Chapter 18

One of the five turned and looked directly at them. He raised a hand and a black flame shot out of his hand. It hit the barrier and started consuming it.

The two felt the heat from the flame before it even started consuming it. The heat was the dry heat and it burned deep in their skin into their bones. 

Nike managed to strike the hammer lightly on the ground and it glowed an icy blue. The effects of the fire started dissipating and they felt energy being restored. 

Now that Winjoy's barrier was destroyed, the sentries saw them but their immediate attention was on the five. Violette flared up her PSI and threw her gilded dagger at them. 

The one who'd attacked them raised up his hand trying to stop the dagger but it went right through him and burst into flames. She quickly threw her second dagger aiming for another but this one was smart enough not to stop it. 

The figure instead opened a rift swallowing it. Violette smiled and said, "Homing Pigeon."

The first dagger that she threw came back to her hand and she rushed forward. Before any could react she sliced the remaining four blitzing through them. 

"Murder of Crows."

Her second dagger materialised and she threw it at them. The forefront figure threw up both hands trying to stop it and burn it. Violette just smirked knowing what was happening next. 

Howard watched from the nearby tree as Violette fought the hooded figures. He had sensed when the spatial interference happened to let them through. He almost jumped in when that fire had been thrown at them. He could sense it wasn't a natural fire but Nike had managed to protect them. 

Now he watched as the dagger split into a multitude of daggers that went through them like bullets. He frowned since he knew that Violette was a dual dagger user. Unless this was a new technique she'd learned. Sure enough after all the figures burst into flames and disappeared, the daggers too vanished. 

He was about to fly away but stopped, noticing Violette was still tensed up. That's when he felt it in the air. 

A scorching heat emanating from one point in the field. A spatial distortion was taking place. Five hooded figures stepped out this time they were covered in black and red flames. 

The foremost one threw out his hand at Nike and Violette and the flames exploded on impact. Nike was thrown a few feet back and he landed on his back. Violette reacted much faster and threw up a thin purple light that protected her. 

Three of the figures turned their attention to her. One of the figures lowered its hood to reveal a neckless headless head. There was nothing there. 

She was rooted to the spot but she managed to summon her dagger. 

"Dive of the peregrine."

A purple flame spread from her eyes and covered her taking the shape of a large peregrine falcon. She regained her mobility and dashed forward. The wing tip of the avatar grazed one of them and they were engulfed in a purple flame. The other two dodged her attack. 

Howard wondered why only three were attacking her. He watched closely at the stationary ones and noticed something. Nike who had been immobile got to his feet. He threw Magnarr with all his force up in the air. It glowed white, spinning rapidly with bolts of lightning shooting from it. 

Of the remaining two, one looked up at the spinning hammer a black shadow slowly started to engulf it and soon it was almost gone except for the hilt.

Howard decided to step in.

He flew to the ground his feet touching it as he shifted back to his human form. He dashed towards Kuronike and jumped a good ten metres into the air whence he grabbed the last of the hammer and forcefully pulled it out of the darkness.

He slammed it down with all his force and a loud dragon's roar sounded from it engulfing the whole area. It turned a red hot colour as orange flames sprung around it. Howard threw it at the nearest hood and the flames surrounded it, freezing it.

Magnarr was then thrown back to Nike who caught it neatly and he headed for the second figure.

Howard then shot down to Violette who was on the verge of being struck down. His bracelet started shining silver and three silver daggers formed out of it. One of them imbibed itself into Violette's main dagger.

The remaining two struck down the figures and they slumped down on the ground still.

"I was wondering when you'd jump in," Violette said accepting his hand. He pulled her up and smiled.

"It's very rude to interrupt another's hunt."

They watched as Kuronike sealed the last one after a short battle. He joined them but looked at Howard with awe and admiration. 

They noticed the field was too quiet and saw dead bodies sprawled.

They slowly made their way into the hacienda only to be found by more dead bodies. 

"It looks like there was more than one group," Nike said looking at the corpses. 

Howard closely examined a body, turning it over to see blood underneath it. 

"We've got company and it wasn't whatever we fought." He said, "See these are puncture wounds from either a claw or a cylindrical sword. My money is on a claw."

According to Aian, the artefact was in a vault in the basement. That's where the three headed to, on high alert. 

Fortunately, they encountered not a soul as they descended the flight of stairs to the bottom. Once there Violette and Nike used their PSI to find if there were any enemies lying in wait. 

When none was found they headed for the vault and keyed in the digits Violette had been given. The door creaked open to reveal a black cloth covering what looked like a mirror. 

Howard pulled back the black cloth to reveal a square mirror. However, instead of displaying his reflection, it just showed an endless sea of darkness. A silver glint above the mirror caught Howard's attention and he held out his hand to feel cold metal against his palm. 

He examined the necklace that had a crescent moon with three stars set against a silver metallic background. The other two saw the necklace in his hand but they were more entranced by the mirror.

Violette stepped forward planning to grab the mirror. It sparkled and showed a young girl looking back at her with eyes that sparkled, filled with joy and happiness. Her smile touched both ears. She stepped away covering her face from the others. 

Nike stood in front of the mirror but his reflection was an old ragged hale man standing atop the peak of a mountain. The snow covered the area creating a blanket of white. 

Unlike Violette's reflection, the old man winked back at Kuronike and then the mirror turned dark. 

"How are we going to carry this bulky object?"

To answer Howard, Nike raised up his hammer and brought it crashing down on the mirror before he could stop him. The mirror disappeared. 

"Magnarr has storage space," he explained. 

Howard wore the necklace and eyed Kuronike who laughed at the wary look. The three then headed outside to the open. 

Violette roughly tackled Howard to the ground. Nike swung his hammer in an arc and the sound of clanging metal was heard. Howard looked up to see a sharpened metallic pole drop beside him. 

"The first people in three hundred years to sense and deflect my attack," a voice carrying in the wind said. "Are you the ones who sealed off my Quintets of Xylekitin? Not only that but you also procured the Mirror of Time."

"Only a powerful being can sense Magnarr's storage dimension or what's in it," Nike stated. Howard got the hidden warning, this was no ordinary being.