ONE YEAR AGO – DAY 2 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

I’ve been waiting for so long.

“We will meet again, Kayden. You know that. Neither of us will give up. And so we’ll one day meet on opposite sides of the battlefield. I won’t hold back then, and neither will you.”

We made a promise.

We promised we’d become heroes together. Appear in history books together.

We have a dream.

Lauren Lerahen woke up.

She couldn’t move her body. She couldn’t feel anything. What was going on?

“–and then off to the wilderlands,” Kayden was saying. “I have a few theories, and we seem to have a long time coming anyway. Better make the best of it.”

What?

Lauren couldn't move. She couldn't talk. At first, she couldn't even see, but, eventually, the veil started to lift. She slowly began to recognize the scene.

Kayden was carrying her on his back, her arms wrapped over his shoulders. He was struggling over the rocky terrain that was the valley surrounding Empire’s Heart’s mountain.

Lauren was outraged. What did he think he was doing? She wanted to protest, to push him away, but couldn't even choose to blink.

She hadn't felt this helpless in centuries.

They’d just been fighting to the death. Why was he acting like that?

“After all, we both know we're not leaving the Echo until we get the Oath of Megalo,” Kayden continued. “That's the point of all of this, isn't it?”

What are you planning, Kayden Almerth? she thought angrily.

They were in the Echo now. He wasn't supposed to cross with her.

At least she had something clear. She would kill him the moment she had the chance.

– – –

DAY 30 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

“I wonder how the others are doing right now,” Lauren heard Kayden say as he waded through a low but fast river, carrying her on his back. He hadn't stopped talking for the past month or so. “Did you have any friends, Lauren? I don't mean it in a bad way. Any close advisors? Someone you miss?”

Lauren was still paralyzed. Her most plausible theory was that the overwhelming power she got when she reached the Echo overloaded her physical body, which was still trying to adapt to this realm. Kayden had to know that. Why was he asking her as if for a reply? Was he mocking her?

“I’m just saying,” Kayden then said, “you gotta remember who you’re fighting for. It's nice to wonder about one’s friends from time to time. I bet Tham is having a tough time right now. You and I have seen first-hand how, uh, messed up the world is now, with the fall of the Skylands and the Skyfall Empire and all.” He then grinned. “But he’ll get through it. Tham is strong, and he's getting stronger by the day. I believe in him.”

Lauren wasn’t. She was still enraged with Kayden, but, mostly, she was desperate. She sometimes got the urge to look behind her, to stretch her arms, to brush her hair. She couldn't.

At least Kayden had had the decency of removing her metallic face mask. They didn't seem to have basic needs here –they didn’t get hungry or thirsty, they didn't age. Their bodies didn't seem to degrade in any sense. And so, the chronic damage her intense prolonged Lawbending had caused her respiratory system wasn’t taking its toll here. She had to admit she was thankful for that.

Even so, Lauren still didn't understand why Kayden hadn’t killed her when he had the chance.

– – –

DAY 74 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

Lauren wanted to scream. Not even that she could do. She wanted to cry her lungs out. She couldn't.

“There’s something I haven't told you, you know,” Kayden was saying as they walked through the desert. “Well, plenty of ‘somethings,’ but I think you'll find this interesting.”

Kayden had been carrying her throughout the world for months and they still hadn't found even a single clue about the Oath of Megalo.

Why was he talking to her so calmly? She was a monster. She’d tried to kill him, she’d killed his friends. What was it he saw in her?

“Each time I ingested an Unbound air vial,” Kayden said, “I got this power I call Timesight. I’d heard about it in legends, I think. But, for some reason, no other Timebenders seem to be able to. Not Varokan, not you. It made me see everyone’s trajectories, from the past and into the future. I alone wouldn't have lasted a minute against you without it.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

That gave Lauren pause. She would’ve frowned had she been able to move. Timesight? What on Athoren was that? And why?

“I was so busy with everything I never got to find out what the power meant,” Kayden added.

There’s something big about you I don't know, Lauren thought. Isn't that right, Kayden?

She was going to find out what.

– – –

DAY 200 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

How… Lauren thought, do you keep going?

“This is the longest wilderness trek I’ve ever done,” Kayden was saying, still carrying her on his back. “That's for sure. We’ve been out here for, what, half a year?”

200 days, she thought. She’d counted every single day. How could Kayden stay strong? They may well have an eternity coming, and he was still talking like out on a day trip.

Lauren didn't want to fight anymore. She didn't have the strength to be angry. She just wanted to move her body again. And… honestly… She wanted to thank Kayden.

His steady voice was probably the only thing keeping her from going insane at this point.

She’d achieved her grand goal. She’d completed the monumental task of dropping the Skylands. What had even been the point? The reasons that had once defined her seemed so stupid now.

Now she just wanted to live.

– – –

DAY 300 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

Lauren was certain now. Kayden Almerth wasn't human. He couldn't be. What human could possibly endure what he'd been through? They hadn't stumbled upon a single element relating to the Oath of Megalo yet, and they’d almost crossed the whole continent already. It’d take decades to explore the whole world –the sword could be anywhere. What drove him to continue forward? She didn't understand.

The question, then, was… what was Kayden Almerth? Somehow, Lauren felt that the answer to that would unlock the key to everything.

I’m going to live to find out, she declared in her mind. I’m going to live.

She’d spend an eternity cracking the code if she needed to. She would not give up.

– – –

DAY 365 SINCE THE CATACLYSM

“I’m not giving up,” Kayden repeated like a mantra, again and again. “I’m not giving up. I’m not giving up until we find the Oath of Megalo and get out of here. I’m not giving up.”

He almost broke into tears when he saw Lauren finally open her eyes as he lowered her to rest.

“I thought you’d never come back,” he whispered.

Lauren stumbled to her feet with a wince. “I’m alive.”

She looked around, stretched, and started untangling her hair with her fingers. She seemed… lost.

“Who were you planning to use the Oath of Megalo on, Lauren?” Kayden asked softly.

Kayden could see it. Lauren hesitated, then broke.

“Myself,” she said.

Kayden paused. “This whole time… you intended to erase yourself?”

“Yeah,” Lauren said. “We’re in the Echo now. No use in hiding anything anymore.”

“But, why?” Kayden protested. “Isn’t that even paradoxical?”

“Centuries of living make people ponder,” Lauren replied, looking up at the sky. “I reached a point where it became impossible to undo what I had done. I don’t care about dying anymore.” She winced nonetheless. “The only way to give this world its ‘happy ending’ is to stop me from ever existing at all.”

Kayden pursed his lips. It hurt. Even more so because he knew it to be true.

“But, yes, it’s paradoxical,” Lauren continued, her voice shaking slightly. She seemed to be trying hard to hold herself together. “And I knew you’d never help me erase myself if I just asked you to. So I had to force you to fight me, to gather the necessary power to come here and get the sword. I don’t care about dying.” She looked at Kayden. “But I can’t do it alone.”

“What about our dream?” Kayden whispered. “If you’d never existed… I never would have dreamt of it at all.”

Lauren shrugged. “That’s the cost of saving the world.”

They stood behind one another in silence.

“I missed you, you know,” she then said in a low voice.

“I missed you too,” Kayden replied. “Do you… know… where the Oath of Megalo is?”

“No,” Lauren admitted. “For a time, I thought you’d know.”

“Bakor wrote in his journal that he found the Oath of Megalo, but then drifted unconscious,” he said after a while. “When he woke up, it was gone.”

“You read Bakor’s journal?” Lauren asked, trying to hide the pain from her voice.

Kayden nodded.

“I miss him too,” she muttered.

“Because of the World Energy Factor,” Kayden said, “the Oath of Megalo could be anywhere. Things have been shifting from the Echo into our physical world. Like Merdilen, and… Bakor.”

“Yeah, I heard the reports,” Lauren nodded. “I wish I could’ve seen him alive one last time as well. Hey, Kayden, speaking of which… there’s something I want to tell you.”

“Huh?” Kayden said.

“I… Um, nevermind. No time,” Lauren stuttered, stumbling over her own words. Her eyes then widened. “…Wait a minute.”

“What is it?” Kayden asked.

Lauren looked once again up at the sky. “The Timewatcher.”

Kayden froze. His blue eye started to hurt. “Who is… the Timewatcher?”

“The man who forged the Oath of Megalo,” Lauren said. “The cosmic entity who watches over the flow of time. If I remember correctly, legends say the Timewatcher was the one once tasked with resetting the timeline each time something went wrong. I mentioned it to you once. I never believed in such a being, but… he’s said to have been missing, and… living a human life, here in Athoren. He…”

She trailed off. “It can’t be…” she finally whispered. “Legends say he’s erased his own memories, time after time, to bury the pain of losing it all. That’s it. That’s the answer.”

Kayden frowned. “What are you implying? I… I…” His voice lowered. “I wouldn’t know…”

“Why has the Timewatcher never appeared to fix anything?” Lauren started asking, looking at Kayden. “Why has no one ever known of your family? Why do you have a blue eye? Heck, time regressions don’t erase memories. I know that well enough. How do you hold so much power? Why… does the world… seem to spin around you?”

Kayden was stunned. What did all that mean?

“What’s the most valuable place to you, Kayden?” Lauren then said. “What is that place you’d give anything to return to?”

“...Our home,” Kayden said.

“Then let’s go,” Lauren declared. “Our journey isn’t over yet. Come on, Kayden. We’re going home.”