As soon as he uses the runestone, he thinks that maybe Shariane made some sort of mistake. He's been teleported, all right, and he's definitely arrived...somewhere...but where?

All around him is nothing but darkness, though he can definitely feel he's standing on solid ground...at least, that's what it feels like. But he can't see anything, even with his demonically enhanced sight. Where is he?

As he looks around, thinking on that, he realizes that, all around him, there is a glowing, violet light, coming from...somewhere. He looks around, not able to see its source, and finally looking up....and there, descending towards him, is a figure most familiar, one he hasn't seen for some time.

"Hazel...?"

It is, the witch he had known so long ago, the one who had given him his new life, hope, the one who was solely responsible for who and what he is today. As she touches ground in front of him, she smiles, bowing her head to him, and speaks in that lilting, musical voice he has not heard in an age, it seems.

"Lupinius, my friend. It has been too long, hasn't it? And oh, what a life you have led. I didn't think, all those centuries ago, that when I freed you from Telorrcanis' grasp, you would do so much good in the world. You have carried on, all these years, as the last of the old Guardians, to reform the Circle and bring our proud tradition of service to a whole new world. And even when you were not required to, when all seemed to have been lost, you carried on, being the Guardian you swore to be after all was lost. I am very proud of you, and your time has at last come, my friend."

He steps back from her a moment, a wary look on his features, worry suddenly stabbing through his heart like a knife. His time? What is she talking about? He can't be taken away, he's just found something that has made all the time spent in a very lonely world worth it, he's found love with someone and a reason for truly living...

As he steps back, she smiles and laughs, holding up a hand. "No, no, my friend - not that time. You have a very, very long time to go before your time is over, more than enough time. No, Lupinuis - the time has come for you to be rewarded for your long, devoted service to good. The time has come for you to evolve into what you have been for so very many throughout your existence, for your true form to finally show...for you to be unburdened from your past and to be granted greater gifts."

He now looks confused, and it must show, because she holds up her hand to further forestall any questions. "Lupinius, you have been an angel to those who have been fortunate enough to be in trouble that you have been able to help, so very many times. As such, I have been granted by the powers that be the ability to rid you of the demon within you that has plagued you for so long, to change you into that which you have been for the fortunate souls that have encountered you throughout the centuries. You will be given greater powers, as well, that you will discover in time. The ones you posess now will not be taken - your self, your persona will not change, your ability to change into the noble wolf, but you will be more powerful, better than before, changed so that which is outside matches that which is within. This is your reward, Lupinius, demon and Guardian, to be the angel you truly are."

As the last word passes her lips, he sees the violet light glow brighter, consuming him as it so often does when he shifts form, and he realizes that whatever change she is talking about is being made, here, now, consuming him. Just before the light takes him over completely, she smiles at him again.

"Fare thee well, Lupinius, Guardian Angel, my friend."

The light takes him, and he feels himself being tumbled through time and space again...

...and he is deposited, this time, not where he left, but in the house of Uth Dravon, in the middle of a large, cavernous entrance hall, on his hands and knees. When he had started this, he had been dressed in all black, and he emerges the same way, only without his shirt. Sprouting from his back now are two very large, coal-black, feathered wings of an angel.

He's tired - tired like he's never been, in fact. In his demonic form, he had never needed to sleep - he suspects it has something to do with being an immortal being - and so he had never really felt tired. In his wolf form he's only slept to pass time, never really because he needed to. Now, though...now, he feels almost completely drained, and yet, somehow...energized, envigorated. Like he's really, truly alive.

Still, as he tries to push himself up from the floor, a wave of dizziness takes him, and the weight of the wings - something he's not used to - threatens to throw him off balance. As he puts his arms out to the side, though, they extend on their own, widening to help him balance more effectively, sweeping out and nearly knocking over one of the servants that are gathered around the two of them. As he looks around at everyone, his eyes come to rest on Onyxia, a tired smile on his lips as those brilliant blue eyes meet hers. "Onyxia...my love...well...I guess I'm all right...just a little tired is all...and glad to see I made it here to you..."

He pushes himself to his feet, slowly, the wings now semi-spread. They are long and large, so that the feathered tips of them touch the floor as he stands. He wavers on his feet for a moment as he looks around, clearly looking tired but otherwise not in too bad of shape. "So this is what your house looks like...nice, though not as lovely as you..." As he speaks, he wavers again on his feet, and - perhaps by instinct again - the wings move, this time pushing at the air. The movement is powerful enough to send a fair breeze up around him, just enough to ruffle the hair of the nearby servants.

He remembers everything that happened while he had been trapped in the Nexus - at least, that's what he thinks it was - but as for what Hazel had been talking about 'changing' him, he is still very unclear, so when Onyxia mentions it, he's confused as well for a moment. Despite the weight of the wings on his back, he doesn't really feel any different, besides feeling more a part of the living world than he ever has in his entire existence.

He looks down at himself, noting that his shirt is gone and not much else has changed. "Well, I do feel a little different, but..." He looks to the right then and sees one wing, feathered and black as night. For a moment it doesn't really register that the wing is part of him, until he thinks about the weight on his back, and, tentatively, he thinks about moving it...and to his surprise, it does, along with the one on the left as he turns his gaze in that direction. "...oh..."

His eyes widen in surprise, not sure what to make of this. Even when he had been a demon, he had not had wings at all. This will take some getting used to...

He tries now to actually push at the air with them, tentatively. The wings respond all right, sweeping up and then down with enough force to actually lift his feet off the floor by a foot, stirring the air enough to send a gentle gust of wind through the entrance hall. His eyes wide with surprise as he comes down to earth again, he laughs, a sound of pure delight. And, for once, that ever-present weight in his mind and soul from the demon within him is gone - there is no trace of it. His sapphire eyes meet Onyxia's silver orbs. "So this is what Hazel was talking about," he says, half to himself, then, speaking louder, he says to her, almost shyly, "So...what do you think...?"

He smiles, both at the suggestion of her curled up in these wings with nothing between them, and her reminder to him that he is, indeed, the man she fell in love with. He hadn't really been worried - okay, well, maybe a little...or he wouldn't have asked. Her hand on his bare chest is enough to send a shiver through his body, one of delight. reaching out, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her close, and - both at a thought and by instinct - those wings likewise curl themselves around the both of them to - momentarily - conceal them both from sight as he leans in close to her.

"Well, Onyxia...if you would like to take the time to show me around your house, here...we'll see what we can do to satisfy your curiousity..." he says in a low, husky voice, a grin that is most un-angel-like on his lips.

As she is breathing in his scent, he is likewise doing the same, inhaling that delightful aroma that is hers alone deeply, like he's trying to make it part of him. It is an interesting sensation, the feel of her through those wings as they close around them - almost as if they have their own private world. He is not prepared, though, for the heady feeling of anticipation that rockets through his form at the words that she speaks. He certainly does not miss the innuendo in them.

He has had a few lovers, to be sure - far, far fewer than many would think someone with his lifespan would have had - but this sensation is very different - there is more here than simple sex. Much, much more. And there isn't that bothersome inner demon to worry about anymore, as well. The blood that sings in his ears and rushes to other places is, for once, his own.

The grin still on his lips, he chuckles softly in her ear as his lips carress it and whispers, "How about we start with going up, and work our way slowly down from there?"

He doesn't let her go very willingly, but as she is leading him to a more private venue, he does let her go, allowing himself to be led along. His wings close and tuck themselves behind him, almsot on instinct, it seems - still, it does feel a bit awkward, a distant part of his mind reflects. More time to focus on that later, though - he has other concerns, at the moment.

Ordinarily, he would be looking around the house. One of the things that is ingraned into the very fibers of his being is to be constantly in tune and aware of his environment, and he takes a lot of time, normally, observing his surroundings. In this moment, though, he is focused, enraptured in fact, by Onyxia's form as she leads him to her own suite, the flow of muscle beneath those leathers she wears for hunting, entranced by the smooth gait with which she walks. He does love watching her move. Every inch of him is afire in anticipation of what's to come, and he is hard pressed to wait for them to make their way to her room so he can touch every inch of her naked skin, to feel the softness of it covering the hard muscle beneath.

Strangely, he finds himself without words. Indeed, anyone that knows him would think it odd to see such a wide, happy smile on his usually grim and serious features. As they walk along, at each door the feeling of anticipation heightens with the increasing possibility they might have found her room...

Home...the meaning of that word sends a wave of warmth through him that is completely separate from the other, more animal feelings he is feeling. For him, home has always been wherever he happened to curl up for the night. More recently, the Inn, lying on the hearth-stones by the fire, has been it, or the Chamber of the Guardians. Neither of them would be his first choice - the Inn is comfortable enough, but there's not much peace there, and the Chamber is...well, the Chamber. Not the most comfortable place.

Neither of them are what he would have called a home, at any rate. Home to him is more than a place to sleep - it where your heart lies, and just recently, home has been whenever he's been with Onyxia.

Even then, he had been hard-pressed to imagine her as she is now. Something about the woman, when she's dressed to fight or to hunt, makes envisioning her in a more sensual light slightly difficult, even though she still looks fantastic. Now, though, it is even harder to see her as the predatory creature she is than it was to picture her like this when she's dressed to kill, so to speak. For a long, long moment, he just looks at her, burning this image into his memory.

Finally, he steps forward towards her, slipping his hands around her waist. His fingers make contact with bare skin, soft and smooth, and he can feel the hard muscle underneath, trembling slightly at his touch and he moves his hands upwards under her tanktop, moving it upwards. The wings on his back haven't moved yet - he remembers what she had said about wanting to feel them with nothing else. As he moves his hands up over her sides, he leans down and captures her lips with his, a long, deep, lingering kiss. He breaks it only long enough to peel the tanktop off over her head, lifting her arms over her head and slipping it off, then dropping it as they come together again. The warm feel of her skin against his, her breasts pressing against his torso makes him groan deep in his throat, a sound that is at once longing, human and animal, and now the wings do move, wrapping around her and pressing against her skin as his hands move slowly back down her body, exploring the gentle curves of her form. His fingertips slip just under the waitband of the boyshorts she is left wearing, teasingly pausing there for a moment as at last he breaks for air, smiling down at her.

"I love you very much, Onyxia," he says, more than a little breathlessly.

And with those words, he picks her up into his arms, carrying her over to the bed, where what little remains of their clothing drops away, and she is able to satisfy her curiousity about him and those wings against her in every detail...