Time: 00:00:01 — Somewhere in the Riftlands. Time loop zone.
The sky above the Riftlands was the color of rusted memory—clouds hanging like bruises, unmoving. Kael had crossed into the zone an hour ago… or maybe an hour from now. Time kept stuttering here, and his Relic Watch was already glitching.
WARNING: Temporal sync lost. Please do not interact with versions of yourself.
Too late.
A second Kael darted past him, panting, bleeding from the shoulder. "Don't talk to her!" he shouted as he disappeared into the woods.
Kael sighed and muttered, "Future me is such a dramatic little punk."
He adjusted his coat and kept moving forward.
The Riftlands were full of clock beasts—mechanical horrors stitched from lost seconds and void gears. They hunted anything that didn't belong. Kael wasn't just a trespasser. He was a walking paradox.
He moved between the broken trees, stepping over forgotten soldiers frozen mid-charge, caught in a loop of battle that never ended. Their eyes flickered with time-sickness. Some whispered prayers in languages not yet invented.
Then he saw her.
Aelira.
Sitting on a rock like she had nothing better to do than hang out in a death forest full of ticking nightmares.
She wore a long black dress stitched with silver thread that shimmered like clock hands under moonlight. Her hair fell like ink over her shoulders, and her eyes were mirrors — literally. You could see yourself in them.
"Hello again, Kael," she said, like it was their tenth date and he was late.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "We've never met."
"Not for you."
She stood up slowly, every movement echoing like a chime through the Rift.
"You want to find the Prime Clock. To reset the world. But you don't even know what it costs."
Kael didn't have time for riddles. He drew the Rustbrand, his relic dagger forged from a fractured bell tower. It hummed in his hand.
"Tell me where it is."
She tilted her head. "I'll show you. But first… survive."
She stepped backward into the fog—and vanished.
Then the ticking started.
LOUD.
REPEATING.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The trees trembled. Something massive approached — not running, but striding, like it owned time itself.
Out from the smoke came a Clockhound, fused from gears, sinew, and rusted bone. Its chest held a cracked clock face that struck midnight with every step.
Kael activated Chrono-Blink—
Nothing.
His watch was fried.
"You're in a no-cast zone," echoed Aelira's voice in his mind. "Magic breaks here. Only memory survives."
The Clockhound lunged.
Kael rolled beneath its maw, slashing upward — the blade hit metal, sparks flying, no damage.
He needed a new plan.
He looked around — spotted a looped soldier dropping a relic grenade in a five-second loop. Over and over.
Timing.
Kael charged toward him, calculating each second like a conductor leading a dying orchestra. Just before the drop reset, he snatched the grenade from the loop and sprinted back toward the Clockhound.
Tick-tick-tick... BOOM.
The explosion sent gears flying and cracked the hound's chest open, revealing a mess of warped time threads inside.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He plunged his dagger into the glowing strands — the beast let out a distorted howl, like it was dying in multiple centuries at once.
And then… silence.
The fog cleared. Aelira reappeared, unharmed.
Kael, panting, stared her down. "What the hell was that?"
She stepped close. Too close. Her eyes shimmered.
"That was your future hunting you. Time remembers who broke it."
Back at the Clocktower Bastion, Lira Morwyn slammed her gauntlet on the war table.
"He went in alone again?! That idiot's going to unravel himself!"
Finn shrugged from across the room, munching on a sandwich.
"Kael's like a cockroach in a blender. He always crawls out."
The Archmagus chuckled from her prison beneath the tower.
"Let the boy chase the Prime Clock. Let him peel time open and see what bleeds out."
Somewhere, in a realm outside of time, gears turned.
A broken throne sat empty.
But not for long.
A whisper rippled across the fractured strands of fate:
"Kael Veyne has entered the Chrono Verge. The end begins again."
To be continued in Chapter Three: "Lira, the Sword That Cuts Time"
Want Chapter Three next? Or want to explore a character backstory, more relics, or a side mission in the Eternal War zone? I'm loaded with content — just point me in the direction.