Times keeper 1 a litrpg.., p.31
Time's Keeper 1: A LitRPG Adventure, page 31
Cedric raised his dagger. “Oh, it’ll be quick.” He glanced to Reik, who stood beside him, offering him a nod.
Reik returned it. A watery orb bloomed in his hand.
Roden drew his blade and stepped forward cautiously. He narrowed his eyes at Cedric and Reik, watching them keenly.
Reik flung his watery orb at the elf. Roden swept his blade through it, splattering water onto the forest floor. But Reik had already summoned and flung another. Roden batted his blade at orb after orb, the sound of explosive, wet pops filling the air.
Cedric took advantage of the opening Reik created. He leapt over the fallen men between them and approached Roden.
And with a sharp clang, Cedric’s blade took the place of Reik’s watery orbs. Cedric had stabbed his blade right for the elf’s throat.
But Roden was an accomplished warrior. He batted Cedric’s dagger aside with enough force to make him stumble.
Cedric recovered and brought his dagger back up to guard against Roden’s counterattack. Their blades clanged as each went for a deadly blow that the other deflected
The officer tried to step in and help, but Reik took care of him. A pair of twin torrents crashed into the officer, denting his armor and sending him flying back into a tree. The man tried to stand, but Reik’s blasts of water kept him down.
Cedric, meanwhile, locked blades with Roden. Steel grinded against steel—will grinding against will.
Cedric gritted his teeth, as did Roden. Cedric shoved the elf back, sending him stumbling. The elf recovered, launching a swift counterattack in the form of a swipe of his blade. Cedric deflected the blow.
The two men stood staring at one another, their guards raised. They were a perfect match, each as skilled as the other.
But Cedric didn’t have only his skill with a blade. As much as he wanted to conserve lifespan, he needed to end this.
Cedric called on Time Bend, focusing on himself. He accelerated rapidly, and the world slowed.
Roden’s gritted teeth and swaying blade froze. Reik’s orbs of water hung in the air like giant raindrops. The officer, barely on his feet, was frozen.
[Remaining lifespan: 27 years, 1 months, 2 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 3 seconds. ]
He didn’t like wasting lifespan, so he’d make this quick. He stepped forward, driving his dagger into Roden’s neck, parting the flesh. Droplets of blood hung in the air, frozen, as Cedric tugged his blade back. He jogged over to the officer, and with a swift stab, he ended that man too.
Not wanting to waste anymore lifespan, he cut Time Bend off immediately.
Two thuds rang out as Roden and the officer fell simultaneously.
And a splash followed moments later as one of Reik’s orbs crashed into Cedric’s side. He winced. The orbs stung more than he’d expected.
Reik furrowed his brow. “Woah. What did you…”
“It’s… hard to explain,” Cedric said, shrugging.
“I’m Reik Rathfire.” He waved a hand. “I am… was the court mage for one of the most influential kingdoms in the realm. I’ve won battles, saved damsels in distress, mastered the forces of magic… I think I can understand your magic.”
“I sped myself up,” Cedric said. “With time magic.”
“Time magic?” Reik furrowed his brow. “I’ve never heard of time magic. That sounds… made up.”
There’s a lot to catch him up on, Cedric realized. He might’ve fought alongside Cedric right now, but they’d only just met. Cedric’s time magic was far from the last revelation.
But he didn’t have time to catch Reik up right now.
A scream echoed through the forest from the west—from the elves’ town. Cedric and Reik might’ve cut the head off the snake, but they hadn’t stopped the attack entirely.
“We have to get back,” Cedric told Reik.
Reik nodded.
They dashed through the woods, leaping over knots of twisted roots and weaving through gray trees. As they neared the town, the sound of music had long faded, replaced by the loose cacophony of battle. Fiery light screamed from the town, bathing the woods in golden gloom.
When they finally reached the town, things were worse than they’d expected. Much worse.
Chaos reigned through the town. Fires raged through every tree-home. Screaming citizens abandoned them, fleeing their homes and storefronts.
Guards were locked in combat. Men in black armor surrounded wounded elven guards, trading blows with them. The elves managed a few stabs with their spears, but the soldiers were whittling them down. They wouldn’t last much longer.
Walt, Myra, and Arcaeus jogged up to Cedric. They looked like they’d been in a tussle but weren’t injured. Walt had his crossbow drawn, and Myra swung her twin blades, both of them splattered in blood.
“Where the hells have you two been?” Myra asked Cedric, huffing.
“We found the traitor,” Cedric answered. “Roden, the head guard.” He shrugged, smiling. “Well, not anymore…” He nodded at the carnage ahead. “What happened?”
“Men appeared from nowhere,” Walt answered. “Things were fine, music blaring, laughter spilling out. Then, next thing we knew, the Empire’s men swarmed the place. We didn’t even hear an army approaching…”
“Because it didn’t,” Cedric guessed. He nodded at the Regent’s palace, the only building that wasn’t on fire.
“They must’ve used the Regent’s portal, with Roden’s help.” Cedric glanced at his friends. “But that doesn’t matter now. It doesn’t matter how they got here. We have to stop them.” He looked at Reik. “Reik, work on putting those fires out.” He turned to the rest of the party. “Rest of you, with me!”
Walt, Myra, and Arcaeus nodded.
Following Cedric’s lead, they ran into the thick of the battle, feeling the intense heat of the fires raging all around them. Soldiers ceased their pillaging as they saw them approaching, turning their attention—and their blades—to Cedric and his friends.
Cedric met them head on. He slashed his dagger across. A soldier deflected Cedric’s dagger with a stern swat. The clang reverberated through Cedrik’s arm, but he recovered quickly, searching for an opening.
And when he found a gap in his armor, he drove his dagger forward in a quick series of stabs. He stabbed one man bloody, ripping the life from him with vicious jabs.
One man fell. Half a dozen more stepped up to take his place.
But Cedric wasn’t alone either.
Walt planted a crossbow bolt in a man’s skull. Myra spun, twirling her blades with flourish and slashing two men across their chests. Arcaeus led with his fists, crashing them into the soldiers’ knees and stomaches. After bringing them low, the gnome finished them with swift hooks across their jaws.
But as they dealt with one regiment, another stepped up to take its place.
Cedric and his party dealt with them swiftly. Cedric spun his dagger, striking with precision. Walt loaded and shot his crossbow in a smooth motion. Myra’s blades clanged against her enemy’s, but she eventually planted them into his chest, ending him. Arcaeus jabbed so rapidly that his hands were a blur, landing with the sharp snap of bones breaking.
But again, another regiment stepped up where the last fell.
This is endless, Cedric thought, scanning the battlefield. There seemed to be even more men than before, and they were pouring from the Regent’s palace.
“We have to close the portal,” Cedric called to his friends.
“Can it be closed?” Myra asked, cutting a man down.
Walt shot a bolt with a loud thwap, then reloaded, speaking as he yanked the string back.
“Theoretically,” Arcaeus said, mid-punch, “it can be. I’m just not sure if we can open it again if we close it.”
“We might not have a choice here.” Cedric nodded in the direction of the Regent’s palace. “Let’s go.”
Walt, Myra, and Arcaeus nodded, trailing after Cedric.
Cedric cut his way through the glut of men in front of him. He ducked blades and dipped below rogue arrows zooming across the battlefield.
Men tried to step in front of them. but they cut them down with ease, relentlessly rushing toward the Regent’s towering palace.
When they arrived there, they were met with even fiercer resistance. Countless men filled the space inside the tower. Men rushed down the narrow, winding staircase, filling the entry hall, bursting from the arching entrance.
Cedric waved his dagger wildly, warding soldiers back. Myra stepped up beside him, helping him.
Arcaeus raced through the crowd, weaving between their knees. With swift jabs, he sent them crashing to the ground, carving out a path for Cedric’s party.
They leapt over the fallen men, their jabbing heals summoning groans from them. Cedric and his friends struggled to keep their balance as the soldiers writhed beneath them. But they kept it, hopping onto the staircase.
A blade whooshed over Cedric’s hand, swung by a bold soldier, his other hand clamped on the railing. Cedric strode forward, stabbing the man. The soldier tumbled down the stairs, dead.
Walt launched a bolt, the loud thwap cutting through the hum of the horde. It nailed a man through the eye, sending him tumbling from high up on the stairs. Myra and Arcaeus cut through the relentless torrent of men pouring down the stairs.
Stair by stair, they fought their way up to the Cradle.
Men tumbled from the stairs, landing with heavy thuds, as Cedric’s party shoved them aside.
A carpet of blood flowed down the greatwood stairs.
By the time they reached the top, they were heaving, gulping down breath after breath, sweat clawing down their brows.
The large steel door lay open and ajar, ripped off its hinges. Inside the dark Cradle, the elves’ portal hummed, stirring as yet another regiment of men popped into the room, materializing from white light.
Cedric and his friends didn’t grant them a moment to find their bearings. They rushed in for the kill.
Cedric and Myra swiped their blades across the stumbling men, ending them. Walt hit them with the steel butt of his crossbow, cracking their skulls.
“Cedric!” the Regent called from a dark corner. He’d been bound with rope.
Cedric jogged over and freed the Regent, helping him up. He gestured back at the portal. “We need to close it before more men pour through.”
“Close it?” The Regent’s face twisted with distaste. “We can’t close it. The Cradle’s been in operation for hundreds of years—”
“Either we lose the portal,” Cedric said grimly, “or we lose your people. The portal was opened once. We can open it again. But we can’t restore the lives we lose today.”
The Regent pursed his lips. He nodded slowly. He shuffled past Cedric, rushing toward the white orb in the center of the room. He leaned over it, staring into it.
Arcaeus stepped up beside him. “How do we close it?”
“It’s never been done.” White light danced on the Regent’s face.
The orb hummed, a sharp metallic sound. White light streamed around them, lashing out wildly.
“Someone’s coming through,” Cedric warned, gripping his dagger.
And as a soldier’s form solidified in front of them, Cedric drove his blade into him, ending him before he fully manifested in the Cradle.
Myra stepped up to another form, stitching together before her. She swept her blades across, parting his head from his neck.
Arcaeus and the Regent, meanwhile, stared into the orb, debating their options.
“But that’d make it unstable!” the Regent protested one of the gnome’s suggestions.
“That’s the point.” Arcaeus waved a hand. “Whatever this device is, it relies on a delicate magical balance. If we disrupt that balance…”
“Disrupt it how?” the Regent asked.
Arcaeus pursed his lips and rubbed his chin.
As they discussed what to do about the orb, Cedric, Walt, and Myra handled the soldiers popping into the Cradle. With sharp, magical swish sounds, man after man appeared in the room, weaved together with magic.
And man after man, Cedric’s party dealt with them before they knew where they were.
But they couldn’t keep this up forever.
“Arcaeus,” Cedric called. “Got anything?”
“No, I… I can’t make heads or tails of this thing,” the gnome said, his eyes wide. “It’s… like its magical signature keeps changing.”
Cedric’s eyes flashed with a realization. The portal didn’t just keep changing. It needed to keep changing in order to function.
If he could prevent that change, maybe he could stop it from functioning?
And he had just the spell to do it.
“Watch my back,” Cedric said to Walt and Myra, shoving his dagger back into his belt.
Walt and Myra nodded, forming up around Cedric.
Cedric turned to face the orb. He wasn’t sure it would work, nor was he sure how much lifespan it’d cost him. But he couldn’t let the Empire’s men continue streaming through. They’d be overwhelmed, eventually.
Cedric extended his hands at the shimmering, hissing orb. He reached for Time Bend, keeping it at the ready.
Arcaeus stared up at him, his brow furrowed as he realized what Cedric was about to try. “Are you sure about this?”
“No.” Cedric smiled. “But we have to do something, and unless either of you have any better ideas…” He glanced at Arcaeus and the Regent
They both stared back at him with pursed lips.
Cedric turned back to the bubbling orb. He drew a measured breath, sharpening his focus. He tuned the rest of the world out—the clatter of blades below, the roaring fires, the crackle of magic in the air.
Time Bend.
His magic glowed around his hands, streaming toward the orb in a wispy trickle. The spurring orb shifted, its magic flickering faintly as Cedric’s Time Bend gripped at its inner mechanisms.
[Remaining lifespan: 27 years, 1 months, 1 days, 21 hours, 24 minutes, and 31 seconds. ]
A bitter screech sounded as Cedric’s magic curled around the gears deep within the orb. The ancient steel groaned against the force of Time Bend.
Cedric groaned too. His hands shook with the effort. Blood trickled from his nose, warming his upper lip, the taste of iron in his mouth.
Behind him, men were still materializing, however.
Walt and Myra were keeping guard. Myra slashed a man’s form as he appeared, cleaving through his half-formed stomach. Walt timed his shots for when a man flashed into existence, sinking a bolt in his neck. Walt rushed over and retrieved his bolt.
But more men were appearing and faster than before. White lights flashed in the chamber, coalescing into the shape of men.
Walt and Myra took them out as they formed, but there were too many for them to take them down before they formed. Soldiers regained their bearings and snarled at Walt and Myra, gripping their weapons.
Cedric kept his focus on his own task. He tuned everything but the orb out, focusing only on its inner core.
Magic poured from Cedric, arcing from his body in hissing tendrils. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth. His teeth clenched so hard they felt as though they might crack.
The orb’s magic lashed against Cedric’s, resisting its control.
Cedric pushed, forcing his magic into the orb’s core. It took hold with a sudden clunk. The inner mechanisms beneath the blindingly bright white light halted, the orb’s magic flickering.
Then it cut off entirely, a cold stillness replacing the buzzing magic. Light faded from the Cradle, leaving it in darkness. No more men poured through the portal.
But Cedric couldn’t hold it. Not for long.
His hands shook. Pressure swelled inside his skull, the blood threatening to pop his head open. The veins in his arms bulged with blood and magic gushing into his hands. His grip was slipping. Sparks of white light flashed from the gears as they resisted his magic.
It was only a matter of time before he couldn’t hold it any longer, before an endless legion of men came spilling from the orb. They couldn’t hope to defeat an army.
But perhaps they could escape it.
Cedric craned his neck, turning to look at the wide-eyed Regent.
“We… have to evacuate,” Cedric said through gritted teeth.
“Evacuate?” The Regent looked as though Cedric had just spat in his ale. “We can’t just… leave our home! We—”
“There won’t be anyone left if we don’t evacuate.” Cedric tightened the grip of his magic. His lifespan trickled down faster and faster as the orb’s magic fought him. “Walt, Myra, run down and get the elves to come here.”
His friends nodded and ran toward the door.
“Wait,” the Regent boomed. He took a breath and sighed. Then, through clenched teeth, he said, “I’ll accompany you. The elves won’t take orders from a round-ear.”
Walt and Myra nodded, running off. The Regent, ever-graceful, strode with his head high and arms folded behind his back. Nevertheless, the Regent’s urgency allowed him to catch up with Walt and Myra, and the trio rushed down the winding stairs. Their voices boomed over the clatter of the battlefield, calling the elves up to the Cradle.
Cedric kept his focus on the orb, holding it steady.
[Remaining lifespan: 26 years, 9 months, 10 days, 11 hours, 44 minutes, and 32 seconds. ]
In a matter of moments, whole months vanished before his eyes. Days whirred down in a blur of white light.
But he didn’t have to hold on for much longer. Walt and Myra soon brought the first wave of elves, the Regent at their head. A crowd of elves—women, children, and the wounded, mostly—poured into the chamber, rushing toward the orb at the center of the room.
A few of the Empire’s men tried to pursue them, but Walt and Myra took care of them.
Walt sent a quick flurry of bolts at the soldiers. He planted one bolt in a man’s heart with a wet thunk, and quickly loaded the next, launching it with as much speed and precision as the first. He kept them coming in a steady, methodical flow, a chorus of thunks and thwaps echoing from the doorway.
