Death came for me in the shadows of ruined buildings in the body of a dead city. I sensed its approach before hearing it.

It felt like a stain on my soul, an abscess in my sense of self that throbbed in time with the scream it gave off as it approached. I could picture it, black and purple mottled skin the colour of an old bruise sucking the light from the moon, stars, and fires. Hellishly glowing eyes piercing the air around it, the only light it would give off before it began killing me. I allowed myself to wonder for just a moment if this one had green eyes. Maybe red. Eight feet of corded muscle, razor sharp teeth and claws, spines, tail, and some kind of wickedly barbed weapon. Maybe a Hellbore growing like cancer out of it's shoulder, ready to flay the flesh and muscle from my body as it dissected my mind. Death by Hellbore was the worst kind of death, all crimson screams and agony.

For a moment I let myself feel just the slightest bit of fear. It was the only emotion I allowed myself to indulge in anymore, a little something to remind myself that I was still human. Or had been at one time. Now I was something...else.

It came tearing through the rubble, sending a car flying some ten feet through the air in its rush to kill me. I was life, human, the enemy and nothing would stop it from rending me until I was little more then a stain and viscera on what used to be a sidewalk. The scream rose until it was agonizing in my ears and my mind. It raised something that might be called a sword, six feet long, black, covered with barbs and hooks, dripping with shimmering blackness as the Hellbore on the left shoulder hissed. With a roar the thing lept, the sword cutting ...

...the empty space where I had been standing a second before. As the thing whipped around I called forth my own sword. Golden light banished the darkness of the beast as I stepped in laughing, golden armor forming around my slender form. I was daylight to the eternal night of the thing before me. I moved and my motion was the essence of speed and grace.

"Green." I thought to myself as I raised my own sword. "This one has green eyes."

I laughed again as I brought my power to bear, dispelling shadow and fear with but a thought. Oh I was no longer human but it was a small price to pay for humanity's salvation. I was hope, I was the promise of dawn after years of night.

I was a Guardian.

Author's note: This is my first submission to the site, hopefully people enjoy it and whatever follows. This was edited by me, I assume full responsibility for any mistakes in grammar or punctuation. I also accept any formatting errors given my complete and utter lack of HTML knowledge or experience.