Ryan was still feeling a lot better by the time he met up with Karl and Katherine the next day. He was still a little bit sore, of course, but not limping anymore at least. Still, the way the tiger-totem kept glancing at him with the expression of an angry predator really didn't help much. He stayed a good few feet away from her, well out of range of her staff, as they walked towards the gates of the town.

Karl decided that, as the Rangers' duty was to guard and defend civilization, and the task of protecting towns and cities had been taken over by the Keepers during the Dragonwar, that they should train outside the town today. As they passed by the Keeper sentinel at the gate, the tall, armored angel give Ryan an odd look. He seemed almost as if he was going to stop them, then shook his head and said nothing. Katherine was oblivious to the whole exchange, but Ryan noticed his master looking very tense until they were outside. He wondered what that was all about, but when he turned to Karl, the old veteran simply gave the youth a significant look and shook his head.

When they were away from the town, Karl told them that the first thing that a Ranger needed to know about traveling in the wilds was how to obtain food. He sent Katherine and Ryan off in two different directions, the tigress into a forest and Ryan down towards the river. The blue-haired youth had always enjoyed fishing, and at Karl's instruction he had brought his pole along, disassembled in his pack. Katherine, on the other hand, was told to hone her hunting instincts, and bring back whatever small kills she could bring down in three hours. Karl said he had other important matters to attend to, and he'd meet up with the two of them in three hours to see who had caught the most food.

As Ryan approached the riverbank, he felt as if there was someone following him. He crouched low and turned, glancing behind him, and saw that it was his master. The wolf-totem was headed straight towards him with long, purposeful strides. "Good instincts," he growled in a quiet tone. "I didn't think you'd hear me until I was about twice as close as I am."

Ryan gave him an odd look. "What are you doing, Master? I thought you had important business."

"I do, son," the wolf replied. Ryan blinked a little at the term; he'd never heard Karl address him in such a familiar manner. "It's with you. Remember what happened yesterday?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "When I stood up, you mean?"

"Exactly. And you saw what happened at the gate? With the Keeper?"

"Yes," Ryan responded, feeling a bit uneasy. "Why? Are they connected? Do you know something?"

Karl shook his head. "I wouldn't use the word 'know', but I strongly suspect something. Hard to be sure just yet. Follow me." He started off parallel to the riverbank, heading upstream at a pretty good pace. Ryan had to jog to keep up.

"Where are we going?" he asked after a few minutes. He was in decent shape, and the jogging didn't wear him out, but it would if they kept it up for too long. Especially if they followed the river much longer and ended up in the nearby hills.

"Tell me what you know of the Keepers," Karl said, brushing aside Ryan's question.

"The angels?" Ryan asked. "Well... just what Father Paul told all of us. When the Dragon Clan broke their pact to protect the people on Earth Beneath, the angels from Heaven Above who defend against the demons of the Voidhell Beyond sent some of their warriors to fight off the dragons, defending Earth Beneath as the Dragon Clan would not.

Karl nodded. "Yes, that's the Keepers' story, and of course the church will believe what their angels from Heaven Above tell them."

Ryan looked at him curiously. "You sound as if you don't believe it, Master." He stumbled a little, then recaught his balance. "Can we slow down a little? It's hard to run and ponder at the same time."

Karl glanced back over his shoulder, then nodded and slowed to a brisk walk, his apprentice gratefully doing the same. "It's not quite that I don't believe it. Not exactly. I just don't believe that the story's quite that simple."

"Why not? The angels took compassion on us because they love the people of Earth Beneath. They are sworn to defend us just as the dragons were. It's perfectly logical for them to do what they did."

The wolf-totem chuckled softly. "Did that Keeper look like he was looking at you with love this morning?"

Ryan shook his head. He had to admit that the angel hadn't. "What do the Keepers have to do with me?"

"I'm still not sure, son."

"No, but you suspect something. What is it?" The blue-haired youth's tone betrayed a hint of impatience.

Karl shook his head. "I'd really rather not say until I'm certain. Have patience; we're almost there."

"Almost where?" All Ryan could see ahead were hills.

"Come with me." Karl glanced up at the sky, then started to run again, faster than before. Ryan kept up wtih some difficulty as Karl led him around one of the hills and partway up the side. The hill was lightly wooded, with lone trees standing a few tens of paces apart. When they reached a spot that looked much like any other, the ranger stopped, looked up at the sky again, glancing at the sun, then frowned. He looked around, using his thumb and finger to roughly take his bearings. It looked like he was finding his way to the center of a triangle bounded by three nearby trees, or something along those lines. When he reached the spot he was looking for, he stopped and felt around in his pack for something. After a moment he pulled out a shovel and began to dig, muttering to himself.

After a few minutes of digging, the shovel struck something with an odd metallic sound. "Here. Help me uncover this, quickly." He removed a few large shovelfuls of dirt, then set the shovel aside and the two of them crouched down together to clear the loose soil away. Whatever was there seemed to be a slightly concave plate of some unfamiliar metal, a dark golden-brown in color and as smooth as the finest glass. As they uncovered it, Ryan found it was circular, perhaps eight feet in diameter, curving downwards so the center was maybe half a foot deeper than the rim.

When they had it cleared off, Karl stood up and took several steps back. "All right. Stand clear, and don't let your shadow fall upon the plate."

As Ryan stepped back, he noticed that the top of one of the nearby trees was casting a shadow onto the metal disc. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the shadow retreated slowly, and after several minutes, the whole plate was illuminated by the sun's light. As Ryan watched, it seemed to absorb the light, its color gradually changing from a dull brown to a bright yellow over the course of several minutes. Then it suddenly began to shine with an eerie violet glow.

"Give me your hand," the wolf-totem muttered. Ryan watched, a little bit nervous, but held out his hand obediently, still staring at the metal thing. Suddenly a bright flash of pain shot through his palm; his Master had expressed one of his claws and dug it sharply into the youth's skin. As Ryan looked down, shocked, Karl ran his claw quickly along the wound, collecting a single drop of blood, then flung it with a flick of his wrist onto the shining metal disc.

The metal hissed for a moment, then abruptly vanished. It was there, and then it was not, and in its place was a tall archway made of the same odd metal. The purple glow suffused the archway and made it difficult to see through it. It was simply standing there in the middle of a hillside, but it made Ryan's very blood tingle, and he had the distinct impression that if he were to step between the sides of the arch, he would find himself somewhere other than where he would arrive at by walking around it.

Karl's tail lashed back and forth with excitement. "It's as I thought!"

"What in the name of Voidhell Beyond is this, Master?" Ryan asked, concerned. "No one ever said you could work magic!"

"I didn't; you did! You only have a few minutes. Step through and lay hold on your totem, and your destiny."

"What?" Ryan's eyes went wide. "You want me to pass through a door of magic, with no idea what's on... what is on the other side? What do you know?"

"I know that it's your door. That's why it opened for your blood. Quickly, before the sun moves much further, if you want to ever know who you are!"

Ryan gritted his teeth as trepidation welled up within him. His mind had been turning a few things over, and it was slowly arriving at a conclusion he did not like in the least. "My totem's... across there?"

Karl nodded. "Quickly!"

Ryan clenched his teeth tightly and stepped forward, feeling the violet glow wash over him. It was just as he feared; he suddenly found himself elsewhere. He was on a mountainside, the archway standing a dozen paces from a stone pagoda. It looked like some sort of shrine.

He looked around, but couldn't see another living soul. Just himself. He stepped forward slowly, walking into the shrine. Within there was a small altar, set before a statue.

LORD

Ryan turned quickly back out the door as the voice between heartbeats spoke again. His stomach lurched, and he bent over and violently emptied his half-digested breakfast onto the ground outside the shrine.

The statue was a carving of a mighty stone dragon.