The Seven Keys of Areid **COMPLETE**

Chapter V: The Fourth Guardian

The tunnels were getting lighter, Adalira noticed, as she traveled unfalteringly onwards. The light seemed natural, like the cool morning sunlight she yearned to see once again. Just in case of the light being extinguished such as before, Adalira kept one hand trailing along the wall. After a while, her fingers stumbled over something soft, something that was very out of place in the cold, decrepit tunnels.

"Moss?" Adalira murmured, tugging a portion off the wall and running her fingers over the spry plant. The burst of green yielded no response, and after a while she discarded the fraction of moss and continued walking.

The light grew brighter and brighter to the point of midsummer's sun, and Adalira felt herself swatting at unruly beads of perspiration, her heavy skirts growing ever hotter. The tunnel's walls were growing wider. In fact, Adalira realized, she didn't seem to be in the obsidian subway any longer; with a start, her pale green eyes absorbed the new setting. The ground was now silky emerald grass, and majestic blue spruces surrounded her. In this clearing was a small pool filled with crystalline water that swirled becomingly in the current. Adalira found herself collapsing on the grass and using her grimy hands as a ladle to squirrel away as much water as they could hold. Her throat moaned with satisfaction as the cool water coursed down the dry channel, and the fuzziness in her head was gone in a gulp.

"Are you quite finished?"

Adalira jumped, spitting out a mouthful of water into the grass. A slight wind whispered across her face, and the trees rustled as if laughing. Looking wildly around, Adalira found no possible source of the voice. She gazed warily at the clusters of trees. A silvery squirrel dashed out of one of them, leaning on a broken shard of a stick. Adalira, having never seen a living squirrel, wasn't sure if squirrels spoke normally. She stared intently at the ruffled rodent, wiping a stray drop of water off her chin.

"Dear girl, I asked you a question, and I expect an answer," the wizened creature asked, squinting at her with beady eyes the color of ink and its gravelly voice cutting.

Adalira debated momentarily with herself on the sanity of replying to a talking rodent, then decided she had nothing to lose anyway. Her voice, refreshed and clear, filled the glen.

"I am finished," Adalira answered, rubbing her damp hands on her stained dress absently. The squirrel twitched its nose irritatedly and scowled at the dirty dress.

"How you can garb yourself in such a filthy fashion alarms me," the squirrel huffed, pointing its walking stick at Adalira's ruined dress. Adalira looked down at the stains and tears, embarrassed. 

"My apologies," Adalira spoke, half questioning her sanity for apologizing to a squirrel, "But I have traversed a weary path and do not have the means to obtain a new dress."

The squirrel quirked an eyebrow. 

"How far have you traveled?" It inquired. "Which of my children have you met?"

Adalira recounted, "I have met Satoju, Evoranjela, and Amine." She didn't understand how a squirrel could be the father of the three, since none of the guardians looked related at all, and this was a squirrel, for crying out loud! 

"You are wondering about my appearance," the squirrel mused, his little nose bristling. With a rap of his stick, there suddenly in front of her stood a strange looking persona, one that towered over her own self.

He was a tall man, with a thin build. He had a surprisingly normal skin color and hair color; a pale peach and a silvery beard. However, the man's eyes were a crisp green, a radiating color that was reminiscent of mint in its sharp pigment. He was garbed in a simple monk robe the color of pine, and billowy pants of the same shade. In his hands, which were gnarled like ancient wood, was hedted an equally knotted staff of a sandy driftwood type. A jagged, lime colored crystal was wedged into the top, and it glowed like the full moon. None of this seemed extremely out of the ordinary, and this strange man would have looked almost normal. However, Adalira could see the beady eyes watching them from the miniature forest glen, and suppressed a shiver. This man was not a normal person. He had something powerful on his side, and Adalira knew she didn't dare to cross it. She noticed with a grim countenance the faceted emerald key situated around his neck. Another guardian. Just what she wanted to see.