Prologue: Chains of Time

Anjur looked at the metal brackets around his limbs and felt the biting cold of the one about his neck. He gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed his anger at his holder. The Aytac ignored the pointed stares and looked away into the darkness where the crystaled minds would appear.

Of course Feray had told them what he had done. And this time there was no explaining. They had bound him hand and foot, eradicating his time domain, when they placed the last one on his neck. At least he could still move, but he couldn’t summon the crystals over or access the powers that so readily whispered about his horns. Their sounds kept vibrating against them, causing him to itch. It was so frustrating, but at least he had some leads.

The shades were a threat, but they didn’t seem to be as bound by the Daemon clan as he had previously supposed. They also weren’t widespread, another counter to his theory. They only appeared on Mundeos. A spark caught his attention, diverting his train of thought.

Crystal minds began to appear, rapidly. Many showed glimpses of Shades swirling about before stopping. The numbers began to grow rapidly, and Anjur noticed Bard fall in one of them. He rose to his feet and tried to have the crystal come to him. Remembering that he was still bound, he turned to the guard, who was backing away in fear and surprise.

Anjur was about to command him to summon the crystals when more in other areas began to appear. The guard quickly rushed out the door and Anjur kept quiet. Of course, his first action would be to report this and get help. Even if Anjur appeared on Mundeos, he doubted he could do much against all this. One crystal appeared that made him pause. On it, a black creature with six blue eyes appeared, and Anjur froze. He then put on an angry grin. So it was him all along.

“Deimos, you are a sly one,” he growled as he sat there helpless. “If not for stumbling into this, you would have stolen all their time.” He looked at the growing number of crystals and watched as some turned black, disappearing from sight but not from sense. How that disciple of his had created the shades, he knew not. Only that things made more sense as he stared at the repeating memory of the one slain by that atrocious time thief.

He always was one step ahead, but this time, Anjur was aware of his design much earlier. If given a bit of freedom, he was sure he could prevent his scheme. Now to convince the others about it. He watched through the night before the guard returned. Not once had he seen Bard’s mind crystal appear, so it brought him relief, though he disliked how many had appeared from the battles the shades were engaging in.