Rowan’s heart was shaking and the final piece of the puzzle clicked he stumbled backward, and Erohim smiled. Rowan found it odd that his teeth were stained with blood, but he knew that it was just a distraction conjured by his tumultuous emotion.

When he first heard the tale of Erohim, he had felt a connection with this noble warrior, and after he learned more and more about the secrets of the Reflection, the mysteries behind the presence of Erohim had been placed to the side, he had felt it would be one of the things he was destined not to know about.

Fate thought differently. Erohim had told him, they were connected, and even if the path to reach him was convoluted, it still brought him to this place in the past, and in another universe that no longer existed, where they stood together.

What could be the odds of something like this ever happening?

He had so many questions about the past, and Erohim did not keep silent, he folded his hands behind him and looked at the memory that now appeared faded, the rumblings from the earth increased to such an extent that this memory would soon be gone.

Of course, Rowan could choose to slow his infiltration of the skull and preserve the memory for a moment longer, but he was not a sentimental being any longer. Whatever answers he could not find here, he would find inside the screaming souls of the Reflections.

Also, there was a discrepancy inside this memory that Rowan had noticed because of his multiple consciousnesses, but he kept this observation in his heart and listened to the words of Erohim.

“Third does not have the ability to create life, none of them do. They are powerful, yes, but they are still nothing but shadows, unable to create light, only darkness and death. I do not blame them, their nature has left them incomplete, they chase after a privilege that they shall never have, and the fruits of their labor would only be failure and death, surely you have seen this? What else do they bring to every reality but its end?”

The memory was not discordant, freezing and skipping ahead, and it paused at the scene where the Third Prince was cursing at the skies after he was cast down and wounded, “He is not your father, he never was, he took my heart, gave it to Elura, and they made you.”

Rowan regained his composure quite quickly and his eyes narrowed, “You are not like them, a Reflection.”

“Is that what you call them? The name is rather apt,” Erohim shook his head, “No, I’m not a shadow, I was the only thing left after the fall, and I preserved the shadows of the past, hoping to keep them safe, but they betrayed me. You have already walked on my body, at this moment you are digging through my skull, and you should know who I am.”

Erohim paused as if what he was about to say held great weight, “I was the last living eye of He who holds Time. I was the one who kept his shadows safe for many Eras until Third went mad with greed and ambition. I preserved the peace until all was stolen from me.”

Rowan was silent, his perception sweeping through this body of Erohim, if he was telling the truth then the massive four-sided eye below was the body of Erohim, and if that was the case who was the one who created the Soul Machine outside, and how did it connect to the so-called resurrection of the Primordial,

“Tell me everything,” Rowan said.

Erohim shook his head, “I don’t think this is the right time for it, you should be running, if the shadows find you, they shall steal your light.”

“I fear it is already too late and I no longer have the option to flee. The Reflections and I am in battle, just like you were in the past, and at the end of the day, only one of us would make it out alive, everything I learn from you would aid me in this battle.”

This time it was Erohim who retreated in shock, his eyes widened and unexpectedly, he began to laugh, “Of course you are, only someone like you would have the capabilities to fight and kill them. You are their light and no matter how hot you burn, they cannot help themselves, they would try to claim you.”

Rowan folded his hands, “I will kill them, but they seem to be doing that task themselves, that great worm, the one you called Fourth is dead, killed by Third, Golgoth is now a walking dead creature, by all evidence he was also put in this state by Third, but I don’t know the status of the last Reflection, who is he?”

With every word he spoke Erohim’s eyes widened and then he looked away, Rowan did not know if he was trying to hide his pains, and he remained silent, when Erohim spoke again, almost thirty minutes had gone by.

” I have lived too long already and languished in this awful memory for far too long. Whatever is happening in the universe outside, it is not as simple as it comes across.”

Erohim rubbed his chin in contemplation, “It would seem that his plans are coming to a head. You are in grave danger. You have to listen closely to what I am about to tell you, only with this can you prevail over Third.”

He suddenly turned towards Rowan and held out his hand, “Take my hand, it would be faster if I show you.”

Rowan looked at the offered hand and his eyes slightly tightened, and he said, “I would rather you tell me. I am a good listener.”

Erohim paused, and he smiled warmly, then began to speak, his words coming out very fast, “The shadows betrayed me because they were looking for a way to resurrect my main body. The one who holds Time. There are many things you don’t know about him, and I cannot speak of, but he died in a manner that would make his resurrection impossible.”

“I knew that such a venture was madness and for a long time, I had preserved the peace, kept the shadows in check, and gave them a life of plenty, and Third broke that peace, he whispered betrayals in the ears of his fellow shadows and they ambushed me. You need to stop them, for if they succeed with the ritual of resurrection, it would surely fail, yet the backlash from its failure would lead to the end of everything.”

“What do you mean when you say the end of everything,” Rowan asked.

“My main body was the Primordial of Time. He is the glue that keeps reality afloat, even in death, his essence is frozen and preserved across all facets of creation. They sought to resurrect a portion of his essence, with the hope of triggering an event that would lead to the overall awakening of his entire essence. That is nothing but madness, they do not have enough power to do it, even with my light.”

“Their failure would trigger a catastrophic Time Expulsion Event, where Time would go out of bounds, merging the past, present, and future into one unholy combination that would lead to the destruction of everything. I know a part of them knows this road leads only to death, but they are nothing but Shadows, their fruit is nothing but death and despair, and nothing would dissuade them from this path.”

Rowan’s breathing slowed and he asked, “What do you want me to do?” f𝗿e𝘄bn𝐨𝚟l.com

“I want you to free me. Together we can stop this madness from happening.”

“You are dead, how can I free the dead?”

Erohim smiled, “You are forgetting the power my Main Body controls, it is Time and with it, you could… what are you doing?”

Rowan stepped back, “Oh, you noticed, I have been killing you.”