Veer and Nyra had planned to reach the palace at dawn.
A clean arrival. A safe one.
But fate is never patient. And never kind.
It chose night.
They took shelter in a small house at the village's edge, its walls cracked with age, its air heavy with the scent of earth, ash, and forgotten prayers. The kind of place where even silence felt borrowed.
Too quiet.
Nyra felt it first. A tightening in her chest.
Then the silence broke.
Shouts tore through the night. Fire roared. Wood screamed as it burned.
Nyra rushed to the doorway and stopped cold.
Looters.
Torches lifted like verdicts. Flames devouring roofs. Her village, bleeding light into the dark.
Her breath sharpened. Her eyes darkened into something older than fear.
"How dare they," she whispered, voice trembling with restrained fury.
"In my presence… they attack my people?"
She lunged for the door.
It didn't move.
Locked.
Veer stepped forward, jaw tightening. Black-edged flames coiled around his palm, alive and dangerous. He slammed it into the door.
Nothing.
The fire died out, extinguished by something unseen. Something mocking.
Veer frowned. "No. This isn't normal." He pressed again, harder. "Someone cast a spell. My power… isn't working."
Before Nyra could respond, pain bloomed at her wrist.
The lotus tattoo on her hand ignited. Soft pink at first, then deepening into an ancient, pulsing hue that felt like memory waking up.
Veer grabbed her hand instinctively.
The world folded.
Not shattered. Not broken.
Folded, like a page turned by something unseen.
The fire vanished. The screams vanished. Even the night vanished.
They stood at the riverbank.
The place where everything had begun.
Nyra gasped. She saw a boat drifting across the water. A shadowed figure standing within it. Familiar. Unsettling.
"What… what is happening?" she whispered.
"Time travel?"
Veer didn't answer. His instincts were screaming.
"Run," he ordered, gripping her hand tighter.
They ran.
The air behind them twisted. A shadow surged forward, faster than memory, heavier than fear.
"This…" Nyra panted. "This is my déjà vu. Or… a future vision."
Veer's eyes burned. "Then this time, it ends differently."
The ground vanished.
Stone swallowed them whole.
They crashed onto a cave floor, breath knocked from their lungs. Veer rolled, flames flaring instinctively, then froze.
The shadow stopped at the cave's edge.
It snarled.
But it did not enter.
"It can't come here," Veer breathed.
Only then did he realize Nyra was on top of him.
Too close.
Too warm.
Silence fell like a held breath.
Veer cleared his throat, cheeks darkening. "Behave yourself."
He pulled her up roughly. "You little demon."
Nyra stared at him, stunned.
"…You said that."
"Said what?"
"In my vision," she whispered. "Exactly this."
The cave seemed to listen.
Minutes passed. Heavy. Watchful.
Nyra closed her eyes. "I can sense something—"
"Ancient energy," Veer finished.
Their gazes locked.
The darkness laughed.
A layered voice echoed through the stone, amused and impossibly old.
"So… you came, beautiful lady."
Nyra stiffened. "Do you know me?"
Veer stepped forward, flames low but controlled. "Show yourself."
The shadows parted.
Not flesh. Not bone.
Force.
Brown and black energy spiraled together, feathers stretching across centuries. Eyes burned with cosmic memory.
Veer whispered, awed, "The crow… COSMOS is ALIVE ."
The crow inclined its head. "I am the last piece of soul on this planet. When I pass my power, I will disappear."
Its gaze sharpened. "But before that… I need a student."
Veer spoke carefully. "The ancestral scrolls spoke of you. The black-and-brown flame crow. Master of time. Past. Present. Future."
"Correct," the crow said. "But only two beings can inherit my power. One was my master."
Its eyes settled on Nyra.
"And the other… is you."
"You said your master never returned," Nyra said softly.
"She didn't," the crow replied. "Her final command was clear. If she did not return in two days, I must choose another."
"Why me?" Nyra asked.
The crow studied her glowing hand. "Because of the lotus mark. My power obeys only those born with it."
"I lost my memory," Nyra whispered.
The crow tilted its head.
Time stopped.
Not slowed. Not bent.
Stopped.
Dust froze midair. Flames in Veer's palm hung like painted fire. Veer stood motionless, eyes open, unaware.
Only Nyra moved.
Only Nyra breathed.
The crow folded its wings around the stillness.
"This is the power of the Master of Time."
Nyra swallowed. Her heart thundered.
"So… this is what she controlled."
"Yes," the crow said gently. "And now, it seeks you."
"Your body died once," the crow said. "Your soul came from the planet E8. This was written long before you were born."
Nyra exhaled, trembling. "So this… is my destiny."
The crow's voice deepened.
"These will be your powers:
• Time Glimpse – you will see fragments of past and future, appear between moments, whisper warnings.
• Messenger of Ancestors – the dead will speak through you.
• Shadow Manipulation – shadows will obey, conceal, and reveal truth."
"But you must promise me one thing," the crow added.
"Find my master."
Nyra placed her hand over the lotus. "I promise."
Time restarted.
Veer staggered. "What… just happened? It felt like time itself stopped."
The crow was gone.
Only silence remained.
And somewhere beyond the cave, the shadow waited.