The Guardian

She stopped, clutching the heart shaped locket to her chest as she looked for the best escape route. Behind her she could hear the sirens and people screaming; trying to find her. The locket hummed in her hand as she scaled the side of a small tool shed and dropped to find a small enclave of abandoned wood and bricks.

“Alaina you must run, return us to our rightful place,” the lockets many voices requested in unison. The eerie voices hadn’t frightened her initially, but the closer she got to the heart of the city the more insistent (and annoying) they became. She rolled her eyes and checked the security of the chain around her neck.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Alaina hissed, careful not to raise her voice above a breath of a whisper.

“You must hurry, there is not much time,” the voices urged. She shook her head and checked her weapons and ammo before stealthily making her way across the abandoned lot. She listened and waited for the voices of the guards and officers to fade and started the trek toward the heart shaped clearing in the middle of the city. She had about two hours before the sun went down. Which meant that she had two hours to save the city and its people. Two hours before she would die for the place that had once teemed with hope and light and love or go on to see it rise again.

If she understood correctly, placing the locket back into where it had been carved from the central pillar would free the souls trapped within it and bring the light back to the city in hopes of banishing the darkness that held it now. It was an easy enough task, right? Wrong. Lumis was highly guarded by demons and shadow dwellers and whatever other nearly immortal beings the depths of Hell could provide. She was also alone; very, very alone and mortal. The only things protecting her were her rifle, two handguns, daggers, a sword, and her extensive knowledge of how to use them all. That wouldn’t matter if a demon’s strength got the better of her, though.

Alaina reassessed her options. One: she could take her time and hope she could sneak her way to the Heart Court, most likely getting taken down by the various Hell Guards; or two: she could make a mad run for it and get there in time, most likely getting taken down by the various Hell Guards. It made more sense to do a mixture of both and to run when she could as she was likely to die either way. She leaned back against the brick and sighed as she fastened the hood of her cloak over her blood-soaked black braid and wrapped as much of herself in its darkness as she could. She said a silent goodbye to all she loved back in her village that had hoped so much for what she was about to do; gave a silent prayer to any of the 8 gods that would listen and ran.

The sirens were growing louder the closer she came to the Heart Court. More than likely coming for her as she had already cut down several demons in her path. The hum of the locket reverberated in her bones as she drew closer and closer to the alabaster pillar in the very heart of Lumis. The sun was nearly set, and if it did before she got there it would likely be the last light for centuries as the spawns of the seven circles of Hell took over.

She was so tired and blood from her own gaping wounds and that of the demons coated what seemed to be every inch of her body, yet the locket remained pristine. A light in all the life and death covering herself, the magic of the true heart of Lumis. She clutched the locked and took a deep breath in, trying to ignore the frantic voices coming from within.

Only the distance of a football field separated her from the Heart Court. A football field clad in demons, unfortunately. They were still, waiting as normal soldiers would for their command to begin battle. It was so uncharacteristically human of such beasts and she couldn’t help, but look on in awe and wonder if she would be granted a mercifully swift death upon entering the battlefield.

The tang of blood stained her mouth and the smell filled the air as she put her hand over the locket and her own heart and ran toward the throng of death. They were eager for it, almost waiting for her to begin the slaughter. She thought of her family as she drew her sword and handgun, how horrified they would be that she had not only failed them, but all of Lumis. No longer would her people sing and dance in celebration of light, but cower to the slave drivers of darkness. A demon surged at her and knocked her on her back, the breath almost completely pushed from her lungs. Alaina coughed and shot a bullet straight between its eyes.

Alaina only had ten minutes left before the daylight would extinguish for what could literally be an eternity. The fifty foot pillar was in spitting distance, but the last of the demons seemed to form an immovable wall before her. She no longer felt afraid of the sure death before her and smiled in the face of it as she readied her sword for her fate. The locket seemed to buzz with anticipation of this next to nearly impossible feat as she moved forward.

The next Hell Guard was a gargantuan fallen angel and he seemed more amused than anything to see Alaina before him. With a gust of his mighty wings he knocked her to the ground before landing before her. He picked her up by her neck and chuckled as she clawed and thrashed at him; the locket dangling well within his reach.

“You are a quite the warrior for a human and a woman at that,” he sneered as he squeezed the breath from her. “You lost me a lot of money, you know, I bet you would fall at the first line.” She needed a distraction before she suffocated. The locket thudded against her chest and the voices shrieked and she did the only thing she could think to do. Her eyes darted down and the angel followed suit giving her time to ram her head into his nose. Blood spurted through his fingers as he clutched his face and dropped Alaina to the ground. “Human scum!” he spat. A cold smile crept onto her lips as she aimed her rifle at his head.

“Not bad at all for a human scum at all, I think,” she said coyly and pulled the trigger.

Demons came at her from every angle, if there were two in front of her another would come from behind. Alaina looked as though she had belonged to the battlefield the way she moved in fluidity with her weapons. She seemed to be bathed in every color of blood and gore imaginable as she struck down the last of this rank of demons. Breathless, she looked on behind her as the next wave of Hell Guards came at her and she figured she had about a thirty second window to plunge the locket into its home of the pillar.

The Heart Gate was truly a beauty to behold. So many times as a young girl she had wished to come here and watch in awe as the inlaid crystal stones glimmered in the sunlight, igniting the light of her soul as so many had before her and stepping into immortality and their true form. Those stones did not glimmer now as the suns final rays faded away. The demons came harder and faster than before and Alaina knew she had mere seconds left to save the light.

Just before what seemed to be a Wendigo possessing what used to be a fairly young man got its jaws around her throat, Alaina slammed the locket into the heart shaped hole of the pillar. The creatures around her hissed as light exploded from within the Heart Court. Alaina felt her body rise as light seemed to radiate around and within her. All those voices from the locket spoke from within her as one.

“I am Alaina, guardian and savior of Lumis. Like my ancestors before me I belong to Lumis and it belongs to me. The gods have willed it and so it will be written that the demons of darkness that have broken the walls will return to Hell where they belong!”

More light exploded from the stones and pillars of the Heart Court as shrieking demons seemed to melt in the presence of the blinding white light. Once the last Hell Guard was erased from Lumis, Alaina’s body slumped to the ground. Darkness swallowed the world around her.

“Where am I?” Alaina asked as she rubbed her eyes. There was no ground beneath her and no sky above, just stark never-ending whiteness. A large shape drew nearer and she grabbed for a weapon that was no longer sheathed at her side. Eyes wide, the shape came into view as a tall, white skinned, ethereal woman. She rested a slender hand on Alaina’s shoulder.

“I have been waiting for you, Alaina,” her smooth, velvety voice stated. Alaina’s eyes widened.

“Are- are you Astraea?” The goddess smiled in response. “Why are you here? Where am I?” panic shot through her because obviously she had died.

“You haven’t died, Alaina. You have sacrificed all you hold dear for Lumis’ people. You have given them back the light the darkness stole.” Her voice was as soothing as a lullaby. A slender finger brushed Alaina’s cheek, a reassuring touch.

“Where am I?” This had to be a dream or a trap of some sort.

“The Between, child. I will send you home, do not fret. The gods have asked me to relay a message.”

“For me?” Astraea nodded in confirmation.

“We have decided to bestow immortality unto you, Alaina. You and many others now have a chance at lives to live in light and love and hope for centuries to come. From this day forth you shall be known to all as Alaina, Guardian of Lumis.”

Everything went back to black.

When Alaina awoke again, the sun had risen and people had gathered around the Heart Court. Someone was helping her off the ground and worried glances mixed with smiles peppered the crowd. She wasn’t sure if meeting Astraea had been reality or some panic induced dream. She decided to keep the experience to herself for now. She was so, so sore and needed a days’ worth of sleep and showers to get all the disgusting gore off of her body, but she picked her sword up from the ground and raised it high. Expectant, hopeful faces turned to her and she couldn’t help but smile.

“I am Alaina, Guardian of Lumis. I belong to this city as much as it belongs to me and as guardian to our people I promise to make sure all the light is restored and our people remain free of the darkness!” she roared over the cheers of the crowd. She greeted the people and accepted their thanks for what seemed to be hours on end.

When the day began to fade once more she turned triumphantly toward the setting sun and grinned. Her people were safe and the Hell Guard had been sent back to where they belonged. Her job was done and so she set off on her next formidable task.

Going home.