"Missing is what makes things freeze in Time."

Mário Quintana (Brasilian poet).

It had been three months since Igor tried to understand how to create the temporal field in the middle of a portal, still without success.

Ailin, very smart, did not miss the opportunity to help him and stayed close, being a pleasant and always present company. She not only helped him, but was a partner and took care of him who, because of the resemblance to his fiancee, ended up accepting and even liking that attention, which caused him some confusion about what he felt.

Sometimes, in the height of despair, Igor came to think that he would end up being stuck in that time and would fulfill the promise of living with her. He looked at the girl and concluded that it would not be such a big sacrifice, but living without his great love yes, it would be very painful. He ended up having an idea and asked the dragon bird:

"Do you want to take a walk, Gwydion?"

"Let's go," he replied.

"Where are they going?" asked Ailin, who approached them and heard the invitation because Igor used to speak in Celtic except if he wanted to keep something secret.

"I'm going to another world to do some research, Ailin," explained the wizard. "Do you want to come along?"

"Of course!" She clapped her hands, smiling. "Imagine if I didn't want to know another world!"

The wizard opened the portal and then crossed to the fourth plane, in that strange and empty world that Ezequiel showed him, or would show him in a thousand and eight hundred years.

Ailin was dazzled by what she saw. At first, she found the desolate and reddish landscape of the place strange, not to mention that the unusual silence due to the lack of a larger fauna was felt intensely. Despite not being cold, she felt a slight shiver and clung to her friend's arm, who hugged her gently.

It didn't take long and the girl felt that she was transported to another place. The only sensation that said that was the radical change of the landscape because, otherwise, she felt nothing. Now they were in a very large place and with a huge construction, which impressed her a lot, especially the statue of three eyes.

"What is this?" she asked, curious. "Where are we?"

"We are in a city inside a mountain," he explained, looking at the statue. "The people of this world were a little different from us and disappeared thousands of years ago, but they left this strange legacy for the travelers."

Igor put his hand on the statue, feeling the strange information again while explaining about that people and concluded:

"They defeated something they considered absolute evil and the being that I must face in the future is so bad that there may be a relation in the two events," He commented. Then he thought, very focused. "Ezequiel told me something, I think in this world, something that is a key, but I can't remember!"

Curious, Ailin imitated Igor, feeling a slight tingling in her hands. She looked at her friend and quickly took her hand away, with wide eyes.

"Funny, I feel a strong vibration, like in successive waves and it comes from two directions—"

"That's it, my Goddess," exclaimed Igor, laughing and giving his companion a fright. Waves: "well, son, what is television but electromagnetic waves—" Ezequiel's voice vibrated in his head. Excited, he kissed the girl, laughing again. "You hit the nail on the head."

"What did I hit?" asked the girl, happy. "I didn't understand anything!"

"Waves, Ailin, electromagnetic waves. This place is impregnated with them. Now I just need to make the right device for that."

"Like the one in the images?" she asked. "What is electromagnetic?"

"That's right, my beautiful, a device like that, but a little different. Electromagnetism is a bit complicated to explain to you, but imagine that it is a way of taming the storm rays and using them in very weak versions for our well-being. I just need a little crystal." He pointed the palm of his hand to the ground and felt nothing. "This world doesn't have what I need and transmutation is tiring. Let's take a walk to the ends of the Universe."

Igor took her hand and Ailin said:

"Tonight you will give me my son," she said laughing. "We have already shared the same bed, but you do nothing! I want your promise and I have been waiting for three moons."

Igor widened his eyes and ended up laughing.

"Okay," he said, finally. "It was promised and it will have to be. How do you know you will be fertile in a few hours?"

"I know, just that. Not to mention that it normally occurs during the full moon." She shrugged. "Where are these 'ends of the Universe?'"

"Ailin, you have the gifts of a priestess," commented Igor, absorbed. "It's not anyone who knows their own body so well, let alone feel the vibrations or hear Gwydion's thoughts spontaneously. I don't understand how your father hasn't noticed that yet.

"Maybe he's afraid I'll learn." The girl shrugged. "You didn't tell me what's in those 'ends of the Universe.'"

"In one of the most beautiful worlds I have ever seen, Ailin, the planet that will be the home of all magicians," explained Igor, opening the portal and pulling her by the hand. "There are crystals in excess, so much so that it is called the Crystal World."

The young Gaul even held her breath when she saw the stunning scenery, the place where the Citadel would be erected. Igor walked at random until his sensitivity located a point that had a good concentration of the best rubies, diamonds and quartz in a high state of purity. Without much effort, he forced some large fragments to come to the surface, fragments that sprouted from the earth almost in the same way that a small source of water would rise from an artesian well. He took about four kilos of various types, joined some leaves of a tree that resembled a banana tree and transformed them into a resistant bag, putting everything inside. He smiled at his friend:

"Shall we go back?" he took her hand and opened a new portal back to Earth, appearing in their hut. Igor sat at the table and emptied the bag. Amazed, Ailin looked at the multicolored crystals of various sizes.

When he saw the sparkle in her eyes, Igor smiled, took a piece of a type that looked like a ruby, but that did not exist on Earth, shaped it in the form of a ring and charged it with a lot of energy. Then he put it on her finger, explaining:

"It has a great power, Ailin, that should last a hundred years, maybe more except if you use it. You have to ask your father to help you awaken your priestess gifts. This ring will greatly increase their potency."

Happy, she kissed him and Igor began to concentrate his attention on the crystals while the girl enjoyed her ring, ignoring the rest. Just looking at the crystals, he fragmented several pieces, creating about five hundred small crystalline capsules with a little more than a centimeter in size each and put them in a bag. He held it with both hands and concentrated hard, making it shine and, afterwards, left it aside. Next, with a piece of dark green crystal the size of a fist, he began to create a small device in the molds of the magical devices, adding portions of other crystals that floated to the set without Igor moving a muscle. The final product was similar to a common tablet, only all crystalline and there was still plenty of material that he kept for other possible future needs. When he finished, he felt tired and noticed that it was night, that it was past time. He ate something and lay down. Ailin turned to Igor and hugged him, demanding the fulfillment of the promise. They were awakened in the morning by none other than Ezequiel who, seeing the two hugged and drowsy, laughed and said:

"Wash and dress. Today is Beltane's day and the people demand our presence for the fires."

At the limits of the city, near the river and the forest, a large native lawn was the stage of one of their main parties. In several places along it, wood piles were placed with great care while the population danced, sang and ate in honor of the Goddess and the God of fertility.

The festivities started early and were beautiful, although the most fun parts were during the afternoon and would last until the next day. Igor was not at all interested in them and noticed that the druids in general did that to please the peasants. Gwydion and Saci watched from a distance, curious and talking in their strange telepathic way. Ezequiel ended up choosing this name and also the form of a dog that the young wizard already knew very well. Speaking low, Igor and Ezequiel chatted, while the peasants danced and had fun around the bonfires.

"You must awaken Ailin's power, because she has it and it is not little."

"I know, but I don't know if I like her to learn," said the druid, thoughtful. "With these Romans attacking and persecuting the old religion, I fear that she will be killed, even because she is very explosive."

"I think, Ezequiel, that having the gifts awakened would only help her get out of trouble," insisted Igor. "Remember that she was killed in combat and resurrected by the dragons. If she knew how to use her powers, she would never have been hurt."

"In that you are absolutely right, Igor." The wise man shook his head, absorbed. "She was all that was left to me and I think it is a bit of selfishness on my part. Very well, I will teach her."

"I'm sure you will make her very happy."

"And did you give her what she most wanted?" Ezequiel laughed. "That's what it looked like, at least."

"I keep my promises and I will have to do that until I feel that she has what I promised. At least Ailin is satisfied, unlike me."

"And if you can't go back to your time, Igor?" asked the friend. "Did my future self ever tell you anything?"

"You didn't." The young man shrugged and turned with all calm, but inside he felt worried. "If I get stuck here, I will have to fulfill another promise."

"I'm sure it won't be such a big sacrifice."

"You are right, but the pain is great and I prefer not to think about it, for now. I know she would give me a lot of happiness because she is too much like my fiancee, but it's like having lost something, something that hasn't even happened yet, to make things worse."

Ailin appeared laughing and pulled Igor to the field, wanting him to dance with her. She was dressed in a light tunic and barefoot, radiating so much joy that she seemed to shine, despite the cool, almost cold weather. With a crown of flowers on her head and a unique lightness in her body, she smiled and swayed to the rhythm of the harps, making him try to accompany her. He had some difficulty at first, but then he managed.

"Today, you are my pair in the Beltane fires." She laughed, speaking loudly for Igor to hear amid the music and screams. "We will be the Priestess and the Druid, the Goddess and the God. And our son will be born from the most sacred union: the marriage with the Earth."

Igor smiled and moved away, walking a few steps back to the rhythm of the music. He raised his hands up, which began to glow, pulsing slowly and having a gradual increase in intensity, illuminating the nightfall. The people took the opportunity to make a big wheel, dancing and singing around him and Ailin, who looked at him smiling, swaying to the rhythm of the music and at the mercy of then gentle spring wind. At that moment, when the luminous intensity was strong enough that they could not look at the wizard's hands, he made a sudden movement upwards and a countless number of multicolored rays jumped into the air, gaining height and exploding in a fireworks show that amazed the population with the great variety of colors that burst without stopping, coming out of the hands of the most powerful druid they had ever seen.

The place of the party was getting emptier as time passed and as the pairs who wanted, or the couples, went to celebrate the rites of Beltane in the field in the oldest fashion. Igor danced with Ailin a lot and without stopping, losing some of his own identity, as if he were in fact possessed by the God of fertility who celebrated the marriage with the representative of the Goddess on Earth: the priestess, or Ailin, in that case.

It dawned when the young wizard woke up cold and scared in the middle of the field on a pile of hay. Beside, Ailin still slept. He looked at her, a girl a little older than him and very beautiful, even more than Eduarda who was already a muse of perfection, at least in his eyes. Careful not to wake her up, he put his hand on her belly and felt that his promise was fulfilled; the seed germinated. She woke up soon after, laughing with joy. She kissed him and attacked Igor again.

The sun was rising when Igor got up and put on his clothes, helping the girl to do the same. Then he said:

"I know it may make you sad, but now I have fulfilled my promise and you have our son in your womb. So, unless I get stuck forever in this time, we should no longer be like man and woman."

"Are you sure?" She lowered her head. "It was so good. And when will you decide that you won't be able to go back?"

"I've been here for about three months," Igor replied, taking her hands. "If I can't go back in another three months, I'll give up and we'll stay together."

"Agreed." She smiled. "Anyway, I'll have my son, our son, something I've wanted for five years, but I didn't want from anyone, Igor."

"How old are you?" he asked, curious.

"Twenty-five, and you?"

"Twenty-five with that girl's face!?" He laughed. "I'm twenty-one. I swear sometimes I think you both are the same person."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Sometimes you speak so strangely!" She smiled, affectionate.

They ate something and Ezequiel appeared to pick up his daughter, taking her to a clearing, because he wanted to awaken her gifts, but in secret.

Meanwhile, Igor and Gwydion went to planet X. He had baptized the world with that name, although he admitted to himself that it was a lot of lack of imagination.

With the bird on his shoulder, he stopped in front of the statue and raised the crystal device, which soon began to glow. The screen cleared and a blurred image appeared. With a few more adjustments, it became very clear and he noticed that it was a documentary-type film, although at high speed.

Igor watched a summary of a small part of the history of that civilization and discovered the frightening curse that almost decimated the race, now extinct. When the video ended, he made new adjustments to his 'magic' computer and tiny lines appeared on the screen, oscillating in low frequency harmonics that moved in two opposite directions. The young wizard wasted no time and transported himself to the top of the mountain. There, the waves followed only in a very specific direction: a very large mountain range that could be seen on the horizon.

"There," he pointed, saying to the bird, "there must be a city of them or some kind of installation where we might have more information."

The young man rose in the air and flew, instead of teleporting there in order to follow the flow of the signals that, however, remained uniform. He landed at the base of the mountain and searched for the entrance for many hours, without success. When he saw that it was getting late, he returned to the hut because he was hungry. He found Ailin very happy, playing with a globe of light. She hugged him, laughing.

"I always envied my father when he did this," she said, using the light as if it were a child's balloon. "And you, then, don't even mention it."

"You have to save the energy of the ring for when you need it. Ask your father to teach you how to accumulate."

"Why don't you teach me?"

"Because I don't use these objects to help me," he explained, professorial. "I don't depend on them. So I know how to give a full charge, but I don't know the normal accumulative process. It's something I need to learn to teach you, Ailin. Maybe one day I'll also ask your father to teach me."

"What is he like in the future?"

"Just like now, but very lonely and, of course, looking older," he replied, showing a photo with his phone.

"After my mother left," the girl commented, looking at the photograph, "he never got a companion again, not even for the Beltane rites."

"Ailin," Igor became a little serious, "we magicians, according to what your father taught me, when we love someone it is rare that we love another person again and that must be why he chose this loneliness. I see that you love me and I wish that didn't happen so you don't suffer. Look, if I leave, you should try to follow your life and find someone else."

"I can only find someone if he is very special, Igor. Until you showed up, I never cared about anyone. Of course I had a lot of fun, but without feeling."

"I don't want you to suffer, guria."

"Guria, what is that!?

"A term from my land to speak girl. It's affectionate," he explained. "Let's eat something?"

During dinner, Ezequiel appeared and sat down together, joining them in the meal while the two dragons, in their animal forms, chatted with each other. When they finished eat, Igor lifted the bag with the crystal capsules and gave it to Ezequiel.

"I forged five hundred planar capsules for you and they will last for about two hundred years."

"Can I know what that is?" asked Ezequiel. "I've never heard of planar capsules."

"They allow you to cross the planes without a dragon and without being a level one. They can only be used once and then need to be recharged, so you can only make five hundred trips in the next two hundred years. To use them, just focus on the desired location holding the capsule in your hand. When it starts to glow, throw it in front of you and it will tear the planes for about ninety seconds. Try to be economical with them and keep in mind that they only jump a maximum of three planes at a time. They should be discovered soon, so it is advisable not to show these to avoid causing a temporal paradox. By the way, I thought they already existed and that's why I made them; so be very careful. Soon, there will be new level one magicians and they will build and load more capsules."

"Thank you, I'll take care of them," said Ezequiel.

"Besides," Igor continued, "you can always resort to Saci. Remember what I told you: you need to find a safe haven for the magicians because you are the missing link. In the next centuries there will be a lot of persecution and death. You can't imagine the atrocities that the new religion will do to our people. In about thirteen hundred years, the so-called dark age will reign for some time and all magicians and sorceresses will be branded as warlocks, especially women, being burned alive. Thousands of innocents will be killed.

"By the Goddess!" exclaimed the druid, astonished. "And they have the courage to call that religion?"

"Not only do they have it, but they will do it," Igor replied, shrugging his shoulders.

― ☼ ―

Beltane is a pagan festival of Celtic origin that celebrates the spring (northern hemisphere) and that usually occurs on the first day of May, celebrating the fertilization of the fields. A. N.

The Beltane fires, at the spring equinox, are when they light bonfires and dance around them where they invoke the Goddess (female divinity represented by the Moon and the mother of everything) and the God of fertility (divinity named Cernunos), so that the next harvests are prosperous. Couples form, going to celebrate the divine union as gods and goddesses, the marriage with the earth. This pagan rite was so ingrained in the people that the Church had extreme difficulty in stifling it. A. N.