She was thier guardian; thier fearless protector.
A dark pool of water was what reflected the lights of the souls that the guardian kept safe so that they could make thier unshaken passage into what laid ahead for them.
The area was nestled in a vast field of wispy blue grass that bowed under the gentle breeze caressing it.
The guardian strolled the lands on the watch for anything that might disturb the waters where the souls gathered over, awaiting thier travel to the others glittering in the sky above.
There were thousands of them up there, all different shapes and sizes. Younger souls glowed brighter than the older ones speckled amongst them.
Still, she loved them all.
The guardian's dress tickled the tops of the grass it danced over. In the breeze, it tugged from her legs and flitted along weightlessly.
The fabric was like the finest silk. It glowed with the clinging souls nestled into it that still weren't ready to join the waters.
These were mainly younger souls who were still scared to be from the familiar warmth of thier families.
One day, they would be ready.
The guardian paused, listening to the breeze.
It rustled the grass, shook the leaves on the halo of trees, and rippled the dark water she was venturing further from.
But, there was something else.
A chime. A metallic clinging of chain.
The Guardian turned back to the water instantly, but saw nothing.
She paused, searching for the source of the new noise.
It shouldn't be here. This was a peaceful place.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings. There was nothing out of the ordinary here. The halo of trees surrounding her peaceful sanctuary suddenly grew foreboding.
They could be harbouring anything amongst them. Something could be there right now, watching.
The Guardian wasn't going to take that chance. She immediently headed back for the water she had left in the distance in her patrol.
She had to protect the souls. That was her one duty here and she wasn't going to fail it.
The chime sang in the wind again, making the Guardian pause and spin around to try and track the noise.
It had to be from the left somewhere. It wasn't distant enough to be from the furthermost barrier of trees. It was closer; to the side.
The Guardian had no voice to call out at the intrusion. She was here to protect, nothing more.
To defend her souls, she had been gifted with the same light as them that coursed through her. The sky had also granted her the power to blackout her surroundings, just like the darkest of night's skies.
The chime started to move closer. It tracked through the trees; creeping, walking, sprinting.
The Guardian bolted for the water to protect it. Her feet slapped the surface as she ran across it to stand there to face the direction of the chime.
It bolted closer and closer until it was opposite the Guardian who caressed the light of the souls in her hand. It swirled there, waiting to be directed at what had come to harm her souls.
Then, silence.
The Guardian waited. Every fibre of her being was tense as she searched the treeline for some sort of anomaly hiding amongst them.
The breeze tangled her hair. The water dripped from the hem of her dress floating on the dark surface tugging it under. The souls of her feet rippled the water at every tiny movement, but the Guardian didn't falter her defensive stance.
The light from her glowed in warning. She was here to protect them; nothing more.
Slowly, the chime teased her. It clunked hollowly as it crept closer with each dead sound.
The Guardian saw it. A rippling silhoutte shrouded by the trees. Hungry eyes fixed not on the souls hovering around the Guardian, but on her own.
With her light creating a bright shield between her and the intruder, the Guardian had blinded herself to what was out there.
The chime screamed into the darkness when the intruder scrambled from the trees and leapt through the curtain of light, prepared to destroy the Protector.
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