She was guarding something. Something important. The woman stood alert and ready, prepared to protect this item with her life. It was a great honor to be given this duty, despite the danger. Though none from outside their society knew about the precious treasure within, it was always assumed that it was in danger of thievery.
A storm raged outside, thunder booming and lightning crackling. An especially loud crack made the woman jump. It was only her second day guarding the item, and she still feared that something might happen. Nothing had happened for over thirty-five years, but today could be the day that . . . She paused. That what could happen? It was impossible to break into the room she was in. Not even axes or pure force could make its way through these walls. Not to mention the numerous guards in the other rooms of the building, or the ones standing outside.
  At least she wasn't out there, standing in the rain. One of her friends was out there. She could imagine him, soaking wet and shivering in the damp. The air in here was warm and dry, yet she felt a shiver go up her spine and suddenly she felt bone-chillingly cold. Something was going to happen. She knew it. Today was the day that thieves would come. But they wouldn't make it past all the other guards, would they?
All were highly trained and ready for battle. She was too, but she often thought that it would be smarter to keep more than one person in the actual room with the item. They said the powers of the object were strong, and though it was in a magic-proof case, it sometimes still affected the people nearby. The less people affected, the better.
Suddenly, she heard a crash from inside the building. Close. Shouting echoed through the halls. Something was wrong. The silence had been broken. The building, normally as silent as a library, was now filled with voices and the sound of footsteps. Feet running quickly, coming closer and closer.
The woman's breath began to match the footsteps, gaining speed with every second, but inside, she was stable. She braced herself for whoever would come through that entry, because she knew, she would need all the courage she had.
With a bang, the door burst open.
The case, locked in the safe on the wall, started to pulse with an otherworldly light, responding to the panic filling the building. Seeping through the edges of the safe, lavender light throbbed like the object had a heartbeat of its own. The powerful item wanted out.
Its master had arrived.
Two men, dressed in heavy brown coats, stood in the doorway, both wearing similar grimaces on their faces. The men stood like trees, unmovable, and unbearably strong. They cracked their knuckles ominously and gripped their weapons tighter when they saw the woman turn to face them.
The woman breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she could take them. Despite the uneven numbers, she knew how to dodge, how to be quick. She could knock them over before they could even lift their weapons. She could stand over them while reinforcements came, and she could show them what a swell job she had done as protector of the object.
But suddenly, poised and ready and strike, she paused. The two men weren't the only people coming into the room. Both men smiled cruelly and stepped aside to reveal another figure, dark and sinister in a way the henchmen would never be able to master. Even though he had just broken into the supposedly unbreakable building, his clothes looked uncreased and he wore a dark hood, concealing his face.
"Who are you?" the woman demanded, not breaking her stance or losing her guard for even a moment. She didn't know who this new man was, and he worried her in a way she couldn't explain.
Without saying a word, the figure pulled the hood back from his face. The purple light from the safe played across his skin, dancing on the crooked nose and shadowy eyes displayed there. The woman gasped. She knew who this was. And she was in a lot more trouble than she first thought.
The enchanter.
The man stepped closer, and the woman tensed, about to spring and attack, when the man did something odd. Instead of jumping out of the way or blocking himself, he simply waved his hand at her, a swooshing movement, as if to tell her to move aside. Suddenly, the woman felt her limbs freezing up. Shocks traveled up and down her spine, entering her bones. She couldn't move her arms; they hung limply at her sides. Slowly, she lost control of the rest of her body, falling to the ground in front of the slender man.
No. She must fight back. She couldn't let this happen, couldn't let this man take the object. If he got that. . . that thing in his clutches, the world would be in great danger. His magic, enhanced with the treasure inside the safe, would be unstoppable.
  Only one person could stop him before he took the item. It was all up to her. The woman retaliated against the magic, forced it to back off, and she felt her senses returning. She raised her sword and slashed at the sorcerer, the metal edge slicing cleanly across his arrogant face. The man gasped in pain, but the wound she had inflicted was already stitching itself back over, until his skin was completely healed. She felt the spell beginning to come back, and slowly wear away at her strength, but this time she didn't have the energy to combat it.
Struggling, in one last effort, she heaved herself upward. . . then collapsed once more, as her thoughts ceased and her vision faded to darkness.
Completely unconcerned, the enchanter glanced down at the woman. He chuckled and strode over to the safe, breaking the door with a single tap of his finger. Inside, violet light seemed to explode outwards, reaching towards the man, so bright it made the brown-coated henchman flinch away.
"Um, sir, shouldn't we just take it and leave? There's more people coming," one of the bodyguards asked hesitantly.
The slender man turned to glare at him, and he snapped his mouth shut. Slowly, as if savoring in the moment, the magician reached in and grabbed the object, its appearance concealed beneath throbs of light. He held it above his head, so he appeared almost as if he were made of lavender light, as if he was as shimmering and untouchable as it was. The two bodyguards glanced at each other, and in unison, began to back away.
Snapping his head around, the man stared daggers into them, and before their very eyes, he flew straight up in the air. They craned their necks to look up into the sky. That object really did make him more powerful.
Carried by the air currents, the enchanter floated above the building. Power swelled up inside him, and by simply thinking it, the building exploded into fire with everybody inside. Now, instead of a purple glow, the flames of the burning building were reflected in his eyes. And the enchanter smiled. He had a world to conquer.