Sparrow, Jaya, Lone Wolf, and Myrum continued on their path to meet up with the rest of their original party. Their journey had been uneventful, except for the intricacies of incorporating Lone Wolf, especially under such unique and sorrowful circumstances.
Jaya had relived the moment of Colson’s death, seeing that Lone Wolf had no choice in the matter, and had outwardly dropped the issue. She had taken him under her wing as if she was his mother and mentor, educating him about the kanidian people, as she felt this was the more dominant side of his heritage because of his appearance. She felt it was important for him to learn of humans as well, but did not feel it was her right to explain another people’s heritage and culture to him, and hoped the Bruno brothers and possibly Grey could contribute in that regard.
Myrum had not relived the memory of Colson’s death, but Jaya had explained what had happened in great detail. Yet, even before Myrum had heard the story, she had forgiven Lone Wolf. She recognized that Lone Wolf acted out of respect and obligation and held nothing but contempt for himself for his actions. Hearing the full story did help mollify her undirected anger, but she needed time to heal her pain now.
Sparrow had changed little with the addition of Lone Wolf. He continued to lead from behind, ensuring the party followed the path with the surest success for mortal guardians to take stewardship of this world from his people. He was still unsure of what had happened when Myrum and Jaya collapsed into their bedrolls, so he no longer enhanced their bodies or used magic to help them on their path.
Lone Wolf said nothing to Sparrow as they traveled, and his emotions were impossible to read. He was never rude or avoidant; he simply didn’t speak to him. Sparrow recognized the difficult time Lone Wolf must have had through killing Colson, and that Sparrow himself was the other half of his hated “creator,”, so he didn’t push the issue. If the jackal needed time to collect himself, then so be it. Conversing could wait.
They traveled with the sun for a week and found the remains of one of the other parties’ campsites. They had tried to remove all traces of their campsite, but the jackal and kanidians were far too talented at tracking to hide everything from them. It was nearly dark, so they agreed to stop there for the night. They determined that the others had used this campsite the night before. After some discussion, they decided they could catch up with them the next day if they had an early start.
Lone Wolf could move faster than the rest of the party, so he would often disappear to scout ahead, returning with rabbits, squirrels, or occasionally a species of small deer native to that region. Because of this, they always had fresh meat to prepare. Myrum was taking her turn at cooking their dinner and had begun setting up the campfire and gathering the materials needed to butcher the animals and cook the meat.
It appeared that Ultaris had taught the jackals how to use rune magic, but only in specific ways, like memorizing words from a language you couldn’t actually speak. When asked, Lone Wolf stated that an Elder of his pack had done the runes on his weapon. He wasn’t as experienced at using runes. He could mark trees and stones as a perimeter, but the runes weren’t a protective shield or barrier. They were a warning that a jackal had claimed the area.
As Myrum and Lone Wolf did their chores, Jaya and Sparrow conversed while they laid out their bedrolls.
“They can move quickly, for humans, but we should be able to catch up with them by mid-day tomorrow if we start before the sun. I asked Myrum to smoke some of the extra meat for tomorrow, so we won’t have to cook in the morning and can get started immediately,” Jaya said as she finished laying out her bedding and working on Myrum’s bedroll.
A pregnant Dardwain and the Guardian of Lightning were certainly not “quick humans,”, but Sparrow held his tongue. He knew Jaya did not mean disrespect by her comment, and he had more pressing matters to attend to. For the last few days, Sparrow had felt something change in the world, and he wasn’t entirely sure what that change was. He knew it had to do with time, and he felt like he was a fool for not recognizing it for what it was, but he simply could not remember. Part of him longed to rejoin with his other half, so questions like this could be answered. He grew weary of being the lord over a world and yet not understanding so many concepts which he knew he had mastered in the past.
“Sparrow, what do you think?” Jaya asked, sounding as if she was repeating herself.
Sparrow didn’t know what she had said, but being the Guardian of Time had its perks. He quickly scanned the conversation that had already taken place and heard her question again. If this had been a conversation between two other people, he wouldn’t have been able to do this.
“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll wait with Lone Wolf while you update the rest of the group. Good Idea,” he replied casually.
Jaya looked at him sharply like she was going to say something, then changed her mind and continued rolling out Myrum’s bedroll. Sparrow had been cautious with Jaya the last few days. He felt she was becoming impatient with him, and he did not mean to show ingratitude to her. She had repeatedly demonstrated how dedicated she was to their cause and defended them with her life on several occasions. Still, he couldn’t help but notice a change had come over her when Lone Wolf joined their party.
“Speak your mind, Lord of Time,” Jaya said as she sat on her bedroll.
She did not look in his direction, keeping her gaze on Lone Wolf and Myrum, both focused on the chores of warding and cooking. Sparrow scrutinized her for a moment before answering, wondering at her intuition.
Jaya continued speaking, her voice soft as if she was struggling with emotion.
“I know I have the stamina of a young pup, but I am quite old and have been a mother and grandmother. I see your quiet observations and would know your mind … it is how Colson and I would travel. I would make decisions and focus entirely on that goal, often missing the small details or interactions with those around me. Colson never missed those details and would often counsel with me. He was the true leader of our party and never made it about himself.”
Sparrow sympathized with her pain. He remembered how he felt when Lebine had died, when he was still trapped in a cloud of ignorance, forgetting about her immortality. He tried to change the world in his grief because it was almost within his power to do so … almost. He lost so much from the attempt and risked the world for his grief.
“The shoes you offer me may not fit very well, but I will do my best to fill them,” Sparrow replied.
“That is all I ask,” Jaya replied with a slight nod of her head.
“Well, I’ve noticed you seem to have adopted Lone Wolf, like a mother bird taking a lost child under her wing. Is this for his benefit or your own?”
Jaya briefly processed his question before responding, “Perhaps a little of both. It is clear to me that he is an adult, not to mention a skilled and deadly warrior. Yet, in many ways, he lacks the maturity and general knowledge many would have received in their youth. And with Colson’s death reminding me of when I lost Latale … I suppose my matriarchal nature needed an outlet.”
Sparrow weaved the air around them before asking his next question, thickening it slightly so their words were muffled to anyone listening.
“What of your granddaughter?” Sparrow asked pointedly. “She lost her adopted father, her ‘third parent’ as you put it, and now her adopted mother is entirely focused on educating and nurturing the source of her most recent loss.”
Jaya bristled at this observation, her hair standing on end and teeth baring slightly. Then she seemed to collect herself, breathing steadily as she calmed herself down before responding.
“I must remind myself that you are not Colson, and although you have pointed out an important and accurate concern, as I asked, I recommend learning some tact when expressing your future observations. Still … I often view Myrum’s feelings as a secondary concern. She is so steady and stubborn sometimes, so it is often easier to let her come to me,” Jaya replied with mollified anger.
Jaya waved her hand, using magic to dissipate the thickened air around them, indicating that she was done talking with Sparrow about his observations of their party. She paused, however, when the air didn’t thin. She tried again, forcefully exerting quite a bit of her magical strength, but the air remained thickened. Jaya quickly became frustrated and thought Sparrow was testing her or wishing to make some absurd point.
She was on the verge of becoming a lich to access her enhanced powers to slice the spell with greater strength when she noticed Sparrow was unaware of what was happening. He was watching Lone Wolf fumble through the creation of a rune with his brow furrowed in concentration. Jaya realized Sparrow wasn’t even trying to fight off her attempts, and had not noticed her trying to break his spell. Sparrow was only a portion of Ultaris, maybe as much as half, yet just that portion of his power didn’t feel Jaya’s strong attempt to break his spell.
It was then Jaya realized that Sparrow was growing stronger. No mortal truly understood the levels of power and strength between the guardians. It was well established that the elementals were all of a level, with light and dark above them, life and death above them, and all ruled by time. Yet their actual magical strength was widely unknown. Jaya and around ten others, including a much weaker version of Sparrow and a fire elemental, had fought two elemental guardians and barely won. She didn’t want to think of their odds in fighting a stronger guardian without Sparrow’s help.
Lone Wolf finished his task and returned to the fire pit Myrum had built in the center of the camp. Myrum had butchered the small deer and strung the meat along forked sticks stuck in the ground, suspending the meat over the fire. The wood was green, so it wouldn’t burn easily, and the meat held high enough in the air that the hot air alone would eventually cure the meat without catching anything on fire. It was a time-consuming process, but it allowed them to travel without the need for cooking.
She had run out of room on the fire, and a few rabbits were still waiting to be butchered and cooked at her feet. Lone Wolf squatted in his odd way of sitting on the back of his lower legs and began butchering rabbits for her, placing the meat in a pile on a clean rock. When they left in the morning, the scraps would be spread out so nature could break them down into soil. Myrum smiled slightly at his gesture, knowing he was going out of his way to help her.
Myrum still wasn’t sure how to handle Lone Wolf. He had caused her so much pain, but she knew the action had caused him as much pain, if not more. He rarely spoke to anyone outside of asking Jaya questions. His questions were surprising sometimes, often more insightful than expected for someone so secluded from the world. His questions ranged from gender roles in various societies, courting and bonding traditions, emotions, magic, culture, construction, currency, politics, and many others. He occasionally would ask questions that would cause Myrum to blush, but the questions were always from a place of education and curiosity.
While Sparrow was watching Myrum and Lone Wolf in the center of the camp, lost in thought, he subconsciously dissected the feeling he had experienced the last few days. He was whirling the sensation around his head like a thread wrapped around your finger. He was feeling its texture, pulling at it, sliding it across his mind as he stared at Lone Wolf and Myrum butchering and cooking meats in the center of the camp.
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Sparrow felt the thread in his mind begin to shift, and then there were more of them, hundreds more of them. They felt, looked, and even flowed in unison, yet he was certain they were different. There was countless minuscule difference along the threads, imperfections, and alterations that made each thread unique but so similar it was difficult to see the difference by looking at them collectively. He then sensed that one was significantly longer than the rest.
Sparrow pulled at the closest thread, and suddenly, two Myrum and Lone Wolfs were in the camp. The meat seemed to fluctuate from red to brown as if one Myrum had just started smoking the meat and the other was in the middle of the process. One of the Myrums turned the meat on a stick while the other basted the meat, but they were both in the process of cooking the meal at that specific time. The first Lone Wolf was still butchering the rabbit while the new one was working on the runes around the camp.
Neither the new nor the old Myrum and Lone Wolf were aware of each other. Sparrow turned to regard Jaya and saw one Jaya still sitting by his side, looking at Myrum and Lone Wolf with a smile on her face. The other was starting to unpack her bedroll. The two Jayas were also unaware of one another.
Sparrow slowed down time as much as he could, making all six people around him appear frozen in place. He stood and walked to the center of the camp, then turned around to look at where he had been sitting. Another Sparrow was looking at him and was certainly not frozen in time. The bewilderment on his face made it clear that the Sparrow sitting down could only see him and probably his own party members, now almost frozen in time. The new Sparrow stood up, curiosity and caution oozing from his countenance.
Sparrow hadn’t seen an image of himself since they left the school of Dule Van. In his mind, he was still a young teenager trying to find himself in the world. This sensation was all the more apt because of how clumsy he felt with his powers and how awkward titles made him feel. Although he knew he was staring at himself, he barely recognized the man before him. He looked as old as Jareth and had bright, silver eyes filled with hidden wisdom as if he held untold secrets waiting to be unlocked. His hair and skin held a bluish-gray accent, and he suddenly realized he could change his appearance if he wanted to. He was also much taller than he had been when he left Dule Van, something he probably didn’t notice from being around the taller kanidians and jackal all the time.
“Ultaris?” the new Sparrow asked, his eyes glowing slightly as he prepared to react to the answer.
The first Sparrow could see the uncertainty in the new Sparrow’s stance, yet the confidence in his voice and eyes was solid. He could also feel a swelling of power within him, an impressive sense of raw strength, magic, and authority. He was certainly a force to be reckoned with, and simply seeing an image of himself in that light grew his confidence. Sparrow believed he knew what was going on now, but he wanted to make sure, and what better source for information than himself?
“No, I am not Ultaris … I believe we are each part of an alternative version of time,” The first Sparrow replied.
“I see … so that must be what I … we … have been feeling. It was an elusive concept, but felt so familiar at the same time,” the new Sparrow replied.
“I know what you mean. I felt I should have immediately recognized it for what it was, but I couldn’t make sense of it. I am still unsure how it happened or what the next steps are.”
“Well … we know that the number of timelines and how often they appear should tell us how long the paradox has been taking place. How many loops are there?”
“Well, I know you are about ten or fifteen minutes behind me in time. It is hard to know for certain, but there are probably close to five hundred loops, give or take a dozen.”
“Tell me about it. Looking at possible threads of one person’s life is like counting the stars blindfolded, and we are looking at the timeline of an entire planet. Even with the mantel of time’s guardian, there’s no wonder it took hundreds of timelines before one of us figured it out.”
“Exactly. So, with that math, we are looking at around three and a half days that this has been going on. I assume we need to find the source of the paradox to correct it, but I-“
You pulled the closest one without knowing what you were pulling on, and that caused our realities to touch. So you would want to pull the oldest one and see where-“
“-where the loop resets?”
“At least in theory … we are very new to this after all.”
“Very true, and that would put me in the loop closest to the source of the paradox, which would certainly be the procedure for solving a causal loop. However, this doesn’t feel like a standard causal paradox, where one event causes time to repeat. It feels like a source event created the paradox, similar to a causal loop, but rather than simply repeating time, it's like there are anchored parallel universes.
“Ah, so what caused the ten to fifteen-minute delay between each universe to make them not exactly parallel?”
“There must have been two events that happened close together, and somehow their proximity created a rupture in the timestream. That must be how the event reset time several days before they both happened. It would be a fascinating concept to study if it wasn't so concerning.”
“It sounds like you’re already ahead of me in identifying the problem, so I won’t do anything with the information, just in case my actions interfere with yours. We are the same person, so I assume we will come to the same measured outcome.
“When this is resolved, and our memories are merged, you’ll know for sure.”
“Hopefully. Good luck, then. Better let this loop go. I think Jaya is starting to suspect something. I respect her completely, but I prefer to avoid doing anything to cause her to scrutinize me,” the new Sparrow said as he took his seat again.
“That is a tactful way to put it,” Sparrow said with a chuckle before releasing the thread he had been pulling with his mind.
The duplicates of their party all disappeared, and Sparrow took his seat again. He noticed the sound-dampening spell was still active and canceled it and the slowed-time spell simultaneously with a thought. Myrum and Lone Wolf were still preparing their meats, and Jaya was still smiling at the two of them. Then she frowned momentarily, and a thoughtful look came upon her face.
“Sparrow … what just happened?” She asked.
Sparrow didn’t respond right away. He wasn’t trying to avoid speaking to her or annoyed that she had realized something had happened. He just instinctively knew that mortals would have a difficult time understanding paradoxes in time, and this particular paradox was one he barely understood himself. Having so little time allotted to their lifespan as it was, knowing there was another version of themselves living almost parallel to them could be problematic, let alone hundreds of other versions.
“Mother Seeker, I think it is best for all parties involved that I don’t explain what is happening. No one is in any immediate danger, and if I handle it correctly, you won’t even remember this conversation,” Sparrow said calmly, with a touch of arrogance.
“Not likely,” Myrum said suddenly, without looking up from her the meats she was turning. “If you think after saying something like that to my grandmother that she is going to turn over and let it go … then you don’t know who you are traveling with. You just baited her into obsessing over what is going on.”
Lone wolf laughed suddenly. It was certainly the first time he had ever laughed around them. It wasn’t an unpleasant or very loud laugh, but it may as well have been the first time he had ever laughed, and it took everyone by surprise. With all three of them staring at him, Lone Wolf became embarrassed. He didn’t understand if he had been rude or inappropriate with his laughter and quickly looked down and focused on the last of the rabbit meat he was preparing.
“As rude as it was for her to point it out … my granddaughter is correct. You might as well tell us what is going on. Speak, and do not hold back.”
Sparrow stared at her as he thought about what to do. He realized that seeing himself in the flesh, and sensing the power emanating from himself, had somehow influenced him. He wasn’t sure if it was arrogance or confidence, but he was certainly more aware of his status as the leader of the immortal guardians. He knew they could do nothing about it if he refused to tell them and considered the option.
Immediately, Sparrow felt a cloud come upon some of the future timelines he could see concerning their party. He considered not telling them what was happening, and the timelines where the party breaks down over trust issues became a little brighter. The possible outcome where he leaves the world in their care also dimmed significantly.
“Well? What are you wai-” Myrum said before Jaya cut her off.
“Let him be,” Jaya said softly.
Sparrow recognized that Jaya knew what he was doing and was giving him the time he needed to look at the possibilities. He was immediately annoyed that she had this foresight and disappointed in himself for reacting that way. Jaya had done everything she could to help them along this path, and their goal of Sparrow’s people leaving this world in mortal’s care was the same. Sparrow knew he needed to let go of his pride and arrogance and at least inform them of what was going on.
Sparrow let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyes before responding.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I have been forgetting myself and falling into forgotten habits of superiority. The very reason why I refused to speed us along our journey with my abilities applies here. You must be part of the resolution, if not the entirety of it, for this venture to succeed.”
“Well said,” Jaya proclaimed as Myrum nodded her agreement and Lone Wolf grunted in support.
“Well, it’s a little complicated because there's possibly more than one issue happening simultaneously, but imagine this thread is our timeline.” Sparrow created an image of a large golden thread floating above his hand. He altered the image to match his words as he explained. “Now, there should only ever be one timeline, but I started to feel something was off with … well, everything. The entire world felt off. I started to pull at the feeling and found that instead of this single thread, there were hundreds of threads, just slightly different from one another. All of these threads are expanding circles of one another. This is looped time.”
“So, we are reliving the same events over and over again?” Myrum asked while turning over another piece of meat.
“No, actually, and that is exactly why this situation is so odd. If that were the case, there would still only be one thread, but it would circle back on itself repeatedly. Reliving the same moment is something I certainly would have noticed, probably the first time it happened. This is different. The ‘loop’ part of ‘looped time’ refers to this,” Sparrow said as he altered the image floating in his hand.
The image zoomed out, showing the one main thread continued forward in a straight line, but all the others looked like circles hanging from the first thread, like fruit hanging from a vine. There were hundreds of circles touching the straight line in the same spot, but each circle was slightly smaller than the other.
“Every ten or fifteen minutes, a new loop forms, and instead of time extending straight like in the main timeline, time is expanding within its own bubble for each new loop. That is why each ring is slightly smaller than the one before it.”
“Wait … so Colson could be alive still in another one of these loops?” Myrum asked, the meat forgotten as she stared at Sparrow with hope in her eyes.
“No, child, I’m sorry. If I understand correctly, this has only been going on for a few days,” Jaya said softly, wanting to comfort Myrum.
“Yes, about three and a half, maybe four at the most,” Sparrow confirmed.
“So, if we correct the mistake, these timelines will all drop off and be forgotten?” Myrum asked quickly, changing the subject from Colson and returning to her meats to cover the tears in her eyes.
“Actually, I’m hoping to realign them. It would be like cutting one end of the loop …” the image in his hand copied the words, “… and unraveling it so they are all in a straight line again. The timelines would then absorb one another, and we would have a single timeline again. I believe any variations in our experiences would also be remembered. However, very little would change in such a short time,” Sparrow said while the image of a single restored thread disappeared.
There was silence for a moment, broken only by the sound of Myrum removing fully cured meat from sticks and placing the raw strips from the rock on the sticks to cure.
It was Lone Wolf who broke the silence from his seated perch next to Myrum. “How did this happen?”
“This should only have been possible using my stewardship over time. Also, something would have had to go wrong to cause such a unique side effect. I considered Ultaris to be the cause, but what possible reason would he need to wish to reverse time by such a short amount? I also feel strongly that he is too busy contending with Colson to spare the attention. He wouldn’t be able to resist Colson and cast a spell of this strength at the same time,” Sparrow replied.
“Then we know who is to blame and are already heading towards them. The lifeless shell is at fault, although obviously, he could not have acted alone. He is the spell to reverse time, so something must have happened to him to create this ‘loop,’” Jaya said firmly.
Sparrow was stunned. Somehow, he had forgotten all about Drock and how he was the living spell Ultaris created to reverse the world’s clock. Sparrow realized he had been arrogant again, not believing anyone in the party was strong enough to attempt to cast his forgotten spell.
“I didn’t think they could summon enough energy to use the spell …” Sparrow said, not hiding his concern, “… but I suppose with Grey’s guardian powers and them pooling their resources, it may be possible, at least to reverse a few minutes.”
“But what happened that was so important that they would risk reversing time?” Myrum asked.
“I guess there is only one way to find out,” Sparrow said as he came to his feet. “We may be stuck in a loop of time expanding within our own experiences, but there is still a timeline that continued forward from the event that started the loop. I need to reach the point in that specific timeline when the loops all begin and find out what happened.”
“How are you going to do that, Guardian?” Jaya asked.
“Without distraction. Now sleep,” Sparrow replied, pushing the urge to sleep onto their minds with enough force to knock out a small city.