Prologue: Shadows in Time

Anjur found himself at the foot of one of the Priestess of Nemosyna. Their black skin was due to their connection with the goddess of the stars and memories, while their horns had changed to reflect the shapes and patterns of the moons and constellations of the many planets. The one before him wore robes of white, while her white hair and iris seemed like full moons.

“I see,” she said softly, her anklets floating around her legs as she shifted her weight. She reached out, and a mind orb floated towards them. It still was round and fluid, full of life and recording the memories of its host. She moved several of them around without another word and Anjur remained still and quiet, humbling bowing on one knee before her. At length, he heard her sigh in exasperation.

“Oh you child, how oft must you torment the strands of time?” she chastised, and Anjur looked up, his golden eyes glowing. She could only call him a child since he had been lost on the path of the time thieves for so long, only joining the aytac once he saw the error of his ways. Otherwise, he was far older than her.

At that thought, he recalled days on the moon before it shattered, walking with Jay and Sina. A faint rippling strung his heat as he briefly thought of the one he still hadn’t found since his return. However, before nostalgia and regret could take hold, the priestess before him summoned a strange device.

“Since it is him who doth attack this sacred realm, and thwart the sacred duty of our people, then I will grant you pardon this once. You may also have permission to speak and commune with the residents of Mundeos,” she paused as Anjur breathed a sigh of relief. “However, this will be limited to only those Jaepeth and Nemosyna grant you permission to speak with.”

At that name, Anjur moved, startled.

“We know where she is?” Anjur asked, a bit of hope in his heart as he thought of Sina.

“Since her retreat to Mundeos, we have not ascertained her location, but we can sense she still lives,” the priestess answered. Anjur sighed in defeat. Perhaps someday he would reunite and convey Jay’s words to her. “And at your behest, we will begin the relocation and reintroduction of those who wish to join with them on Mundeos. However, it shall not begin till the threat of the Shades and this disciple of yours is finished.”

Anjur felt a chill as she spoke, and he lowered his head out of respect. He counted himself blessed and strong, being able to use a time domain, and the powers of the moon, despite not being a priest or priestess, however, when before one, he paled in comparison. His strength in mastery was nowhere near her, and for now, his ability to master it further was stuck, a repercussion of joining the Daemon clan. His atonement, in other words, and something he had agreed to when he had come. It wasn’t anything new. But it did bother him a little to see that gap, feel it through his horns and hand, while being unable to change it.

As his thoughts moved, the priestess paused and then let out a weary sigh. She knelt in front of him, her trappings folding delicately around her and the sounds of the blue ornaments clinking against the floor.

Her delicate black hand reached out in his view, and he looked up.

“Anjur, beloved of Nemosyna. When your atonement is finished, then we look forward to your return to mastery. Until then, patience. It is through her will and the will of Jaepeth that you are here, and it is by their will that you will fully return once again.” Anjur placed his hand in hers, and she had him stand. She then used her powers to weave a circlet with a few beads and placed it around his horns onto his forehead. He was inwardly grateful she hadn’t chosen to adorn his horns, as he was still against that. He gave her a bow of gratitude before leaving. Her parting smile with eyes closed remained with him.

What he saw outside was aytac that were ready to guide him. His gaze captured some movement of some others who were curious. As they realized he was looking at them, they hastily left. Despite a mild amount of amusement at seeing this, he could not help but still be disappointed at their lack of time mastery. The air was practically a melting pit of time. He eschewed from absorbing it, but if Deimos truly came here or any of the other time thieves he had raised, then this place would be destroyed.

As he was guided, more of the aytac were busy trying to record what they could of the mind crystals of Mundeos. Their hurried pace showed how difficult it was to keep up.

Anjur however, felt that this was only a step in Deimos’s plan. He was crafty and shrewd and typically several steps ahead, stealing other’s time. Anjur knew that he along with the other four mastered thieves were above him in skill. The only reason he had remained their leader was due to having higher mastery in the other four techniques for stealing time.

His only relief was that the Daemon clan wasn’t cohesive and wouldn’t adopt the tactics of the time thieves. Time thieves were like a separate group that called themselves elites, something he had prided himself in, but realized they were just different.

Having spent so many centuries here showed him just how skilled the other daemons were.