Genesis, A New Creation

The Custodians

-Chapter 14-

Saara feels her breath return to her and she opens her eyes and lifts her head and sees a gate, It's silver lining and seemingly marble holdings provide a barrier to what looks like a blue grassy field with white flowers. Standing up she can feel her tail twitch with a sense of almost anxiety and as she approaches the gate two beings appear in front of it blocking it with Golden spears that are tipped with a seemingly white metal of some kind.

She is shocked that anything would block her and these beings seem as tall as her but cladded in full white armor, with red crosses on their chest. Their helmets have holes for the eye sockets but nothing seems to be under them. She then says “Who are you and why do you block my path.” They both do not answer at first but she asks again “I Said-” cutting her off they state at the same time in voices that seemingly echo “We are the Custodians, Are duty is whatever our creator asks of us. You are one of his creations yet you know not of him, We only answer you because you are his first.”

Saara questions “What do you mean by his first? And who is this being?” They do not move nor do they answer. Standing there completely refusing her entry but she tries again “...What is that place?” The one on the left arms his spear by pointing it at her and the other one steps to the side in front of the gate and the one on the left says “Please, I do not wish to fight you. Leave this place it is not for the living to see for that was our commandment. For those that live shall not enter, only to those that perish may they find shelter and forgiveness for their transgressions.”

Saara tries to use her dragon form but she can't transform and the beings say again at the same time “For anyone who challenges the Custodians shall find their powers removed and shall be put to the spear and casted into judgement.” Then the Custodian suddenly slams the back of his spear in one motion Saara could not even dodge and it hits her in the head and then the Custodian places his hand quickly on her chest and states “You are judged NOW BEGON!” a white light comes from the Custodian's hand and she feels a pain she never felt before. A sense of fear, of pure loneliness, pure abandonment but it only lasts for a second but it feels like forever.

Her eyes shoot open as she realizes she's in the air again and then a large deep voice comes from the Dragon she is riding “My Primordial, you're awake...I'm glad you are not dead.” Saara recognizes this is Lato, The Gate Guardian of her capital city and her preferred body guard if she ever has to take one and she asks “How long have I been away?” Lato responds instantly “Two days.” and he takes breath flapping his wings again as the cold air of her nation comes over a breeze “Many were worried, Even though we knew you were stronger then Nocte….we were nonetheless worried I know it is foolish-” Saara places her hand on his neck and says “Don't worry….it...it's fine, You are all mine I would never feel bad for you being worried about me now please let's go home.”

It takes a long while but she can't get what happened out of her head, Her hands are shaking as she holds onto Lato. Eventually though Lato asks “Excuse my rudeness but….is everything alright Primordial, Your hands are shaking you seem scared.” Saara thinks for a moment and looks at the sun that is now just rising and she thinks “Two days? All of that happened in two days? Was it a dream…..” and she answers “I don't know…” Lato gives her a glance with his head but looks forward as quickly as he glanced and said “Then I shall fear for you as we'll.” Saara taking a deep breath thinks back to those “Custodians”

They wore almost pitch white armor, It had no engravings and had only a single red marking on it which was a cross. Their plates seemed infused with others and there were no cracks or sliding points for the armor and was more like a single suit. Her thoughts were messy and she took a deep breath looking at her hand and repeated “You are judged….now begon…” she needed to know what those things were, she thought.

They finally reached over the mountain top of the Dwarven Kingdom and flew down the side and then Lato spread his wings wide allowing wind to throw them back up and he began to glide over the ocean that was now beginning to show, She then asked “Lato tell me have you ever heard of beings called Custodians?” Lato seems to think and says “Forgive me but I do not know, I'm sure the master librarian would know.” Saara feels a bit confused and says “Don't tell me that crazy old dragon…?!” Lato seems to laugh slightly and says “Yes...my crazy father would most certainly know. He's been alive for more then ten thousand years as you know.” Saara grunts her tail flicking and she nods no longer responding or trying to make small talk.

After a long period of silence and the smell of ocean salt water Saara can finally see her nation's land, granted it was an island but it was more than secure from any land invasion. Saara then stands up on Lato’s back and raises one hand in front of her, Her palm outstretched and the wind picks up her hair flowing in front of her along with her cape and Lato gives a large flap of his wings which causes them to go even faster.

Muttering she says “Finally home sweet home.” Lato's face gives a faint smile even for him not being human. She can tell he smiled at least slightly. Though as they slow down and land on the landing area with white rock markings that shine in the sunlight and even the moon light. She hops off Lato’s back and instantly some other Dargons approach, They are much more human looking than Dragons but they are the same species just a smaller and lower class then the Dragons.

These Dargons quickly gather around Saara and start to cheer for her return, Some offering gifts of rings, emeralds or even drinks. She blushes at some of the gifts but mostly refuses all of them except a small flower that was offered by a child Darogon clearly only twenty years old, she kneels down and takes it and gives a smile and a pat on the Dargons head and he blushes slightly and his tail wags.

Saara stands and says “Go to your mother.” the Dargon nods and quickly runs back into the crowd and she makes her way through the crowd Lato follows closely behind. The crowd splits but the cheering keeps up but then they begin to chant “Legion! Legion by the Princess, We stand ready! Arms up and praise be given, To our Princess the One above the other four Gods! The Strongest and Our Leader! Legion We stand united, under one banner!”

She raises her hands and silence encloses the area and the large gates that are now in front of her are pushed open by two large Dragons cladded in Golden armor “Gatekeepers” she called them but in reality they were more like shock troops designed to be extremely hard to kill and to be slow, tearing down the defenses one by one leaving nothing standing.

She walks into the caverns as Lato follows her, The Caverns were very tall and wide to allow the Dragons to walk through. There were many smaller passes for Dargon’s to pass through as we'll but they typically stayed within the protective mountain that was built long ago. She took a left into one of these smaller entrances and looked at Lato “I'm going to the library you can go home if you wish.” Lato’s eyes seem to narrow but he bows his head “As you wish.” and he walks on in the large cavern.

Saara continues down the smaller cavern, she can hear the echoes of people cheering and or giving praise for her return home but she tries to block it out as she continues down the dark and dimly lit cavern. Eventually it gets so quiet she can hear water drip and echo and her own footsteps. The tunnel seems to last forever but her thoughts are not quiet and rather haunted by those “Custodians” they called themselves, They stripped her of her power while she was with them just in the snap of their fingers practically. If they were real they were a real threat to her and her brothers and sister...possibly the whole world.

Her mind finally went quite as she finally came when she reached the second opening which was a like the entrance she came from but rather it lead it a massive underground city, The top of the mountain had a large hole in it allowing for dragons to fly out and in but it also allowed sun and moon light to enter giving the city it's own type of beauty that no Dwarven city could compare too.

She gave a smile and felt her heart calm as she merely gazed at the city for once in the past days, Not worrying about nor watching Nocte it felt relaxing and calming. The fresh air of the cave had a wet scent but the Dargons and even some Dragons that walked through the city seemed to make that scent somewhat stale giving it a wet and cold yet stale and warm scent that made her happy to know her plans so far had worked.

She watched as caravans filled with goods and food were traded for material needs and even some luxury items from where she stood, farms from across the nation and island went to major cities to typically trade for either money, material necessities or even sometimes female Dargons that would fall in love with the farmers and would go with them in mating rituals that typically lasted a week.

Sometimes male or female Dargons would fall in love with a Dragon and they would try to gain the Dragons attention and once gained would try to please them any way they could. Most of the time the efforts were null and void but sometimes, Dragons would agree to the mating and the male or female Dargon would “Transform” into a Dragon though not as strong as a natural Dragon they were nonetheless stronger then in their past form.

Walking down the slope for once, none paid any attention to her and it gave her the sense of how small she was compared to the world let alone the Universe and it's infinite space that continues to expand to this day. Though only her and her brothers and sister knew about the universe out right but it was a comforting thought to her.

Finally she reached the corner and turned into the library were a grey Dragon was on his hind legs looking at a very high self using his claws to gently stack books and a Dargon was using a ladder to go up and down with a stack of books on her side that was strapped on by some leather.

She then coughed into her hand and said “Paramus I require your attention and books for a while…” the large Dragons head seems to freeze but his tail wags up and hits the floor with a small thud and he says in a raspy yet strong voice “of---of Course…” his head turning slowly revealing the cracks and unhealed damage of aging scales and he says “W-what-What is it small pprinces..” She grunts and say “Keep calling me that and I'll blunt those already broken scales more you stuipid Dragon.”

He gives a chuckle putting the book he was reading back on itself and turns landing on all fours and says “I-m just….just teasing but your ….always....harsh on me, just like the…..the good day...days.” he begins to lead and she follows and Paramus asks “W-What...r..are you looking for?” and she says “Warriors cladded in silver armor they are called Custodians, I want any information on something like that.” Paramus instantly stops in his tracks and glances at her, his face no longer holding a smile or grin but rather one of concern and asks “ar...are you feeling right?”

Saara replies on a dime with more aggression “Don't question me! Were or should I say do you have any information on them!?” she walks right up to his face slamming her tail on the ground as it creates a crack in the polished stone floor. Paramus lifts his head away from her and looks at the sections squinting his eyes then continues to the third section and lifts his head to the fifth row out of eight and grabs a book with his claw and says “Here, this should be it.” Saara snatches the book and opened it and the title read “Faith within Saisho”

Paramus then said “I believe it is…..ch-chapter….23...or is it pppp-page 23?” Saara says “You're f*****g useless sometimes I swear.” Paramus only giggles in a low tone and Saara flips first to page 23 and sees a drawn picture of clearly a being in black yet red trimmed armor, The armor looked a lot like the Bestian Confederation armor, Layered pieces but the out skirts were clearly metal but it seemed unnaturally smooth and perfect. The face had a mask that was gold and red eyes shined and glowed underneath, Too horns protruding out from the front of the helmet but she could not tell if they were part of the being or the helmet as it draped down on the neck and the armor seemingly had no gaps besides for the neck. The stance of the being was wide, the sword was curved and long, clearly light by the stance.

It had no tail and seemingly no skin showing as it's figure had a dark aura around it as if it was evil in some way, Yet the label above it read in the Bestian Written Language “Saisho, God of honor and creation.” she grunted as she read it out loud and said “This being does not exist yet they believe it to be true! Bah, They are foolish and misguided by their shamans who get high off the drugs they use to contact this Saisho.” Paramus burst into her thoughts and said “IF you wish….wish...to understand...the..Custodians then you must understand Saisho’s story first. It will make it easier to understand.” She looks at the Dragon but he turns away from her walking slowly down the aisle leaving her alone.

Once more she looks at the image and wonders outload “Truly...they have a remarkable resemblance to each other. Their armor, the sword…..even the mask. Perhaps it may be real, or could it just be that...a story to inspire hope.” She closes the book but takes it with her out of the Library. As she walks along the stone checkered path that was placed and put into the ground more to the center of the city to allow easier directions and pathing, She eventually passed a fruit stand that was receiving very little business it seemed and the owner had his head lowered as if in shame. She glances over at him and her tail twitches but then two kids run up and each grab an apple and go to pay for it but the man smiles and pushes the money back into their hands and says “No need to pay me, Go ahead and enjoy the sweet apples.” the kids smile and eat the apples but leave quickly, Dargons always have a taste for sweet fruits she thought but she approached and the male quickly looked at her and instantly almost stands at attention but she lifts her hand in front of her as if to relax him and he does so.

The male then says “I didnt realize you were there...I'm...sorry Pri-'' she cuts him off by reaching into her pocket and giving him ten gold coins and he stands stunned and looks up at her with a tear forming in his eye and she says “Don't worry, You will have plenty of business tomorrow.” with that she takes an orange and walks away. Tossing it into the air and catching it as it comes down, she eventually as she reaches her palace takes a bite out of it straight through the rough skin with her sharp teeth.

The sweet yet bitter taste of the orange made her tail seemingly shiver in delight, yet the juices did spray a bit on her neck and she wiped it away with her hand. Then in one bite she eats the rest of the orange and chews it to a pulp and swallows. It hurt slightly but her throat shifted and swallowed accordingly. She reaches her estate which is not that big, but guards are there and it's on top of a hill that's inside the mountain. She walks up the trail and past the Dragon guards that open the gate with their paws letting her through. The walls are not that high for her but any normal foot soldier they are still quite the obstacle.

But now she was alone as she entered her home, the place was empty but was as clean as she left it. As a dust maniac though she wipes her finger across one of the statues of a dragon and feels a small amount of dust and she sneers at it. Quickly getting cleaning materials and brushes she goes through the entire estate cleaning everything and anything. She goes into tight spaces, small spaces, Large spaces alike cleaning even the most dirty of things. She even finds a dead rat which she promptly burns with a magic spell of the fourth tier burning it to gas within mere moments.

Though when she is finally finished she feels a headache come out of nowhere and she goes up to her room. Laying on the bed without even changing she closes her eyes and hears her door knock as soon as she is down and hears a Dargon maid “I'm sorry if i'm intruding while you're resting, but I have an important message. I will slide it under the door for you to read once you're ready.” Saara hears the maid slide something under the door and walk away. She lays like that for a few moments and closes her eyes, feeling herself drift off she thinks “nocte…...mmm…” she feels her arms grab her blanket and she nuzzles it into her arms and legs wrapped around it as her tail gently wagged as she slowly feel into sleep.

She opens her eyes and finds herself in a field, the field is covered in blood and clear indications of a battle with magic clearly carving holes into the ground and even burn marks on corpses a clear indication of fire magic. A flag is held in the hand of a dead man as it was trampled by the feeling army and it is the Kingdom's flag, The white snowy floor is tainted red with blood and blackened with ash.

The sky is cloudy and she begins to stand up but as she does so she finds herself somewhere else and is in a camp where several prisoners are held. They are still in their armor and were tied up with ropes. There is one Noble and the rest are normal knights, clearly his bodyguards as they all have the same insignia. Fear covers most of their eyes expect the one on the far left whose eyes are closed and he is relaxed and does not mind being captured but then she hears something say “I offered you mercy before the battle started….now you shall receive none..” she tries to turn around her body seems frozen in place, the voice is ragged and seemingly distorted and mangled but she can understand it nonetheless.