The Nexus

The area was dark... to say the least. A lamp swung in the night as a man led a young woman down the wavy path. To be honest, the girl could have probably produced a better source of light for them, but she was determined not to give away what she was.

"These swamps aren't liked by many," the man stated, trying to break the silence between them.

"Oh? Why is that?" she asked, looked around to the vegetation that grew on the ground in the puddles of standing water nearby. Not far off, you could hear the sounds of animals creeping about through the brush and water.

"Say it is cursed..." the man said, shaking his head. Alina covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Curses were a rare thing for her, so it was hard for her to believe in them. She placed her hand carefully on her satchel, making sure the things within remained safe.

"Why are you heading this way, anyway?" the man inquired, perking a brow as he looked down to her. "And so late at night..."

"I'm going to visit family. I find it is better to travel at night... you can cover a greater amount of distance without becoming overheated or worrying about people along the way."

"You never hear of bandits?" the man said, shaking his head. He sighed, and watched the girl as she continued to smile, not quite understanding her.";

The sound of his breathing was probably heard before the sound of his footsteps. They were sluggish and each breath was deep, followed by a gasp or two, or maybe even a cough. It was hard to tell with how bestial it sounded.

He could see light, and naturally he was drawn to it, despite being drawn away from people. He could see them pretty clearly even if they did not have the lantern, but thankfully they did. It made it easier to communicate when everyone could see everyone else. Then again people often did not speak to him.


The end of his halberd was dragged along the ground behind him, causing the rocks and dirt to part, or scrap along the metal, giving off more strange sounds, before it was lifted up and the end placed into the ground, so that he may push off of it to lift himself up more. It did not feel good to slouch and walk. "W-water." He coughed out, with a low growl following. Did they have any? He hoped so. Being mortal sucked. He had these thirsts and hungers.. Pain ran through his body whenever it had a chance and he felt like he was dying. "D.. Do you have water?" He extended his hand, but perhaps they could not see him. He was just out of the lanterns touch, only part of his arm entered. His eyes glowed lightly though, perhaps from the moonlight, or just reflecting the light of the lantern back to them, whatever it was, they glowed dimly.

Both Aline and the man froze when they heard the sounds of breath, the footsteps, and the weapon being dragged along the ground. Though, when those things mixed sound, it was a lot worse than it was. But the man heard the plea for water, and he quickly pulled out a waterskin, making his way quickly over to the person, and holding it out to him. "Here! Take this and --" But the lantern light fell upon the man's face, and he let out a yell, dropping both the waterskin and the latern, the light extinguishing.

"W-what is it?!" Alina called out to the man, her arm outstretched as he disappeared into the darkness. She frowned, finding she was now alone with this stranger in the dark. But she wasn't afraid. She turned on her foot and looked toward the figure.

"Are you okay?"

Rot was unsure what to say. He did not care that the man ran off, no, he did not care at all, rather he was more concerned that he dropped the water skin. His mouth curled into a snarling scowl as he reached down to pick up the waterskin, as if he had never seen water in his entire life. The container was opened and he practically drank everything inside of it in just a few gulps. That's what happened, and people would just have to get over it.

The pole of his weapon was clenched as he looked to her. "I..No." Quite frankly, he was not okay. "Food." He said after a deep inhale. The lantern was stared at now. It had been extinguished, not that he cared, but.. Seemed like a bad situation for the other. "I need food.. I.." He groaned and begun coughing again. STUPID. MORTAL. BODIES

Alina frowned, not sure why this person was in such a poor state. But she was willing to help. She reached into her satchel and dug around, pulling out a half loaf of bread, and cheese.

"This is all I have, I'm sorry. But I hope it helps." She knelt down, holding out her hand, guessing at where he was. Slowly, her eyes were becoming adjusted to the darkness, and she was slowly making out his shape.

He took both from her, without saying anything of thanks of how grateful he may have been. He was grateful however, yes.. She was keeping him from dying, at least for the moment. He tore into the cheese and bread as if it had been his only meal for weeks.. In which it had.

The only reason he was in this swampland in the first place was because he was searching for his cure with absolutely nothing to go on.. He figured the swampland may have answers, generally places where people usually avoided had all the answers. When she eventually touched near him, he stopped chewing wildly and stared, slowly attempting to pull away. His breathing grew careful, as if he felt threatened, and honestly he didn't know what he felt, he just didn't want this to end badly.. He'd kill her if he had to, and then he'd probably eat her. Did wolves eat people? He was pretty sure wolves ate people. She'd probably be eaten. Nothing personal.

Alina stood up straight, and looked around. She wondered if he was running from something... and if so, was it still after him? She shifted a bit, feeling uneasy. But then she remembered, they did have a source of light in the darkness.

She raised her hand, a small orb illuminated the area around them. The light produced was a clear, pure light, unlike what one might see elsewhere. She looked around, and then down at him, where she immediately let out a shriek, the light extinguishing again.

"No! Is that your face! Oh, please don't eat me! I was just passing through! I wasn't trying to hurt your swamp, I promise!" Apparently, she thought he might have been the curse on this place that man had been talking about.

He certainly felt like he was placed here as some sort of cruel joke to his own curse, and as a curse on this land. Who the hell wanted to be around someone with the face of a wolf?

Not many.. Ok. His eyes went wide when she displayed her magic. The light.. Creation of light from nothing? It was not something that he knew humans to be capable of, then again he did not spend much time, if any at all around mortals. He guarded something specific, something hidden away to never be seen.. So he didn't see mortals all so often, and when he did, it was usually because the don' fucked up and were going to die.

Her shriek sent his ears winging back and his maw opening wide in a snarl. "Don't scream." He commanded, his voice growing deeper as he lifted up, moving back from her with the Halberd at ready. He would do it. OH MAN HE WOULD DO IT, except he wouldnt, not yet.. no.. "How is it that you are able to make light? Are you a servant?" And this is where things got awkward.

Alina wanted to flail and run about, and get out of this place, but that would be fairly difficult, since she wasn't even sure where she would run to. She hadn't really been paying attention when the man had been leading her through the swamp.

She cowered a bit, when he raise his weapon. And so, she felt obligated to answer his question. "I-I'm a servant to the Goddess Thea! She blesses all of us with the ability to manipulate light. I've been hand chosen by her, though! I can create light, unlike many others, and now I'm out doing as she has willed!"

He was quiet for some time, listening very carefully. Thea.. This was a name he knew, and he knew it well. Perhaps the direction that he should take is questioning her. The goddess surely would have answers for him, but.. as of now, none of them would speak to him. He could not contact his brethren, he could not rejoice in knowing that they cared, no.. for now, nobody did, or it seemed that way at least.

A strange frown came over him. "You create the light then? Put it back into your lantern." He said, lifting it up and holding it out for her. "This is not my swamp.."

Alina stood there, for a long moment, looking at the lantern. She was confused, if nothing else. "Not your swamp? Then... Why are you here?" She pondered what the answer might be, and then she gave her gaze to inside the lantern. "I suppose I could, but it isn't fire. And it will take energy to maintain it while I traverse through here..."

That wasn't a problem, as long as they weren't traveling for hours...

She took the lantern on him, warily, and looked past the cracked glass. She raised her hand, and summoned a small orb of clear light, resting it inside the lantern.

"There, how is that?"

He gave a small nod of understanding, but didn't care, at least not initially. "I am searching for something, but I am at a loss." He said, pausing to cough a bit. His cough got better now that he had food and water. HE DIDNT FEEL LIKE HE WAS DYING SO BADLY. But he still totally was.. A very slow and eventually painful death will reach him.

"I have not found what I am looking for here, and have been traveling for a long time. It is easy to become lost" He looked behind him, his ears perking up slightly, before he turned to stare back at her. "Better." He lowered his weapon and frowned some.

"This is my face." He said finally, his mouth opening so that deeper breaths could be taken, as well as a strangely dog like huff to follow. "I am cursed with it."

Well, it was quite obvious that was his face, at least to her... And it was rather frightening. But it made sense, when he said he was cursed with it. "So, you didn't always look like this, no? Well, what is it you are looking for?" She glanced around, wondering what it would be, as to make him come to a swamp.

"I did not. I was taken from my position and thrown here on this.. world." He looked around, and then back to her. "I came here seeking answers, or something to help me. A cure of sorts."

He's been blindly traveling for answers to his questions and pleas. Something to help him and it has not been so successful. "I will die if I cannot cure myself." He was certain of this. Every day felt worse and worse. "You can take me to Thea, can you not? Or have her appear before you, so that you may speak with her?"

Alina looked around, as if someone might be listening to them. She began to shift uncomfortably, but she nodded her head at him. "I am going to see the Prophet of Thea now. She is a little ways away, but, I'm sure she could help. She probably knows a little about curses, but I do not, so I won't be much help myself."

She held out the lantern, and began walked, following the path. "You may join me. Thea would not like it if I turned away someone in need, no matter who they were. We will have to travel at night though. If anyone sees you, they are sure to try and kill us both."

"You said you were put in this world... What do you mean?" As far as she knew, only gods resided outside of this living world.

He followed her with his eyes for a moment, before turning to face her entirely, watching her continue on. "Then you would have done me a good service. Thank you. You may be rewarded if I am to be returned to normal." Perhaps she would, if not by him then maybe by her goddess.

"Traveling by night is acceptable." He said, catching up with her. The halberd was thrown over his shoulder now, rather than drug around.. Though, eventually, he'd begin using it to assist him in walking. He started feeling miserable again.

"I am Vajas Rhe', a guardian of relics and treasure. Or.. I was."

Alina glanced over her shoulder at him, not sure what he meant by 'guardian'. Of course, there was really only one definition for what a guardian was, but as to his status...

"What did you guard?" she asked, looking forward again. "Anything specific? If I may ask, that is." She didn't want to seem imposing on his situation, for fear he might become angry and eat her... He could probably do that easily.

"The final gate of many.." He grimaced some, or appeared to be as he shifted his hold on the weapon. "Many relics and gifts from the gods resided behind those gates." He explained. There were many, from many different religions and all of their special items that would one day be granted to a human or some other being was kept there, safe and sound. Or mostly safe, until someone with enough magical potential that they could arrive, curse a guardian and then obtain passage through without completing all of the trails.


Others before had tried such a thing, honestly it was not as if mortals were exempt from being there. They had trails and tests that they must pass before they could get close enough.. Those that fought their way through would usually die by Vajas' hand or those before him.. While the guardians could not be killed, if one were to best them in combat then they were obviously worthy to be granted access.

"That sounds fascinating," she said, thinking of what may lay behind the final gate. The most mystical of things from the Gods. Maybe that was why she was delivering things to the Prophet. So they could be placed their, in honor of Thea.

To be honest, she found it suprising that she so easily believed what he was saying. But, somehow in her mind, it all made sense. A guardian of the gate, cursed to look like he is, wandering the mortal realm in search of a way to get back. It was almost like the stories she had been told as a child. All ended with Thea placing her blessing of light upon the hero. She couldn't help but smile as she walked then.

"My name is Alina, by the way. I wasn't sure if you cared to know it."

She did believe him rather easily, though he didn't think of it, no. He had no mind for malicious intent. At least not yet. That'd probably come after a while of him remaining a mortal.. He was sure nothing good can come of being a mortal for a very long time.

"You have my thanks for the food and water, Alina." He said, stopping to clear his throat, trying to get something unstuck or perhaps cough something up. It was not very long after this before he tried to spit it onto the ground, though that didn't work so gracefully with the current maw that he had.. He frowned and wiped his mouth clean and continued on without saying anything about it. "Why do you travel through here? Is there not other ways to reach where you are going?" He didn't think it dangerous or strange, rather he was curious. Swamps seemed so unclean and one such as her self may have not ever wanted to come here.