The Shadow walked ahead of Kael, leading him deeper into the buried temple.
Not a word was spoken in the first few meters.
Only the sound of sand trickling through cracks in the ancient stone.
The interior was lined with symbols unlike any recorded before.
One phrase repeated on every column:
"He who knows time must forget it to go on."
---
— Why did you stay here? — Kael finally asked.
The Shadow stopped before a mural layered in centuries of dust.
— Because here… time does not rule.
Here, time listens.
She raised a hand and wiped part of the mural clean.
Kael froze.
What he saw was a pictographic record of himself, sealing a shadowy creature using the exact gesture he'd used days ago during the Arkana code.
—
— That was before me — Kael whispered.
— That was you before you were you — the Shadow replied.
The temple was more than a refuge.
It was a record of events that had not yet happened.
A testament left behind by echoes of himself crossing centuries.
And at the center of the chamber, something shimmered beneath the sand.
Kael knelt and carefully pulled it free.
It was a metallic object…
bearing the LIGA symbol.