Shadows Among the Ruins
The world around Emiren was shattering like a broken mirror. The sky of the Eternal Garden cracked, its fragments blending with the mist that veiled the horizon. The Silver Tree, once majestic and unyielding, now resembled a skeleton—its bark cracked, branches broken, and roots writhing helplessly in the fractured earth. Yet even in this destruction, something still lived: a silvery liquid seeped from beneath the bark, glowing faintly, as if Eternity itself refused to fade.
Flamen stood nearby, his eyes burning with inner fire. His fists clenched as he struggled to maintain control over the unstable reality.
“We’re too late,” he muttered bitterly.
Emiren ran his fingers over the remains of the Silver Tree, feeling a faint pulse of life.
“No,” he said. “Something still holds on.”
The Hollow stepped closer. His cloak billowed in the whirlwind of unstable matter, and his eyes gleamed, absorbing the chaos around them.
“Do you feel it?” he asked.
Emiren nodded.
An echo.
Voices.
A whisper of those who should have been erased along with the collapse of Eternity.
Lost Between Moments
The darkness between the fragments of reality trembled, and figures began to emerge from it. They appeared gradually, like shapes pulled from someone else’s dreams. At first, their outlines were blurred, unstable, but with each passing moment, they grew clearer.
Flamen tensed.
“Is that… them?”
Before them stood those who should have vanished along with the destruction of Eternity. Beings who had once been part of its fabric now wandered among its ruins, trapped in the space between existence and oblivion.
A cold gust of wind carried fragments of voices. Some of them were familiar—echoes of friends, enemies, and those they had lost.
“They are not dead,” whispered the Watery, his voice trembling. “They are lost.”
The figures swayed like shadows on water, reflecting countless possible futures that never came to pass. In their eyes flickered the glimmers of hundreds of choices left unmade.
“This is the echo of shattered time,” the Hollow said.
Emiren felt something shift within the very structure of space. Time no longer had a defined shape. Its currents swirled together, forming an endless maelstrom of possibilities.
Flamen took a step forward, staring at the clearest figure among the echoes.
“We… know you,” he said, as if recognizing a familiar presence.
The being lifted its head, and in its gaze, a world that no longer existed was reflected.
The Judgment of the Creators
A heavy silence settled between them. Then the figure spoke:
“You came too late.”
Its voice was both old and young at once, its echo rebounding off the ruins of the Silver Tree.
“We couldn’t…” Emiren began, but the figure raised a hand.
“You didn’t want to,” its voice hardened. “Your hesitation gave chaos its chance. You thought you controlled time, but time always controlled you.”
The other echoes whispered, their voices merging into a single chorus of accusation.
— You abandoned us.
— You let Eternity fall.
— You forgot those who trusted you.
Flamen gritted his teeth.
“We did everything we could!”
The figure tilted its head.
“And it was not enough.”
Emiren felt a wave of cold pass through him. Not the cold of space, but the weight of choices they had yet to make.
“We cannot change the past,” he said. “But we can decide what happens next.”
The Hollow narrowed his eyes.
“If we still have time.”
The Last Chance
The sky trembled.
Something was shifting in the fabric of the world. The Silver Tree, though broken, emitted a faint light. Its roots still clung to the remnants of reality, forming the last anchor in the chaos.
“We can try to stabilize Eternity,” Emiren said, looking at his companions. “But we need their help.”
He turned to the lost echoes.
“You say we abandoned you. But if Eternity dies completely, you will vanish as well.”
The shadows hesitated.
“If we combine our strength…” Emiren’s voice grew firmer, more resolute. “If we find a point of balance, we might be able to stop the collapse.”
The figure that had spoken for the lost ones studied him carefully.
“And what if we don’t want to?”
Flamen sighed.
“Then you will disappear.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then, one of the shadows stepped forward.
The echoes of the past had made their choice.
And Eternity still had a chance to be reborn.