Senshi (Guardians)

That afternoon found Thael sitting on a rock in a prison cell. The cell was in the lower part of the Shnark cavern. It was damp and cold. There was water trickling down the rock-face of one of the walls. A Shnark was tying his hands together in front of him.

“We finally caught the infamous Prince Thael. I’ve waited for this day for a long time.”

“Really…?” Thael commented, “Are you sure?”

The Shnark cocked his head sideways, “What do you mean by that?”

“Did you catch me…? Or have I caught you…?”

“Your mind games are useless on me, Prince. You’re the prisoner and I’m the guard, so joke all you want. The facts speak for themselves.”

Thael smiled but kept silent. The guard tied a leash rope to his already shackled wrists. He heard the guards outside snap to attention, “Your Majesty.”

The door was noisily unlocked. It creaked as it opened. Thael bowed to the Queen standing in the doorway. The guard pushed him down on his knees.

“Bring him,” she turned and walked off.

The guard roughly jerked Thael to his feet and pulled him through the door with the makeshift leash. The guards at the door followed, prodding him in the back with their spears. They followed the Queen up the stone stairs.

The main cavern was full of Shnark. They were all celebrating the Queen’s brilliant capture of the Guardian Prince. They bowed as the Queen passed. As Thael was pulled along the open path, the crowd jeered and threw rocks at him.

When the Queen and her prisoner reached the front of the room she took the leash from the guard. The guard forced Thael to his knees again. The battle master bowed to her, “Your Majesty.”

She nodded.

He turned to the crowd and said loudly, “Our Queen has succeeded where everyone else has failed. She has brought the criminal Guardian Prince to us for trial. I promise you he will pay for his crimes against the Shnark.”

The whole cavern broke out in cheers.

The battle master raised his hands to silence the crowd. He spoke again: “Before we hold court, her Majesty, the Queen would like to say a few words.”

More cheers. She raised her paw-like hand and the entire cavern became quiet.

“Thank you. I cannot claim his capture as only my own. My son, the Crown Prince, helped me trick this monster into our trap.” She called Kip.

He flew over the heads of the crowd and landed gently near the Queen. He kept his head bowed and his eyes looking at the floor.

The Battle Master spoke up: “You see? My superior fighting techniques have saved the day. Even this broodling was able to capture him.”

“Not really,” Kip said. He was pointing the disruptor at the Battle Master. He pulled the trigger. The Battle Master’s image shimmered and went blank. There on the dais stood the true form of their leader. It was their most hated enemy: a Vardak. Kip sprayed the elite guards with the disruptor and most of them turned out to be Vardak as well.

He handed the disruptor to his mother. He pointed a claw at the Vardak as he addressed the crowd, “Do you see their true selves now? This Tharrdahk Battle Master has been training us all with skills designed to make sure that we die in battle. Haven’t any of you wondered why his tactics never worked? Why are the Guardians untouched, yet so many of our own have died? Ariella, play the Vid.”

Ariella’s avatar came out of his pocket and the image of two Vardak talking appeared.

“My feet are killing me. Let’s rest a bit.”

“Yes. This planet is ill equipped for walking. Too bad we don’t have wings like the stupid Shnark.”

“They are pretty stupid. We all wear Chameleon cloaks and they can’t even notice the small imperfections in the fields. I’m the Battle Master. You’d think they would have noticed I am Vardak by now… or at least, that my training is killing them not helping them.” He let out a nasty laugh.

“That Karg…! He comes to this planet that’s infested with cave animals and tricks them into making himself their King.”

“Yes, but his plan is working. He’s sent the Shnark off world to be killed by the Guardians. He told them the Guardians are evil people who have to be exterminated. What a laugh. It’s only the Shnark that are being exterminated.”

“Yes. They believed that lie and blindly left the safety of their home to go to their deaths… thanks to you and your ridiculous training.”

“While they’re gone, Karg and our brethren are stripping their planet clean of its natural treasures.” He laughed wickedly.

“The funniest part of all is that those fools are fighting the one group of people in the universe dedicated to truth and justice; the one group of people that would help them fight their true enemy: us.”

“Those holier than thou Guardians…! If they knew what we were really up to, this planet would be swarming with them. Karg would be deposed and all of us arrested. The throne would be handed back to that foolish Queen of theirs.”

“Karg’s plan to keep them hating each other keeps that from ever happening,” he let out a wicked laugh. “They fell for it so easily. It’s also funny that they actually believed they needed a man to rule them. It made it so easy to take over… and what about her stupid son?”

“That’s even better. I’m specially training him to be killed as soon as he hits his 12th cycle, and that useless Queen approves of my teaching,” he laughed wickedly. “I’ll convince him that he’s on a special mission to assassinate the Prince.”

The other snickered, “… and the Prince will slice him into little pieces.”

They both laughed.

“I need to get going. They will wonder where their dear Battle master is.”

They laughed again and walked off along the craggy path.

The Vid stopped. Ariella’s avatar floated above. The crowd of Shnark was murmuring among themselves.

Kip still had his head down. “So how about it Battle Master… Let’s you and I settle this.”

The Battle Master laughed. “You’re joking. Do you really think you can take me on with those skills I taught you, broodling?”

“Only one way to find out, will you be a coward or will you accept my challenge?”

The Vardak drew his sword and came at him. Kip stepped aside and brushed the Battle Master’s sword away with the golden shield that had suddenly appeared on his arm. Kip turned around and faced the Vardak Captain. As it came at him again Kip looked up. When the Vardak saw Kip’s eyes, a wave of fear overcame him, but it was too late for the Battle Master to run. He was already within striking distance.

He raised his shield to block kip’s sword, but the golden sword sliced through it as if it were made of butter. It also cut off the Vardak’s left forearm. The Battle Master screamed as the shield fell to the cave floor. His forearm was still clutching the shield’s handle. The next time the golden sword struck, the Vardak stopped screaming because his head had parted company with its body.

The other Vardak on the dais started to charge Kip. He turned to face them; his golden eyes shining brightly. Realizing they were dealing with a Guardian, the Vardak stopped in their tracks. They threw their weapons down, dropped to the floor, and surrendered.

“Forgive us Guardian. It was Karg – it was all his doing – we were forced to be here.”

The whole cavern began cheering. Kip had some guards take the Vardak to a cell. His weapons disappeared after the Vardak were secured

The Queen ordered Thael’s guard to release him. Free of his bonds, he stood up, faced the Queen and bowed with his right arm across his chest. He knelt on one knee, and placed his golden sword on the cave floor in front of him. He bowed his head. “I pledge you my sword, Your Majesty.” She nodded back in acknowledgement. The Cavern got very silent seeing this exchange.

“You may take your sword and rise, Prince Thael.” She made a slight bow of acknowledgement, “Thank you Your Highness for helping us unmask our true enemies.”

Kip went over to Thael and bowed. “Thank you Uncle. I feel confident now that we can go home and retake our throne. I will always be your friend.” He put his paw-like hand out to grasp Thael’s forearm. Thael did the same. The Queen stood behind their outstretched arms.

She put her paw-like hand on the two joined arms and addressed her people, “Are you ready to follow my son back to Kehrru Sekkrru and reclaim our throne?”

They all cheered.

“My son and Prince Thael, along with a few other Guardians will retrain you in the proper way to fight.

Then we will go back home and drive the Tharrdahk off our planet!”

The cavern rebounded with the cheers and adulation of the crowd.