Time stopped.
Emma's heart beat once, twice, then everything froze. Marcus hung in the air, his wrinkled hand still stuck to his sword. The Necro-Sovereign's evil smile was locked in place. Even the falling pieces of broken reality stopped moving.
"Emma, honey, breathe."
Emma spun around. A woman with kind eyes and gray hair stood behind her. She looked exactly like Emma's mom, but older.
"Grandma Rose?" Emma whispered.
"Yes, sweetheart. We don't have much time." Grandma Rose touched Emma's face gently. "I stopped time, but I can only hold it for a few minutes."
"But you're dead. You died when I was little."
"Death isn't the end for our family, Emma. We become something more." Grandma Rose smiled sadly. "Look around you."
Emma gasped. More people were appearing out of thin air. An old man with Emma's nose. A young woman holding a baby. A teenage boy with messy hair. A little girl no older than five.
"Who are they?" Emma asked.
