The Fallen Guardian

Aavern had found four rocks in total, precisely arranged the same distance from the toroid in a cross shape. Each one was a different color. One blue, one red, one green, and one gray.

"If we include the white one in the middle, that makes five."

Aavern fell into thought as he floated around the gray-runed rock.

"One for each gem."

Aavern looked at the rock and ran his wing along it.

The runes glowed the same color as the air gem.

He sifted through his memory.

The red rock was the same reddish-orange as the fire gem. The green rock was the same brown-green as the earth gem. The blue rock was the same deep blue as the water gem.

The white rock at the center of the toroid was the same brilliant white as the light gem.

Aavern opened his eyes looked back at the rock.

"But what does this mean?"

He looked at the rock, and thought. There hadn't been a tearing sound a while, so that meant he was on the right track. But what did it mean?

"Should I go and check each of the gem locations?"

Without warning, the rock suddenly flickered off. The dim gray light disappeared, leaving behind the black rock floating in the darkness. Aavern snapped up in surprise.

"What?"

He floated around the rock a few times and tapped it. As usual, his leg passed right through things.

"Why did it turn off?"

Aavern looked around the darkness. Nothing had changed.

"What about the other ones?"

Aavern flew around to check the other rocks.

The red rock was still on, but flickered off as soon as Aavern got there.

The green rock was already off.

The blue rock was already flickering as Aavern approached, and turned off right before Aavern's eyes.

Aavern took in a sharp breath.

"What does that mean?"

He looked back at the toroid and flew towards it. The white rock in the middle was still glowing. Aavern breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked into the toroid at the world contained within.

"Maybe I should go check on each of the gems."

Aavern dove into the toroid as the world shuddered around him.

-

The guardian began to shudder, shaking off dust.

"We should run," Qassot said.

They followed Qassot up the shaft; Cyil flying and Riselus raising himself with a rock pillar, occasionally clogging the tunnel behind them with more rock. They fled down the corridor and up the slope, around boulders falling from the ceiling. They could hear the serpent thrashing its way past the roadblocks Riselus had placed, coming closer with each turn they took, causing an earthquake shuddering through the mountain. They ran past the former transparent wall, now slowly crumbling. They ran down the corridor and emerged through the door. Past the announcer and down the stars next to the stage. That's when Cyil noticed something odd.

"Something looks wrong here."

"What's wrong?" Qassot asked. 

"Look at them."

The bluish glow had disappeared.

"The blue is gone," Riselus grumbled.

"What does that mean, though?" Qassot asked.

"Look carefully," Cyil said.

"I still don't- oh."

A red glow was developing in each creature's eyes at different rates. A sharp red glow here, a low lighting there.

"Let's get out of here!" Qassot shouted at them as the serpent burst out into the cavern. Riselus threw a massive boulder from the ceiling into the serpent's path.

Cyil pulled out his fireball and Qassot drew her sword from her sheath. She was suddenly holding two instead of one. Sudden silence fell. The rumbling stopped as well. However, they kept on watching the boulder blocking the cavern. The red glow fully strengthened in each creature's eyes, becoming almost unbearable to look at. The serpent rose from behind the rock, breaking the wall behind it. Its eyes flashed briefly as it hissed. It gave a low groan and the cavern sprung to life. 

Every single stone creature rose and turned towards the serpent. The serpent made the grinding noise again. They all turned towards the three friends, who had taken that chance to edge a few steps closer to the exit. A roar louder than that of a tsunami rose and they rushed to attack. Cyil threw his fireball at the ground and Qassot tried to warp them into the Dimensional Link. They didn't end up there, however. Amidst the explosive heat from the fireball, the three ended up on the other side of the mountain, outside. Cyil lit another tongue of flame, held it inside his fur, and frowned.

"What happened?" he asked. 

"I was trying to bring us to Azor's castle," Qassot said, "but the void's still closed."

"Well, that's a bummer."

Shouts interrupted them. A number of dragons had flown up the side of the mountain and were spewing flame as they descended. Qassot leapt up and cut down the first few in a single swipe. The three remaining wheeled and flew back up. They continued to screech, however. It was Qassot's turn to frown.

"Those dragons were from the Krie Clan."

"Look out!" Cyil yelled. He threw a spout of fire straight into the faces of a number of creatures who had flanked the mountain and were fast approaching. Riselus snapped around and cracked the ground where they stood, throwing the attackers into oblivion.

"We shouldn't kill them. We knew them once upon a time," Cyil commented.

"Well, we can ask Azor how to revive creatures," Qassot said.

"I don't think that's how it works," Cyil said.

"We'll think of something. What's the plan?"

"Attack them, I guess?"

"Nice plan," Riselus grunted sarcastically, breaking a nearby rock into stone shards and spraying them around.

"What if we stick together? I can take out the ones in the air, Riselus can take care of the ones on the ground, and Qassot can take care of the leftovers."

"That's a better plan," Qassot said.

A river of creatures had rounded both ends of the mountain and started surrounding them. Another six swords flashed out of Qassot's sheath and began to slice through the various creatures, who were biting and scratching, but not seeming to land any hits. This was Cyil's doing. A carpet of flame was spreading towards the spot where the majority of the corrupted creatures were standing. Every creature other than them was being burnt where they stood.

Riselus stretched nearby stone into various arches everywhere, which collapsed and reformed systematically, crushing and smashing creatures. After Qassot fed him another burst of energy, he sent dozens sky-high with a huge stone fist flying out of the ground, to be hit again on the return with a well-placed fireball from Cyil. They fought on, weaving through the fray, cutting down almost everything, smashing, crushing, and destroying the corrupted creatures. However, the numbers against them were near-endless. Creatures they cut down seemed to come back around the mountain to fight.

Where's the serpent? Cyil asked himself as he flew upwards to run a flaming wing straight through several assorted flying creatures. He extinguished his wing and drew forth his seventh fireball, looking for a strategic place to throw it. He spotted it; a nice, tightly packed clump of creatures held back by Riselus's waves of stone and dirt. Cyil aimed… and heard a screech behind him. A clever little dragon had run a lap and come back behind him. Too bad that he gave a victory cry too early. Cyil held his fireball and drove it straight into the dragon's face. A massive explosion of blue and red rained fiery destruction upon the creatures below; it had generated smaller fireballs upon contact. A vortex appeared right behind him.

"What the-"

Cyil got sucked in, along with a number of assorted boulders Riselus started throwing into the air. He shot through a blurred greenish tunnel to emerge on the other side; a new look at the void. As if he were peering down onto the toroid through the translucent ground.

Welcome to the Dimensional Link.

Cyil snapped around. There was a curious creature floating there. A jumble of flesh rings, bones, and twisting body parts mingling with each other.

"Um… hi?"

Who are you?

"I'm Cyil. Who are you?"

You're quite different than what I heard.

"You're not making any sense. Now who are you?"

Call me the Overseer.

"What do you oversee?"

The world.

"Why?"

The creature ignored Cyil's question.

So what are you doing here?

"I dunno. All I did was smash a fireball into the face of a dragon."

What kind of dragon?

"The blue riverside-living kind."

I see.

"So do you know why?"

No. This has never happened before. Nobody else seems to notice that I am watching them move about the link.

"So, you're watching over the fourth dimension?"

This isn't the fourth dimension. This is the Dimensional Link. I was placed here to guard the light gem.

"Can you get back?"

I don't know. Never tried.

"You should try."

If I knew how to, I would.

"I see."

The conversation dried up. Cyil decided to change the subject.

"Uh, my friends are battling an army of evil corrupted undead creatures which we once knew."

Are you worried?

"A little."

Do you not trust them to take care of themselves?

"Uh…"

Sorry, I sound like I'm talking to one of my children.

"Um…" Cyil was uneasy. He had a queasy feeling in his stomach.

I get what you're saying. I'll find a way to get you back.

"Cool! Thanks! I'll just stay here."

Cyil stood there for a while, staring at the center of the toroid, where an odd light was flashing. He squinted at it. He could dimly make out a series of precise movements, flashing silver, and fluid white streams flowing around. He scratched his head. Was that a battle? He peered closer. The movements were too quick to distinguish. In a sudden flash, the flurry of shapes was split apart, and three distinct figures now stood apart from each other. Two black, sleek winged shapes, one of which was too unstable to identify, were fighting. Cyil gasped and did a double take. One of the winged shapes looked familiar. The two figures lunged at each other again, lapsing back into a fight, but not before Cyil caught a glimpse of one of their faces.

Dracoa.