Back in the village where everything began, two older men were engaged in conversation. They sat on small stools within a well-lit hall with small bowls filled with mead before them. Both had heads full of grey hair and wrinkled faces. However, that was where their similarities ended. Whilst one of them was relatively dashing yet ordinarily dressed, the other had several peculiar piercings all over his body. As if that wasn't enough, he had ornaments of iron hugging his wrist and ankle joints. His eyes were entirely white in color, and his expression that of total nonchalance. These two old men where Old fan and Chief Doctor Kaka.
"She shouldn't have appeared. Now that old witch in the Barbarian camp would be stalking her like a hungry wolf." Old Fan sighed before gently downing a bit of his mead.
"At least she was the one to come for him, and the worst case scenario you hoped to not see didn't happen," Chief Doctor Kaka gulped down his mead greedily ad said. He used his hand to wipe the remains of the expensive brew before taking another huge gulp.
"That is true. Better her than the other Ancestors." Old Fan acknowledged with a small nod.
"But the fact that she took him into the tower must mean that she thinks he is her best bet to breaking her curse. And that means that the boy is in danger anyway. If the Ancients find out where he is, things wouldn't end well." Kaka stated expressionlessly.
"I don't think it's that bad. The boy belongs to no one, so even if the Ancients do find out where he is, nothing can be done about it." Old Fan remarked.
"That's where you are wrong old friend. You told me that the boy accepted Dan as his guardian, didn't you?"
"I did," Old Fan replied.
"Dan is an Ancient. And not just any Ancient, he is the Prince of Ancients; the one spoken about in their myths and legends. He is the one they have been waiting for several millennia for. Since Mane is his ward, that means Mane is technically Ancient. And that gives them all the right in the world to demand that he be returned to them." Kaka explained his thoughts, and Old Fan frowned as he listened.
"Then it's a problem," he didn't want to admit it, but Kaka's reasoning was sound.
"It's only a problem if they find out where he is," Kaka corrected his friend.
"That wouldn't be difficult Kaka. There were too many loose ends in this case. The Barbarians know too much. As long as they say something, the Ancients would find out everything they need to know." Old Fan frowned and said. This was what troubled him the most – that the power to keep this secret was not in their hands.
"I doubt they would speak. After the Ancient Matriarch and the Barbarian Primogenitor's fallout a thousand years ago, the two races haven't been on exactly good terms. They have fought for silly reasons and never cooperate for anything. They would rather sew their mouths shut than to say anything of benefit to the other."
Unlike the wary Old Fan, Kaka was very calm about everything that was going on. As he sipped his mead his bracelets made clanking sounds from striking each other. Yet even that didn't break a hole in his tranquil state.
"I guess you are right." Old Fan said. "And Dan – is he still here?" Kaka changed the topic.
"He is. But he wouldn't be here for long. He is planning to go to Asher City to look for Mane tomorrow." Old Fan replied.
"Do we want him to get to Asher City?" Kaka's pupil-less eyes flashed with an ominous light as he spoke. A faint whiff of blood made its way from Kaka and into the room as he struggled to keep his bloodlust in check.
"It doesn't matter whether he gets there or not. My grandchildren aren't there anymore, and he wouldn't be able to find Mane." Old Fan shook his head and waved his hand, and Chief Doctor Kaka's bloodlust was forcibly extinguished.
"I'm sorry," Kaka apologized insincerely when he realised that he had failed to keep his bloodlust in check.
"I thought it was okay now," Old Fan frowned and said.
"It would take a lot more than a few years to heal an injury inflicted by the Ancient Matriarch," Kaka finally showed a bit of emotion when he spoke of his injury. He looked a bit lost, but he swiftly recovered his bearings and went back to work on his mead.
"That's true," Old Fan nodded his head.
"With Dan, just to be cautious send Samoa and the Hands after him. They are to tail him; nothing more. If the Matriarch comes for him, we must know." Old Fan ordered.
"As you wish," Kaka's reply was as unconcerned as it had always been, yet Old Fan didn't seem to mind. The peculiar old man always got things done. He was highly efficient, despite his not so pleasing appearance. So Old Fan didn't care about his behavior.
"Whom did Ivor say Lily and Lam were going to study under?" Old Fan asked.
"You are really getting old. Even your memory is beginning to fail you." Kaka mocked. Old Fan smiled slightly in response. It wasn't that he had forgotten. The thing was that he was distracted when Kaka was telling him about it so he didn't know at all.
"They will study under Ancestor Pier," Kaka replied.
"That is best. If anyone can bring the best out of them, it would be their very own Great Great Grandfather."
"What is this uncomfortable feeling that I just can't rid myself of." A tall, good looking, dark-skinned man was sitting on the rooftop of his own house with an uncomfortable expression on his face. His eyes were filled with confusion, and there was a sense of unease he just couldn't shake off. For about four hours now this uneasiness had been there, and no matter what he did, he just couldn't rid himself of it.
"What could it be?" Dan wondered. "I must see Mane. I hope nothing has happened to him." Dan bit his nails anxiously in worry. He then tried to get up and jump down, but his body felt heavy, and it refused to listen to his command.
"What is happening?" Dan wondered as he vision grew blurry and slowly faded. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he was not on the roof of his home any longer.
"Where is this place?" Dan was highly alert. For he had appeared in a strange place. He found himself in a meadow. For as far as his eyes could see there was nothing but grass.
"Hello Little Dan," a feminine voice Dan found all too familiar made its way into his ears. He turned around sharply and found a hunched over old woman smiling at him.
"Oracle!" Dan exclaimed in shock. He knew this woman.
This was the woman who had treated him best in the entire village. There was nothing she didn't do for him. Until the day she disappeared, she made sure that he was always fine. And when she did suddenly leave, he was hurt for a while. He didn't know why he felt so close to her, but he cherished this woman. She was like the mother he never had. If he knew that she was actually his mother it was unknown how he would take it.
She was the only one who could call him Little Dan so affectionately. And when it came from her mouth, it didn't feel wrong. Although it was funny that a small old woman was calling the much taller Dan little, Dan didn't see it that way.
"You have grown Little Dan," the Ancient Matriarch smiled and said. She had both hands on her Lionhead cane with her cloak fluttering gently in the wind.
"Why?" Dan asked as he slowly approached the woman he felt so close to even after several years of not seeing her.
"Why did you leave?" Dan asked with a hurt expression on his face. She had left him when he needed guidance the most. And she did so with no explanations or reasons. She just left.
"I had to. It was the only way that you could grow. You had come to depend on me too much. I loved that, but it stifled your growth. I was the tumor that had to be removed for you to function perfectly." The Matriarch sighed and said.
"If you say you are a tumor, why are you here now?" Dan took a few deep breaths to calm himself. His heart slowly grew calm within him, and he regained his composure.
"I am not really here," the Matriarch replied.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked with confusion written all over his face. He could see her and there was no record stone around, so what was she talking about.
"This is a dream," the Matriarch replied. "See?" she said and struck the grass beneath her feet gently with her cane. Dan watched with a stunned expression as the grass rippled like a river surface and then went back to normal. He tried stamping his foot onto the ground, and realised that she was right. The effects were pretty much the same.
"In as much as I want to speak to you, I don't have much time," the Matriarch said and drew close to Dan.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked.
"My power cannot maintain this link for long," the Matriarch confessed her limitations and then pulled Dan to sit on the grass next to her.
"You mustn't go to Asher City," the Matriarch started.
"Why not?" Dan frowned. She had been gone all this time and had returned to tell him what to do? Did she think he was a child?
"Because Mane isn't there. He went missing a few hours ago. We are looking for him right now." The Matriarch confessed.
"How do you know about Mane? And what has happened to him?" Dan was quickly alarmed. His unease from before resurfaced as he finally understood just what was causing it.
"I may not have been by your side, but I watched over you in everything you did. So of course I know about the boy whom you picked up. As for what happened to him, I don't know. I am currently searching for him." The Matriarch shook her head and said.
"Then I will help you search," Dan stated resolutely.
"No. I can manage that on my own. You have no idea where to start from, and you would only be walking in circles. I want you to do something else for me instead." The Matriarch immediately shot down his request. He was needed elsewhere.
"What do you mean," Dan asked.
"Here," the Matriarch stated and touched Dan's forehead. A gentle light escaped her finger and burrowed its way into Dan's head. Dan didn't question the similarities between this and how Mane had given him his manual. He was more focused on the new information and the strange map in his mind.
"Go to the marked spot. There are four individuals hanging on poles who need your help. I have a feeling that they may know where Mane is, but I know if they did they wouldn't tell me."
"Why not?" Dan asked.
"Because of my identity. But they may tell you if they feel they owe their lives to you. You are Mane's guardian, so it may be a bit easier for you to earn their trust. Especially since you yourself have no idea about your heritage."
"I see. Wait, what did you mean by your last statement?" Dan frowned.
"I will tell you later – about your heritage and mine. Our time is up. And one more thing: Be careful of Old Fan. Don't tell him you're leaving." The Matriarch announced.
"Wait! Hold on!" Dan screamed but it was too late. The strange dream shattered into several fragments, and Dan opened his eyes to find himself back on the rooftop.
"What did she mean by my saying I don't know my heritage? And why shouldn't I trust Old Fan?" this meeting had left Dan with more questions than he had hoped for. Yet the answers to all of them lay with the woman whom he had no idea how to find.
"Let me do what I can actually do then, instead of obsessing over the things I have no control over," Dan told himself and leapt off the roof and into his home. He was done preparing his luggage in just under thirty minutes. And once he was done, he snuck out of the village without informing anyone – not even Old Fan.