No guardian has ever escaped their fate, and Feroh was not an exception.
His second night as a shrine guardian ended, Feroh quickly headed out to the temple next to the shrine he spent the night in, seeking help removing or dispelling this cursed armor.
The encounter with the sages was disappointing, they examined the armor, sensing the magic within, and all of them insisted that the "curse" was impossible to remove since there was no curse in the first place.
"You have been blessed and rewarded by the ancient shrine guardians, Feroh. Instead of trying to look back at your previous life as an adventurer, you must look forward at your future as a guardian."
Feroh crossed his arms, frustrated. He was not very eager at the thought of transforming into that thick furred beast every night, forced to stay at a shrine, sanctum or temple to guard it.
"I do not know, this makes me feel chained. Like a prisoner forced to stay into these ancient places every night. Are you sure there is no other choice?"
"Think of it the other way, your new form allows you to travel extremely fast. No matter how far the next spiritual place may be, you will reach it in matter of minutes. If you focus your willpower to allign with the urges of the guardian beast, it will allow you to travel from shrine to shrine, instead of pulling you back to the nearest one. This could be a great chance to aid your travels, like a pilgrimage."
He left the temple, and started walking swiftly, he could sense all the ancient locations nearby and their spiritual auras, and was conflicted between using that sense to try and get as far away as he could, or just using that sense to keep travelling as the sages sugested.
He did not have much time to muse about it, as he felt the pure white, slightly glowing fur sprouting out from his chest and arms, all over his body soon after. His forearms and hands growing, reshaping into huge paws, claws coming out once more, longer and longer. Nine soft tails quickly growing from his spine, face reshaping to fit that fox mask...
He snarled in distress as his body slowly forced him down on all-fours and started moving on its own once more, the beast taking over and bringing him towards the closest shrine. Only after arriving he managed to recover control, standing on his legs once more.
Feroh tried to fight it once more, and started walking away... but the words from the sages came back to his mind:
"If you focus your willpower to allign with the urges of the guardian beast, it will allow you to travel from shrine to shrine, instead of pulling you back to the nearest one."
He felt his body starting to push him back down to all-fours. But instead of resisting, he closed his eyes and gave in, dropping down to all-fours willingly. Feroh focused on his new aural sense, and focused his thoughts into another of the "lights" he could sense out there.
He took a few steps forward, forepaws still down on the ground, and felt the pull shifting. Instead of forcing him back to his current location, he started running towards the new one!
In just a few minutes, he found himself at the new location, an old small temple. He tried the same approach once more, again, and again. His new form was not fighting him against it, but instead, helping him!
"Okay, maybe being a guardian during the nights is not as bad as I thought it would be. This feels pretty pleasant."
Feroh no longer felt chained, instead, he realized that being a guardian allowed him to be almost anywhere, quickly. New urges arised within him, more gentle this time, but hasty. He gave in, and ran towards the next place.
He found a small group of marauders attempting to pillage the tombs of the shrine. His fur poofed up, his muscles tensed. He felt a sudden wave of anger and indignation rippling through him. How did these people dare desecrate this place?
With a few agile leaps, he landed in front of the trespassers, his fangs bared out and tails spread menacingly.
"HOW DO YOU DARE PROFANE THIS PLACE!?" he roared out.
The intruders flinched and started walking back, caught by surprise, unsure how to react for the first seconds.
It only took a few more words to make them run. Followed by the wildest roar he had ever let out. "LEAVE THIS PLACE AND NEVER RETURN!"
Feroh only relaxed a while after these tomb raiders left. "What has come over me? I felt so aggrieved... it felt just natural"
A sudden, known voice surprised and startled him. "No guardian has ever escaped their fate"
It was Aurun, the guardian he defeated three nights ago, just like him, or any other guardian, they were able to travel rapidly and freely to keep all and any places of spiritual significance safe.
"It is you again... well... after this, I can say..."
"I know what you are going to say, just what all of us did once"
Feroh stood up, clumsily fiddling around with his tails, using his paws. "No guardian has ever escaped their fate... because there is nothing to escape from in the first place. This feels... right? So right."
Both guardians spent the rest of the night keeping watch until the daytime. As the sun rose, Feroh changed back to his human form. But Aurun, the other guardian remained in his guardian form.
"Strange, the sun is up, why did you not change back?"
Aurun smiled, showing his pointy teeth. "Why should I? There is no need to change back right now."
Feroh mused on these words silently, then closed his eyes. He let his mind go for a moment, and soon felt his body changing once more.
Aurun nodded "You figured it out. You can change at will during the day." He stared at Feroh for a moment. "Are you not changing back?"
"There is no need to change back right now. This feels right. Maybe when I need to walk among humans to keep things discreet..." Feroh hesitated for a moment. "It feels strange... to call them human now. I feel like something else"
Aurun smiled once more "We are. We are guardians. Still humane at heart, but free as any animal"
"Thank you for this gift, Aurun. I now feel bad about having fighted you three nights ago".
"Do not be. I would not have let you win if you were not good at heart."
Feroh remained silent, confused on these last words, but not feeling like saying more for now. Just sitting there, next to Aurun enjoying the sunrise and the fresh morning wind on his thick fur.
