''Behold, my garden of stone’’ Said the demon in a serpents lisp. ''Behold my myth, human’’ She continued.

She slithered onwards, toward the centre of her garden. With a rattle of her tail she stopped, and put her hand on the cheek of a bearded man. She moved her mouth towards his ear, as if to whisper an eternal secret to a lover, and didn’t move away before licking his stone cheek. The human looked in terror, and would think he was made stone by the demon, if not for the tremble in his hands, and arms, and legs, and neck, and the shiver in his back. The demon stared, silent. The human felt the answer to his unasked question laid already on her tongue. He freed it from it’s prison and asked it. ''Myth?’’

Her serpents tail turned to human legs, unvarnished by sun or dirt. Simultaneously, her grey face was drained of colour, till a skin, white as milk, appeared. Her cheeks blushed like cherries. She was not demon, she was beauty. ''Yes, myth.’’ Said the woman as she stroked his cheeks, and kissed his lips. ''Has it not occurred you, that my visage does not turn you to stone?’’ She kissed him again. ''Not all of it.’’ The human answered as fear made way for excitement. The shapeliness woman smiled a serpents smile. Without warning she pulled away from the human, and scratched her long nails on the cheek of the bearded man, and softly spoke: ''This here, is Elemar, Magus of future.’’ She walked towards another statue, which opposed the bearded man as if in combat. ''This here is Ralem, Magus of Past.’’ As she spoke her voice rose, and as she said Ralem’s name, she turned serpent. It was not long before the demon controlled her anger, and turned woman once again.

''For ages, Elemar and Ralem guarded time. There was no need for a magus of the present, for the past and future were secure. But, as all stories go, they had a lash-out. Even a wise human is human still. It was not long before they decided to meet in combat. Here, in what was once a temple of Jodan, god of Justice. The fight did not last long. Elemar tried to erase Ralem from the future, and Ralem tried to erased Elemar from the past. But even a time magus need fear the god of Time. Even a time magus cannot manipulate living beings, for that is the dominion of the gods. The god of Time punished them, and ripped their being out of time, and banished them to a timeless eternity.’’ As she spoke, tear began to run down her face. The woman looked at the human, her big eyes begging for help. The human understood. She could not turn men to stone. She pretended, for if men feared her a little, she would be killed. If men feared her with all their hearts, they would let her be. Thus was born the myth of the serpent and her gaze of stone. The man tried to speak, but as he opened his mouth, the woman spoke. ''I need you, I need future. I truly believe you can shape future, as Elemar once did.’’ The woman grabbed the man’s hand, and pulled him towards the statue of Elemar. As she guided the man’s hand towards the forehead of Elemar she spoke once more. ''Help me, Perseus my love. Help me shape a future in which my kind can live with yours. A future in which we need not fear one another.’’ Perseus felt the power of the time magus stream through his body. His head felt like it would burst from memories. But as the pain subsided, he knew it were not memories but prophecies. Yet one prophecy stood above all others. All futures led to one moment. And in this moment stood a man not unlike himself. In his right hand he held a sword. In his left hand, he held a serpents head.