I managed to turn around and face him, but that was all. My body was no longer mine. My soul had been hijacked by his. He grinned, reaching out a hand.
"Give Thieron to me, boy. It's too big a toy for the likes of you," he added.
The worst part was that I couldn't stop myself as I brought Thieron up, ready to give it to him. Eira screamed from somewhere in the crowd. "Tae! No! Don't do it!"
Everything stopped.
The distant boom went silent. The air stopped flowing. I was frozen. Conscious, but still and unable to do or say anything. For a moment, I'd thought it was part of the Spirit Bender's wretched game, until I noticed that he, too, was quite literally paused.
Time had come to a sudden halt, and the Time Master's voice echoed across the paralyzed skirmish. "The thing about hate is that, while it does do a decent job of motivating an individual, it also blinds them."
He sounded so calm, emerging from the crowd of frozen specters and ghouls, moving past his motionless brothers and sisters, his scythe back in his hand. He gave Kelara an appreciative smile. "Thank you, little sister. You may not be a First Tenner, but you've proven yourself worthy of being my sibling, as much as the others," he said, then walked toward Spirit and me.
None of us could move. Time was paused, but we could all hear and see this moment. My heart wasn't even beating anymore. My breath was gone. The only comfort I got from this conscious blip was that I wasn't the only one. The Spirit Bender was just as helpless. While I couldn't see any emotions in his galaxy eyes, I knew there was dread in his blackened soul. This was not something he'd expected.
Kelara had taken advantage of her last attack on Spirit, joined by Seeley and me, to find and snatch the Time Master's scythe. We'd all known he'd have it on his person, unwilling to trust anyone, even a ward or magic seal to keep it from us. But he'd failed, and Time now had his full powers back.
Against the white backdrop, he stopped by Spirit's side, giving him a sympathetic smile. "You know, when Death first made us, I was in awe of you. I wondered what kind of creature you must have been, to have brought such spirit-bending abilities with you into our version of the afterlife," Time said. "I admired you. I loved you like a brother. Even when you were sullen and angry and eager to find a way to move on, to join the dead beyond… I was by your side, despite the light-years between us. I forgave you, more than once."
He raised a hand and caressed Spirit's bony cheek.
"You were the only one who refused to accept his fate. At first, I found that to be somewhat admirable. It showed great strength of character. But you should've learned, eventually, that there are things in this universe that you simply cannot change. Instead, you let it all turn toxic. You fed on your hate, you allowed it to fester…"
It was an eerie scene to witness. Destructive light was coming at us from all angles. The ritual had been unleashed. Death was under a Thousand Seals and unable to do a damn thing about it. The Word was helpless without her spoken approval. And we were nothing but cutouts pasted into a bigger picture that we'd yet to fully comprehend.
"The damage you've done will take years to repair," the Time Master continued, while my very soul swelled with anticipation, despite Spirit's firm grip on it. "Your spite has turned you mad, and for that, you will pay the ultimate price."
Time moved away from us and kneeled next to Death on the thick ice. Using his scythe, he drew a series of symbols around her. She kept her dark eyes on him, still smiling, unbowed and unbroken by any of this.
"I am sorry this happened to you," Time told her. "I cannot break all Thousand Seals, but I can get rid of the Silence one. Your voice is needed, Mother."
He bent down and kissed the ice, the symbols he'd etched turning blue before they snapped clean off, leaving holes in the frosted sheet. He pulled it out, the crackling sound tickling my ears. To my astonishment, Death could still move, much like the Time Master. It made sense, though. An entity like her could not be bound by the powers of her creations—the same could not be said about the magic she'd taught them on the side, unfortunately.
Death poked her head through the water, taking a deep breath. "Thank you, my dear," she said. Her lips didn’t move, but we all heard her voice. "Thank you for giving me my voice back, and thank you for stopping this madness."
Time bowed respectfully and stepped back, while Death pulled herself up and sat on the edge of the ice hole, her calves still submerged in the cold water. I doubted she felt the chill like a mortal would. Only then did I see the hundreds of symbols drawn on her with black ink. Her neck, chest, arms, and legs had all been covered in them.
She followed my gaze, looking down, and chuckled softly.
"Nine hundred and ninety-nine seals," she said. "The thousandth put on me, and the first broken, was Silence." She knocked on the ice. "Cold, cold Silence."
I couldn't speak, but I could feel relief washing over me, even though nothing moved. I gave the Time Master a sideways glance, wanting to hug him, but I couldn't move, still under his influence.
"I am sorry, Taeral," Death said to me. She sounded sincere, only the apology itself worried me. What was she sorry for? The Spirit Bender had played her. He'd played us all. "I should have told you sooner. I should have told you all sooner, but I didn't know my Spirit was behind all this. I admit, my ignorance was my undoing."
"None of us knew," Time replied softly.
"That is not an excuse. Not for me, and you know it. Alas, I find myself embroiled in this twist now, and I must make amends." She sighed, her gaze finding mine again. "There is a reason why you can use Thieron so well, why you can even reap spirits, though you're a living creature, and it goes beyond your future afterlife as a Reaper. Taeral, you are the fortuitous wonder I have awaited for a long time. A result of the universe conspiring to assist me in my quest to stop the Hermessi for good. To force them back into their roles as elementals."
I wasn't sure what to think of this. I'd yet to fully understand. All I knew was that time had stopped, smack in the middle of the apocalypse, and that she needed to undo it all before it was too late.
"You're not just a Reaper candidate. You're a Reaper candidate with Hermessi blood flowing through your veins. It makes you all the more special because you have the power to use Thieron. To stop the ritual for good, not just for another four or five million years, when the next Brendel-wannabe decides to give it another shot," Death continued. "I didn't tell you because I wanted to see what you were made of. The Thieron challenge brought out the best in you, and I am so proud… so damn proud of you, Taeral. Thanks to you, the Hermessi will never do this again."
The truth hit me harder than any punch. The implications were larger than life. Within suspended seconds, I realized I wanted nothing more than to make Death's words come true. I needed to be let out of this pause… I had to do something, if I could. But how?
Understanding that my enthusiasm had gotten the better of me, I eased back into the present, my eyes fixed on Death.
"When time resumes its flow, you must kill the Spirit Bender first. You have Thieron. You can do it," she said.
I would've loved to ask how I could possibly do that, since I was technically under his full control. The Time Master reached out and took Spirit's scythe away from him. While still looking at his brother, the Reaper broke the curved blade with his bare hands. Suddenly, something snapped inside me. A string that Spirit had used to tug, to push and pull as he pleased. His control over me was gone.
"The Spirit Bender's powers are no more," Death announced. "He no longer has control over you or any of the spirits present. In fact, no soul he's ever touched with that blade will ever bow before him again."
She got up and walked over to me. The clinking of chains drew my gaze to her ankle, where a solid iron cuff tightened, connected to the bottom of the lake by a thick chain. It shimmered strangely in this white light.
"It's the first seal. The others will have to be broken before we get to it," she said. "That will take time. Anyway, don't worry about me, Taeral. I need you to do something, if you wish to stop the ritual. I will tell you the words, and you shall whisper them into Zetos, Thieron's blade. It will activate my weapon's full potential, and you will have full control over it. You'll know what to do next."
She leaned closer and whispered the words in my ear. They poured straight into my brain, like ice water, causing an intense headache. This wasn't a language I knew or understood, but I memorized everything. Every syllable and accent, every single letter. It had been seared into my memory with ice fire.
The Time Master raised his scythe, giving me a brief glance. "Your time is now, Taeral."
He flicked the blade, which zinged with delight.
It is my time now.
Taeral
Spirit stared at me in sheer disbelief.
