Hello, my wonderful readers. Sorry this took so long to update; this past month was extremely busy for me. This chapter has a few interesting points to it- more of Death's thoughts on Eleyna and reaching the mysterious Foundry at last. This segment probably has two more chapters left and then onto the Plains of the Dead. Yippie... Anyways, please enjoy the chapter. ^^

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anything of the Darksiders universe. The characters, concepts and settings belong to the original creators and developers of the game. The cover image was made by 'The phantom's girl' in the 'Dark Fairy Creator' game on the Azalea's Dolls website.

Chapter Six: The Warden

Near the base of the tree rested another pair of doors, beyond which was wide and high room. It only took a mere second for Death's eyes to scan and come across what he knew what would be useful to him- the potential construct in its own little alcove at his right. When he activated it and crawled onto its shoulder, he looked to her. She backed up and ran for the circular alcove that had previously been before them, signaling for him to guide it there. He let her summon her vines to carry her up to the higher level while he ascended via a path that took him around the perimeter of the room.

Another bowl-like cavity was one of the first things they found when they regrouped at the top. Death quietly pulled away and looked around, ascending a wide set of stairs. He was slightly pleased when he noted another potential sitting in the corner to his left. When he activated it and brought it down the stairs, setting it into the cavity, up came the other one via the lift. He abandoned his current construct for the first one, riding it up the stairs and to the other cavity next to where he had found the second construct. Once the grate it activated came down, he jumped off and went back for the second. As he returned, he noted that Eleyna had disappeared. His eyes came across her on the other side of the room, across the massive gap; there must have been a hallway beyond that grate he opened up. She was studying the Corruption crystal that blocked a potential path over to the door.

"Bring him over here." she called, pointing to the entrance to the hallway. Death nodded and guided the stone being over to where she was. She deftly moved to one side, allowing him and his 'puppet' to pass. When he had settled the construct into the cavity, he prompted it to shoot its arm across. The Corruption crystals shattered against its clenched fist. He had its fist shoot out a second time to activate the switch in the wall.

"Eleyna," he grunted as he turned and held out a bony hand to her, "think you can make it from here?" She paused for a moment, but then gave a coy smirk.

"I won't know 'til I try, now will I?" she asked, taking his hand. He hefted her up and she took a deep, calming breath before she warily took her first steps out onto the chain. Each step following took great pains, but she did not falter or back away. She kept walking, situating her feet before putting weight on them.

He had not been idle, either, having retraced his steps back down the hallway in order to retrieve the construct still at the other end of the hall. Eleyna had finished her tightrope act and clumsily leapt to the exposed beam to her right. Her final leap to the floor onward was not nearly as bad, and Death followed just behind her.

"Does this mean anythin' to you?" she asked, stopping him as he meant to open the door. From her person she withdrew an ancient-looking sheet of darkly-colored paper and held it out to him. "It was on the other side of the grated alcove in the hallway back there." She then smiled wryly after he took it. "When they built this place, they didnae think that someone as small as me would ever dream of coming this way." Death could only let loose a morose chuckle at the irony in how useful this 'urchin' had become, but he did not explain upon her puzzled look. Instead, he opened the door, granting the two passage out into the open air.

He did not take in much of the scenery. He had no need to; Eleyna did, however. She walked over to the edge, taking in the view of the majestic falls that poured into the wide river below. The crisp scent in the cool air and the leaves fluttering about her put her at peace for once since she had been forced to flee from her home.

Death paused and glanced over his shoulder at her; to many an outsider, it would appear that he was glaring at her in his impatience. While that was a part of it, he paused to take in this mysterious young woman, to really look at her. By many standards, she was pretty- remarkably pale for one who spent quite a bit of time in the sunlight, he noted, but not in a way he would call unhealthy. Her arms and legs, bared to him, were toned, but not taut. She was skinny and quite small, girlish in appearance, but with a simple sort of elegance.

It was also in the view of her current behavior, the evidence of dirt and earth that clung to her clothing and over her hands, forearms and knees that he noted a strange otherworldliness to her- a vision foreign to him. He had met many whom possessed power to grow fauna, but she was greatly different; none of those that he had met had any hope of possessing the raw power she exhibited. It seemed to him, if only for a moment, that she was the very essence of the force that opposed everything he stood for. It both awed and repelled him, nearly as much as that sarcastic mouth of hers did...

When he heard rumbling beneath the ground, he paused in his musings of her and moved away as a Corrupted construct warrior burst from the ground. Eleyna drew her staff as another sprouted from the ground and spun it rapidly and expertly in her hand before tapping the ground in challenge. In the time it took for Death to cut through the stone of the one that challenged him, Eleyna had sent her opponent back with a loud crack of her staff, only to summon a vine to entangle around its rocky ankle and yank it back. As it lingered in midair for that moment, she leapt up to it, swinging high in order to slam it back to the ground with a blow to its torso. He diverted his attention as he heard a distant snarl.

"How many seeds do you possess still?" he asked.

"A handful. Why?" she replied.

"Then you'll be going my way." Her expression became perplexed. "We are not alone and preserving what you have of your armory seems at this point most prudent, wouldn't you agree?" She had no time to be embarrassed or indignant before he scooped her up and over his shoulder. With that, he ran for the wall, scaling along the side of it and grabbing onto the exposed ledge. He moved along it until he was just in the right position to drop down. Eleyna's sharp intake of breath was right in his ear as he did so and he felt her arms reflexively tighten around his shoulders, her brow burrow into his greasy hair. It didn't stop him, though, as he landed with an inordinate level of grace and then leapt from one to the other until he reached a reprieve- a small outcropping of ground. It was there that he took but a moment to note the condition of his passenger, whose grip had not loosened on him, nor had she lifted her brow. There was, however, her warmth that came across his mind, touching the bare skin of his back. He closed his eyes for a second to quell the war of the returning mixed thoughts from before and now the menacing whispers raging through his skull like a red-hot poker. Then he adjusted her in his hold marginally and ran again for the wall, running along it rapidly and leaping over the small exposed stubs sticking out of the wall for needed momentum. The two then dropped down to the needed destination. Death slowly let go of her legs, giving her the signal to let go. She did so slowly, taking deep breaths and nearly stumbling as her feet hit the ground. When she granted herself a moment to recover. She glimpsed at him with an unreadable expression. "Well, at least I gave you a warning that time."

He seemed to go deliberately slowly towards the door, as if testing the ground. He was a few meters from it when he heard the snarling growls. High over the railing behind him, they jumped- there were at least five of them, two of which had herded up on Eleyna. She drew her staff again, glaring them down. Death took to summoning his ghouls before he went to assist her. After dancing around one of the lunging monsters, she countered with a crippling blow along its spine, followed by another. The other lunged at her; she twisted out of the way once again, countering with a wide swing as it turned to snarl at her. In a second, she was able to detect blades of grass but a few feet away. Holding out her hand, she was able to cause the grass to rapidly grow. They followed her will, lashing out at the monsters with an alarming amount of ferocity.

Death's eyes narrowed as he noted two stalkers take their turn to leap over the ledge next. He held out his arms and summoned more caskets. These particular ghouls, however, were different- in the sense that they were cast ablaze, their skin having the appearance of molten magma. This caught Eleyna by surprise, but it made the creatures no less formidable against the hellish opponents as they rabidly clawed and bit. He continued lashing through the smaller enemies until the bigger ones were the only ones left. Death rushed at them, scythes ready; Eleyna decided then that she would be there to help and controlled the grass so that it wound around the creature's ankles, making escape nearly impossible. The grass faltered a bit, however, when Eleyna did, mainly because of what she saw; as Death performed a spectacular finishing move, she saw the imprint in the air around him- that of the reaper-looking creature surrounding him in a faint, violet silhouette. It seemed- to her- to add to his power at least tenfold.

Silence and stillness were what were left in the monsters' wake, and he felt no need to commentate about what had just happened there, opting instead for the doors he had been going for at first. They re-entered the temple, only to have to deal with more constructs and stingers. She took to the stony foes easily and as soon he picked off the airborne enemies with ease, he called for her to wait there and then ascended up the wall. For a moment, he disappeared from view into an upper alcove. The sound of a gunshot followed by an explosion was her signal to move away, and she did just in time as a carven stone orb fell upon the last construct she had yet to deal with. With a small, satisfied smirk, she replaced her staff and began pushing the orb towards the cavity. He jumped down to assist her, and to their surprise, both doors at either end of the hall had the grating suddenly removed, thankfully. He took to the door forward, with her close behind, and both were ready for a fight as they saw the construct warriors- with large, eerie green crystals protruding from their shoulders- charge into action right for them.

"If it's all the same to you, I would rather end this." he snarled, slicing the blade of his scythe into the ground. When he took it again, he had become the creature she had seen the outline of earlier. That didn't mean, though as he dealt brutal swipes at the warrior's stone skin, that she was lazing about. There were still plenty of smaller enemies to deal with. With a smug smirk, she took note of the greenery overhead and extended her palm to the ceiling. At that point, the vines and greenery hanging from the ceiling fell and grabbed at the constructs. As they began to writhe in the plants' grip, she controlled them to flail about. The sound of crushing and cracking rock was made all the louder when she had them suddenly cease and drop them to the ground with a solid crash. She spared Death a glance as he returned in a cascade of his dark magic. "Pity. I would have shaken them up a bit more." he quipped.

"I didnae want to keep ye waitin', Horseman." she replied.

When they exited the temple, they found themselves outside once more, at the end of a long and narrow bridge. It was peaceful, which set them both on edge, especially after they cleared the bridge without incident. Climbing up the stairs, everything was calm, as well. When they reached the rotunda at the top of the stairs and saw the menacing pile of boulders waiting for them, they both became wary.

"I donnae like this." she murmured.

"Nothing can be done to prevent it." he noted in response. Carefully, he stalked forward with her at his side. No sooner had they stepped into the rotunda, the ground began to shake. First came the mask- an ugly visage composed of rock, then formed the core- a horrendous-looking sphere with an eerie-green glow. Over said sphere formed the hulking mass that was the stone body. Death and Eleyna both tensed as the giant of stone glared at them and then let out a territorial roar. It raised its mace-like fists over its rocky head and brought them down with a thundering crash. He reached for his pistol until she grabbed his wrist and pointed. Along the outer perimeter of the rotunda, there had fallen the spiny orbs- shadow bombs. He silently admired her quick thinking as he ran for one, picking it up and turning just in time to lob it at the monster's face, not necessarily needing to aim. The responding explosion right in the monster's face caused it to buckle apart. There were other enemies waiting, however- smaller ones.

"Leave them to me." she called out. "Get the heart-stone- the core!" Death took note of how the inky substance seemed to be trying to latch on to the stone. He moved in within seconds, hacking away both at the stone and at the black substance that was Corruption, which had been trying to pull the stone back into the chest plate of the monster. True to her word, she began knocking about the stone heads of the smaller Construct grunts.

Too soon for his liking, he had to pull away from the hulking stone creature as it stirred. To say that it was angry as it awoke was a vast understatement, for no sooner was it on its feet, it began thrashing about its arms wildly. Both of the unusual allies cleared away to give it a wide berth. It was with a final reverberating slam that it sent out a tremor. Eleyna, who hadn't been able to clear it in time, fell onto her back with a cry. After assessing quickly that she was winded and not otherwise, he rushed in. With a roll, he avoided a particularly nasty swing and managed to grab at another bomb, lobbing it again with expert skill and aim toward the face of the giant construct. Again did it buckle under the resulting explosion and fall to pieces. This time, Death was not going to let it get up. Again did he let the Reaper come forth, delivering a powerful uppercut with the blunt side of the giant, jagged scythe. Another uppercut severed and broke apart its arm, just as bringing it down severed and broke the other. Still the black substance attempted to cling to the orb and recover. It would never have a chance. A third uppercut shattered the remaining stone of the body and the orb was sent flying, cleaved into halves.

Eleyna pushed herself to her feet and met with him in the center of the rotunda before they proceeded up the remaining stairs. At the paths end, there was a great stone barrier, or what seemed to be one. In Death's eyes, it stood out too much to merely be a part of the scenery. Thus did he raise his hand, summoning the spectral arms as they held the Maker's key, opening and activating the stone creation with a burst of blue magic. What had looked like a gate or even a shield at first then became stone guards on either arm as it caught itself on its massive arms over them, recovering before pushing itself onto its strong legs and towering over the both of them. For a moment, nothing was said amongst the three, and then the Warden yawned, to Eleyna's surprise.

"My... stone aches."

"You may ache, Warden, but you are not Corrupted. Not yet." Death countered.

"Corrupted..." echoed the stone giant. "Then it was not a dream. The makers have need of me!"

"The makers say that you can reach the Foundry and that a Guardian lies within."

"The Foundry... yes. It is where I was... cast. But it was... lost. And now... you will need my help."

"Corruption spreads across your realm, and you slumber?" the Horseman accused lightly.

"Stone is heavy. It is easier to rest." Eleyna could almost hear the sheepish and slightly affronted tone in its heavy voice. "In my dreams, I can move again. In my dreams, I am... flesh." Eleyna's brow furrowed as a strange feeling of sympathy washed over her for the stone creature.

"This place." Death began, "What was it?"

"I... cannot tell you." the Warden groaned. "It's on the tip of my tongue, but... my tongue seems to be elsewhere."

"Will you help me, old one?" Death asked.

"Yes." it droned back before leaning forward, lowering its hand before Eleyna. "My lady," it began with a bow of its head. She at first was at a loss but then with a nod, acquiesced, hopping onto the Warden's hand gingerly. The giant then lifted her to his shoulder and she leapt up, securing herself upon one of the tree limbs that had grown over its massive shoulders. Death leapt up and secured himself right next to her. He was wary and alert, but nonetheless grateful that he wouldn't have to walk back to the Tri-Stone.

"Shall we?" he asked. The Warden moved its head from side to side, a mimicry of popping ones neck, she realized when she heard two rather large cracks, and then it began to move.

"Hold on, little ones." it droned before turning around and passing through the archway that had been directly behind it.

The journey back toward the vale would have been long and arduous on their own, but the Warden's slow yet large steps made it seem so simple. Oh, to be able to be taller than the trees and not worry about ever being lost or having obstacles to traverse, it seemed to be in its own way a wonderful thing, Eleyna thought with a small smile.

"In my slumber," began the Warden as it moved back into familiar territory, "I have felt the Guardian, reaching to my dreams. He is amongst the strongest of us all. But in his heart, there is a hunger. The Guardian was built to destroy. He has much in common with Corruption..." Eleyna looked at Death. Could that have been a warning? Death scooped her up and then leapt down, first onto the Warden's knee and then to the ground, setting down the girl before turning back to the Warden. "You must speak with Eidard, and make your peace, before we cross over." With that, it passed over them and began its ascent over the archway and toward the Tri-Stone. "There may be no crossing back."

"That sounds... promising." she noted.

"It isn't your burden to bear." Death replied.

"Are ye tryin' to be rid of me, Horseman?" she asked, but rather than being affronted like he had imagined her to, she was looking at him with a wry smile.

"You make it seem, child, as if you are easily rid of." he pointed out.

"Not on yer life, I'm not." she replied. The wryness drifted from her face after a moment as her head drifted off towards the east- towards her home. "The trees," she stated, her voice now bleak, "I cannae hear them any longer."

Death raised his head. The hypnotic suggestion of Eleyna's words, added to her bleak tone, would be to most to be bone-chilling at the very least, especially when a hollow breeze passed them by. "Corruption is moving faster than we both thought." he pointed out before turning back towards the archway. Eleyna waited for a moment, hoping to hear something out of the trees once more before she gave up with a sigh and retreated.

They returned to the Tri-Stone, where Eidard awaited them in the square, near the doors to the Forge. Eleyna noted Eidard and greeted him as one might greet a lost old friend. Death, on the other hand, remained unmoved. In fact, he found that his patience was wearing thin with these people- as again he was having to jump through hoops to gain the answers he sought.

"I've restored your forge and brought life to stone." he grumbled. "But am I any closer to the tree? Tell me now, old one, or you may never get the chance. I hear the Foundry is dangerous."

"As is the tree, Horseman, and the entire forest." Eidard countered. He turned his massive head towards Eleyna, taking in her state of being and that of her clothing. "I see Eleyna would have discovered this too late, were it not for your interference. This reveals then as I feared- this is why you must awaken the Guardian. But have you asked yourself 'Why seek the tree?'"

Death deeply resisted the urge to roll his eyes, having grown tired of having to explain himself. "The Tree of Life is where I will find my brother's absolution." he answered simply.

"The Tree of Life is a gateway." Eidard replied slowly so as to make himself clear. "From it, one may travel to places undreamed of. Whether a world of oceans and forests, or ice, or endless night... the Tree exists there. It may appear different, yet it is the same tree and its roots connect all the Realms. The Tree of Life is not where journeys end, but where they begin." Obviously, the old one had nothing more to say as he hobbled away, back towards the forge doors.

Death continued on past Eidard, but Eleyna had paused. She was at a slight loss as to what to do now. She had followed the Horseman into the Drenchfort and through the Temple mainly out of convenience. Now she truly was safe and out of reasons to keep following him in her logical mind. She smirked to herself at that moment. It was not often, after all, that she followed logic- at least as of late.

Death noted her silent approach as they stepped through the forge together. As tempted as he was to ask her if she was sure, he remained silent. She had heard Eidard as well; the Foundry was dangerous, but he had a feeling that she wasn't going to leave just because of the threat of danger. No, Eleyna was stubborn, and she would do as she pleased.

On the other side of the small, neglected door in the forge, they were led outside. There before them outstretched a large and long canyon. It was easy to see that this place had once had a bridge outstretched over the valley to the doors on the other side. Now, she imagined, is why they needed the Warden- who stood at the side of this particular outcropping. Death and Eleyna approached.

"So," it groaned, "the time has come."

"Tell me about the Foundry." Death said.

"It is a holy site. It is where my Mother instructed the first makers on how to marry their souls to the stone." Upon the mentioning again of Eibhlen, the Pale Rider's eyes narrowed and he gazed back at the nearly ruined stone temple.

"It doesn't look so holy from here."

"The darkness has spared little in our realm. But the Foundry is a place of magic. It is strong. And with your help we will claim it once more."

Eleyna could only smile and she turned to Death. "Now how can ye argue with that kinda logic, Horseman?" She stretched her arms and hands before her. "If it's truly a place of magic, then you'll need my help."

The mentioned entity merely watched as the Warden let out a great cry- a great, earth-shaking noise that she had never heard before. It stopped momentarily and then started up again. This time, to her amazement, the great stone segments of the bridge rose from the massive and misty canyon below, laying and aligning themselves perfectly before they became sealed together once more. Death looked to the Warden, who gazed back down at both of them.

"It is not safe here. For flesh, or for stone." it insisted with its great groan of a voice. "There is no shame in turning back."

"No point, either." argued Death lowly. Eleyna could only smile, though it dropped when her attention- as well as the attention of the Warden and the Horseman as a fourth party arrived. She stepped forward, meeting Karn halfway.

"You heard the Warden. It's not safe to go alone." he declared. "You need my help." As much as she hated to admit it, Eleyna could not find any arguments, nor could Death, but he merely shook his head as the young maker and the 'druid' child crossed the bridge. He turned then to the stone entity.

"You mentioned before that the Guardian is amongst the strongest of your kind." he noted aloud. "What meant you by that? Have the Makers created another weapon here?"

"Not here. Not the Makers." murmured the Warden in a gravelly voice. "Not a weapon."

"Then what is it? Who created it?" Death pressed.

"The First Mother, Eibhlen, my Mother." it rambled, causing the Pale Rider to shake his head in frustration.

"Yes, yes, your Mother." he rasped in his impatience. "What did she make?"

"A child." the Warden answered simply. Death was taken aback at this answer.

"I don't understand; are not all constructs considered Eibhlen's children?"

"Yes," answered the Warden slowly, "but unlike living beings, constructs cannot learn, cannot grow like an actual child. My Mother constructed a creation that would learn and grow like a living being."

"Why?"

"To end her infertile curse." The answer was stated so simply that Death remained speechless. "I have spoken, too, with this construct in its dreams. It is lost, and frightened, and often does it ask why it was created."

"Where is it?" asked the Horseman. "In the dreams, where does it lie?"

"Near." it replied. "Time, I fear, is running out. You must hurry now. Awaken the Guardian." Death gritted his teeth; as much as he wanted to stay and demand more answers from the being of rock, he knew that time, indeed, was of the essence. He hastily turned and made for the bridge. Eleyna and Karn were waiting impatiently on the other side, but any jibes they made at him were lost to his storm of thoughts. There was a powerful weapon out there,- one that not even the Council knew of- and it was lost and scared. In time, fear could turn into anger- he had seen it many times. He knew if it came to that, then he would likely be forced to track and subdue it. He decided not to dwell on it; absolving War was of the greatest priority now.

The doors at the other end of the bridge led to a long, narrow hallway. It was quiet here, like the calm before the storm. Death opened the door into another hallway, where the walkway rose above to separated basins- one with the molten rock of the 'Fire of the Mountain', the other with the cool 'Tears of the Mountain'. Disregarding them, the Horseman pressed forward and opened the doors with his spectral arms.

What they saw on the other side cause Eleyna to stop altogether. Suspended from thick chains attached to the ceiling was by far the most massive hammer she had seen in all of her years. Karn could not resist the smirk when he saw the look on her face. Death, looking for a way forward, circled around, past the shut gate. In a corner nearly inaccessible, he noted a path made strictly for him. He looked to Karn, who rushed into position before holding his hand out to the Horseman.

Death jumped into the young maker's massive hand and then found himself hefted over the massive corner gap, landing safely and just in front of where he needed to be. The Horseman then noted that the long hallway he had come into was non-traversable, or so it would seem. A heavy creaking brought his attention upward, over his head. Massive crucibles were conveyed in a neat line, suspended from the ceiling. And how convenient for him that there happened to be what looked like small tracks along the bottom, ones that he could easily hold on to.

He scaled up the wall and around the corner, landing on an old beam, biding his time for the next crucible to pass. When it did, he leapt and grabbed onto the track and moved so as to leap off at the next outcropping of floor. With that, he moved to the main part of the floor at the end of the long hall via his usual method of running along the wall. There were Corrupted constructs waiting for him, but they provided no obstacle. After they were overcome, the rest was a simple matter of pulling the lever that removed the grating over the door.

The next room was vast and wide, most likely to accommodate the two large- and shut- gates at either end.

"Ye still there?" came Karn's voice from the other side of the gate and Death resisted the urge to make a biting sarcastic comment. Looking around, he found an interesting-looking switch up on the wall- a massive one. He scaled the wall, maneuvering himself around it and then pulling himself up onto it. The pressure from his weight on it caused it to slide down with him on top of it. Thus, the gates on either side lifted and Eleyna and Karn came in. Karn crossed the room in haste.

"Stay there." he told Death. "I'll get the door." He positioned himself then at the threshold and had his hands raised. "Let her down." Death jumped down and the gate lowered quickly. Karn grunted at the effort it took when the gate came down at keeping it open. Neither of his fellows wasted time in passing under to the other side so that he could quickly remove himself of his burden. On the other side of the gate, there rose a set of stairs which led into an open atrium.

As Death, Eleyna and Karn ascended into this room, they noted the massive colossus of stone standing trapped within the scaffolding, slumped over in apparent lifelessness.

"Stars in the heavens..." breathed Eleyna.

"That's the Guardian, rider," noted Karn, "and if you would get to the tree we will have to wake that beast."

"And then what?"

"The Guardian will do what it was meant to; destroy the Corruption blocking the tree."

"But... it looks finished. Why does it just stand there?" Death asked.

"The body is finished, aye, but as it stands, it is no more than dead stone. To give life to dead stone, we must give it the essence of a maker's heart. Three of them for a beast this large."

"And how do we do that?" the Horseman pressed.

"These 'Heart Stones' were finished, along with the Guardian- but never married to the stone. They're all in the temple, we need only look to find them."

"Well," began Eleyna casually, speaking up for the first time, "at least we needn't look far. Makes our job a little bit easier."

"Then let's go." stated Death.

Well, there goes another chapter. Next one takes us through the Foundry and collecting Heart Stones. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the interesting new developments. ^^ Until next time, my dear readers.