The figure raised up its head to look at him but was shocked by what he saw before him.
"Most odd, I thought for sure that he had returned... Who are you then?"
Gordan stepped forward and a gust of wind burst forward trying to drive him back without success.
"You had it right the first time actually. But I didn't really mean to come here in the first place, in fact if I had know that this place was this place I would have left emidiatly."
The creatures eyes widened and his pupils became even more like a snake. It suddenly stood to its feet throwing off its roab to reveal that it looked almost identical to Gordan, with the exception of three small changes. The creature had red skin with orange markings, it was skinnier, and had one horn in the center of its forehead instead of two. The creature attempted to step forward but as soon as it took a step there was a cracking sound and the creature fell down on one knee breathing heavily.
Gordan advanced another step and then another, until he was standing over the guardian looking down to him with an odd expression on his face.
"Don't force yourself, besides you have visitors so you should take it easy until they get here."
Gordan lifted the creature up with one arm and sat it back into the chair. The creature nodded its head in thanks and leaned back, its bones creaking under the strain.
"I'm too old for this. Too old and too tired... I just want the war to be over with."
Gordan stood there without uttering a word, the creature looked up at Gordan and let out an exhausted sigh.
"I just want to find some kind of peace, you know? I've been stuck here for so many years alone, I hate being alone."
He looked tward the stairs and attempted to raise his arm up, but it instantly fell back down.
"The children used to run up the stairs and come to this place to listen to my story's, and then their children would come and they would watch and listen as well. But now the only thing that passes over those stairs are dead flowers and old soilders who are more monstrous than the monsters which they fight."
Gordan felt his ears flatten back against his head, which was a bit suprising since he hadn't noticed the change in his ears since they had been covered by his hair which was also a bit longer than before and no longer tied up which was slightly annoying, but he decided to ignore that for now.
"Still fussing over the strangest things I see. You don't seem to be all that different then back then, maybe a bit sadder, but that is a fresh memory so I guess it would still be on your mind."
Gordan sighed and sat down to the ground next to the seat looking at the blue flowers.
"When did things, go so wrong?"
The guardian tapped his claws on the arm of his chair, and turned his head tward Gordan.
"Hey, since you are here, do you think you could do me a favor for a bit? Since you look like that it wouldn't be all that difficult."
Gordan turned tward the guardian again and looked at him quizzically.
"Since you said that I had visitors that means that there was someone that was able to see the gate to the village, and as you know there are only two types of people that can see that entrance. Those who are of the same race, and those who are not affected by the magic in place."
Gordan nodded, he knew all of this information from what he had witnessed, but it was rather nice that it had been confirmed.
"The group might fall into either group, the child who looked like some kind of priestess didn't show signs of having magic affinity, but the other three were able to see the entrance as well so there is that."
The guardian let out a short breath and turned his head back away from Gordan to look at the blue petals which he loved so much, he had steeled his resolve to deal with the problem with the solution which had been presented before him.
"Please I beg you, just for a time. Will you please take my place as guardian so that I can heal from my injuries?"
Gordan was a bit taken back by that statement, the reason that the idea hadn't been clear to him was simply that he had been the one to cause the problem in the first place, so him being the solution was a bit strange to him.
" Have you finally lost it, after all of these years?"
he looked genuinely concerned for the guardian who was saying some rather unthinkable things to him at the moment.
"You want me to pose as a guardian? Do you know how many laws that would be breaking?"
The guardian sighed and held his hands out with the palms facing up.
"Do you really think that I would ask you to do something like this if I had any other options available?"
He moved one of his hands which made his skin crack slightly.
"In my condition there is no other option. Besides, my people abandoned me here to die, what should I care about their laws?"
Gordan shrugged his shoulders and caught a falling petal which had strayed away from the others.
"You do have a valid point there, but are you really sure that you want to go through with something like this?"
The guardian shrugged and held out his hand to Gordan who stood up and accepted it uncertainly.
"Of course, there isn't anyone that I would rather intrust with this position than you."
A light began to emit from the guardian and he began to change shape until the only thing left in the chair was a small creature which was about the size of an apple. It resembled a cat but had strange markings on its skin and its eyes were a deep starry blue which resembled the night sky. Gordan held out his hand and the small creature lightly jumped onto it without hesitation. Gordan took off the fir and stored it again in the odd screen before sitting down in the chair where the guardian had been sitting before to wait for the people to arrive. As he did so, he stroked the small creatures fir which made it settle down in his hand and begin to pur in satisfaction.
"What in the world were you thinking?"
He was mostly speaking to the cat creature, but also to himself since there was absolutely no reason for him to have delt with this situation when all he wanted to do was live the next five years peacefully while recovering from losing all of the people around him again. But now that was no longer an option since he had to deal with another situation right after having delt with that whole thing before, it was looking to be a rather tiresome experience. He wondered what death would feel like, since he had come in close contact with it so many times, it was an almost tempting idea at times to him. The cat creatures ears suddenly went back and it looked up at him as though knowing his thoughts. Gordan smiled down at it and chuckled a bit, and then ruffled the cat creatures hair.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on disappearing any time soon, so you can just focus on that healing of yours."
The cat creature huffed and then settled down again to enjoy the attention that it was receiving, after a minute it was purring again contented.
Gordan sighed and looked out to the flower petals that were dancing across the floor. He was waiting there for a long time before he heard the sounds of individuals approaching his location.
By this point the cat creature had fallen. asleep and was breathing evenly, and Gordan was still stroking the cat absentmindedly. He was starting to doze a bit himself at that point as well so he shook his head to wake himself up.
"We finally reached the temple!"
The voice was that of one of the adults as they reached the top of the hill, and found the small temple sitting there completely silent and peaceful. The door had been closed and the group was relieved that their quest was coming to a close. They approached the temple and the three adults sat down and waited for the child to move forward to the place were the flower petals stopped. The child slowly walked forward only slightly slowed by a gentle breeze which seemed to be pulling her away from the entrance, but still she pushed forward until she reached the door and then put her hand against it.
"Oh hear us guardian! We require an audience with you."
The child sat down on the ground in front of the door and waited to see what would happen. Slowly the door opened revealing the 'guardian' sitting in a intricatly carved chair, while holding a cat like creature which was looking at the child with intrest before suddenly yawning. It took the child a couple of seconds to recognize the figure in front of her, but when she did she gasped in shock.
"The creature from earlier!"