Guardian: The Awakening

Before The Eternal Darkness

-Yunlan-

After the big fight and the worse scare of his life, Yunlan make sure to haste their journey over water as much as he could, so by nightfall, they had travel a considerable distance, getting ahead of their previous estimation by at least a full day. That night, they all sat in a circle, as the fireflies returned to protect the ship while they rested and try to plan ahead with the little Zhao manage to see in his vision, as well as Lord Shi's warnings.

"So... the bats are more dangerous than we first thought?" Da Qing asked.

"They have absolute control over the darkness, we are at risk to lose our way there. How good are your senses over stone?" Zhao asked to the Earth Prince, he was not taking chances on repeating the hellish experience over and over.

"Stone is also part of the earth, although is a bit harder to manipulate, but I can have a good picture of it." Da Qing said.

"Good, we need to have a clearer idea of where to go once inside, if we get lost, then it's over for all of us. They will come at us from all angles, so we will need to be alert at all times no matter where we go. Darkness will be our doom, so Shen Wei... your fire is indispensable and so will be Guo's shield. For how long can you maintain it?" Zhao asked the little nervous young Sage.

"Oh... well, for as long as it's necessary... The shield, once summon, mostly acts on its own, it doesn't require too much energy." Guo said nervously.

"Alright, that's fine. You, Zhu Hong, use needles with the strongest poison you have with you and it will be the same with the healers... I know you are dedicated to save lives, but in this quest, ours are in the line pretty much with every step we give." Zhao said.

"Don't worry Yunlan, we will do our part too." Sang said, while Wang and two more healers assented in agreement.

"That's always good to hear. Now..." He looked inside his travel bag and took out a velvet pouch, then he empty the small bag over his palm. They saw a dozen of small stones gather in Zhao's palm, all of them with a faint white glow.

"Moonstones?" Wang asked curiously. She had read of the legendary stone, but had never actually saw one up close.

"Yes. Lord Shi entrust them to me for this part of our journey. As most of you should know, moonstone glows naturally in the darkness as they absorb the light from the moon and reflect it back. These stones had been absorbing moonlight for half a year, so they will not stop shining for at least three months without any further exposure under the moon. I will give one to each of you, so you have a source of light, even if everything else failed."

"However, I warn you. All stones had a bit of star energy stored as well, which can be used as a last resort attack, if you are in danger and had nothing else to defend yourself. Just brake the stone and the magic will be released, but star magic is chaotic and dangerous in closed spaces, so make sure you don't break them by accident and if you use it, get away as fast as you can." Zhao said, handing them to the group, all except Shen Wei.

"Why not Shen Wei?" Sang asked a bit confused.

"He is a fire user, why will he need light when he can create his own? Besides, his fire can crack the stone." Chu said a bit annoyed.

"But my Wang was given one and she is a..." Too late, Sang realize he had called the healer of the Fire Clan, my Wang, which make her blush to the extent of rivaling Wei's.

"Sang!" She yelled completely embarrass, but Zhao simply laughed.

"Don't mind him Wang, at least he is honest and there is nothing wrong in love someone form another Clan, at least not into my eyes." Zhao said, yet the theme turned toward him and Shen Wei.