[Empire City — Temple Central Plaza]
The axe came down.
And stopped.
The dust frozen in the air. Someone's scream paralyzed mid-throat. Three thousand bodies fixed in place.
Davan had his eyes closed.
He opened them.
Alex Carter stood two meters away with his arms crossed.
"Wow." A pause. "Just in time."
Davan didn't speak.
"I really thought it wasn't going to work, you know?" A pause. "I had like eight seconds of genuine uncertainty up there."
"How did you do this."
Alex looked at Cael — the axe frozen overhead, the tears in his eyes stopped as well.
"Maya got a book. History of the Fragments, ancient edition. The Core has some control over death when it detects a soul about to be harvested. F1 and F4 are compatible — F4 handles the plane between life and death, F1 is the origin of that plane. Together they can buy time."
"How much."
"One day."
"And the plan?"
Alex smiled.
"Can you act?"
Time returned.
---
The sound came from the north.
