Rhy'din - Temple District Crossroads

It was no longer enough.

Being a demon was no longer enough. Being a simple Guardian, was no longer enough.

He knew that now.

First there had been Renna, placing her poison in the unconscious form of a man - a boy, really - that he had been unable to prevent.

And then there was that...celestial, whatever he was. An angel, perhaps, or something else, but it didn't matter. He could not have faced either of them alone and hoped to survive, let alone conquer, and certainly not the two of them together. Even with the powers of the Amulet of Avalon around his neck, even with the immortal sword Angelis...

...it was not enough.

He had never desired to be more powerful than he had been. It had always been enough, before, that power he did have. He had faced great threats, horrifying monsters, foes upon foes upon foes, multitudes slain uncounted throughout his existence, for hundreds of years.

None could defeat him. None could even hold him back.

But this was a place of more than simple mortals.

This was a place of gods.

And if he hoped to stand his ground against them...

...he needed to be more than what he's been.

He stood, now, at a crossroads. Both literal and metaphorical, a place where he had buried his past, a place where he had to come to ensure that he had the might and ability to be able to ensure there would be a future.

He could feel the power in this place. It was still here, right where he had left it, and that was good. No one else knew this was where he had hidden his greatest secret, a legacy from a time and place long since gone, only remembered in myths, in legends, in bedtime stories of heroes and villains and life and death everlasting.

It was time for the past to be unearthed.

The demon drew on the power of the Amulet at his neck, which suddenly flared to life, its brilliant amethystine glow shining forth as it responded to his desires...to his need.

As if in response, the ground rumbled at his feet, in the center of the crossroads, and then trembled as the force of the Amulet began to work its will on the earth. It was mere moments before the stones of the street lifted from their places anchored in the ground, heavy weights that floated up and away to the side as though guided by an invisible force, settled neatly to the side.

They were followed by the dirt itself, streaming almost fluidly like a river out of the hole left by the stones, subservient to his will as he used the gifts the Amulet granted him, flowing into a neat pile around those same stones. Within moment, the hole was deep, near two fathoms down, close to the waterline below the city, yet shallow enough that the water would not soil the treasure he had so carefully safeguarded in this place.

Not that it would have mattered. What he buried here was impervious to the passages of time, the ravages of nature. He could have reached to the center of the planet to bury it, and it would have come to no harm, for what was buried here was first crafted in the heart of a place of holiness and magic that rivaled the Nexus itself.

With care and reverence he used his gifts to lift it out. What emerged from the hole he had unearthed was nothing more than a simple wooden box, perhaps no more than a foot on each side, no more than a third of that in depth, but perfectly clean, as though the earth had never touched it.

Just as he knew it would be.

Reaching out, he took the box in his hands, sapphire eyes settled upon it with reverent awe. It had been some time since he had seen it last. No symbols were cared upon its surface, no adornments to mark it as anything precious.

But what lay within...what lay within was more precious than gold or silver, more valuable than any gemstone, priceless beyond measure.

What lay within this box was power.

The unnaturally brilliant eyes turned to the earth he had piled around the stones, and just as it had before, the dirt flowed smoothly back into its place, swift and fluid as a stream, pouring itself back into the hole, leaving not a speck or grain of detritus behind to mark it was there. The stones followed, the heavy blocks lifted one at a time and placed precisely where they had been taken from.

By the time he walked away, there was no trace he had been there, no evidence that the treasure he had taken had ever been concealed beneath the surface.

It was time.

The Darkness

The darkness was all-consuming, nothing visible beyond it, no matter how wide he opened his eyes, no matter how long he waited for his vision to adjust, trying to make out his surroundings.

He remembered it all - unearthing the box containing the sacred Amulets. Bringing the box to the Glen south of the city. The patch of earth, just visible in the middle of the lake, a tiny island of earth in the middle of the deep, dark water. The fire, the crackling of the flames consuming fuel as he laid the Stones in his Circle, finally removing his own Amulet and setting it with its brothers.

The flare of brilliance as he said the ritual words.

For a moment, he wondered if that light had taken his sight. It hadn't burned, there was no pain in his eyes, but it was possible.

Then it came to him.

There were no sounds. No crackling of the fire, no chirp of crickets or croak of frogs or the other sounds of the night.

Was he...dead?

As if in response to this thought, light came into his sight, faint at first but growing steadily brighter as it approached before his eyes. He couldn't make out the source, not at first, but as it came nearer, he thought he made out human features - legs, arms, long, flowing hair, lean, slender curves. Femininity itself.

As the glowing woman-shape approached, he began to make out more of it. The hair taking on color, crimson against pale skin that shone out brilliantly against the darkness, lovely features of the face. It was only then that he realized who it was approaching, and his eyes widened, a feeling of warmth and love that stole over him unbidden as memory caught up with vision.

Hazel. The woman that had given him new life, a reason beyond serving the will of a madman. The woman that brought an existence of meaning and purpose to a hollow shell of a life.

The first, and only, woman - the only person - he had ever truly loved.

Instantly he fell to a knee on the ground - was it ground? - beneath his feet, his head bowed in reverence and awe as the words came from him, ages-old habit that had near faded from memory until this moment. "My Lady of the Lake."

Her voice came to his ears, amused and warm and...tender. As she had always spoken to him. "Arise, Lupinius, my old friend. Such titles hold no place here - this is the place beyond, where we may greet each other as friends. You need not be so formal."

He did as he was bidden, her words - no matter how gentle - as good to him as command. His head remained bowed as he spoke. "It matters little to me where we are, nor who holds such a title since or now...even if such titles matter where we stand. You shall always be my Lady of the Lake."

He could hear the smile in her voice as she addressed him again. "Lupinius...my dear Lupinius. Ever were you the gracious one in your speech and manner, the most reverent of them all. Truly you have taken your place as the greatest of the Guardians of the Holy Isle. I could not have foreseen, all those centuries ago, that when I freed you from Telorrcanis' grasp, you would have ascended to such heights of greatness. You have carried on, all these years, as the last of the old Guardians, bringing our proud tradition of service to those in need to whole new worlds, reuniting the Heart of Avalon, not out of lust for power, but so that you could protect those whom matter the most to you. 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, selflessly serving others in spite of the lonely road such an oath has led you down. I am very proud of you, and your time has at last come, my friend."

Now he raised his gaze to the woman before him, feeling the frown upon his features, the worry in his heart, shaking his head. "Milady...it...I cannot leave this life behind me, yet. There is still too much to do...too much that is required of me..."

She smiled and shook her head, holding up a hand to forestall any further words from him. "No, my friend, not that time. You have a very, very long time to go before your time is over. No, Lupinius - the time has come for you to be rewarded for your long, devoted service. 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."

The confusion he felt at her words must have shown on his face, because her smile became gentle, understanding as she stepped forward to lay her ands on his shoulders, gazing up into his eyes. It suddenly struck him that there was a reason he took such comfort in the company of Wren Ravenlock - there were a great many resemblances to be seen between her and this woman, long since dead and gone, both in appearance and in manner.

"Lupinius, you have been as an angel to those who have been fortunate enough to be graced by your help, so very many times. As such, your reward is to be shaped into that which you have been for so very many fortunate souls that have encountered you throughout the centuries - a true angel, a heavenly guardian, a power to be equaled only by the mightiest of the mighty, so that you may meet the threats of this world and people you have chosen to defend on the field of battle without yielding ground...to be the great protector that this world has needed and will always need. Those gifts which you possess 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, greater than before, changed so that which is outside matches that which is within. This is your reward, Lupinius, to be the angel you truly are."

As the last word passed her lips, light suffused his vision, coming not from her this time, but rather from within himself - brilliant light, not just violet as it so often was when he shifted form, but the full spectrum of color, and he realized that whatever change she was talking about was being made, here, now, consuming him, transmuting him from one form to the other.

Just before the light took him over completely, she smiled at him again, leaning forward to touch her lips softly to his, her voice a low murmur which nonetheless he could not fail to hear.

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

And, once again, the light flashed around him, consuming all...

The Southern Glen

His vision came back to him, slowly, by degrees, the light still brilliant, white-hot. As it faded, he realized that he was still where he had been, kneeling on the sandy earth of the island in the middle of the lake, his vision darkening until all that was left was the flickering flame-light of the fire in front of him.

The earth beneath his hands that he stared at appeared to be scorched, blackened from the heat of his transformation.

But that was not what struck him the deepest.

For before his eyes, rather than the five Amulets on their chains, there lay a single, large, black stone, wrapped in silver, and a single, thick chain attached to it.

The Heart of Avalon.

For a long moment, all he could do was stare at the jet-black stone, the gleaming silver of its adornments, mesmerized.

He had done it.

The power of the Holy Isle was his to command...and so much more. He could feel it, that holy, terrible power, just waiting to be unleashed on the wicked, the unjust.

He wanted to test it. He wanted to use it.

Still, he restrained himself. Such power was there for the right times, the right reasons. It had to be tempered, righteous anger with gentle compassion, holy fury with tender grace.

He reached out and took the amulet in his hands as he stood. As his hand touched it, the light shone out from its heart, prismatic, an infinite array of brilliant color, then faded.

As though it were greeting the one to whom it had always belonged.

Taking the ends of the chain, he reached up and fastened it around his neck, turning from the fire to look across the lake at the shore, in the direction of the city beyond, whose glowing light could be seen faintly shining up into the dark sky.

It was time indeed.