They met her a few decades after the first war that the world had ever experienced was crushed by the Dragon Council.

At the time, she was young and weak. Like the original dragons, she did not have parents but was created by the world.

She was the first Guardian to protect one of the great mana stones that gave the world its life-- the「 Godly Stone」.

The dragons had known about her existence, none of them cared enough to bother with her. She was like them; she existed to protect this planet. Therefore, there was no reason for them to interfere with each other.

In essence, she was a being that rivaled the original dragons. Her combat strength may not have been as great as theirs but her magic was.

「Lost Magic: Time Weaver」she had the ability to see the past, the present, and the future--and change them. With the usage of her magic; she could wipe the human race off the face of the planet by simply saying they never existed. Though her power was greatly limited and she could not use it as easily as the Dragon Council could use theirs--still, its power was absolute.

This Guardian called upon the Dragon Council, more specifically: Erebus and the “other two” (as she put it) who had been in charge of subduing the war.

The day that the message from the Guardian came, Erebus was in the Dragon Continent, he had been summoned by Rolut along with Azure.

His heavy boots clomped across the stone flooring of the Dragon Council’s Headquarters, he was scowling with irritation written plainly on his face.

Next to him, Azure’s short legs were scrambling to keep up. “Slow... Down!” she huffed, her arms pumping. “You long-legged bastard!”

“You’re perfectly capable of matching my pace,” Erebus responded, not slowing as commanded by Azure.

She glared at him, her large eyes narrowing into slits. “I, unlike you, am not in any sort of hurry to get anywhere.”

“And that’s my problem... How?”

“Long-legged bastard!” she cried out once more.

Erebus rolled his eyes--and continued to move along quickly.

“Why are you so upset anyway?” Azure piped up.

“Rolut calling so suddenly is an inconvenience to me. He didn’t even state what he wanted from me.”

“Well,” Azure started, “we’re going to find out shortly.”

“Shortly if we walk faster.”

She huffed indignantly but nonetheless picked up the pace to keep up with Erebus as they made their way to Rolut’s office.

The moment they arrived, Erebus threw open the door and proclaimed valiantly, “I’m here now so what do you want?” His foot stuck out and hit something soft; Erebus eyes quickly shot down and beheld the sight of Massath curled up on the ground--asleep. “Move,” he commanded, his foot relentlessly driving itself into Massath’s stomach.

Massath awoke, lethargically pulling himself up into what could hardly be called a standing position. His sleepy eyes focused in on Erebus and he yawned. “You’re here... Finally,” he muttered, words slurring together. “I waited for so long.”

“It’s hardly been five minutes since I called,” Rolut said, sounding tired himself, placing his hand flat down on the desk he stood behind.

Erebus clicked his tongue. “What did you want, Rolut?”

“It’s not what I want,” the eldest dragon answered, pulling out a scroll. “I was doing work when this just popped into existence. It’s from the Main Continent, the first Guardian is asking for your presence.”

Erebus squinted his eyes, his aquiline nose scrunching up. “Why?”

Rolut shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s no reason to deny it and it’s due time that we finally introduced ourselves to each other.”

“And I have to do it?” Erebus did not sound pleased by this idea.

“All three of you.”

“Declined,” Erebus waved his hand, “ask Frize or Midrn, they’re better with that political nonsense.”

Rolut shook his head. “She directly called for you.”

“Forgive me for not caring,” Erebus said, his frown deepening.

“I don’t care if you don’t care,” Rolut retorted. “You will be meeting her.”

“She’s a young brat,” Erebus spat back. “Who apparently believes she has the power to call on the Dragon Council and expect us to meet her demands. I am taking a stand against her!”

“Excuses,” Azure sing-songed. “You just don’t want to go because it’s too much work to deal with her.”

Erebus glared at her, his face clearly indicating that she should shut her mouth.

She stuck her tongue out at him in response to his vicious stare. “Am I right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“I don’t mind going.” Massath then added, “If my opinion matters.”

He received sharp stares all round.

“Or not,” Massath muttered, kicking the ground. “That’s fine.”

“Anyway,” Rolut said roughly. “Erebus, this is not up for discussion. I’m exercising my power as the First Seat of the Dragon Council and commanding you to go and meet the first Guardian.”

The black-haired dragon snorted then bowed mockingly. “As you wish, Rolut. Your humble inferior will follow your commands.”

Rolut’s face twitched but he managed to retain his stony countenance. “Azure and Massath, I trust you two understand as well?”

“We do,” Azure answered for the both of them. “We’ll be glad to accompany Erebus to meet this esteemed being.”

“You two will be under Erebus’ command once more but if any of his orders conflict with mine you know which one takes precedence over the other.” He turned his hard stare over to Erebus, whose arms were crossed against his chest haughtily and there was flippant smirk on his face. “Erebus, I expect for you to behave... your actions are a reflection of our race as a whole.”

“I’m aware, no need for you to tell me,” Erebus said, the smirk still remaining. “Now, I suppose we should get going now?”

“You should,” Rolut responded. “The longer you stay here the larger my headache grows.”

Erebus laughed lightly, his shoulders shaking. “Ah, you don’t mean that! Afterall, I’m your favorite.”

“You’re a loose cannon,” Rolut sighed the words, suddenly looking his age. In all honesty, Rolut was glad that Erebus’ love for this planet couldn’t be shaken. It was the only thing keeping him from bearing his fangs at them... Even though Erebus was technically the fifth most powerful out of all of them, he was an anomaly, to put it simply.

Rolut’s eyes met with Erebus’ single, glittering crimson eye that held amusement in it. Erebus’s smirk disappeared and was replaced by a knowing look as if he he and Rolut shared some inside joke that Rolut wasn’t aware that he was in on.

Erebus, Rolut had concluded a long time ago, was far more dangerous than he let on. There were secrets that he was hiding; Rolut had yet to find any of them out.

“How cold of you to say,” Erebus finally said, his eye moving away from Rolut and drifting around the room. ” Boredom colored his voice as he spoke to Rolut, “Well, we’ll be leaving now. Ah... don’t worry, we’ll be able to find her easily.”

The three dragons exit Rolut’s office, Erebus pausing in the threshold and giving Rolut a small finger wave good-bye then sauntering out.

Rolut wondered, for a moment, if it was a good idea to let Erebus go without anyone else to meet someone this important. Erebus was, well, for the lack of better word, insensitive. He couldn’t care less about the feelings of others and was only interested in his own self-gain and if someone stood in his way of that he wouldn’t hesitate eliminate them.

If the Guardian managed to offend Erebus... Rolut worried about the consequences. Rolut did not know a lot about the Guardians except for that they were powerful and kept to themselves, silently watching over their mana stone.

Would she be able to be replaced?

Rolut had to think about these things, just in case. Even though, technically, if Erebus did anything to the Guardian he should be punished... It was like an unspoken rule that the Dragon Council was an exception to the law; they kept themselves in check.

None of them--to Rolut’s knowledge--were craving power and had any interest in things outside of themselves and the safety of the world.

“This is tiresome.” Rolut sat down, rubbing his temples with his meaty fingers.

He was the oldest being in existence, he had the right to want to take a break... Didn’t he?

Sadly, the world was not as forgiving as that and Rolut did not believe that he would ever be able to relax for any extended period of time.

He picked up the parchment sent from the Guardian, looking at the short message that was etched into the paper. It was strange to him; the paper gave off the feeling of magic that felt wrong. Sickening, almost. Like something that wasn’t supposed to exist in this world.

Perhaps he should have asked Erebus to examine it, for some reason; the younger dragon had always been good at identifying mana. It was a skill that Rolut had relied on quite a few times.

Rolut tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling. He was growing more worried by the minute. He was getting agitated, he had the urge to run after Erebus and reaffirm that Erebus wouldn’t do anything stupid. Still, there was no guarantee about that either.

Erebus had a habit of just saying what the others wanted to hear so that they would leave him alone and let him do what he had planned to do with or without their approval.

“Please,” he muttered to himself, “just don’t do anything stupid. Don’t start any trouble.”

His words, tragically enough, would never reach Erebus’ ears.