“Now it’s your turn. What about you and Anwil?” Finnian said.

Kali’s words didn’t go away, but if he put them together with watching the other elthean collapse, a variety of questions popped into his mind.

“He is sleeping.”

Although Leander’s explanation could not have been more ambiguous, it was an important reason. He was very young when the previous Signers defeated Azazel, so he could not witness the events the same way as his predecessor, but he was aware of what happened.

“I was not born in Hawell but in Armecia,” the Guardian explained, “although my origins are not something that matters to many.”

“Some do, don’t they?” Finnian said, to which he nodded with a slight smile.

Elthean mentalities were comparable to humans’ in how diverse they could be. Some considered that only those native to an area could become Guardians, but the reality was far from that. Aranea, a former guardian of the Silver Orchid, saw the potential that such a place needed in Leander.

“You may not have spent much time here, but what did you notice?” Leander asked them.

It did not possess the same liveliness as the Galya, although that did not prevent it from having its charm. Its name was not misguided, for it resembled a flower that had not yet fully opened and needed care, but that did not prevent it from being beautiful.

“My family are the kings of Geoglyph,” Leander said.

“Are you a prince?” Leith said.

“I was,” he said.

He gave up that life and a future asking for several reasons, though the main one was that he intended to do more than wearing a crown. Many would consider such status or title as something they would not change, but Leander saw it as a necessary development, both for himself and his people.

“Here, I found a place where I could grow and be myself instead of becoming what others intended me to be,” Leander said.

Though he was suitable for whatever he set his mind to, or so Finnian would have added after what little they had seen of him. Many in Armecia saw him as nothing more than a deserter, someone who didn’t have what it took to rule. Shortly after becoming Aranea’s successor, he met Anwil.

“And you fell in love,” Finnian said.

“Is it so obvious?”

“From the way you talk about him? No way,” Aer exclaimed, bursting into laughter.

It was a love that went beyond borders, if not that it came into their lives when they least expected it. The Guardians were not forbidden to fall in love or anything similar, although they rarely formed families, as they had to focus on their mission.

“What did Aranea say?” Rune said.

“She? Nothing,” Leander shrugged, settling back in his chair, “She was the one who nudged me not to lose him.”

Because the previous Guardian had lived how her home was attacked and almost destroyed, she spent all the time rebuilding it and restoring it to its former lustre but offering a new one in which others would want to bathe.

“She did no more than that. Her name will go down as just another Guardian, though I did manage to add a sentence to her biography,” Leander said.

“Why are we supposed to stop living so others can? How are we supposed to appreciate life if we’re not a part of it?” Finnian said.

“How...?” Leander began to ask, narrowing his eyes.

“Someone told us the same thing before we came back.”

He could not feel Nova’s presence, even if he did not forget every word she had given to him. It was something he had been thinking about since he arrived in Elthea. How was he supposed to save a world if he couldn’t even live on it? Their journey, their mission, the places they visited and the elthean they had met were all part of it.

Leander’s gaze lit up for an instant, almost as if he had seen his mentor and friend again, if only through what they had just said. Perhaps it was the way to corroborate that Aranea’s legacy would not disappear, no matter how much time passed.

“When it was my time to choose a second, Anwil volunteered, especially since few were up for such a thing.”

For many, it was an honour to become a Guardian. However, all the responsibilities and powers of the position came with some significant restrictions. They could never abandon it, or not entirely. They had to stay close to the dorean or its perimeter so that it would never be unprotected.

“It has always been this way. Some would have questioned it, but it was nothing that could be changed. Or so I thought until Anwil came up with an alternative.”

The death would mean the other would succeed him, but they wanted to care for the Silver Orchid together and share the burden. Thus, they enchanted bracelets, imbuing them with all the magic they possessed and the position he held. That was the key to connecting, becoming the two Guardians.

“However, our good intentions came at a price, at least for us,” Leander continued.

A curse. Leander fell into a deep sleep from which he could not wake up from sunrise, while Anwil suffered the same at nightfall. They could only see each other during the transition minutes, too short a time for a couple who only wanted to care for each other without giving up their feelings. What was wrong with such a thing?

“Balance,” Ead said. “The dorean is governed by old rules. Attempting to alter them had repercussions for them.”

They shared the burden, but it was not a life they wished on anyone, not even their worst enemies. They had been this way for years, caring for the Silver Orchid as best. Rumours of a disease affecting them soon reached its inhabitants, and it was the second surprise they had and not an unpleasant one.

“They accepted it,” Leander said. “Here, they know better than anyone how quickly things can change.”

They accepted the situation, and instead of seeing them as a failure, they helped where they could. That was a knowledge they decided to keep among the inhabitants of the dorean, and no one else but them, with a few exceptions.

“Avira, Anwil’s sister, has helped us from afar. Sending books and everything that could free us from this penance, but nothing has helped,” Leander said.

So Anwil was also part of the Aurean royal family. That’s why they had a certain resemblance!

“That’s why he asked us to give him the pendant,” Aer said.

“We assumed it had a message inside,” Rune said.

“Although nothing of what you just told us,” Leith admitted.

“It came with new solutions, theories of what might help us, though nothing we can reach by our means,” Leander said.

Because they would need someone with great magical ability, and they were tainted, though not in the literal sense. No matter how much power they had, they would not be able to fully employ it if they tried to be together or not without jeopardizing the place they were sworn to protect. The Guardian’s serene gaze met his, quickly understanding why they were interested in it.

“It’s not your problem, Finnian.”

“That may be, but nothing is as it should be,” Nero interjected.

“What’s wrong with us helping where we can?” Finnian said.

“Because you can’t,” Leander said.

Then he left the same pendant he had been wearing for the last few days on the table. After brushing it with his fingertips, some words appeared projected on it, and after a new movement, he could see them in eltheani.

“Only when the impossible happens, and out of something bad, something good is born, the curse could be broken,” Ead read.

“This is not about how much ability or strength you have, but about something you cannot control,” Leander said.

“If I listened to every time I was told that, we wouldn’t even be talking now,” Finnian said, raising both eyebrows.

“It’s not your battle. Blanche is,” Leander said, trying to smile. “What are you going to do about that errant Signer and her partners? Because they’ll be back.”

“We’re counting on it,” Aer said seriously.

The time to think about what they would do with her was running out. Should they destroy her, just like Ark? They had had no problems about doing that with hundreds of lives, so they needed to stop her before they did something they couldn’t fix.

“They’ll come back for us. Blanche wants the egg, after all,” Rune said.

“And you,” Nero said.

“We’ll use that to our advantage. I know what she is like, or at least a part of her,” Finnian said.

She would look for him. She would waste as little time as possible to stand up to him again. She hated losing or feeling inferior, and their last encounter had embarrassed her enough to make her want to remedy that as soon as possible. Blanche would act with a cool head, even if, in the end, she was only trying to finish them off, but that was not news.

“You need to warn the other dorean and their guardians,” Finnian said, “tell them what has happened.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s no other choice. She tried to get in here. We don’t know if they could,” Finnian said.

Although she was a Signer, or was, her position opened doors that would be closed to others. She would not hesitate to use the saviour’s title to create a new world, one according to her whims. Sharing such information would turn the rest against her, but they could not risk it or give her a chance that others would not see the evil in her coming.

“Things will change. Once I send the message, there will be no turning back. Are you sure you want to go through with it?” Leander said.

“One hundred per cent,” Finnian nodded.

“How are we supposed to stop them and not get cut to ribbons by this murderer?”

“You have everything you need at your fingertips,” Leander said, touching Finnian’s bracelet where the primordial crystal had been embedded, “And even if it’s not clear to you now, it won’t be long before it is.”

All they needed was a little inspiration and a little luck - was there a potion that could give them both?