Chapter 6: The Time Collector
The fragment pulsed in Mara's hand like a tiny heartbeat. Warm. Alive. Powerful.
Back under the golden sky, Caliah stepped closer and cupped Mara's hand. "This is a piece of the First Clock. It remembers what the world has forgotten."
Mara looked down at it. "It felt like... it didn't just fix time. It healed something."
Caliah nodded. "Exactly. Time isn't just clocks and minutes. It's memory, pain, choices. Each fragment will test your heart more than your mind."
Mara swallowed hard. "What's next?"
"The second fragment lies within a *stolen moment.* A place that no longer exists in your time." Caliah lifted her staff and traced a glowing doorway into the sky. "And someone is guarding it. Someone who collects time like others collect coins."
Mara stepped through the portal.
*Everything went dark.*
She landed in a vast, candlelit room filled with ticking—millions of clocks stacked to the ceiling. Gears floated in midair. Shelves moved on their own.
Then… footsteps.
A tall man with golden gloves stepped out of the shadows. He wore a coat stitched from *pages of old calendars*, and clocks ticked on his chest.