PROLOGUE:
James was working after class with one of his star pupils, training her on not letting her guard down on mere leg or arm taps, which in the current year's style of foil fencing was not a scoring move. He assumed that the Epee training last year was too ingrained into her to move on without difficulty. He was just taking a short breather outside in the cold winter air while she got packed when a woman came to him.
She walked over to him slowly, but with confidence in a black, neatly trimmed, skirt suit and glossy black heels, complete with a silver lapel pin. Snow was drifting from above and settling into her honey colored hair which was trapped in a braided bun. She didn't seem to notice the cold.
Instead, her blue-green eyes were transfixed on James as she came closer, revealing something else; she carried a blue scabbard with silver trappings tied to the belt of her high waisted skirt. A sword pommel with silver filigree and a blue stone rested inside.
"Hello, James" she said as a coy smile curled to the corner of her lips.
"Already you have my interest. Let me grab my stuff. " He came back a few minutes later with a duffle bag and a backpack. "So, when do you want to duel?" He pointed at the blade. "Because I want to duel."
She stood in the cold her hand resting comfortably in the pommel of her blade as he went inside his studio. How strange, these people were here. He had not even asked her name or how she had known his, but had seen her weapon and immediately went to go get his gear.
When he returned with his equipment and asked for a duel, no questions asked, she raised a brow at him and chuckled at his eagerness.
"A duel is not what I came here for," she mused, with her smile growing, "But I will oblidge. It will help me test your worthiness."
He invited her inside his studio finally where several decorative swords rested on the wall, racks of practice swords sat to the left, and a large sparring platform sat in the middle of the room. He handed her a blunt heavy two-handed wooden sword and twirled his own lighter one.
"So we walk out with no more than bruises." He then walked up to the platform and took a few steps back, aiming his sword at her before raising it to his nose in a swordsman's salute. "When you are ready."
She took her time as he waited for her, slipping off her jacket to reveal her sleeveless blue blouse and a pink scar on her shoulder traveling down the length of her arm. She removed her actual blade from her belt and placed it gently beside the jacket on a nearby bench before climbing the platform.
Standing ready opposite of James, she held up the wooden sword to her eyes, and stared him down with a playful yet piercing gaze.
"Begin."
He circled the inner ring slowly, lifting his blade and showing an opening in his leg defense, holding his blade in an odd manner.
Lady matched his pace, circling him in kind with her eyes never wavering in their study of him. He had an obvious opening at his legs but held his blade in an odd manner. A blended style perhaps. She suspected a feint, but decided to test him anyways.
The wooden sword held solely in her left hand at the moment, she launched forward with her blade for a quick jab near his thigh, low, but not low enough to expose her self entirely.
He swung down and the opposing blade flew to his right. "Good spot." He continued to move the sword while he had control and spun it in wide circles attempting to disarm her.
Her grip was strong , and her wrist fluid with years of practice. The wooden sword would not be dislodged so easily from her grasp. She let him try though, until she rotated her hand breaking his edge- wise lock. With her sword free she immediately brought it back to a cross-body defense position and stepped back creating a gap once more.
He swiped at her sword with his, revealing no strategies or targets but simply testing her defense and reflexes. He was going to figure out her style before employing one of his own.
She caught the tap and brushed it away with speed and ease. He was testing her as much as she was testing him and her smile grew just a little. Good.
Circling a him a little more, she took his foot work and form...impeccible. But also a bit mechanical.
Stepping forward with a heavier strike aimed at his blade, she met his sword mid-way down its length and drove it up to the cross guard, wedging him in place.
"How strong are you, James?" she asked him with her eyes locked on his.
She had this time to notice, his eyes were closed. He pushed back with great force and pushed away, letting his left boot settle the temporary draw. "I prefer to work smarter, not harder." He twirled his blade getting a better grip and followed up with a lunge to her chest.
"Indeed!" She gained her footing again just as his strike came toward her chest. Strong and fast. Excellent.
With a whip of her wrist and a grunt, she parried and the two swords met with a resounding crack. "But what about your heart? Your soul?" she urged him through gritted teeth against the block, "How strong are they?"
He opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly, dashing back and swinging at her offhand arm. "I am an orphan and some say orphans are pure..." She blocked and he switched to an attack on the leg. "But besides ancestry, how am I to prove that?" a curved deflection that placed them in another clash of blades.
"The proper question is:" She blocked him again, turning his sword outward and away from her leg."Do you want the chance to prove it?" The move left him open for the briefest of moments and she aimed her blade point for his heart without a second thought.
James was aware that with the odd strike he was open to an attack on the torso, and dived out of the way, aiming 2 hard taps on either leg before rolling out of range and getting up. "Meaning?"
She side stepped him as fast as she could to avoid the taps and his sword grazed past her tight skirt hem instead, leaving a small breeze in its wake. He rolled away, leaving a fair distance between them again, so she squared him off and circled him.
"Meaning, you have been untested by this world," she said with a slow exhale, slowing down her heart, "Leave this world and discover where the darkness is it's deepest and the light its brightest. Come with me to the Soul Forge, James."
"Well then. Since you know my name..." He swung his blade at her left arm "May I ask yours?"
She twisted her wrist and blocked the swing, bracing her blade with her right hand against the force. "You may ask, but I may not tell," she replied with a playful smile, "I am known as Lady."
"Very well Miss. Mysteryofathousandsuns," He punched her gut with his spare arm. "I shall go with you." he pressed his sword to her neck gently, indicating that he had won before tossing the wooden blade off the stage and grabbing his stuff again. "Lead the way, Mysteryofathousandsuns."
She bent slightly at the punch, but showed no other signs of pain as he touched her neck with his blade. Smiling at the conclusion of the duel and his eagerness, she laughed at his teasing. Apparently, he did have some sort of humor under the stern looks and beard. "Lady will do," she said as she tossed aside her own wooden sword and retreated from the platform.
Lady slipped on her jacket once more and tied her true blade around her thick belt, while considering the man again. She had watched him for some time before making her decision to recruit him. In all that time, she had seen him as logical and straightforward, but detached from most things. What in his past made him so eager to leave his home? His students? His entire world. Questions filled her mind, but those would be better left for later. He had made his decision.
"Make sure you bring every thing you need," she called to him, "You wont be coming back for awhile. It's a long way to where we are going."
He dialed up someone on his phone. "Hey, Mavy. You know how a month ago I told you that you would get your chance soon? Well, I'm off on a trip with an undetermined return date, so here is your chance to lead. Yes..... Yes..... Teach him feints. Yes, I know. Your 'limited' knowledge will be enough for them. Alright. Bye." He switched out some things in his backpack for other things. "We heading to Timbuktu, California or Timbuktu, Mars Mysteryofathousandsuns?"
She raised a brow at him, as her left hand rested naturally on her blade pommel. Perhaps he was going to be more interesting than she had originally thought.
"Nowhere in this reality," she replied casually, "I hope you do not have problems...with....what is it they call it here? Motion sickness?"
"No, Mysteryofathousandsuns, I do not."
"Excellent," she replied as she pulled a slip of parchment paper from her belt, "Take a deep breath and whatever happens, do not stray from my side."
Holding the paper out between her fingers she whispered something, a single wispy word. A spark arched from her finger to the paper lighting it at the very edge. The red line of fire ate through the corner quickly with a puff of grey smoke.
The more the ember consumed, the more smoke appeared at an alarming pace, until it engulfed them both.
The haze was so thick the studio fell away and colors began to swirl through grey wall. Reds, purples, bright pinks, and sparkling blues danced around them.
Lady turned to James, her breath still held and held up her hand, encouraging him to stand still.
And then...suddenly they dropped. It was as if someone pulled the earth from under their feet. Air rushed past as the colors became a terrifying whirlwind. She held her breath and closed her eyes against the sensation of leaving her stomach behind. James resisted the urge to hurl but kept his eyes open.
They plummeted for what seemed like years, hair flying and clothes rippled down until the colors began to solidify around them. An invisible force met them with a jerking stop two feet above what looked like a hard stone path with vibrant green moss growing in the mortar. Whatever power held them up suddenly ended and they dropped again, slamming into the hard ground feet first. Lady landed on her butt with a wince and mutter. "Still need work on the landing."
As soon as they touched the ground he laid his stuff down and fell backward onto the stones dramatically, smiling at her sitting form and saying. "Thank you for taking the Kansas express. next stop, Oz." He sat up and looked around. "Where are we?"
Lady gave him a fox-like grin. "I'm not familiar with this land of Oz...but I doubt its anything like here."
Opening her palm she gestured to the path before them. A wide, cobble stone path lay before them, mostly taken over by vibrant green moss. Trees with arching branches and woven with vines followed the path on either side. Crickets chirped and lights of all colors danced around them in the in the late evening air which was warm, almost tropical. In the distance, past several cracked archways over the path, there was a shadow of a circular building with a magnificent dome on top.
The building itself was hard to see the in darkness, but the dome was brightly lit from an unknown source and made of appeared to be crystal. The crystal dazzled against the night sky which was blanketed by stars and swirls of greens, purples, and blues just like an aurora.
"Welcome to Otherworld," she whispered, "A place far beyond your home. To be here is to think beyond the reality that you know. The things you believe are myths...stories...live-"
Her words were cut short by whispering sounds. They seem to be coming from all sides and growing louder.
"Do you hear the wisper-men?"
Lady rose to her feet, the playfulness gone from her face. "Yes I do. We need to move."
Suddenly, the whispers stopped and a thin, broken shadow appeared on the treeline to their right. To James it looked like thin silhouette of a cloaked man, but rather than a face, 6 red glowing slits ran jagged across its face.
"I have no desire to fight you, Shade," Lady warned.
The creature made no attempt at a reply. Instead black shadow tendrils began rushing across the ground toward them.
James took out his sword from the pouch and sliced at the tendrils, attempting to cut them before they reached him.
The tendrils were unaffected by his sword swipes. The blade passed right through the tendrils and began wrapping around his legs. As soon as they touched him the sensation cold so deep sank into him, it burned at his skin.
He grabbed for a light in his bag, falling over and just barely reaching it. James tried using it on the tendrils.
The tendrils hissed and loosened their grip but did not retreat fully at the light in his hand. Lady had drawn her blade and fought back the tendrils attacking. Her silver blade shone brightly in the light and every flick dissipated the shadows.
"Back to the darkness with you!" She growled as marched toward the Shade.
The closer she came...the more the tendrils writhed away against the light until the monster screeched and fled back to the trees.
When it was gone she, returned to James and offered him hand up. "Are you alright?"
"Darkness monsters. Right. Another day in Otherworld." He took her hand and stood up. "Anything else that's Immune to swords?"
Lady hauled him to his feet. His attitude seemed flip and nonchalant about the encounter, but she suspected that it had rattled him more than he was willing to admit.
"He is a Shade, a dead soul and resident of Otherworld. Not the friendliest, though."
She picked up his blade before offering it to him, point down and pommel toward his hand with a flick her fingers.
"A mortal weapon will not be effective against many things here. You need a weapon born from the Soul Forge, like my Sperest," she continued, as she gestured to her softly glowing, silver blade held in her other hand, "That is our destination if you'd like to know more and continue to Carenium with me?"
He shivered to himself. "Yeah."
She returned his blade to him and lead him down the path toward the large beautiful building in the distance. Sperest stayed firmly in her right hand, as a light against anything else that felt like attacking.
"As I was explaining before," Lady said as they walked, "Otherworld is the true home to many of the creatures and figures you know as legend or myth. For example, that Shade we ran across. In your world they are known by many names; Akuma, Jumbee, Ragana... There are others you would recognize too, I'm sure you're familiar with the creature of Loch Ness? The life of Hades?"
James was only half listening. He had drawn back out his pad and went back to sketching the beauty around him. "Hades??? He normal power or godlike here too?"
As he was so engrossed in his sketching, a pinkish will o' the wisp danced around the back of his head teasing him and making her laugh just a little. He might wished he listened a bit more later on, but he would figure it out she supposed.
"The powers of a God to your world," she answered as she watched the playful light, "An equally powerful man here. And he isn't the only one. Many of the residents here are not beings to be trifled with, which is why the Soul Forge exists."
"Rrrrrright. So... When do we get to the forge?"
"It sits deep beneath the Carenium," she said pointing to the domed building they were trekking toward," and it is something you will have to enter on your own when the time comes. I do have a question for you however. Why did you come with me so willingly?
They came upon a large stone archway over the with a strange symbol carved in the middle stone. A delicate single sided axe surrounded by a swirling pattern. Lady curled her fingers of her free hand and placed her fist over her chest, as respectful salute.
"The symbol of The Guardians," she said quietly, "If you go through the forge and live. You'll be one of us. Well, whats left of us."
"I seek adventure, milady. I endeavor to learn something new. I bask in the unknown and strive to shine light upon it. That and your cause seems noble, and I always join causes worth fighting for." He paused and pondered for a moment while they walked. "Whats left of you? Are you near extinction?"
"Some have defected to the enemy Shadows of their own will," Lady replied, "And some...were...forcibly taken. Their minds ripped apart."
She was silent for a moment as they passed under another archway. "I am the last Guardian," she finally whispered.
The building grew closer and now it was evident that the Carenium was a open, circular courtyard with 3 tiers of arches supporting the glowing crystalline dome on top. Vines with large green leaves ran up the walls sprouting delicate purple flowers. There was nothing in the middle of building itself save for a beautiful mosaic on the floor, a swirling pattern of colors that lead to a bright 16 point star of gold and opalescent tiles in the very center. Here the air seemed less humid and had an energized edge.
She lead James to the center of the room and with a tap of Sperest the floor sunk, revealing a narrow staircase. "This is where I must leave you. Entering the Soul Forge is something you will have to do alone. Your soul is where the darkness is its deepest, and where the light is it's brightest; it will be seen by the forge in its entirety. I wish you luck, James. And also...thank you."
James was working after class with one of his star pupils, training her on not letting her guard down on mere leg or arm taps, which in the current year's style of foil fencing was not a scoring move. He assumed that the Epee training last year was too ingrained into her to move on without difficulty. He was just taking a short breather outside in the cold winter air while she got packed when a woman came to him.
She walked over to him slowly, but with confidence in a black, neatly trimmed, skirt suit and glossy black heels, complete with a silver lapel pin. Snow was drifting from above and settling into her honey colored hair which was trapped in a braided bun. She didn't seem to notice the cold.
Instead, her blue-green eyes were transfixed on James as she came closer, revealing something else; she carried a blue scabbard with silver trappings tied to the belt of her high waisted skirt. A sword pommel with silver filigree and a blue stone rested inside.
"Hello, James" she said as a coy smile curled to the corner of her lips.
"Already you have my interest. Let me grab my stuff. " He came back a few minutes later with a duffle bag and a backpack. "So, when do you want to duel?" He pointed at the blade. "Because I want to duel."
She stood in the cold her hand resting comfortably in the pommel of her blade as he went inside his studio. How strange, these people were here. He had not even asked her name or how she had known his, but had seen her weapon and immediately went to go get his gear.
When he returned with his equipment and asked for a duel, no questions asked, she raised a brow at him and chuckled at his eagerness.
"A duel is not what I came here for," she mused, with her smile growing, "But I will oblidge. It will help me test your worthiness."
He invited her inside his studio finally where several decorative swords rested on the wall, racks of practice swords sat to the left, and a large sparring platform sat in the middle of the room. He handed her a blunt heavy two-handed wooden sword and twirled his own lighter one.
"So we walk out with no more than bruises." He then walked up to the platform and took a few steps back, aiming his sword at her before raising it to his nose in a swordsman's salute. "When you are ready."
She took her time as he waited for her, slipping off her jacket to reveal her sleeveless blue blouse and a pink scar on her shoulder traveling down the length of her arm. She removed her actual blade from her belt and placed it gently beside the jacket on a nearby bench before climbing the platform.
Standing ready opposite of James, she held up the wooden sword to her eyes, and stared him down with a playful yet piercing gaze.
"Begin."
He circled the inner ring slowly, lifting his blade and showing an opening in his leg defense, holding his blade in an odd manner.
Lady matched his pace, circling him in kind with her eyes never wavering in their study of him. He had an obvious opening at his legs but held his blade in an odd manner. A blended style perhaps. She suspected a feint, but decided to test him anyways.
The wooden sword held solely in her left hand at the moment, she launched forward with her blade for a quick jab near his thigh, low, but not low enough to expose her self entirely.
He swung down and the opposing blade flew to his right. "Good spot." He continued to move the sword while he had control and spun it in wide circles attempting to disarm her.
Her grip was strong , and her wrist fluid with years of practice. The wooden sword would not be dislodged so easily from her grasp. She let him try though, until she rotated her hand breaking his edge- wise lock. With her sword free she immediately brought it back to a cross-body defense position and stepped back creating a gap once more.
He swiped at her sword with his, revealing no strategies or targets but simply testing her defense and reflexes. He was going to figure out her style before employing one of his own.
She caught the tap and brushed it away with speed and ease. He was testing her as much as she was testing him and her smile grew just a little. Good.
Circling a him a little more, she took his foot work and form...impeccible. But also a bit mechanical.
Stepping forward with a heavier strike aimed at his blade, she met his sword mid-way down its length and drove it up to the cross guard, wedging him in place.
"How strong are you, James?" she asked him with her eyes locked on his.
She had this time to notice, his eyes were closed. He pushed back with great force and pushed away, letting his left boot settle the temporary draw. "I prefer to work smarter, not harder." He twirled his blade getting a better grip and followed up with a lunge to her chest.
"Indeed!" She gained her footing again just as his strike came toward her chest. Strong and fast. Excellent.
With a whip of her wrist and a grunt, she parried and the two swords met with a resounding crack. "But what about your heart? Your soul?" she urged him through gritted teeth against the block, "How strong are they?"
He opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly, dashing back and swinging at her offhand arm. "I am an orphan and some say orphans are pure..." She blocked and he switched to an attack on the leg. "But besides ancestry, how am I to prove that?" a curved deflection that placed them in another clash of blades.
"The proper question is:" She blocked him again, turning his sword outward and away from her leg."Do you want the chance to prove it?" The move left him open for the briefest of moments and she aimed her blade point for his heart without a second thought.
James was aware that with the odd strike he was open to an attack on the torso, and dived out of the way, aiming 2 hard taps on either leg before rolling out of range and getting up. "Meaning?"
She side stepped him as fast as she could to avoid the taps and his sword grazed past her tight skirt hem instead, leaving a small breeze in its wake. He rolled away, leaving a fair distance between them again, so she squared him off and circled him.
"Meaning, you have been untested by this world," she said with a slow exhale, slowing down her heart, "Leave this world and discover where the darkness is it's deepest and the light its brightest. Come with me to the Soul Forge, James."
"Well then. Since you know my name..." He swung his blade at her left arm "May I ask yours?"
She twisted her wrist and blocked the swing, bracing her blade with her right hand against the force. "You may ask, but I may not tell," she replied with a playful smile, "I am known as Lady."
"Very well Miss. Mysteryofathousandsuns," He punched her gut with his spare arm. "I shall go with you." he pressed his sword to her neck gently, indicating that he had won before tossing the wooden blade off the stage and grabbing his stuff again. "Lead the way, Mysteryofathousandsuns."
She bent slightly at the punch, but showed no other signs of pain as he touched her neck with his blade. Smiling at the conclusion of the duel and his eagerness, she laughed at his teasing. Apparently, he did have some sort of humor under the stern looks and beard. "Lady will do," she said as she tossed aside her own wooden sword and retreated from the platform.
Lady slipped on her jacket once more and tied her true blade around her thick belt, while considering the man again. She had watched him for some time before making her decision to recruit him. In all that time, she had seen him as logical and straightforward, but detached from most things. What in his past made him so eager to leave his home? His students? His entire world. Questions filled her mind, but those would be better left for later. He had made his decision.
"Make sure you bring every thing you need," she called to him, "You wont be coming back for awhile. It's a long way to where we are going."
He dialed up someone on his phone. "Hey, Mavy. You know how a month ago I told you that you would get your chance soon? Well, I'm off on a trip with an undetermined return date, so here is your chance to lead. Yes..... Yes..... Teach him feints. Yes, I know. Your 'limited' knowledge will be enough for them. Alright. Bye." He switched out some things in his backpack for other things. "We heading to Timbuktu, California or Timbuktu, Mars Mysteryofathousandsuns?"
She raised a brow at him, as her left hand rested naturally on her blade pommel. Perhaps he was going to be more interesting than she had originally thought.
"Nowhere in this reality," she replied casually, "I hope you do not have problems...with....what is it they call it here? Motion sickness?"
"No, Mysteryofathousandsuns, I do not."
"Excellent," she replied as she pulled a slip of parchment paper from her belt, "Take a deep breath and whatever happens, do not stray from my side."
Holding the paper out between her fingers she whispered something, a single wispy word. A spark arched from her finger to the paper lighting it at the very edge. The red line of fire ate through the corner quickly with a puff of grey smoke.
The more the ember consumed, the more smoke appeared at an alarming pace, until it engulfed them both.
The haze was so thick the studio fell away and colors began to swirl through grey wall. Reds, purples, bright pinks, and sparkling blues danced around them.
Lady turned to James, her breath still held and held up her hand, encouraging him to stand still.
And then...suddenly they dropped. It was as if someone pulled the earth from under their feet. Air rushed past as the colors became a terrifying whirlwind. She held her breath and closed her eyes against the sensation of leaving her stomach behind. James resisted the urge to hurl but kept his eyes open.
They plummeted for what seemed like years, hair flying and clothes rippled down until the colors began to solidify around them. An invisible force met them with a jerking stop two feet above what looked like a hard stone path with vibrant green moss growing in the mortar. Whatever power held them up suddenly ended and they dropped again, slamming into the hard ground feet first. Lady landed on her butt with a wince and mutter. "Still need work on the landing."
As soon as they touched the ground he laid his stuff down and fell backward onto the stones dramatically, smiling at her sitting form and saying. "Thank you for taking the Kansas express. next stop, Oz." He sat up and looked around. "Where are we?"
Lady gave him a fox-like grin. "I'm not familiar with this land of Oz...but I doubt its anything like here."
Opening her palm she gestured to the path before them. A wide, cobble stone path lay before them, mostly taken over by vibrant green moss. Trees with arching branches and woven with vines followed the path on either side. Crickets chirped and lights of all colors danced around them in the in the late evening air which was warm, almost tropical. In the distance, past several cracked archways over the path, there was a shadow of a circular building with a magnificent dome on top.
The building itself was hard to see the in darkness, but the dome was brightly lit from an unknown source and made of appeared to be crystal. The crystal dazzled against the night sky which was blanketed by stars and swirls of greens, purples, and blues just like an aurora.
"Welcome to Otherworld," she whispered, "A place far beyond your home. To be here is to think beyond the reality that you know. The things you believe are myths...stories...live-"
Her words were cut short by whispering sounds. They seem to be coming from all sides and growing louder.
"Do you hear the wisper-men?"
Lady rose to her feet, the playfulness gone from her face. "Yes I do. We need to move."
Suddenly, the whispers stopped and a thin, broken shadow appeared on the treeline to their right. To James it looked like thin silhouette of a cloaked man, but rather than a face, 6 red glowing slits ran jagged across its face.
"I have no desire to fight you, Shade," Lady warned.
The creature made no attempt at a reply. Instead black shadow tendrils began rushing across the ground toward them.
James took out his sword from the pouch and sliced at the tendrils, attempting to cut them before they reached him.
The tendrils were unaffected by his sword swipes. The blade passed right through the tendrils and began wrapping around his legs. As soon as they touched him the sensation cold so deep sank into him, it burned at his skin.
He grabbed for a light in his bag, falling over and just barely reaching it. James tried using it on the tendrils.
The tendrils hissed and loosened their grip but did not retreat fully at the light in his hand. Lady had drawn her blade and fought back the tendrils attacking. Her silver blade shone brightly in the light and every flick dissipated the shadows.
"Back to the darkness with you!" She growled as marched toward the Shade.
The closer she came...the more the tendrils writhed away against the light until the monster screeched and fled back to the trees.
When it was gone she, returned to James and offered him hand up. "Are you alright?"
"Darkness monsters. Right. Another day in Otherworld." He took her hand and stood up. "Anything else that's Immune to swords?"
Lady hauled him to his feet. His attitude seemed flip and nonchalant about the encounter, but she suspected that it had rattled him more than he was willing to admit.
"He is a Shade, a dead soul and resident of Otherworld. Not the friendliest, though."
She picked up his blade before offering it to him, point down and pommel toward his hand with a flick her fingers.
"A mortal weapon will not be effective against many things here. You need a weapon born from the Soul Forge, like my Sperest," she continued, as she gestured to her softly glowing, silver blade held in her other hand, "That is our destination if you'd like to know more and continue to Carenium with me?"
He shivered to himself. "Yeah."
She returned his blade to him and lead him down the path toward the large beautiful building in the distance. Sperest stayed firmly in her right hand, as a light against anything else that felt like attacking.
"As I was explaining before," Lady said as they walked, "Otherworld is the true home to many of the creatures and figures you know as legend or myth. For example, that Shade we ran across. In your world they are known by many names; Akuma, Jumbee, Ragana... There are others you would recognize too, I'm sure you're familiar with the creature of Loch Ness? The life of Hades?"
James was only half listening. He had drawn back out his pad and went back to sketching the beauty around him. "Hades??? He normal power or godlike here too?"
As he was so engrossed in his sketching, a pinkish will o' the wisp danced around the back of his head teasing him and making her laugh just a little. He might wished he listened a bit more later on, but he would figure it out she supposed.
"The powers of a God to your world," she answered as she watched the playful light, "An equally powerful man here. And he isn't the only one. Many of the residents here are not beings to be trifled with, which is why the Soul Forge exists."
"Rrrrrright. So... When do we get to the forge?"
"It sits deep beneath the Carenium," she said pointing to the domed building they were trekking toward," and it is something you will have to enter on your own when the time comes. I do have a question for you however. Why did you come with me so willingly?
They came upon a large stone archway over the with a strange symbol carved in the middle stone. A delicate single sided axe surrounded by a swirling pattern. Lady curled her fingers of her free hand and placed her fist over her chest, as respectful salute.
"The symbol of The Guardians," she said quietly, "If you go through the forge and live. You'll be one of us. Well, whats left of us."
"I seek adventure, milady. I endeavor to learn something new. I bask in the unknown and strive to shine light upon it. That and your cause seems noble, and I always join causes worth fighting for." He paused and pondered for a moment while they walked. "Whats left of you? Are you near extinction?"
"Some have defected to the enemy Shadows of their own will," Lady replied, "And some...were...forcibly taken. Their minds ripped apart."
She was silent for a moment as they passed under another archway. "I am the last Guardian," she finally whispered.
The building grew closer and now it was evident that the Carenium was a open, circular courtyard with 3 tiers of arches supporting the glowing crystalline dome on top. Vines with large green leaves ran up the walls sprouting delicate purple flowers. There was nothing in the middle of building itself save for a beautiful mosaic on the floor, a swirling pattern of colors that lead to a bright 16 point star of gold and opalescent tiles in the very center. Here the air seemed less humid and had an energized edge.
She lead James to the center of the room and with a tap of Sperest the floor sunk, revealing a narrow staircase. "This is where I must leave you. Entering the Soul Forge is something you will have to do alone. Your soul is where the darkness is its deepest, and where the light is it's brightest; it will be seen by the forge in its entirety. I wish you luck, James. And also...thank you."
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