Chapter 23: The Clock Rewinds
The air pulsed with an electrifying hum as the hourglass shattered in my hands, golden sand evaporating into luminous mist. I closed my eyes, feeling the time magic swirl around me, threading itself into the very seams of reality. Then—a beat. A heartbeat. And another. It wasn't mine.
Kyle.
I gasped as time warped around me, distorting space like ripples on water. I was no longer in Rafaal's fortress. I was somewhere else entirely—somewhen else.
The room shimmered like a dream half-remembered. A park. A bench. Snow falling in soft tufts. I stood there, heart racing, watching as a boy walked across the field. He was laughing, tossing snow into the air.
Kyle.
He was alive.
I stumbled forward, tears in my eyes, afraid to speak. What if he couldn't see me? What if this was just a memory?
Then he turned—and his eyes met mine.
"Rockie?" he said softly, like he wasn't sure if I was real. Like I was the dream.
I ran to him, throwing my arms around him. He was warm. Solid. Alive.
"You remember me?" I whispered.
"How could I forget? You saved me. I saw you... I saw everything."
I pulled back, breathless. "How are you even here? Time... time had erased you."
He shrugged, smiling gently. "Time may have forgotten me, but you didn't. And that was enough."
But the moment didn't last.
The skies turned dark. Thunder cracked like a war drum. A fissure split open behind us, and from it crawled a swarm of time wraiths—soulless, hollow-eyed creatures born from time's imbalance. They had followed the crack I created. They were the consequence.
Velvet appeared at my side. "You brought him back... but you broke a fundamental law. Time doesn't like being rewritten."
"What do we do?" I asked, eyes on the growing horde.
"You fix it. You fight them back. You seal the rift. But you have to choose, Rockie. Either keep Kyle... or restore balance."
My heart shattered. Again.
I looked at Kyle. His eyes pleaded for life. My soul begged for peace.
"There has to be another way!" I cried.
Velvet tilted her head. "The Sword of Time can seal the rift. It can restore equilibrium. But it will require a sacrifice. A true anchor."
Kyle stepped forward. "Then let it be me."
"No!" I reached out, grabbing his hand. "I just got you back!"
"And you just saved the world. That has to count for something," he said softly. "You gave me another chance. Now it's my turn."
"Don't you dare!" I sobbed. "Not again. Not like this."
He cupped my cheek. "I love you, Rockie. I always have. And even if time forgets me again, I'll never forget you. Not where it counts."
I wanted to scream. To rip the timeline apart. But deep down, I knew what he was saying was true.
I kissed him. Once. Long. Desperate.
Then I raised the Sword of Time.
"You won't be forgotten," I whispered.
With a final flash of light, Kyle plunged the sword into the rift. The world convulsed. The time wraiths screamed as they were pulled back into the crack. Light exploded outward.
And then—silence.
I collapsed to the ground, breath gone, hope shattered.
Kyle was gone.
No body. No ashes. Just absence.
Velvet knelt beside me. "He sealed the rift. Time has stabilized."
"I hate time," I whispered.
"I know."
For days, I didn't speak. Didn't train. Didn't fight.
Then came the whispers again.
A new enemy. One worse than Rafaal. A god forgotten by time. One who controlled memory.
They called him Oblivion.
And he was coming.
I stood in the ruins of the battlefield, wind howling through the trees. I held the Sword of Time in my hand, its glow dim but steady.
"You took Kyle," I said into the wind. "Now I take you."
The next war had begun.
TO BE CONTINUED...