Later on in the night, Winjoy opened her eyes and peered out into the darkness. Someone or something was completely undoing her shields.
She looked around to see Howard also peering out into the darkness. Aian had a carefree look on her face.
Violette and Kuronike both woke up simultaneously weapons drawn. Frank was the last to wake up after Juma roused him.
"Now that we are all awake, shall we," a voice came forth from the darkness.
Kuronike bowled over as if hit by an unseen force. Frank was tied up by an invisible rope. Violette had her daggers mysteriously snatched from her hand.
The unknown assailant then hit Juma on his head and he crumpled down like a ragdoll. Winjoy put up defences but they were all destroyed and she was gently pushed down and locked in place.
Howard watched as the old man attacked his teammates but he felt no need to step in. The old man then turned his attention to the remaining two. He cast a lightning bolt at Aian, the bolt hit her and Howard gasped then cursed.
The tendrils creeped up his leg and tightened themselves around him. He stopped moving willing the bracelet to arm itself. However the bracelet had no intention of doing so.
Aian and the old man duelled for a few minutes before he disappeared and chuckled.
"You make an old man feel young," the voice said behind him.
Howard felt the tendrils fall away. Before releasing the rest of the team from their bondage.
"I take it from your fancy magic tricks, you must be the one we are looking for," Violette said taking back her daggers from him, her pride wounded.
The old man laughed and nodded, "Only two of you noticed my presence immediately. Welcome to my domain."
He waved a hand and the darkness gave way to bright sunshine. He produced six silver and one golden goblet from thin air. They were filled to the brim with the respective coloured liquids. He handed Aian the golden goblet and she drunk it.
A smile spread over her face and it was filled again to the brim. Howard took a sip of his and he noticed it was silver in colour with a few golden specks in it.
The moment it hit his tongue, warmth spread across his tongue and enveloped his body before fading away into a small pinprick point in his chest.
The effect was the same for the rest and they greedily gulped down the drink until they could take not another drop.
"I feel my PSI strengthening," Frank sighed contentedly.
"You obviously didn't come for my magical potion, how may I help you Chronus?" he asked seriously facing Aian.
Aian had a silent conversation with him. Not even Howard knew what they were talking about.
"Another thing is I need a sword. A very powerful sword, we all know the current wielder of the Spirit Sword will not hand over the sword."
"I'm not fighting that monster for it either," He cut in but Aian shook her head.
"I want the Excalibur, it'll serve the purpose," she told him.
The Old Man finally looked at the crew before him and a deep guffaw emanated inside him.
"I will do so but on one condition."
Aian narrowed her eyes and looked at him sharply.
"I cannot undo what has been done, you are unfortunately what I call a temporal stick that shouldn't be undone. Your existence is paramount however I can give you a hiatus."
The wizened old face nodded once and looked at the young man before him. His eyes sparkled as they travelled over the lean body. The gaze locked on the bracelet on the hand for long.
Howard covered the bracelet and the many chuckled. "Alright, I have taken a fancy to the boy so I'll add a blessing to the jewellery."
He waved his hand; a silvery wisp streamed out of his hand wrapping itself around the bracelet before dispersing.
He then turned to Aian, "The Lady of the Lake shall deliver it to you on time."
The goddess nodded at the world's most powerful wizard and left. The others followed her lead.
<When all is lost then you shall be found.
When all is silent, follow the sound
In the darkest of days
Shall erupt thousand ways
But only one shall victory abound.>
Howard remained calm as the wizard's voice whispered in his skull. He gave an imperceptible nod.
"Please don't punish him as you did the village head," Howard whispered once out of earshot of the rest.
[Unlike that greedy foolish pig, he recognised who I am. However he treated all of us as equals never once looking down on anyone.]
Howard stifled a smile, knowing that Aian had been irked by how the woman had treated him.
His smile turned into a grimace as Aian withdrew her open palm from his head. Even with the pain of the strike he was glad to know that Aian cared.
[I'll strike you harder if you turn into a sop. Beside I am certain that the old man would enjoy whatever I throw his way.]
After two weeks on the road the team headed back to the Inn where Violette was glad to take a warm shower. Aian smirked knowing that had anyone asked she would have provided the necessary necessities.
"Well it's not like you have a friendly face," Nick said and jumped out of the way.
After they were all freshened up, Aian gave the team three days to rest and recover as she searched for the other items.
They all made plans; Frank and Winjoy would remain to look after their belongings. Kuronike and Violette would enter the training realm created by Magnarr.
Juma shocked everyone by wanting to be trained by Aian. That left Howard who settled on exploring the area. Violette teased him and he smiled stating that he had a guardian goddess to watch over him.
Aian threw him the daggers and he smiled cheekily knowing he was out of range.
They all turned in for the night and Howard had his first set of vivid dreams.
In one of the dreams he was on his knees, surrounded by shadowy figures. One of the figures held a black blade in its hands. He was trapped and powerless.
The figure used the blade to raise his head up. By the chin. "Where is your protector now?"