Recorded by Sophia Lionhartt,
Of the events which took place on the 19th day of Radia, still after midnight, year of Pinnikle: 1,229.

Jack called out to Lofi. I swear I could see waves of sound from his shout, it was so loud! What was this!? Had Time summoned Lofi? I held my ears, as a hatless Lofi strode around the corner of the pub. My soul leapt when I saw him!

Not wasting a moment: He walked to the entrance, and pounded his staff powerfully on the ground. Slowly, light came from it, like strands of brilliance. It was not starlight. The light was much more pure and radiant than anything I had ever seen. As whisps of light began to pour from Lofi's staff, the sandman gently guided the hat back to crown its rightful owner.

Lofi shouted, "Be gone, shadow!"

His voice was exactly as I remembered:  like that of an old herald, close to the heart of all. I felt safe, warm, and every good thing, all at once when I heard it. My trio watched as incredulous light poured out from his staff.

Lofi's light became a mighty wolf, and the bright beast tore through the doorway of the pub! It snarled and howled, and then whimpered; only to continue the other sounds. We assumed it fought the darkness inside, which was obvious, but we did not know why it made those sounds, as if it were battling something. We could not see the events inside of starfall fix. But we did see the cloud of darkness, which had begun to spill out from the nix earlier, do something very strange. At the beginning, it seeped through cracks, and windowsills, as if beginning a journey to Fear. The moment Lofi's bright wolf was summoned, it rushed back inside, like it were attempting to defeat the light.

It was at that moment, Jack extended a very peculiar invitation: "The three of you: would you like to see inside, veiled safely, in a stilled moment? Well, it need not be still. It could be slow if you prefer..."

"I think I would," The words escaped my lips, because my curiosity would not be kept in. It's not that I lacked control, but simply that I trusted the safety offered by Jack's countancne.

"Let's do it!" Fin's gravelly voice agreed.

Leon said nothing, and it was safe to say that he was feeling a fair bit overwhelmed by the offer, let alone everything else. From his perspective: He would have to watch darkness be defeated, and face the fact that he, himself, could not defeat it to save his family. Not one week had passed since the loss of his dear ones, and he carried much disqualification along with his grief.

Despite the king's hesitation, a snap was heard; and the sound lingered un-naturally. Lofi still stood powerfully, between us and the tavern. The chord of spirit, connected to the wolf inside, was not absolutely frozen in time. Slowly, waves of light from Lofi's staff continued to give life to the canine. Up-river from us, End's Drop and it's waterfall was nearly frozen. My eyes trailed to the top of it, and there was Tryn - watching us in her beauty. Perhaps it was the distance, but she appeared to twinkle, normal as ever.

Jack must have noticed I was lost in this new world of a stilled moment, because he explained to me: "Stars are not bound by time, dear Sophie. Look up."

And so I did. We all looked up, and we saw many stars above dancing over Plummet Valley. Pinnikle, darkness, and light were all moving very slowly, but the stars were not. Out in the yonder skies: stars vast and so innumerable that they appeared as a thick mist (if you have seen what you call, "the milky way," you understand the description); they all twinkled, and the skies were lit brightly.

"Come now, if you wish to see what bright things do to darkness," Jack said, inviting and confident.

We had not noticed, but his face and body suddenly shown like silver as he stepped past us with glimmering sounds. He gestured with a hand, and we followed: Leon first, then Fin and I together. We came to the opening of the pub, and saw the chord of spirit functioning like a leash around the bright, wondrous wolf. The dog was very bright, with blue eyes, and the texture of its fur was light gray, white, and blue. It was nearly frozen in a rush toward a dark thing that dashed over thin air. The wolf was the first thing to catch my eye, because it was amazingly peculiar. But then, so was everything else.

The whole pub was frozen in time, courtesy of Jack. Every nix inside had fallen into a deep and sudden sleep, and many were in very laughable positions! Some had fallen onto each other, with crooks in their necks and backs. Others still held mugs of spilled ale in their hands, which had poured onto themselves and those around them.

I would have laughed at the sight of it all, if not for this: Dark stringy clouds billowed from their mouths - many of them. From outside, it appeared that the darkness was billowing into a small cloud. Now inside: I saw clearly that the wisps were being pulled from every nix, into dreadful little shadows who clung from the walls and ceiling. The little terrors were shaped like nix, but smaller. They were Fear's ravagers, his workers whom he called the spine. Many of those dark things glared into the souls of those who slept, and the sight of them gave me chills.

From what I could gather, the spine were stirring fear, and causing nightmares in the nix whom Jack had given good dreams. I supposed the unbelief, anger, and fear of the nix had caused them to be more vulnerable to nightmares. The shadows were harvesting darkness. I did not feel scared, but oddly excited about learning so much. I allowed myself to feel more relief, seeing that none of the them had a wooden box: none of them were the ringleader of darkness, Fear himself.

"A little faster now," Jack said, and moved a finger as if he were a conductor. "I need to observe what happens. You will be safe. You have my word."

Time began to move slightly more quickly, and my eyes jumped to the wolf. He slowly dashed through the air and tore into one of the spectres. The dark thing pounded at the wolf's face, and scratched at its eyes. The bright creature lurched around the attacks, and wrenched the shadow by its shoulder. The wolf wriggled the dark thing as if it were prey, threw it against a nearby wall, then widened his magic jaws in a way that was not natural, and ate the darkness!

"That was... unexpected," Fin said what we were all thinking.

"Yes, yes, well... Desperation calls for brute solutions..." said the sandman.

Leon asked the reasonable question: "Why do you say, 'desperation'? Are you, indeed, despairing?"

Jack's answer did not give me peace: "Truth be told: We knew we could coerce the darkness... But we were only slightly certain that we could dispose of it."

"Are you serious!?" Fin snapped.

"Yes, Finnegan Lionhartt. As I said, this was an experiment," He said seriously, then took on a more nonchalant tone: "Though I am most certain we can dispose of it."

I noticed a specter on the ceiling, clung there like a spider. Like all other things surrounding us, it moved slowly. It must have heard our voice somehow, now that time was moving more quickly, because it peered toward us.

"Link up!" Jack said, with a calm voice and eyes on the shadow.

"Damn you, and your experiments," Fin muttered.

Jack Whispered, "Do not allow your annoyance to become anger, lest you draw them all in."

We did link arms to Jack, and to one another. Suddenly I felt incredibly sullen, as if for ages I had witnessed many terrible things, from many lands! The weight of it almost put me on my back, but Jack and Fin held me up. As They held me, I noticed our skin turning into mirror. We became as time himself.

Jack instructed us in our minds: "Say not one word now, and believe with brightest ambition that you will live!"

The spectre above rushed toward us on all fours, still on the ceiling. The wolf dashed toward it, with great bounds. Jack raised a hand, snapped, and fury broke loose! The creature had lost sight of us, as we had become an invisible reflection! It dropped down just before us, and its cloudy face bent over me! I saw a strange haze around it, and heard the sound of a deep sniff. It was trying to smell our fear! I pursed my lips, and fought to keep my eyes open, while also hoping for safety from the depths of my soul! I made myself believe that I was safe inside my new reflective body. The men beside me stood like knights; unshaken, silent, and strong (not that I was weak).

Hollow, strange voices could be heard, sucking fear from the hearts of everyone in starfall fix! The wolf snarled, and tore at the shadow in front of us! It snapped off the things arm, then took the head in its mouth, and lifted its own head to swallow the spectre down its throat! The bright beast made eyes with Jack, somehow. It looked directly at him and let out a howl, then bowed slowly; sorrowfully. I felt as if the bright creature knew it must make some sacrifice, yet there was confidence in its eyes.

"Are you ready?" Jack asked it, and it gave a subtle nod.

The howl had brought an onslaught of angry specters to pounce on the wolf. They began pounding his body and ripping at his coat. He remained steady, and did not whimper, though I could see he was in pain. The wolf locked eyes with Jack, and a deep, and powerful howl was heard again. I heard Jack murmur, calling down many wishes. At that moment, I knew his skin shown like a mirror, but in my mind's eye: I could see the sandman gritting his teeth, as he spoke his wishes!

With such confidence, the like of which I had never heard, Jack spoke: "I wish upon the constellations of Orion, and Lupus to cast arrows into these spines. To tear into darkness with flashes of bright fangs, and with slashes of stardust, to dice the shadows from their places of existing! I wish upon Lumin Strakken, to crack down in good brightness, and to slice these dark shadows away! And I wish upon Trynity Everglade to burst forth with the flare of her rainbow arora, so that she may rid these innocent nix of Fear's grasp, on this good night! This will be a great eve, because I wish upon it!"

It all happened, quick as the words were uttered! Orion, the Hunter and his band of huntsmen appeared, to blast many bright arrows at the spectres which attacked Lofi's wolf! The wolf shook off the shadows upon him, he howled, yet again, and all was still for a moment. The shadows began to cower, but still fought. Then, the entire building, and the clutter inside of it, began to rumble!

The pack of Lupus' constellation burst through the doorway behind us, to the aid of Lofi's familiar! Together, they did flash bright teeth, which sunk into the dark terrors; and they did slash with claws, until they could wriggle their prey in their mouths. Lumin cracked through a high part of the wall, quick as lightning, with an explosion of his colors! He raised one hand to produce an ancient sword of stardust, and cut through many shadows. They did not stand a chance against his old and trusted blade. Last of all, Tryn - my Tryn - burst through the ceiling without a care! She landed hard before us, splintering the wooden floor. I swear, she looked at me with assurance, before turning around to blast incredulous auroras in every glimmering color! The spectres that remained pounded against every surface. They were weakened by wondrous light, until only puffs of shadow were left.

Then, stardust from them all encased the dark billows, until there was only stardust to fall; glittering and twinkling to the floor. It was over. The luminary crowd gathered before us. They were not perturbed by our reflective appearance, but saw us.

The mirror man unlinked his arms from ours, and put them by his side. We first became sand, and then that shed off, and we were back to our ordinary skin. I looked around at all the stars and oh! I didn't know what to say! I did not need to say anything, because Jack said a long closure, as he does; for he is ancient, and has trouble with short phrases.

These were his words: "As long as I've existed, I have seen many hopeful lives come into existence. Many of them ended far too soon, before achieving many unfinished works. They were held back, perhaps by many things, but two foremost: Pride, which came from within them and caused contented justification, which led them only to anger. The second is Fear, which has come from outside, and is darkness itself. That is why I am sullen, dear ones; I have seen far too many be held back from their good destiny. But this night brings me hope. And you... You all bring me much hope - a thing I'd long forgotten."

To conceive that Time, himself, could feel hopeless was more than I could fathom. It must have been why I felt such grief when Jack turned me into something like himself. He has always spoken in such upward tones, but was truly graven with the memories of seeing many shortcomings. It was his burden: a burden that was being lifted.

I looked at all the sleeping bodies around me. They had all fallen short of what they could have done moments before, after hearing a tale from time himself. They could have believed him. Instead, they did allow their pride to swell, and when it had become rage: the ravagers came. The shadow had been conceived before Jack snapped them into dreams, and their rage had called forth monsters to grieve them with nightmares. So rage is darkness, and it leads to Fear.

And Fear was there at the start of time - but so was hope! Hope was there to give a good threshold, and beckon Time into good moments. I wondered what he would have done, and if we would even exist, had his threshold not been torn down. I wondered why my parents never felt the tug of the dark man behind them, when they came through one such threshold, into Pinnikle. Perhaps, they had been lost in their love for one another. Perhaps love is the answer. I had so many questions, but only one that was most curious: What was there, through the threshold that belonged to Time himself? Perhaps we are supposed to know.