THE SEVENTH PROTECTOR

Part Seven

7.

Several hours had passed, it was getting dark, and the developing soft cold breeze gave Neil the shivers. He was tired, cold, and feeling less enhanced that what he had been, but he was not about to give up looking for Gareth. Nothing is over until a moment of ending has come, that moment is not now and hopefully it is not anytime soon.

He walked a long winding road; trees filled the hills either side of the road. One car would pass every few minutes. Neil couldn't really stop one and ask for help. What would he say to the driver of any car that may stop if he flagged one down?

'I can't find my friend, he is a protector and so happens to be very sick, he has taken on the personality traits of those who were protectors before him and he is also alone and confused, will you help me find him?'

No, Neil knew he couldn't do that. For now, he felt just as alone and confused as what Gareth may most likely be. Neil noticed someone up ahead of him; he couldn't quite see what that person looked like. As he got closer, he could tell it was female and when he did get close enough to clearly see her Neil was surprised to see it was Anna.

'How are you here? I thought I could only see you if the crystal is close by.'

Before Anna could reply Neil realized that Gareth must indeed be close by.

'Gareth is around here somewhere, isn't he? It is either that or maybe he no longer has the crystal, and the crystal is around here somewhere without being attached to Gareth.'

Anna told Neil that Gareth is indeed close by and that he does still have the crystal. Being exactly what she is, she knew this to be true just as she knew of something else as being true. The only thing now is that Gareth has taken on the traits of Vicente, so much so that Vicente's traits have more or less taken over Gareth. He is acting as if he is Vicente rather than being himself along with what he has gained from Vicente being a former protector.

Vicente, the second protector, had always loved the outdoors. He was a master of his surroundings and could use them to his advantage, and he could survive in any circumstance. So, in a strange way Gareth could actually be looking after himself really well while also not wuite being himself.

Boris the dog had become an almost constant companion for Gareth, and when Neil and Anna were closing in on his location, Boris began to howl and continued to howl giving away their exact location until both Anna and Neil had caught up to Gareth, for as sure as it is getting dark Boris was not and is not leaving Gareth's side until at least such a time when all is good and well.

It is at this point that the third protector Ajani makes himself known. Anna being the fifth protector already knew Ajani since of course he had preceded her, but for Gareth this was yet another download so to speak for him to take on.

Adding traits, memories, and skills to his already overloaded, messed up mind, at this particular moment in time could only spell disaster but Ajani or the essence of Ajani couldn't wait. The journey's end is near it is up to this newest of downloads that needs to get Gareth to his final destination where everything is to be revealed.

Ajani was African man. He was the protector for twenty-two years from close to the end of the nineteenth century right through into the early twentieth century, but these twenty-two years had followed an eight year period of time whereby Ajani had been a seeker. For four of these eight years of when Ajani had been a seeker, Vicente had been the protector and for the remaining four of Ajani's years of being a seeker, the crystal had been lying in wait for its next protector, which indeed ultimately became Ajani himself.

It is the crystal that chooses its protector. Ajani is the only seeker in history to actually get his hands on the green crystal and as it turned out Ajani was meant to have it. Being a seeker set up Ajani to become a protector. Neither Vicente nor Ajani knew each other until such point when Ajani became the protector.

Through the crystal activated vortex, a lot can be achieved. For when Ajani first discovered the crystal, the vortex destroyed the seekers crystal which Ajani had worn for those eight years he had been a seeker.

It had never been in his nature to take the crystal for reasons of power. Ajani's heart had been good and strong prior to being a seeker and it would be this strength that would guide him as a protector. He knew exactly what it was to be on the other side. A chance coming together with a seeker crystal and the effects the seeker crystal had on him set him on the path to find the main crystal.

A big difference between Ajani and Neil is the fact the crystals found Ajani, he was meant to have them, Neil was not, still Neil feels he has much a right to the story as anyone else, even Gareth. He would argue all day long that destiny brought him to where he needs to be.

Because of his own use of the main crystal's vortex as well as having been both a seeker and a protector, Ajani had been left with the information of when, how and where the journey would end and this information has dissolved itself onto the remnants of previous protectors whether they cam before or after Ajani in the picking order.

'We have to set up the vortex' Ajani wasted no time in telling Neil and Anna.

This worried Neil 'seekers will come.'

'Yes, they will' Ajani told Neil before continuing 'Gareth needs to heal, he will heal inside the vortex, when he has healed ... we will be ready for the seekers, and we will be ready for whatever the crystal will show us.'

Another cavern would be found, this one being deep enough where most of its space went underground. Neil, of course, would have to do the heavy lifting, having to carry Gareth to a spot where he can safely lay and heal. Time would not be wasted; the vortex was to be set up right away and just as it was set up, Gareth's nose once more began to bleed.

This nosebleed would be a cause of worry for Neil though he would be assured by the others that the healing had begun for the journeys end was definitely nearing. Neil, Boris, and all six of the previous protectors soon came to completely surround Gareth.

A frightening sight this is ... it is as if a life is about to end, and friends and family have gathered for those final moments. There can't be an end, can there? And it won't end with the loss of a life, will it? The end indeed is near, what secrets are soon to be revealed by the crystal?