Caius sat on the edge of the underground training ground, still reeling from what had just happened. His hands trembled, his body exhausted—not from physical strain, but from something deeper.
Rewinding time had left him hollow, as if something inside him had been forcibly torn away. But that wasn't the worst part.
The whispers. The visions.
"You cannot hold the river back forever, Timeborn."
The voice still echoed in his skull, a haunting presence that refused to be silenced.
Across the chamber, Garran, Elias, and Selene stood in quiet conversation. They thought he couldn't hear them, but he could.
"We need to be careful with him," Elias muttered. "That wasn't just a simple time reversal—he altered events on a larger scale."
Garran nodded. "And it nearly destroyed him."
Selene scoffed. "I told you he was a risk."
Caius exhaled, trying to steady himself. He knew they had every reason to be cautious. If he lost control again, what would happen? Would he erase an entire day? A month? Would he rip a hole in time itself?
A terrifying thought settled in his mind.
What if I go back too far… and can't return?
Garran eventually turned back to him. "That's enough for today. Get some rest."
Caius wanted to argue, to push further, but his body refused. His muscles ached, his mind was foggy, and every movement felt like wading through water.
Without another word, he forced himself to his feet and left the chamber.
The underground hideout was a maze of tunnels and chambers, carved deep beneath the ruins of Evernight. Caius barely paid attention to where he was going. He just walked, letting his mind drift.
Eventually, he found himself standing before a sealed chamber door. Unlike the rest of the hideout, this door was reinforced—thick iron, engraved with ancient runes. A symbol of protection.
Curiosity gnawed at him. Why was this room different?
Before he could think better of it, he reached out and pushed the door open.
The chamber inside was small and quiet. Dim lanterns cast flickering shadows against the stone walls. At the center stood an altar, and on it—a single silver pendant.
Caius stepped forward, his breath catching. The pendant's design was unmistakable.
It bore the royal crest of Evernight.
His family's crest.
His fingers hovered over it, hesitation creeping into his chest. He hadn't seen this symbol since the fall of the kingdom, since the night his world had burned.
Why was it here?
A voice spoke from behind him.
"That belonged to your father."
Caius turned sharply. Elias stood in the doorway, arms crossed. His face was unreadable, but there was a heaviness in his gaze.
Caius swallowed. "You knew my father?"
Elias exhaled. "I fought beside him, once." He stepped into the chamber, the dim light casting harsh lines across his face. "Before Evernight fell, before the Hollow Legion rose to power… your father sought to protect this kingdom. He wasn't a perfect man, but he fought for his people."
Caius glanced back at the pendant, his thoughts spiraling. He barely remembered his father. He had been just a boy when the kingdom fell, too young to understand the weight of the crown.
Elias studied him. "You remind me of him."
Caius tensed. "I'm not my father."
"No," Elias agreed. "But you bear his burden."
Caius clenched his fists. He didn't want this burden. He didn't ask for it. But no matter how much he denied it, fate had already chosen him.
His power. His past. The bloodline of kings.
They were all chains, binding him to a destiny he barely understood.
Elias's gaze hardened. "You have a choice, Caius. You can keep running from the past, or you can face it."
Caius looked down at the pendant once more, its silver surface reflecting the flickering lantern light.
For years, he had tried to bury his past, to survive in the shadows of a fallen kingdom.
But maybe… survival wasn't enough anymore.
Maybe it was time to fight for something more.
Caius took the pendant and clenched it in his palm.
A quiet decision settled in his heart.
He wouldn't just be a ghost of the past.
He would rewrite the future.