“Druin, Druin! Are you okay?”

I felt a shaking on my shoulder and cleared my eyes to Beo looking at me, concerned. As my vision returned, my feeling of unease only heightened.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Must not have had enough to eat,” I dismissed. If there was a better time to let Beo and Ight know that I had been contacted by the guardian I was supposed to represent, I would wait for that.

Beo looked a bit confused but otherwise convinced. “I knew I didn’t give you enough time to pack, but I thought for a vessel you’d at least have acceptable endurance… Perhaps I need to go a bit easier on you during our travels.” Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

I held up my hands and spread my fingers wide apart. “No paws or claws here, remember?” I smiled wryly, trying to convince her of my frailty. She let out a breath through her nose and nodded as if she was trying to make herself believe it as well.

Beo rifled through our sack of supplies while I felt dread creep up on me. My conversation with Indra made me feel like a glass cannon. One wield of his mace, and if any more, I practically destroy everything around me? How was I supposed to win a war if my deck consists of one trump card? And on top of that, how will I know who else is a guardian – how could I trust anyone?

The thrill I felt of being chosen, new, needed was dissolving quickly. The reality of the death match I was thrust into weighed on me more painful than the ever-present knot in my shoulder. I gave my shoulder a test roll. Not bad, not great.

Amara’s granite walls of defense loomed over me as I sat down on the unpaved path. Instead of feeling excited, I felt trapped. Amara’s walls behind me, Ight, Gin and Beo to my left and right, and the heart of the city in front of me. There was no escaping, no time to think, no strategy other than running around like a rat. Skittering from one place to the next, looking for answers. I rubbed my temples in frustration. I suddenly felt wildly unprepared for whatever was going to happen to me.

A water canteen and small pouch of nuts were laid in front of my feet. “We don’t have time to waste. That’s what I want to say, but I think a fifteen-minute break would be acceptable for all of us. Right, Ight? Gin?” She phrased the question more as a directive. Both just mumbled or grunted in agreeance. Sparing my feelings so I didn’t feel bad about needing a break. She was more kind than I thought, even if it was based off my lie. I knew I didn’t need the break. If anything, I probably had more endurance than either of us gave me credit for.

Regardless, I drank from the canteen and sat in silence. I looked up to a cloudy sky and felt a bit better. If my guardian was a God of lightning, I could at least feel companionship with stormy weather.

--

“Druin…? Druin? Where are you?” Beo’s voice sounded increasingly worried.

Her calls faded into the white noise of the market crowd. I felt a little bad but was more intrigued by the inexplicable tug that pulled me. I moved away from the mass of people, walking as quickly as I could without drawing attention. The target on my back was not lost on me, even in the supposed anonymity of a crowd. I thanked the lack of hygiene of the common people, as I’m sure it masked my unmistakable metal scent from Beo and Ight.

I followed the pull into a small bookstore not too far away from the main market. It looked well-loved, if not a little messy on the inside. Books were scattered and stacked on the floor next to massive, heavily stocked shelves, an apparent afterthought to the bookkeeper of the place. I could make out a figure behind a desk in the main area. I didn’t pay much attention to them, whoever they were. Probably another beast kin.

I walked along the walls of paperbacks and hard covers, waiting for the pull to lead me to a specific book. I was hoping for one to mystically appear to me with all the wisdom I lacked along my short journey. A dummy’s guide to guardianship, maybe. A book listing the names, ages, and appearances of known guardians. I would even settle for a summarized version of past wars and the calamities that ensued. Anything that could give me a hand, I’m sure someone wrote a beginners guide to war games with deities.

“Ah that there is a classic. Though not in practice anymore, you can glean quite a bit of technique from it.” Said an approaching figure, pointing to the book in the hand. The title of the shabby book was Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications, 2nd Edition. Electrochemical methods? That sounded familiar but I couldn’t place where I knew that from. I looked up to see the approaching figure stand nearly inches from me, peering down.

He looked aged, but not old – the lines in his skin looked to be more from concentration and a life well-lived than because of the passage of time. His glasses, rimmed in gold, rested on the tip of his long nose. Something about him called out to me, like a buzzing under my skin. It was almost akin to déjà vu, if I could be sure of the memories I possessed and the ones I didn’t.

One of his eyebrows raised. He cleared his throat and said in a tone deceptively even, “Curious about the world? Seems all you have is questions, hmm? What answers do you have, Druin?”

“I’m sorry?” I asked, dumbly. I wasn’t going to give myself away on the off chance this man was just an amazing guesser.

“You know what I said.” His eyes shining mischievously behind the glasses, a glint that said that he was just having fun.

“Who might you be?” I followed up.

“The happy owner of this hole in the wall bookshop. My name is Toph and you are the ever curious Druin yes?” He held out his hand to shake.

Hesitantly, I reach out to take his hand. As soon as our hands met, the feeling of déjà vu turned into a full on electric shock. Standing in front me, for the second time today, was a guardian. I jerked back, nearly toppling over the bookshelves. Toph’s hand steadied me as I leaned precariously back, trying to find my footing among the piles of books on the floor.

“Sorry for scaring you like that, probably should’ve opened with hello yes I’m a guardian good to meet you.” Toph said, giving a bow of flourish.

“Did you call me here?” I asked, now regretting that I had slipped away from Beo and the others while we were wandering around the market. I knew they’d eventually find me but I had needed a well deserved moment of alone time. Of course, Amara wouldn’t let me have that. I cursed Indra and his city under my breath.

Toph raised an eyebrow, “In a manner of sense yes I did call you here. You’re going to be in a lot of trouble little one and as a retired old man, I thought it’d be good to meet you while I can.”

He beckoned me to follow him and turn away, stepping lightly over the strewed books in the tiny shop. As we got through the hallway, I looked at the distance from me to the door. If I flat out ran, maybe I could be out within seconds. Maybe. Toph turned back and winked, apparently reading my thoughts of escape.

Sighing, I decided to keep following him. We were headed to the back of the shop and stood in front of a door with a hand painted sign that read “Employees Only”.

“I really am a retired old man you know; I wouldn’t hurt you.” He said, opening the door for me.

I stepped into what appeared to be a break room, with a small kitchen and table squeezed into another tiny space.

“What do you mean retired?” I asked. How could a guardian retire?

“As in I have given up my powers. Or most of my powers. And the name. I go by Toph now.” He was now at the stove, preparing what looked like tea. He held up two different cans, one labeled Chamomile and the other Ginseng. I pointed to the Ginseng.

“What… was your name before Toph?” I asked cautiously, taking a seat at the table away and keeping the old man in my view.

“Ah yes, good of you to ask. I was Mephistopheles.” The room shook a little when he said the name, the lantern light brightening for a short second. An electric current went through the room, leaving me with a buzzing in my ear that no shaking would get rid of.

Toph laughed. “I always that happens, been a while since I’ve said the name.” He came over with teacups, the hot kettle and a large heaping of what looked like pastry.

And so, I sat down to have tea and pastry with the demon Mephistopheles.