The Secrets of the World we Live In

Chapter 2: The Village of Light

Brand's POV

"Brandon?...BRANDON?" Alex yelled shocking me back into consciousness. I look at her baffled, trying to remember what she was just talking about.

"We're you even listening?" She asked with a hint of insult in her tone.

"Yes" I said trying to make it believable as ever, but her death stare was unavoidable.

"Well can you blame me? My mom just died right in front of me."

"I know, and I'm so sorry for your loss. If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel." Alex tried to comfort me.

"No you don't, no one does" I exclaimed with the feeling of loneliness spreading through my heart.

"Yes I do. You see Brandon, your mother wasn't the first one to lose her soul to the dark souls. Other people lost loved ones to them, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours...mothers. Long ago, when I was a little kid, I had this friend. We used to live in the village of light, where we practice and train. As little kids, our powers weren't developed yet so all we did was play. One day, my friend and I were playing near the pier whilst our parents were training. I remember the golden rays of sunlight dancing around on the open dance floor of the ocean, ships standing tall protecting our village's pride. The people working hard, moving from place to place awaiting the next chapter of their lives. I remember thinking "How lucky am I to be living in a place like this?" I guess I jinxed because before I knew it dark souls started to emerge out of the water, destroying everything in their way, burning our homes, consuming the souls of our loved ones, forcing us to run away. My friend grabbed my hand and dragged me to safety. It took my mind a while to process what was going on. Before I know it, dark souls were all around us. They demanded us to point them towards the light crystal, when we didn't answer they took me and started to consume my soul. Before they could finish, my sis...friend convinced them to take her instead. They had to leave one of us as warning,so they killed her and left me behind to suffer the loss. For ten years I've lived with the guilt of her death, the anger of their actions and the promise of vengeance I gave to my friend. So you aren't the only one that suffered from them Brandon, but that just means that you will have more allies to defeat them." Alex explained with tears threatening to drop from her eyes. She was talking about her friend, but I knew that she was talking about someone else, someone closer to her. Then I discovered, my mother's death wasn't the only death that needed vengeance, I'm not the only one that lost something to the dark souls. That feeling made me feel more powerful inside.

"I'm really sorry about that Alex. We'll get through this...together" I gave her a reassuring smile which was met with a crooked half smile.

After a few moments, Alex's story kept replaying in my head until I finally asked "What's the light crystal?"

Alex stared at me for a minute and answered, "It's this ancient relic that our kind has been protecting for millions of years, thousands of people gave up everything to protect it. It's said that it has the power to vanquish any and all dark souls which they why they want it so much."

"Wait, if you have a powerful weapon to defeat them why haven't you used it?"

"It's not that simple. The light crystal can only be used by the most powerful of creatures. Unlike the dark souls, it holds the power of what is good in the world, the purity and the innocence of people, it holds the light. Anyone that's not powerful enough can get vanquished just by holding it, which is why my people have been searching for a very long time for a suitable creature to withstand its power when they came to a conclusion that we needed a guardian." She explained.

"Then why didn't you get a guardian? Isn't the village of light full of them?" I asked.

"It's full of supernatural creatures for sure, but guardians haven't been seen since the invasion I told you about. That day the dark souls killed off all the guardians to make sure no one can activate the crystal, but right before he was killed Doroxth conjured a spell to make the crystal choose a suitable successor when the time comes. Ever since then, everyone has been searching for that one successor that can save all of us. It had to be someone strong, pure and full of light. The crystal chose you Brandon."

My mind was overcrowded with questions, but I was too overwhelmed to even ask one of them.

Alex and I were in her car making our way to the village of light she talked about. She stated that there were people there that can help train me to defeat the dark souls once and for all. Whilst I was waiting for the village's sight, I couldn't shake the thought of something. How would the dark souls know that I am the guardian on my birthday when Alex didn't know until her vision? Was it a coincidence? Or were they waiting all these years for this day? I couldn't just sit there and let that thought consume my mind, therefore, I decided to ask Alex.

"How did they know?" I blurtted out.

"What?" Alex asked confused.

"How did they know that I'm the guardian when you didn't find out until this morning? How would they know where I lived? Don't tell me it's a coincidence because I don't think that me finding out that I'm a guardian, meeting you, fighting the dark souls and watching my mother die can happen all in one day." I explained my question.

Alex breathed out a big sigh and replied, " I think that when I saw the vision of you fighting them this morning, it triggered something, something that gave them all the information they needed to find you. Maybe that's how they found you. I know today hasn't been the best day Brandon..."

"You can say that again" I thought sarcastically.

"But, it will get better, when you defeat the dark souls it will get better." she reassured me.

After a long, impatient and boring road trip, a magnificent and breathtaking sight came to view. The sun rays of the rising monarch in the sky spread all around us, breaking through the transparent window hitting my soft and sensitive skin, the sky mixed it's colours with its rulers to make a wonderful and colourful blue and orange sky. At that moment, I forgot about everything. I forgot about my fear, my powers, my destiny. All I can think of at that moment was how wonderful this place was. Now I know what Alex meant when she described how beautiful this place was. However, the view's distraction didn't last long. Suddenly, memories of what happened yesterday blasted through the distraction wall in my mind. Me finding out who I am, finding out about the supernatural world, witnessing my mother's death right in front of me.

"We're here!" Alex announced.

I exited the car to be met with numerous of people all around me, walking, running, playing, training. The view was amazing. All around me were people training, people breaking every bone in their bodies to turn into wolves, peaceful personalities get transformed only with the formation of fangs, the movement of objects by itself with the witches' power of telekinesis. I kept searching for people that had the same powers as me, then I remembered that I was the last guardian.

My thoughts of the beautiful place was interrupted by Alex's voice, "People of light." Everyone started to direct their attention towards us, "In the past, our people have hid, got injured, lost loved ones and even died in the hands of the dark souls, but I am here today to announce that those days are over." With that, an ocean of muttering went through the crowd, "Yes, the prophecy is true. I have found the last living, powerful and dark soul destroyer guardian. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Brandon James, our one and only savior." Suddenly, the whole crowd erupted into a big cheer. I saw the rush of happiness and hope running through every single person in the crowd, then I understood that these people were imprisoned and I'm the only one that can free them. That was when I had another promise to fulfill, I promised to give these people their freedom back.

The next day, I started training. I wasn't really good. My trainer, Anu, was a warlock. He told me that the strongest power that I had was the power to protect myself and others, and if I could control that then I could control all of my other powers. For the next few weeks, I kept training harder and harder, they pushed me like I'd never been pushed before. I was ready. I could feel it in my bones, I was ready to defeat the dark souls...

That night, I had a dream about it, the night of my mother's death. I was still mourning her death, the only reason I haven't cried or grieved about it was because I was preoccupied with my training. However, tonight was the first night I actually cried. Startled from the memories, I jolted out of bed screaming my mother's name, with tears starting to take their path down my soft skin. I looked around the room, to only be met with darkness. I could only see one image. An image that has been scrolling through my mind ever since my birthday, screaming, giving me nightmares, warning me. It was my mom. I really miss you mom...

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