FSE

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Part 14

Blinking my eyes I look around and find myself in a stone tunnel following a worn path that leads underground gently sloping downwards. The air is damp and a bit stale, as though the tunnel has not been used in a very long time. Seeing no other choice I decided to follow the path to where it leads. As I walk down the corridor a line of gold light along the ceiling begins to glow as I pass by then fades away after I leave. The light keeps the path lit about ten foot ahead and behind me but beyond that it is total darkness with no end in sight.

After following the tunnel for several long silent minutes I begin to see a faint glow in the distance. I begin walking faster heading for the light. As I get closer the air begins to smell a bit fresher and begins to have a light breeze with it. Soon the glow has grown to reveal the outline of a door.

Reaching the door I place my paw on the handle only to have my hand pass through it. For some reason I am not freaked out by this. I look at my hand then at the door and place my hand against it and step through the closed door into a well lit room.

Once inside the room I look around at what's inside. The room is a perfect circle all around and is roughly twenty feet across. Along the walls a lantern is hung ever three feet with a lit candle flickering inside it. Directly across the door I just passed through is another door with two others on either side of the room, each door is spaced an equal distance from the others around the room.

Along the floor are concentric circles with the same four symbols for fire, water, air, and earth carved into the stone in a repeating pattern. In the center of the room is raised stone pillar. Nothing else is in the room of any decoration or use.

I begin to walk around the room looking lanterns trying to figure out what this place is. After making a full trip around the room I hear footsteps coming from each of the doors. The sounds get louder and louder as the people making them get closer. With nowhere to hope to hide I stand defiantly off to one side of pedestal waiting for whoever is coming.

I stand there waiting and watching as all four doors open and four figures hurriedly walk in, two are human and the other two are wolves. All four are wearing hooded cloaks and walk towards the pedestal with urgency. None of them seem to care that I am present or even acknowledge I am there so I stand directly in the path of one of the wolves.

Without even missing a step or reacting to me in any way he steps right through me as though I am a ghost. I turn and stare at the four figures as speak for the first time since arriving here, "This is either a dream or some kind of memory." A voice from behind me answers, "You are right on both accounts my son. This is both a dream and a memory, but not your memory."

I turn to find my father standing near one of the doors. He walks up next to me and looks at the four figures standing around the pedestal. Following his gaze I watch them as I ask, "So if it's not my memory, whose memory is it?" "It is my memory." He says. One of the wolves lifts his hands up and pulls back his hood revealing my father exactly as he appears standing next to me.

Looking back and forth between the two versions of my father I try to comprehend what he said. "What do you mean this is your memory? How can I have one of your memories?" He lets out a sigh then looks at me. "You have some of my memories because a part of me was inside the ring. Now that the ring is a part of you, so is a part of me. Along with parts from the other three masters." He gestures towards the remaining figures that have now lowered their hoods revealing who I recognize as the masters of Fire, Water, and Earth.

"Watch what happens, my son. This will explain what I said." I turn and watch the four masters gathered around the pedestal. The version of my father standing by the pedestal speaks, "Masters, I'm glad to see that you have made it. Our plan may yet still work." The master of water, a female human by the name of Nerine, speaks up. "Yes we have made it, but not without sacrifice. The last of my students died protecting the temple so that I could escape."

My father lowers his head and lets out a sad sigh. "I'm afraid they won't be the last to die today either. At least my son is not here dying, your teachings at least will live on in him." The fire master, a male human named Aidan, is the next to speak up. "Yes it is convenient your son should be the one to escape this disaster. Escape and live while all my warriors fight and die in a hopeless fight." He slams his fist down on the pedestal as he says this.

I can't help but feel some guilt knowing that so many died while I survived. "Calm down Aidan. You know as well as the rest of us that master Anil didn't know when this day would come, only that it would." Says the female wolf, earth master Terra, "We all agreed to send Anil's son on that mission to Greece, even you Aidan." The fire master looks down, his anger turning to a bit of shame.

Next to speak up is the version of my father standing by the pedestal, air master Anil. "Don't you think that if I had known this day would come while my son was away that I would have sent someone with him, anyone, with him? Instead my son has been cursed to spend the next 3000 years alone with no one to accompany him on his long journey." A tear runs down the side of his face. "My actions in trying to find a way to help us survive this have only led to my only child being left alone with no one to comfort him in his coming grief."

Aidan looks down at his feet in shame, "I am sorry Anil. I can't even imagine what it is like for you. I never had any children of my own. At least we can take some comfort in knowing that Atlantis will not be forgotten completely." All four masters stand in silence for a few moments.

While they stand in silence I feel a paw on my shoulder and turn to see my dad looking at me with a sad look in his eyes. He doesn't say anything but I know that even though he is only a shadow of the man who once lived, he still feels all the grief and guilt of the day long ago when we last saw each other in the flesh. As we all stand in silence a low rumble moves through the room and four connecting corridors and a small amount of dust falls from the ceiling.

As the rumbling moves through ground away from us all of the masters look up to the ceiling. Master Terra is the first to speak, "That will be the last wall of the city coming under siege. By night fall Atlantis will be no more." Master Anil then pulls a small marble made of gold out of his robes and sets it on the pedestal between them. "Well it is time we finish this ring then." The other masters all nod in agreement then hold their right arms out to their sides and summon their weapons.

In a burst of flames Master Aidan summons a sword made from the reddest of ruby. Master Terra has green vines that glow with an inner light move from her hand to form into great hammer of the deepest emerald. Master Nerine's trident forms the same as mine with flowing water becoming sapphire as blue as the sea. With a gust of wind Master Anil, my father, summons his bow. The shaft is a clear and brilliant diamond that is both hard and flexible while the string is spun silver, both delicate and strong.

I watch in silence, having never seen all four masters with their weapons drawn at the same time. Growing up I had heard legends about how the four masters could perform incredible magic when they worked together. Now here I was being given a close up show of the final magic they ever performed at all.

As I watch each of the masters weapons begins to glow with an inner light growing brighter and brighter. Just as I am about to shield my eyes from the light the weapons of the masters shrink and the light gets dimmer. As their weapons shrink they begin to form into four perfect gems, a ruby, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

Each gem now floats a few inches above its creator's hand. The masters then move their hands so that each is over the pedestal. Once they are the gems move from their hands to a spot above the gold marble and slowly circle above it.

Master Nerine then looks up at Anil and asks, "Are you sure that this will reach your son in time Anil? We are placing all our hopes, the hopes of the entire world on this." He looks up at her with determination in his eyes. "I have seen the vision many times since he was born. He will get it in time, and he will use it to restore the Guardians as well as save the world."

Master Aidan is the next to speak up, "I have lost many brave and talented warriors today fighting this... evil that attacks us. If there is a chance that their sacrifice will not be in vain, that one day your son will avenge all who have fallen today then I will take it." He looks around at the other masters, "We have to take this chance for even the slimmest chance of having more Guardians to protect the world one day is a chance worth dying for."

All three turn and look at Master Terra and Anil asks, "Is there anything you wish to say Terra?" She looks around the group and forces a sad smile, "As the oldest of the four of us I remember a time when Atlantis was but a small village. I helped build many of the walls and buildings that we have seen crumble to dust today. As long as one of us lives, all that we have built will live on through him." Her gaze moves over the area where me and the other version of my father stand and I see the tears that are falling from her eyes.

With those final words my father places his right hand palm up directly under the gems and gold then as one the four masters begin to speak. "We the masters of the Guardians of Atlantis, in our time of greatest need give up our immortality and that of our brothers and sisters still within the shores of Atlantis." The gems begin to pulse with inner light one at a time in sequence.

"In our final hours as protectors of our home we place our power, our knowledge, and our wisdom within these four stones." The gold marble forms into a gold band with settings for each gem. "We store these gifts to be given to the last son of Atlantis in his time of greatest need." One by one the gems settle into the settings on the ring which bind them in place.

"As was foretold long ago, our time has come to an end. But for every end there is a beginning." A soft gold light begins to surround the ring. "We now send this ring out into the world so that it will help to bring about a new beginning of peace for people of the world." As the four masters finish the last word the glow from the ring intensifies and a loud crack echoes around the room as the light blinks out and the ring vanishes from the room.

The four masters stand there looking at each other in silence. Eventually Anil speaks, "Well... it's in fates hands now. We can only hope that the ring finds my son and gives him what he needs when he needs it." The others nod in agreement. Another loud thudding vibrates the room and cracks appear in the ceiling as more dust falls.

Looking up at the ceiling Aidan lets out a sigh before saying, "Well I don't know about you three, but I'm not going to sit in this hole waiting for the ceiling to fall on my head. I plan to go out fighting and do as much damage as I can." With that he turns and heads out the door he came in. The other masters look at each other then follow him down the same path. Master Anil is the last to go. As he leaves the room he takes one last look at the pedestal and with a tear in his eye says, "Good luck my son, I am sorry that I can't be with you in your coming pain. But I will always be with you." With that he turns and leaves the room leaving me alone with the other version of my father, the one that has been with me since finding the ring.

I turn and look at him and he has tears in his eyes. I ask, "This was your final hour wasn't it?" He nods before saying, "I don't know exactly what happened after this but it is my last memory before you put on the ring."

"Do you know what it was that destroyed Atlantis?" I ask. He shakes his head sadly, "No, as far as I know we never knew. All we knew about it was that it was evil, we couldn't stop it, and it was destroying us completely."

Looking around the room as I speak, "Will I be experiencing more of these memories?" He shrugs, "Perhaps, there are other memories of mine as well as the other masters that were stored in the ring along with our powers. In time they will open up to you. But only as you are ready for them or have need of them and never at a time that will leave you incapacitated."

I look at him with a questioning look, "So I will be getting visits from the other masters? Have four of you in my head now?" He chuckles, "No, I am the only one you will ever interact with, and only in dreams or meditations. The parts of them that were in the rings are only memories and experiences."

"I wish you were more than a part of my father, more than just a shadow." He lets out a gentle sigh, "I may only be a shadow of the wolf that was your father. But I hope I am made from the best of him. The part that loves you more than anything in the world. The part that wants only the best for you." With that he holds his arms out and I step into the embrace. As we stand there holding each other, the room fades away into an inky darkness. My last words as the room fades are, "I love you dad."

From the darkness I hear, "I love you too son"

.....................

Opening my eyes I look around confused for a moment before my surroundings sink in. I am laying in my bed with Shadow cuddled up beside me his head resting on my shoulder as he sleeps quietly. The room is dark with only the light from the waning moon shining through the window as it makes its nightly journey through the sky.

I lay there staring up at the ceiling trying to will myself back to sleep but it doesn't happen. After several long minutes I carefully remove my arm from under Shadow's head without waking him and pull on a pair of night pants.

Quietly I walk to the window and look out over the forest. I can just make out a faint glow coming from the village, the remains of the last fires that are burning themselves out. I lower my head as a wave of guilt settles on my shoulders at not having been able to get there faster and save more lives.

Standing there alone I look out the window without seeing anything. I just let my mind go empty as I try not to let the guilt I feel take root and become something worse.

A shooting star races across the sky as a pair of paws wrap around chest and chin rests on my shoulder. "You did all you could to help them today love." Says Shadow, "I don't see how you could have done more. You saved all that you could, even me. Not even you could have saved everyone." I wrap my paws around his and hold them tight to my chest. "I know that, but I still can't help but think that I could have done more."

We stand there for a few minutes in the dark just watching the stars before I speak up. "Sorry I woke you up handsome, I just couldn't get back to sleep." He buries his nose in my neck and takes a deep sniff. "It's ok, though you did take my favorite pillow away." I can't help but chuckle softly. "Sorry about that."

He sighs softly into my fur. "So what woke you up?" I stare off into the night for a moment before answering. "I had a dream, but it wasn't really a dream. It was a memory that was in the ring." He pulls his arms away from me and moves around so he can look me in the face. "What was it about?" I look at his face as I speak, "It was about how the ring was made and... it was the last moments of my father's life, just as Atlantis was being destroyed."

After I finish telling him about everything that happened, including how the ring merged with me and gave me the power to make him and others into guardians. We just stand there in silence looking out the window. I don't know how long we stand there just watching the night but eventually Shadow speaks up. "I never heard you talk about when Atlantis was destroyed before."

I watch the moon as it slowly sinks below the horizon. "I haven't talked about it to anyone in a very long time, centuries I think." He leans his head against my shoulder but doesn't say anything.

The moon is halfway set when I speak again, "I was 22 when it happened. On a mission for the masters, delivering a letter of all things, to someone in Greece." We both stand there watching the moon sink as I talk. "I was staying at an inn on some coastal village. It's probably not even there anymore."

I reach up and wipe tear from my eye and look at it on my finger for a moment before continuing. "I was alone in the room I had rented for the night when I suddenly had an immense feeling of dread and loss. I had no idea what it was that was causing it, I only knew that I needed to reach the docks and find a ship to take me back home."

Shadow just stands next to me letting me tell my story for the first time in centuries at my own pace. "I left the room right then and started to make my way to the docks. When I got there a crowd of people had formed around the dock. This particular village was all humans, so I was in my human form to blend in and not scare them. Not all places were as accepting of us like Atlantis was then. Anyway, I made my way through the crowd to see a ship that had just docked."

The moon is almost entirely below the horizon by now. "At first I didn't recognize the ship, it was so beat up. The sails were torn to shreds, the mast nearly broke in half, and the hull was chipped and scarred so bad I was surprised that it was till floating. I saw two locals go aboard after getting it tied to the dock. After a few minutes they came back to shore carrying an old fisherman between them that was badly hurt."

The dark sky begins to slowly get lighter as sunrise approaches. "At first I didn't know who the guy was, then he looked up and our eyes met. He was an old fisherman that my father and I would always buy fish from on Atlantis. I don't even remember his name any more."

Just before the last of the stars fades away another shooting star races across heavens. "As soon as he saw me the fisherman waved me over to him. When I got to his side he grabbed onto my shirt and with tears in his eyes said words that I will never forget. He said 'Our home is gone. You are the last. Remember us. Keep us alive in your heart, son of Anil.' At that point he lost consciousness. Two days later he was gone, and I was alone in a world full of people."

By now there are tears slowly falling from my eyes. Shadow stretches up closing the distance between us and licks the tears from my face. "I'm sorry love. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you. But you're not alone now, and you never will be again. Now that you have me by your side." He presses his lips to mine and as we stand there in the cool air coming from the window kissing the sun rises over the mountains filling the valley with the light of a new day.

Shadow slowly pulls away breaking our kiss as he looks at me with a smile in his eyes. "Well now that we are up, and the sun is up. What do you say to breakfast?" My stomach chooses that moment to let out a rather loud rumble of hunger causing us to both break into fits of laughter as we head for the door grabbing some clothes along the way.

When I open the door it is pushed open from the outside and Rick falls on his back into the room. Apparently he had been sitting on the floor leaning against the door. He looks up at me blinking sleepily while Shadow and I look down at him.

Ricks eyes clear up a bit as he fully wakes up. "Oh, uh... Good morning Seeker. Sleep well?" I nod as I answer him, "Fairly well, can't complain. You?" He shrugs on the floor, "Had worse nights." I nod again as a silence settles between the three of us for a moment.

After a few moments of us staring at each other I ask, "So Rick, why were you sleeping against the door?" For a moment I could swear he was a bit embarrassed at being caught. Soon that embarrassment passes though as he starts explaining, "Well Jasper and I gave our rooms to some families from the village so they could have some comfort, as did most of the rest of the pack, we are all in the three rooms surrounding yours." I nod impressed at my packs selflessness and ingenuity.

"Well that's very good of you, but it still doesn't explain why you were asleep against the door." He reaches a hand behind his head and scratches a bit before continuing. "Well we decided to have someone stay in the hall to make sure you and Shadow weren't disturbed. You two had the worst of it yesterday after all."

I can't help but be grateful to them for taking care of Shadow and I like that. I certainly wasn't thinking straight when we got back, and Shadow was still out of it from his ordeal. It's comforting to know that my betas are so capable to take charge at times when I am not at my best.

Another moment of silence stretches out before I ask, "So are you going to just lie there all day?" Rick looks up with a look of sudden realization that he is still on the floor and he starts to get up. I hold out a paw to help him up. When he takes my hand a feel a tingling sensation in my wrist focused on my tattoo and when I look at Rick I could swear that I see a green glow around him.

As soon as the tingling starts and I notice the glow however, Rick gets to his feet and let's go of my paw. As soon as he lets go it all stops. It happened so quickly that I can't be sure that what happened was even real and not just some kind of side effect from the stress of yesterday, so I just shake it off.

Once Rick is back on his feet I notice that he is still a bit dirty and in need of a change of bandages to his arm. "Shadow and I are going to head down stairs and see about getting some breakfast started. Why don't you go take a shower and get cleaned up, you can use our bathroom. And tell the others if they need to get cleaned up they can as well." He yawns as he makes his way towards our bathroom nodding that he will tell the others.

Stepping out the door I nearly trip over Jasper who is sleeping against the wall across the hall. I suppress a chuckle as Shadow and I step over him and head down stairs to see about getting some breakfast started.

Going down stairs we see the toll the battle had on the villagers and the other pack of wolves. The two groups seem to have segregated themselves from each other, one out of fear I think, the other perhaps out of shame. There are cots and bed rolls in almost every room containing sleeping people with various injuries from simple scratches to life threatening lacerations. Fortunately the one thing we don't pass by is bodies. Hopefully the overall death toll to the village is much lower than I fear; unfortunately I do notice more than one family that seems to be missing a father or a mother.

As we move through the house heading for the kitchen sounds and smells of food being cooked begin to drift out to greet us. It seems as though someone has had the same idea I had about starting breakfast but has beaten us to it. Stepping into the kitchen we see three women from the village buzzing around the room cooking up a storm. Directing them from a stool is Rosalie.

Shadow and I step to the side as one of the women walks by with a large tray of biscuits she had just taken out of the oven. I move to stand beside Rosalie and clear my throat before saying, "I see you found the kitchen without trouble." She turns and looks up at me, "It wasn't all that hard to find. I was actually surprised at how well stocked you have kept it actually."

I shrug, "Well when you feed a pack of wolves, you need to keep a large supply of food. Speaking of, you ladies really don't need to be doing the cooking. You are all guests in our home, you don't have do the cooking." She gives me one of those looks that can make your spine shiver and says in a sharp tone, "Seeker, I love you like a brother. But if you start trying to tell me not to help out I will knock you out with your own trident."

Shadow, the other ladies in the kitchen, and me all look at Rosalie with widened eyes and a bit of shock at her snappy remark. After a few moments she rubs her eyes with a hand and lets out a sigh, "Sorry about that, I have been up over twenty-four hours fighting, having my shop blown up, tending wounded, watching friends and loved ones die, and trying the whole time to keep from panicking."

The other women quickly turn back to their work, seems that this isn't the first time Rosalie has snapped at someone. I place a hand on her shoulder where she has a dish towel draped over it. "Come on Rosalie, you need to get some rest before you actually carry out that threat. Shadow and I will help out in here and we will get the cooking finished so everyone gets some breakfast."

She nods, "I think that's a good idea. Didn't realize I was so worn out, must be the adrenaline." She gets off her stool stretching a bit. As she heads for the door she reaches up a hand and pats my paw. "I will just go take a quick nap, won't be long."

In the brief instant that her hand touches me when she pats my paw my tattoo itches like it did before when I touched Rick and a glowing aura flashes around her. But instead of green like his, her aura is a brilliant, cool, blue. But like with Rick it vanishes as soon as it appeared, again making me think it is just a trick of my mind.

As she leaves I just rub my eyes before turning back to the ladies cooking. "Alright ladies, now that Rosalie is gone, what do you say we break into the good supplies." I walk over to a side door leading to the pantry and open it to reveal a wide variety of stored food that has been preserved for rainy days, and I would say today certainly qualifies as one.

Before long we have enough food cooked and set out to feed everyone present in the house. As the smell spreads throughout the house villagers and wolves from both packs begin showing up to fill plates with food. There is no arguing over who gets what or how much and everyone is more than willing to help out and share what there is. My own pack once again shows how special they are by taking it on themselves to make sure those who can't walk are taken food before even thinking of getting some for themselves.

People who were enemies yesterday are now breaking bread together today. I can't help but be amazed at how much can change in such a short time. Sure it will take a long time for the wounds to heal, but time does really heal all wounds, some wounds just take longer than others. I would know that better than anyone.