The white light floated at the center of the grand hall, hesitant, like a breath suspended between life and nothingness.
The Guardians Ryo had created slowly took form, their outlines solidifying.
At first blurry, barely perceptible, they gradually became human-like silhouettes, tall and perfect, imbued with a cold, silent aura.
Every movement seemed calculated, as if their consciousness was emerging for the first time.
They knelt, motionless, in a synchronized gesture that echoed throughout the palace.
Even the flames, already exhausted from the recent upheavals, froze, suspended in midair.
Ryo watched them without a word, his golden eyes reflecting the trembling light of the torches.
The silence was complete, almost sacred.
Then he stepped forward, each step resonating on the tiles like a beat of eternity.
> "Rise."
The Guardians slowly lifted their heads, their faces still indistinct but filled with solemnity.
Ryo raised his hand, and a circle of golden light appeared beneath his fingers, casting reflections on the palace walls.
His voice, calm and firm, echoed through the hall:
> "You are the Guardians of Ashen.
You know neither fear nor doubt.
You serve neither king nor man.
You are the watchers of this throne, the protectors of its legacy."
He pointed to the first on his left.
> "You, take the name Kaelen. Let your vigilance be the barrier that keeps chaos at bay."
Then, one by one, he named each Guardian, their names resonating in the air like sacred decrees:
Liora – the light that pierces the darkness.
Tavric – the breath that calms the storm.
Seris – the gaze that never turns away.
Vaelen – the strength that holds what must be held.
Eryndor – the shadow that protects what shines.
Nysera – the silence that hears all.
Calrik – the fist that defends without faltering.
Althéa – the breath of truth.
Draven – the sword of justice.
Maelis – the eternal sentinel.
Each name engraved itself into the air and into the very essence of the Guardians.
Their forms became sharper, their features more human, but their aura remained cold and supernatural, a force demanding respect and fear.
Ryo raised both hands, and a gentle breeze swept through the hall, like an invisible wind brushing the walls and the flames.
> "As long as I reign, you will be the eye that sees everything, the hand that acts before danger exists.
You are order incarnate, the flame that never wavers.
Go, carry your names into this world and watch over it."
The Guardians slightly bowed, perfectly synchronized, then moved through the hall, each taking position at strategic points.
Even the wind seemed to bow before them.
Ryo stepped back, his gaze drifting toward the sky still heavy with the ashes of the royal fire.
> "The throne is protected. The silence is secured."
And in the calm that followed, the world felt that a new order had been born — not a king, nor a warrior, but a presence that watched in the shadows, ready to act before darkness touched Ashen.