The next morning, Ezequiel called Igor to talk alone and they walked away, accompanied by the dragons. They walked alone in the woods for a good while because he wanted his daughter not to hear them.

"Igor," began the wise man. "I see clearly that you are not happy, that although everyone here loves you and you are very comfortable among us, you do not feel from this place. And I also see that you gave up your search for a solution after looking for it with so much concern and urgency for more than three Moons. Why?"

"Because I can't find a solution, Ezequiel," the young man replied, shrugging. "I'm stuck in this time."

The chief of the druids shook his head and looked at his friend.

"However, the logic is very clear and you will be able to return, son, as clear and crystalline as water. Could it be that, deep down, you are afraid of being defeated again? After all, no one likes defeat."

"And what gives you such... say... clarity, to use your words?"

"I am the proof that you will return, son." Ezequiel put his hand on his shoulder. "I like you very much since I saw you for the first time and now you are the father of my grandson, or granddaughter, as you told me. If I am alive and active in the 21st century, it is a sign that I remember you very well, right?"

"It makes sense, since your behavior is that of someone with privileged memory."

"Exactly, but I said nothing about this trap, only that I would have to know about it."

"It's a paradox, but it's real, according to your logic."

"That's right, son, and if I knew that you would be stuck here or even lose your life, don't you think I would have warned you? If I didn't warn you, it was to not alter the flow of time, since you will have to go back, that is, at some point, we will separate. My self from now doesn't know, but my self from the 21st century knows very well that I spent a few hundred years without you around."

"It turns out that this is another paradox: if you warned me and I didn't come here, I wouldn't know, so I couldn't warn you. Then, we enter a vicious cycle."

"I think I prefer my line of reasoning, Igor," Ezequiel insisted, smiling. "You will return and I will not have told you anything to not interfere because you are the great responsible for the outcome of the War of the Warlocks, the true hero who was hidden in history, but that I know very well who he is. You should not fear the battles with that demon. From what we talked, he no longer penetrates your barrier and can be hit in human form. You just need to learn how to hit him in his natural form and I know you will succeed, Igor."

The centenary druid paused a litle and continued:

"As much as I love my little girl, I know that you will never be happy the way you are." Igor made a gesture to speak, but he raised his hand, interrupting. "Calm down. I can see that you have a very strong feeling for her, but that's not what you want. Later, the longing will become unbearable and you will discover that you made a big mistake. Leave her with this happy memory and your baby that she always wanted and return to the one who is the true owner of your heart while you can."

Igor stopped walking and looked into his friend's eyes. He remained like that for a few minutes, thinking, knowing that he must be right as he never failed to happen since he met him. Seeming to wake up from a nightmare, he shook his head.

"I'm going to meditate," he said, very seriously. "Please, tell Ailin not to worry about me, if I take too long." Looking at the bird, said, "Gwydion, I'm sorry, but I intend to be alone."

He did not wait for an answer or move his hands. He just opened a portal right in front of them where Ezequiel glimpsed a dream world, beautiful like he had never seen before, and the young man crossed. The portal closed soon after the passage. Amazed, he asked the bird dragon:

"What world is that?"

"It is in the thirteenth plane, the Crystal World," said the bird. "One of the most beautiful worlds in the Universe and where you will build a city of unique beauty."

"It's too beautiful!"

― ☼ ―

Igor sat down, leaning against a tree, and emptied his mind, relaxing as much as possible. He reviewed step by step everything that happened since the last duel with Samuel, especially how he passed through the rift without falling into the trap. He concluded that Samuel opened two rifts, side by side. One where he escaped and the other was the trap, but how could a creature that didn't have much skill in opening portals, and must have absorbed that from Caroline when he killed her, have created such a perfect trap?

No matter how much he thought, he did not get a suitable or acceptable solution and, annoyed by not being able to get any kind of hypothesis, he got up, blaspheming loudly:

"Damn the hour when I authorized Carol to open the zero plane," he shouted up with all his energy, very angry and desperate. Lightning began to cross the skies all around him. "Damn this world-destroying creature."

Thunder echoed over his head and he, exasperated, fell on his knees with his hands on the lawn, squeezing the earth and almost crying while the electricity drained into the waters around him. When he raised his face, he saw his face reflected on the stone edge of the small lake in front of him and remained silent for a while, just observing, seeing his face oscillate by the tiny and gentle waves formed in the small waterfall on the other side.

He jumped up and returned to Earth, looking for Ezequiel. As he did not find him, he called Gwydion using telepathy.

"Gwydion, where are you and where is Ezequiel?"

"We are in the druid clearing, training Ailin." It was the immediate answer. "The one that is further south."

Without haste, Igor walked there, since it was close. The village was almost empty because, at that time, many of the villagers were still working in the fields, but wherever he went he was greeted and respected as the greatest of the druids and the man who saved them from destruction, since that small village was almost all that remained of the ancient Celtic culture. He entered the forest and walked until he heard voices. In the clearing, Ailin used her powers, amplified by the ring that glowed, pulsing on her finger. At that moment her father taught her how to shape a ball of plasma energy and, when Igor entered, she was startled by the noise and threw the ball at him.

Luckily, the girl was not skilled in the art because she could have killed him since Igor was not prepared for a fight. He raised his hand and absorbed the energy of the sphere, nullifying it. Smiling, he asked:

"Do you plan to kill the father of your child, Ailin?"

Scared, the girl ran to his neck, hugging him full of tenderness.

"I'm sorry, my love," she gave a shy smile. "I'm still learning."

"And I see that you learn in an exemplary way; well and fast. You have very strong powers, Ailin," he pushed the girl away gently. "Ezequiel, I need to do something that is somewhat risky and I might even be killed, but I have to do it. With your help and the dragons, the chances of being successful are much greater."

Ailin grabbed his arm, worried and apprehensive. When she looked into Igor's eyes, she soon discovered part of his intentions and became sad.

"You will risk your life, maybe uselessly—"

Igor took her and moved away to be able to speak privately and with all sincerity.

"Ailin, I'm going to do a dangerous experiment because I know that your father, in the future, will not be able to face this monster alone and he can destroy a whole world. I still don't know if I will be successful, but I will look for someone who can know and help. This is the last attempt I will make to return to the future, I promise."

"You will return to her—"

"I never hid from you that she is my great love, Ailin, and I have always been very honest with you. I can assure you that I also feel a love for you and for what you meant to me in these months. In fact, if it weren't for this thing that I can't even explain to myself, I would never have given in to your charms. I would have just fulfilled my promise to give you a child and nothing more."

"I'm sorry." She hugged Igor and kissed him. "I know that this is true and I just want you to be happy. But I will also go with you to help."

"It's dangerous, my angel."

"If you return to your time, I will be very happy for you," she said, energetic, "but, if you die, I will die with you or trying to save you."

"If that's what you want, so be it, but I want you to remember that you carry a new life inside you." They walked back and Igor asked. "Ready?"

He did not wait for an answer and opened the portal to the Crystal World, inviting everyone to pass. Once there, he closed the way back and explained:

"I intend to go to the fourteenth plane—"

"There are only thirteen planes, son," said the druid, astonished by such a demonstration of ignorance. "All druids know that!"

"Well, they know wrong; I didn't tell you anything before because of the paradoxes, but—"

"There are thirteen, planes," insisted Saci, interrupting. "I have traveled through all of them for about thirty millennia."

"There are fifteen planes," said Igor, resolute, "and it was the opening of the lowest plane, the zero, that brought the catastrophe. These two planes are difficult to open and, therefore, you dragons do not know them. I intend to travel to the fourteenth plane and test the hypothesis that the beings that will be there, if there are any, are the opposite of the demon that arose on Earth. Maybe they will have the key that will allow me to manipulate time."

"I intend to open the rift and I need you to protect it against the passage of whatever it is," continued the wizard. "If I take too long, don't be scared, because time in the zero plane passed differently and nothing prevents it from being like that in this one too."

"And how do you know if you will find a world with a civilization, son?" asked Ezequiel.

"I master a simple technique that allows me to open portals directly to worlds like that," he explained, without giving details.

Igor was nervous and worried until the moment he started to tell his plans. After that, even knowing that he could be killed, he maintained a serenity that ended up spreading the group. He finished, saying:

"If I don't come back in ten days, assume that I died and go back to Earth. Ezequiel, from now on, the final battle will have to be with you and Saci, in eighteen centuries. I think it's better for you to assume the dragon form so that you can fight efficiently if necessary, but I hope not."

The dragons transformed into their true appearance and the wizard turned his back on the group, preparing himself.

"Wait." Ailin almost shouted, approaching. She hugged him again and kissed Igor, with tears in her eyes. "I love you."

He smiled and started the preparations. Meanwhile, Gwydion approached her, lowering his big head and saying something only to her mind. She hugged the giant from another world, happy.

Igor nodded, backed away about ten meters and turned, focusing all his energies on a specific point in front of him.

― ☼ ―