The Last Guardian

Chapter_40: The 6th Level-Reckoning

As dawn approached, the werewolves carried Johnathan away with them to an unknown location. They returned to their human forms and loaded his unconscious body on the back of a truck and drove away...

Meanwhile, Brother Farid was explaining about the entire incident leading to this moment to Billy and Raven. Billy looked at Raven with worried eyes and said-

“I know who’s behind this-I was hoping they wouldn’t retaliate but-”

“Who are you talking about?” asked Brother Farid.

“Who else? The necromancers-the evil practitioners of black magic- the Russian Mafia!” replied Billy.

“I thought they were finished after that incident-”remarked Farid.

“Oh no! They got deep ties and their network is huge- hmm, Goblins and Lycans you say? Of course! They know they can’t defeat Johnny one on one so they decided to overwhelm him with sheer numbers- Dang it!” cursed Billy.

“So how do we find him now?” asked Farid.

“It won’t be easy- he could have gone anywhere in the city and we don’t have the time to search-if he’s okay, he will return soon but I highly doubt that- did he unlock the next level of his powers?” asked Billy.

“I would have taught him, if he had the patience to wait, but no-”replied Farid.

“Oh hell- Raven, you were telling me earlier about something going on underground-”asked Billy.

“Yes I have noticed new recruits joining the Russians- the Mafia is reviving and this time they are onto something big- I’ve heard that a new boss has come from Russia-”she replied.

“Hmm-I am not quite sure where to look for him- His phone’s been turned off-”remarked Billy.

“Don’t worry about that- I’m tracking his last known location on my phone-it says that his phone was turned off-about an hour ago-five miles away from hear-at the city cemetery?” said Raven scrolling her phone.

“Let’s go-if we’re lucky, he might still be there-”said Billy.

“Wait-let me grab my stuff-”said Farid.

Half an hour later-the sun was beginning to rise and Billy, Farid and Raven were standing at the cemetery looking for Johnathan but all they could see were signs of struggle, marks of claws, overturned tombstones and drops of blood-Johnny was nowhere to be found.

Brother Farid had an idea though- he found a way to find him- from his pocket he took out a small piece of transparent stone.

“Good God! Farid- I haven’t seen that thing in a hundred years-”remarked Billy.

“What’s that?” asked Raven.

“Time catcher-it shows you the events that has occurred in a particular place-”replied Farid rubbing the stone in his hands.

“Will it work? ”asked Billy.

“For Johnny’s sake-I hope it does” replied Farid and closed his eyes and began to chant some magical words.

The stone immediately glowed in a bluish light and images began to appear on it’s surface. Raven and Billy moved in closer to watch. The stone showed the werewolves in their monstrous appearance and Johnny with his sword battling them off one by one. They watched in awe as the fragmented images of Johnathan fighting off the horde of monsters began to appear. And then they saw him getting kicked on the ground and the images cut to the scenes where he was loaded in a truck and taken away and then the images stopped and the stone turned back to normal again.

“I knew it! He wasn’t ready- Gosh dang-Johnny why do you have to be so stubborn-”remarked Billy.

“Which way did they take him?” asked Raven.

“That way-”replied Billy pointing towards the eastern road “the Mafia are definitely involved- but we have one problem- we don’t know where on earth did they take him!” he added.

“I will handle that- I will infiltrate the Mafia if necessary-I know where they have their bases-”said Raven enthusiastically.

“Good I will come with you- I know they can’t kill him but they can hurt him badly and as far as I can tell they are fixin’ to get revenge for the killing of their former mob boss-”said Billy.

“I will come too- he’s hurt- he will need my healing abilities-”remarked Farid.

The three of them immediately took off in a mini van to rescue Johnathan but little did they knew that he hardly required any help.

Deep inside an underground lair, Johnathan was seated on a chair with his hands tied behind his back. He hadn’t woken up yet and his scars and wounds were still bleeding. On the floor, a strange mystical circle was drawn around him, riddled with strange symbols. Dmitri stood in front of smirking along with his men and the Alpha.

“What a sorry sight- and he’s supposed to be the Guardian? Protector of this city? Ha ha!” laughed Dmitri.

“Wake him up!!” he ordered his men.

One of the goons took a bottle of water and splashed it on Johnathan's face. He immediately regained consciousness and woke up to a sheering pain all throughout his body. He raised his head and looked at Dmitri-

"Who are you? Why am I here?" he asked.

"Who am I huh? My name's is Dmitri Presnyakov and I am your death! You've done me great losses- you've killed my brother and I brought you here to skin you alive-"growled Dmitri looking straight in his face.

Johnathan smiled-

"So you're the mafia- well you can try killing me just like that Ivan did and you'll end up like him too-"he said.

Dmitri laughed-

"Confidence! I like that- but my men are not like Ivan's and neither am I like him- you were almost beaten to death by them-had it not for my son-" he replied.

Johnathan looked closely at the man standing behind Dmitri- the one he called his son. He was tall and bulky with short hair- this was the same werewolf Alpha that attacked him earlier, except now he was in his human form. He was surprised to know that all those werewolves he fought earlier were Dmitri's men.

What was going on with this Mafia, he wondered, Ivan had a Vampire's lair and his brother has werewolves?

"So this is the way you fight? Sending hundreds of men all at once? Release me and I'll show you now what I can do!" he jerked his shackles and yelled at Dmitri.

"Well you're right- You were outnumbered but I will bet you anything that you can't even take on one-"he said looking at his son.

"Release him- let's see if he can stand against my son - Genghis!!" he said placing his hand on his son's shoulder.

The men immediately untied him. Johnathan stood up with great difficulty- the wounds were still hurting like hell. The men then pushed him towards a large iron cage- he understood that he was going to have a cage fight Genghis. He walked in from one end and the huge Genghis walked in from the other end. The men then immediately closed the entrances.

"Let's see how you do against him- huh? If you defeat him- I will let you go and if you lose, well- he will tear your body into many pieces-" said Dmitri and laughed.

He sure was confident in his son's ability and Johnathan wondered how he would fight the giant in his current condition- he didn't even have his sword.

"God help me!" he prayed as Genghis approached him with his huge fists.

Johnathan started to back off- trying not to be in his range. Suddenly he felt a strange tingling in his arms- like a tiny pulse of electricity running through his veins. He thought it was just the pain acting up but as the giant Genghis drew closer to punch him he felt that sensation again.

"Scared already? Look at you running away- Coward!! Ha ha!" Dmitri taunted from outside the cage.

Genghis growled at him and rushed in with his hands to the air. Johnathan instinctively raised his left arm to block his punch and as he blocked it a loud metallic sound emanated from his arm. Genghis screamed in pain and backed off. It was as if he had punched a solid wall of iron. Johnathan wondered what happened and to his amazement he saw that a strange shape was materializing throughout his arm. He rolled up his sleeve and saw that a silver colored element was beginning to cover his arm like a shield!!

Dmitri was shocked. He couldn't understand what had just happened. Genghis rubbed his wrists and shook the pain off and rushed at him again...