A Dubious Benefactor

Striking down Apollo with Kairos would have been a simple task. There wouldn't be much he could do while frozen in time and I was close enough to him that I could reach him with the help of a second dilation.

But as I picked up Kairos from the ground, I eyed the Warden who stood nonchalantly beside Priscilla's killer.

Five minutes, I told myself. That's how much time I had before Priscilla would bleed to death. Since there wasn't anything I could to stop her from dying in my current condition, I figured I could at least avenge her.

I racked my brains for a way to get past the Warden should he be able to break through a time dilation again. But with my limited magic and my lack of meaningful equipment, I came up empty. There was simply nothing I could do if he could move when he shouldn't have been able to.

I have to try.

I activated the first dilation and ran toward Apollo and Morpheus.

Just as I expected, Apollo was frozen in time but Morpheus remained unhindered.

When the Warden noticed that time had stopped around him, he eagerly turned to face me. There was an empty smile on his face as he raised his pale white blade and beckoned me to approach him. He seemed to welcome my change of heart. It was then that I noticed that he was holding a small dagger in his left hand. It was a short blade made of a dark, shimmering material that looked eerily like the material Kairos was made of.

That must be it! I thought. Another blade of time!

But as far as I knew, Kairos was the only blade of its kind, and only a Densus Knight could make use of its time dilation.

Then it hit me.

Morpheus had to be a Sempronian, just like me.

He can’t be, I thought. I’m the last Densus Knight!

My mother had told me that the Sempronians had been wiped out by their enemies long before I was born and that we were the last of our people. But I couldn’t shake the memory that Morpheus knew who my mother was, that he knew who I was. There was a very good chance that he was who I thought he was.

I grit my teeth in anger.

He could also very well have been the father who left my mother to raise me alone.

I stepped into range to strike Morpheus down.

I knew it was folly to fight him, but I didn’t care.

Priscilla was dying.

My mother was dead.

Eleanor was dead.

But I was still alive.

Apollo had to die.

"Morpheus!" I screamed.

As I raised my blade to strike Morpheus, an electrical tingling filled my entire body, as if I had stepped into an electrified net. The tingling sensation vanished as quickly as it came, but it stopped me dead in my tracks. I looked around me in alarm, wondering what had caused it.

Do not fight the Warden, Iris said sternly.

Whose side are you on?

What do you think?

Morpheus noticed my hesitation but he didn’t take the opportunity to strike back at me. Instead, he lowered his blade and took a step away from me.

“You alright?” he asked.

Apollo was right there, helpless to run away. All I needed to do was land a good strike on him and there was a chance she would be avenged. But Iris’s booming voice echoed throughout the chambers of my mind.

I have a plan, but I need you alive for it to work. Do not fight the Warden.

Iris was a Seraph.

She could save Priscilla.

Come down here and heal her! Then I won't hurt your friend.

He's not my friend!

Then what gives?

A pause.

I can’t, she said.

She’s going to bleed out in a few minutes, Iris!

You have to trust me.

I activated my second time dilation as the first fizzled to an end. But even as time continued to stand still, I just couldn’t see a way to get to Apollo without endangering myself as well. Morpheus was a problem I could not solve with the tools I had.

“Why didn’t you stop Apollo?” I demanded.

“I didn’t expect him to shoot your lord,” he replied coldly.

“Like hell, you didn’t! You were standing right there with a blade that can stop time!”

“You don’t have to believe me.”

I pointed at Priscilla.

“You’re not going to let Hilda’s daughter just die, are you?”

Morpheus took a deep breath and exhaled.

“You overestimate her concern for her daughter,” he replied. “My orders were to observe her progress through the nightmare, not to ensure her survival.”

Morpheus then turned to leave. A well of anger exploded deep within me, and my body began to move of its own accord.

I lunged for Apollo, but before I had taken two steps, a second more powerful shock brought me down to my knees. I screamed as I nearly lost my grip on Kairos. Enraged, I tried to climb up to my feet, but my body refused to respond to me as if I had been tasered.

Let me go, Iris!

I managed to get one foot back on the ground, but pain forced me to pause.

Titus, you just have to trust me! I can get you to the city. I can save both of you.

No, you can't! Priscilla’s going to die because of you!

Let her.

You've got to be kidding-

-she is not Mortal like you. She will live again. But if you want to be around to see that, you must let Apollo go. I can't stop Morpheus from hurting you.

Iris had a valid point, but-

-if Priscilla dies, she’s going to forget who I am. The Priscilla I knew is going to be gone.

But you will be giving her a second chance at life. Isn't that more important?

With a roar I tossed my blade down into the ashes beneath my feet and began to beat the pile of ground with my fists. Tears blinded me as my fists sent the dead cinders flying into the air like feathers from a pillow. My thrashing was a futile effort, but I had to do something so I wouldn’t be tempted to go after Apollo.

The second time dilation came to an abrupt end. I didn’t bother activating the third.

When Apollo saw that I had closed some distance between the two of us, he drew another red arrow back on his bow and pointed it at me.

“Sneaky bastard!” he yelped. "Do you want to die, too?"

In alarm, I scrambled for Kairos to activate the final dilation, but before Apollo could fire the arrow, Morpheus kicked the golden bow out of Apollo’s hands. The weapon snapped in half like a plywood pole before disappearing into the mountain of ashes beneath our feet.

Apollo grabbed his right hand in pain.

‘What was that for-?”

In one fluid motion, Morpheus punched Apollo square across the jaw.

The Host crumpled like tissue paper, face-planted the ground, and did not move.

“That’s enough out of you,” Morpheus grunted.

The Warden sheathed his pale white sword but held the dagger firmly in his left hand. He knelt beside Apollo and lifted up the Host’s listless body onto his right shoulder effortlessly. Then he stood up, turned around, and pointed at me with his dagger.

“You still have two hours,” he said. “You can still make it to the city.”

There were a million things I wanted to ask him, but I asked him the most pressing question I had.

“Before you go," I said, "tell me how long it takes for a dreamer to revive if they die.”

“They don't," was his reply. "No one revives six hours before the end of a cycle."

I was too stunned to say more as Morpheus walked through the portal with the murderer slumped over his shoulder.

The gateway closed silently behind him, leaving Priscilla and me alone in the void.

Was he telling the truth, or was he trying to mess with my mind? He had no reason to lie to me.

Iris, did you lie to me?

Silence.

I swallowed the panic rising quickly through my heart as I fished Kairos from the ground. Once the weapon was back in my hand, I raised the blade high into the air.

I had to get back to Priscilla.

But as I ran through the darkness back to her side, I realized I had no idea where I had left her. The light from her wing had completely faded. The only light in the darkness now came from Kairos.

I searched the vast emptiness with frenzied haste, knowing that my friend now only had minutes to live. But as the minutes passed, I realized I might not be able to find her in time.

My footprints!

I looked down, cursing myself for not thinking to do that first.

But as I began to follow one set of footprints back the way I came, I saw another set intersecting my own. Confused, I tried to figure out which was my own. I followed the other set, hoping it was the right one, but it wasn't long before I came across another set of footprints identical to my own.

I stopped walking when I realized that there were hundreds of other footprints traversing the dead embers in every direction imaginable. Whether they had been there all this time or if they had just appeared, I didn't know. I searched and I searched.

Four minutes came and went, and I had still not found my friend.

I continued my search, knowing that there was little chance that Priscilla would still be alive when I found her. And even if I did find her, it wasn't like I would be able to do anything to save her.

But when the fifth minute passed, I sank down onto my knees and closed my eyes, not wanting to face the reality of what had happened.

I was now alone in the dark, and the Host I had been counting on had let me down when I needed her most.