The war with Aarun had left scars that would run for generations to heal, not only across the land but in the hearts of the Guardians, too. Sure, they had cooled down the devastating power of the god of earth, but the journey had been too stressful for all of them.
Aiden stood at the edge of the Sanctuary. He held his shoulders heavy under the weight of the past few days. The early morning light revealed that his once bright blade now seemed dull in look; perhaps with the power he once held which disappeared with the energy he spent in the last fight against Aarun. All his body parts had bruises and were battered while the deep exhaustion caused by draining off his magic made him feel a deal older than his years.
Do you ever wonder what will happen? Lyra asked from behind him, her voice low. She had always been forthright, but today there was something in her tone-an uncertainty, a fragility- that Aiden hadn't expected.
He looked to her, her form illuminated only by the warmth of dawn. Shadows lacked even the lightest of intensities across his eyes, which were always ablaze with fire. His powers, like hers, had been stretched to their limits.
"We move forward," Aiden said, even though his words felt void. "We rebuild, protect, and prepare. There will always be new threats—new challenges. As long as there's light, there will be darkness trying to snuff it out."
Lyra's lips curled up into a small, weary smile. "And we will stand between them. As Guardians."
"Yes," Aiden said, feeling the familiar weight of his duty settle on him like a mantle. He reached out and took her hand, was grateful for the grounding presence she was for him. "We will.".
Caelum returns from the temple, with his gaze averted from Aiden, but he appears reflective. The chaste look on Caelum's face revealed a storm inside that Aiden knew was going to be rather intense. The scholar and wizard had always kept his emotions well-guarded in his chest, but the battle shook him to his very core.
"We are not the same as we were before," Caelum said, his voice tinted with the elements of melancholy. "Even with the defeat of Aarun, the damage done to the land and to our very souls is far from repaired. We fought not just against Aarun's fury but against the deeper truths of the world's forgotten history. The balance is fragile. I fear that what we have sealed away may one day return, even stronger."
Aiden nodded, his fear the same gnawing thing inside. "You are right. The Heartstone was just a small part of it all. We have been shown things, things that change us and cannot be unlearned. The old powers are not finished. They are just waiting."
"There is always something waiting," Lyra whispered, her hand closing tighter around Aiden's. "We cannot seal Eldoria forever, can we?
He got a hard look in his eyes. Not one to back down from a challenge, no matter the cost. "As long as I have breath within me, I will fight. But we cannot do this alone. The Guardians must change. We need new allies, new knowledge. Eldoria is vast. It cannot rest entirely on the shoulders of the three of us.".
Caelum gazed out to sea. "Perhaps an end mark for the old magic's age. But now, on the horizon, a new dawn breaks. And it's up to us, no one else, to shape it.".
Days passed by as the Guardians set to work in rebuilding Eldoria's defenses, restoring dominance over the land. They knew that battles of the past would always mar their time, yet they were aware of the fact that the future could never be ruled by the shadows cast by their past victories. They had to find the balance within themselves, for the world itself.
Aiden spent what he felt were hours in the Sanctuary, going through ancient texts and tomes about anything the first Guardians had ever spoken. Somewhere within the books was a hint of new powers that slumbered in the earth, waiting to be unearthed. But once again, the texts were cryptic, often incomplete, and there was a great deal left up to interpretation.
She worked extensively, reaching out to the last settlements in order to help them begin recovery. Her influence was vast; her power to heal and guide others was more crucial than ever. But there was a quiet loneliness about her, a burden that she bore alone.
Caelum, as always, burrowed into his books, seeking new techniques to make their magic more sophisticated and their defenses stronger. Even this prodigious mind could not eliminate the feeling that something much greater was at work, even if they still did not understand what it was.
The land itself, healing though it was, was also changing. And into this shifting land, into this strange new world, began to come creatures they had never seen. Not the creatures of the ancient texts, not quite fully of light nor shadow. Unpredictable and dangerous, and the Guardians knew that the borders between worlds were weakening once again.
One night, as the moon gleamed brightly over Eldoria, Aiden stood before the rubble of the Chamber where Heartstone had met his final end. The cavern had long since settled its turmoil, yet a sense of foreboding clung still to the air, as if waiting for the land to breathe again.
It was far away, but he could feel it once more, the faint ripple in the fabric of reality. A new threat, far different than what they had faced before. As if a doorway had been opened, a crack, letting out something long asleep.
"Lyra," Aiden called, his voice taut. She appeared almost instantly, as if she had waited for him to say it first.
Something is coming," he whispered quietly, his gaze sweeping the horizon. "The darkness is stirring anew but not as it was. We need to prepare."
Lyra's face set. "What kind of threat? Have we truly defeated Aarun?"
Aiden started shaking his head. "Aarun was merely a piece. There is more. something even beyond the gods."
Caelum's voice came from behind them. "We have also felt it.".
Caelum approached them from afar, his eyes acute with intensity. "It's nothing like anything we've ever seen before," he said, holding out the tiny artifact: a shard of crystal that hummed with energy. "I dug it out of the earth-part of an ancient civilization buried beneath their fellow's ruins, older even than the Heartstone. And it radiates power so wrong, like it's calling out.".
Taking the shard from Caelum, Aiden felt its cold pulse reverberate through his fingertips. Unmistakable, this was of no natural world. It was foreign, alien.
"We have to know what it is," Aiden said. "Before it finds us.".