The silence before the clash was suffocating.
The two hunters circled Aelric and Elara with the patience of predators. Their cloaks trailed across the stone floor, boots crunching softly on old dust. Behind them, the spiral staircase glowed faintly, as though the light above refused to descend into this forbidden chamber.
The massive hourglass pulsed brighter, every throb shaking the air. Sand shimmered within, not falling but spiraling, as if time itself resisted the hunters' presence.
Elara shifted her stance, dagger angled low, her breath steady despite the pounding in her chest. "Aelric… tell me you've got a plan."
Aelric's corrupted arm burned like fire under his skin. His heartbeat was uneven, each thump a reminder of the shard's power digging deeper into him. But he lifted his gaze, voice steady. "Survive."
Elara smirked faintly, though her eyes never left the hunters. "That's always the plan."
---
The first hunter struck.
A blur of steel whistled through the air. Elara met the blow with her dagger, sparks exploding in the dim light. The force of it nearly knocked her off her feet, but she twisted, parrying the strike just enough to keep her balance.
The second hunter came from the side, blade aimed for Aelric's neck. Aelric raised his corrupted arm, and the flesh flared with molten glow. The blade struck but did not pierce—the corruption swallowed the steel, the hunter yanking back before it melted into slag.
Aelric gritted his teeth, his arm trembling. "You'll have to do better than that."
The hunter's voice was calm, almost pitying. "Your timer has already chosen your end. We're only here to make sure you don't drag the world with you."
---
Elara lunged, dagger flashing. She moved like water, ducking under the first hunter's swing and driving her blade toward his side. But the cloak shifted unnaturally, the hunter twisting away with inhuman precision. His counterstrike came low and fast, slicing her leg just enough to draw blood.
She hissed but didn't falter, spinning away and planting her foot. "Guess you're not used to prey fighting back."
The hunter tilted his head. "Prey rarely thinks it's prey until the end."
---
Aelric staggered as another blow came his way. He blocked with his corrupted arm again, but this time, the hunter's blade glowed faintly, etched with runes. When it struck, pain lanced through him, searing deeper than steel.
He fell to one knee, vision blurring.
Elara's cry echoed. "Aelric!"
The hunter pressed forward, blade poised for the killing blow.
But the hourglass flared.
The sand within surged violently, spinning faster and faster until it erupted in a blinding light. For a heartbeat, everything froze—hunters mid-strike, Elara mid-step, Aelric half-collapsed.
Then time lurched forward again. The hunters staggered, their movements thrown off.
Aelric gasped for breath, his corrupted arm searing with newfound energy. He forced himself up, fire burning in his eyes. "Looks like time's not on your side anymore."
---
He swung his arm, and a wave of distorted force rippled outward. The air shimmered, bending as though reality itself bent with it. One hunter was flung back, crashing into the cavern wall. The other skidded across the floor but recovered quickly, cloak swirling like smoke.
Elara darted to Aelric's side, blood trailing down her leg. "Whatever you just did—do it again."
Aelric shook his head, chest heaving. "I didn't… it wasn't me. It was the hourglass."
The sand within pulsed with each word, as though listening.
---
The hunter pinned against the wall straightened, his voice steady despite the impact. "You've awakened what was never meant to wake."
The other's blade shimmered brighter, runes sparking. "If you won't die, then the hourglass will."
They lunged together, a coordinated strike aimed not at Aelric or Elara, but at the glowing artifact.
Elara's eyes widened. "They're going for it!"
Aelric's mind raced. He could barely hold his ground against them, but if they shattered the hourglass—whatever truth it held would be lost. Worse, if Seraphiel had sealed it for a reason… breaking it might unravel everything.
He made his choice.
With a roar, Aelric hurled himself forward, placing his body between the blades and the hourglass. Steel bit into his corrupted arm and shoulder, fire racing through his veins. Blood spilled across the stone.
But the hourglass remained untouched.
Elara screamed his name, her dagger flashing as she slashed wildly, driving one hunter back.
Aelric staggered, but the corruption in his arm surged, forcing the blades back with a violent pulse. His voice was hoarse but unyielding. "If you want it, you'll have to cut me down first."
---
The chamber trembled.
The hourglass blazed with unbearable light, its fractured glass straining. The sand inside surged wildly, pouring upward and downward at once, as though rejecting the very idea of direction.
The hunters froze, their cloaks whipping in the unseen wind. For the first time, their composure cracked.
"This… this is impossible."
The air split with a sound like cracking stone. Shadows poured from the fissures, writhing forms spilling across the cavern walls. Not hollows—something older, something bound to the hourglass itself.
Elara's voice shook. "What… what is this?"
Aelric stood trembling, blood dripping down his side, eyes locked on the artifact. His corrupted arm pulsed in rhythm with the hourglass.
"It's time," he whispered. "Breaking free."
---
The hunters hesitated. Their blades lowered, their forms flickering. They exchanged a silent glance, then spoke in unison, voices heavy with grim finality.
"Then this world is already lost."
And before Aelric or Elara could strike, the hunters dissolved into shadow, vanishing into the cracks of the cavern.
The silence that followed was worse than the battle.
The hourglass dimmed slightly, though the sand still churned violently, resisting rest.
Elara rushed to Aelric's side, catching his arm before he collapsed. "You idiot… you nearly got yourself killed."
He managed a weak grin, blood staining his teeth. "But I didn't. And neither did the truth."
She pressed a hand against his wound, her eyes fierce. "You're not allowed to die yet. Not when we're this close."
He looked past her, to the hourglass, its glow flickering like a heartbeat.
"No," he murmured. "Not yet."
---
Far above, unseen in the surface ruins, a bell tolled. Its sound was not meant for human ears.
And across the world, timers flickered—some stuttering, some freezing, some accelerating wildly.
The Forgotten Hour had been disturbed.
And time itself was beginning to break.