The Guardians' Legacy

“How is that possible?” Aldren stammered. “I saw you…”

“Die?” the older man asked, showing his clenched teeth. It was the famous Buregar, perhaps the most powerful person in Rasuey. His anger was evident in his tone of voice and his furious eyes. “You brat, you took everything from me! I’m going to—”

— Calm down, uncle lord — said the boy with messy hair, interrupting the bourgeois's attack by stretching out his hand in front of the angriest man's chest. — Who is this idiot?

Both of them entered the roof terrace of the Defense Ministry headquarters without rushing. Aldren and Garta were completely surrounded by the capital's police officers and the transmission tower on the edge of the building. But those two men were the ones who drew attention and concern.

— That's the boy who killed my wife, Bernard — the Bourgeois tried to justify his anger to the cool guy who seemed to be calling the shots there.

A flash of lightning lit up the entire roof as the three police officers accompanying the men set their sights on Garta and Aldren in the rain.

— You really are a useless rich kid, aren't you? — Bernard, the scowling young man next to him, teased. — You let a short guy like that hit you... How pathetic. And who would that girl be? She doesn't match the description of Tera's guardian.

The provocateur began to walk slowly towards Garta and Aldren. His spiky hair and long reddish leather coat were gradually bathed in the rain.

— ... — Garta fell silent and took a step back in a defensive position to Aldren, wondering what could come next.

— I asked you a question! — shouted the arrogant man without losing his cheeky posture. — What happened? Did the cat get your tongue?

Garta took a deep breath without showing her physical fatigue, even though she didn't complete the last movement, it drained her energy like any use of her ability. She knew she would have problems as soon as she saw the man with the palm of his hand illuminated after the powerful shattering of the metal door on the roof. Just like her, he was also a guardian, that was for sure.

Aldren took two more steps back, hesitating in response to the man's bloodshot eyes.

— Don't come any closer! — Garta exclaimed, standing firm on the ground and getting into a fighting position.

— Or what? — Bernard asked, raising one of his eyebrows and showing his smug smile. The police officers moved forward to make sure they were noticed. Immediately, he shouted immediately: — What is this!? Didn't I tell you to stay back?!

— Sir... — One of the police officers got a little closer to the angry man and whispered some fearful words. — This woman, she is a...

The man in leather clothes and exotic hair listened to the police officer without giving it due importance, but as soon as a specific word reached his ears, he focused his vain gaze on Garta and looked at her more seriously:

— A guardian. — He repeated what he had heard. — All of you, wait in the corridor — he ordered the uniformed and armed officers.

— But sir... — The police officer on duty objected.

— Shut up! I told you to get out. Get out! — Bernard shouted impatiently once more. — That's mine!

— Yes, sir. — The officer gave a disastrous and cowardly bow before ordering his subordinates to follow him beyond the corridor.

Garta took a deep breath of the cold night air as the rain continued to pour down without hesitation. He knew he had to wait a few more seconds before he could use his displacement ability again.

Bernard smiled slightly as he noticed the police officers had completely left the roof. The guardian turned his eyes to the iron bar on the ground, the same bar that had held the door together before it had shattered into pieces.

— Hey, you lord! — The one who stood out, not only for his hair and clothes, but also for his bold behavior, caught Buregar's attention as he picked up the iron bar from the soaked floor. — You stay with the short one.

— Of course. — replied the bourgeois, smiling cunningly. Then he looked and pointed a knife he had just removed from his belt at Aldren, taking two steps forward with his eyes boiling with anger. — I'm going to love finishing you off...

— Don't even think about it! — Garta exclaimed, placing himself in front of Aldren on guard.

— It’s not him you should worry about — Bernard intervened as he stretched his arms unpretentiously with the iron bar, preparing for what was to come. He opened his mouth to make a completely unusual request to his wife: — Don’t disappoint me.

Garta found the words strange, but he didn't have time to respond. The man took his first steps and then started running towards the guardian. He approached her as a flash of lightning lit up the entire night sky. It was a first attack, an advance as fast as the thunder that echoed.

With his arm inverted, from left to right, the bold man violently moved the iron bar towards the woman's face. Garta had no trouble dodging the blow, with a step back and leaning her body to stay out of reach, she only heard the whistle of the metal resonating as it passed quickly before her eyes.

Then, the guardian prepared for her counterattack, grabbed the arm of the man who had missed her weak blow and tried, by intertwining her ankle with the man's leg, to knock him down in a single movement, but before she could do so, the metal bar in Bernard's hand began to vibrate at an absurdly fast frequency while lighting up.

Swooish! The metal just shattered.

In a reaction identical to the roof door moments ago, the shrapnel flew in every direction violently. It was like a small explosion.

The guardian's face was extremely close to that unexpected reaction, it was inevitable. One of the dozens of pieces of metal hit one of the lenses of Garta's glasses, but it didn't stop there, the shard went through the fragile glass and continued until it reached the cornea of ​​the woman's left eye, she immediately stopped her counterattack movement in response to the extreme pain.

The suffering was intense, but Garta didn't have time to react, before he could, the boy's fist hit him square in the face. His body was thrown meters by the powerful impact.

— Aahh!!! — The guardian hated the pain she felt when touching the wet floor of the roof, the pain from the arrogant man's punch, but mainly, the intense pain emanating from her left eye.

The burning sensation completely enveloped his entire reaction. The pain coming from the right side of his face, hit by the man's punch, went completely unnoticed compared to the extreme suffering of having one of his eyes pierced by the shrapnel.

— Garta!!! —Aldren shouted in despair. He widened his eyes and, upon seeing his colleague fly so far away, he tried to run for help, but as soon as he did so he was hit by a violent punch in the stomach.

The other opponent, Buregar, had already anticipated the unprepared boy and struck him without measuring his strength.

— Phew! — Aldren fell to his knees, unable to react otherwise. He was already completely out of the fight, even before he entered it.

— You destroyed my life. I'm going to end you. — Buregar said, foaming at the mouth as he pushed and leaned over Aldren's body with the knife pointed at the boy's throat.

Aldren resisted with his back on the wet concrete of the roof, despairing as he noticed the blade approaching his body. He instinctively grabbed his opponent's hands with the knife for his own survival. He saw up close the man's angry eyes struggling to stab him while the radio tower shadowed them both.

To imagine that he had once been one of the most powerful men in all of Rasuey seemed crazy. Aldren once again regretted not having noticed all the atrocities that had taken place in Rasuey's mansion, especially those involving Celina and her mother. In fact, he had noticed, he just hadn't spoken out.

The sharp blade of Buregar's shiny knife scratched the region of Aldren's neck, who continued to struggle to keep the object as far away as possible. Little by little, the bourgeois' victory in this struggle of strength seemed inevitable. A few more millimeters and the metal tip would reach the target's throat.

He gave up without realizing it.

“I always imagined myself dying in my bed, surrounded by a family I built after years of working in my own simple restaurant in the most remote region of Rasuey.” Aldren thought, preparing himself to feel his last pain.

“I never thought it would be like this. Why did I get involved in this anyway? Why were my simple plans completely changed? Oh yeah... it was because of Celina. The least interesting person in the world, without any charisma or feelings, she never even smiled at me truly. Maybe it's because no one expects anything from me. No one shows true feelings for someone they don't care about.” Aldren resisted his last moments in thoughts manifested by the end.

The radio tower was lit up by the lightning and made the boy's eyes shine as they reflected the light. He remembered that he had seen that scene before, not only the furious face of the bourgeois, but also the position he found himself in.

“This tower must be as tall as that climbing wall from the exam. Colth almost got in trouble with the colonel because of me. Celina almost cried... No, she would never cry, and Garta defended us from that emissary. I wish I could have won that climb, at least finished it. Maybe then...”

— Ahhh!!! — Garta's distant scream caught Aldren's attention, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back.

— You will pay for everything!!! — Buregar put all his strength into his hands to push the knife into the boy's body on the ground.

 — This is wrong. — Aldren whispered through clenched teeth.

— Shut up! Die already! — Buregar replied with more force.

— That's wrong! — Aldren shouted, resisting the bourgeois' attack like never before. — I won't lose this time!

— What the hell are you talking about?... Argh!

The knife began to move away from the target with Aldren's countervailing force. He didn't hesitate to bend his wrist hard so that his opponent would feel the same pain as his bones cracked and almost broke. The Bourgeois forced himself to let go of the knife. The bladed weapon fell to the ground, sinking into the pool of water that was accumulating.

— Shit... — The man was pushed hard by the boy.

— I realized something, Buregar. — Aldren stood up as his opponent slowly took steps back. The boy watched Garta from afar on the other side of the roof and closed his hands, containing his fear for the woman's screams in despair before turning his attention to the insane man. — Our strength comes from the people we want to protect.

 — What? — The man frowned as he noticed Aldren's confident gaze. He took another step back as he brought one of his hands to his belt at his back.

— And you, Buregar, have no one left to protect.

Aldren shot forward in quick steps, simply lightning.

The bourgeois pulled out his beautiful revolver that he carried on his back when he was targeted by the suddenly impish young man. He aimed at the agile little guy and did not hesitate.

A single shot rang out as the crack of lightning cutting through the roof hit the radio tower and deafened the two closest to it.