Legacy
Chapter 20

It began asonly the smallest of twinkles in the fading distance. But even fromafar it took no time for the demons to set their sights upon it.

What hadstarted off as nearly invisible to the naked eye soon began to growto a far more visible size. And as the twinkle grew, several smallerballs of golden light began to swirl around it. The spectacle wasnothing short of miraculous.

But thedemons had no fondness for such things. Instinct told them thatwhatever it was that had invaded their new kingdom, it had to bedealt with in a most severe way. Their advance was cautious, but inlittle time they would be upon their prey.

To such aradiance did the golden light grow that the demons were forced tohalt their advance as their eyes couldn’t handle such brightness.

From thenow blinding glow burst an angel composed entirely of golden light. Her appearance would have been enough to send a person to theirknees. But the demons would do no such thing for her. To them, thenewly arrived angel was nothing more than something that deservedonly to be torn to pieces.

With herhead lowered and her eyes closed, the angel was oblivious to the factthat the demons had begun a mad charge. There were thousands of thehideous creatures and there was nothing that was going to stop them.

Raising herhead and opening her tired eyes, the angel looked as if she had justwoken from a thousand year slumber. The first thing she saw uponwaking was the horde of demons quickly narrowing the dwindling gap.

Rising tosuch a level that the demons couldn’t reach her, the angel spreadher golden wings. A blinding light then burst from her body,obliterating every demon in which it came into contact. Trailingdemons attempted to flee but the speed with which the light wastraveling could not be matched by mere feet.

Not onlydid the light cleanse the world of the demons, but it spread aroundthe world, returning the Earth back to its once pristine condition. The barren land became green again with grass and trees. And onceempty oceans again filled with water. The sky, which had been a mostgrim shade of red, was reborn a sparkling shade of blue.

What hadtaken mere moments to destroy was brought back just as quickly.

With theworld restored, the angel fell. The price she had paid was a heavyone and there was little time left for her. When she turned her gazeto the sky, the Angel of Golden Light burst into hundreds ofsparkling, golden butterflies of light.

Looking nowas if she had woken only from a momentary slumber, the Angel ofGolden Light again opened her eyes. She had curled herself into afetal position and was now surrounded by the planets and the stars. With her hands cupped before her face, the angel began to blow everso gently into them. And when enough life had been expelled from herlungs, she opened her hands, allowing the Earth its freedom. It roseto a height just before the angel’s eye, which dwarfed the mostfavored of celestial bodies by a hundred fold.

There hadbeen no power hungry madman imposing his will upon a world incapableof defending itself, nor had there been any mass slaughter of theinnocents. Hell had never been unleashed upon the Earth and demonsnever roamed the land. The world was just as it had always been. And one could replace no great fault in that.

With noworldwide cataclysm to deal with, Archer could continue to take timeout each day to perfect his craft. The small target set up on a treewould have been near impossible for most to hit, but Archer was farbetter than most, and hitting his mark was no great task. So deepwas his concentration that little could break it.

But onething could always distract the bowman, no matter how deep he hadburied himself in training. When his wife and daughter appeared,Archer would give them the undivided attention they so rightfullydeserved. And this day would be no different.

The life ofa wanderer left Aiko with little responsibility. So on pleasantdays, she would spend her time honing her fighting technique. Aikowould replace a flat rock in a river or stream and upon it perfect themoves that few could match.

Afterunleashing wave after wave of furious strikes, Aiko would grantherself a well deserved break. But on this day, like too many othersbefore it, Aiko slipped on a wet rock and fell face first into theriver.

With nary acare in the world, Jaycee had ample time to devote each day to lyingatop her favorite hill and watch the world slowly pass her by. Withsuch beauty set before her, it was difficult for Jaycee to be pulledfrom her daydreams. Her hopes and wants always came to the forefrontof her thoughts during such moments, and few things in her life weremore important than what she hoped the future would bring.

Having justas few worries as Jaycee, James was afforded the opportunity to liebeside her and gaze at the same beauty the untouched world had tooffer. His thoughts, too, centered on the hopes and dreams for thefuture.

Thesplendor of such moments far exceeded the beauty of the scenery thatseemed to have been set out especially for them.

Neitherhad to tell the other their hopes for the future as their dreams werealways one in the same. And their dreams all involved each other.

As she hadbecome accustomed to after humiliation, Aiko made her way back homedripping wet and shaking visibly from her unexpected dip.

Herprogress as well as her whimpering would come to an unexpected halton this day when Aiko encountered a young man on her way home. Heseemed to be almost mesmerized by the blossoms on the trees. Forsome reason, it felt to Aiko as if the stranger was seeing such athing for the very first time.

When Sagemet eyes with Aiko, he quickly became fixated. There was somethingthat wouldn’t allow him to take his eyes off her. Never had hecome across the girl, so it bewildered Sage as to why she felt sofamiliar to him.

The feelingthat had ensnared Sage had done the same to Aiko. She felt aninstant connection to the young man with whom she had never crosspaths.

Having toknow why they felt such familiarity with a complete stranger, Aikoand Sage began their anxious approaches.

A goldentwinkle thousands of miles away was beckoning the Angel of GoldenLight back home. She had done her job well and had earned anotherlong slumber.

The planetsand the stars became only a passing blur as the angel made herascent. At such a speed did she travel that she eventually becameonly a streak of golden light. And before long, the Angel of GoldenLight had faded away.

For now theworld was out of harm’s way. And once again it rested pristinelyas the crown jewel of the Universe, nestled safely in the mind of theMaster.