Romel said farewell to his family and vowed to do something about the blight. They were brought a 2nd horse and left out the next morning, still having hardly spoken to each other.
They rode off, back towards Azidon.

"You know, you made a liar oout of me, right? Solaris questioned

"You made a liar out of yourself, I still don't know shit."

"I never put a definite time on things, anyways, you went a bit nuts back in Azidon, I'd rather you not worry me like that again".

Romel looked over at Solaris in surprise. "Wait, did you just say I worried you? This whole time I've felt like little more than a mere guide. Who wasn't getting pain nearly enough"
"Lets not forget the fact that we've saved each other's life a time or 2, if nothing else, there's that fact."

"True, and you're right, I lost my head back in Azidon, almost literally. Sorry to put you though the trouble. So, how'd you know where I was going? And why how'd you find out the village was having trouble?"

"Too many questions kid,  I made some friends, they helped and told me stuff. You'll meet them soon enough I'm sure."

"So, where are we heading now exactly?" continued Romel with more questions.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" Soloris chuckled to himself, "we're going to get those answeres you wanted. I have a few questions myself".

"Wait?! You've been traveling around all this time without the slightet clue what's going on?"

"Well, that's the blunt way of putting it, but in a nutshell, yes"

"If I thought I could keep my arm after smacking you, I'd have smacked you long ago!"

"So, the tiem back in the village when you pointed you sword at me and demanded for answers, what weren't you expecting to lose?"

Romel paused "uhm…"

"Exactly, like I said, you've made a liar of me, cuz I haven't done anything to you, and…..oh wait, you'd run off by then, never mind. It was about those guards. Anyways, we're heading for the Razanden Ruins, need to visit a bitch of a dragon."

"I still don't entirely believe the dragon thing, but this much has happened, so I guess I'll play along." Romel said as they rode on.

Later that afternoon, they reached a clearing with the lone pedestal. They dismounted and hitched thir horses to some surrounding trees.

"You know, last time I was here, I found this place by accident, I was lost, and some building popped outta nowhere. I don't know if it'll show up this time"

"Dude, lay off the purple grass, it messes with your mind. I have to admit though, your stories are amusing as hell. So, describe this mysterious building."

Suddenly the clearing was covered in fog. They lost sight of the horses, and everything outside of the clearing. It was them, and the pedestal.

"What the hell?!" Romel stood ready to draw his weapon. Solaris looked around, noticeably calmer than his last visit.

"This seems familiar, now there should be a bright light…"

No sooner than he finished his sentence, a bright light began to shine around the pedestal. It spread out and blinded them for a few seconds. When they looked up, the temple stood before them.

Romel's jaw nearly hit ground. "You're kidding...right? This is a dream, it's all a dream! I'm NOT crazy!"

"if that's what you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night, go for it" Solaris replied in a teasing tone.

They walked between 2 rows of columns, leading to a set of double doors.

"I Hope these will open easier than last time." Solaris said as he made it to the door. He focused on the doors, and placed his hand near on them as his eyes began to glow. The doors shined gold, spreading from his hands to their edges. They swung open slowly, revealing the lone pedestal they'd seen before.

"So, we're in the middle of what was a clearing….now what, is the building gonna talk to us or something?"

"You could say that…" said a voice unheard by Romel
He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"So, you are still here, come on out, I wont get tail slapped this time"

"is that so?"Quasar descended from the ceiling in an instant and was staring directly in Solaris's face.

Solaris drew his sword and stared at the beast.

"That's the same sword you used last time you came here, you really should get a new one."
Solaris looked at the sword "Well fuck!". He put his weapon away. "Its just as well, I didn't come here to play with you anyways."

Quasar looked at Romel. "Who's this?"

Solaris laughed at the still terrified Romel. "A friend, he's been helping me get around and such." Solaris smacked the back of Romel's head. "Gonna introduce yourself?"

Rommel stared up at the enormous black dragon. "H-Hi. I'm… Romel" he said timidly.
"I'll start asking questions when Romel composes himself" Solaris said.

About a minute later Romel looked up at Quasar "Ok, I think I'm good now."

"Ok, so, what the hell is going on with the world?" asked Solaris

Quasar replied "in this world, all things must have balance, light, and dark, wind and earth, all elements, all forces. each has an equal and opposite force it is paired with. the balance was broken while you were sealed away."

"What the hell are you babbling about? I was sealed? You're giving me more questions than answers, i want ANSWERS DAMNIT!"

"Sealed, as in…locked away? Are you fucking serious?" Romel asked.

"Well, based on your reaction from seeing me, who you apparently thought didn't exist, I'd say I just thoroughly screwed you concept of reality. I could say that I could spin straw into gold and you'd consider believing me" the dragon taunted him.

"After the last month or so, I'm tempted to believe the straw into gold thing. If you can, we'll need some, we're pretty much broke now" said Solaris.

"Qno, I have cool tricks, but for alchemy, might want to talk to the humans in the far northeast of this kingdom." said Quasar.

"Back on topic, this sealed thing,..." Solaris was cut off.

"I wasn't finished, you 2 did interrupt me in the middle of explaining." Quasar stared down at them. "Ahem, when you were sealed.."

Solaris was surprisingly impatient "Sometime today would be nice"

Romel stared up at Quasar, who swung his tail straight into Solaris, knocking him into the wall. "You're still just as insolent as you were when we first met. Learning how to shut your mouth would do you well."

Solaris peeled himself off the wall while Romel stood watching the chat between the 2.
"Damn, I forgot how hard he hits." He muttered to himself "Ok, I'll shut up and listen. I don't think the walls can take much more of that"

Quasar continued: "You were sealed as a force of light, should the balance need to be maintained later on. this was because some of the more evil rulers of ages long past feared and were seeking to control the power your people possessed."

"Power? What power?" Why are you still giving me more questions than answers?"
Romel buried his head in his hands. "This is going to be a lot bigger than I thought it would" he thought.

Quasar sighed "you didn't even bother to open that book, did you? Do you even still have it?"

"Book?" both Romel and Solaris asked.

"Oh, I think he means that old book in your bag" Romel pointed to Solaris's bag

Seconds later, Solaris presented the book to the dragon. "Aye, that book."

"Never could open the thing, so, what s in this again?" Solaris said as he stared at theh cover of the book. His eyes seemed fixed upon the emblem of the sun engraved on it.

"I'm beginning to think that the world is more screwed than I thought it was" Quasar said with another sigh. "The same way you got in here"

"The first or the 2nd time?"

Quasar turned to Romel "Is he always like this?"

Romel replied, "actually no, he's just having blond spasms today".

"WHAT'D U SAY YOU LITTLE SHIT?" Solaris exploded

He was calmed by yet another tail slap and visit to the wall courtesy of Quasar. "You power is the key, to both those doors and those pages" he said as he pointed to the doors and the book, which was now sitting on the ground. Romel took it.

"If you don't mind, I'll continue my explanation now"

Romel grinned "fine by me". He looked over at Solaris, who was stuck in exactly the same spot from before, just a bit deeper into the wall this time. He just looked up at the dragon in silence.

"Very well then: When you were sealed, an equal amount of darkness was sealed as well, to preserve the balance of the world. Somehow, the artifact containing the dark energy was destroyed or opened, releasing the darkness upon the world, resulting the blight you have witnessed."

Solaris nodded as he fell from the wall to the ground. Romel asked for him, "So, what or who sealed him, and why? Any idea how long he's been sealed?"

Quasar replied "I don't know what opened the other orb, but its opening is likely what caused Solaris's seal to be broken, to preserve the natural balance. Based on the imbalance I sense, there darkness has strengthened over the last few centuries."

"He's been sealed for hundreds of years? No wonder he doesn't seem to remember much"
The dragon replied "I see. The book should help explain some of it. It contains a bit of history, and a list of some of the abilities of the Fire Bearer people."

Solaris spoke while picking himself up off the ground. "So, I'm some random insanely powerful force of light.? Good to know I'm supposed to be a good guy and all, but what does this tell me? Am I supposed to fight this blight crap or what?"

"Pretty much. You'll get a lot more answers when you start reading that book. You can do that on you own time though." Before you go, I must show you 1 thing" he said as he reached down and picked up Solaris with 2 large claws, and placed a blue flower just below his nose.

He repeated this for Romel. Solaris looked at the flower "What the hell is this for?"

"You 2 are going on a bit of a trip" Quasar replied.

"By sniffing flowers?" asked Solaris.

Romel added on "I fail to see how this will take us anywhere".

"My apologies. I meant "horror trip". Quasar corrected himself.

"That doesn't sound appealing" Romel said with a gulp.

"Take a deep breath, and have a fun trip". Quasar coiled himself back around the pedestal as if waiting for something.

"Where are we…." Romel stopped midsentence….

"And so their trip has begun" snickered the dragon to himself.

The next thing Solaris knew, he was picking himself up off of the most uncomfortable ground he'd ever found himself on. He reached down and picked up a bone. "Eww" he said in an inexplicably calm voice. A moment later his eyes adjusted to the light. He was standing in a pile of bones. "Well, that explains things." He roamed the area under a blood red moon. It seemed strangely similar to his dreams. The world was a desolate wasteland. What remained of the forest he found himself in was twisted and deformed, a demented shadow of its former self.

As the rest of his senses caught up to him, he was overwhelmed by the smell of death and strange sounds of growling and screeching in the surrounding area. "What the hell is going on here? Where the hell am I?" he said aloud. As he finished his sentence, heavy footsteps could be heard heading rapidly in his direction. Trees could be heard breaking as the footsteps approached. "I'm definitely not taking a vacation here." He said as he drew his sword. Suddenly 4 creatures appeared, 2 of which resembled his previous encounters with the creatures of the blight. 1 appeared to be a giant scorpion, however this one had a few extra legs, and 2 extra claws on the sides of its tail. He only reason he even noticed the 4th one is because he was hit by something that wasn't there a moment ago, sending him flying through decayed trees.

He climbed out of the wreckage just as the monsters reached him and realized he'd dropped his weapon. There was no question he'd meet his end if he stayed. He made a break for the trees giving it everything he had. He was out of the monsters reach in a few moments. He thought to himself "Doesn't look like I'll survive here for long, now where the hell is Romel?

He turned around and kept walking, eventually running into a river. He saw no reflection of himself and upon closer inspection, there appeared to be bones flowing in the water. He noticed it was unusually quiet for a river as well, and that it was also dark, even if he was under blood red moonlight. He was taken aback by the smell of blood and death as he gazed into the liquid. He was then hit by a creature of the stream and knocked in. it wasn't a river of water, it was blood, all of it. He struggled, figting the current trying to reach the shore, but to no avail. He was pulled downstream and began to lose his strength. The glow of his eyes dimmed as the river sapped him of his life force. He began to sink, gasping for air as he now fought just to keep his head above the substance.
He gasped one last time as he was pulled under. He saw the faint glimmer of the moon though the blood as it began to fade. His life flashed before his eyes, or at least the last few months he could remember. The last thing he saw in his thoughts was the girl with long white hair and glowing yellow eyes as he lost consciousness, clammed by the river of death. His only regret: not finding anything he was seeking.

He awakened to the laughs of Quasar and the look of sheer unimaginable horror which occupied Romel's face. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Romel "What the hell happened to you. You look like you just died"

"I did, or at least I thought so." he replied "You don't look much better yourself"

Solaris looked at him with disappointment on his face. "I drowned in a river of blood. Of all the bullshit ways to die" he sighed. "What about you?"

"I ran into a few of those creatures we fought before. I got torn apart and I think eaten. I woke up and I'm here. What the hell was that anyways?"

Quasar replied in a somber tone "That would be a vision of what this world will come to should things be left as is."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Solaris and Romel replied in unison.

"The blight will do THAT?!" exclaimed Romel.

"So, mind telling us what we're supposed to do?" questioned Solaris.

"Seek out the source of the darkness, and eliminate it. Either that or stop all of the darkness that has spread from it." replied the dragon.

"Oh, thanks captain obvious" replied Romel in a spiteful voice.

"There was also another large flow of light and dark energy fairly recently. It seems a being with power on par with yours was released, 2 beings actually. It may be wise to seek out the other souce of light power to aid you."

"Wait a minute. There's more things sealed? What the hell, why? You're making more questions again. " Solaris growled.

"it would seem so. Creatures with that much power don't just appear out of nowhere. It must have been something that was sealed".

Romel scratched his head in confusion and stared up at the dragon. "Uhm, Mr. Dragon Quasar…sir?" he muttered timidly.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" he roared back

Romel feinted out of fear and Quasar rolled in the air in laughter. Solaris waited for him to wake up.

Romel awoke with a look of astonishment "I'm….alive?!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Quasar stared down at him "Do we really look like angels to you? I can understand demons, but c'mon, seriously?"

"Yeah, though dragon breath here nearly literally scared you to death" Solars replied.

"I was just playing around, I had to see the look of absolute fear again. So, what was it you wanted child?"

"I was going to ask if you knew anything of a white haired girl with golden eyes. Solaris has been looking for her for a while now. No leads and no clue if the person actually exists."

There was a short pause after the question was asked, and Quasar seemed to be in thought. "White hair and golden eyes you say?"

Solaris added "Yes, the eyes are very much like mine. I keep seeing her in a recurring dream. I have no idea who she is or what reason she shows up for."

Quasar continued floating around the room, seemingly trying to remember something. "If I weren't a dragon, and you weren't a Flame Keeper, I wouldn't believe what I was about to say. I'd expect it to be no easier for you to believe."

"Eh?" replied Romel.

"What?" asked Solaris.

"It could be a moon guardian which you have seen. It would explain the sources of light and darkness, as well as the some of that vague description you gave." Quasar said as came to a stop in the middle of the room.

"Moon guardian?" They both asked.

"Do you to dimwits remember anything I told you about balance since you got here? Yes, a moon guardian. Its the Lunar equivalent to Solaris here." Quasar groaned.

"I see" said Solaris. Do you know where I may find this person?"

"I do not know. Likewise I do not know of your whereabouts unless you activate nova.

"What…." Solaris cut him off.

"I should've known you wouldn't know. Nova is the name for what happens when you evoke the power of the sun. You know, the glowy thing you do when you become fast and powerful; the reason you were able to enter this room, and the reason I can bitch slap you with my tail and you don't disintegrate. That is called nova, some called it solar force. I personally prefer nova"

Solaris looked at Quasar slightly puzzled. "So, how do you know of these moon guardians anyways? Could you tell me where the source of energy came from when it was first detected?"

Quasar covered his head with his claws in annoyance. "Do you 2 ever stop asking questions? Anyways, I met one long ago, had an aura exactly opposite of yours. The origin of the power was in a forest near the southern edge of the Beast kingdom. If you have a map, I can figure out about where it was" Solaris handed him his map and Quasar pointed to the spot.

Romel and Solaris looked at each other, then back at the dragon. "Beast kingdom?" asked Solaris. "We haven't been there yet". Romel added in, "There is also the fact that they've been spotted in the human kingdom as well, at least i think i saw the person."

"Then I am no longer able to assist you for the time being, save 1 thing. Place your sword on the pedestal Solaris."

Solaris scratched his head and did so.

"Now both of you step back, or you'll be barbecued"

They both did so quickly as Quasar shot flames down upon the weapon. When they were able to look again, Quasar was missing the claws on one of his hands and the sword seemed to be much better shape. "Take that when it cools, it shall do... for now. You wouldn't have survived many more battles with a weapon that damaged." Romel looked at Solaris's sword, then at his.

"Mine is new, it should hold up, but as sword made of dragon claws is pretty badass" Romel said in envy.

Quasar took the blade from him and set it on the pedestal. "I'll hold onto this for a while. Envy gets you nowhere."

Romel Ran towards the pedestal, and looked up at the dragon floating above it, then stepped back. "Damnit." He muttered to himself. Quasar looked towards the ceiling and shot more flames around, he then turned down to the weapon and engulfed it with flames.
Romel thought to himself: I REALLY don't think that weapon was meant to withstand that. Quasar's fire stopped and the molten blade lay beside Solaris's which had been reheated.

"Young one, your blade is made of dragon scales and claws now. it shall not break even when you're reached your limits. It also has the element of fire imbued upon it. If you lose it, you aren't getting another one, assuming you survive to return here." said the dragon. "Now be gone! And take this as well." He dropped a pendent in front of Romel. "This will tell you when to return here. I'm going back to sleep" he said with a long sigh as the room began to fill with smoke. When it cleared, he was gone.

They stared at each other and up at the ceiling, wondering where the dragon vanished to.
"So how do you stop a near certain disaster from happening?" Romel asked Solaris.

Quasar reappeared mere inches from Romel's face, "The answer is simple: some luck, hope, and a lot of determination. A few more friends to help out wouldn't hurt either."
He vanished again leaving only the echo of his voice: "Stay strong….."

They headed outside and mounted their horses, heading for Azidon.

"Solaris, what the fuck just happened?"

"I think we got a few more answers than we bargained for and the task of saving the world."

"Do you think the 2 of us can actually stop the darkness we saw?" Romel followed up.

"Yes, but only before it gets that bad. We need to go back to the Elven kingdom. We never exactly found what we were looking for last time, but first, we're going to get some rest. We're off to Azidon again."