"Just a few more minutes," Elian whispered to himself, his fingers tracing the cold metal of the casing.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a low hum resonated from the device, vibrating through his arm and into his chest. A faint, blue light emanated from the seams of the brass housing, growing brighter until it illuminated the snow around him. 440-2838-008.jpg
He checked the central display of his chronometer. The digital readouts glowed a soft, steady white. The main counter read 10:10:30, and the secondary display below it held steady at 03. He breathed a sigh of relief; the timeline was holding, and the temporal rift was stabilizing exactly as he had calculated. "Just a few more minutes," Elian whispered to
He looked up at the sky. The stars were beginning to emerge, but they were not the familiar constellations he knew. They shifted and danced, a visual manifestation of the temporal instability in this region. He needed to activate the stabilizer before the rift widened any further. A faint, blue light emanated from the seams
Elian looked down at his wrist. The display had returned to its steady glow, the main counter now reading 10:12:15. The temporal rift had been sealed, and this pocket of reality was safe once again.
He gripped the crown tightly and pressed it back in with a firm click.
The wind howled through the narrow mountain pass, carrying the scent of impending snow. Master Elian pulled his heavy wool cloak tighter around his shoulders, his breath fogging in the freezing air. He looked at the device secured to his wrist, its brass housing gleaming faintly in the dim light of the setting sun.