A Time of Kings Episode Four

Chapter 1

Sierra

Sierra arrived in the time gate, her body slamming down into that forever-blue pool of water. Her face impacted it, and beneath her, she stared into the very waters of time. It flowed back and forth, images and forms trapped within it like insects entombed in amber.

She had a moment to gasp, to reorient and realize where she was and what had just happened, then she shot to her knees. At least, she tried to.

She was still injured. Whilst the injury wasn’t claiming her, and her consciousness remained, trapped in this moment, she could still feel how broken her body was.

Her mind flashed as it caught up to what had just happened to her. She gasped in terrified pain as she reached around and trailed her fingers over her back, blood filtering between her nails.

She squeezed her eyes closed, but just before she could remain that way as sobs racked her throat, she felt something.

The waters beneath her became unsettled as if something was plowing through that river of time, forcing forward and up as it desperately tried to reach her.

Sierra gasped and staggered to her feet. Just before she could begin to sink, she reoriented, locking herself above the surface of the water. She tilted her head down, and she started to see… possible futures. She knew precisely what they were as horrible scenes of destruction were laid bare at her feet.

She had no idea why she hadn’t succumbed to her injuries, but she could appreciate it had something to do with being inside the time gate. Maybe it was holding back the full severity of her wound. For now, at least. But even it could not protect her from what was barreling toward her from beneath.

Her memories of the last time she’d been here slammed into her mind. She’d been told that if she remained here too long, the Others would find her, as would members of the Royal family. She already knew the Prince was looking for her with everything he had.

And she could guarantee that whatever was reaching up toward her through the water like a hand pushing from a grave was one of her numerous enemies.

… She had to get out of here. Now.

She started to run, but where precisely would she run to? Remain in this realm, and the Prince would find her and pluck the remnants of Ghost from her mind. Then the Others would use his infection to overcome the galaxy once and for all.

The horror was almost too much to deal with. It felt as if she’d swallowed a bullet that was actively tearing her apart from the inside out.

But nothing was worse than one fact. Smith wasn’t here with her. Though it was hard to sort through her memories and push through her pain, she could appreciate that he hadn’t come with her because, once more, Prince Alderon had claimed him.

Right now, somewhere back in the rivers of time, the Prince was probably killing Smith again.

Though the horror of that fact was like a knife to her heart, Sierra couldn’t let it sink in. For if it sank in, she would sink through the very surface of time and be claimed once and for all.

She only had one option. She had to go back in time again, and she knew with all her heart that this time, it would be her last. She wouldn’t get another opportunity to run. If she used her power to return to the past, it would bring her every enemy flocking toward her.

So she only had one option. One option to return to a time where she could fix everything. One option to return to a moment when all hadn’t been lost. But if she simply threw herself from the surface of the water, down into the endless grip of time, and she allowed it to take her to whenever it pleased, she knew it would only be minutes until she was consumed by the Others. She could feel them. Though they hadn’t penetrated the time gate, they were close. Everything was so close.

Sierra shifted, taking another step as she tried to put as much distance between her and that endless shape pushing up from the surface of time. She didn’t honestly know whether by traveling across the surface of the water she could actually put distance between her and that enemy, but she had to try.

… Had to try. She couldn’t give up here, not now, not when she knew that somewhere back in history Smith was being killed yet again. At that knowledge, she gritted her teeth, practically swallowing them as a wave of pure determination stole through her. She hadn’t forgotten the promise she’d made when she’d finally managed to snag hold of the time gate. She would use it to travel back in time and save everyone. She would protect this galaxy from the scourge of the Others if it was the last thing she would do.

From behind her, she heard a rumble and felt it as it rippled through the surface of the water. It was one of the strangest sensations she’d felt in a long time – if you could use time as a valid way to measure anything anymore. But the way it lapped and pushed against her feet, sending unholy tingles up through her legs was unmistakable. It felt like the greatest grip in existence.

Come on, think, she spat as she threw herself forward, forcing herself to forget the injuries that still covered her back. She would not succumb to them. Dammit, not here, not in the past, never.

Telli had already told her that if she returned far enough back to when this all had begun on that fateful day that Clarice had been killed, she would leave herself open for an attack.

Use that much power, and the Others would find her immediately.

But as Sierra took another step, she ran out of time. Literally. Something breached the surface of the water, and she felt it jolt toward her.

Desperation flooded through her. A moment she would never forget – a moment eternity would never forget, either, as it would be etched in every second, minute, and hour. A point in time where all could fail and all could die.

With a scream, Sierra lost control of her body, and she slipped below the surface of the water. It was a sudden, violent motion, and there was nothing she could do as the river of time swallowed her.

She didn’t have the opportunity to decide on a destination to return to. All decisions were taken from her as fear claimed her soul.

Sierra sank through time. Just before she did, something reached her. It wrapped its hands around her throat.

And it traveled with her to the past.

Chapter 2

Sierra

She arrived outside her home, slamming down against the door, her bloodied palm sliding over the metal as something wrapped its hands around her throat. Traveling through time was confusing enough without the pain of being choked. Before Sierra’s mind could adjust to what had just happened, blackness started to swamp her vision.

The choke-hold was complete, and there was nothing she could do to fight against it. It felt like chains had been wrapped around each of her tracheae, and as every second passed, so too did a scrap of her awareness as it was stolen on the wings of unconsciousness. Her sweaty, blood-splattered hand fell uselessly against the base of the door as Sierra crumpled. Finally, she caught a glimpse of the creature trying to strangle her. She should never have doubted what it was. It was a Rain Mark, and she had a moment to appreciate its blind, total devotion to her destruction before something rose up within her.

Just as her brain shut down, something shifted inside her body. It came from her sternum – no, from just beyond it. It came from her pendant. As all hope was lost and Sierra stared at what would be her last moment, her pendant started to spin. It vibrated with an energy she would never forget. It pulsed with a force beyond anything that could be matched in this galaxy.

Energy spilled out of it, slamming into the Rain Mark and thrusting him back before he could completely crush her throat.

He fell several meters down the rough sandy path, giving Sierra a few precious seconds to clutch hold of her consciousness before it could slip away. As blackness swamped her vision, saliva filled her mouth, and her throat refused to breathe, she somehow shifted up a shaking hand and clutched her pendant. She locked her fingers around it – locked her fingers around it with all her worth.

She would never let go – of what it meant, of what it had given her, and of who it could bring back.

Smith.

Ghost.

Though she’d been sure that most of Ghost had already transferred into Smith, a scrap of him had to remain, because she felt someone holding her hand to her pendant, helping her grasp it so it didn’t fall from her sweaty, bleeding grip.

But holding that pendant could only achieve so much. The Rain Mark wasn’t down – it wasn’t even injured. It pulsed to its feet, looking less like a bipedal creature and more like a blast of energy shot from a gun.

She skidded back, her boots dislodging chunks of sand that became trapped in the tread as her eyes widened in fear.

Move, she heard a voice in her ear. It was Smith. He was speaking with all his authority, with all his heart.

She held onto his voice. She used it as strength, used it as purchase, used it as the very ground she stood upon as she forced herself up. Somehow, she found a reservoir of strength within her, and she used it to stand just as the Rain Mark reached her.

Sierra wrenched the pendant from her throat. As the Rain Mark brought his hands up to finish what he’d started, Sierra twisted around, using a grace her broken body should not have. She wrapped the pendant around the Rain Mark’s throat, she shoved her knee into its back, and she forced her arms to wrap backward.