The Hollow was collapsing.
The ribs of the god pulsed with molten light, every thrum shaking the broken city like a dying clock. Chains of corrupted shadow still bound its torso, glowing as they strained, while Aelric bled into the dirt, forcing them tighter.
And Elara's wrist screamed.
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 15 Seconds]
Her vision blurred. She clutched her chest, gasping. "I—I can't—"
Aelric's voice roared through the chaos, wild and cracked.
"Yes, you can! Scream at it! Make it hear you!"
She shook her head violently. Tears streamed down her face. "It doesn't care—it doesn't—"
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 10 Seconds]
Her knees buckled. She fell beside him. His body shook violently, corruption peeling his flesh into shadow. His crimson eye burned with madness.
"Elara—" he growled, blood dripping from his mouth. "Look at me."
She forced her eyes up, heart breaking at the sight of him—broken, defiant, laughing in the face of forever.
"You're not leaving me," he snarled. "Not like this."
Her timer plunged.
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 07 Seconds]
---
The god's ribs cracked further, molten fire spraying outward. Its voice thundered like endless bells.
TIME RETURNS TO ITS MASTER. ALL SECONDS BELONG TO ME.
Elara's scream split the air, raw and terrified. "NO—!"
She clutched her wrist, digging her nails into the glowing digits, as if she could claw them back. Her tears blurred everything.
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 04 Seconds]
Her breath hitched. "Aelric—I don't—I don't want to go—"
His grin was jagged, bloodied. "Then don't. Stay loud."
---
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 03 Seconds]
Elara's chest convulsed. Her whole body trembled violently.
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 02 Seconds]
Her lips formed the words, fragile and desperate: "I—I lo—"
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 01 Second]
The final digit burned.
[00 Hours : 00 Minutes : 00 Seconds]
---
The world stopped.
Sound fell away. The Hollow froze mid-collapse, sand suspended in the air like glass. The god's ribs halted, fire paused mid-drip. Even Aelric's chains froze, black tendrils caught mid-twist.
Elara's body slumped forward. Her eyes went wide, then glassy.
She didn't fall. She didn't breathe. She simply—stopped.
Aelric's crimson eye widened. His corrupted heart lurched violently, pain sharper than any wound.
"No."
He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "No. No, no, no—"
Her wrist was dark. The glow had vanished. The timer was gone.
"No, no, no—COME ON!" His roar cracked the still air. "NOT LIKE THIS!"
His corrupted arm flailed, tendrils digging into the dirt, wrapping around her wrist, her chest, her throat. "Take mine! TAKE MY HOURS! STEAL THEM! I DON'T CARE!"
But nothing happened.
Her body remained still, fragile in his bloodied hands.
---
The world twitched.
The System's voice descended, cold and absolute.
> [Timer reached zero.]
Subject: Elara Veynar.
Status: Expired.
Aelric's vision split. His crimson eye bled tears of black fire. He shook his head violently, laughing raggedly.
"Expired? No. No, you don't get to expire. Not her. She's louder than you. She's louder than your bells."
His laugh turned to a scream. "GIVE HER BACK!"
The god's frozen ribs pulsed. Its voice echoed through the stillness.
TIME IS MINE. HER SECONDS ARE MINE. HER BREATH IS MINE.
Aelric's veins split further, corruption devouring his chest. His grin returned, jagged and mad.
"Then I'll tear them out of you."
---
The world lurched. Time snapped back.
The Hollow roared as debris fell again, fire sprayed, gears shattered. The god strained against the chains, ribs cracking further.
Aelric knelt with Elara's still body in his arms, blood dripping onto her pale face. His crimson eye blazed, tears of black fire running down his cheek.
"Elara…" His voice broke for the first time. "…don't make me fight alone."
Her body didn't move.
The timer on her wrist remained blank.
---
Aelric roared. The sound wasn't human. It was broken bells, shattered glass, and laughter twisted into rage.
His corrupted arm exploded outward. Tendrils lashed across the Hollow, stabbing into the god's chest, its ribs, its heart. He poured every second he had left into the chains.
The god staggered, ribs splintering.
But Aelric didn't stop. His body shredded under the backlash, veins bursting, blood spraying.
"YOU TOOK HER!" he roared. "SO I'LL TAKE YOU!"
---
The god's molten light burned brighter, fighting back. Chains shattered, corruption cracked.
But Aelric only grinned wider, his laugh splitting the air. "I told you—I don't lose to myself. And she—she was my self."
His tendrils surged again, stronger, black fire burning divinity into ash.
The Hollow trembled.
Elara's body remained still in his arms.
But somewhere deep inside, a faint shimmer flickered across her wrist.
A glitch.
> [Error.]
[Subject expired. Timer cannot process…]
The digits sputtered faintly, like fireflies in the dark.
Aelric's crimson eye snapped toward it, his grin jagged. "That's right. That's my loophole. That's my girl."
He slammed his corrupted arm into the god's chest again, roaring, "GIVE ME BACK HER MINUTES!"
The Hollow screamed.