Timely Interventions

The forest was quiet and foreboding, its towering trees casting shifting shadows under the morning sun. Leaves crunched beneath their boots as they moved in formation, alert for any signs of Malik or his hideout.

“Anything yet?” Rhea’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Mira checked her device, “Not a single reading. If he’s here, he’s keeping himself well-hidden.”

Talia paused, squinting into the dense thicket, “It’s like he knows exactly how to avoid detection. If he’s moving through here regularly, he’s leaving no trace.”

“Not even a footprint,” Dax muttered, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say we’re chasing a ghost.”

They pressed on, pushing deeper into the trees. Every few minutes, Mira would check her drone for any sign of chrono-energy fluctuations, but it remained silent, its light pulsing steadily.

“Hey guys.” Jessie started, breaking the silence as usual, “Did anyone else feel that weird tingle before the distortion appeared yesterday?”

Talia raised a brow, “What... tingle?”

“I don’t know it was like a zap to the brain or something.”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Me neither…”

Dax and Mira voiced respectively. On the other hand Rhea chimed in with a slight grin.

“Some people are born with a subtle connection to chrono energy, maybe you’re one of them, Valis.”

“A connection?” Jessie’s eye glinted with a certain hint of playfulness, “Does that mean I’m special?”

“Maybe that would explain how you could channel chrono energy through your anchor on your first try, as well.” Mira chimed in, her index finger tapping her chin.

“Ha! Then I am special!”

After nearly an hour of searching, Talia produced an exasperated sigh, the restlessness visibly growing. 

“This is pointless. If Malik is out here, he’s either already long gone, or he’s hiding somewhere we’ll never find without a lead.”

Jessie slouched against a tree, “So what now? Keep playing hide and seek, or head back?”

A scream suddenly shattered the silence, echoing through the trees. It was high-pitched, filled with sheer terror. Without missing a beat, Rhea raised a hand, her voice steady but urgent. “Move, now!”

The squad sprinted toward the source of the scream, until they emerged in a small clearing. There, they saw a young girl backed up against a tree, her wide eyes fixed on a flickering, monstrous figure hovering inches away from her, its form blinking in and out of sight like a distorted projection.

“Talia, go!” Rhea’s voice snapped.

Without hesitation, Talia dashed forward, her bow already drawn. She reached the girl in seconds, sweeping her up just as the creature swung a jagged, misshapen limb toward her.

“Jessie, flank it!” Rhea ordered.

Jessie moved to circle the creature, blade raised. The creature lunged with unnatural speed, its flickering form almost teleporting forward. “What the—!” Jessie barely dodged, wincing as a sharp claw grazed his side.

“Watch it!” Dax’s voice boomed, and within moments, he’d charged at the creature, a heavy, armored fist swinging with precision. His punch connected with the creature’s midsection, and the impact sent a ripple of energy through its body, as it teleported back.

Rhea’s commands were relentless. “Dax, keep it pinned! Mira, get a reading—Jessie, fall back!”

Mira had already set her drone on the creature, its shimmering frame scanning rapidly.. The readout was wild, showing unstable energy spikes that made no sense. “Captain, this thing’s… it’s pure chrono distortion! No consistent form or energy level.”

“Valis! Can’t you use your enhanced chrono speed?” Talia asked, as she laid the girl down and tried to line up a shot in vain. The creature was moving far too erratically.

“Ah, yeah that…” Jessie winced as he backed away against a tree, “It’s not something I can just turn on. It’s more like a freestyle thing.”

“Like a free—“  Talia clicked her tongue, “What a joke…“ 

Dax braced himself as the creature swiped, raising his Chrono Gauntlets to generate a defensive energy wave. The blow landed harmlessly, as if hitting an invisible wall, but the strain caused the energy to fade. It was his signature ability: freezing his state in time to avoid damage, though it left him momentarily vulnerable.

“Ha… ha…” Dax panted heavily as he moved back.

“Dax, switch!” Rhea moved forward, her chrono whip ready and glowing. As the creature lay dazed still, the captain of the squad swung her weapon at it, coiling it around its flickering frame. In a fraction of a second the sound of a clock ticking ensued, encasing the creature in gold.

“And stay there!” Rhea cried, gritting her teeth.

It’s frozen in time… Talia observed, Rhea’s whip coiled around it.

“Shoot it down, Vespera! Now! My Time Lock won’t hold for long.” Rhea ordered firmly, causing Talia to spring into action and set her bow’s sights on the creature. With one strong pull at the energy string of her bow, a massive chrono arrow appeared and fired off towards the enemy.

It struck clean, the creature shattering into a hazy mist that dissipated in the air.

Mira immediately rushed to Jessie’s side, her expression shifting from shock to concern as she saw the blood trickling down his hand from the wound. “Jessie, are you alright? Hold still.”

Jessie just chuckled, “Nothing a little TLC can’t fix. That thing hit like a chrono-train, though.”

Rhea’s voice cut through the moment, “This wasn’t just some rogue chrono-tech. That was a timewraith—a creature born out of a time distortion. They’re rare, and they don’t normally wander this close to populated areas.”

Jessie glanced up, his face grim. “So… that thing used to be human?”

Rhea’s gaze was unreadable, “It could have been. Timewraiths are… twisted by time itself, broken and pieced together by unstable energy. Whatever this thing was, it definitely didn’t use to think like that.”

“What I’m more curious about is that Time Lock you pulled off though, Cap’n.” Jessie smirked, intrigued.

Rhea merely threw him a glance, “It’s no different than the ability you happened to use in your first mission, or Dax’s stasis shield. Yours involves speed and protection, mine does this. Among other things.”

Talia, already attending to the little girl again, looked down at her with a reassuring smile. “Hey, you’re safe now, okay?”

The girl nodded, her face still pale as she clung to Talia. Right on time, a figure emerged from the woods. It was a woman, her movements frantic and her expression distraught.

“Tia!” She cried as she saw the little girl, and the child broke free from Talia’s embrace in an instant.

“Mama!”

Mother and child reunited with a tight hug in the middle of the clearing, both sobbing as they held each other close. Soon, the woman raised her head, still clutching her daughter tight.

“You…” Her eyes swept across the faces of the knights, but her gaze locked onto Talia’s, “You are that girl who helped me plant my flowers yesterday… “

“I…” Talia felt lost for words, finally recognising the lady and her daughter.

“You saved her… I have no words to thank you. All of you.” The woman’s face lit up with gratitude.

Seeing the woman’s warm smile, the young woman cast her gaze low, unsure, “I didn’t…”

“This is what we do.” Rhea cut in, her tone softer than usual, “You should get back to Cyrillia, make sure Tia is okay.”

“You… You’re right.” The mother nodded quickly standing.

“Do you want us to escort you back to town ma’am?” Jessie proposed, but the woman refused.

“No need, thank you.”

“Nothing else seems to be out of place.” Mira nodded, “They’ll be safe now.”

The squad nodded at the confirmation. Before the woman and her child could leave however, the mother turned around to face the Knights.

“You’re not as bad as people say you are…” The woman spoke genuinely, leaving the knights slightly taken aback 

“Be safe.”

The squad watched the two of them go, before they shared a silent glance.

“So if Malik’s causing monsters like that to appear, it’s not just the town at risk. These things… they’ll spread.” Dax thought aloud.

“If these Timewraiths become more common, we’ll be fighting them all across Cyrillia.” Mira frowned.

Rhea’s jaw tightened as she took in the faces of her team.

“Then we find Malik before he causes any more damage.”

“Heh…” Mira’s mischievous grin glistened against the blue light of the holo screen that hovered before her.

“Mira? Have you finally gone crazy over data?”

“No, but you’ll be delighted to hear that this timewraith left behind traces…”

“Traces? Actual trackable traces?” Dax raised a brow.

“Actual trackable traces.” Mira grinned, “We’ve got the location.”

Rhea didn’t need to know anything else other than that. Her gaze steeled with resolve, and her usual authoritative tone returned.

“That scoundrel finally slipped up. Mira lead the way. We’re following that trace.”