Lowell

Lowell Treasurer "Wealth is the epitome of beauty and beauty must be protected by the Shades will. "

Lowell was born with the symbol of the Sunbeam Ruins marked on his grey chest, proclaiming his destiny to serve the Lightweaver. Each day he would rise with the blessed sun and train for his Charge. He knew in his heart that one day, he would be strong enough that she would call upon him and he could finally join her in The Beacon of the Radiant Eye to become her protector, her bodyguard, her Guardian. Years past and he still rose when the first rays touched the earth and trained. He fought in the Coliseum to prove his worth and earned great honour in his deeds. Yet she still didn't called. His heart would break a fraction more with every passing day.

When he could take it no more, he said goodbye to his clan and family and ventured out alone to the far east of the Sunbeam Ruins. It was time for him to Seek his Charge as the other Guardians called it. It took him many days to reach her tower. When he finally made it, he swore his life to her. She studied him for a long time and then declined his services. He told her that she was his Charge and showed her the mark but she didn't care, he was not worthy. He was thrown out of the tower and when he tried desperately to enter over and over, he was eventually banished from the land all together.

Lost, alone and heart broken. He wondered the lands of the Shadow known as The Tangled Woods. He didn't eat, drink or sleep from his grief. What was a Guardian without his Charge after all. One day, he collapsed, knowing death had finally come to free him from his pain. He drifted into a darkness more pure than light and felt his grief, sorrow and pain slip away.

"Why do you hurt?" a whisper of a voice.
"She has forsaken me." he answered, his voice echoing through the void.
"Hurt no more. I am here. I will never leave you." it said. He felt it's loving embrace, its comfort was more warming than any light he had ever felt. Death had finally come and he would willingly go to this most perfect peace. "Come to me and you will never hurt again." The voice whispered.
"Have all that I am Great one." he whispered and let himself be taken by the warm and loving darkness.

Lowell awoke in a cave, warm, quiet and dark. A single torch burned on a far wall, casting just enough light to see through the room. He lay on a cushioned bed, his hunger and thirst gone.
"Welcome" A soothing voice spoke. He lifted his head slowly and peered back at a female Guardian sitting casually at the end of his bed.
"Mother Lilith" he croaked through his dry throat. She smiled down at him.
"Yes Child of the Shade. You are home." He had never felt so peaceful and happy in his entire life.

Thinking back on that day always brought a smile to his face. He looked down at his chest where the symbol use to be. The melted gold over his scales covered it completely now, yet in his eyes he still saw it clearly there. He needed more. He rummaged through his new Charge, the Darkclaw Clan's treasure, until he found another perfect gem. A ruby, so flawless and bright, he would accept nothing less than perfection to hold the gift he had been given. His smile widened in satisfaction as the Shade accepted his offering and flowed from his Black fingertips into the ruby. The Red retreated from the darkness until the ruby was nothing but black. He then lifted his chest from the pile of gold coins, clinking as they fell away and rolled across the stone floor, and fused the blackened gem into his scales so that the Shade would always protect and comfort him from the pain the marking caused.

When he rested his head back down on the gold, feeling content, he closed his eyes but kept his ears listening to the silence of the vault. he would allow no one but Mother Lilith to take from his Charge for she was the only one he trusted to bring it back with more to follow.