Chapter 15
The elders' verdict came at dusk.
Kian stood in the courtyard, Lian's small hand clamped in his, as Elder Zhao's voice boomed across the stones:
"The child leaves at dawn. The caravan to the Eastern Wastes will take him."
A murmur swept through the gathered disciples. Jin Yue stepped forward, her sword half-drawn. "You're sending him to a *labor camp*?"
Elder Zhao's gaze was ice. "He goes where the Shard's corruption cannot follow."
Lian trembled, pressing against Kian's side. *"Don't let them take me."*
Kian's grip tightened. "He's not going anywhere."
Master Liangu materialized from the shadows, his voice calm but edged. "There is another way. The scrolls speak of integration—"
"*Heresy*," Elder Mei spat. "To merge souls is to defy the natural order."
"And what is the Shard, if not defiance itself?" Liangu countered.
The elders erupted into argument. Kian seized the moment, pulling Lian backward toward the gates. Jin Yue fell in step beside them, her eyes scanning for exits.
"We need to get to the Shrine of Echoes," Kian muttered. "The scroll said it's where fractured timelines converge."
Jin Yue cursed. "That's three days' ride. With the entire monastery on our heels?"
Lian stumbled, his breath hitching. *"Something's wrong."*
Kian glanced down. The boy's fingers were flickering, translucent.
*No.*
The Shard flared hot against Kian's chest as Lian's form wavered, his edges blurring like ink in water.
"He's destabilizing!" Jin Yue grabbed Lian's other arm. "The bond between you—it's failing!"
**The Flight**
They ran.
Through the moonlit forest, leaping over roots and ravines, the shouts of pursuing disciples echoing behind them. Lian's breaths came in shallow gasps, his body flickering in and out of solidity.
"The shrine," Kian urged. "We have to reach it before—"
A shadow dropped from the trees.
Master Yuen, skeletal and swift, blocked their path. "You cannot outrun fate, Kian."
Jin Yue lunged, her sword clashing against the elder's staff. "Go!"
Kian didn't hesitate. He scooped Lian into his arms and ran, the boy's weightless form barely registering. The Shard's light pulsed in time with his racing heart, guiding him through the dark.
Lian's voice was a whisper. *"I'm scared."*
"Me too," Kian admitted.
The forest thinned. Ahead, the ancient shrine loomed—a crumbling archway veiled in mist, its stones humming with latent time energy.
**The Shrine of Echoes**
Inside, the air buzzed. Ghostly echoes of other timelines flickered at the edges of vision—a laughing Jin Yue, an older Kian, a monastery in flames.
Lian collapsed at the base of the shrine's altar, his form shuddering. *"It's pulling me apart."*
Kian pressed his hands to the boy's chest, the Shard's light flaring between them. "What do I do?!"
*"Integrate him,"* came Master Liangu's voice from the entrance.
Kian whirled. The old master stood breathless, robes torn. "The scroll—it requires a catalyst. A sacrifice of *time*."
Jin Yue staggered in behind him, blood trickling from her temple. "Elder Yuen's down. Not dead. Hurry."
Liangu knelt beside Lian. "The Shard must bind your souls. But to do so, you must surrender a piece of your own timeline."
Kian's throat tightened. "What does that mean?"
"A memory," Liangu said. "One so vital, its loss will reshape you."
The shrine trembled. Outside, torches approached—Elder Zhao's forces.
Lian's eyes met Kian's. *"Do it."*
**The Sacrifice**
Kian gripped the Shard. "What do I lose?"
The visions answered.
A warm hand in his—his mother's, the day she left him at the monastery. Her face, her voice, the last words she'd whispered: *"Be brave."*
To forget her. To sever that anchor.
Kian's eyes burned.
But Lian was flickering faster now, his terrified whimpers dissolving into static.
"Do it," Jin Yue urged, her blade raised against the approaching mob. "*Now*!"
Kian closed his eyes.
And let go.
**The Merge**
Light exploded.
When it faded, Lian was gone.
Kian staggered, a hollow ache in his chest where the memory had been. His mother's face—*gone*. Only an emptiness remained.
But then—
A warmth. A presence.
In his mind, a child's voice: *"I'm here."*
Kian touched his temple. "Lian?"
*"We're whole,"* the voice whispered. *"But not forever."*
Jin Yue stared at him. "Your eyes… they're *glowing*."
Elder Zhao's disciples flooded the shrine, then froze as Kian rose.
Power thrummed in his veins—Lian's innocence tempering his rage, his resolve hardening Kian's fear.
The Chrono Shard blazed.
"You wanted the Fractured gone," Kian said, his voice echoing with dual tones. "Now deal with *us*."