Page 150 of The Last Guardian
I nodded, reaching into the pocket of my green tunic to touch the relic, turning it over between my fingers.
“What will happen after we find it?” I asked. “The Last Guardian?”
“We’ll try to understand its power. To ask it to help us. There’s so much more beyond this creature and its power to unleash magic. A creature born of the gods.”
A promise from the gods.
“What will you do with this creature?” I asked. “How will you use its power to unleash magic?”
Arystan’s azure orbs scanned his mind for the appropriate words. “We’re not certain yet. We had hoped it would speak—guide us, perhaps. But that’s not something you need to trouble yourself with for now, dear one.”
“I am still curious, though.”
“Sadly, I have no answer for you about this. The mysteries around this creature are complex.”
I nodded, trying to suppress the emotion welling up in my chest.
“Anyway,” Arystan said, getting up from his chair, “I was just checking to see if everything was alright…”
“In fact, I have some questions,” I interrupted him, standing as well, as I took the species’ book in my hand. “About this book—how do the Guardians communicate with the wielder exactly?”
“Ah.” Arystan smiled, straightening his glasses. “It’s actually quite complex. The wielder and the Guardian can communicate through emotions and will. They can feel each other’s fear or danger. With enough practice, every wielder possesses the skill of communicating with their mind, but it takes some time to master. However, in the Anchor, they can converse freely with their Guardian, which helps them learn to harness their power. A sacred bond.”
“Like aeshana?” The word rasped on my tongue; my accent was quite bad.
Arystan furrowed his brow. “How did you learn this word?”
“It’s in the book.” As he flipped through the pages, I pointed it out.
“Oh, that’s a sacred and revered thing too, but different,” Arystan replied with a smile, gently tracing the letters with his fingertip. “It’s the most exquisite and perilous bond imaginable.”
“What exactly is it?”
“It’s a fate tie,” Arystan said, touching the tip of his beard, curling it around his finger. “Have you heard the legend of the gods’ curse?”
“I am afraid not,” I replied, closing the book and tugging it against my chest.
Arystan regained his seat once more, inviting me to listen to him.
“Nockt, the God of Darkness, developed an intense affection for Atheia, the Goddess of Destiny,” Arystan said, his blue eyes staring at me, “an affection shared, obviously. Their love, which was both pure and unique, was so strong that it formed a bond as powerful as a torrent, as intense as embers, and as endless as the stars.”
Arystan’s fingers left his beard as he adjusted his glasses on his nose.
“They created it with the merge of their power, the bond—aeshana, the soul-bond,” Arystan said with a soft smile. “Every time a newborn came into the world, it was inscribed into every babe’s fate. They were destined to meet their other half, their equal. A supreme, selfless, and unconditional love that transcends time and space. The two souls will be eternally intertwined, fated to meet in every life, each carrying a piece of the other’s soul.
“But another god, one of envy and malice, emerged—his name is lost to history now. He cursed these two lovers, ensuring that they would never meet again until the end of the world. Since then, Atheia has rested in the stars, while Nockt has hidden in the shadows of the universe, unable to see or speak to his soulmate. Rumor has it that every aeshana, every soulmate, is now under the same curse as the two lovers.”
What horrible folklore. I hoped they didn’t tell that tale to children before sleep.
“It sounds pretty awful,” I said. “So, in this legend, Nockt and Atheia are destined never to meet?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“What about the god who disappeared? You never mentioned him during our session on mythology and faith,” I inquired.
“He was worshiped in ancient times, but he has long since disappeared from our beliefs.”
“Perhaps this is revenge for the harm he inflicted in the past.”
