The door closed, cutting them off from the temple and the rest of the outside world. The room was filled with a cold semi-darkness, and Kairu involuntarily shivered as he looked at the thick curtains. Konrad remained silent for a long time, staring past them into a dark corner of the cell.

  "You’re a Seer, aren’t you?" he asked suddenly, looking straight at Kairu. "You’re the one capable of using Darius’s magic."

  "Yes," Kairu replied wearily. "Nubel said it’s like a lottery, and that Seers have existed since the time of the ancient Nocturns…"

  "Seers have appeared since the very day Darius and Octarus were given to humankind," Konrad waved dismissively. "When one Seer dies, at that very moment another is born somewhere in the world, and so it goes, an endless reincarnation. You see, that diamond exists and works only as long as there are Seers."

  "Is it man-made?" asked Rita. "It didn’t always have these properties?"

  "Hard to say," Konrad shrugged. "What does ‘always’ mean? We know that Darius and Octarus appeared around 850 before the New Era, about two thousand three hundred years ago. We know their origin is linked to a place called the First Temple. In the First Temple, the ancient Nocturns found—or maybe created—two objects. One of them was the Lake of Aktida, Darius. In the Nocturn religion, it came to symbolize the Divine, the Spiritual, and the Light within the human soul. The other object, in contrast to the Lake of Aktida, is called the Star of Vaimar. Or, in contrast to Darius, Octarus.

  "Darius holds incredible energy, and it gives the Seer the ability to travel through time with their mind, with their soul—that is, to see the past and the future. Octarus allows one to do the same physically."

  The travelers listened, holding their breath.

  "You see," Konrad continued, "as you might’ve noticed reading The Vaimarakirian, the concepts of Light and Darkness play a central role in the religion of the ancient Nocturns. Light cannot exist without Darkness, just as Good cannot exist without Evil, just as the body cannot live without the soul—and vice versa. Likewise, Darius and Octarus cannot work at full strength without each other. But if you combine them…"

  With those words, Konrad suddenly stood up, walked to his desk, and took out a sheet of paper, an inkwell, and a quill. He paused for only a moment to remember, then drew several bold lines. Kairu and Rita leaned over the drawing, which depicted a circle and seven triangles.

  "The Sun and the Kraken…" Kairu felt his throat go dry.

  "The Sun and the Kraken," the monk confirmed. "Light and Darkness, Darius and Octarus, the crest of knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Nocturns, the central artifact of their religion, and the symbol of their power. The object modern scholars long for, the device common folk dream of, the machine that Petros, Nubel, and Saelin spent their lives hunting for. A device that allows a Seer to open crossroads of time."

  "The Lake of Aktida plays a key role in building bridges between times," Kairu murmured. "That’s what Petros said…"

  "Exactly. And now you possess the two most important components to build such a bridge. Only one is missing. Octarus.

  "Thirty years ago, I was a historian and linguist. I loved working with ancient Nocturn texts, always fascinated by antiquity. It felt as though, touching those parchments and stone tablets, I could almost shake hands with the people who had written them two thousand years ago. I could feel those craftsmen beside me, and when I understood their text, it felt like a friendly conversation.

  "I only knew Petros in passing—he was a renowned expert in history and archaeology, and I translated texts that he would reference in his articles, where he reflected on historical subtleties not directly written but implied. We met a couple of times at major conferences and enjoyed debating ancient matters. Then I received a letter from him. He wrote that he was on the brink of a discovery and that we needed to meet urgently. I agreed, and he came to Petista bringing something that made my eyes pop out of my head.

  "It was an entire manuscript written by the ancient Nocturns. I had never seen a copy so well preserved. It looked as though it had been written and bound yesterday, not two thousand years ago."

  "The Vaimarakirian?" asked Kairu.

  "Exactly. That was it. I was stunned. Petros didn’t tell me where he got the book, only made me swear absolute secrecy and begin the translation. The book provided new clues. There was mention of a place we were able to link to the modern Temple of Tornir. We came here, and Petros looked like he knew exactly what he was after. He ordered every wall, floor, and ceiling in the temple to be tapped. We spent a week on it, searched every corner, and finally we found it: a hidden passage, sealed off years ago, leading to cellars carved into the rock that were much older than the temple itself. In those cellars, we found something like an archive of documents, two thousand years old. From a scholarly perspective, it was an incredible discovery, but Petros ordered me to keep silent. Instead of publishing articles and announcing our find, we stayed in the temple for another month, going through the scrolls and trying to understand them.

  "The big problem with translation is that it’s not always easy to distinguish a proper name from an unknown word, and when the names are two thousand years old, it’s very hard to map them to modern geography. I had a better eye for this than Petros. Very quickly, we realized the archive contained construction records—logs of materials, tools, and slaves used to build sanctuaries. From the logistical chains, we could infer the approximate geography of the construction sites."

  "Did you know what he was really after?" asked Kairu.

  "No," Konrad shook his head. "I had read about Darius and Octarus in The Vaimarakirian, but I didn’t make the connection at the time to what Petros was seeking. But the idea of discovering not just another Nocturn religious site, but a full pilgrimage route—that seemed like a fantastic breakthrough to me. We knew we couldn’t handle it alone. We had to gather a team and plan a full expedition, so soon Petros joined forces with Saelin and Vergilius. I didn’t know much about them, but I trusted Petros’s judgment. The three of them applied for a grant and received it on the condition that they also brought along Nubel and Ashley. And Saelin brought his son Hector."

  "I already told them that part," sighed Ashley.

  "So we moved north along the mountains, stopping at locations Petros had marked on his route, using my translations. Our second-to-last stop was far in the north, in that part of the forest most dangerous for humans to enter—which is why we hired a guide. From the Wolf Clan. Petros, Saelin, and Vergilius went scouting with the guide. Meanwhile, we…" Konrad hesitated. Kairu thought he was searching for Ashley’s eyes. The monk coughed and said, "We were attacked by druids. A different Clan. We had to flee, but the balloon was damaged, and we soon crashed. The druids still found us. I, Ashley, Nubel, and Axel managed to escape. But the druids kidnapped Hector."

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Saelin said that Petros killed his son," Kairu muttered.

  "I don’t know about that," Konrad said flatly. "I never saw him again. No one did. But I’ll say this: it’s terrifying to see what people turn into when given the chance to fix something in the past or the future. It truly is a nightmare that never lets you rest, day or night. Because of it, Nubel, Petros, and Vergilius died. Rita’s parents, too… and Saelin seems to have lost his mind… Petros, Nubel, and Saelin—those three were absolutely obsessed with the time machine."

  "And Lord Garamant," Rita said quietly. "I think he was already watching all of you back then… and probably already knew what exactly you were searching for."

  "When did you figure it out?" Kairu asked. "What Petros was really after?"

  The monk shook his head.

  "When it was already too late."

  Kairu and Rita looked at each other, and then Rita said:

  "And now we have the Lake of Aktida. And a Seer. All that’s left is to find Octarus. And then what?"

  Konrad looked at her in surprise.

  "Just think for a second that you have such an opportunity," he said. "And you might have it very soon. What would you want to fix, if you could? In the past or the future? This question is for all of you," he swept his hand over the silent company. "You have everything you need to fully assemble the time machine. Yes, the path to Octarus is still long and deadly dangerous, and yet, you've gotten incredibly close to it. What would you change?"

  For a moment, everyone fell silent, lost in thought.

  "I'd kill Saelin before he started the war," Kairu said with hatred.

  "I'd warn my parents about the danger," Rita said quietly.

  "Excellent ideas!" Konrad laughed. "More!"

  "I’d convince Nubel not to organize this expedition," Viggo said gloomily. "Then the Lake of Aktida would’ve remained hidden, and none of this would have happened."

  "These are all fine suggestions! But why do you only think about yourselves? You can do anything you want."

  "I’d go back about a hundred years and stop the Winver dynasty from taking the throne," said Yuf. "Right after the World War there was a perfect chance to build a republic in Aktida."

  "And I’d go ten thousand years into the future," Joanna said dreamily, "and learn how people live there. Then I’d come back and try to apply what they taught me in our time."

  "Wonderful!" Konrad laughed again. "That's enough." In the silence that followed, he looked at them all. "Did you notice something all your answers have in common? What is it?"

  "We all believe something is wrong in our present," Ashley said quietly and slowly. "And we all believe that a time machine can change it for the better."

  "Exactly." Konrad raised a finger. "And we completely ignore the possibility that by fixing one part of reality, we might ruin another."

  "But that’s why we need a Seer," Kairu objected. "They can look into the future and determine how a certain action will play out, right?"

  "Really? Can you see the consequences of an action that hasn’t been taken yet? One that you’ve only just thought of? Or maybe haven’t even thought of yet, but it’s already hiding somewhere in your subconscious?"

  Kairu was silent. He wasn’t sure.

  "We underestimate how difficult it is to undo an action that’s already been taken," Konrad said. "Everything we do creates a chain reaction of events which, if the initial action is altered, could lead to entirely different outcomes. What we do in the past affects our future, and it’s almost impossible to predict what that effect will be. Now imagine people have access to an artifact that allows them to do exactly that—rewrite reality at any point in time. Imagine it falls into the hands of those who didn’t think it through before rewriting history. What happens then?"

  "Chaos," Kairu whispered.

  "Chaos," Konrad confirmed. "The Seers of the ancient Nocturns could at least somewhat foresee the consequences of various actions. But when several people from different times end up in one short timeframe and start reshaping reality one after another—then, for someone trying to see that future from two thousand years away, everything is shrouded in a fog of uncertainty."

  "But who are these people?" Viggo asked. "The ones changing reality?"

  "I can’t name them all. But I know for sure that Petros had done it. At least once."

  Kairu felt a chill. Konrad looked at Rita.

  "The coin," he said. "The coin from 1453."

  Rita slowly pulled a small box from her backpack. She silently opened it, took out the coin, and handed it to Konrad.

  "You must’ve noticed something strange," Konrad said. "This coin wasn’t minted in the official court of Mainor as we know it, was it?"

  "We figured it was a fake," Kairu admitted. "But I thought you made it yourself, just to leave a clue..."

  "No, I didn’t make this coin. Petros gave it to me.

  "Fifteen years ago, Petros came here. It was the first time I saw him since that expedition. Until then, I thought he was dead. Of course, I expected that if he had survived, he’d look very different after fifteen years... But it seemed like he had aged far more than I expected. Petros gave me this coin and said it was for Axel and the rest of the Cassians. And he also said..." Konrad furrowed his brow, trying to remember. "He said it was a symbol. A symbol that they could seize power in Aktida. With the help of the diamond. He really wanted the others to believe it was possible, so they’d keep fighting."

  "So...," Kairu was still trying to wrap his head around it. "You’re saying that..."

  "Yes. I believe there is another future in which Petros took control of Darius and Octarus and was able to carry out a revolution in Aktida. But he was still dissatisfied with how that reality turned out, so he went back in time to change it. As a result, we’re here now. Where the revolution hasn’t happened yet, and Aktida has been seized by Saelin."

  "Goddamn," Viggo muttered, visibly shaken. "What could have been so bad that a war with Saelin turned out to be the better option?"

  "I don’t think he knew then that his Interference would lead to a war with Saelin," Konrad said with a smirk. "And I also have no idea what exactly he changed... Ashley, you knew him then better than any of us—except maybe Saelin. Why would he go back?"

  "If he wanted to change something that badly, then he probably did," Ashley replied sharply, and Kairu suddenly thought she blushed for a moment. "In that case, we’re living in the version of reality where everything happened differently. So I have no idea. Konrad, we broke up two years before the expedition. I married Roger. That was all in the past..."

  "And yet you still went with us back then," Konrad said gently.

  "I..." Ashley hesitated. All eyes were now on her. "I don’t know how it happened," she finally said with difficulty. "He persuaded me. Maybe he hoped I would fall in love with him again... But it was useless. I was loyal to Roger!"

  "You were seeing Petros?" Viggo asked, shocked. "Why didn’t you tell us?"

  "I didn’t think it mattered." The sorceress pressed her lips together and crossed her arms.

  "Saelin said he and Petros made a deal," Kairu recalled. "That Saelin arranged the pirate attack on Aktida to distract Emerlun from the diamond... And in return, Petros was supposed to give me to him."

  "One way or another, Petros made a mistake—or more precisely, he didn’t know the most important thing," said Konrad. "He didn’t know, just like Saelin didn’t, that the best way to avoid chaos is to make time alterations impossible. That’s what the Vaimarakirian says. An ancient Nocturn named Gorentum already knew two thousand years ago that constantly reshaping reality is a bad idea. He tried to convince the priests to return Darius and Octarus to the place they were found. To the First Temple. But what that Temple is, and where it is located—only someone who visits both shrines can answer now..."

  "We already know," Kairu said. "It’s an island. Somewhere far to the west, in the Great Ocean. But we only know the latitude. To find the longitude, we want to get into the Shrine of Vaimos. And also find Octarus."

  "See, you already know more than we did back then," Konrad laughed. "That means you have a chance to do it right. To resist temptation. You managed to finish what we once started. And now—it’s time to finish it all. Once and for all. This entire vile story."