Time

"Ummm, Lubic, I think we have something more important to worry about right now," Azalyn said, tapping him on the shoulder. He spun around to see the witch standing in front of a doorway, the wicked gleam of metal in her hand.

"Oh, right. The witch," he said. "You! Witch! Drop your weapon!"

The witch stared at the two of them, a frown darkening her features, her left hand on her hip. "How did you two get in here?"

"Azalyn, next time I dream about you, remind me to also dream about having a gun handy," Lubic whispered.

Azalyn turned to glare at him once again before turning back to the witch. "We are here to stop you from hurting anyone!"

The witch continued to frown, but after a moment a ravishing smile broke out across her face. "Oh, you must be sent by Jared! Is he here?" she turned to look beyond them into the hall. "Jared? Jared, show yourself!"

Lubic and Azalyn exchanged confused glances. "Who is Jared?" Lubic finally asked.

"Jared did not send us," Azalyn affirmed. "We came of our own accord."

"If Jared did not send you, why would you come here now?" Jaleesa asked, confusion clouding her face.

"Who is Jared?" Lubic asked again, a little more loudly.

"We are here to stop you from hurting anyone!" Azalyn asserted again.

"And what makes you think you can stop me?" Jaleesa asked darkly.

"That is our job!"

"If anyone were to stop me, it would be Jared. Not a child like you."

"Jared is not here, is he? We are! And we are not children! We can and will stop you!"

"Believe me, you are children in the grand scheme of the universe. I have been here since before even the mighty Jared was born, " Jaleesa declared, her eyes narrowing. "And how exactly did you two get in here, anyway?"

"He," Azalyn gestured at Lubic, "brought us to the source of the dreams: you."

"And just how exactly were you planning on stopping me?"

"Alright!" Lubic interrupted. "No one’s going anywhere until I get some answers!"

And then the universe stopped.

"Oh my!" Jaleesa dropped her knife. Or she would have dropped it, except it hung motionless in the air, the silver blade still gleaming, in the exact position it was in before time stopped. After staring at the knife in amazement, she turned to regard Lubic, a look of horror rapidly spreading across her features. "Jared could not do what you just did!"

"Oh, the Timekeeper’s going to have a field day with this!" Azalyn muttered.

Lubic looked at them, now even more confused than he had been. "What? What did I do?"

"Lubic," Azalyn whispered, "you just halted time."