The Black Dog did not hesitate in making his way back, nor did he slow.

He came, instead, at full tilt: bolting as fast as he could at a racing, lumbering gallop to where he'd left the stone. Nemean's stone.

"Wolves!" he barked, his voice deep and urgent. "Where are you? I think I have found the purpose of the rock!" He slowed to a trot only after skidding, pendulous ears flapping, half-past Xireidi's partially-hidden den. Here they'd stowed away the glowing ball, and here Black hoped it remained.

"There is a new door," he panted, unaware yet of who might still be here and who not. "It may belong there. It may have been to keep Nemean bound. There is a new Elder--one I have not seen before. If we can bring it there, I can show you. This must be its purpose." There was almost excitement in his gaze, and tone; if there was something Black was thrilled by, it was purpose. Purpose of being, of object, of intent--it didn't matter; everything had a reason, and fulfilling that reason was the most important thing there could possibly be.

Hopefully he was not barking to himself; hopefully Kin-Kin and Xireidi would be here... somewhere.

Almost as an afterthought he again tried to surge magicka into that spell the orb had seemingly taught him, expecting nothing to come of it. And nothing did. "That magic still does nothing," he added.

________________

@Kin-Kin @Xireidi

How many days had passed at this post? Weeks? Cycles even? The life of a guardian was not always an exciting one, this much Xireidi had known. Even so this eternal watch almost felt like it was wearing at him more than even the search for Batcat had. At least at that time he had been able to interact with others and had a finite goal. The lights had gone through a time of flickering and the wolf had made multiple trips to the generator to ensure that the dark fae hadn't returned. Each trip, however, was as uneventful as the last and eventually the lights returned to the bright fullness that they shone with now.

Even as he perched himself high upon a ledge overlooking the room of the core the red wolf fought against the temptations of sleep. Nemean might be nowhere to be found but her artifact still rested nearby, a potential weapon to be used against them.

The voice of his fellow guardian rang out in the distance below, near the entrance to his old den. Was there trouble? Fatigue melted away in an instant as Xireidi hopped to his feet and leapt to a cliff below- the first in a set of ledges leading back to ground level.

A use for the orb? he contemplated as the ground rushed toward him in series, his trained physique absorbing each impact. It is connected to a door and another ancient?

Actually that made a lot of sense- if Nemean had betrayed them then it was distinctly possible that she had betrayed the other ancients before. Why would she have stolen the orb though? Was there something on the other side of the door that the orb would unlock and unleash?

"I am here." he announced simply as he finally reached the ground and walked the last few steps toward Black. "Do we have cause to trust this new elder?"

Of course the question was rhetorical- among all of them the black dog was the most natural guardian. There was no way they would release their charge without reason. Xireidi could hold his own in a fight but all this waiting without results was starting to feel too much like looking for a horror of shadow and flame that would never appear.

---

"The words I speak"
The thoughts I hold
And the self I keep hidden away
tags: @Kin-Kin @Black
notes: None

((whoops, hit the wrong spell- totally meant to select failed timeline. Ignore that roll then))