The Ten Guardians: The Mother Tree©

Chapter Three

Colson and Lone Wolf had altered their path several days before, leading them in the direction of a mountain range northwest of Dule Van. Colson had been the one who decided to alter their path, and Lone Wolf had followed with little comment. They moved far faster than the hiking pace of a human, yet not fast enough to be considered running. Regardless of their pace, Colson did not feel the fatigue of the journey as before.

They were traveling quickly towards a distant mountain through a lush forest filled with massive trees. The trees around them felt old and knowledgeable. Colson did not have the unique gift to speak to the trees, yet he could feel their presence and knew he had been noticed by them.

At first, Colson had a hard time trusting Lone Wolf, especially with such a fresh change in loyalties. He decided the best way to understand the jackal was to get to know him and to see where his loyalties fall through interaction. It had been years since Lone Wolf had spoken to anyone other than Ultaris, and even that was infrequent at best. It took some time, but eventually, Lone Wolf began to converse comfortably with Colson. Lone Wolf had made it clear that he no longer believed Ultaris had his people’s best interest at heart. He had never had their interests considered in any of his machinations. Now, instead of hunting dragons, Lone Wolf was hunting his creator.

Although it was a simple way of conversing, Colson found his honesty and the lack of plot and intrigue so often associated with magi and politics to be refreshing. They had blunt conversations about simple things, and it was wonderful. The more he spoke to Lone Wolf, the more he could see the integrity of the creature. He may have come from dark beginnings, but the moment the wool was removed from his eyes, he made specific decisions to alter his actions. Colson had respect for the once-feared nemesis of the human race and realized he even liked the Jackal.

“You are sure this is the path you wish to follow, Watergardian?” Lone Wolf asked.

Pondering his question, Colson thought Lone Wolf sounded regretful. He regarded his traveling companion and was reminded again of the fear which had gripped the human nations in the great war with the Jackals. It was before Colson had been alive, yet the fear ran generations deep. Colson no longer felt fear when gazing at the Jackal. He knew they had been created by Ultaris as a weapon to hunt down guardians and humans and that it would be foolish to ignore such a threat. However, it took the most powerful seeker in the world, a dragon, a royal-blood Dardwain, several magically gifted humans, and a kanidian, all with weapons created by the Guardian of Life, to defeat only two of the dragon guardians. It was difficult to remain humble with such power coursing through your body.

Colson could feel the humidity in the air and the moisture in the earth. He could sense the oceans all around him and feel the massive frozen icebergs at the poles of the world. He could have sucked the water from the ground and created a desert or intensified the humidity in the air to create a rainforest if he so wished.

However, he could also feel the consequences of his actions. Where would he put the humidity he pulled from the ground when creating the desert? How would he maintain the dryness of that region without constantly using his abilities to stop more moisture from falling there? He could use the moisture to help make the rainforest, but it would be a finite amount, not nearly enough to maintain the humid environment needed.

How would he illicit the guardian of wind’s help in maintaining the movement of the clouds to move water to his new rainforest? Rock would certainly be involved with creating a desert and could resent his actions, making it a struggle over territory. Lightning is always involved with rainstorms, so creating a rainforest would certainly enhance the power of the guardian of lightning, although that could be good or bad, depending on the relationship between the two guardians.

Currently, the guardian of lightning was a human woman named Grey, but Colson knew almost nothing about her. They shared a kinship and connection via rainstorms and thunderstorms since they usually appeared hand in hand, one strengthening the other. This way, the connection and bond felt natural. However, he also knew she had spent the last few decades as the host of a powerful parasitic entity and had the potential to be chaotic and temperamental.

There were many more intricacies, such as how the Guardian of Stone had a kinship with the Guardian of Fire since both were involved with volcanos, yet water was the antithesis of fire, so Stone could be swayed depending on their relationship with Water and Fire and their individual goals. There were positive and negative connections within all of the elemental guardians and countless possible interactions and consequences within those connections.

All of this had been imprinted on Colson’s mind when he became the Guardian of Water. To the mere human, it would have been impossible to know where to begin with all of the information, yet it felt nothing but natural to Colson as if he had always had such knowledge and responsibility.

Colson realized Lone Wolf was still staring at him, waiting for his response to his unanswered question.

“Yes, I have felt a pull from this direction for several days. If it isn’t another guardian, then it is something important enough that I can feel it from here, and we should investigate,” he replied without slowing their movement.

A minimum term of military service was required for all men and women under the rule of Jersal. Aconda was a protectorate of Jersal, so Colson had to serve when he came of age. Jersal had its own language, a breathy-sounding language, as if they used too much air when trying to speak. However, because of their priority in trade relations, everyone could understand and speak common from an early age, even if it was a second or even third language to most of their citizens.

When his service had begun, Colson found that Jersalians could not understand his way of speaking common. More often than not, his accent would land him in trouble, making people believe he was intoxicated or simple-minded. After mastering his accent, he decided to only use the dialect strategically to either put someone off guard or to annoy a certain bird with too many questions.

Because of his negative experience, Colson was careful to repress his native accent and speak clearly in common to Lone Wolf, especially with the pronunciation of more complex words. He knew first-hand what it was like to be judged for the way you speak, and if the Jackal was turning over a new leaf, he wanted the first known semi-peaceful Jackal to have the greatest chance of success possible.

The pair were traveling in silence when Lone Wolf suddenly slowed down. Colson noticed his companion’s change of pace and slowed to see the cause until both of them had completely stopped. Lone Wolf was sniffing the air around him, looking irritated and slightly hunched as if he was preparing to fight. His hand hovered partway to the haft of the weapon jutting over his shoulder. Then the runes on the weapon on his back began to glow faintly as if in response to an unseen force. Then the hidden runes of protection which spiderwebbed over Colson’s body began to glow faintly as well.

Colson no longer felt the pull of an unseen force. It was there one moment and gone the next. It felt as if a candle had suddenly been blown out, leaving nothing but total darkness. The lack of a guiding beacon was disorienting at first. Colson began turning in a slow circle, trying to determine which direction he had been going in and where he had been traveling to.

The confusion was unsettling and wholly unexpected. He knew where he was, he knew where he had wanted to go moments before, but now he could not point a finger in that direction to save his own life. Lone Wolf had not been the one leading their party, so he did not perceive the same disorientation as Colson. He still looked uneasy, though, and was scanning the forest around them as if looking for a threat.

“WaterGuardian, we have been marked. We need to move and quickly. Lead the way,” Lone Wolf said with haste in his voice.

“I … I don’t … I no longer sense the … pull from before,” Colson said breathlessly.

“Then we have been deceived, and now we are the hunted. There is no shame in this. We must move as the rabbit evades the fox,” Lone Wolf said calmly as if he was discussing the weather.

Colson was still very disoriented, and thinking about where to travel was becoming more difficult. However, what was becoming apparent was the external source of his confusion. Someone powerful enough to confuse a guardian was manipulating his senses.

“You are a guardian. Show our pursuer what that means,” Lone Wolf said in his ever-calm tone of voice.

Colson realized he was thinking like a human, a hunted human, scared and panicking at the thought of pursuit and death. It was then that he realized that was the intended purpose of the spell being enacted upon him. Doubt was its core. It unraveled his senses and confidence. He remembered that he was more than a simple human now. He gave a small smile and a nod of thanks to Lone Wolf before working his magic. Colson erected mental walls around his mind, fortifying them with runes created from thought itself. He slammed the walls up, cutting off the spell which had confused him. Then he began to feel with his soul, reaching out, seeking the source of the magical assault.

The erratic pulsing of the runes on Colson’s body and Lone Wolf’s scythe began to skip a little like the flickering of a fire flame about to go out before picking up their rhythm again. This repeated a few times until the pulse was synchronized, then they pulsed steadily in unison. Lone Wolf pulled his weapon from its sheath in one smooth movement, staring at the pulsing which resonated with Colson’s runes.

“WaterGuardian, I believe we are being tracked,” Lone Wolf said, showing a flare of warning in his usually casual voice.

It was then that Colson’s magical probe hit a wall east of them. This narrowed their opponent down to a vague direction. This was not nearly accurate enough to try and locate them, but it did give them a direction to avoid. The wall he felt wasn’t as close as he feared, maybe a day’s journey by horse.

Colson had magical knowledge come to him unbidden, a concept he never would have considered or been able to use before becoming a guardian because of his handicap. He waited for the rhythmic pulse of the runes on his body to flare, and when they did, he pulled on the spell like a bard would pull on the string of an instrument and plucked the spell. The air around them hummed with power as the spell resonated from their very bodies before launching itself in a specific direction. Colson applied water to the spell in a tight thread as easily as breathing. The thread of water sped away from them eastward as fast as light entering a room, directly to the source of the spell which was tracking them.

Lone Wolf let out a savage, piercing howl, his head pointing to the sky and his back arching as his short fur stood on end. He looked every bit as ferocious and wild as the stories told about the jackals. He finished his battle cry and launched himself along the stream of water, eager to hunt the hunter. He ran bent forward over with the ground in front of him, using his free hand to grip the earth in front of him and his weapon behind him for balance.

Colson was so startled by Lone Wolf’s battle cry that the jackal was almost out of sight before Colson started running to catch up. Colson’s runes flared as he magically sped himself up to reach his companion, taking only a moment to close the gap. When he caught up, he released the magic and matched Lone Wolf’s pace. They were running as fast as galloping horses, yet neither showed signs of effort.

“I thought you said we needed to run away from the threat,” Colson shouted above the wind whipping past them.

“I only run from a threat when I cannot run towards it,” Lone Wolf shouted in reply as if this explained everything.

Colson decided it was better to end the cat-and-mouse game quickly than to try to evade an unknown entity with an unknown purpose. For all they knew, they were running toward a potential ally. Colson knew this wasn’t true in his heart, but he tried to maintain optimism. He still hoped he could convince the dragon guardians to give up their mantels without the need for violence. He also knew this would never come to pass.

They ran along the thread of water for some time, neither speaking as they studied the path ahead of them for possible threats. They were so intent on the path ahead that neither thought to look to the sides or behind them until it was too late. Colson’s runes flared into life as a massive black creature dropped from the trees above them. A jaw as large as a man closed around his body, chomping down on him as it lifted him in the air. The lack of pain inflicted by teeth as long as his forearm stunned Colson into inaction for a moment. He realized he was unharmed and that this was the first time his runes had been used defensively. It may take some time before he grows used to such protection.

With the beating of massive wings, the beast took to the air. Colson connected with his runes and sent boiling water cascading from his body in all directions, hot enough to cook flesh on impact. The water poured from him like a river. The beast made no reaction to the cooking of its own flesh and held him fast. Colson then directed the river of boiling water down the throat of the beast. It ignored the water at first, but it began to get heavier as the water filled its belly. Eventually, the dragon released its grip and heaved Colson and the water from its mouth.

Colson forcefully sprayed water down to catch himself, gently landing before instinctively putting his back against a massive tree and scanning the sky for the creature. Lone Wolf leaped to his side with his weapon in hand. Colson was about to ask if he was alright when he was interrupted by the creature reappearing. There was no sneak attack this time. The beast landed about fifty paces from them, and it was obviously a dragon. Colson was puzzled by the fact that he did not know who the dragon was. He should have been able to recognize another guardian and their shared stewardship of this world. He should have been able to feel their title and mantel. He should have known how his powers interacted with theirs without having to think about it, yet he held no recognition for this beast.

The dragon was black as death, with hints of white on its edges. The white was slightly more apparent in some places as if the creature used to be all white but had turned black over time. Its eyes were entirely golden. Even the whites around the pupil were golden. At first, Colson thought the wings of the beast were also black, but when it landed on the ground, the black of the wings melted away to reveal only white bone. It was like the wings of a bat without the skin.

There were several large trees between Colson, Lone Wolf, and the dragon. Without hesitation, the dragon opened its mouth, and a stream of foul magic poured from its mouth. The magic moved like a beam of dark light, but wherever it touched, it left a sickly residue. Rather than pointing the magic at Colson and Lone Wolf, the beast started with one end of the area between them and threw its head in an arc touching only the massive trees. Wherever the stream of darkness touched, the trees melted into themselves like water drops boiling away on a pan until there was nothing left of them.

The ground between them was now open, a battlefield without obstacles to hide behind. Lone Wolf started side-stepping to the left. Colson recognized the flanking tactic of fighting two against one, and so he stepped to the right. This would put one of them at the advantage of fighting their opponent’s exposed flank and backside.

Colson used magic to pull the diamond water from the flask at his side and pulled his sword from its sheath. He didn’t need the sword to create water anymore. He could have pulled it from his runes or the humidity around him, but it was still a powerful weapon he respected. Not only that but it had been made by the Guardian of Life and was deadly enough to cut through the armor of a dragon.

Colson moved the diamond-infused water around him until it hummed with its movement in the air. He created two rings around him and made them spin in circles as a rotating shield. He intended to use them defensively while trying to get in close to use his sword offensively. Colson knew that Lone Wolf was created to hunt dragons, so his primary goal was to cause a distraction so Lone Wolf could close the gap and make the kill.

The dragon rotated its body to face Colson, ignoring Lone Wolf. Colson waited until he knew Lone Wolf was completely behind the dragon before he attacked. He rushed the dragon as a blue blur, magically strengthening his body to make him move faster to keep the beast’s attention.

The creature raised one giant claw to swipe at Colson, but at its peak in the air, it blurred for a moment. When its claw came down towards Colson, a duplicate claw turned away from him, followed by the rest of a duplicate dragon. The duplicate spun around to attack Lone Wolf, who was caught off guard, slamming its spiked tail into him. His enhanced body reduced the mortal blow to a bruise as he was flung to the other side of the open field.

Colson was so shocked he almost missed the original claw coming down on him. He dove to the right, catching himself with a stream of water from his sword as he turned the dive into a pivot and attacked again. He sliced at the claw of the beast, his diamond water hitting it as well as his sword, before dashing away to see what was happening with Lone Wolf.

Colson turned as he sprinted in an arc around the battle ring. The dragon fighting Colson held one claw in the air as if it was injured but showed no sign of pain in any form. It was as if the injury had been noted but not truly felt. It stared at Colson, not bothering to pursue him or join in the fight with its duplicate but keeping its eyes locked on him.

Colson could see the duplicate dragon now. Both dragons looked identical, minus the new injury that Colson had recently inflicted on the first one. He recognized the spell as a form of mirror image spell, but those spells only created the illusion of a second copy. This was what Jareth and Jonathan had done to outsmart the revenants pursuing them in their battle with the warlock and her lich. Yet, from the gash on Lone Wolf’s shoulder and the mounds of dirt being thrown around by the dragon’s massive limbs, it was clear that this was no illusion. Somehow this creature had made a physical copy of itself, a feat that was beyond even his powers as an elemental guardian.

Colson had no idea which was the real foe. He assumed they had to kill the original copy to defeat them, but what if they had to kill both now? Then a horrifying thought came to his mind. What if it could copy itself again? What if both of them could copy themselves?

Lone Wolf leaped and dodged through the air gracefully but was barely able to stay ahead of the onslaught of his pursuing dragon. Colson’s dragon was still staring at him, unaware or uncaring of the other fight taking place next to it. Colson put the thoughts of duplicates aside and sped forward to help Lone Wolf.

The idle dragon suddenly sprang into action, using its wings to dash forward and cut Colson off. Colson adjusted his course to attack the creature straight on. He knew his runes could protect him from its teeth and claws and that his weapons could cause injury, so he decided to attack.

As the beast brought down its claw, Colson’s diamond water defense shredded its limb as his sword severed the claw from its arm. The shredded claw fell to the ground as Colson dashed past it, running towards the second dragon fighting Lone Wolf. He hit it full force from behind, cutting its tail from its body as it was swinging towards Lone Wolf to impale him. The second dragon lost its balance from the removal of its swinging tail and fell forward, right into Lone Wolf’s scythe. He removed its head completely and dashed to the side to dodge its thrashing body.

Colson was looking at the thrashing dragon on the ground with pride when a blast of pure chaos slammed into him. His senses were instantly confounded, and he lost all distinction of … everything. He could not tell up from down or light from dark. Insane thoughts slammed into his mind as loud as a tornado. Thoughts of destruction and mutilation and heart-wrenching betrayal and death. He reversed his breathing and began to vomit at the same time, breathing in acid and death. His runes ached from the strain of fending off the corrosive nature of the magic.

In an instant, the chaos was gone. Colson lay sprawled on the ground twenty paces from where he had been standing, smoke drifting from his runes. He looked up in time to see the dragon close its mouth from the torrent of chaos it had hit him with. Although he had held onto his sword, Colson’s diamond water was scattered across the field.

As Lone Wolf leaped to his side and helped him to his feet, the dragon picked up its severed limb and placed it back on its arm as if nothing had happened. No magic sewed the wound or stitched the torn flesh. It just reattached whole, as if it had never been removed in the first place.

The decapitated dragon’s body on the ground began to melt away until all that was left was a sticky black residue upon the earth. The residue began to crawl across the ground toward the original dragon before it slid up its body. It was at that moment that Colson noticed that the white scales on the dragon had been more prominent before and were now covered again by the additional black residue on its body.

“Lone wolf, take the high ground,” Colson said softly but with an edge to his voice.

Lone Wolf trusted his companion and did as commanded, sprinting to the outer ring of trees and using his enhanced strength to quickly climb the closest one. The dragon ignored Lone Wolf completely, eyes intent on Colson, waiting for him to make the next move. Colson activated his runes, causing his entire body to glow blue with power before combining their strength with the runes of the sword in his hand. It wasn’t much additional power, but the runes on the sword had the singular purpose of creating water, and that power was amplified by the runes on his body.

Water flowed from Colson in all directions as if the floor of the ocean had been opened on the battlefield. Colson was the master of water, and it obeyed him perfectly. He made the battlefield a massive basin in his mind, and the water formed to fit in that invisible basin. He suppressed the dirt below the water so it would not obscure his vision. In mere moments the water was almost to the dragon’s head.

Colson knew he could breathe the water as if it was air, and he could alter the viscosity of the water to allow him to move as fast as he moved on land. The dragon, on the other hand, was bogged down in the water, sluggish and slow. Colson also did not know if the dragon could breathe the water, but it appeared unfazed as the water passed its head, eyes still locked onto Colson.

Colson attacked, moving with enhanced speed, unimpeded by the water around him. The dragon was strong and could move quickly in the water, but not nearly fast enough. Colson attacked from all sides, again and again, slicing as he dodged counterattacks, his sword making small cuts all over the creature’s body that immediately began to close as soon as he made them. Colson could see that the damage he was inflicting was not even registered by the creature as if it felt no pain, and the wounds were healing faster than he could make them. Colson paused on the edge of the ring, assessing the situation as the dragon’s severed tail floated back to its body and reattached.

The dragon was staring at Colson again, but this time a sickening sensation of amusement flooded Colson’s mind from the beast. It was as if the emotion was coated in rancid oil and tar. It oozed into Colson’s mind unbidden, taunting him while it tainted his mind with its filth, mocking his efforts.

Colson immediately felt his strength fade with the presence of filth in his mind. The edge of the water basin began to leak, and the water level lowered slightly. He immediately blocked the creature out of his mind, and his strength began to return. Colson then felt the water around him as if the water was an extension of his skin. It took only a moment, but he found what he was looking for.

Colson made the water spin. It was slow at first, but gradually the water picked up speed, whipping the dragon with its currents while moving around Colson. The dragon stopped trying to hold its position on the ground and simply lifted its feet, floating in the flowing water. Colson matched its speed, and the beast continued to stare at Colson floating opposite it, a toothy smile on its face as it taunted him.

The water was moving quickly now, fast enough to rip trees from the ground and destroy buildings. All at once, Colson lifted the diamond particles from the ground, funneled them into a narrow stream, and sent the stream in the opposite direction of the flowing water. The diamond particles sliced through the dragon’s entire body like a spear as it spun opposite the flowing water, cutting through the beast several times per heartbeat.

Again and again, the diamond dust struck. Pieces of the dragon floated in the water all around Colson, making it difficult to see. Eventually, there was nothing large enough to distinguish one body part from another. Oddly enough, there was no blood, and Colson remembered there had also been no blood when he had severed its arm before.

Colson stopped the movement of the water, bringing the body parts to a halt as they began floating around him on the surface of the water. He did not wish to destroy the area with a flood, so he began to reabsorb the liquid around him into his runes. As he did so, he funneled the diamond dust into the pouch at his side. It took a few moments before there was nothing left but a few small pools of water and body parts everywhere.

Lone Wolf landed softly on the ground from the tree he had been observing the underwater battle from. He realized it had not been necessary for him to be in the tree, but it was a well-founded precaution in case something happened to Colson and the area had flooded.

“Good hunt, Waterguardian,” Lone Wolf said with his hand outstretched. His words were simple, but there was open admiration in his tone. Colson took his outstretched arm, hands gripping the other person’s forearm, and smiled openly. As the runes on his body faded away, they both turned to survey the damage around them.

Colson realized that something was off about the field, and he was unconsciously looking for something. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he continued the search, scanning the ground all around the battlefield. As he walked around, stepping over black and white body parts, he realized that there were no organs anywhere, not even pieces of organs. No blood and no organs. It was then that Colson realized something was wrong. Where was the guardian? Where was the being of light that was supposed to come forth from the death of a dragon?

All at once the battlefield began to seethe. It was as if the ground was a moving mass of black tar. Lone Wolf and Colson sprinted to the edge of the field until they were among the trees before they stopped to turn around. The black residue that had been attached to the dragon’s body was what was moving. The separate black chunks were throwing tendrils of themselves in all directions until they connected with another part of themselves nearby. When they touched, they stayed connected and began to pull themselves together.

Soon the body parts were connecting and pulling themselves towards one another while also piling in the center of the field. As it gathered together, it began to grow into a boiling mass of black tar and white flesh. The body parts began to roll and twist, disappearing in the mass and reappearing in other locations. Eventually, the mass began to take the shape of a dragon. Moments later, the dragon stood in the field whole, undamaged, as if nothing had happened at all. The beast’s bony wings expanded as it stretched its head high, unabashedly mocking Colson.

Then its head came down, and a massive stream of chaos energy flung from the beast’s mouth in an erratic pattern, ten times the size of what it had used before. Colson and Lone Wolf both evaded the onslaught, which seemed to be more a display of power than a targeted attack. The trees behind them were destroyed in random ways. Some turned into dust, others melted into decay and death, some fell over as if cut by a blade, and one even burst into flames. The beast finished by spraying the magic straight into the heavens before letting the stream fade as a sinister laugh escaped from its lips.

Colson used water to put out the flames on the tree, then used a torrent of water to fling a cut tree out of the battlefield. As Lone Wolf carefully regrouped with Colson, eyeing the waiting beast, they both realized that they could never defeat this creature. It wasn’t even alive to be killed. This was a dragon revenant, undead and immortal, more powerful than them by far, and it was holding itself back for an unknown reason. It could have ended Colson with its first attack from above using its chaotic magic instead of trying to pick him up, separating him from his traveling companion.

Colson decided to call the dragon’s bluff. Fighting was useless, and it clearly had an agenda, so he might as well try to find out what it wanted. He walked slowly onto the battlefield again, just past the trees, keeping his sword held low so he would not appear to be a threat. Then he stuck the point of his sword in the earth, strode a few paces away from the weapon, and sat down. He closed his eyes and reached out with his soul toward the beast.

“Waterguardian, what are you doing?” Lone Wolf hissed harshly from the edge of the trees.

Colson made no move to reply, but he felt harder, reaching out with his soul toward the dragon in front of him. He could sense Lone Wolf’s irritation and even … fear, as the jackal took his lead and placed his weapon on the ground nearby before squatting down to watch. Colson felt the dragon take a step towards them but made no reaction. He felt harder with his soul, putting everything he had into his probe. All of his senses left him. Colson could not feel his body, the air around him, or his chest moving as he breathed. All he felt was what was inside. He was a guardian of this world, and he felt that power, and he knew himself.

It was then that Colson realized he had to give up who he used to be. He was not an Acondan. He was not a Jersal military veteran. He was not a human with a handicapped form of magic. He was not a friend, neighbor, son, or adopted father. He was the guardian of an entire world. This is what the dragon guardians had lost. It wasn’t swords or claws and spells or tactics that were their power. It was their souls.

Colson opened his eyes to find himself floating high in the air. His body was covered in runes, but they were no longer just for protection. They were a title demanding respect. His eyes glowed blue, and water shimmered and flowed across his body without falling to the ground. The black dragon was within arm’s reach of him, its golden eyes staring into his own. He felt no fear or surprise.

Colson stood up in the air as if he was standing on solid ground. He felt the darkness reach towards his mind to try and disrupt his flow of power as it had before with its oily taint. Colson imagined fire raking the oil, and it shrunk from before him, receding away from his mental touch. The dragon opened its mouth to grab Colson, presumably to take him to some location as it had previously attempted, but Colson reached out and touched the giant snout first. The blackness receded from his hand and continued to slide down the body of the dragon until it was only on its feet, but it would not leave its body no matter how much Colson willed it to. Apparently, he could not rid the dragon of the blackness entirely, but he could free its mind so it could speak.

Before Colson stood a regal dragon with white scales over its entire body, shining brightly, with piercing golden eyes and completely restored wings. Colson knew her instantly as Sonelith, the guardian of light. He understood now why she had been able to duplicate herself, a feat beyond his ability. There was a hierarchy of power within the guardians. Time was by far the strongest guardian, followed by Life and Death, then Light and Dark, and finally, the five elemental guardians. She was naturally stronger than him as they were in different tiers of power and could perform feats that he could not. Regardless, she was seeking him for help. Her words filled his mind with mental communication while simultaneously speaking out loud. Colson did not know if she could distinguish one from the other.

“Guardian of Water. I do not know you, but I know your mantel, and I know what it means that a human has gained such responsibility. I thank you for granting me brief control over my body and tongue.”

“Of cour-“ Colson tried to respond but was cut off harshly

“Silence, guardian! The darkness will overpower your will soon enough, and I have waited lifetimes to speak my mind to one who can understand. Hear me!” the dragon said passionately.

Colson said nothing, only nodded that he understood and listened. There was an intense relief from the mind of the dragon before she continued.

“I was there when Ultaris tried to turn back the clock of this world. My mate and I watched from above. We saw what happened when Sterben and Lebine lost their lives as dragons yet lived again as beings of light. Then Sterben abandoned us to our fates and departed. SHE HAS NOT RETURNED AS SHE PROMISED! Leaving us to deal with Ultaris alone! Eventually, I was betrayed. I was betrayed by him who I held dear. The other half of my existence. The finisher of my thoughts. He who I spent millennia with … he betrayed me! Leaving me in this shell of misery!”

Colson noticed her hand move to her heart, where a single scale, almost too small to see with the naked eye, was black against the spotless white.

“I would have been made free by any other hand, but his blow was damnation. I could not remember my past. I could not depart this world like Sterben! I was sucked into this darkness and made to watch through the eyes of a shell as I abandoned my stewardship! I killed thousands while watching from inside, unable to stop my body from enacting death and destruction. At first, it was horrifying, but then I became numb to it, which was all the more horrifying. When I stopped noticing the death completely … the darkness stopped killing. It was only then that I knew it was aware of my thoughts. I turned myself off. I refused to exist in any form, including thought. If I felt and thought nothing, I could stop this curse from hurting others.

“For hundreds of years, the darkness hid my body in a cave away from my sun in the heavens.  Then I do not know how, but Ultaris found me. Or rather, he found the darkness around me. It responded to him, connected with him in some way. He then manipulated it. My thoughts and emotions meant nothing to it anymore. It only acted on his command.

“He told the darkness he had found a fount of souls. With these souls, Ultaris could grow stronger, strong enough to help the darkness leave my body and exist without its handicap of chaos. He promised the darkness this freedom in exchange for servitude. Be it truth or lie, I do not know. The darkness was to bring you and the other human guardian to him. Alive. No matter what, you had to be alive. If either of you died, the darkness would receive no reward and be cut off from Ultaris.”

Colson could sense the darkness beginning to creep up the legs of the dragon and knew his power over it was weakening. He had only a few minutes before it would again gain control.

“Know this! Your power is not held by your body, for it is but a shell. Your soul is the guardian. Your soul is the power. Your soul is what he fears,” the dragon said, followed by a short pause.

“I can control my body for a few moments only, and then you must fight me once again. I do not know how you can defeat the darkness … or me. Only my once-companion and mate could tell you that now. He hides from me in a city covered by unnaturally powerful human magic not far from here. The darkness fears him and will not go there. Seek the city out to protect yourself from me.”

“Seek him out if you wish to live without pursuit,” the dragon said with finality.

Before Colson could do or say anything, the dragon threw herself backward. Using a blend of magic and her wings, she hurled herself away from them in a blur, quickly disappearing out of sight as she spun in a dizzying circle.

Colson knew she was trying to place as much distance between them as fast as she could before she lost control of her body and was trying to disorient the darkness to prevent it from finding them as easily. It was only then that Colson realized the pulsing of his runes was gone. They had a chance to escape and flee back to Dule Van, the city she was most likely referring to. It was a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

Colson floated back to the ground, but the runes around him and his blue eyes remained as he stayed connected to the power of his soul. He turned to Lone Wolf, who was staring at him in wonder. Colson gave him a genuine smile before his runes and blue eyes faded, returning him to his normal form.

“Lone Wolf, you are a skilled warrior, and I am grateful that I was able to get to know you these last few weeks,” Colson said with a smile. “I would be honored to call you ‘friend.’”

“I feel the same … honor … waterguardian, thank you,” Lone Wolf replied hesitantly, sensing that something else was going on.

Colson pulled Lone Wolf’s rune-covered weapon from the ground and held it out to its owner with the weapon pointing at his own heart.

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