Chapter 11

I waited, and wondered what this was all about. Who the hell this was this... person? Power radiated from him/her. When I stopped to examine her/him. I still could not tell which sex this old, old person was.

I heard the elderly person in front of me chuckle.

"Most amusing. I am a male, although I am very ancient by your standards. Actually, I am ancient by my own people's standards, as well," I heard him musingly say in response to my unspoken question.

"You heard my thoughts?" I was embarrassed.

"Oh, yes. It is a talent that you too can master, after a while. Let me tell you a little about myself, and my brothers and sisters. I am the last who remains here," he said and paused.

I could feel a sadness rolling off of him, but also a sense of... impending relief and joy?

"My time is almost complete. A new entity must be appointed. I am a guardian. I am the last of the guardians first empowered by the GREAT ONE," he paused, and I walked right into it.

"Great One?" I asked foolishly.

"The GREAT ONE has had many names throughout the ages, and many guises. Still, to my brothers and sisters, he was always the Great One. You would call him God. Some call him The Great Spirit, or The Creator, or Allah. Others have different names. It is a great foolishness, as they all mean the same thing. All the names refer to the same being.

"It is the interpretations of what he has tried to communicate to mankind that has caused problems in your world, not the message he delivered. The message is simple, but the simplest message is twisted to cause the most consternation in the peoples of this world," he said, and then paused.

"You're saying that God made you a guardian?" I asked incredulously.

Great! I had an elderly nut case in front of me, who was extremely powerful, and had delusions of talking to God. 'Oy vey', as the saying goes.

He started laughing. I frowned, then I actually blushed. Damn, I forgot that he had said he could read thoughts. Although, if he thought God had made him a guardian, then it could be that he was just very good at reading peoples expressions and body language, and could interpret them quite accurately.

He started laughing harder.

"Ahh! Oh my! Thank you!" he finally got out, "I have not laughed so long or so hard in more years than you can imagine.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Your thoughts are funny. You can't believe I can read your thoughts, nor can you believe that I received my abilities from the Entity whom you call God. You also consider me delusional. Well! I shall convince you otherwise, young man, one way or the other. Now let me tell you what I need to say, and stop making me laugh... although I do appreciate the humor," he said.

'Oh boy, ' I thought, 'he's "bang on", and I'm starting to get spooked.'

"'Spooked!' I like that word. You are such a funny person! I will enjoy my time with you, I think," he said chuckling. Then he fully laughed again.

That was definitely a specific thought he had read. Damn! Could it be true?

"I am not quite as you see me. Oh, I am old. That much is very true. But I am not actually human. I am of the race that preceded humans. The others of my race have since moved on. They are now on another plane of life. I am the last of my race to remain here. I was designated, specifically, to give certain instructions when your race advanced to the next level.

"Your race once knew of us. However, we left this world for you, when we were given our new place. Long ago, the magic you are now using from that 'other world' as you are so fond of naming it, was prevalent in this world, too.

"The earliest humans had a few powerful connections to it, but they abused their powers, consistently. That is why the GREAT ONE asked a specific number of my people to take up the mantle of guardianship, for a time.

"Those few of us who were chosen, were changed. We were given access to greater power than the most powerful human mages. We were instructed to seal the three major places where magic emanated. We gathered together, and did this. We lost three of our number while accomplishing this task, as a part of their essence was needed to complete this spell of sealing.

"Those three of us volunteered to place themselves into the spell, one at each site and they were... changed. Their bodies were converted directly into energy, and they actually became the spell. Those three are still in place, to this day. They will remain, until the end of this world.

"Thusly have we sealed the places of magic. The Creator then made a different sort of magic. He changed the physical rules of your world a bit. Humans have the ability to tap this magic, but not many seek it, anymore. They seem to have chosen to study science instead.

"Over the years, the few others of my race that were remaining here have either died doing their jobs, or have wearied and have moved on. They have gone to where the others of our race went. Thus it is, that I am the last surviving 'Guardian'. I, too, am tired. I wish to go home," he said and sighed sadly.

"Let's see... you people were given great power, but you die?" I asked, a bit confused.

It seemed to me that part of what had happened was a conferring of long life, and I would assume you became very hard to kill off, or so it seemed to me.

"Your thoughts do not become you. Of course we can be killed, but it is much harder to kill one of us than you would believe. The last of us to physically die, died on location while redirecting the eruption of a place called Mt. Vesuvius. She accidentally got caught in an explosive side blast from the mountain. That is why so many died on that day. She was not able to control the explosion. I have been on my own ever since. All my brethren passed on long before. I was the designated exception," he sad sadly.

I felt a great sadness/loneliness roll off of this guy. I had to choke back a cry, which still escaped as a whimper. He damped down his emotion, quickly, but it gave me another insight into his being.

"Uh, so what does this have to do with me? Are you asking me to stop making the gates I can create?" I asked, unsure of why I was there.