy, let’s go. I must warn you though, space travel is a little bit different.”

Jared walked up to the front of the ship with Arkanon in tow. Jared sat down in the pilot’s seat and motioned to the seat beside it. Arkanon sat down and buckled himself in. The control’s for the ship weren’t terribly complicated, but it was difficult enough for Arkanon to understand as he watched Jared hit different buttons. The ship started to whir and a faint buzzing sound could be heard as the ship started to power on. When Jared hit the last button, a white wave crackled over the ship. Arkanon looked curiously at Jared. He noticed Arkanon’s gaze and explained.

“Cloaking. It would be problematic if people saw us. After all, our race hasn’t made it very far into space yet, while other races have traveled between galaxies for years.”

Arkanon was somewhat satisfied with Jared’s answer, but grew even more curious when Jared mentioned other races. What kinds of other beings were out there? Arkanon doubted Jared knew all of them, but perhaps he could tell him about some of them. However, Jared anticipated Arkanon’s question and answered him before he asked.

“It would be better for you to see the other races for yourself.”

Arkanon was a little miffed that Jared answered him before he could ask, but he accepted it anyways.

While they had that short conversation, the ship had taken off and already left Earth. As soon as they were out of the atmosphere, Jared activated the FTL drives, and the ship shot off in the direction of the local Guardian HQ. Arkanon was taken aback by the immediate change in speed and grew extremely nauseous. After a few seconds, since there was nothing left in his stomach, he started to dry heave. His body now sore from the earlier ordeal caused him to be quite uncomfortable. Jared grew a little irritated at Arkanon’s dry heaving.

“Hey boy, if you’re going to puke, go do it in the bathroom.”

Jared did find it sort of amusing to watch though.

Arkanon calmed down after a few minutes. Arkanon clenched at his mid-region, his stomach

now badly aching. Jared laughed a little at the sight.

“I tried to warn you that space travel was different.”

Arkanon glared at Jared, his face frowning.

“Don’t be like that. I was just having a small laugh. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

Jared grinned towards Arkanon, causing his frown to loosen a little.

“Hey Jared, how long will this take?”

Jared tilted his head forward a little, putting his hand on his chin.

“If I’m roughly correct, it’ll take another one or two hours. Earth is more on the edge of this galaxy while the headquarters is towards the middle.”

“Since we still have some time, do you mind if I ask some questions about what exactly the Guardians are?”

“Sure, what questions do you have?”

Arkanon asked everything he was curious about. Some answers were vague, or Jared knew very little. Others were completely answered. From what Arkanon gathered, the Guardians were something along the lines of universal peacekeepers, although their main goal is to oppose the tyrannical demons. Demons, the name should be enough to strike fear into people’s hearts, but they don’t know the true terror until they see them with their own eyes. The demons and guardians have been mortal enemies since the beginning of time, with the demons seeking the destruction and enslavement of all living beings besides themselves, while the guardians fight for the freedom and safety of them. Arkanon also asked other questions, such as why they don’t use more weapons other than swords and such. The reason for that was they use a special material to craft arms and armor, and it’s a lot more effective to create weapons that can last for a while compared to bullets which would take up a lot more resources. The weapons and armor were also very durable, to the point that a normal gun or sword couldn’t dent them. However, they could still be burned alive or frozen if it exceeds the armor’s limitations. Jared expressed his surprise towards Arkanon due to the reason that Arkanon could punch a hole straight through the armor, even if the demon was on the weaker side. Next, Arkanon asked about the ship and how it ran. The answer he was given lead to more questions, as he was told it ran off of “energy”. Energy is a base piece of all molecules, so it is everywhere. Quite a few guardians can use energy in different ways, from healing others to powering different objects, or using it as a weapon. The wide range of it’s different uses was quite terrifying. It is the same for demons too, except they use dark, or corrupt, energy. A guardian’s or demon’s rank is also mostly decided by the person’s ability to use energy. High and general-ranked guardians or demons can manipulate energy far more than a mid-ranked or low-ranked one. The highest you can reach with just physical ability is an average mid-rank.

Even though all of this was a lot of information, Arkanon still processed it all easily, absorbing all the knowledge. After Jared was done explaining all he knew, he in turn asked Arkanon about his life. Arkanon told him about how he never knew his father, his mother died early on, and about going to the orphanage until he was adopted. Jared knew about what happened after, so Arkanon didn’t bother explaining.

After both were done talking, they arrived at the headquarters. Arkanon looked in amazement, because the HQ was a giant ship. It’s overall shape was similar to a mushroom, or an umbrella, with a thinner area and a larger branched out area. The armor was grey-whitish plating. As they flew around to the thinner area of the ship, they passed the front and all Arkanon could see was a big cannon embedded inside the center of the ship, as well as a lot of flashing lights. Ships of different sizes came to and fro from the ship, while others flew around it. As they reached the back area, Arkanon could see thrusters on the bottom of the larger area, while other thrusters were sticking out the back of the thinner area. As they neared the hangar, a gruff voice came out from the intercom at the front of the ship.

“Approaching ship, deactivate your cloak, or we will open fire.”

Jared grimaced a little. He got caught up in the conversation they were having that he forgot to turn off his cloaking. He immediately did so, and the voice came back over the intercom.

“ID and code.”

Jared pressed a button on a panel to his left.

“Mid-ranked guardian Jared Winesk. Access code three-one-one-two-four-seven.”

After a few seconds, the voice responded back.

“Welcome back Winesk, Captain Timmet wants to see you at the training ground.”

After hearing this, Jared grew a little curious as well as anxious. Why would Timmet want to see him at the training grounds? To test Arkanon? Possibly. Even though Jared didn’t feel Arkanon’s life was at risk, he still was uneasy about it all.

While Jared secretly worried, they passed into a giant hangar where there were countless ships stationed. After they docked, Arkanon and Jared left the ship, where Arkanon saw hundreds of people moving around.

“Arkanon, stick close to me. It’d be bad to get lost here.”

Arkanon nodded, his throat caught up as he looked around at everyone here.

With the trip ending and the journey beginning, the two head out towards the training grounds.