Eron's lungs locked as the serpent rose higher, its massive body twisting above the black water of the cavern lake. Its scales shone like metal in the faint glow of the crystals overhead. Every shift of its weight sent waves smashing against the stone where Eron crouched.
The serpent's head tilted, tongue flicking out once. Its lantern-sized eyes glowed pale green.
Eron couldn't move. His legs trembled, his chest burned, and he felt trapped like prey under a predator's stare.
The serpent opened its jaws wide enough to swallow him whole. The hiss rattled in his bones.
The smell hit him, sour and metallic, like wet copper. Each breath from its throat carried the damp rot of things swallowed long ago. Its scales scraped against one another with a grinding sound, stone on stone, and the teeth gleamed slick with moisture, each one longer than his arm. The cavern seemed to shrink around it, as if the monster was too big for the space.
Eron shut his eyes, bracing for the strike.
And then everything stopped.
The hiss cut off mid-echo. The ripples in the water froze. Droplets hung in the air like glass beads. Even the serpent itself was stuck, mouth open, fangs inches away.
Eron gasped. The sound of his breath was too loud.
"…What…?"
A soft hum rose beside him. Light formed a circle, shining like water rippling in reverse.
A small figure drifted out of it.
Her hair was silver-white, floating around her like threads of light. Her clothes shifted like mist. She hovered above the ground as if gravity meant nothing.
Her eyes scanned the cavern, then landed on him.
"Huh… why's it so dark here?" she asked, blinking slowly. "Ohh. A dungeon. And you made it this far already."
Eron's voice caught. "…You… again."
She floated closer, tilting her head. "Most people who fall this deep don't last. But you kept going."
Eron's throat was dry. "That thing… it was…"
"About to eat you," she finished, glancing at the serpent. "But not today. I don't like endings that come too soon."
Eron stared. "You… stopped it?"
She spun lazily in the air, hair fanning out. "Time, yes. Everything but us. Look." She tapped a droplet of water. It quivered but didn't fall. "Moments between breaths."
Eron's heart pounded. "Then you can save me. You can kill it."
She shook her head. Her voice stayed calm, almost gentle. "No. I don't fight. That's not my role. If I break the rules, the river pulls us both under."
Eron's jaw clenched. "Then why stop time at all?"
Her smile returned, playful. "Because I was curious. People show their truth when they're frozen in fear. Yours is very clear right now."
Eron forced the words out. "You talk like this is a story you've read already."
"Not read," she corrected, turning upside down in the air as if it were the most natural thing. Her silver hair drifted around her face. "Because I can walk in the river of time. I've seen its bends and crashes. I know where it drags and where it waits."
Her eyes flicked back to him, sharp and almost pitying. "But even if I can walk, I can't carry you. The river only lets you swim on your own."
Eron gritted his teeth. "You're treating this like a game."
She laughed softly. "Maybe. For me, it's play. For you, it's survival." Her eyes slid to his pack. "Ohh… you still have it. The moss. Use it."
Eron froze. "Now?"
"Yes. Or when I release this pause, you'll be gone in one bite. And that's boring."
He pulled out the faintly glowing moss. It pulsed in his hand.
"I don't know if I can—"
"Yes, you can," she cut in quickly. "Don't think. Thinking is slow. Want it, and the door will open."
Eron stared at the moss, green light spilling between his fingers. His hands shook. "What if it just burns out? What if it fails?"
"Then you'll die here," Aurel said plainly, as if it didn't matter.
Anger flared in him, sharp and hot. "You're enjoying this."
"Enjoying isn't the word," she said, voice sing-song again. "But it is interesting. And I do hate to be bored."
Eron's throat tightened. He felt like the choice would crush him. One second too long, and the frozen fangs behind him would end everything. He shut his eyes and pushed, not with muscle, but with the strange hum inside his chest.
The cavern shook. Space bent in front of him. A doorway of rippling light appeared, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Eron's breath caught. "It's… opening."
She clapped once, pleased. "See? You can call the door. Go. Step through. Learn, endure, or vanish. The river won't wait."
Eron stared at the light. "What if I can't get out?"
Her eyes glimmered. "Then you'll wander forever. Better than being eaten alive, isn't it?"
He looked at her, then at the frozen fangs inches away. Slowly, he stepped into the light.
Warmth wrapped around him. The cavern dissolved. A vast white plain stretched in every direction. Above, a strange sky shimmered with shifting bands of light. The moss dissolved into sparks and vanished.
Eron staggered forward, staring. "…This is inside?"
She hovered at the threshold, swinging her legs. "Yes. Your chamber of hours. Here, years may pass while only a breath passes outside. Use them well."
Her voice softened, almost kind. "I'll visit again… when the river bends."
Eron called out, "Wait. At least tell me your name."
She glanced back. For a moment, her smile was unreadable.
"Aurel," she said simply. "Remember it, if time allows."
Then she drifted backward into her portal and disappeared.
The door sealed shut, leaving Eron alone in the white.
He exhaled. No wind. No insects. No water dripping. The silence here felt heavy, like a weight on his ears.
He shouted, testing the emptiness. His voice came back a second late, twisted, like someone else had said it. The sound made his skin crawl.
He stomped the ground hard. The thud reached his ears after a heartbeat. He spun, checking for an echo of his body, but there was nothing. Only endless white.
Then he noticed his shadow. It stretched behind him, but when he lifted his arm, the shadow followed half a breath late. The delay turned his stomach. This place didn't just hold time, it warped it.
He crouched and touched the floor. It gave slightly, then held. No dust stuck to his skin. It wasn't stone or ice, just something that existed because he needed it.
He stood. Out there, the serpent's fangs were still waiting. But in here, time was his.
The fear that had crushed him felt smaller. He finally had room to breathe, to fight back.
Sparks flickered at his fingertips.
"Then I'll make it burn."
His voice carried into the white and vanished.