Kia's Pov:
The sky above the village had turned a deep, unnatural crimson, the stars bleeding red like open wounds in the heavens. I stood alone beneath them, the world holding its breath as if it too feared what was to come.
My people slept, but I couldn't.
Not with this dread in my chest. Not with the weight of the old stories clawing their way back into reality.
I pressed my palm to the stone altar near the center of the shrine—one carved with sigils passed down through bloodlines only a few of us still carried. The power within it hummed, ancient and wary.
"I need to get to them," I whispered. "Now."
The air around me shimmered. Sparks of silver and deep violet cracked through the earth as a circular glyph flared to life beneath my boots. A portal hissed open, stretching between time and distance.
"Hold on, Alex."
"Stay safe, Anna."
I stepped through.
–––
Ash Sentinel – Secret Passage Beneath the Stronghold
The portal's magic rippled behind me as I emerged in the cold stone corridor lit only by an eerie red glow leaking in from above. I could hear voices—Anna's. Alex's. And another.
I rounded the corner—and stopped.
A towering figure cloaked in shadow and bone stood before them.
A Death Reaper.
My hand moved instinctively to my blade—then paused.
Not because I wasn't afraid. But because I recognized what I saw.
This wasn't a creature of blind death or rage. This was something older. Something bound by duty, not chaos.
I lowered my hand and stepped forward, my voice calm.
"It's been a long time since our realm has seen a reaper walk among the living."
Alex turned sharply, shocked. "Kai?! How—"
"I saw the sky," I said, moving beside him. "The stars don't bleed for no reason."
The Reaper tilted its head, the crimson glow of its hollow eyes narrowing slightly as it regarded me.
"You are not like the others."
"No," I said. "I carry the old blood. I was trained to know when prophecy stirs and time shifts."
I bowed my head—not out of submission, but respect.
"If you stand here with my brother and the girl who bears the shard, then I will not draw my sword. I will listen."
Anna looked between us, uncertain. "You know what he is?"
"Not exactly," I said, my eyes never leaving the Reaper's face. "But I know enough to fear him—and more to know when not to."
"Good," the Reaper murmured. "Then we have much to speak of. The blade calls. And the time you feared has already begun."
The air down here was thicker than before—weighted with the scent of old magic, ash, and something colder. Something ancient.
I took one more step forward, placing myself between my brother and the cloaked figure. My voice was steady, commanding, the way Father once taught us to speak to creatures that walk the edge of life and death.
"If you're truly a Reaper, then you're bound by a code. You don't appear unless something is ending—or beginning."
The Death Reaper didn't flinch, didn't move. Its red eyes remained locked on me, unblinking.
"Correct. And what begins now… will echo across every realm."
My fingers curled slightly at my sides. "Then tell me the truth. All of it. No more riddles. No more ominous fragments. Why Anna? Why the stars? Why now?"
A pause. Then the Death Reaper moved—not aggressively, but like a shadow given will. When it spoke again, its voice seemed to echo off the stone walls, deeper than before.
"The Blade of Time was not forged to serve men. It was made to guard the fragile boundary between time and entropy. But that boundary has been breached. A piece of the blade has awakened. That shard—"
He gestured toward Anna, who instinctively reached for the glowing piece near her chest.
"—chose her. Because her soul remembers the war. Even if her mind does not."
My eyes flicked to her, heart tightening. "She's not from our world. How can she remember something that happened here?"
"Because she was there. In another life. She fought beside the Queen and the Betrayer—until the blade shattered and scattered them all across time."
Alex whispered, "She's been pulled back into this timeline… for the blade."
I kept my voice firm. "And what about my brother? Why him?"
The Reaper looked to Alex.
"Because he carries the bloodline that once guarded the final seal."
Alex's brow furrowed. "Seal?"
"The blade was never destroyed. Only hidden. Its power locked behind three seals. One has already cracked."
My stomach dropped. "That's why the stars are bleeding."
The Reaper nodded slowly.
"The second seal stirs now. And if it breaks before the three of you are ready… it will not be war that comes. It will be collapse. Time itself will unravel."
I stared at him for a long, hard moment. Then spoke quietly.
"…And what about me? Why am I here?"
"Because you, Kai of the twin blood, are the one destined to wield the reforged blade—if you survive long enough to see it whole again."
The world around me seemed to still.
Me?
Anna turned to look at me, and for once, there was no tension. Only quiet, fragile realization.
"I didn't ask for this," I said lowly.
"None of you did," the Reaper replied. "But fate does not wait for permission."
Anna Pov:
I stood back, watching the exchange between Kai and the Reaper unfold like something out of a legend. The shadows clung to the Reaper's form like smoke, but Kai—he stood tall, unwavering, as if he'd been preparing for this moment his entire life.
He questioned the Reaper with a voice full of steel and purpose. Every word out of Kai's mouth felt sharp, deliberate, meant to cut through fate itself.
But then… something inside me shifted.
A sharp pulse bloomed at the base of my skull.
I winced, lifting my hand to my temple.
"Kai…" I whispered, but my voice barely came out. They didn't hear me.
The air around me grew thin, and the Reaper's voice—though still speaking—became muffled, distant, as if underwater. The walls around me warped and twisted, and suddenly everything went dark.
Then—
I saw it.
The Ash Sentinel in flames.
People—those I'd just met, those who had shown me kindness—running, screaming, falling into the dirt as shadows poured in through the broken gates.
A sky as black as ink bled red from the stars. Something vast and unnatural loomed overhead, its form hidden in the clouds, wings blotting out the moon. And beneath it…
Kai—bloodied, kneeling.
Alex—struggling to breathe, reaching for me.
And me—standing in the center of it all, holding the Blade of Time in my hands, glowing, screaming as it cracked down the middle again.
"No—" I gasped.
Then I saw her. A woman cloaked in white flames, face hidden behind a porcelain mask. She stood on a battlefield of bones, whispering in a language I almost recognized.
"If the seals break before the vessel is whole… all timelines fall."
I stumbled backward as the vision snapped away like a torn thread.
Back to the stone passage.
Back to Kai and the Death Reaper, still speaking.
But now I was trembling. My chest tight. My throat dry.
I must've made a sound, because Kai turned toward me sharply.
"Anna?"
I stared at him, my breath catching. "I… I saw it. I saw everything."
Alex moved to my side instantly, steadying me. "What did you see?"
My voice shook as I said it.
"Ash Sentinel—burning. You, Kai—hurt. All of us… dying. Unless we stop whatever's coming."
The Death Reaper turned to face me now, as if expecting the vision.
"The timelines are warning you," he said softly. "The blade remembers. And so do you."
I looked down at my hands, but they were empty.
Still trembling.
"We have to stop it," I whispered.
"Then you must move quickly," the Reaper said. "The third seal is waking."
The echo of the vision still rang in my ears, sharp and unforgiving. My heart pounded as I looked between Alex, Kai, and the Death Reaper. I couldn't keep it inside—I had to say it aloud, even if it terrified me.
"It wasn't just fire. It was… carnage."
I closed my eyes, trying to steady my voice.
"The Ash Sentinel was overrun. I saw people we just passed earlier—soldiers, families—cut down in the streets. The ground was soaked in blood. The walls were falling… torn apart like paper."
Kai tensed. His jaw clenched, but he didn't interrupt.
"There was something in the sky. Massive. Winged. I couldn't make out what it was, but the shadows it cast… it didn't feel alive. It felt wrong. Like it wasn't meant to exist in this world."
Alex's hand found mine instinctively. I gripped it, grateful for the warmth, for something real to hold on to.
"And you two… you were there. Alex, you couldn't breathe. You were reaching for me—but there was nothing I could do. And Kai… you were on your knees. You looked at me, like you knew it was the end."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Did you see the enemy? The one responsible?"
I nodded slowly. "A woman. Cloaked in white fire. Her face hidden behind a porcelain mask. She stood atop a hill of bones… and she was smiling."
The Death Reaper's cloak stirred, as if moved by an unseen wind.
"The Masked Flame," he whispered. "A herald of the unraveling. She is not bound to time. She appears only when the last seal begins to crack."
I stared at him, voice barely above a whisper. "She said something… 'If the seals break before the vessel is whole, all timelines fall.'"
"The vessel…" Alex echoed.
The Reaper turned toward me.
"She was speaking of you."
"Me?"
"You are the vessel that carries the memory of the blade. The one it marked across lifetimes. If the blade is reforged before you are ready—mind, soul, and memory—its power will tear reality apart instead of mending it."
The room fell silent.
Kai finally spoke, voice low but fierce.
"Then we don't just need to stop the seal from breaking—we need to prepare Anna. Protect her."
I nodded, swallowing the rising fear. "Then tell me where to start. Because if I saw that future… I refuse to let it come true."