The Guardian: Heart Of Magic

The Trance

After Lyculn and Arda left the village, they rode straight to Azerihania Province where Lyculn knew could be safer for them. Lyculn had heard so much good news surrounding that part of the Melum Kingdom that was even before they decided to stay on their own as Azerihania Province. Lyculn's mother Prisca was a subject of that same part of Melum Kingdom before she got married to Lyculn's dad.

They arrived at the Province with Helena seriously crying because she was hungry, Lyculn did not know what to do because he had never baby seated a child before in his life. A female stranger noticed the baby crying on Lyculn's chest reached out to him to ask if all was well.

"Why are you allowing such a beautiful girl to be crying like this?" the stranger asked.

"I don't know why she is crying, her mum is not here with us, maybe her mother would have known what is wrong with her now," Lyculn said.

"Why did you not leave her with her mum, she is very hungry that is why she is crying, I suggest you take her to meet her mum if she is close because she would most likely catch a fever if she continues to cry like this," the woman said.

"Thank you very much, I will act on it quickly, I wish I met you earlier," Lyculn said. The woman then left them and continued her journey, her appearance spoke for itself, it was like she was a traveler. Lyculn could not differentiate if she was a human or a magical goblin because of the hood she wore, Her hood covered the majority of her face.

Lyculn did not know what he could get Helena to eat, he could not think well, all he wanted now was for Helena to just stop crying. Since the stranger touched her cheeks, her crying had reduced, it was like she kept a charm on her fingers. Helena's crying reduced but she still did not stop crying completely.

"Do you know what babies eat? What can we get for little Helena to eat? You already know what happened to her mother" Lyculn asked Arda.

"I think she can survive on goat milk, my father once talked about me surviving on goat milk from when I was born to when I was old enough to eat like an adult," Arda replied.

"What happened to your mother, I was not chanced to ask your father since I returned back to the village," Lyculn said.

"My father told me that she died while she was trying to give birth to me, he said that since her death he began to feed me goat milk because he overheard some women talking about how healthy it is for babies to drink goat milk as a substitute for breast milk," Arda said.

"Let us not waste so much time here, Let find someone to show us the way to the marketplace so I get the milk for Helena to eat and stop crying," Lyculn said.

They both asked some people for directions to the market, the market was described to them and they got there after following the direction given to them strictly. Lyculn and Arda also were hungry so they bought their own food too at the market in the process of getting Helena's milk. Lyculn bought enough milk that would last Helena for couple more days. After feeding her the goat milk, Lyculn discover that Helena's body was hot, she had begun to run at a hot temperature.

"I think Helena is already having a fever, the woman was actually right," Lyculn said.

"Let us get her to a physician or healer before her condition gets worst" Arda suggested.

"I don't trust anyone with her, despite the crime rate of this province being very low, I can't take my chances," Lyculn said.

"What do you plan on doing, Helena condition would get no better if we keep on wasting time here, doing nothing," Arda said.

Lyculn then reached out to some passers-by to give him directions for him to get to the hut of the province healer. Out of about ten persons, they asked, only one person knew where the province healer resides. Lyculn and Arda strolled down to the healers dwelling place, little Helena was already fast asleep when they got there.

"How may I help you," the province healer asked.

"My child has a fever, I am a passer-by, someone directed me there that is how I was able to locate you," Lyculn said. The province healer checked little Helena's temperature then he went inside his hut, after some minutes returned with a liquid substance in a bottle.

"Have this, immediately she wakes up, gives her three shots of this, by evening she would be alright" the province healer said.

Lyculn thanked him very much after he took the small bottle of liquid substance from him. After a while they reached where they were going, Lyculn was highly welcomed by the people of the house. Lyculn made his way to the family hut of his mother when he missioned her name, they told him he would be able to stay with them for the night that when it is morning they would take him to where he would be more comfortable. He was very worried that little Helena was yet to wake up from her sleep, he did not want to disturb her sleep either.

After a while, little Helena woke up on the legs of Lyculn, Arda was very tired so he was currently he was sleeping. Lyculn gave little Helena the medicine the same way the province healer asked him to give it to her. Some minutes after he gave her the drugs, she slept off, this time Lyculn was not worried because he knew she was about to recover from the fever fully. The village healer told him to check her temperature at night and he did so at night, she was feeling very okay and free from any fever. Arda woke up after sleeping since they arrived, now it was Lyculn's turn to sleep while Arda would watch over her.

In couple more minutes, Lyculn was fast asleep, it was left for Arda to watch over little Helena since she woke up some minutes before Lyculn fell asleep. It was not long from when Lyculn could not hear any noise from around him, he saw himself back next to the river that King Arman talked with him. He was just seated all by himself there, he was thinking. Lyculn was in his first trance since he forced himself into it to enquire about the birth of Helena. He was sitting there, his both legs were inside the cold river walk as he was lost in thought. Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind.

"What is the matter, why are you seated here lost in thoughts," King Arman asked. Lyculn turned back to look at who was talking to him, when he saw it was King Arman once again he looked forward back.

"I don't think I am the right person for this task, I was not even able to protect those villagers or even Helena's mum, how will I now be able to save Helena from Idahali" Lyculn replied.

"The gods are not mistaken appointing you as her protector, you have all qualities and power to protect her till she is ready to save my people," King Arman said.

"Which powers, powers that could not stop Idahali from killing all those villagers, under my nose Nagress was also killed, I think the gods should find someone else for this job," Lyculn said. There is some minutes of silence after Lyculn finished talking, he looked back to check if King Arman was gone, he was still standing behind him. He heard a different voice from the one he had been hearing before.

"Belief, believe is all you need son, you need to believe in yourself, stop looking down on yourself, move on because you were not the cause of the death of those villagers and the guardian's mother, they were all destined to die the way they did," Lycurgos said. He is the greatest visioneer Culum Kingdom has produced. Lyculn turned around when Lycurgos was talking, he saw that it was Lycurgos. He stood up and walked closer to Lycurgos who was standing next to King Arman.

"Lycurgos, I'm very happy to see you, the greatest visioneer Culum Kingdom has produced," Lyculn said.

"Where did you learn to give up so soon, you have not even passed through anything and you are giving up, you were destined to be the protector of the guardian and you must play the role of her protector till the end like Ashr was to King Arman," Lycurgos said.

"Did I hear someone call my name over there?" Ashr asked. All the three of them looked behind themselves and saw Ashr.

"That is who you should be talking to, he has enough experience and knowledge about being a protector, or do you want to be replaced," King Arman said.

"I am ready to contribute to Helena fulfilling her destiny as her protector," Lyculn said.

"You have numbered days and you know why it is so, so I advise you to prepare her very well before leaving her," Lycurgos said. Lyculn then nodded his head before going to meet Ashr for a discussion. They both walked to a place which was noisier than where they were coming from, the sound of the fresh waterfall was loud, Ashr told Lyculn that the place they are in his best spot this place.

"Where is this place, I have found myself here the last two times I went in trance to hear from the gods, I still don't end up hearing the gods' voices, It is Culum Kingdom's past heroes I keep meeting," Lyculn said.

"This place is where all the deceased come to communicate with the living with pure heart enough to make it here" Ashr replied.

"What is it you want to know about being a protector because you will still have to return," he asked.

"I want to know all that would make me a good master and protector to the guardian," Lyculn said.

Lyculn and Ashr talked for a few more minutes before Lycurgos came to interrupt them. There was an emergency that would require Lyculn to return to his body with immediate effect, someone is planning on harming Helena.

"Your time here is over, you must go because the guardian is in trouble. When you wake, take her with you to the neighbor province of where you are, there you would see a man Shelrun, he would take you and the guardian in because he is a messenger of the gods," Lycurgos said.

"I left her in good hands before sleeping, how were we noticed that she would be in trouble," Lyculn said. He then made his way back to the river with Lycurgos and Ashr.

"Remember you must leave immediately you wake up with only the guardian, no one else," Lycurgos said.

Lyculn then woke up from his sleep, he was the only one in the hut, he quickly went to check Helena, he saw she was lying down awake playing with a bottle Arda must have given her. Lyculn quickly parked all his belongings and that of Helena, he carried his backpack and carried Helena on his chest. In no time, they both left the hut without looking for Arda, it was the instruction Lycurgos gave him that he must leave with no one else aside Helena. When he was strolling away from the hut, he saw Arda coming with some soldiers, he quickly hid so they would not see him. Lyculn recognized those soldiers Arda was leading, Idahali's soldiers, their appearance was just like the archer he killed in the woods.

"What would he be doing with Idahali's soldiers?" Lyculn said after coming out of hiding. Arda had passed with the soldiers he was leading.