A Shadowed Legacy

Prologue

Avem

Avem paced, watching the others out of the corner of his eye angrily. He muttered under his breath, eventually sitting down on a nearby log. They had been out here for stars knew how long. He wanted them to come to an agreement on something; the quarrels between Anguis and Gryphem had gone on far too long. It was only fueling the current divides and conflicts between the ones all the Gods watched over. The Dragon Goddess huffed, turning away from the other God.

"You need to start getting along if we're ever going to try and help our mortal kin," The Pathfinder narrowed his sharp eyes at her, "I've had enough difficulty trying to get even a few shapeshifters and elementals to get along, without having difficulty avoiding the other gods. I can barely speak to them without issues, let alone the elementals." Avem muttered frustratedly, pacing.

Anguis slowly turned to look at Avem disbelievingly after shooting another hate-filled glare at Gryphem, "so you're telling me that you've been trying to talk to the elemental gods, even after they shunned us so long ago? Are you naïve? They will never see us as equals."

Avem pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a slow breath, "Firstly, I've only been talking to Aura and Umbra, who are the least likely to attack me. Secondly, the elementals are the very root of our current problem, so why would I not go there first to try and fix it?" He paced over to the two, irritation prickling in his gaze, "We're supposed to be good role models for our kin, are we not? How is that possible when we can't even get over a grudge from a mistake long past? We cannot do that if none of us are getting along!" Avem stared darkly at Anguis, "you know as well as I do that we and the shapeshifters reflect each other."

"That's impossible." Gryphem stalked over, "they would never believe us if we told them that elementals aren't our enemies, even if we did manage to get a few of them to get along." He pointedly ignored the Dragon Goddess, his attention on Avem, "Elementals and shapeshifters haven't gotten along since the day shapeshifters were kicked out of their original home, heck, we haven't gotten along even before that. The tensions between us and you 'normals' were bad enough, then our issue came along and made it worse." Anguis glared at him but didn't respond.

Avem lifted his chin, bristling, "I've gotten two beings who are supposedly supposed to be enemies to get along. They have a remarkably close bond; I've seen it for myself. Great stars, I've even managed to get that dark elemental to get along with a few of the others who hurt her people after we left." He started pacing again, "I've made the bridge so that the elementals can start mending their relationships, so why can't we get along?" He cast a flat stare at Gryphem and Anguis pointedly, "if we can achieve that, we can start properly mending our own relationships with the elementals."

Anguis growled, then her gaze softened, "I know you want to fix things, Avem, but it's just not possible right now. Two is very few compared to the number of elementals and shapeshifters out there. That will barely make a dent in the issue." She flashed a canine at Gryphem, who glared at her.

"This is why it's not possible!" He exclaimed, staring at the two in exasperation, "you two used to only have a less serious rivalry, and look what's it morphed into! The rest of us get along for the most part, so why can't you two? If you do not get over the mistake that all of us made, then you will never get along with the rest of us. I get it, you two blame each other for the current situation, but dwelling on the past will fix nothing. All of us need to agree on something if we're going to even start fixing our relationship with the other gods."

"Anguis was a coward, and she hesitated to remove the threat effectively," Gryphem snapped.

Anguis snarled at him, "I am not a coward. Did you expect me to stain my hands with the blood of my own kin? If anything, you are the coward. You didn't come help when there was the chance!"

"Enough, both of you! Avem is correct that your quarrel is part of the problem of fixing things," The last Guardian, Phoenix, appeared between the two, separating the angry beings in a flash of bright light. "We are all at fault. Everyone made some sort of mistake that led to this. Even me." She stared sternly at the other two Guardians, "all of us underestimated the current threat. We didn't anticipate it would get this bad."

The two looked away in shame at the rebuke. Gryphem muttered, voice small, "They were intended to act as a balance between the mythicals and the regular shapeshifters after...well, we all know what I'm referring to." He pointedly avoided looking at Phoenix's face when old pain awoke in her amber eyes momentarily. "I don't think any of us could have seen where they have gone." His gaze went to his feet, "The elementals were right about one thing, none of us really knew what we were doing."

The Dragon Goddess gathered her pride, lifting her chin, "The elemental gods are stuck up and proud. We have been here for less time than they have, and they have made many more mistakes than we have."

Phoenix just shook her head, eyes gentle, "For now, we need to sort out our own issues. Then we'll worry about the elementals." She turned to the Pathfinder, who met her eyes curiously, "Keep these two in line for me. I need to go speak with my own kin. It's time to make a move."