Shades of time

Chapter three: Trials of the Tower

They were on approach to a large building and as Callie was looking out the front window the Drifter disappeared, Callie was about to scream before her Ghost popped into view, the next thing she new she was standing on a grate in a largely open area. Callie looked around feeling a strong wind at her back and gasped,

"That's a big drop..."

"Yes."

Came the voice in her head,

"Let's not go that way..."

Callie nodded and made her way into the building, another two guardians appearing in the same spot she had just left they looked at each other then to her and walked past her, she could hear them whisper,

"That hunter was a little small... right?"

"So I wasn't just imagining that?"

"How weird..."

"Are the Ghosts reviving kids now? The Traveller wouldn't do that... would it?"

Callie crossed her arms and grumbled but she heard the Drifter's voice nearby and followed it until she came upon him again in a dark offshoot of a hallway, a strange contraption in the room behind her made her feel weird, almost like it was pulling at her.

"You made it! How do you like my dingy little hallway... I like my dingy little hallway, the Vanguard don't bother me down here."

He took a step forward and pointed at her,

"They won't bother you either... as long as you behave yourself."

Callie gulped and nodded.

"Good... so right now you're on the tower, the vanguard operates from here, they govern all the good little guardians and keep the last human city safe... or at least as safe as they can."

Callie's eyes widened,

"Last human city? What about the rest of the planet?!"

The drifter chuckled and made an explosive gesture with his hands.

"It's gone sister..."

Callie shook her head in disbelief,

"So the rest of the planet is just...poof?"

The drifter sighed, and rethought his wording,

"Not really gone in that sense, it's just not habitable by humans... too many hostiles like to wander and scavenge what ever was left after the collapse."

Callie began to back up shaking her head,

"No... YOU'RE LYING!"

She ran out of the hallway and took several flights of stairs in random directions before she came out to an open area with a sort of market. Callie stopped and looked around, a few of the people there noticed her but then went back to what they were doing. She was slightly out of breath and spotted a ledge with vines and a mostly empty space. She ran towards it and looked down gasping,

"What..."

"Beautiful isn't it?"

A voice from behind her spoke softly as Callie slammed her hands on the railing and clenched them around it,

"How could you call THAT beautiful?! And what's with the moon being here!?"

The woman approached and stood next to her,

"It's beautiful because it is worth protecting... that's what we do guardian... all those people down there depend on us to protect them and the future of humanity. The last human city, Thanks to the light of the Traveller we guardians are gifted with life, strength and more... and it's our duty to give everything we've been given, for them."