A Kingdom Lost

The Real Threat

“You crossed into a time that was never meant to exist for you.”

Lidia’s stomach dropped.

“I didn’t choose that,” she whispered.

“I know.”

“Then why is it happening?”

Kael’s expression hardened.

“Because someone made it happen.”

A low rumble echoed in the distance.

Not thunder.

Something else.

All three of them felt it.

Lidia’s wolf recoiled.

Ethan’s expression sharpened.

Kael turned toward the sound slowly, his body shifting into something more dangerous.

“Tell me that’s not more of your world crossing over,” Ethan muttered.

Kael’s voice dropped into something lethal.

“No,” he said.

“That…”

His eyes glowed faintly.

“…is something that shouldn’t exist in any time.”

Lidia’s breath caught.

“Are we being hunted?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

Then—

“Yes.”

Kael looked back at Lidia.

Then at Ethan.

Decision made.

“You don’t survive this world without me,” he said to her.

Ethan scoffed slightly. “Funny, she was doing just fine until you kicked the door in.”

Kael’s gaze snapped to him again.

“And you won’t survive what’s coming without understanding what she is.”

Silence.

Then—

Lidia spoke.

Quiet.

Unsteady.

But certain.

“…Then you both stay.”

Both men turned to her.

“You want me to trust him?” Ethan asked.

“You want me to go back with you?” she shot at Kael.

Neither answered.

Lidia took a breath.

Because deep down—

She already knew.

This wasn’t just about escape anymore.

Or love.

Or freedom.

This was bigger.

Darker.

And far more dangerous.

“If time is breaking,” she said slowly, “then I’m not running anymore.”

Her gaze locked with Kael’s.

“Help me fix it.”

Then shifted to Ethan.

“Both of you.”

The sound came again.

Closer this time.

Not quite a roar. Not quite a howl.

Something… broken.

Ethan moved first, grabbing a metal rod from beside the door—instinct, not strategy.

Kael didn’t move at all.

He simply listened.

And that was somehow worse.

The windows shattered inward.

Glass exploded across the room as something slammed against the outside wall—too fast to see clearly, too heavy to be human.

Lidia gasped, stumbling back as a shadow dragged itself into the light.

It was… a wolf.

And not.

Its body flickered—solid one moment, distorted the next, like it couldn’t decide what form to hold. Bones shifted beneath its skin at the wrong angles. Its eyes glowed an unnatural, fractured white.

Its scent—

Lidia gagged.

“There’s no pack scent,” she whispered. “No life. No death. It’s—”

“Out of time,” Kael finished grimly.

The creature’s head snapped toward them.

It saw Lidia.

And screamed.

It lunged.

Ethan reacted instantly, shoving Lidia aside as the creature crashed into him, sending both of them into the wall.

“Ethan!” she cried.

Kael moved then.

Fast.

Faster than anything in this world.

He caught the creature mid-lunge, his hand closing around its throat as its form flickered violently beneath his grip.

For a moment—

Time itself seemed to stutter.

The creature snapped at him, its jaws distorting, splitting wider than they should.

Kael’s eyes flared silver.

“You don’t belong in her world,” he growled.

Then he slammed it into the ground.

The impact cracked the floor.

But the creature didn’t die.

It… glitched.

Its body fractured into fragments of light and shadow before snapping back together again.

“It can’t be killed like this!” Lidia shouted.

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“I know.”

Ethan staggered to his feet, breathing hard—but something was off.

Lidia turned to him—

—and froze.

The air around him shimmered.

Not like heat.

Like distortion.

Like the space itself didn’t quite agree with him.

“Ethan…” she said slowly.

He looked at his hands.

And swore under his breath.

“…I was hoping I was wrong.”

Kael’s gaze snapped toward him.

Recognition hit instantly.

“Ah,” Kael said quietly.

“Now you make sense.”

Ethan looked up sharply. “You want to share with the class?”

“You’re not human,” Kael said.

Ethan let out a dry laugh. “Yeah. Figured that part was obvious by now.”

The creature lunged again—

This time toward Lidia.

“No!” Ethan moved without thinking.

Everything slowed.

Not metaphorically.

Actually slowed.

The creature’s movement stretched, its body distorting mid-air.

Lidia felt it—like being caught between heartbeats.

Between seconds.

Ethan stood in front of her now, his hand raised—

And the world bent around it.

The creature froze mid-lunge.

Suspended.

Trapped.

Lidia stared in shock.

“What… are you?”

Ethan didn’t look at her.

His focus was absolute.

Strained.

“I’m trying very hard,” he said through clenched teeth, “not to let that thing rip your throat out.”

Kael watched him carefully.

Not surprised.

Not afraid.

Interested.

“A timekeeper,” Kael said.

Ethan exhaled sharply. “I hate that name.”