Caius's foot touched the ground, and the world lurched.
The golden sky cracked open, time shuddering as the Keeper's domain collapsed. The twin paths he had seen—one bathed in golden light, the other shadowed in darkness—merged into something formless.
The Keeper didn't move, watching him with an expression that could have been sorrow or relief.
"You've chosen," she whispered.
Caius didn't answer. He didn't know what he had chosen. All he had done was step forward, but something in the air told him it was enough. Time had been waiting for his decision, and now it was moving again.
But toward what?
The world broke apart.
Caius gasped as he was ripped from the void. His body twisted through time, through everything and nothing at once. He saw flashes of moments—Selene's face, Elias's smirk, Aldric standing beside him, battles yet to be fought, a throne that stood empty.
Then—silence.
And then—
He was standing in the ruins of the palace.
The storm was gone.
The sky was whole.
The world had resumed.
Caius staggered forward, his vision swimming. He felt solid ground beneath him, the scent of rain in the air. He turned, his pulse hammering.
Selene was there.
Her eyes widened in shock. "Caius?!"
Before he could answer, she was in front of him, grabbing his shoulders, searching his face for answers. "You disappeared! We thought—" She cut herself off, shaking her head. "What happened?"
He opened his mouth. Paused.
How could he explain? How could he put into words that he had just chosen the fate of time itself?
But before he could answer, a deep rumbling filled the air.
Aldric and Elias rushed forward, weapons drawn. Around them, the remnants of the palace shifted—stone rebuilding itself, broken pillars restoring. The shattered remnants of time were stitching back together.
But something was wrong.
Elias narrowed his eyes. "Is it just me, or does this not feel like a normal victory?"
Caius felt it too.
The choice had been made. Time had restarted.
But something had changed.
A scream echoed from the courtyard.
They turned just in time to see the first shadow rise.
It crawled from the stone like a living nightmare, its body shifting between forms, its face a blur of moments long forgotten. More of them followed, emerging from the cracks of time itself, shapeless beings that had never existed—things that should never have been.
Selene drew her blades. "What the hell are those?"
Caius didn't answer. He couldn't.
Because deep down, he already knew.
They were the price of his choice.
And they were coming.
The first shadow moved with an inhuman lurch, its form twisting like a mirage. One moment, it had too many limbs, the next, none at all. It opened what should have been a mouth, and a horrible, distorted whisper filled the air.
The temperature dropped. Frost spread across the cracked marble of the palace. Elias tightened his grip on his sword. "I don't like this," he muttered.
Then the shadows attacked.
They moved fast. Too fast. One lunged at Aldric, its form phasing through space before solidifying just in time to strike. He barely managed to bring up his sword, the steel colliding with what felt like nothing and everything all at once. The force of the impact sent him skidding back.
Selene wasn't so lucky. Another shadow shot toward her, and she slashed at it with twin daggers. But the blades passed through it, meeting no resistance. The creature twisted in midair, reforming behind her, and before she could react—
It grabbed her wrist.
Selene screamed.
The moment the shadow touched her, her body flickered. Her outline wavered, distorting, like she was being erased from existence.
"Selene!" Caius shouted. Without thinking, he lunged, grabbing onto her free arm. The moment his fingers touched her skin, a jolt of pure energy surged through him.
The Chronomancer's Heart in his chest reacted.
A golden pulse of time exploded outward.
The shadow was blasted backward, its form unraveling into strands of mist before dissipating. Selene collapsed into his arms, her breathing ragged. Her skin was cold.
Elias and Aldric had formed a defensive line around them. More shadows crawled from the palace ruins, dozens now, maybe more. Too many.
Caius's mind raced. They couldn't win this fight. Not like this. The shadows weren't bound by normal rules—they weren't meant to exist.
And if they didn't belong in this timeline…
Then neither did he.
A horrible thought struck him. A possibility he had refused to consider.
Had his presence—his choice—created them?
Was he the problem?
Selene's grip tightened on his arm. "Caius," she gasped. "Whatever you did… undo it. Now."
He looked at her, at his friends, at the battle raging before them. His pulse pounded in his ears.
And in the distance, beyond the ruined palace, beyond the city itself, the sky began to darken.
This was only the beginning.
The war for time was far from over.