End of the Thicket

The central office was overflowing with sand. So much so that it started pouring out to Saif where he stood in the hallway. Time barged in, easily crossing the sand. When Saif tried to follow, he found his legs sinking into the sand deeper with every step. He crawled to the nearest wall, sand irritating his eyes, and leaped onto an office desk to stay on high ground.

“What is the meaning of this?” Time questioned. The office workers scrambled, trying to come up with an explanation as they hid shovels behind their backs, looking like little kids caught doing something naughty.

“Oh, Greater Being of Time! You’re back early!”
“Nothing happened here! Everything’s under control!”
“Wait- that’s the Greater of Time?”
“Hush, Amargo. Now’s not the time!”
“Is it ever?”

“Enough. No wonder the little creature set out to find me. You broke the timekeep.” Time walked over to the giant broken hourglass in the center of the room. It was more than massive, surrounded by tendrils of light and golden specks held aloft without any visible string. As it spun, it spewed a seemingly never-ending flow of sand onto the already sandy floor.

The workers gave up, apologizing profusely. All except for Amargo, who glanced around awkwardly and kept shoveling.

“You apologies can wait. We need to fix this. You,” Time pointed at a worker, who startled into dropping their shovel. “Head to the maintenance room and flip the sand switch off. You should have done that before you started trying to dig this out.” The person sputtered, scrambling away.

“You,” Time pointed at another, “head to the archives, bring the folder labeled ‘timekeep’ and get the archivists to bring me records of my time away. Be quick.” The person ran out of the room at lightning speed.

“You’ll be in charge of sending out some letters. Get the envelopes ready. Do not use any supplies in this room, they’re all tainted. Gather everyone you find, tell them to get here.”

A switch flipped, stopping the flow of sand. “Good. Now, start disposing of these tainted sands.”

The workers ran in and out of the room like clockwork, working together like a well calibrated machine. Time found a place for everyone to pitch in.

“Letterer, tell the glass smith to work on a replacement. The dimensions of the hourglass are in the timekeep file should they ask for them. You, write up the order for three tons of powdered marble, demand a proper grade worthy of our timekeep. We shall not accept any inconsistencies. We need the timekeep to hold true. Actually… where did it go?”

Time looked around for Saif, finding him still on the desk. Time came up to him, kneeling to face him, and spoke with a softer tone than the rigid commands they’d used with the others.

“Do you know who had crafted this creation?” He pointed at the Hercules clock pin still attached to their lapel. “I know their accuracy will be appreciated in the construction of a new tool for our temple. Never again shall an incident like this take place.”

Time closed their eyes, pulling at their lapel to bring it closer to their ears, savoring the pleasant ticking it produced. “Ah, simply delightful.”

Saif nodded, brushing the sand off himself to stand. “I’ll send someone with you to negotiate the details. That reminds me. Who led you to my gardens?” Saif skimmed the crowd, pointing at Amargo once he located them.

“Hmm, a new face in my temple. They have done well.” Time stood. “You.”

A large finger pointed at Amargo, still shoveling away the sands. They didn’t look up at Time until the person beside them tapped them on the shoulder. Time beckoned them over.

“I’d like to thank you personally for guiding the little creature into my garden. You did well.”
Amargo looked flustered but said nothing, keeping their head down. “May I ask who you are?”

“I am Lady Amargo, Greater Being.” She curtsied. “I was hired by Liege Day and Lord Eon after my mother Lady Kala retired.”

“I see. I had noticed her not within the crowd. You take after her in look and wit.”
Amargo brought a hand to cover her face.

“I would like you to accompany the little creature to its device smith.”
She curtsied and turned to Saif, who intended on leaving right away.

“One moment, little creature.” Saif paused. “I must ask for your origin some more. Could you meet with me in three day’s time?”

Saif shrugged and nodded. Now that his self-imposed mission was complete, he had nothing better to do. A few days won’t matter in an life-time of nothing.

Amargo led Saif through a maze of hallways, ending at an elevator. “It was nice seeing Greater Time in person. I didn’t realize how much the organization of the Temple of Time depended on them.” Saif nodded.

Once they left another hallway and exited to the open air, Saif could tell the heavy mystery of the Archaic Thicket was solved. It stopped raining, the sun shining down on them even through the density of the trees above. Saif opened his map, surprised to see they were close to Fayspass.

He showed Amargo the map, pointing between the temple’s location and theirs with a few smacks. “Shortcuts are everything. You can’t seriously expect us to walk the entire way through the forest and back everyday just to go to work, do you?” Saif shrugged. He pointed out the store to Amargo, making their way there quickly thanks to her other extreme shortcuts.

Auntie Brass was laying on the floor of the shop again. She got up slowly with her creaking joints to greet them.

“You’ve got a friend then, little one.”
“Oh, actually, I’m here for business.”
“Business? What sort of business? I haven’t had any business since time had gone awry.”
“That’s why we’re here.”

Instinct dragged him away from their conversation, guiding him to the shelf with the bug clocks. It forced him to look through them, digging until it found another Hercules.

By the time he returned to Brass and Amargo, they were shaking hands in agreement.

Saif raised the new beetle clock.

“Little one, did you lose yours already? I told you to take care of it.”

“Is that a pin? If so, then it isn’t lost at all.” Amargo said, “It was on Greater Being Time’s lapel.”

The metal took a step back, reeling in surprise. “...And you saw this?”
“With my very eyes. The others at the temple were wondering if it was a real bug or a model.”
“It’s not just a pin. It’s a clock as well.” Brass huffed.

Amargo was just as amused to see the bug open up as Time had been. “Little one, are there more of these? I’d like to purchase some. I’m sure Greater Time would be happy for us to use them.”

They went their separate ways. Amargo headed back to the Temple of Time with a basket full of bug clock pins, Brass returned to her store with the custom order of a lifetime, and Saif tried to explore Fayspass in the daytime.

More stores were open, people flooded the streets, trying to do their shopping in case the eternal night would return.

But only the stalker had returned.

It didn’t try to hide this time, the hooded figure towered over the crowd, watching Saif’s every move. When they realized that Saif was watching them, they approached. Slicing through the busy crowd like butter, they made their way to him. Saif had no choice but to high tail it out of there, even if Instinct was calm about the stalker this time.

Saif booked it to the woods, hoping to lose the stalker with the leaves but it was useless. If anything, taking the chase outside of town only made the stalker faster without any obstacles to hold them back. Saif ran, pushing his legs faster. Every time he looked back, the figure got closer.

The stalker shot a hand out to grab him, barely missing by a hair. Saif tried everything to get away, from leaping onto treetops to ducking under shrubs, but even after every maneuver, the stalker was still behind him. Saif leaped one final time-

-and was plucked out of the sky by a massive bird. Again

It took him to the base of the same giant tree rather than the nest this time, setting him down gently.

“Sentient bug; we meet again.” Oh, its parent bird, cleaner, beefier and more energetic than last time. Even the blood stain was gone. “Sorry to scare you. You seemed to be in a lick of trouble there.”

Saif nodded, noticing that more and more Avians were gathering around them.

“Is this the sentient one?” A new bird landed down beside them. This one was even larger than the parent, and had markings on its chest that none of the others around had. Saif straightened.

“Sentient bug, this is our elder. I’ve informed her of your heroics and she asked to see you.”

Saif tilted his head in confusion. “You did not turn your sword against my helpless young when your life was in danger. You’ve rescued us from the eternal trap within the Archaic Thicket, including myself. I have not seen it, but I know you were the one to repopulate the population of insects as well, are you not?”
Saif nodded, receiving a cacophony of caws in return. The elder raised a wing, silencing them all. “I have heard enough. Our time in the Thicket has not been easy, yet you alone have been kind. We do not take gratitude lightly.”

A few birds brought forward a wooden box overflowing with stuff; gems and junk alike.
“You, sentient creature of name unknown, have been faithful to our people. You shall be recognized as the Hero of the Avian.”

Warmth coursed through his veins. Saif felt an emotion for the first time in a long time.

Happiness.