Chapter 23

The blade slashed down on his neck and he blacked out.

In his next dream he was floating high up in the sky, watching what was happening on the ground. He was commander of a platoon of angels and the enemy was his team.

Aian looked at him angrily pure hatred written on his face. His because she had taken on a male form but that spiritual aura was definitely hers.

In his hands he held two katanas. In his right, the katana glowed an eerie purple while the one in his left glowed a warm orange hue.

His left hand was bleeding but not from grasping the sword too hardly but self damage from the katana.

Aian wielded what could only be..... Excalibur. Yet with all the hatred, he could feel the betrayal tug at his heartstrings.

Her blade dripped with blood; his blood. All the wounds he had received from her hadn't been fatal. It was either she was toying with him or she genuinely didn't want to kill him. As he raised his blade, feeling the deadly energy build up in the left blade, a pair of purple daggers stopped the descent.

A third dagger struck him in his chest and purple flames erupted from it covering his whole body.

Violette stood behind him and she nodded at Aian who then flew up aiming for his chest.

The last dream was the only one he would remember clearly upon waking up.

He was with Lynx walking down a hill, ahead of then was the gleeful laughter of kids. He looked proudly at the two girls running up ahead grasping Lynx a little tighter.

She looked up at him a smile on her face that made his heart melt. Then the sky darkened immediately and it started to rain a green liquid.

Njata Giothora appeared in front of the kids and before either could react, he nabbed both the girls and vanished. Lynx screamed in agony as only a mother could. By a stroke of luck, Howard managed to jump on Njata's teleportation frequency and landed besides him.

He equipped his dual swords and faced his arch enemy. However, he wasn't armed to fight. He looked sorrowfully at Howard and mouthed two words before everything turned to smoke.

Howard woke up with a start, his heart beating heavily. He looked around the dark room; the only movement being Aian stirring in her sleep.

The words BE CAREFUL still rung around his head.

He closed his eyes and the rest of the night was dreamless.

Howard was the first to rise up and he took the opportunity to explore the area before the sun became too hot.

The icy cold morning breeze touched his face lightly. His eyes teared up and he blinked rapidly. He walked down the path that was silent and devoid of the usual activities and noise.

It seemed that people here woke up late. He walked around aimlessly passing a few men who were already working in the fields. The sun was struggling to light up the foggy cloudy day and a few beams speared through here and there.

[I can sense the aura of the helmet within your location] Aian's voice whispered in his head. He looked around and fixed his eyes on a tree.

[There ]

A shadow jumped out of the tree onto the ground and disappeared before he could react.

"Wait," Howard shouted and chased after the short petite figure. The afternoon sun ducked behind a cloud and he used the opportunity to shift into the crow form and give chase.

The figure was quite fast covering large distances in a few seconds. Howard had trouble following her physically but his eyes were sharp enough to follow the trail she left.

After what seemed like a thirty minutes chase, he saw the trail ending at what looked like a stone wall. He fluttered down to the ground and approached the rock facade.

He felt himself forcefully shifting back into his human form.

"A human could never follow me nor change into a bird," a voice said behind him. He also felt a sharp point pressed against his back.

"If you are a human then you wouldn't be feeling anything against your back, but you've stopped moving which means you feel the spirit spear aimed at you."

"Who are you?" the voice asked both curiosity and warning apparent.

Howard cleared his throat, "My name is Howard and I am fully human except I am also bound to a powerful being."

"Explains why you haven't been shredded to pieces yet," the figure said and then walked into view.

The short necked woman looked intensely at him. He felt the sharp point disappear and he breathed out in relief.

"I am Floof Von Syphlet that's what I am called around. You've also come after the helmet, haven't you?" she asked him.

Howard nodded and explained that he needed the helmet urgently. She shook her head stating that she couldn't hand it over as she too needed it.

He sat down on the ground, "Then I am not leaving until—

"You want to fight me for it?" she asked amused.

He shook his head telling her that not everything required force. He went on to ask if there was anything he could procure or do as an alternative.

She motioned for him to get up and follow her deeper into the cave. His eyes had accustomed to the darkness so it was easy to see the tiny pinprick of illumination up ahead.

They stopped at the pink crystal that scintillated as if lights danced inside it.

"I have this feeling that I can trust you," she told him. "Unfortunately I still can't let you see the rest of the clan. However, what I am showing you is only known to a small group of people. This is a Visionary crystal. The lights you see inside it shows how many times we can use it before it is rendered useless."

She paused taking a long breath. She lightly touched one of the crystals and then continued, "Our clan is a small yet powerful one, however I am certain that unless we get this object we won't survive. There is a storm brewing on the horizon, if you can get me this item then I will give you the helmet."