They walked through the cracks of the tower, it wasn't like walking through a normal door or hallway, the stones under their feet felt soft, almost like they were walking on thick fog. The light coming through the cracks grew brighter and brighter as they stepped forward, it was warm and golden, but it didn't make Leira feel any better. Her chest was tight, and her legs felt weak, she stumbled once, and Kael caught her immediately.
"Careful," he said, his hands were steady and firm on her arm. "I've got you."
"I… I'm okay," she whispered, but her voice was shaking. Her legs felt like they belonged to someone else, it was so hard to even think, the poison inside her burned slowly and it had spread very far, It had already creeped up her arms and chest, making her breath very, very short. Every step forward felt like pulling her body through water.
The tower seemed smaller from the outside, but inside, it stretched farther than she could even see. The walls twisted, bending slightly like they weren't real. She blinked, and the path shifted again, one moment, they were walking straight, the next moment, the floor seemed to tilt, and the ceiling was gone. Time in here felt wrong, her pulse raced, then slowed, then raced again, and so on and so forth.
She held on to Kael even tighter.
"Leira," Kael said softly, "try to stay with me, you're going to be okay."
She nodded, even though it was hard to keep her thoughts in order. She couldn't stop the way the poison made her body feel, one moment, she felt herself moving, the next her legs froze like they weren't listening anymore.
Kael guided her through every step, he whispered directions, held her up, and made sure she didn't collapse.
The cracks in the walls opened wider as they walked through what looked like an endless hallway. Leira could see a faint light ahead, it wasn't normal light, it felt alive, like it moved with a rhythm. The closer they got, the more the air around them changed. It pressed against her chest, and she felt like the world was speeding up and slowing down at the same time, her vision blurred, then cleared, then blurred again.
"Kael," she said, her voice was weak, "what… what is this place?"
He didn't answer right away, he just kept walking with her, steady and patient, then he said, "This is the Hollow Star. It's… it's not really a place, it's like… a piece of time itself."
Leira's head spun. "Time… what does that even mean?"
"It means," Kael said, "we have to be very careful here. Everything here bends. Everything we see… it isn't stable. Even your body… the poison in your blood… it might change in ways we don't understand."
Leira's stomach twisted, she was so confused, and it didn't help that she was still poisoned. "I… I can barely walk… I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, "I don't know if I can handle this."
"You're going to be just fine," Kael said. "Step by step, that's all we need, just step by step."
The path widened, and suddenly the cracks disappeared. They were now standing in a large space, but it didn't quite feel large, the air shimmered, like heat rise all around them, but it was colder and a little sharper.
Above them, a giant shape floated. Leira's eyes widened even though she could barely hold her head up… it was a star. It was cracked but still glowing, it looked like it had been dying for a very long time, white and gold light spilled from the fractures, and it moved like it was breathing somehow.
Kael lowered her to the ground very carefully. "That… that is the Hollow Star," he whispered. "That's what protects the clock root. That's what we need to reach."
Leira tried to stand but her legs buckled immediately, Kael caught her again, he set his hands on her back to support her weight. She leaned against him, feeling herself getting colder and colder by the minute. Time in this place was so strange; her chest heaved, and it was like she was moving forward and backward at the same time. One second she felt a little stronger and the next weaker than before.
"What… what do we do?" she whispered, her voice was faint.
"We move," Kael said. "Just follow me. We need to get to the heart of the star, that's where the clock root is. That's the only thing that can help you."
Leira's eyes barely opened. She reached for him, and he grasped her hand, then they stepped forward together. The light from the star made their shadows dance on the floor. Every shadow moved differently, like each second was being rewritten. She tried her best to focus, but it wasn't possible, her mind felt stretched. The air seemed to pulse. Leira could see flashes of herself; one second, she was a little girl, running in a field, the next, she was older, standing alone in a dark city. She shook her head, trying to block it out.
"Don't stop," Kael said. "Keep moving. Ignore what you see. It's not real."
But some of it felt real, she could feel it inside her chest, inside her veins. The poison reacted to the way time shifted around them, it would slow down, and all of a sudden, she'd feel better, as if she was coming back to herself, and then, it ran even faster, gradually crawling closer to her heart now. It felt like burning inside her chest. She trembled in Kael's arms every time that happened.
"Leira," he said, voice low but firm, "look at me. Just keep looking at me, okay? Don't look anywhere else."
Her grey eyes met his. She tried to focus on him as hard as she could as he guided her forward.
The path in front of them wasn't straight, It opened, it closed, it even bent back on itself. The stars in the air above split into pieces, some fragments floated around them. They were breaking and reforming into one again.
"The broken time," Kael said, "we have to get through it to reach the clock root. No one has ever done it without losing something. We need to move very carefully."
Leira's legs shook. "I don't know if I can. I feel everything at once. I start to feel better, and then I start to feel so much worse. I don't know if I'll be able to do this."
They moved slowly, each step feeling like an hour for her. Leira's breath came in shallow gasps, her vision flickered, Kael's face was clear one moment and it disappeared the next, then over and over again. She reached out, feeling for him and caught her hand every time.
Time around them bent even more, one step forward, and she felt herself age, her hair greying, her skin wrinkling and then later, back to normal, her heart raced and slowed unpredictably. She grabbed Kael's arm.
"Just a little further," he said. "Just keep going. We're almost there."
The air thickened, the lights from the star above them began pulsing even stronger. Leira could feel the clock root, even though she hadn't seen it yet. It was like it was alive, as if it called to her somehow, like a whisper inside her bones. The poison inside her even reacted strangely the closer she got to it. It shrieked and retreated in quick, sudden bursts and then surged again, very unpredictable.
Suddenly, Kael flickered. His body became transparent, then solid again. Leira gasped, trying to grab him, but he had disappeared for a moment before reappearing again.
"Kael!" she shouted, panic rising, her body was trembling.
"I'm… I'm here," he said, though his voice shook a little. "Don't look away… just follow me."
Her hand barely closed around his, she leaned on him completely, trusting him even as the world twisted and turned on its own.
They reached a wider space, shards of broken time hung in the air. Kael carefully lowered her to her knees.
"The clock root… it's in the heart of the star," he whispered. "That's the goal. That's what we need to help you. And you can't reach it alone… I'll have to guide you, so please stay with me."
Leira gave a small nod barely visible, her head felt like it was holding on to tons of weight, she could barely think or comprehend what Kael was saying, but she knew that she had to do what was necessary if she wanted to stay alive.
Time around them bent again and again. A flash made her see Kael disappear completely, for a heartbeat, she was alone again, her eyes filled with panic, then he reappeared… and it kept playing tricks on her mind. She knew that if she blinked, if she lost focus, he might vanish again. So she tried her best not to stop looking at him, because if he vanished for too long… she didn't know what would happen to her.
Her chest heaved. She tried to keep walking and Kael held her all through.
"Remember… step by step," he whispered. "One step at a time. We're so close now. Don't let the stars confuse you... don't let the maze take you."
She swallowed very hard.
Now they had gotten much closer, they could see it. The clock root, a glowing white gold twist of light, hung in the air like it grew from nothing, the pulse of the star's heart made the shards of broken time shimmer and move.
"I… I see it… I see it," Leira whispered. "Kael… I think… I think I can…"
His grip tightened. "Yes, almost there. Don't look away… just reach for it."
And then, just as her hand stretched toward it, Kael flickered again. For a second, he disappeared entirely, leaving her to fall on the floor. She trembled as the shards of broken time began spinning around her, and the glowing clock root hovered just out of reach. She was so close, but she wasn't in control of her legs, she couldn't stand up to walk toward it. She could see it with her eyes, but she couldn't move to go and get it. And now, Kael was not beside her. He had disappeared.
"Kael…," she whispered, panic rising in her chest. "Don't… don't leave me, please…"
The star pulsed again, and time began twisting more violently. Her body froze for a moment, then her pulse sped up, then slowed back down again. She waved her hands through the air where Kael had been, trying to see if she could still feel him somehow, but he was not there. She couldn't catch her breath.
The clock root glowed brighter and brighter, almost mocking her, almost daring her to take another step. And in that moment, Leira realized… she had to find a way to move… alone or not… or she might never reach it at all.