Mirefall was the type of town that looked tired even when the sun was up. At night, it felt worse-like something was holding its breath. Arin Vale walked through the empty square, his hood low and his thoughts louder than the rain tapping against the stone.
He hated the rain. Not because it was cold or heavy, but because it made the sounds clearer. Louder.
Sometimes, he could hear a sound before it actually happened. A door creak before someone touched it. A whisper before a mouth opened. Little cracks in time slipping into his ears.
Tonight, the cracks were screaming.
Arin stopped. His heartbeat stumbled. A voice — faint, but sharp — echoed inside his skull.
"No… someone help… he's coming—"
Arin grabbed a wall as the voice grew clearer, like the person was standing right next to him, but it wasn't a voice from now; it was a voice from the future. He felt it instantly, the stretching, the unnatural pull in his mind.
"Run… the Chrono-Harvester… it wants the Echo-bearer…"
Then one final scream ripped through him, and all was silent once more.
Arin breathed hard. Echo-bearer. The word felt heavy, like it was meant for him. He didn't know what a Chrono-Harvester was, but the fear in that voice made his stomach twist.
"You heard it, didn't you?"
Arin spun around.
A man stood in pouring rain, tall and thin, a long dark coat clinging to him. His silver hair fell over one glowing blue eye. The very rain seemed uncertain about touching him.
"Arin Vale," the man replied calmly. "I have been looking for you."
Arin stepped back. "Who are you?"
"Just a traveler," the man replied. "Call me Silas. And before you ask — yes, I know what you are."
Arin swallowed. "What… what am I?"
"An Echo-bearer," Silas said. "One who hears tomorrow before tomorrow arrives. And someone a certain monster would very much like to find."
Arin didn't want to believe him, but the thunder in the sky began to twist unnaturally. The clouds didn't flash — they cracked. As if something was pushing through them from the wrong side.
Silas cursed. "It's early. Much earlier than it should be."
A long metallic limb ripped out of the sky like a blade. It scraped against the air, producing a grinding scream that wasn't a sound at all -- Arin felt it inside his bones.
The creature followed, emerging through a tear in reality itself. Its skull-like head rotated, empty sockets glowing with swirling time, scanning the street.
And then it looked directly at Arin.
Found… Echo-bearer…
The words did not come from its mouth. They came from his future.
Silas grasped Arin's arm. "Listen closely. Do you hear anything? Any sound of what's to come?"
Arin tried. The creature's warped shriek drowned everything, but beneath it — faintly — he heard a whisper from a moment ahead.
Jump.
Arin yanked Silas sideways, and a razor-thin cable sliced the air where they'd been standing. The ground split open like paper.
Silas stared at him. "Good. You can control it."
"I can't," Arin snapped. "I don't even know what it is!"
"No time to explain," Silas said. "Just escape.
He pulled out a small metallic cube from his coat; the runes on it shifted like clock hands. When he pressed the centre, it spun open, forming a glowing ring.
A portal.
"Go!" Silas pushed him forward.
Arin hesitated only for a breath — then another echo hit him.
Don't go alone.
He grasped Silas's sleeve and pulled him through with him.
They fell into a swirling corridor of light as the portal snapped shut behind them; the scream of the Chrono-Harvester cut off instantly.
Arin lay on the unfamiliar floor, chest rising and falling. Silas landed beside him, breathing hard but smiling a little.
"You did well," Silas said. "Better than I expected."
Arin stared at him, voice trembling. "Where… where are you taking me?"
Silas met his eyes, serious now.
"To the last place in the timelines where Echo-bearers can still survive." Arin swallowed. "And once we reach it," Silas said quietly, "you'll learn why you're not the only one who can hear tomorrow."