Brian blinked and found himself in a vast cave illuminated by luminescent blue and green minerals embedded in the walls. He recognized it immediately as Reptiscale Caverns. The last time he was here, he had barely escaped with his life.

His heart pounding, Brian blinked again and saw Sylas standing right in front of him, looming over Xezia's limp body. Before Brian could react, Sylas plunged his clawed hand straight through Xezia's abdomen. Blood and entrails spilled out onto the cave floor with a sickening squelch.

"No!" Brian shouted, rage boiling up inside him. He lunged at Sylas, but his fist passed straight through the gravaxian. "What the hell? "What's happening? Why can't I touch you?""

Brian staggered back, bile rising in his throat. He wanted to scream but only a choked gasp escaped his lips. His fingers dug into his palms, nails breaking skin.

Xezia was gone. And it was his fault. He had failed her.

Brian blinked again and the scene dissolved around him. Now he found himself surrounded by venomous pools. The air was hot, humid and acrid. “Am I dreaming?”

Serpent's Pools. The broodmother's lair.

Is this... a dream? Or a nightmare?

A familiar voice broke his reverie. Kael, in the distance, yelled, "Stay back, Ilex!" The broodmother hissed, and Kael was locked in combat, defending the young Ilex.

In a large clearing, the broodmother was locked in combat with Kael, snapping and hissing as Kael swung his dagger in a blur, barely keeping the creature at bay. Kael refused to yield, determined to protect the helpless Ilex cowering behind him.

Brian broke into a run, stumbling over rocks and dirt. He had to help Kael. But by the time he reached the clearing, it was too late.

The broodmother reared up, spreading her cobra-like hood, and unleashed a spray of venom that drenched Kael from head to toe. He screamed, dropping his daggers and clawing at his eyes as the venom bubbled and hissed, dissolving his flesh and armor.

Kael collapsed to the ground, nothing but a charred skeleton remained. Brian stared at the remains of his friend in numb horror, bile rising in his throat.

Once again, Brian was powerless. Once again, he had failed. Kael had sacrificed himself, and Brian could do nothing but watch his friend die. The taste of regret filled his mouth, bitter and metallic. He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms, drawing blood. The pain centered him as the scene began to dissolve around him.

The broodmother turned her baleful gaze upon Brian, venom dripping from her fangs. "You're next," she rasped.

Brian gritted his teeth and summoned his void whip-like tentacle. It was unstable, but he didn’t care. He hurled it at the broodmother with all his might. But like Sylas, the whip went straight through the creature as if it wasn't there at all.

None of this is real. But the pain and terror felt real enough.

Brian shut his eyes, willing himself to wake from this nightmare. The images swirled and coalesced into a new scene.

Brian opened his eyes. He was back at the Decimator Academy, alone in the backroom with all of the monsters in cages. The broodmother and Kael's remains had vanished.

"Kill the child," Darius commanded, his voice like shards of ice. At his feet cowered a young grivaxian, trembling, tears staining his scales.

"No," he said firmly. "I won't do it."

But Darius stood before him, lips curled into a predatory smile. His eyes narrowed, his expression morphing into a vicious snarl as he crushed the kid into a pool of gore. "Pity."

Brian cried out, stumbling back. He stared at the pile of alligator guts until his vision blurred with tears. His hands shook, whether with grief or rage he could not say.

"Trying to escape already?" Darius asked, his voice a sinister hiss. "We've only just begun."

Clutching his head, Brian found himself back in the cave with Xezia, Serdna, and Mandrix. Xezia was gasping for breath again as the spear emerged from her abdomen. Brian watched in horror as the scene played out just as before, with Xezia's lifeless body flung against the cave wall.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Not this again," Brian whispered through gritted teeth. How many times would he be forced to relive this nightmare?

As the two grivaxians materialized, Brian focused his mind, tapping into his Chronal Gaze ability. The edges of his vision began to blur and distort as he peered into the timestream. Through the haze, he could see faint outlines surrounding the grivaxians, echoes of their past and future selves layered over the present.

Brian blinked, and the scene changed. Now he was back at Serpent's Pools, watching helplessly as Kael was dissolved by Vipros' venom. Brian saw the timestream more clearly now - he could track the subtle shifts in the valtivenoms' actions, noticing small variations on each loop.

"It's not real...some kind of illusion," Brian muttered. He strained to break through the manipulation of time itself.

On the next loop, as the Grivaxian hatchling pleaded for its life, Brian defiantly turned his back on the scene.

"How do I stop this?" he asked himself, willing his mind to pierce the veil distorting time.

Darius lunged at Brian, striking with blinding speed. Brian raised his Grasp to defend himself, but Darius’s gravity brought him to his knees. "You are weak," he sneered.

Brian said nothing. Inside, his spirit wavered. Am I gonna fail again?

Darius was impossibly strong and fast, moving faster than Brian’s Chronal Gaze could track. A kick to the ribs sent searing pain through Brian's chest, and a chop to the neck nearly took his head off.

No matter how hard Brian fought back, he couldn't lay a finger on Darius. It was just like their first encounter.

Suddenly, the academy walls wavered and dissolved around him. It felt as if Darius’s gravity power was making the entire time loop shake.

Reality itself seemed to unravel around Brian, plunging him into a dark abyss.

Brian found himself floating in an endless void, with countless threads of light cascading all around him - the currents of time itself made visible.

Darius was also floating there, right in front of him. Unmoving. Frozen in time.

Suddenly Darius' body began to mutate…

Before him hovered an insectoid creature, with crystalline wings and elongated limbs. It stared at Brian with multiple sets of eyes that refracted the timestream into countless prismatic shards.

Before Brian could collect himself, a presence entered his mind. He found himself in some sort of time prison, a swirling void where past, present, and future ceased to have meaning. Tendrils of memories and moments wove together in an oppressive fog that clouded his senses.

It was a chronovore. Larger than Zephyr. His eyes glowed with an unearthly blue light, and his body seemed to shift and distort. This was an illusion.

The chronovore loomed over Brian, who lay bruised and bloodied on the floor.

"Do you yield?" the chronovore asked, his voice a resonant boom.

Brian's eyes shot open. Tempis hovered before him, crystalline wings shimmering, his multitude of eyes fixed on him. "What is this?" he said through gritted teeth. “Who are you?”

The chronovore shook his head. "You’re in my realm. I am Tempis, lord of chronovores, and you’re already part of the timeline."

Tempis offered a clawed hand to Brian. "Join me, and I will teach you the secrets of chronomancy. Together, we will wield the power of time itself."

Brian's voice quivered, "To... undo all this?"

Tempis nodded, "To change fate."

Brian steeled himself, "No. I can't." He slapped the hand away. "I don’t want anything to do with time manipulation."

Tempis tilted his head, as if puzzled by Brian's refusal. "With my guidance, you could undo the tragedies you have witnessed. You could save those you have lost."

Brian hesitated, visions of Xezia and Kael flickering through his mind. For a moment, temptation gripped him. Then he steeled himself.

Tempis studied Brian intently, as if peering into the depths of his soul.

"So much fear...yet, underneath, longing," Tempis murmured. "You wish to protect them all, don't you?"

"I don't trust you," Brian said firmly. "My answer is final."

Tempis went very still, the shadows around them deepening. Then, with a rustle of crystalline wings, the chronoscribe inclined his head. “Time is running out. Accept my offer.”

The chronovore sighed. "Then you leave me no choice." He lunged down, jaws opening wide.

Brian focused his mind, simultaneously tapping into both his Chronal Gaze and Valtite Vision abilities. The threads of time and energy intertwined before him, revealing tiny fractures in the prison's shell.

Brian was trapped in a node of warped time, its energies twisted into a maze with no exit. But there, near the top of the node, was a hairline fracture he could manipulate.

Brian dove towards it, willing his energy through the crack.

Brian leapt up and grabbed onto the fracture, forcing it open consuming it with void energy. Focusing his powers, Brian tore open a crack and propelled himself out of the warped timestream.

The node collapsed behind him as he tumbled out into the timestream.

With great effort, he slipped through a bright white tunnel.