Time Holders: The World of Balance

”Don’t pull so damn hard, Cedric! You’re choking me!” Aldrus grumbled, shuffling tiredly through the mud.

”It’s not my fault; I can’t see shit!”

”I’m not going anywhere, yeah? Just keep your grip tight, but don’t pull, or you’ll rip my cloak before I can even get a chance to use it!”

”Tch. As if I could ever hope to shred such an armor with bare hands.”

”You wouldn’t be able to, even with a scythe,” Alice said.

Much like Cedric, Aldrus could not see, but he felt the blond boy tug at his clothes harder.

Damn it...

”Well, pardon me, Miss-double-artifact-porter. It’s not like I’m oblivious to that fact. Perhaps if your majesty Aldrus Dagon were charitable enough to share, or even better, to not complain about his marvelous Second-Rank attire being pinched periodically by these unworthy hands of mine, I wouldn’t have dared to insinuate such a thing,” Cedric needled.

”C-Cedric, come on. You know we decided the cloak should be Aldrus’s. He is the only one who can wear it; It’s not like he didn’t want to share it with us. Isn’t that right, Aldrus?” Aiden said.

”Yeah. And don’t worry, Cedric. Remember we agreed on letting you and Den have the next piece of gear we find. Plus...” The black-haired boy made a pause, then said, ”I haven’t made this cloak fully mine yet.” He felt the tension on his collar fade.

”Eh? What does that mean?” asked Cedric.

Aldrus wiped the rain from his forehead and sighed. ”I’m saying I can utilize it, but I subdued it only for a few uses.”

”What?! Why would you do that? You’re the only one who can make it their possession!”

”I know. But that’s only for now. You never know; you guys might be able to use it soon, and rather than limit our alternatives, I thought it would be better to keep our options open. Just in case.”

Cedric went silent for a span, then spoke again in a sullen tone, ”Agh! Now that you said that, it makes me want to refuse it.”

”I’m starting to see why you got abducted,” Alice said flatly.

Once again, Aldrus was yanked back.

”Oh, yeah? What about you, blondie? How did you end up here, again?”

”Well, as I’ve told you, me and Aiden got ambushed and...”

The back-and-forth ribbing lasted as usual, and Aldrus stopped paying attention soon enough.

It had been about five days since they arrived at the Fog Island, or so they believed. In that place they could hardly discern night from day, and within the thick white mist, casual chatter was the one thing they clung to in order to keep the flame of hope from dying away.

The land had shifted along the way without them noticing; there were no signs of the ancient oaks, no wind to bend down boughs, no sound of sand at all. The rain and the fog, however, remained just the same.

Now the crunch gave way to a squish, and the stone and dirt both got swallowed by the mud. A large dark fen awaited them nearby—fairly sure they were of that.

Nevertheless, after the first day, they had been somewhat luckier. Whilst the terrain was quickly growing sloppy, its weight and malleability served as a great, solid base on which to build any sort of rustic shelter to get through the cold nights.

Well, more than ’shelter,’ what they managed were but jumbles of kindling, slates, and planks. The rain proved to be a real scourge, for the churning waters made regular lean-tos unfeasible. Yet, finding a still place was all it took to turn the mud into their friend.

They ate what little food in good condition they still had, and the rest they were quite forced, sadly, to discard. With no power, their clothes, food, water, and more supplies fell victim to the swift and unrelenting grasp of time.

That is how the situation became dire, even more dire than it had been before. It mattered not how thin the island was there; if they intended to arrive at the other side, they would need to find staples and, hopefully, survive the source. However, after roughly a week of wandering, not a single beast or living thing gave any signs of roaming near.

”See anything?” Aiden said, his voice muffled by the rain.

”Nope! Nothing in sight,” said Aldrus.

”That’s right, keep on asking; maybe the fog will go away,” Cedric jested.

Aldrus shook his head. ”Sigh... what about back there, Alice?”

”I can’t see anything here, either.”

”What now?!”

”I said I can’t see anything here!”

Damn... the rain’s getting heavier.

Aldrus raised his voice, ”Be careful! The storm’s getting fiercer! Don’t let go!”

When the rain washed their usual cheerful needling away, the four youths resorted to simple questions. You never know when one can go missing, and even more so with useless eyes. They tacitly agreed that ”pull” and ”push” were useful hints of ”I’m alive.”

Thus they kept their pace with practiced steadiness, and for half an hour nothing transpired. Yet Aldrus felt his guts squeeze, a familiar sensation he was not quite fond of.

Something was wrong.

The tears of the sky grew numb against his skin; the discomfort they presented was replaced by a cold sweat.

”H-How are you back there?! Tired already?” he asked, trying to keep focus.

”Everything good here,” Cedric said.

”Same here,” Aiden followed.

”Same here!” Alice added.

Hum... good.

Five minutes went by, and Aldrus asked again, ”Um, anything in sight?!”

”Nothing here,” Cedric said.

”Here neither,” Aiden followed.

”Here neither!” Alice added.

G-Good.

T-Thump. T-Thump. Thump.

Damn it, calm down!

Aldrus did not want to trouble them, and he had gotten his response, but the sickening feeling still remained. It knotted into a ball inside his diaphragm, causing nausea and discomfort. It was not until the drums inside his chest screamed something was off that he decided to ask again.

”H-Hey, ah, s-should we get a break?! I’m not feeling very good!”

”...”

”...”

”...”

”Hey, guys?! Let’s get it done for the day, yeah?!” he tried again, glancing over his shoulder.

There was nothing there, of course. The mist was too thick; his eyes could only see up to his nose.

”Cedric?!”

”...”

”Hey, answer me, guys!”

”...”

”HEY!!”

”...”

”...”

”...”

No response. Aldrus bit his lip to clear his mind, and it was then he noticed something strange: there was no one gripping his cloak.

N-No way!

”Hello?! HEY! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

No response. Just the ever-present whistle of the wind. He was alone. As alone as one can be.

At least until that voice called.

”Aldrus.”

Upon hearing that voice, every hair on Aldrus’s body stirred like the fur of a threatened cat. It was impossible.

”F-Father...?”