He was roused from sleep before the sun rose, and groggily climbed out of the cot and got dressed. The vampires laid out some new clothing for him, a black pair of silk pants and comfortable black shoes, and a flowing red robe to wear over his red shirt. He breakfasted on eggs, buttered bread, and oat porridge.

Although he had only come there to ease the boy's fears, he felt a strange sort of pride as he walked through the corridors to join the vampires already assembled in the inner courtyard for the ceremony. He was no longer the youngest Guardian, no longer the newest member. By attending Rat's initiation to the Pillars, Mortanius felt that he was truly the vampires' equal now. He would stand with them when young Rat became attuned to his Pillar, watching the ceremony from the outside for the first time. He could not help but feel a sense of pride and honor, even though he would never admit it to the vampires.

He entered the courtyard and saw with some embarrassment that he was one of the last to arrive. A dozen vampires, some of them guards, stood around the marble base in the center of the yard. Mortanius recognized Aleph standing in the same place he stood when Mortanius went through this part of the ceremony. Lora stood in the corner, away from the others, looking at him from under the large hood concealing her face. When Mortanius looked back, Lora averted her gaze. Romanen stood by the opposite entrance, arms folded across his chest, the ever-present weapons hanging from his belt. Mortanius ignored him and stood by the wall, folding his hands in front of him.

It was still dark outside, but the courtyard was illuminated by torches along the walls. No one spoke. Some time later, probably only a few minutes although it felt like an hour to Mortanius, Janos entered, followed by two other vampire guards and the new Guardian of Time, young Rat.

Thankfully, the vampires took the time to clean the boy up. His face was clean and his hair was at least combed a little. He still wore the filthy rags they found him in, but they had given him a pair of soft leather shoes. He looked tired and confused, but he didn't seem scared, at least he didn't act that way. As soon as he saw Mortanius, however, he smiled brightly and waved.

Mortanius smiled and waved back, but quickly put a finger to his lips and pointed at Aleph, hoping Rat would get the hint. The boy was ushered forward by the two guards and stood uncomfortably on the marble pedestal, fidgeting with his hands, looking nervously back at Mortanius, who nodded encouragingly.

Aleph, looking disagreeable as ever, looked down at Rat, his golden eyes twinkling in the light of the torches. "What is your name?" he asked gruffly.

Rat swallowed and looked up at Aleph. "My ... my name is Rat," he squeaked.

Aleph pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. "That is no name for a Guardian of the Pillars. You do not remember the name you were born with?" he asked, his voice somewhat softer.

Rat shook his head, trying to keep still. "No, I don't. I'm sorry."

"We shall give you a new name then."

Rat shrugged and glanced back at Mortanius. "Okay, if you want."

Mortanius could not help but smile at Rat's childish indifference to the whole situation. Aleph was clearly irritated at having to change the course of the ceremony, but Mortanius understood his unwillingness to call one of his fellow Guardians by such an insulting name.

"Your name shall be Moebius," Aleph announced, as if making the name up on the spot. He paused, and then said again, "What is your name?"

Rat licked his lips and tried out his new name. "My name is ... Moebius."

"And what Pillar do you serve?"

At this, the boy stiffened. "I don't serve anyone," he said defiantly. "And I'm not going to serve any stupid vampires."

Aleph took a deep breath and let it out slowly through clenched teeth. "You are a Guardian of the Pillars of Nosgoth. You are a servant of the Pillars. Now say what Pillar you serve," he growled.

"I said I don't serve anyone!" the newly-named Moebius shouted. "You can't make me be a part of your stupid religion!"

Mortanius knew that Aleph was not the most patient of vampires. He guessed only a supreme act of willpower on Aleph's part was keeping him from just lifting Moebius by the collar and shaking him until he said the words. Moebius was pushing his luck almost as soon as he had received it. Even the rest of the vampires became unsettled by the situation.

"You don't serve the vampires," Mortanius interrupted. Aleph cast him a furious glance but held his tongue. Moebius turned around quickly, glad to face someone other than a vampire. "The Pillars are a symbol of your role as a Guardian. You serve the Pillar, and only the Pillar, because you should uphold what the Pillar represents."

Moebius's confused look showed that he didn't understand, but he had heard the part about not serving the vampires clearly. "I thought the vampires controlled the Pillars," he said.

"We serve the Pillars," Aleph said loudly, taking control of the ceremony once more. Moebius turned back to face him. "No one is master over the Guardians. You serve the Pillar by serving an ideal. Now what Pillar do you serve?" he demanded.

"I don't really remember what one they made me touch," Moebius said.

"The Pillar of Time," Aleph said.

"Okay."

Aleph waited a moment and then sighed heavily. Mortanius had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. He looked at some of the other vampires and saw that even they found humor in the situation. Moebius's defiant outburst just a few minutes ago was already in the past. He was just a child, they knew, and they forgave him for that.

"What Pillar do you serve?" Aleph asked again.

"Um ... the Pillar of Time."

Aleph nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. One of the vampires handed him a green shirt with a rune on the front. They put it on Moebius even though it was much too large for him. He would grow into it, as Mortanius had.

"This is your symbol," Aleph said, reciting the same words he had said to Mortanius years ago. "You are one with the Pillar now. You are the physical embodiment of its power and its strength, and as such, your health runs parallel to the health of the Pillar. When one is strong, both are strong. When one is weak, both are weak. And the health of the Pillars is reflected in the health of the land itself. Bear this in mind."

"I don't even know what that means," Moebius said, feeling the soft fabric of his new shirt.

"You will know in time," Aleph said.

And then suddenly, everyone headed out of the courtyard and through the twisting hallways to the rear entrance of the building. Moebius looked around and found Mortanius walking a little ways behind him. Mortanius smiled encouragingly and Moebius smiled back. Mortanius was very glad he had agreed to come. The vampires would have had a difficult job taming the young boy without his help.

Dawn was just beginning to rise as they reached the Pillars, the sky changing from pure black to a deep blue. Aleph led Moebius to the Pillar of Time and stood him in front of it. "Put your hands on the Pillar," he instructed.

Moebius hesitated and then did so. He stood there for a moment and then looked up at the Guardian of Balance. "Can I take my hands off yet?" he asked innocently.

"You will know when," Aleph said.

Mortanius closed his eyes, unable to keep himself from remembering what he had felt that day. The sensation of seeing things through new eyes, the horror at seeing death and decay surround him. Mortanius had wept that day, terrified at the nightmares his new powers had granted him. It was one of the most horrible experiences of his life.

He opened his eyes again, wondering what Moebius was seeing or feeling at that moment. The child was kneeling on the ground beside the Pillar, having taken his hands off. He stared at his small hands and then looked up at nothing in particular. His eyes seemed to shine with energy, the magical surge of power granted by the Pillar. And the look on Moebius's young face was glowing with amazement, and maybe a trace of fear.

Mortanius stayed outside as the others dispersed following the ceremony. Moebius was unable to walk after his "enlightening," as Janos phrased it, and had to be carried inside the Home of the Guardians. Lora and Romanen could not stay outside after the sun rose, and all of the vampires left as well, leaving Mortanius by himself at the Pillars.

He had never really taken the time to look at the Pillars when he had been here the first time. But now, he stared up at them as the morning sun came over the mountains. He looked straight up but could not see their zenith; they seemed to disappear into the clouds high in the sky.

How could the vampires have built such unbelievable structures? The Pillars were solid marble, stretching up into infinity. How could they have possibly been made? Mortanius tried to imagine the vampires building a scaffold high into the air to construct the Pillars, but knew that idea was silly. How could they have carved something so huge out of solid marble and stood it upright like this? And what kept the Pillars from falling down in high wind? Even the sturdiest tree could come down in a storm. Like trees, did the Pillars have roots underneath the ground to hold them in place?

He had never really thought about the Pillars before, and the questions just kept adding up in his mind until he felt a headache coming on. The Pillars were a mystery, that much was certain. He supposed that he would get no real answers from the vampires if he chose to ask. It was probably another of their secrets. He wondered if perhaps the Pillars were older than the vampires themselves. Maybe they didn't even know the origins of their most sacred place.

Mortanius was still standing by the Pillars when he felt the presence of others nearby. Behind him, standing politely as if waiting for him to finish, were two vampires. One of them, of course, was Janos.

"It's nice to see you at the Pillars," Janos said. "You should spend more time here."

"I was just wondering how you made them."

"With difficulty," Janos said. "But that is a story for another day."

Mortanius scoffed at that and returned his gaze to the Pillars. "I don't have to guess what day that is, now do I?"

"I didn't come here to argue with you," Janos said, stepping forward. "I came here to ask about the boy."

"Moebius, you mean? That's quite a name Aleph gave him."

Janos nodded with a bit of a smile. "Moebius is a vampiric name. Many centuries ago there was a great vampire warrior by that name."

"Well don't tell the new Moebius that. I don't think he'd like the idea of being named after a vampire. He doesn't like you very much."

"Yes, I have noticed. He does not trust us at all."

Mortanius shrugged. "I don't trust you very much myself."

"But it is different with him," Janos said. "He is so young, we cannot deal with him. I suspect that even Lora and Romanen will have problems. We have no experience at all with human children."

It struck Mortanius just how difficult it was for the vampires to have someone as young as Moebius around. The vampires had no children of their own, which still confused Mortanius, since the vampires must have been children themselves at one time. But it must have been centuries since they had needed to deal with an child. Moebius was going to be immature, curious, irresponsible, antagonistic, and troublesome. The vampires were going to have to learn to deal with his behavior for a few years at least, until he grew up a little bit. Mortanius had been young when he had first joined the Guardians, but he had returned home afterward and the vampires had not needed to raise him. Moebius had no one to go home to, so the vampires were stuck with him.

"I'm not staying," Mortanius said, knowing what was next. "In fact, I'm anxious to leave as soon as possible."

Janos could only sigh. "Okay. I probably should not have tried to ask you. He is not your problem."

"I'm sure Lora and Romanen will be able to handle him," Mortanius said. "Surely they remember enough of their humanity to raise the boy correctly. And besides, he's not a baby. In a few years, he'll be old enough to treat like an adult."

"I certainly hope so," Janos said with a slight chuckle.

Together they returned to the Home of the Guardians so Mortanius could retrieve his sword and belt. As he walked down the hallway, Mortanius peeked into the room where Lora was talking to Moebius. Lora glanced up briefly at him as he passed, but Moebius was concentrating on what Lora told him and didn't notice.

Mortanius got his sword and went back outside with Janos. He knew that his parents were probably worried sick by now. They had argued with him right up until the moment the vampires had taken him away. He wondered if his willingness to go only made the departure worse. His parents, his father in particular, never trusted the vampires for a moment and always suspected they would come back some day to steal Mortanius away forever. The longer he stayed, the more worried his parents would get.

"Can I ask you a question?" Janos asked.

"I suppose. Can I guess what your question will be?"

Janos chuckled good-naturedly. "I was wondering how long you will live with your parents. What I mean is, at what age will you make a home for yourself?"

"I don't know. I'll be with my family for a few years yet."

"I know you're anxious to go home partially because of their concern for you. I hope that when you reach adulthood, you will decide to stay here at the Pillars for more than a day every few years."

"Why is that?"

"You have much to learn, Mortanius. About your powers, about the Pillars, about the history of Nosgoth itself. It would be beneficial for you to stay here and allow us to educate you more thoroughly."

Mortanius shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

Janos sighed. "In time, you will come back here. You are a Guardian of the Pillars, after all. You can't spend your whole life away from them."

Mortanius was about to respond when he heard someone shouting in the distance. He and Janos turned to look back at the Home of the Guardians and saw the small body of Moebius running toward them.

"You lied to me!" he cried.

Janos wisely stepped back when Moebius came up to them, his hands shaking in childish rage, tears starting to form in his eyes. He pointed an accusing finger at Mortanius and screamed, "You lied to me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You said they weren't going to hurt me! You said they weren't going to bite me!"

"They won't if you don't want them to," Mortanius said clearly, saying it to Janos as well as Moebius.

"That's not what that lady told me! She said that when I grow up they're going to bite me and turn me into one of them! And when you grow up, they're going to do the same thing to you! That lady and the man inside were both vampire people!"

Mortanius knelt down and shifted his belt so that Moebius could see the sword hanging there. "They're never going to turn me into a half-breed," he said again, sliding the blade out a few inches. "They can try if they want, but I won't let them."

Moebius looked at the sword and then back at Mortanius, taking a deep breath and wiping his face with the back of his hand. Calmer, he nodded and sniffed. "Okay, I understand now."

Mortanius put his hand reassuringly on Moebius's skinny shoulder. "Like I said, they won't do anything you don't want them to. Romanen let himself be turned, and they tricked Lora. But you and me know what they plan to do, so they aren't going to trick us, right?"

"They'll never trick me," Moebius said fiercely.

Mortanius smiled. "Me neither."