Tim plunked himself down beside Fal, wincing as his tail bone came into sharp contact with the hard stone of the cave floor. Hands braced on either side of his hips, he eased his position and looked at the still form of his Guardian. He saw mostly dark curves outlined against the lighter walls of the cave. “Fal?“ Tim knew he would get no reply, but still he hoped this day might be different from all the days before. He pulled his worn jacket close about a slender torso. The sleeves were short on him now, not quite reaching his wrists. Back when it belonged to his older brother, the sleeves reached down below Tim’s fingertips. That time seemed long ago, and his mind shied away from thoughts of his mocking older brother.
​
A single morning flyer sounded a strident call, carried on an errant breeze which snuck into the cave. The leaves on the trees near the cave mouth, waved and fluttered, their movement creating a shushing sound as if remonstrating the flyer and its harsh noise.

Tim felt his belly growl. He knew he should get up and attend to a meal. Still he sat beside Fal, staring at his Guardian lying curled, silent, eyes closed, long, darkly ridged tail curving about him, narrow jaw resting upon his scaled forelegs.

Just then, the sun dared a single streak of light through the mouth of the cave, shining across Fal’s shoulder and over his back and spinal ridges. Where it illuminated, Fal’s scales sparkled emerald green, shading to deepest cobalt blue. The rest of him looked black in the shadows of the cave.

Gone was the fearsome beast so many knew as the Fallen. In its place was this stunningly beautiful creature, so unmoving it might have been carved from purest crystal. Even Fal’s smell had changed, mused Tim. He inhaled the almost floral, spicy scent that exuded from Fal’s warm sides and thought how different that was from the combined odor of spice and rotted meat that accompanied Fal in the past. Tim preferred this new scent, though he’d take the other if only Fal would wake up.

Tim sighed with longing.  He watched the gradual movement of sunlight sparkling across Fal’s back and felt admiration, no, adoration, a feeling that welled up within him. He loved Fal with all his heart, though he didn’t know why. Fal had not been kind to him. Worse, Fal had convinced him to do bad things. And worst of all, Tim had no idea how to bring Fal back from wherever he had gone. The thought twisted his gut painfully.

Knowing it would not wake Fal, Tim leaned forward from where he sat, resting his forehead against Fal’s. He would never have attempted this were Fal awake, but now, what difference did it make? The contact was comforting to Tim and he allowed himself this small familiarity, leaning close and resting his hands on the dusty cave floor.

Tim closed his eyes, breathing deeply, his nostrils filling with Fal’s warm, sharp scent, and he rested. He heard the slow, whooshing of air, in and out, and felt Fal’s hot breath warming his stomach where he leaned over his Guardian’s muzzle. Tim hadn’t intended to stay long like that, but instead of a brief contact before getting up to make his meal, he fell into a deep sleep.

Tim was frightened when his eyes opened to what seemed an infinite void of blackness. Then he realized he was surrounded by points of colored light. He looked deeper and saw that pearly strands of white formed a web connecting the flickering, dancing lights. Close to him was a beautiful, dark blue pulsing light that bounced slowly up and down.

Tim knew, and had no idea how he knew, that this was his Guardian, Fal. His heart almost exploded within him at the thought, except that when he looked down, he realized that he too was just light, a sparkling aqua blue. His light pulsed, looking like a tiny, blue sun. He felt as though he might burst with joy as love flooded out of him and surrounded his Guardian with iridescent rainbow rays. Fal’s light pulse brighter and brighter still. Tim felt warmth and happiness radiate from his Guardian, as Fal’s light danced up and down before him.

Suddenly, Tim felt himself surrounded and filled with energy that pulsed with love, appreciation and gratitude such as he had never known. He was astounded to realize that Fal loved him, loved him deeply. Surely Tim’s heart would explode now. It was all he had ever wanted. Tim felt whole and complete and he wanted to stay there forever.

He felt a gentle push upon his forehead and Tim opened physical eyes on a physical world. Disappointed and awkward with it, he pushed himself up and back, away from Fal. Fal’s enormous golden eyes were open and staring right at him. But instead of the cold rebuff he might have expected, Fal looked at him softly, eyelids closed just slightly, relaxed and accepting. Tim saw love in those eyes, that tingled upward through his body, from his toes, expanding through his chest and right out the top of his head. Gradually, Tim felt replete with that love, so nourishing it filled his heart and belly too. He felt as though he was filled completely and might never need to eat again.

Then the odd thought came, as they will, and he realized that if he never ate again, he’d miss his porridge too much. This struck him as terribly funny. Maybe it was the strain of the weeks of not knowing. Maybe it was the joy of finding Fal again. Maybe it was the amazing discovery that Fal loved him. Whatever it was, he started chuckling. The joy and love he felt inside bubbled up within him and he laughed out loud. A guffawing belly laugh that carried him forward as without thought he threw his arms about Fal’s neck and laughed until he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks to drip over Fal’s neck as it curved about him in a Guardian’s hug.

He started to sob then. He couldn’t help it. Great wracking sobs consumed him. He cried for himself and the things he had done, the hatred he had carried in his heart. He cried for Fal, the pain and regret he felt within him. He cried for the pain that together they had caused others. Then he was crying for the relief of forgiveness and found love. It all poured out of him, and all the while Fal held him.

Gradually the sobs gave way to great shuddering breaths. As those finally calmed, Tim swiped at his cheeks, pushing himself back. He took in a tremulous breath and looked at Fal incredulously.

His Guardian gazed back at him, golden eyes warm, huge scaled body still, brow ridges laid back against his skull in relaxation.

“Fal.” It was all Tim could give voice to, yet that single utterance carried everything that overflowed from his heart, as his watery eyes beheld his Guardian before him.

He breathed steadily for several moments, watching Fal shift one powerful foreleg and then another, claws scraping the cave floor, levering himself up to a sitting position before Tim.

“You’re back,” said Tim in wonder. His head tilted slightly and his eyes crinkled with the smile that curved his lips. “You’re back,” and relief poured through him, the sensation bubbling and tickling through his body. The feeling of it made Tim giggle boyishly, until he remembered himself and chortled in what he thought of as a manly guffaw. Then he released all inhibition and threw himself upward at Fal, arms attempting to snug about his Guardian’s neck, but succeeding only in reaching up to his shoulders.

In the eternity of that precious moment, Fal curved his long neck into a hug about his boy’s side and back, holding on to his life line.

Lisle raced to the cave of the healing pool, knowing Ell was there. She caught the edge of the rough stone entry with her extended hand, catapulting herself into the room. “Ell! Ell!” Ell lifted her shining head, steaming water dripping from narrow, scaled jaws, even as the rest of her reclined in the sulphurous waters, her eyes half-closed in relaxation. Lisle knelt at the side of the pool and threw tanned young arms about Ell’s slender neck, hugging her close. Then in a trembling, sweet voice, she sang to Ell of her amazing discovery, making up the tune as she went along. The words flowed, bubbling joyously out of her like the bubbling pool before her. She felt Ell’s love surround her and leaned against her, resting her head against the heat of Ell’s nape.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Ell seemed to be content to stay with her as long as she chose, but her knees started to get sore and she released her hold and stood up abruptly. Ell blinked lazy, golden eyes at her.

Lisle needed to move. The excitement wouldn’t let her be still any longer. She bent over and kissed Ell’s nose, then turned and skipped out into the hallway. Her feet took her in the direction of the kitchen, maybe Terris was there.

Moss flitted up the tunnel toward her, chittering musically.

“Day of the One Moss!” Sang Lisle.

Moss turned and winged beside her as Lisle kept skipping, not stopping for conversation.

She heard voices from the kitchen even before she reached the doorway. Gareth was there. She heard his low rumble and an answering guffaw from Terris. Lisle happily skipped into their midst to see an aproned Terris up to his elbows in flour and sticky dough, while Gareth lounged against the side of the table, gesturing with his hands, obviously illustrating some tale he was telling Terris.

Moss zipped to Terris’ shoulder and looked with interest at the bread dough.

“Now you wait up there, Moss. It ain’t baked yet and you’ll jess get yerself all stuck up like last time,” Terris said around a laugh.

Gareth chuckled and looked up at Lisle as she skidded to a stop. “You look pleased with yourself.”

Lisle grinned, took a deep breath and sang, “I’m to be Ell’s Hands and Voice, and I can do it just about fine!”

Gareth tilted his head, eyes smiling. “Why you can at that.”

Terris gave the beige lump before him a resounding slap. “Well Younger! I see you gots a new way of oratin’. We’ll be expectin’ some good stories out a’ you.”

Lisle’s head jerked back and she blinked her eyes rapidly. She took several deep breaths and relaxed as a feeling of determination welled up inside.  She would be Ell’s Voice.
 
*****
Gran Bryl would have laughed if her dragon body could have done such a thing. It didn’t matter, she long ago came to accept the limitations of the physical. It didn’t limit her enjoyment. She felt Ell’s happiness as if it were her own, and reveled in it. Then she thought back to her son bouncing delightedly along the Pathways of the One. Thank you my One, for your countless blessings. What she hoped and prayed for, had happened. Fal had come back to the One. Ell’s sacrifice made that possible. Gran Bryl sent a heartfelt thought of gratitude to her youngest, as she felt hope awaken within her.

The Gran Eldress adjusted her great bulk to better expose her aching hind joints to the warm shaft of sunlight flowing through the cavern opening high above her, and her thoughts took another turn. It is time. Ell is almost fully healed. Her abilities as a Guardian have grown tremendously. Even with the little training that I’ve been able to give her in her recovery, she is showing great promise.  

The sun gradually moved, the slanting warmth shifting and Gran Bryl moved her hips and tail with a heaving effort to follow it. Her thoughts shifted with the sun.  Ell’s Contracted, is unsure of herself, fearful of her new responsibilities. Yet, Gran Bryl knew that Lisle longed with all her heart to be Voice and Hands for Ell. That was enough. Lisle needed more training before she would be ready to go out into the world as a Voice of the One. I will make sure she gets what she needs. Gran Bryl took a deep, trembling  breath, feeling the sun-warmed air stirring the dampened fires inside her. 

A deep groan rumbled through her chest as she had the thought, not for the first time, that even when Ell and Lisle underwent the Ritual of the One, it would not be enough. She felt that rising seedling of hope within her shiver.  With Ell and Lisle, the Guardians and their Contracted’s would make eleven pairs, not enough to tip the balance of Gaea to the light and allow the Day of Rising. The shadow of the Others grew in the Pathways. Soon, the Guardians would not be able to hold the darkness back and it would swallow Gaea whole. Then it would move on to the next world and the next after that. Already the insidious influence of the Others spread among the humans of Gaea as greed, anger, fear and jealousy forced the humans apart, creating divisions in their communities and their families.  It lured the humans out of the light and into darkness, away from the One.

The Great Council of the One placed the Guardians on Gaea to hold the light and prevent that from happening. But without the twelfth Guardian and his Contracted they would fail. Gaea would be lost, and they would have to start over again, in new bodies, on another world. A shiver ran the length of Gran Bryl’s spine at the thought. Show me the way, my One, she prayed. Show me how to bring Fal back to us, back to your service. 

Ell could feel her Contracted’s roiling emotions from where she floated. Her rapidly healing body was submerged in the steaming, bubbling waters of Guardian Mountain, even as her essence drifted peacefully along the Pathways of the One. Ell was able to maintain a multi-level awareness now. A new skill for her, which she practiced daily since Gran Bryl had taught her the technique. She was fully cognizant of her physical body in one dimensional reality, her light body on another, and her Contracted’s whereabouts, all at the same time. She was quite proud of herself. So, it was with both pleasure because of her awareness, and dismay at her Contracted’s emotional state of upheaval, that she awaited Lisle’s arrival. She had no doubt that Lisle would find her easily. Lisle had perfected that skill long ago.
​
Lisle burst into the cavern all out of breath. She slid to a stop beside the pool and threw herself down at Ell’s side. Ell lifted her head, steam wafting up to tickle along her jaw line before it evaporated in the hot, muggy air above the pool. She felt the hot water run in comforting rivulets down her neck. She was so accustomed to the odor of it that she no longer noticed the eggy smell, though from the way Lisle wrinkled her nose as she bent close to Ell’s head, her Contracted was not so immune.

Ell’s heart swelled in her chest as she leaned her head close, bending her neck in what she knew was a graceful pose, and touched Lisle’s forehead with her own. She was aware of the growing beauty of her physical presentation and it pleased her in a distant sort of way. Her light body was so much more real to her and so very much more beautiful, that its physical home didn’t concern Ell particularly. Though she did appreciate how quickly this body was healing.

Ell’s tail thrashed in the water of its volition in response to her Contracted’s volatile emotions. She intentionally opened her heart to receive the vibrational upsurge, and listened as Lisle’s anger and fear, the meeting on the mountainside, and the revelation of Fal’s origins all poured out of her, seemingly on one enraged breath.
 
Ell was concerned for Lisle. She was too serious most of the time. Her young life had been filled with so many demands. Where was the laughter and play that a young human ought to have?

Even as Lisle earnestly put her anger and fears into words, Ell spouted bubbles in the air trying to make her laugh. It didn’t work. Instead Lisle reprimanded her for not listening. Ell tucked her chin down and looked at Lisle with big eyes, a parody of chastened dragonhood, while Lisle continued with her tirade. Then Ell started spouting bubbles again. After that, she flipped upside down in the water and stuck her belly up in the air, waggling her tail, making little waves in the pool. She heard Lisle giggle then, despite what Ell knew was her frustration with her Guardian’s undignified activities. Finally, Lisle gave up with a sharply exhaled breath, and just sat beside Ell, running her fingers over Ell’s brow ridges, a slight smile curving her lips.

Lisle was calm now and Ell had something to show her. She lifted her muzzle and looked Lisle in the eyes. Her Contracted acknowledged the familiar invitation and closing her eyes and holding still as Ell tapped her forehead gently with the tip of her muzzle.

They dove together, deep into the sparkling ocean of the One. Deepest blue-black surrounded them. Pinpoints of light filled Ell’s vision. She saw that Lisle shone beside her, a bright, light azure, and knew that her own dark sapphire shone brighter still, guiding Lisle. They glided along the glimmering web of light together, Ell searching for the one she knew would be there.

Ah, she thought, there he is. She saw his radiant light, greys and blacks transformed to a deep blue now, with darkened edges thinning and transmuting to crystal clarity as he bounced along the pathways. He flitted from one spot to another, playfully dancing, never lingering in any one location.

Ell brought Lisle’s attention to the unusual spark of blue through the intensity of her own focus, and allowed Lisle to recognize just who it was they were watching. Lisle’s light flickered, a rapid pulsation from light to dark to light again, as recognition moved from fear and anger into surprise and then curiosity. 

When she felt Lisle was ready, Ell led the way closer to her brother’s light. She knew he was aware of them now, just as he had been aware of her many other attempts to communicate with him since the attack. His glittering deep light stilled for just a moment. Ell felt a rapid succession of impressions from him. She knew that Lisle would feel them too. Shame, regret, a yearning for forgiveness and an inability to forgive himself. Then, beneath it all, a wondering sense of love and a deep reluctance to allow that vulnerability to express through him. Then he danced away from them, off into the eternal depths of the Pathways, not permitting them to come close.

Ell led Lisle away then. Fal wasn’t ready to allow them any closer, and Ell had something else to show her. She was reluctant to place this weight on Lisle’s already burdened shoulders and yet her Contracted needed to understand.

Ell turned and scanned the web that surrounded them on all sides as they traveled rapidly along the strands. Then she could feel it, beneath them and off to the side, the spreading darkness. It obscured the light of the Pathways, and emitted a stench of overwhelming fear. An ominous storm cloud obliterating the light of the One, leaving only that swirling mass of blackness. It was the Others, those who sought to tip the balance of light toward darkness on Gaea. Those who lusted for control and the power it brought them. They were the reason that Guardians took form on Gaea.

Lisle’s small light moved close to Ell’s own, as if hiding from that awful blackness. Ell could see dark tendrils drifting in their direction and she didn’t linger. She wanted only to show Lisle the reality of what they faced. Then, with her intent, she moved them both swiftly away, gliding along the shining strands of the One, back to the light.