Chapter 1  Innocence

 

This is just one of those things that couldn’t get any worse.

 

Arrowny runs through the past little while, just to get the details clear in his own mind.

 

Both Saphir and Justin have been knocked unconscious...

 

Brad is fighting Kenneth on his own... and judging by how long it is taking, there is little hope that he will be able to help

 

Crystal and Adam are back at the Dragoon Warrior’s offices in Wolfville... on the other side of North America...

 

Sky Render was knocked a good twenty feet away from him... and he can feel his broken ribs digging into his internal organs as he tries, and fails, to get up from his knees.

 

And Joseph is standing tall over him, smiling.

 

They’re on the roof of the Apocoplyse Incorporate head office building, over one hundred floors above the streets of Los Angeles... and it’s raining.

 

Yup... this couldn’t get much worse.

 

As Joseph reaches down, grabbing the back of Ryan’s jacket to lift him off his feet, Arrowny figures this is his last chance to try and distract him... and there’s only one thing he can think of that just might do the trick...

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

At six years old, a boy may think it’s really neat to be able to have a snowball fight in the middle of a July heat wave.

 

At eight, the ability to burn anything you touch might seem a bit frightening.

 

At nine, electrically shocking the bullies who are beating you at school may seem like a blessing.

 

But, for a ten year old... or, for that matter... anybody in the world... waking up one morning in the middle of a kilometre wide crater that used to be your hometown is a horrendous thing to have to deal with.

 

That’s pretty much the life of a little boy named Ryan Arrowny... who now sits where his bedroom used to be. Everything within a kilometre of his home is gone now... the Elementary and High Schools... his friend’s houses... his mother, and father...

 

... everything.

 

Through his tears, he can almost make out some slightly human shapes... four children, a little bit younger than he is... two girls wearing white dresses... two boys wearing white pants and shirts... all four with white hair.

 

Ryan’s hopes of finding a survivor shatter when they vanish from his sight... just figments of his imagination... but the gentle voice that comes from behind him is real enough.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

The voice belongs to an older man, with shoulder length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Ryan looks up at him with pleading eyes...

 

“I didn’t mean to! It just... happened...”

 

“I know.” The man sits down on the dirt beside the boy. “My name is Donald Gilbert. What’s yours?”

 

“I’m Ryan.”

 

“Well Ryan... I want to help you. I know that you have special powers,” the boy looks at him in shock, but he places a calming hand on his shoulder, “but I want you to come with me so that I can train you how to use them... so that there will never be another accident like the one today.”

 

Ryan hides his eyes behind his hands...

 

“Do you think I’m a freak?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then where do my powers come from?”

 

“I think that they’re magical.”

 

Ryan’s just stares blankly ahead...

 

“Magical...”

 

Donald stands, and wipes the dirt from his pants.

 

“Ryan... I’m part of a group called Protectors... and if you come with me, you can join us in a few years if you want to. We’re the good guys... we help people.”

 

Ryan stands up beside him, and Donald places a supportive hand on his shoulder as he guides him away...

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Seven years ago, Ryan Arrowny was brought to this place... the Wolfville Wizarding Academy, by Donald Gilbert, a Protector. For seven years, he has been studying Magical History, Potions and Herbology... as well as some more traditional muggle subjects, like Philosophy and Physics. And for seven years, he has been working to gain control over his magical powers... so that the Ultima accident which decimated his town will never happen again.

 

He has also been trained in the way of the Protectors, always hoping that he would be able to help people in the same way that Donald had helped him.

 

Now, after seven years of preparation, he will officially become a member of the Protectors.

 

Ryan paces back and forth nervously in the preparation room. A soft knock on the door startles him...

 

“Come in.”

 

Donald steps into the room, dressed in a bright white ceremonial uniform, with a sword in his hands.

 

“Nervous?”

 

“Were you nervous when you were about to become a Protector?”

 

Donald smiles... but avoids the question.

 

“Have you chosen a weapon yet?” Over the years, Ryan has been trained to fight with a number of different weapons... swords, axes, spears, knives, clubs.

 

“No... all I’ve got right now are my throwing knives.” He points to his denim jacket, which is hanging up on a coat rack at the far side of the room... the knives take up all the room in its inside pockets.

 

“Well... I’ve got something here that you might like.” He hands the Sword over to Ryan... a beautifully crafted, curved katana like blade, with a white hilt. He holds the sword like it was made for him... perfect balance and weight...

 

“It’s called Sky Render.”

 

“It’s beautiful...”

 

“It’s yours!”

 

Ryan smiles, and returns his gaze to the weapon, marvelling at the way the light bounces off its surface, until he feels a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Ryan... it’s time for the ceremony.” Donald leads him out of the small room, and down the hallway. They pass a number of students of the Academy, some of them Ryan considers to be friends, on their way to a larger room at the other end of the school.

 

When they enter the room, Donald points Ryan toward a small painted circle on the floor, instructing him to stand there. As soon as he stops walking, a booming voice fills the room...

 

“WHAT IS THE DUTY OF A PROTECTOR?”

 

Ryan looks around for the source of the voice, but finds none. He looks to Donald, who nods his head, trying to get him to answer.

 

“A Protector’s duty... is to give his life for the greater good of the world.”

 

“AND, WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO IN ORDER TO PERFORM THAT DUTY?”

 

“I will do... whatever it takes.”

 

Donald steps forward, and hands Ryan a small crystal vile.

 

“SOMETIMES, EVEN THE PURE AND INNOCENT CAN STAND BETWEEN YOU AND THE GREATER GOOD.”

 

Ryan hears a strange noise behind him, and turns to see a great white unicorn standing at the back of the room.

 

“SOMETIMES, EVEN THE MOST PURE AND INNOCENT MUST BE SACRAFICED.”

 

The unicorn walks slowly toward him, stopping when the tip of its gold horn is only a few centimetres from Ryan’s face.

 

“ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRAFICE THOSE WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF THE GREATER GOOD, REGARDLESS OF THEIR GUILT OR INNOCENCE?”

 

It takes Ryan a few minutes to understand what the voice is asking him to do. A unicorn is the symbol of absolute innocence and purity... and he is being asked to sacrifice it.

 

Slowly, Ryan raises Sky Render, pointing the tip of the blade at the unicorn’s throat. He glances over to Donald, hoping to get some signal that he’s doing what’s expected of him... but his teacher gives none.

 

Arrowny takes a deep, calming breath... and plunges Sky Render through the throat of the unicorn. The creature doesn’t pull back... it doesn’t try to fight, or run... it just lets its silver blood flow down the sword’s blade, coating Ryan’s hand in liquid glass.

 

Ryan is shocked at how easy it was to push the sword through flesh and bone...

 

Donald walks up beside him, pointing to the small vile...

 

“Unicorn’s blood is a symbol of our devotion to the greater good... and it gives us the opportunity to perform one last act of protection.”

 

Understanding, Ryan holds the vile under the hand that is grasping his sword. The unicorn’s blood drips from his hand, filling the vile within a few seconds. As soon as he pulls it away, a magical stopper appears, sealing the contents.

 

Donald nods his head, and smiles...

 

“Congratulations Ryan... you are now a Protector.”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Because of the... special... circumstances of Ryan’s past, the Protectors saw fit to give him nearly everything he would need to start his new life... an new life that he has chosen to live right here in Wolfville.

 

The mystical energies used to hide the Wolfville Wizarding Academy from ‘normal people’, although necessary and beneficial, do have a drawback... they attract monsters and demons like some kind of magnet.

 

Ryan chose to stay in Wolfville, and hunt down the foul creatures that come to this town to feed off the magical energies.

 

He has asked for a small apartment, a set of weapons, some research material (not that he intended to use that last one... he just thought it would look better if the Protectors thought he was going to do some reading from time to time), and free reign over his own life until the time he is called forth to perform his duty.

 

They had granted each one of his requests.

 

Not only did he get his apartment, he actually got a whole house. A nice, large, old house. On the second floor, there are four bedrooms (nice, large bedrooms), and two washrooms. On the main floor there is a living room, with a television (a nice, large television), a kitchen with all the modern connivances (including a nice, large fridge), a dining room, a library (with all of his new books), a small study with a desk, and a little room with a computer. The basement has two more bedrooms, another washroom, and enough space for his weapons rack (a nice, large weapons rack) with some extra room to make a small training area left over.

 

‘Yup,’ Ryan thinks to himself as he sits down to watch his new television, ‘things are looking up!’

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

Los Angeles is a city unlike any other... a man can commit any crime, and if he has enough money, he can get away with it.

 

And Joseph has more money than any man could ever hope for.

 

He sits in his office, on the one hundred and fifth floor of the Apocolypse Incorporate office building, looking around at the things he has collected over the years... works of art... weapons... mystical trinkets of every variety.

 

He stands from his high backed leather chair, pushing it back against the marble desk which comprised the totality of the room’s furniture. He turns, and gazes out into the night sky through the full wall size window at the back of the office.

 

As he sees his own reflection in the glass, he realizes just how menacing he must look to somebody who is not familiar with him... over seven feet tall... long brown hair... blue and black symbols tattooed around his eyes... and muscles... muscles everywhere. Sometimes he forgets the way he looks now... it’s so different from before.

 

There is a knock on the office door. He doesn’t have to respond... he’s expecting Kenneth... but he is not expecting the other one.

 

“Sir,” Kenneth approaches the desk without fear, something which most people cannot hide in Joseph’s presence, “Justin has an update on his report.” Under normal circumstances, Kenneth would look truly impressive... dressed in an expensive black suit, with his short blond hair. He looks more like a bodyguard than anything else... but there is so much more to him. He is a lawyer, a scientist, a pilot, a driver, an assassin, a cook... the list goes on and on.

 

Joseph turns to face the two men standing in his office. The other one, Justin... young kid... wears a lot of black... computer genius... he seems a little apprehensive, but he’s not afraid... and that’s something Joseph respects about him.

 

“Go ahead, Justin... give me the report.”

 

Justin nods...

 

“Sir. I have completed the security upgrades you asked for. Nobody will ever be able to break into this building... ever. Every possible entry point has been secured, and the new computer programs controlling the autoguns in the hallways have been given a full test. They work perfectly. On floors thirty and above, anybody who’s an employee is safe... anybody who’s not is dead.”

 

Joseph smiles...

 

“Impressive.”