A Guardian's Possession. Amy Blankenship

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СКАЧАТЬ for the onslaught. Claws and steel met resulting in a bloodbath that left Toya soaked within a few moments. His clothing was ripped as the enemy dug their claws into his flesh but Toya didn’t slow down.

      Had anyone been watching, they would have witnessed Toya in his battling glory. Despite the wounds on his body and the blood spilled, he was beautiful to behold… when his silver wings shattered into existence, he became the essence of a lethal angel.

      The attacks suddenly paused and Toya came to a stop. He was now kneeling on one knee with his arms extended out to the side… the daggers clutched tightly in his grip. His breathing was heavy and his ebony and silver hair fluttered in the breeze. Long bangs hung down over his intense silver eyes nearly hiding their intent.

      After a few moments of silence, the remaining demons surged forward and Toya growled in frustration. It was time to end this… this was Kyou’s job to take care of his lands for crying out loud. Bringing the daggers forward, he crossed them in front of him. The combined power of the weapons swirled and writhed forming a glowing orb. The sphere began to grow and soon encompassed him completely.

      The following explosion wiped out everything including what was left of the village. Toya lowered the daggers and slowly but gracefully rose to his feet. Tilting his head back, he stared up at the sky that was mostly obscured with dust and debris. Ignoring the stench of burning flesh around him, he walked across the now barren ground thanking whatever gods were up there that no humans had been alive upon his arrival.

      â€˜This is what we’re reduced to,’ he thought sadly. ‘Destroying villages just to stop Hyakuhei’s sick and demented schemes.’

      Toya sighed and his wings once more burst from his back, lifting him above the polluted ground and high into the night sky. Kyoko was waiting for him to rescue her and he was determined to find her. As he vanished into the night, a single silver feather floated to the ground and landed in the hand of a small child who had hidden and witnessed it all.

      As the small fingers closed around the shimmering feather… it vanished.

      *****

      Hyakuhei stepped from a void not far from the cave. It would not do to give his secret location away… unless it was Kyoko who joined him. He could feel Kamui coming and wondered if the boy would make it this far before realizing the effects of confronting his nightmares would have on him. If the boy noticed his innocence dissolving… would he still come?

      His long midnight hair swayed in the cool breeze as the muscles within his body flexed. Knowing if Kamui did make it to him… he would have to fight his own.

      â€œSo be it,” Hyakuhei whispered darkly.

      *****

      Kamui felt the icy chill of the wind cooling the fire that boiled within him. He could also see the black tips of his wings out of the corner of his eyes and it scared him. This was why he had buried those memories. The longer he held onto the dangerous memories… all the rage of the past… the harder it was to breathe.

      The wind changed direction and a feather floated past him as he slowed his flight. Kamui’s eyes widened in terror. Black … the feather was solid black.

      He turned in panic, looking for the black winged man that haunted him so. No one was there. His glittering eyes slowly turned to glance at his own wings and the breath left his lungs as if someone had kicked him in the chest. He had his father’s wings.

      â€œNo! I will not become you!” Kamui wrapped his arms around himself in denial. “I will not become you!” he screamed out just as he spotted Shinbe in the distance. “Make it go away, please… just make it go away,” he whispered not wanting Shinbe to see him with ebony feathers. Letting his body fall, he quickly became enveloped within the trees.

      Landing hard on the forest floor, Kamui kneeled there for a moment before opening his eyes. The first thing his bright eyes fell on was his black wings. With an anguished cry, Kamui grasped one of them in a painful grip. He cried out in agony as he tried to rip the midnight wing from his very flesh.

      Letting the feathery appendage go, he let his body fall exhausted on the ground. Tears fell from his eyes when he saw the grass around him hiss with the evil power he held deep within his very soul. It was leaking out of him like a plague that would kill everything it touched… hate, rage, jealousy, and untamed raw power. The one gift his father had given him was pure evil!

      Curling up into a tight ball, his body started to glow and shimmer with every heartbeat as that power formed a tight cocoon around him. If he broke free of the bondage, would he be evil incarnate?

      â€œDon’t let this happen to me?” he begged quietly as he fought with every breath. “Don’t let me become the nightmare my father wants me to be.”

      Shinbe’s lips thinned feeling Kamui dead ahead. He could sense Kamui’s power becoming unstable and it didn’t bode well. “Come on Kamui, pull it together… Kyoko will need us.” Something black floated by him and he quickly snatched it from the wind.

      A midnight feather… but it wasn’t Hyakuhei’s. Shinbe’s troubled gaze darted around the vicinity in search for the true owner… for Kamui. “You don’t want to do this Kamui.” His voice held a hint of fear. “If you open the door to such destruction… we may never get it closed again… please.”

      The forest below him was shimmering with a strange life force and Shinbe quickly headed straight for it. A large blue sphere rested in a small clearing lighting up everything around it in a vibrant blue hue. Landing beside it, Shinbe felt the dangerous conflict raging within the sphere. His amethyst eyes showed his sadness as he took in the ebony feathers that still littered the ground.

      â€œKamui?” Shinbe whispered as he reached out and gently touched the swirling color on the surface of the orb.

      The second his hand touched the sphere, the conflict inside stabilized for a moment… turning pure. Shinbe’s eyes slid closed as he took Kamui's essence inside him, letting it build. All of Kamui’s pure love and innocence… all his concealed malice, also the untamed power he drew from those feelings.

      Kamui opened his eyes feeling someone there, but all he could see was the cage he had built around himself. Through the thick walls, he could see an amethyst aura and knew Shinbe was there. “Don’t look…” He whispered as he lowered his head, “…I don’t want you to see the truth.”

      He could hear Kamui’s heartbreaking request. While the link between him and Kamui was so strong, Shinbe used his telepathic power to reach out to him through the barrier. He laid his forehead against the shield and pressed his palms on each side… making his muscles push and pull at the same time.

      Sending his voice inside Kamui’s barrier, Shinbe tried to reason with him. “Kamui, let it go… you do not need to fight Hyakuhei on your own. Not like this. We will do it as brothers… together. But right now there is someone who needs us more. Kyoko needs you Kamui.”

      â€œKyoko? But… I am not a true brother,” Kamui cried from inside his cell. He could see his own reflection and it was disturbing as black eyes stared back at him. “I’ll never be that… regardless of how much I want it… need it. You don’t know what’s inside me trying to come out. What if I СКАЧАТЬ