"In the valley between kingdoms lies Trinia, a towering city whose spires reach far into the heavens and it's giant walls stand as protectors of its people. Now a bastion of peace and progress, the city has a dangerous past that rears its mighty head once in a while. The details are vague and the stories inconsistent. But one thing that is clear no matter if you ask the elves, the fauns or the humans, a dragon slumbers in the depths below. For it was the dragons themselves who gave us this world, and it was upon seeing what wondrous creations its inhabitants were capable of that they left it once again. Except for the dreamer, the one who stayed behind to watch over his creation, and to make sure no harm would ever fall upon our most glorious city."

The square was alive with people. A massive crowd had gathered in the city plaza, and were excitedly chattering about today's big event. A stage had been set up in the middle, and on top of it was one of the city ambassadors, Sir Oryn Ebonhart. He was delivering a speech about the history of the city, a story that most people undoubtedly already knew, but tradition demanded that things be done in the right order. Behind him a part of the stage had been closed off from the public with a black curtain. Inside, an ensemble of stage managers were all scurrying to piece the ceremony together, but without the person it was intended for, it had proved to be a little difficult.

Ebonhart moved the curtains aside with a pale hand. His long pointed ears paved the way for his entrance and a raspy "Ahem." alerted the stage crew of his arrival. "Are there any news about the girl yet?" A nervous crewmember shook her head. Today was supposed to be the big ceremony for a new guardian, a title that came with prestige and honors, only given to a select few. Everything had been going smoothly, the guardian had been chosen, preparations had been set in motion and on the day of celebration the new guardian had disappeared. The girl in question was a young faun named Avalae, her older sister had worn the title before her, but had tragically died a couple of years back.

Ebonhart was visibly frustrated by the situation, and his usually calm demeanor was starting to crack. "What about..." He paused for a moment. "The other guardian."

It was no secret that Ebonhart was not on good terms with the current elven guardian. As a guardian, people were chosen to be a political, social and military representant, but Elora had proven to be none of those. Her time on the job had been a tumultuous one, the incident that had claimed avalaes sister meant that she was the only active guardian in the kingdom, and as a result, her duties had been tripled.

"It has been impossible to get a hold of her lately, maybe it would help if the order came from a council member like yourself?" The crewmember shook nervously as he stuttered his suggestion. Ebonhart's brows lowered into a half scowl and he let out a dissatisfied grunt. "Perhaps. One would imagine she would have to listen to a council request." He turned around and began to walk back onto the stage "But so far she hasn't listened to any of mine." The sound of his steps leaving the stage prompted multiple sighs of relief from nervous crew members who had held their breath during the entire visit. Worried looks were exchanged before they went back to working on tasks that didn't really need further work.

"Avalae, the ceremony was supposed to start an hour ago! You can't keep hiding out here forever." Elora had been following the faun all the way out of the city, into a nearby forest.

"Just a little further, i wanna show you something."

The sound of hooves occasionally clacking against small rocks in the dirt led Elora deeper into the forest where she found a small clearing. A tiny wooden hut bad been built in the middle of it, and judging by the construction it had not been done by professionals. The hut itself was made of simple boards nailed together in a somewhat square shape, with a branch acting as a flagpole and a torn piece of cloth hanging from its tip.

A skewed shutter was opened to reveal a faun on the inside of the hut.

"My sister built this for me when i was a kid."

Elora walked over and kneeled down to the window. "It's not very pretty is it?"

Avalae laughed and disappeared from the window as she crawled out of the hut. "No, it's terrible! Aurilia was never good at these kinds of things." She gave the hut a gentle kick. "But i wanted somewhere to be alone and she made me this."

Elora smiled. She remembered Aurilia fondly, even though the two of them had only worked together on few occasions. Unfortunately, like her mother before her, Aurilia had given her life on the line of duty, and Avalae was now the last of her bloodline. The fauns had passed down the mantle of guardian in the same family for as long as anyone could remember. It was something special to the fauns, who were the only ones to follow such a tradition.

Avalae brushed some dirt off her dress and walked over to Elora. "Do you like it?" she spun around and the skirt of her dress twirled in an almost hypnotic manner. "I'm not the biggest fan myself, but i don't wanna waste all the effort the tailors must've put into something like this." The dress was a light blue with silver lined patterns adorning the torso and shoulders. Native faun words were embroidered into the skirt and made to look like flowers blossoming. Elora herself had also dressed for the occasion, luckily for her, the dress she wore herself when she was sworn in as guardian was long gone. Elora had never liked fancy clothes or dress-up for public appeasement. Her usual attire had been upgraded with a white dress shirt and a black tie. It was obvious to anyone who saw her that she cared little for today's formalities.

"Listen Avalae, i know you probably wanted to reminisce about your sister, but if we don't get back soon the city is going to put out a missing persons order for you, and i don't want to deal with the fallout of ignoring it."

Avalae laughed and then gave Elora an acknowledging nod. "I suppose we better get going then. You wouldn't mind escorting me would you?" Avalae held out her hand to Elora.

"Sure, but we are taking the fast route this time alright?" Elora held Avalae's hand firmly and a purple glow began to surround the two of them. Avalae closed her eyes and smiled.

The stage crew were growing desperate. Despite their best efforts to entertain the crowd, a lot of people had already left the plaza and the rest were yelling and demanding that the ceremony should begin soon. Ebonhart had withdrawn to a nearby inn and was currently quelling his frustrations with an expensive elven wine. Suddenly, the stage was lit up by a bright purple flash that illuminated the entire plaza. Ebonhart saw the through a nearby window and immediately strode towards the stage.

"Wow, I don't think i'll ever get used to that." Avalae stumbled to get a footing when she appeared on the stage.

"You might not have a choice soon, what if you get like super speed powers?" Elora moved her arms back and forward while pretending to run really fast. Magic was not unheard of in Trinia, in fact, nobles would often send their oldest children to the academy to study it. Guardians, however, were several leagues ahead of what was taught at the academy. Each guardian was gifted with magical abilities that far exceeded what normal people could hope to achieve in their lifetime, and Elora just so happened to be gifted with teleportation.

"I'd hope not, what would be the point of having magic if i still had to run?" The faun walked up to the black curtain and announced her arrival. She was met with a mixture of surprise, relief and scolding. The crowd had returned in full force and Ebonhart rushed back onto the stage to make an announcement.

"Gathered Trinians, our guest of honor has finally arrived, and with her, none other than the guardian of the elves herself!" Ebonhart gave a deep bow to Elora whose only reply was mildly annoyed shrug. He made a gesture for Elora to follow him backstage and the two of them joined Avalae behind the curtains.

"You two are late! I am out there looking like a fool, trying to appease peasants and commoners, and what awful excuse do you two have for not showing up on time?!"

"I'm terribly sorry mister ambassador, i was just clearing my head and i lost track of the time." Avalae kneeled in front of the elf while trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"Personally i did it just to spite you."

Ebonhart and avalae both turned their heads to face Elora. The ambassador's was fuming with anger as he strained to hold himself back from yelling at the two of them. A tailor was meticulously checking Avalae's dress for tears and brushing away the occasional leaf or dirt that had gotten stuck in it.

Ebonhart exhaled heavily. "I want the two of you ready in five minutes. Do not disappoint me further." He walked back out onto the stage, presumably to avoid being arrested for assaulting a guardian. Or two.

The stage was set, lights and music had been prepared for this moment, and to the relief of both the crowd and the crew, Avalae finally stepped out onto the scene, ready to take the guardian vow and be recognized as protector of her people.

"Today is a celebration of a new era in our history. A glorious new page in our already magnificent book. But it is also a day of mourning. Of remembering those who came before, and who are no longer with us." Ebonhart looked at Avalae. "And few of use have known loss in our lives, as well as miss Avalae of the fauns has. Her mother and sister both gave their lives to protect the people they cared for, and although she will be expected to do the same should the situations arise, we all pray that it will not come to that."

Sniffling could be heard from the crow. Aurilia had been a very popular guardian, and the details surrounding her death were still fresh memories to a lot of people.

"Today, Avalae will once again be connected to those she has lost. By the sacred ritual of the dragon, her very soul shall be entwined to the guardians of the past."

Ebonhart motioned for Avalae to step onto a catwalk that continued into the crowd before her. At the end of it a large golden font held a glowing blue liquid.

"Now, Avalae. Do you swear to protect your people, to stand by them in any and every time of need, to carry every burden that would weigh them down, and to guide those who are lost?"

"I do."

"Then drink, and feel for yourself, the power of a guardian."

Avalae dipped her hands into the font. She made a little bowl with her hands and lowered her head to drink from it. Elora had warned her beforehand that entwining ones soul was not an entirely pleasant experience, but Avalae was still not prepared for what that actually meant. As she felt the cold liquid drip from her hands and run into her stomach, the world around her began to fade. The noise of the crowd died out as her vision went black and she fell to the ground. She closed her eyes to focus, to see if she could regain control of herself, but when she opened them again something was wrong. She was not met with a cheering crowd and the sprawling city, instead a sea of fire engulfed her vision. The city was burning, it's walls crumbling and it's people dying. "No!" Avalae cried out as she tried to stand up but stumbled when she tried to take a step backwards. She closed her eyes again, this had to be a nightmare, it wasn't real, she told herself. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes again. To her relief it seemed like everything was back to normal, except for the worried look on Elora's face, that was new.