Xavier's vision returned and he felt a wave of nausea pulse through him. The pirate staggered off of the stone platform they were on and hunched over.

His eyes focused on the grass at his feet and he noticed that it made a crunch sound as he stepped on it. The grass was completely dried out and colorless.

Xavier managed to fend off the nausea and slowly lifted his head to take in his surroundings. They seemed to be in a forest but it looked like it was in the dead of winter.

The trees were barren and withered while the sky was completely blocked by clouds. No bugs or wildlife could be heard from the woods and a stark lack of breeze reinforced how dead the forest seemed to be.

Xavier had never been on the island before and only knew about it from the legends he had heard. Marok had declared it a sanctuary and out of respect, no pirate was to loot it or the waters around it.

The tales of the island reflected reality. A barren island that seemed to have the life all sucked out of it and be frozen in time. As soon as Solanja sunk and Kingston landed, it all died.

Rose broke what seemed to be a generation of silence by speaking. "Xavier, I think we should get going." The pirate was inclined to agree though he was surprised by Rose's sudden shift in demeanor.

"I thought you wanted to come here?" He asked.

Rose sighed. "Not really, I just wanted to get going and didn't want to be rude to Arvirdi by seeming impatient."

Xavier rolled his eyes. "Well, that's what you get for fearing rudeness, lass. Let's get out of here."

The duo walked down a dirt path surrounded by dead trees and naked shrubs. "So I guess you're good friends with Arvirdi," Rose said out of nowhere.

Xavier shrugged. "I suppose. Spent some time with him before we found a crew that would take me on and I visited again a few years later. He taught me a lot about using my magic."

"You know Xavier," Rose started. "I really appreciate you being so kind to me. Especially given your history with the Kingston government."

Xavier waited a bit to respond. "Lass, I can tell you're a bit worried but I assure you that I have no interest in bringing down Kingston. They're good for business and when your goal is enterprise, you act in the best interest of business."

"I'm not sure I understand. Aren't you upset about what happened with your parents and your home?" Rose asked. "I can tell you don't like the Scalliers occupying Centrixia."

"I don't," Xavier replied. "I'd much prefer an independent Centrixia, trade's too limited with just the black market and Marok. But I especially want the Scalliers out. You've lived on the mainland, you know just as well as anyone on this archipelago that Kingston aligning with them will only result in them trying to invade the archipelago."

Rose furrowed her brow. "So you don't care that your home is being controlled by Kingston?"

Xavier shrugged. "As I said, I'd prefer an independent Centrixia but I'm not going to fight against Kingston. The Azure Cove is only safe as long as Kingston is convinced it's not worth taking it out."

"I know that!" Rose shouted. "Just because I haven't lived here for a while doesn't mean I forgot everything about my homeland! Especially not when my father is one of the most powerful figures in Kingston. Xavier, I'm asking what YOU want."

Xavier wanted to say something right away but decided to think further on the question. Of course Xavier wanted freedom and of course he wanted revenge.

But what good would telling the child of 'one of the most powerful figures in Kingston' do other than cause him trouble?

"Rose, what do you want?" Xavier spun the question onto her. "You're destined for influence over the Kingston Empire and it sounds like to me you aren't very proud of your nation."

"I AM proud of my nation." Rose insisted. "But it's different now. When you get away from home for 10 years and read book after book about its real history, the tinted glasses break apart. But I'm going to change things! I'm going to make Kingston better!"

Rose spoke with a passion that Xavier appreciated but he wasn't won over by her conviction. "Maybe you want that but what about your peers? You're not set to be ruling Kingston anytime soon."

"Yes but, what else can I do?" Rose asked him. Xavier could tell the question was sincere and had been asked to herself many times. And he didn't know how to answer.

The pair continued down the path but were seemingly getting no closer to the beach as the day turned to night. It wasn't long before the exhaustion from their long day kicked in and they made camp.

The convenient part of being on a dead island was that there was tinder aplenty and Rose soon got a fire going. Smoke rose straight up and wasn't altered by any breeze.

"So Xavier," Rose said and the captain prepared for another personal question from his companion. "What's your plan after we get revenge and this is all done with? How do you plan on spending your days?"

Finally, something I'd like to talk about. Xavier mused. "Well lass, currently I've got a whole crew out on the uncharted seas as you know. Once they get back I'm starting an enterprise of piracy. Exploring trade with continents up north, running new routes in the archipelago, even heading south. It's a big opportunity I'm not going to throw away."

"I figured you'd retire not try even more risky schemes," Rose commented with a coy smile.

Xavier began to laugh. "Aye lass that's what all of you law-abiding citizens strive for, retirement and safety. I don't just feel the call to adventure, I crave it. Discovering the undiscovered, charting the uncharted, I don't want my life any other way." At this point, Xavier was standing up and making motions with his hand to exemplify his point.

The pirate rarely got to talk to someone who didn't understand it and now he could speak from the heart. "It's never a question for me to do something risky or dangerous or new, I just do it and hope I can come up with the solution after the fact."

Xavier sat back down and finished his speech. "Well Mr. Pirate, I'm impressed you're still alive." Rose mused.

Xavier began to chuckle. "What about you lass? I'm sure you've got plans."

"Mhm!" Rose nodded and gestured to her staff. "At the academy, I was learning how to be a Spellcrafter. So that way in my free time after I become the High Mage I can create new spells for other mages! I have so many ideas already and I had the most amazing teacher who helped me learn so much about creating new spells."

"Very interesting," Xavier said. "You must've learned a lot at that academy."

"For sure!" Rose agreed. "It wasn't easy all the time because my fire magic was so advanced so it was hard to find out how I could even learn things but once my teacher got a handle for my power, I learned so much about magic."

Rose sighed. "I miss that academy. It was my home for so long, all my friends were there. And now it's gone."

Xavier sensed the mood of the conversion shift. "Aye lass, it's difficult to lose your home. And you're no less strong for struggling with that."

Rose nodded but didn't say anything else, so Xavier took it as a cue to turn in for the night so he put out the fire and went to bed.

The next morning, Xavier awoke with no idea what time it was. The sun was entirely obfuscated by clouds and only the tiniest bit of light shone through.

Xavier sat up from the dirt he was sleeping on and looked to his side where Rose was still sound asleep. Something feels off...

The captain looked around and immediately saw something that made him do a double-take. A shadowy figure not unlike the Shade that had attacked his ship was staring at him from a distance.

This Shade was different from the previous one. Smaller and instead of wearing a robe it instead was dressed in a light armor that mostly protected its chest. It also seemed to have hair done up in a very short ponytail and had glowing orange eyes.

A lengthy sword that curved slightly was held in its hand and pointed at the duo. Xavier's reflexes immediately sprung into action when he saw the sword.

The pirate leaped to his feet and drew his weapon, wasting no time firing a warning shot. The ghoul vanished but Xavier recognized the trick from his last fight with one of them and sure enough, it reappeared behind him.

Rose was awoken by the gunshot but still wasn't on her feet so Xavier ran at the foe. Their swords clashed against one another and Xavier applied pressure with a series of blows.

The Shade's sword moved slower but was long enough that it could completely block Xavier from getting in with his blade.

Xavier jumped back and summoned icicles around him that he sent at the creature. The Shade unleashed purple lightning from its free hand that shattered the ice and vanished again.

Xavier looked up to see the giant sword about to be plunged into his face. He was barely able to jump out of the way and conjure an icicle beneath the Shade to impale it.

The Shade took to the skies so Xavier sent several more icicles at it but the creature sliced them all into pieces.

Suddenly, a fireball crashed into it from behind and it tumbled to the ground. The Shade scrambled back to its feet and Xavier ran in and struck it with his sword while it was distracted.

Rose then unleashed a ray of light magic from her staff that hit the already dazed Shade. It rolled across the ground before struggling to stand back up.

The creature put both hands on its sword and jammed it into the ground. It unleashed magic into the blade and a wave of dark magic erupted through the ground towards the duo of fighters.

Rose unleashed several pillars of light that countered the dark magic and created a massive explosion. Xavier fired a few shots into the smoke to make holes in it and pin down his target.

The captain focused and summoned a giant icicle to fall and strike the Shade from above. The move hit its mark and Rose followed up by unleashing a pillar of light right afterward.

The ice melted and the Shade collapsed on the ground from all of the damage. Xavier and Rose ran across to it and Rose kicked the attacker's sword away while Xavier pointed his weapon at it.

He did his best to quell his anger and let the adrenaline rush end. "Who are you ghouls and what do you want with Rose?" He demanded.

The Shade looked up at him and tilted its head. "What are you talking about?" Its voice was rough and hoarse but not grating like its affiliate.

Xavier pointed at Rose. "Her! You Shades keep attacking her and you better tell us why or else."

"Xavier," Rose said. "I don't recognize this one from the ones that attacked me. There were six of them but none of them had a sword like this."

The Shade's eyes seethed with anger. "I don't know what you two are on about but I want you off of my island."

"Your island?" Xavier exclaimed. "Nobody alive or dead lives on the Isle of Muerend!"

"Correct." It replied. "I'm not alive or dead. And I'm not a Shade either. I'm one of the seven guardians of this island and the archipelago as a whole."

Rose gasped. "One of seven? So there are six others?" Xavier started to put the pieces together but he was still confused. "I read about the Guardians of the Archipelago but all the books I read said they were Solanja Mythos."

"Well I'm not a myth, am I?" The Guardian grumbled. "Now I want both of you off of my island. Trespassing is forbidden."

"Gladly," Xavier replied and he hesitantly put away his weapon. "Just show us to the shipyard and we'll be on our way. The only reason we're here is that we took the teleportation stone from Marok."

The Guardian got to its feet. "Marok? I thought I shut down that stupid stone. But if I can get you off this island without getting myself killed, I guess that works." It snapped its fingers and the sword appeared in its hand. "Follow me." The Shade began walking down a path.

Rose and Xavier shared an unsure look but begrudgingly followed it down the trail. So it's not a Shade... curious, I've only heard tall tales of the Guardians. And what do they want with Rose? I don't like any of this.

Xavier didn't trust it one bit but Rose kept one hand on her staff the entire time so he was confident they could at least escape if the worst happened. And this creature seemed honestly unaware of their existence.

But it had also claimed to be responsible for the monster that had taken over Marok. So many questions with so few answers.

Rose also seemed bothered by this lack of answered but had a different approach. "So Mr. Guardian, what's your name?"

The Guardian threw its head back and groaned. "I'm not a mister. Or a miss either. You don't need to know my name if you have to refer to me. Don't."

"Aye pal, it's easier to just give in and tell the lass," Xavier said with a chuckle.

The Guardian seemed about ready to stab both of them but relented. "Fine. If you need a name, you can call me Atlas."