301) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 65 — Never enough time in a day

A low groan floated out of the darkness. Devona spotted the dark lump on the snow and murmured, “Archer Captain.”

“Let her freeze,” Kohra spat. “C’mon Dev, we have to get to Grok’s. We’re almost there.” She broke trail and Dev stumbled after her, still cradling Reilly.

Dominic was right behind them, with Melkorn’s prone form hung over one shoulder like a very oversized sack of potatoes. He said nothing, eyes fixed determinedly ahead. Nothing mattered except getting to Grok’s. He wasn’t going to let his friend die. Sweat poured down his back and his legs shook, but he kept moving forward. One step. Another.

Lenny staggered behind him, eyes half-closed, barely conscious, arms hanging limp at her sides.

A second groan came from the dark lump. 

Lenny managed, “Should we, we can’t just leave her to die. Can we?”

Kohra felt torn. The woman was trying to kill them! But still, she sounded so…alone, dying in the snow in these horribly indifferent mountains.

Devona's retort was instantaneous and certain, “Hells no! Let her get eaten by Kobolds. I don’t care what happens to her as long as she’s dead!” 

Kohra nodded, too far gone with shock to give it any more thought.

Behind them all, forgotten in their haze, Gorb limped toward the Archer Captain, wary, hammer at the ready. The staunch old LightSinger helped the badly injured woman to her feet. As she fumbled for her boot-dagger, he raised his hammer, but she dropped the blade into the snow, shaking her head. “Thank you”, she rasped. “I just want to live.”

Kohra, turning to see if Dev was still behind her, saw him. “No Gorb! Let her die!”

“What’s wrrrong wit’ ye!” he shouted back. “Yerrr as bad as dem!”

“At least tie her hands!” Devona yelled back.

Kohra echoed the sentiment. “We can't trust her! Tie her up!”

Then Lenny was beside Dev, murmuring softly to the little girl in her arms. “You did it Reilly. You saved us. You saved us Reilly. I'm not gonna let you die. You're gonna be okay.  You did it Reilly. You saved us….”

They trudged forward, too exhausted to run, Kohra still breaking trail, eyes searching desperately for the outline of the little cabin.

I think I was wrong about Gorb. Wrong about all of this. I just want to go home. I want my life back. I'm tired of his stupid Quest, his stupid Light. The Light doesn’t even respond to him anymore. I have to get out of here. Dom and I should've just stayed by ourselves; we would have been fine; we could have just lived in the woods….

A grunt and hard thud from behind made her turn around. Melkorn lay face down in the snow, Dominic trying desperately, but unsuccessfully, to pick him up again. He was simply too tired.  

Melkorn was no longer coughing up blood, or making wheezing sounds. In fact, he wasn't making any sound at all. Kohra took hold of one of his armpits and Dominic took the other. It was a few tries before they managed to get Melkorn upright, hanging his weight on their own shoulders and dragging his legs limply in the snow. Kohra's own legs threatened to buckle with every step, but she had to keep going, had to help Melkorn, had to….

And then they were there. Grok's cabin was only steps away, cozy and picturesque, framed with freshly fallen snow, although none of them appreciated the beauty, or irony, in that moment. Lenny arrived first, falling against the door. It wouldn’t open. 

Devona furiously pounded on the door. “Grok! Grok! We need help! Grok!  Help!!”

The door flung open and Grok stood there, wide-eyed, wearing a delicate pink and yellow night-gown with a long purple housecoat. 

They all tumbled into her cabin, collapsing, crying, bleeding, shouting, gasping, stammering, a cacophony of confusion. Grok took it all in quickly. Reilly and Melkorn looked on the brink of death, and Lenny not far from it. They had a prisoner. Something about an army chasing them? And a blanket-wrapped bundle on Melkorn’s back that was screaming incessantly for help.

It was clear what she needed to do.

But she needed to make sure nobody died first. 

She turned around, concentrating, and sticks of incense flew toward them from somewhere back in the cabin, lighting themselves on candles and zooming around like dragonflies, quickly filling the air with exotic scents. 

“Hold on; I'll be right back.” Grok disappeared into the back of the cabin. Objects flew through the air, crashing haphazardly.

Pretty much instantly, Kohra’s eyes sharpened. Energy returned. Lenny sat up, alert, looking around with surprise. Melkorn started coughing again. Reilly’s eyes fluttered open and colour came back to her face. The Archer Captain stirred, but Gorb pinned her down. Devona cocked her crossbow and held it right at the woman’s face.

A minute later, Grok hurried back. A rather large hourglass, set in a cage of black stone, floated in front of her.

She turned to Dominic. “How much time do we have?” 

“We don't know!” He was on the verge of tears, exhausted, frustrated, terrified and simply overwhelmed with it all. 

“How many are coming?”

“We don't know! A whole army!”

She opened her mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again, taking a few deep breaths with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she looked calm, focused. “Okay, listen. First, we need to knock her out.” She looked pointedly at the Archer Captain. “Devona, I’ve got a potion—” but Devona had already booted the Captain in the face. She was out cold. Nobody objected.

Grok grimaced, but continued. “Now, everyone, put one hand on this hourglass, right here, like me, on one of the handles.” She placed one of her arm-stumps on the stone-frame of the hourglass’ cage, and waited until they all arranged themselves and had their hands on it.

“I'm going to count to three, and we're going to all turn this together, SLOWLY.  We'll go this way.” She indicated a counter-clockwise direction. “If you need to, you can switch hands as we turn, but always have one hand on the hourglass, never EVER let go for even one fraction of a second. Okay? Does everybody understand?”

Melkorn admitted he didn't, so she re-explained.

He still didn't, so she re-explained. 

He still didn't. 

She took another deep breath. “Okay, Dominic, see that pail over there?” He nodded. “Bring it here. We’ll practice.”

It took several minutes before they could do it smoothly, everyone in sync. Kohra was getting increasingly upset, frustrated with Melkorn, with all of them. Grok assured her, “Don't worry; we'll have time.”

They put their hands on the hourglass again; it was considerably larger than the pail, but also had better handles. Grok counted, “One…two…three,” and they began to turn. It went perfectly, right until the end, when Melkorn coughed, shaking the hourglass violently as he did so. They stopped. “Is everybody still hanging on?” Grok asked sharply. 

“Mmm-hmmm, yeah,” from all around. 

“Ok, finish the movement and set it down now, gently, just like the pail.”

When the hourglass was down, she looked carefully at the trickling sand. “We still have lots of time. Don't worry, Melkorn.” The big farm-hand was not grinning, just staring at the floor. “Tis okay,” Gorb patted his back, while Lenny quietly reached over and held his hand.

Melkorn said nothing.

“It's okay!” Grok said brightly. “It worked! We have...I'd say at least 18 hours.”

“Eighteen hours?” Kohra asked. “For what?”

Grok tapped the hourglass. “This, my dear Kohra, is the Hourglass of Falcor the Magnificent, the infamous Mage of Time. Once a century, it can be used, and it will give you one day of Free Time. Although, there are rules you cannot break. Like interfering with others’ life force, or going very far away, leaving what Falcor called ‘the event horizon.’”

Kohra looked stunned. “Y-you mean, it…it stops Time?”

Grok nodded. “More or less. Except right here, right in this little bubble around us. Which is why it was so important that nobody let go, or they would be frozen too..” 

“Wait…you can’t kill people with it?” Lenny asked with a clear note of disappointment, seemingly unfazed by the absurd amount of power Grok had just wielded in order to stop Time itself. “I was hoping we could just go find Graxia and, you know….” She made a throat-slitting motion with her finger.

Devona stared wonderingly at Grok. “You…stopped...time.” 

The night-gown clad woman laughed. “Well, I didn't. But this hourglass did, yes. It's one of my most treasured items.”        

“One of them?” Dominic raised an eyebrow, like he was waiting for a punchline.

She waved him off, grinning. “I have my secrets.”

Kohra glanced at the Archer Captain; the woman was completely immobile, not even breathing, as still as a corpse. She shuddered. This is weird. 

“Now, everybody, we have about eighteen hours, like I said. Let's use it well. You are in terrible shape, and I want to know what happened, BUT—” She raised her hand as they all started talking at once. “But, you get your story straight first, and I'm putting on some soup and tea.” She left the room for the back of the cabin, and moments later, there was the crashing of pots and sounds of chopping.  

A short while after, they were eating soup, telling her the whole story of Graxia’s secret stronghold and stealing the legendary sword (which, thankfully, was no longer screaming, apparently also frozen in time). She listened carefully, shaking her head in astonishment.

“It is a miracle that you survived,” she concluded.

Gorb nodded soberly. “D’Light.”