When Time Collides ★ [2] ✔

Epilogue

Silence. For hours there was nothing but it.

Fear. It hung on the air like the tang of blood.

Darkness. It was all around us, engulfing us, strangling us.

Death. It was our fate.

All held us in a cast iron grip, squeezing the life out of us. Terrifying us. We were going to die. War did that to you. We were cattle preparing for the slaughter. Casualties were destined to be high. It was an inevitability here.

I pushed my body lower to the ground like a prowling lion, hiding below the crest of a small hill. My heart leapt into my throat, throbbing like thunder. I watched, brow furrowed angrily, as they marched past. 

They looked so...different. Dressed in black leather, faces covered by masks so dark the soul was invisible, if there was any left in their contaminated and darkness-dirtied bodies.

My eyes gazed at my surroundings. It broke my heart. My home. My haven. My safe place. Corrupted, wickedness and devilry poisoning my sanctuary. And I was angry. Angry that this was not prevented sooner. Angry that the enemy was enabled an escape. Angry that we were losing.

I heard footsteps advancing towards me. I turned my head slightly to see who it was. I gazed back at the marching soldiers.

"Any sign?" he asked.

"None," I replied.

"He must be kept nearby. He's crippled. They couldn't have taken him far."

"They do not care about his well-being. They would have dragged him if he would not have walked."

He did not reply. He was as close to Gilliam as I was. It was hard to go through this desolation without our leader, the de facto man in command after the Lord of Time.

"What are we gonna do, Astra?" he sighed. "We can't do anything without him."

I faced him, frowning. "I am here to lead if he was to be taken, Chameleon. That was decided when the Resistance was created."

"No, Andromeda was supposed to lead if Gilliam was to be taken. He and Primavera agreed when the Resistance began. They'd agreed that she was the right person for the job when the Lord was taken."

I raised an irritated eyebrow. "Andromeda is not here. She is not ready to join us. She told me herself. And if she is not here, Chameleon, who shall lead us?"

Chameleon's ever-changing eyes flicked from side to side nervously. 

I turned away, satisfied. "That is what I thought."

I watched the last of the soldiers march away into the distance. I sat up straight and breathed out. We were going to have to face them sooner or later. It was going to be a bloodbath when we did.

I turned to the camp behind me. There were not many of us left. We'd lost many after the last battle on the Crescent Moon Plains. With many of us lost to Eon's control, the Resistance's numbers was dwindling. As much as I despised the idea, we needed outside help. Eon's shadow was growing, his gnarled fingers burrowing through the minds of Time Walkers hiding across the periods.