A large explosion can be heard in the distance. The time is just after the setting moon and sunrise is upon the bleak tips of the grand Folly Trees. An aftershock from the explosion wakes a young teenager from her sleep in her Elder Folly Treeling home. She yawns, a bit annoyed at the disturbance in her peaceful dreams, and peeks out the window next to her carved, hollow bed of in-turned roots. The moment she spots the smoke and orange glow, she bolts out of bed, scrambles to grab her moonlight robe and ancient dragon-skin grimoire to prance out the door in a flurry of magical prowess.
She arrives in the nick of time as the fire starts to grow furiously. Other fellow sorceress appear to join in putting out the fire to save the Folly Tree. Four total. Each surround the burning Treeling in a four-point circle, they start chanting incantations of the Dancing Waves spell. In a matter of moments, four water elementals emerge from the glimmering air around the women and begin to drench the tree in showers of dew. The young Treeling moans softly and opens it’s eyes to the four women that surround it. It mutters a creaking “thank you” in the language of the trees before stomping away from it’s former husk of burnt bark-like skin.
“Well done, everyone! I’ll take care of the one who did this, you girls return home, alright?” yells the girl in the midnight black, moon encrusted robes of the moon goddess. The other women bow to their priestess and disband. The girl sighs and turns toward an elderly man who lay half conscious on the ground near a barrel of Flame Oil. She taps her foot with her arms on her hips while thinking of various things to do to him before simply kicking him in the shin and yelling, “Get up!”
The old man moans and rubs the back of his head as he pushes himself up, “I, I can explain Ramiri! I can explain what happened!” The old man begs as the girl called Ramiri glares down at him.
Ramiri crosses her arms in irritation as the old man struggles to gain his footing in the wet dirt below him. She sighs and gives in to helping the helpless man to his feet. He nods several times and bows at the waist as best his old bones could bend without cracking too much before saying, “I am terribly sorry for ruining your nightly connection with the moon, my priestess! The young Treeling was in the middle of shedding it’s bark and it was so moldy and covered in moss that I wanted to help the poor dear. So I chanted the Night’s Burning Soul incantation to burn the moss away to loosen the bark but, well… it sort of got a bit out of hand. The spell exploded and sent the Treeling flying while covered in flames that were licking at the old bark that cocooned it’s frail body… I’m terribly sorry, milady.” The old man starts to shed tears of sorrow and regret as the Priestess looks on to him.
Ramiri pats the old man’s head and is about to console him in his wrong doing when a trumpet in the distance sounds to set the hour of dawn. Ramiri flicks her head around to face the small village and then directs the old man to walk back with her with a gesture of her wrist. Together, they walk back to BeetleDrum Village.

“You idiots!” a man in dark robes, similar to those of the Moon Priestess Ramiri, yells at a group of Elemental Eunuch. “You’re supposed to be preparing for the Lunar Tower Festival, you bunch of lazy scum! The Great Moon will reach it’s peak within the hour! The Priestess will be visiting the Dusk Tower to present the Song of Blessings to soothe the Glyph soon! Get to work!” The man’s face is turning purple from rage as the five men holding trays of various items stand in front of him, all in a slight daze from being struck across the head earlier.
The Priestess walks up to the festival instructor with quick, elegant strides. The instructor freezes from fear when he sees the simmering anger in her eyes. She strides up to him and stops just inches from his face. “Ah, uh, um,” the man stutters as he shrinks away from her anger. She stands a good inch or so above him, so she glares softly down into his eyes as he tries to find a way of escape.
“I thought I told you directly to watch after Elder Seamus, Brother.” Ramiri glares down at her younger brother with distaste. Her brother cowers under the weight of her rage and stammers, “I-I’m sorry, Sister! He just escaped my sight while I was directing the people to be ready for the festival!” He puts his hands in front of his face in defense, expecting a strike to the face.
No strike comes, instead, Ramiri takes his hands and smiles as sweetly as she can, but the anger is still a dim light in her pupils. Her brother’s eyes widen with fear and he whispers solemnly, “Please do not smile at me sister, I fear it when you smile! The task of looking after Father slipped my mind! I admit it, I forgot about him! Please, please! Do not be cross with me, dear Sister!” The man that was once intimidating the Eunuchs is now being tortured by his elder sister’s driving stare.

The time for the Lunar Tower Festival is almost upon BeetleDrum Village. Everyone is dressed in white, black and silver attire to appropriate for the special occasion. Every century, the Lunar Priestess of the Moon Goddess must travel to southward to the outer brinks of the Darklands to reach the Dusk Tower. Not only is this a test of courage and strength but it also a test of the Priestess’s spiritual strength and tranquility to see if she can truly calm the ancient Glyph Beast that resides just inside the ancient Tower.
Tonight, beneath the light of the full moon, Ramiri and her riding drake, Sebastian, must undertake a hundred mile long journey. She has packed enough supplies for the weeks’ trek: a sac of food, several canteens of water, her grimoire of spells, a compass, a map, a riding cloak to fight against the chills of the biting wind, a drake muzzle in case there are other travelers, her sketchbook and painting pad and finally, several powders and necessities for the ritual to come.

Finally, after a several weeks journey through the Folly Trees, Ramiri has come to the edge of the Circle of Mourning. This circle of skeletal trees marks the beginning of the path to the Dusk Tower. Sebastian mutters softly and shakes his head with hesitation as he comes to an abrupt halt at the edge of a gate-like entrance made of braided chalk branches that spread from two large, dead trees. Ramiri grips the reins of Sebastian’s bridle in one hand and rubs the leather of her grimoire in the other as she urges Sebastian forward with the click of her tongue.
Sebastian, at first, hesitates and tries to fight back against his master’s orders by sitting on his haunches and mewing like an overgrown child. Ramiri sighs and dismounts his back to lead him by the reins onward through the foreboding gate.

“Sebastian, come on!” Ramiri is now dragging the reluctant dragon mount through the brush of the dying forest by the reins or sometimes, on desperate circumstances, the tail. Sebastian is using his powerful hind legs to try to anchor himself to anything he can get ahold of, but nothing is stable enough to balance his huge body. Ramiri growls in frustration as the dragon kicks up dirt and small rocks in her direction as he claws at the ground in support and leaving deep gashes in the process.
“Ugh… Do you wanna stay here while I recite the spell?” Ramiri asks the riding drake as she brushes off dirt from the hem of her robes. The dragon tilts his head as if in thought and Ramiri throws up her arms in exasperation. “Fine! You stay here in the dark scary forest with all the mean, skeletal creatures while I go the tower where I’ll light a fire and start the spell.” At the statement, Sebastian clings his little front arms to Ramiri’s robes and starts climbing her back when an owl hoots in the distance. “Coward…” Ramiri mutters as she continues towards the large, dark tower that rests on a hill in the distance with their roles switched.

The black stone tower now looms over the two travelers. It’s shadow darkens the path to the door as the full moon rises from behind it with an ominous glow. Sebastian murmurs and shakes his head as Ramiri opens her grimoire. She flips through the pages furiously, searching for a specific spell, “Granite Giant Summoning… No… Creature Taming… No… It must be in here somewhere..!” After flipping through a few more pages she stops and starts reading a page labeled “Barrier Cleanse and Creature Purification Incantation.”
“So I put the powder in like… uh huh and then I need to get the saliva of… Sebastian c’mere a minute…” She calls to the dragon and he hobbles over obediently. She opens his mouth and takes a small cup to the corner of his lip to collect the dripping substance. “And finally, we need some gems to attract the beast.” Ramiri takes out a silver and gold pendant that has a large ruby at it’s center in the shape of a crescent. In a moment, she starts chanting the incantation.
After a few moments and nothing has yet happened, Ramiri steps forward over the spot where the barrier is presumably supposed to be. Nothing. No resistance, no pull inward either. This is strange… She thought to herself as she puts the items away. The barrier seems… almost broken? Then in the corner of her eye, she spots something quite morbid. Her eyes widen and she turns to take deep breaths to steady her innards: Just to the right of the door to the tower lies the brutally shredded remains of a chimera-like beast.
“Who would do such a thing to the Guardian of the Tower?” After calming down, she takes a breath, holds it, and strides up to the dying beast. Surprisingly, the poor thing is still breathing while it’s blood is oozing out of it’s scattered innards. She peeks inside the beast’s chest to see it’s heart is still pumping weakly, thanks to the last of the remaining adrenaline. This creature won’t last much longer.
She carefully steps around the many organs and up to it’s head. The beast is foaming at the mouth and panting for breath. It’s eyes are glazed over and slowly losing focus. Ramiri places her hand on the beast's forehead and connects with it’s mind through a mental bridge of emotion and communication. Ramiri grits her teeth as waves of pain, nausea and suffering surges through her mind.
She clears the most recent memory of pain and expectance of death, and finds the one with the scarring event: The beast was attacked from behind as it was readying to turn to stone for the night’s guarding was finished. The beast knew that it was most vulnerable when readying to sleep because all of its barriers are weakest when doing so. In the middle of the transformation, a fierce pain spreads abruptly from his underbelly to his skull in a matter of seconds and he collapses in his own blood. He looks up and sees a cloaked figure against the sunset opening the large door to the tower and shutting it once more.
In a moment, the chimera roars weakly in protest before taking it’s last breath and laying in the grass one final time. Ramiri sheds a tear for the beast, for it had guarded this Tower since it was reincarnated from the soul of its predecessor. Now there is no choice but to remove the Glyph of Creation from inside and finding another guardian… unless of course, the rumors of a second, more powerful guardian are true.. Then Ramiri wouldn’t have to do anything. But the memory of the cloaked figure still bugs her for some reason…

After several minutes of opening the large, heavy door and then shutting it again, Ramiri is panting on the bottom step of the dimly lit staircase. Suddenly, an ear piercing cry emits from the top of the Tower and echoes down the corridor to Ramiri’s ears. She gasps from the pain of pitch and plugs her ears in a vain attempt to stop the shrill sound. A moment passes, and the shriek stops.
Alarmed that something is terribly wrong, Ramiri starts to race up the stairs with quick strides. After a few flights, Sebastian scoops Ramiri up onto his back and prances the remaining flights until they are in front of a broken iron door. The door is hanging on it’s upper hinge and an ominous red glow is seeping from the room beyond, but no sound can be heard except for the panting of the riding drake, who in turn, is utterly exhausted after the steep run upwards.
Ramiri dismounts and tells Sebastian to sit with a slight gesture of her hand. He obliges and plops onto the floor with a quiet thump! Ramiri softly strikes her forehead and rolls her eyes at the dragon before cautiously peeking around the edge of the door. However, the moment her hand lightly touches the edge so she may keep her balance, the entire door comes crashing down and puts Ramiri into plain view of the same cloaked figure from the chimera’s memory.
The figure turns to the sound of the crash and spots Ramiri instantly. He recognises the moon symbols and freezes in what he was previously doing. Ramiri eyes the stranger with a look of astonishment as she recognizes his intentions: he is planning to release the Glyph.
“Who are you and what are you doing to these sacred grounds?!” Ramiri demands the thief. The thief lowers his hands from the mantle where the Glyph rests and slowly puts them above his shoulder level in a show of being unarmed. He then says in a raspy voice, “Priestess of the Moon.. do you not know the reason of the Ritual of Soothing?” Ramiri gives a confused look. The strange thief continues, “The Ritual of Soothing is to soothe the Guardian! The Glyph is only the place where they keep all their power stored while they sleep! I am here to destroy the Glyph so the Prophecy will not occur!”
“Prophecy? You mean the Prophecy of the Avians?” Ramiri asks with a mouse-like voice. The thief nods, “Yes, the one where all the Guardians battle to the death and their Glyphs unleash world wide disaster! If we destroy the Glyphs, the Guardians will be destroyed with them! This must be done, Great Priestess!”
Ramiri’s eyes do not even flinch at the man’s words. As they compete in a mutual standoff, a low rattling starts up from the deepest recesses of the chamber. The thief jumps and starts to quiver, then he holds his head as he screams in total agony, as if a second being is trying to invade his head. He yells, “Master! Please! Just give me a little more time! I’m nearly there, Master! Please! Nooooooo!”
The man starts to bleed from his eyes and mouth as a blade as black as night pierces his chest from behind, shattering his spine from the raw, radiating energies. Ramiri stares in fear as the man collapses to his knees and coughs up a dark sludge like substance before falling to his end, face first, to the floor. Her eyes slowly peer up to see a pair of glowing, electric blue eyes staring back at her from the shadows.
The blade withdraws from the spasming corpse and makes a Sshh! back into it’s hidden sheath. The mysterious blue eyes never leave her as Ramiri slowly gets up to reseal the Glyph back into it’s proper place on the mantel. However, in a whirr of movement and a haunting sound of snapping bone, a shriek of pain is heard as she makes her final steps towards the Glyph’s seal. Ramiri then realizes from her state of shock that it was she herself that had shrieked. She peers down at herself to find a small dagger protruding from her abdomen. In an instant after registering the pain, Ramiri collapses to her knees and starts clutching at the dagger in pain.
The blue eyes start to slowly move from the shadows and into the light. The soft gleam of pale white skin and a beautiful male face take to the light being emitted from the broken stained glass window. Ramiri is oblivious of the strange man walking slowly towards her.
This man with blue eyes is draped in a torn cloak of Widow’s Silk and threaded with black needles of the Folly Trees. His black leather armor is worn but not to the point of falling apart at the ancient seams. His head is caressed by sleek hair as pale as the moon’s face and his eyes are as clear and blue as the water of the Pond of Resonance to the North. A dark aura envelopes and dances around his fingertips with every careful gesture he makes.
The man kneels slowly in front of Ramiri and reaches out with gentle and delicate fingers. Ramiri flinches at the hand slowly approaching her and he pulls it away slightly in reluctance. But after viewing the sheer pain on her face, he brushes the stray hair away from her eyes and slowly looks down at the dagger that is causing her such pain. He whispers softly as he eyes the hilt that seems familiar to his slightly muddled memory, “This dagger...”
Ramiri looks up at him from her spot on the floor in astonishment at the clarity of his voice. He sounds just like the rare males of the Darklands… Could he be one of them? She thinks to herself as he brushes the pads of his fingers against the tip of the hilt. She quickly takes notice of the peculiar color of his nails. “Why are your nails such a strange color?” She asks him between pained breaths. He looks at her and brushes his lip with a nail before speaking, “I was originally born with a reddish hue to them, but over time they turned to this ‘black of night’ color because of what I am… I will not say anything more.”
He gently places a finger upon her lips to quiet her before she could continue, and she falls completely still. Her eyes slowly wander as a growling starts to erupt from outside the doorway of the chamber. Sebastian stalks from the doorway and charges the man that is above Ramiri’s body. With a flick of his wrist, a barrier clashes with the dragon and the drake is sent flying back to where he first came from. Ramiri tries to protest but he quiets her again and points to the dragon’s left leg, “He is infected by the power of the Glyph of Night. Look at his legs…” Indeed, Sebastian’s legs were pulsing a sickening color of purple against the beautiful green of his scales. Ramiri looks into Sebastian’s eyes to see a hint of the feral insanity that had sparked a rage of animal instincts.
Ramiri starts to cry for her long-time friend as she knew the fate of those who get too close to the raw energy…

A blur of movement is seen in the night against the moon. In the Darklands, the night hours last longer than the other regions, thus it’s name was assigned. The crack of loose branches and whisper of shifting needles are the only sound to be heard besides the howling of ferocious demons in their dens from fear. All the villages, usually active at night, are all inside, afraid at the message the demon’s howling means: The Predator is Awake!

Back in the Tower of Night, Ramiri and the strange man are in a standoff with the deranged dragon. Ramiri asks in a desperate note, “What do we do? If we leave him like this, he will get loose on the villages and destroy them!” The man gets up and stands defensively in front of Ramiri. He whispers so only she may hear, “If you wish me to help you, say my name.”
Ramiri’s eyes go wide in misinterpretation, “Wha-” Before she could finish, the man chuckles and shakes his head, “No, not like that. I can only release my power if someone bonded with the ancient Glyph utters the Guardian’s name. Every Priestess and Priest born with the power of the Glyph is taught the Guardian’s name at birth. If you remember my name, I will help you.”
Ramiri fumbles with her memory, searching as far back as possible. She closes her eyes and desperately tries to concentrate. “Quickly, I can’t hold the barrier much longer!” He mutters. She gasps and whispers back fiercely, “I don’t work well under pressure without the proper ingredients!” The growling continues as Sebastian snaps his jaws and starts to claw at the magical barrier between them.
Ramiri opens her eyes and gasps softly in shock at the long forgotten memory. She yells out in a desperate rush of panic, “Salek!!” In the back of the room, the Glyph starts to glow an ominous red. Salek's eyes turn from a aquamarine blue to a blood red glare to match the serine glowing of the ancient Glyph at his back. A burst of energy erupts from his aura as the Glyph unravels itself from the seal and evaporates into the air. All is still…

The only sound that can be heard in the dark chamber of the Lunar Dusk tower is the panting breaths of the frightened Priestess that lie wounded on the floor. The growling has stopped and the light of the moon has left the range of the window, making everything black once more.
In a moment, a dim purple light appears as the onyx sword is drawn from it’s sheath. A sound similar to shattering glass is heard in the far side of the room as the dragon finally manages to break the barrier of protection. Salek kneels above Ramiri and whispers, “Shhh… I’ll be back. I work better in the dark.” Ramiri feels something soft press against her head and hears the brush of a moving slipper as Salek slinks away, leaving her alone in the darkness.
Ramiri turns her head this way and that to try to hear any sound she could pick up. A low growling picks up from behind her and she jumps from her skin in fear as an air current brushes against her spine. Ramiri tries to make herself smaller but with the dagger still stuck inside her, she is stuck in one position. How am I still alive? I feel completely fine apart from the pain… Am I even bleeding? She feels the area around her abdomen to check. Guess I am.. I hope Salek can finish quickly before I die of bloodloss… Tears stream down her cheeks at the thought of never seeing her family again.
Then, Salek’s sword strikes the bare floor next to her leg and she shrieks at the sudden sight of it. The purple hue starts to glow brighter. Bright enough so she can see the entire room in a purple light. Salek is standing over something she wasn’t expecting at all: an egg.
“How did… what? Salek?” She looks at him in confusion as he turns to face her. Before turning around completely he picks up the egg and places it in a large goblet next to the mantel. “He can stay here and guard the tower until the prophecy is complete… Is that a good fate for your friend?” He looks at her questioningly from the corner of his eye and she nods with a sob stuck in her throat.
Then, reality strikes Ramiri like a pile of bricks and she suddenly feels exhausted. The adrenaline from the fear of death has been spent. Ramiri moans softly as she starts to tilt in one direction. The last thing she sees is Salek running up to her with a look of worry in his bright blue eyes.

Ramiri wakes up to the wind in her face. She can feel something warm against her upper body as her legs grip something between them. “Mmm-?” She opens her eyes to see the black sky and stars in front of her. “Am I dead already?” She murmurs sleepily. The voice of Salek immediately clears her thoughts, “Nope. I’m taking you back home so you can get some treatment from the Moon followers and some rest. We have a long journey ahead.”
“What are you talking about?” The she noticed that Salek is carrying her on his back while jumping from Folly to Folly in the dead of night. “How the heck?!” She yells at the top of her lungs as Salek barely makes a landing on a small plateau. His footing stutters slightly but he manages to get a hold on the lip and back away from it while gripping her tightly. He says, “Can you please not do that in my ear? I rely on sonar to see where I’m headed.” He softly slides her off his back onto a rock to inspect her to see if she’s okay.
“Wait, why are you taking care of me? Aren’t you the Guardian of the Lunar Tower?” She asks with a surprised look as he replaces the temporary bandages on her stomach. “Not anymore. The Glyph was released back to me. And, because you said my name, and pronounced it correctly I might add, my power is now bound to you.” She stares at him as if he is crazy and he smiles. He asks her, “Don’t you know of us?” She shakes her head and he sighs.
“What are they teaching the kids these days? I haven’t been asleep for that long have I?” Salek mutters to himself as he adjusts his cloak to fit her shoulders more snugly. He sighs, “Well. You do know the story of how the land and people came to be right? How they all originally attained their qualities and abilities?” She nods. “All that is true to an extent. The Guardians are the first people to be set here. We each set a vow to never procreate, but to make sure the people who follow us, or see us as “gods”, will be able to continue the line while holding a fraction of our power through the Glyph in a certain bloodline. The Prophecy-” Ramiri shudders and starts coughing. Salek pats her back and helps her for a few moments to make sure she calms down.
“Anyway, the Prophecy states that when we awaken, the world’s bloodlines will be rebirthed and only those selected by the Natural States will be able to live. But, many of you don’t realize that this is already going on. The Natural States exist to make sure that the people don’t become too old or too ill before they pass. That way they will be able to leave this world in peace… By the way…” Salek turns to stare Ramiri in the eye and she flinches slightly at the sudden movement. “Do you know why that man was trying to forcefully unseal my Glyph?”
Ramiri gulps slightly before answering, “Well, he told me that there is a Prophecy that states ‘When the Guardians awaken, the world will meet it’s demise’. He claimed that the only way to prevent the prophecy is by destroying the Glyphs of Creation… The Glyph was destroyed right?” Salek’s eyes grow dim with worry as he speaks, “The Glyph was not destroyed at all. It still exists… just not in a physical state. Here, I’ll show you.” Salek uncovers his hand from his sleeve and spreads his fingers outward. The same eerie glow from before emits from his fingers and red electric waves start to spark and pulse from his nails in fits of raw energy. Salek’s eyes slowly shift from blue to red once more as an object rises from the center of his palm into his hand. In a moment, his eyes shift back and Salek is holding the bulb of a black rose that’s permanently in mid bloom.
“A flower? The Glyph of Night… is a flower?!” She stares at the rose in shock. Salek sighs and reabsorbs the Glyph with ease. He says, “This rose was the first and only rose to ever grow in the Darklands. I was the one to plant, nurture and pick it. This rose holds 75% of my power. If this rose were to get into the wrong hands or even worse, destroyed, my life would be at an end or maybe even enslaved by whoever wields it. If that thief was trying to destroy it… I fear something much larger than we think must be at work now…”
“Wait… The Bogs!” Ramiri shrieks in terror. Salek is about to turn to leave when she yells. He turns to her and stares intently, “What about them?”
“The Bogs have become completely uninhabitable within the last decade… it’s just decaying because everyone believes that the Glyph of Storms lost it’s power… but with your explanation, I don’t think that’s the case anymore. What if-” Ramiri is cut off by a shrill howl that cuts the silence like a knife.

Salek dashes through the dense brush of the Folly Trees. Ramiri is casting Demonic Repellent charms as they make their way. Alas, with every refresh, Ramiri loses energy and her mana is depleting her bodily strength and willpower. “Ramiri,” Salek starts to say after using sonar to avoid a Treelng. “I believe we are almost back to your village of BeetleDrum. Hang in there, alright?” He waits for an answer but doesn’t expect to hear one when most of his focus is on navigating through the deep woods.
Ramiri’s vision starts to become blurry from lack of attention to her wounds. She fears that her wound might have been coated with a poison so subtle, that even the likes of Salek might not have been able to detect it. She moans softly in pain as a throbbing sensation fills her abdomen.
“Almost there, almost there Ramiri. Don’t go to sleep! We’ll make it!” Salek mutters encouraging words as he races the clock in a desperate gamble of life and death. “I’m so tired… and it hurts…” Ramiri starts to shed tears of desperation,”Make it stop, Salek. Make it stop. It hurts…” Salek starts to slow down at hearing these desperate callings of his name and comes to a stop before a moss covered Folly. He lays her down and removes the bandages to take a look at the wound.
“Oh, Priestess…” He mutters as he softly brushes his fingers against the edges of the wound. He rips some of the moss from the tree and sticks it in pieces against the wound to absorb the freshly flowing blood. Ramiri’s eyes are now glassy and her speech is slurred from being so exhausted. Salek leans closer to her and softly nips her collarbone with his canines to get her attention. Knowing that his magic is infused within every pore of his body, he hopes that she will absorb the energy he donated so she may stay alive for just long enough to reach BeetleDrum.

“Hey!” Salek yells at the darkened village lights. Everything is put out or simply left unattended. Some of the fires for the food are still going with the food left abandoned beside them, the banner lays half on the ground, and all the lights of the many windows are out. BeetleDrum Village suddenly became a ghost town.
“Your Priestess needs help!” He tries again. Salek walks through the empty streets of the village in an attempt to find someone to help him. Anyone here could help. If they weren’t too afraid that is.
The rustle of boxes snatches his attention from a cottage he was about to approach. A young child is starring in petrified fear at Salek. Salek turns slowly towards the boy and whispers as kindly as possible without using his Charm technique, “Can you help me?”
The boy stares, unwilling to run or answer, until he sees his Priestess’s face on Salek’s shoulder. She whispers softly, “Gen, go get Brother. He and the Fellows can help me… Please hurry. I don’t have much.. time..” Ramiri falls unconscious as the boy called Gen runs off to the center of the village yelling at the top of his lungs for help.

Days later, after Ramiri has fully healed, the villagers are listening to the tale of her journey and drinking in every detail that she has to share. Salek stands a few feet from her in the shadows, knowing that the villagers are still wary of his presence.
“And by the way,” Ramiri finishes her story with a stated fact while gesturing at Salek behind her, “That.. Him right there. He is the Guardian of the Lunar Dusk Tower. He saved me from the man who tried to kill me.”
Salek steps forward slightly at the mentioning of his name. All the girls swoon as he does so and Ramiri rolls her eyes at them. She turns her head to peek at him to find him blushing slightly at the sudden attention he was receiving. She giggles as he sits next to her while wrapping his arm around her defensively.
Suddenly, a shout comes from the back of the crowd, “If you’re really the Guardian, where’s the destruction of the world? You were the last of them to awaken! Why aren’t we dead yet?!” The crowd parts to reveal a man draped in a traveler's cloak and mounted on a strange beast that’s native to the Crystal Deserts. The strange man dismounts and points a finger at Salek, “You were supposed to awaken for me, but of course you awaken for my sister!”
Salek growls, “You couldn’t remember my name. Also, you were trying to harness my power in a time of peace and using it to cause a war! She remembered my name, she knew of a prophecy that wasn’t rightly said and she was being attacked in two different instances while she was simply trying to keep the peace! You have no right to the Guardians’ power! No right!”Salek reaches for his blade as he shifts to be in front of Ramiri to act as a shield if battle is to come.
Ramiri stands there in shock. She murmurs, “S-sister,” then she falls onto the bench she had been sitting without realising she had stood up. She stares at her open palms as she recalls the rumors, “They thought you were dead… We thought you were dead! I thought you died when you were mugged on your pilgrimage to the Floating Plains for the blessing of children!” Tears start streaming down her cheeks.
Her younger brother, Renlorr, steps out to join Salek, “You are not welcome here anymore. You abandoned your family long ago, go back to the Crystal Deserts where you belong, Matrixis!” Matrixis glares at the three with seething malice as he draws a mace from his mount’s saddlebag. He roars above the murmuring of the curious crowds, “You will die on this day, Guardian of the Moon!”
Giving pace at the same time, both Matrixis and Salek race to meet each other in the epic clash of demi versus god…