Chapitre 32: The Sun Guardian

The mages slowly approached the door. Skyler was attentive in case another Crusher decided to attack them, but everything seemed calm. When Malcom took the handle to open that door.

The young woman took his arm and asked. "What if it's a trap?"

"To protect what?" Malcom questioned back before showing her the gem that they had taken from the pedestal, "I don't think it's any of that. Let's take a look at it."

The girl nodded, and the Marked opened the door to look into a dark room.

They both entered and saw several skeletons with the same armor as the previous ones scattered on the floor of that great room.

The place was huge and seemed to have large windows covered by curtains that prevented the passage of light.

Skyler lit her arms to brighten the place. After she did that, Malcom approached one of these windows to open it and carefully pulled the rope that would open the curtains.

When the sunlight entered, the room took on a completely different atmosphere.

It was a huge place with long tables near the walls and a carpet with the symbol of the house on the floor that connected the entrance with a throne located at the end of the room.

On the ceiling, huge chandeliers that would hold candles, were adorned by large spider webs. At the same time, various pictures covered the walls where the gigantic windows did not take part.

Malcom opened the rest of the curtains, and the room was lit in such a way that it seemed a completely different place.

"It looks like a church," Skyler commented, walking through the room adorned with deteriorated skeletons, "If you remove the skeletons and place benches, it will look like a church..."

Malcom approached one of the paintings on the sides of the great hall. When he got close enough, Malcom saw a tall figure with a red cloak.

He was not able to completely see what the figure looked like, as it was covered with the cloak from head to toe. It was obviously thought that the figure was not of a living, just like the skeletons.

Malcom looked closer and realized that it was a figure inside a big frame, a painting so huge and realistic that it almost fooled him.

He noticed as well that on the tall figure's hand and cloak was a symbol of a kingdom. On the figure's chest was an enormous chain that exhibited the jewel that Malcom had taken from the pedestal.

"It's a throne room… This doesn't make sense!" The young man suddenly said, almost as if the idea was completely unacceptable. He kept his eyes on the huge painting, trying to figure out what was amiss.

Skyler, who was walking towards the throne at the end of the room, asked, "Why do you think so?"

Malcom looked at the rest of the paintings before his gaze focused on certain places in the room. He then noticed some small circular tables that looked unorganized and out of place.

"This seems like an important place. There are cadres of different rulers in this kingdom, and there are too many dead soldiers. It seems that there was a gigantic battle. Why would they leave the place like that?"

The girl was sitting on the throne and crossing her legs. While she smiled, she said, "The throne suits me..."

Malcom shook his head with a wry smile before he started walking towards a book lying in the corner of the room.

"Well, it is not certain that it was a battle, you know..." Skyler continued.

Malcom was unconvinced. He stopped and then looked at her, "What are you talking about?"

"All the dead are from the same side!" Skyler pointed out, as if it was an obvious thing, "Where are the corpses of the enemies? If they buried this place during a battle, the death of the other side should be here."

Malcom watched with surprise at the young woman who was looking at him with a smile from the throne and approaching one of the skeletons on the ground.

"You are right. So what would it be?" He asked seriously while surveying the skeletons carefully.

The young man began to check the armor of the corpses to see the damage and to get an idea of what injuries those men had suffered.

"This wall behind me does not seem empty? Shouldn't there be a painting or something, don't you think?" She asked.

"There should be a large flag attached to the wall with the shield of the kingdom," Malcom replied instead as if he was not paying much attention to what she said. He was busy, staring at a huge cut in the armor of one of the skeletons.

The young woman turned to look at the wall and saw how there was something torn that was now on the ground.

While Malcom added, "Something with a sword attacked this dude."

Malcom ran his hand over the wound as Skyler rose from the throne and walked slightly towards the fallen banner that seemed to cover something.

"Many dead soldiers…." Malcom began to follow his own thoughts "And all of the same side attacked by swords ..."

At that moment, Malcom found the answer, and his eyes quickly went to the young woman who raised the banner from the ground, discovering what was below it.

Slash!

"Ah!" Skyler yelled in surprise. Because just as she moved the cloth, she felt a huge piercing pang in her abdomen. It was caused by the creature that was revealed under the banner.

Skyler could barely hold her breath. The successor could see nothing but a disembodied blur passing through her eyes, and her body rose through the air beyond her control.

The sting in her abdomen was a heat throughout her body that she had never felt. She couldn't take a breath of air and in that fraction of a second.

She could only hear a guttural and intelligible whisper just before hitting the wall on the other side of the room. It was as hot as the flames that the young woman was unable to conjure or control.

In the next second, Skyler felt her back slam into the wall abruptly, and she felt like spitting blood, trying hard to get some air to breathe.

The blood in her mouth gave her a taste of iron that she had never felt, and her hazy gaze settled on Malcom, who saw her surprised.

Malcom was barely able to focus his eyes on Skyler, who was moving the banner from the floor only for a fraction of a second after the young woman bounced off a wall behind the boy on the other side of the room.

Malcom turned his head quickly and watched as Skyler fell with her mouth full of blood and a strange creature advancing with incredible speed towards her.

"Skyler!" He screamed with all the strength in his lungs as he activated the magic treasure in his boots to the best of his ability and shot towards the young woman to save her.

The Marked came to her just as the creature was about to deliver a coup de grace. Malcom kicked the creature with all the force that its treasure could conjure, and he managed to throw the creature to the other side of the room.

Malcom watched Skyler, who held her bleeding abdomen and saw the young man scarred with eyes of panic and confusion.

Behind both of them, the creature stood up, and Malcom laid his eyes on it.

"A Sun Guardian!"

An incredible terror invaded his heart with force when he understood the situation in which they were, never in all his hunts. Something like this had happened, and right there it was next to him.

In that instant, Malcom, with Skyler's injured body behind him, felt like death held his hand firmly.