Emiren stood in the silent Garden, staring at the silver tree that no longer trembled. The Unspoken were gone. Balance had been restored. But why did everything still feel wrong?
Ardalys quietly touched the trunk of the tree. His fingers traced the bark as if trying to sense changes that could not be seen with the eyes.
— Something is wrong, — he said.
Emiren knew it.
The wind that passed through the branches carried echoes. Not ordinary sounds—these were remnants of words that had already been spoken once but were never meant to be repeated.
Cracks in time.
— We changed it, — Emiren whispered.
— Obviously. But how much?
The answer came not in words but in the shifting of the world itself.
The ground beneath their feet trembled for a moment, as if the very foundation of the Eternal Garden had been torn by an invisible force. The trees began to whisper, their leaves rustling not from the wind but from something awakening inside them.
And then Emiren saw it.
On the horizon, where space met the edge of reality, cracks appeared. They did not glow, did not shimmer—they were voids, darkness that did not belong here.
— Time is unraveling, — Ardalys murmured.
— It’s losing its unity, — Emiren added.
The Keepers appeared as silently as ever. Their figures emerged from light and shadow, but this time, there was no serenity in their eyes.
— You opened the path, — one of them said.
Emiren met his gaze.
— We closed it.
— But the consequences remain. And they ripple outward, like waves after a stone falls into water.
Ardalys frowned.
— So what? Do we have to restore balance again?
The Keeper slowly nodded.
— If not, these cracks will begin to form their own roads. Time will become uncontrollable.
Emiren ran his hand through the air. It felt denser, almost viscous, as if past, present, and future were no longer distinct concepts.
He could feel it.
Change.
Uncertainty.
And worst of all—someone’s presence.
Not the Unspoken. Not the Balance.
Something else.
Something that was watching.
— We’re not alone, — he said.
Ardalys tensed.
— You feel it too?
The Keepers did not react. They simply stood there as if they already knew what was coming.
— Tell the truth, — Emiren’s voice was sharper than he expected. — What is happening?
Silence.
And then—words that changed everything:
— Those who destroy time have sensed this weakness. And they are already coming.
The Garden shuddered.
And Emiren realized this was only the beginning.