Chihiro landed on the ground and changed back into her human form. She stretched and grinned at Linca who had only just fluttered to the ground.

"Come on, Linca," she chuckled. "You're slowing us all down." The white owl snapped her beak at the human and changed. Light flashed and the owl turned into a formless shape that expanded upwards. When the light faded, Linca was standing with her arms folded and her white hair was slightly untidy after ruffling her feathers indignantly.

"I may be slower but I'm far more elegant in the air than you are!" she said huffily.

"I prefer substance over style," said Chihiro with a chuckle.

"Be quiet, you two," Rin snapped. "Stop arguing and get moving; we have a mad old spirit to find and the best way to do it is on foot."

"Some feet are faster than others," neighed the nygel. "Why don't I scout ahead?"

"Good idea," said Scott. He dismounted from the horse awkwardly, almost slithering down the spirit's flank. He stood uncomfortably and touched his toes, stretching the kinks out of his muscles.

"If I have to spend another day on horseback, I think I'm in danger of losing the ability to reproduce," groaned Scott as he brought his face to his knees. The nygel snorted with amusement and trotted away, kicking his heels up and swishing his tail. He suddenly accelerated and galloped away with a taunting whiny.

"Idiot," murmured Scott. He straightened and walked towards the edge of the canyon, placing his feet carefully. The sisters tried to keep their titters to a minimum but it was difficult. Even Rin could not keep the grin from her face. Scott ignored them and peered over the end of the canyon. He whistled, impressed. "So this is Yumulk Gap," he muttered.

"Home of the old man of Arron," confirmed Linca, standing beside him. Suddenly she broke into song. Her voice was throaty but strong and the canyon walls echoed the words back at her, creating a delayed stereo effect.

"By a tree, near a river, is a hole in the ground,

Where an old man of Arron walks around and around,

In his mind, he is everywhere with no time or no night,

He cannot tell the difference twixt the wrong and the right."

"Great," muttered Rin to Chihiro. "Now everyone knows we are here."

Chihiro shrugged; it hardly mattered, they had made enough noise getting there to alert anything in the area that they were approaching. Suddenly Chihiro heard hoof beats again. The nygel came galloping back, nostrils flared, ears laid back against his head, eyes wide and rolling.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY," he squealed, still some distance from them. "GET OFF THE PATH!"

"Path?" whispered Linca. As one they looked at their feet. They were standing on hard-packed earth that had a deep ridge running down the middle of it, exposing stone. Chihiro could see there were even marks in the stone. Something had scratched the rock with its passing.

"Run!" growled Scott.

He pushed Chihiro before him and headed for the jungle trees at a sprint, trusting the spirits to take care of themselves. Linca jumped back, reverting to her bird form in mid-air. Rin sprang after the humans, easily overtaking them. She grabbed them both by the hands and pulled them after her. The nygel veered off the path and galloped through the trees to where the humans and spirit had hidden themselves.

"What is going on?" hissed Rin to the water horse. "You've scared us half to..."

"Hush and watch," panted the spirit, cutting her off. Rin looked affronted for a split second, lending yet more credence to Chihiro's theory that she had once been a person used to getting her own way; a spirit of importance. But the emotion was fleeting. She could see the water horse had practically run for its life; its flanks quivered and it wheezed and blew like a pair of bellows. Something had been chasing it.

Rin heard it first; a patter, a very regular, like the flutter of a small bird's frightened heart. The humans became aware of it soon after.

"Sounds like drumming rain," whispered Scott.

"It was hidden in a cloud of dust," wheezed the nygel, "and moving incredibly fast. I thought it best to warn you; it would have been on top of you before you knew it."

The water horse was right. The pattering got louder and louder. There was a whooshing sound and a dust cloud sped past the trees. The tailwind it created had all the trees swaying violently and the humans were knocked off their feet.

"What was that?" Rin whispered, bending to aid the humans. Chihiro got up and dusted herself off.

"No idea," she murmured.

"Hooo," said Linca, fluttering from a tree to rapidly change into her spirit form.

"That would be the old man of Arron," she said softly.

"Huh?" said Scott. "There is no way an old man could run that fast."

"You're thinking like a human," Rin scoffed. "Just because he is called an 'old man' does not mean he is a senile old sage sitting before a fire in a rocking chair and taking the odd ramble during the day." Scott raised a red eyebrow at her but did not comment.

"How do you know it was the old man of Arron?" asked Chihiro, not wanting to admit she had pictured a jovial old Zeniba-like spirit living in a warm cave somewhere.

"Think about the song," sighed Linca. "'By a tree, near a river, is a hole in the ground.

Where an old man of Arron walks around and around...' The path that dust cloud follows runs the entire circumference of the canyon."

"That is hardly walking," sneered Rin.

"Maybe he did walk it when the song was written," mused Linca. "He has just sped up over the years."

"So if it is him, how do we talk to him?" asked Scott. No one said anything. How could anyone possibly stop something so fast?

"We will have to use magic," said Chihiro in a small voice. "This is beyond Scott and I." She indicated to the three confused-looking spirits. "You are the magical creatures, think of something."

"Easier said than done," murmured Linca. "Not even my glue spell could hold that back."

"Well, we better think of something by the next time he comes round," murmured the nygel. "He'll be back soon; moving around the canyon at that speed he will be back here in under an hour."

The spirits fell into a deep discussion that neither human understood. The positioning of ley lines came into it and they called on the local river spirit, who flowed close by, to ask for assistance. The river was old and sleepy but it told them that they were unlikely to get any sense out of the old man. He was quite insane.

"It happens," yawned the spirit, having taken the form of a small grey otter. "The ones blessed with insight often cannot cope. He has been a tool of the old ones for a long time. He does not have the wits to end his miserable existence."

Another complex conversation ensued and the spirits agreed on forming an "energy trap." From Chihiro's limited understanding, it was a spell that reflected a spirit's own power against it. It was unstable and inclined to shatter and it would use nearly all the three spirits' power up. But it was the only thing the river spirit had seen work.

"An air spirit threw an iso flax net over him once. Did not even stumble, but the idiotic spirit was still holding onto it. He was dragged around for about a week before he had the courage to let go. He fell into the gap. Never saw him come out," snorted the otter. "Energy trap or nothing," it yawned, exposing yellow canines. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm going fishing." The grey otter loped away.

The spirits set to work. Linca and Rin joined hands and the nygel pushed his flank against Rin's back.

"Can't you do better than that?" asked Rin. "It's not very stable contact for a spell like this."

"Would you prefer me to mount you?" asked the nygel wickedly. "It would certainly be a new experience for me."

Rin swore at the creature.

The spirits began to mutter a spell under their breath; it was short and repeated over and over. Chihiro explained to Scott that it was not what was said that mattered, it was the intent. The words merely concentrated the mind and helped the power flow freely.

"Ten times ten then ten again, reverse the power back, time and time again," murmured the spell casters for the seventeenth time.

"Well, they won't be winning any literary prizes," muttered Scott, wincing at the indelicate rhyme. When the words were chanted for the thirtieth time the ground glowed beneath the spirits' feet. The spell was cast.

But it had taken all the casters' strength. As one they all collapsed. The humans did the best they could for them. Linca and Rin were moved easily enough; Scott could carry them without Chihiro's aid. Both were unconscious. Rin was deathly pale, Linca could have been the same but it was hard to tell; she was always pale. Scott laid them beneath the trees and Chihiro covered them with blankets from the packs. Snaffu presented them with more of a problem. In the end, Scott had to push him along the ground with the horse's head resting on his shoulder, while Chihiro tried to keep the hooves and unsheathed claws out of the way. The ground was uneven and it was hard work for both of the humans. They had barely got the insensible horse under the shelter of the trees when they heard the pattering noise again.

"Here it comes," whispered Chihiro unnecessarily. The humans turned to face the path, both knowing that whatever was trapped in the spell, they would have to face it alone. It would not be held for long. When the spell wore off they would be at its mercy.

"Get your weapon," said Scott grimly. "I'll get Phyllis."

"Phyllis?" she queried while dashing to her pack.

"My sword," said Scott, extracting a short European style broad sword from his pack. He did not bother strapping it on, he simply drew the blade and held it at his side, point down. It was not that ornate or impressive looking but Chihiro knew as soon as she touched Haku's sword that it was strong enough magically to have Haku's sword growling worriedly in her mind. It did not like the strange magic in the sword.

Chihiro freed the blade and held it to one side as Scott's was, safely way from her easily cut flesh. Scott was smirking at something.

"What?" asked Chihiro testily. The pattering was getting louder; it was no time for humour.

"Phyllis thinks that maybe your dragon was compensating for something, making such a sword. She said it's unnecessarily gaudy and likes bloodshed too much."

The sword screamed in Chihiro's head for vengeance for the slight against it and her mate.

"Oh, do be quiet," Chihiro said to all three entities. The truth was, she never had worked out why Haku made such a dangerous sword. He had probably been bored or wanted a challenge. Either way, it had not helped him avoid capture. The sword wailed like a scalded tom cat at the insult. It twitched in her hand.

"Shut up!" Chihiro thought at it. "Do as you are told or I will leave you behind." The sword snarled that she was unworthy of its master for thinking so about him. "Just because I love him does not mean I can't see his faults," Chihiro thought at the blade. "He's vain and very arrogant, but I love him in spite of that." She turned to the increasing noise of the approaching spirit and smirked. "I may even love him because of it. I find his defects almost endearing."

Her attention was claimed by the whooshing sound of the approaching spirit. There was a blur of a dust cloud, a flash, then an inhuman wail.

When Chihiro's vision cleared, and the dust blew away on the afternoon breeze, she got a good look at what they had caught. There was a puddle of green on the ground and in it was stuck one bone-like leg. The other leg peddled at the air, still trying to run. There was no foot at the end of the leg, simply a blackened stump, as if the feet had been burned away.

"They have," Chihiro realised. "With the friction."

Even a spirit would be damaged by running constantly in a big circle. The legs were attached to a skeletal body with thin parchment-like skin stretched over it. The old man of Arron was a pitiful creature. He wore no clothes and he had no body hair. His body quivered with the urge to be moving again. Sunken blue eyes turned on the humans. Chihiro felt like immediately bursting into tears as the lined face contorted and a wail ripped through the spirit's throat.

"Please," it begged, its voice barely making coherent words as if it had not spoken for some time.

"Please, humans, let me pass..." It howled again, tugging at its trapped foot.

"We can't," said Scott," his face grave. "We need to know about a prophecy."

"NO!" screeched the spirit. "NO NO NO!" It bent over and clawed at the ground, trying to pull itself out of the trap.

"Must run, must run," it panted. "The visions will catch me, can't stay still!" Chihiro and Scott looked at each other. This was nothing like they expected.

"MUST RUN!" the spirit howled, sobbing with fear. "The voices will find me; they stay quiet when I run!" Chihiro stepped forward, determined to try and free the spirit. Scott held his arm out before her. The sword clasped in his right hand was glowing slightly.

"Don't," he said softly.

"But he's suffering!" she protested.

"This is more important and you know it," whispered Scott, pinning her with his own blue eyes.

Chihiro bit her lip. He was right but she hated to see the poor tormented spirit writhe to be set free.

"Tell us a prophecy and we will set you free," said Scott softly. The old man of Arron sat, hugging his trapped leg. He began to rock back and forward.

"So many prophecies, so much to see, a pink sky, a landed fish, scattered brains, the world melts and grows, so many colours with no names, I try to count them but they run away."

"Scott!" pleaded Chihiro.

"We must know, Chihiro," he whispered. "It's not our fault he's insane."

"CHIHIRO!" the spirit screeched then laughed. "I've met her, she was nice, wanted to let me go but the big redheaded human would not let her until I told her what I had seen..." It giggled again. "She didn't like it, but the night wind and his prisoner were watching too, the white dragon had no clue..." He began to rock again and sing to himself in a high, unsteady voice.

"No clue, no clue, he had no clue."

"What dragon?" whispered Chihiro. She pushed past Scott and smacked the tip of her sword against a stone, making the blade ring loudly to get the spirit's attention.

"You know Haku?" she asked him insistently. "You said he was watching; is he close? Who has him?" The glazed blue eyes turned on her.

"The night wind and the white dragon were together, it ended badly, people died."

Chihiro blinked. He was making no sense. "What people?" she insisted.

"ALL PEOPLE!" shrieked the spirit loudly. "They all suffered and the end came and the darkness fell and there was light no more."

"Chihiro," said Scott's voice behind her. "Be more specific, his mind is not here, I think he is seeing... everything."

Chihiro looked at him sharply over her shoulder.

"Think of the song," he insisted. "It says his mind was everywhere, with no time... He is not here; he is seeing everything, past, present and future, all at the same time." Chihiro suddenly understood. She looked at the pitiful being sympathetically. "No wonder he tries to run from his visions," she thought sadly.

"Do you know who has my bonded mate, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi?" she asked as clearly as she could.

"The night wind; the ancient one," came the throaty reply. "The only tool the old ones have not bent to their will."

"And where are they?" she asked excitedly.

"They are everywhere; they watch, they peek; one likes to see, the other hungers for control."

Chihiro sighed and tried again. "Do you know where the night wind has imprisoned my mate, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi?" she asked, her voice catching.

"You found him in the glass desert," came the reply. Chihiro sighed with the relief. That was all she really needed to know.

"You told a prophecy to the witch sisters Zeniba and Yubaba once," said Scott, still not willing to let the old spirit go until they knew the prophecy. "We need to know exactly what you told them."

"Pretty girls!" cried the spirit. "They watched the spell cast on me, the one that increased the voices... they did not like it... Zeniba cried..." The spirit turned to Chihiro. "Hello again," it said. "Are you nervous about your mating?"

"A little," said Chihiro, trying to keep his attention by playing along. "But I'd really like to know what you saw about me."

The spirit cocked its head. "Why didn't you say so?" it chortled, beaming at her. Its old gnarled hands shot out and grabbed her own. She had to drop her sword in case he touched it. The hands were as rough as sandpaper.

"Listen well," it sighed closing its eyes. The deranged spirit began to chant in a low, dead sounding voice.

"A human will come to this world; her name will ring with a thousand blessings.

She will arrive twice, and if she remains she will set alight the ambitions of those who wish to gain the ultimate power through reunion.

Her heart and soul shall be captured by a creature of water, who, in return for her love, will offer his soul into her keeping.

The time will come when she is called upon to fulfil her destiny, though she will undertake it with a wounded heart. She, however, holds the hope of new life and happiness.

Our fate is bound with her own. She must keep apart what has been broken, ensuring our own survival.

Four shall start this endeavour, others will follow. One will fall by the way, called by a greater need. One shall find their true place and one shall make the greatest of sacrifices.

At the end of all, however, she will have to decide between her future and the future of a world that loathes her kind.

The options are numerous, the choices hard. If she can keep placing one foot before the other she will walk on through the haze, through which my insight grows dim.

She may shatter if she falters and things will change beyond all reckoning."

Chihiro blinked and stared. "That's it?" she whispered.

The old man nodded and giggled.

"That tells me nothing," she whimpered. "I came all this way to learn a prophecy that is so cryptic that..."

The old spirit let go of her hands. "Time to go," he announced. He stood and yanked his foot from the trap. The magic hissed and dissolved. Chihiro and Scott blinked. The spirit could have freed himself the entire time.

"You needed to talk to me," the spirit said, as if it was obvious. "So I stayed." He beamed at Chihiro again. "Give the children a hug for me." With that he was gone, running away on his stumps. He gathered speed and soon a dust cloud hid him from view.

"Chihiro," said Scott softly. He bent down and offered his hand. She took it, still in a daze. "I don't think it's as enigmatic as it seems," he said encouragingly. "Let's wait for the others to wake up and then we can go through it a word at a time."

Chihiro nodded mutely.

"Look at it this way," said Scott brightly. "You know where your mate is."

Chihiro smiled. He was right; the insane spirit had given her that much. It gave her hope.

Haku stared at the gold framed mirror. That was it? What he had tried so desperately to find out? Why make something so convoluted so secret?

"I felt the same when I first heard it," said Kenshin with a dark laugh. "But on reflection and with certain assumptions most of it becomes clear." Haku raised an eyebrow at the black-haired spirit.

"Work it out for yourself, Kohaku. You have time; it will be weeks before she gets here. Longer, if I have my way. I want my plan to be so advanced that it will make no difference whether she gets here or not."

"She will get here," growled Haku with pride. "She may be human but she has her own sort of power."

"I have no intention of underestimating her," sighed Kenshin. He waved at the mirror and it vanished. "I actually feel sorry for her." He looked up at the light illuminating the dust motes pouring in from the tiny window. "I know what it is like to be chosen by fate. I can empathise with how she feels..." He trailed off and after a moment of silence looked back at the dragon.

"That is why I have not killed her yet; I am not a cold-blooded murderer. I plan to disrupt her, in what I hope will be non-lethal ways. I thought that would have happened when you fell into my lap." A small smile tugged at his lips. "But she proved to be a much more resilient soul than I gave her credit for." He shook himself and grinned at Haku. "Her companions, however, are fair game as far as I am concerned. I'm sure you will not mourn the loss of one of them."

Haku bit his tongue to prevent himself from snarling like a mindless animal. The spirit was threatening his family, if not his mate directly. He had growled a little at the human male's comment on his sword, but he actually felt better now about him being in the party. He was helping Chihiro and trying to protect her. Haku could see the human did not have a hidden agenda. But he was only a human; he could only help her so much. Kenshin sighed and stretched, looking even more drained and tired than he had before.

Haku frowned; viewing from a distance was not that difficult for one such as him.

"I know what you are thinking," said Kenshin softly. "And I am about to answer you."

He snapped his fingers and the door to the cell opened. Two shadow spirits drifted in. They were holding a collar made of pure obsidian. Haku immediately did not like the look of it, even without being able to sense it. He tried to spring to his feet, but he could not move.

"Just a holding spell," said Kenshin soothingly. "I don't plan on harming you, but you are a resource that I can't afford to leave untapped."

Haku watched, wide-eyed, as the collar was clamped around his neck. For a moment nothing happened, then he felt it. An insidious spell inside the collar reached into him and latched onto his sealed power like a leach. Haku shuddered and gasped as little by little, his power was taken from him.

Now he knew why Kenshin had wanted him in full health. Kenshin shrugged and met Haku's furious gaze without even a hint of a flinch.

"I know you won't believe me," he said sadly. "But this is for the best. I need all the power I can get to achieve my goal."

"What goal?" hissed Haku from between his clenched teeth.

"I thought you would have guessed by now," said Kenshin patronisingly. "I plan on removing the old ones." Haku was stunned; his jaw dropped and he gaped at the spirit like a landed fish. Kenshin crouched down and looked at him closely.

"Think about it, Kohaku," he said softly. "They don't care for this world; they only care that they maintain their power. They are using your mate to stop me. They fear me and what I can do." Haku gulped and closed his mouth, still not quite believing what he was hearing. "The old man of Arron was a normal spirit with moderate seeing abilities until they decided to make him their tool," continued Kenshin. "They increased his gift so they had a link to all time periods. You saw what he has become. He is plagued so by what he sees that he has worn his own feet away by trying to run from his visions. They could set him free, but they don't because he is convenient." He moved closer, the grey eyes finally showing an emotion. They were burning with hatred.

"I was their tool too. I was always good at killing. They used me until they almost broke me. If I was captured, they abandoned me. If I got free they ordered me to do something else. I was a useful tool but not one they minded losing. I freed myself from them and they let me go, too fearful to challenge me, now I had turned against them."

"But they are gods," Haku breathed.

"So are you, technically. So am I." said Kenshin in a half-whisper. "Anything that attracts worship becomes a deity. They would like you to think that they have always been, but they have not. They are guardians of this world, but they are not all-powerful. They were once ordinary spirits, just like the ones who work for you."

Haku shook his head, not wanting to hear any more. It could not be true. The Lord and Lady were harsh, but they needed to be; they protected them all from the other world intruding on their own. How many spirits would have died without the separation from humans? Without that distance, there would be no magical creatures left.

"Believe me or not; that is up to you," murmured Kenshin. "But I am going to remove the reason for their elevated status and you are going to help me do it." Kenshin straightened, his ancient grey eyes empty once again.

"You are young," he said softly. "You do not remember the way things were before the old ones separated the worlds. You just assume they did what was best for all. I put it to you that they did what was best for themselves..."

Haku shook his head again. This was madness, the most dangerous kind of madness. Madness that sounded like logic.

"You will kill us all," he murmured. "The humans too."

"No," replied Kenshin. "I will free us all." He turned to leave, ushering the shadow spirits out. But he turned back to Haku just as he stepped out of the door.

"You saw what the old ones have made the old man of Arron into. Do you think they will treat your mate any better?" he asked gently.

"You lie!" cried Haku. "It's all lies!" He was still shouting when Kenshin closed the cell door on him.