The ancient wolf reverted to its human form the exhausted, confused body of Samuel's ancestor. The temporal echo subsided, leaving the two travelers from the past unconscious on the stone floor.
Samuel, breathing heavily, turned his full, desperate attention back to Onyeka, the Chronos Shaper.
The Professor had retrieved the iron chest and, with cold efficiency, opened the Seed Cache. Inside, dozens of tiny, brown, potent seeds the deadly Folium Aethel rested on a bed of dried Iroko bark.
"Perfect," Onyeka murmured, carefully placing a handful of the seeds into a specially prepared, temporally-sealed pouch. "A sufficient stock to poison the future."
"Put the seeds down, Onyeka," Samuel commanded, his voice shaking with restrained power.
"I can't do that, Alpha," Onyeka said, finally looking up, his cinnamon scent sharp with triumph. "I am from a future where you failed. Where the chaotic silver power of the Folium Aethel destroyed your city and gave the Shadow dominion. I am here to ensure that future happens, but under my control."
Onyeka produced a small, silver-blue temporal resonator a more advanced version of Fortune's shard and activated it, aiming its energy at the chest.
"I will destroy the remaining seeds and take my stock to the future, sealing the path behind me," Onyeka explained, his eyes cold and methodical. "You are too late."
Before the resonator could fire, Esther reacted instantly. She grabbed the ancient wooden carving from the unconscious Aina and hurled it across the room.
The simple wooden carving infused with the Keeper's stabilizing energy struck Onyeka's temporal resonator with a loud crack.
The fragile past-artifact shattered the future-device.
Onyeka cried out in rage and pain. The destruction of his temporal gate sent a massive, uncontrolled ripple of energy through the chamber. The entire sub-basement began to shake violently, the massive Iroko pillars groaning under the strain.
"Fool!" Onyeka screamed, clutching his wrist where the device had been. "You've destabilized the Senate Building! You will be buried under your own history!"
The Chronos Shaper, without his temporal device, was just a powerful, intelligent human. Samuel, seizing the advantage, lunged with full force.
The blow wasn't meant to kill, but to incapacitate. Samuel slammed Onyeka against a pillar, knocking the Chronos Shaper unconscious. The sealed pouch of deadly seeds fell from his grasp, sliding across the stone floor.