The next layer arrived without any warning. One moment, they were standing on solid ground, and the next, it crumbled beneath them. Evelyn, Asher, and Fenrir found themselves stumbling into a new realm where reality itself seemed to shift and twist. The ground beneath their feet turned to a strange, granular surface, like sand, but it shimmered with an unnatural light, and each grain seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
"We're not alone," Fenrir muttered, his keen senses heightened by years of battle. His voice, though steady, carried an underlying tension.
Evelyn felt it too. The air grew heavy, a thick, dense fog settling in around them, warping the space and distorting the edges of their vision. Even the sound of their footsteps echoed oddly, as if time itself was unraveling.
Suddenly, Asher stumbled and looked at his hands, which blurred and stretched with every slight movement. "This... isn't right," he said, his voice slow and distant. "Something's wrong with time here."
"We've entered the domain of the Time Wraiths," Fenrir replied, his voice similarly distorted, his words taking too long to reach Evelyn's ears. "They feed on time itself, distorting it and those who enter their realm."
Evelyn's eyes darted around, trying to focus, but the landscape was disorienting—shifting, swirling, as if the whole layer existed in a loop of slowed and accelerated moments. The edges of his vision stretched and blurred, making it impossible to gauge distance or time. It felt like hours just standing there, even though logically it had only been seconds.
The figures appeared slowly, at first little more than shadows in the thick fog. They were long, thin, ethereal, their forms draped in flowing, tattered robes that rippled in the warped air. Their faces were indistinct, hidden in the swirling mists of time itself. These were the Time Wraiths—creatures of ancient horror stories, feeding not on flesh, but on the time of their victims, trapping them in eternal, twisted loops of existence.
"They're getting closer," Asher grunted, trying to raise his weapon, but every motion took an eternity. His arm moved at an agonizingly slow pace, as though the weight of the entire universe was pressing down on him.
Evelyn tried to move, but it felt as if he were pushing through an invisible barrier. Breathing was a monumental effort, and even his thoughts seemed sluggish, as if his mind were being pulled apart by the temporal distortion. One of the wraiths glided toward him, time fracturing around its form. He felt his strength waning, his energy draining as the creature fed on his very lifeforce.
The wraith's presence warped everything around it. Reality shimmered and fractured. Evelyn could feel himself slipping into a temporal loop, reliving the same agonizing moments over and over, a feeling of deja vu creeping up his spine. He remembered these wraiths from his studies, creatures born from a fractured dimension where time had collapsed on itself. But knowing wasn't enough. They had to act, and fast.
"We... can't keep fighting like this..." Asher's voice came through distorted and broken, almost as if it were stretched over several lifetimes.
Evelyn's mind raced, but the solution wasn't coming quickly enough. These wraiths fed on movement, on time. The more they struggled, the stronger the wraiths became. And then his eyes caught a glimmer—a faint shimmer in the distance, beyond the fog. A pool of liquid, glowing with an unnatural, golden hue.
"Liquid time..." Evelyn whispered, the realization dawning on him. In rare instances, time could manifest as a physical substance, and it was known to be lethal to creatures that manipulated or fed on temporal distortions.
"We need to get them to that pool," he said, his voice still heavy, but his mind sharpened. "It's liquid time. It'll destabilize them."
But it wasn't just a matter of drawing the wraiths toward the pool. The temporal distortion was playing tricks on them—distances were stretched, and movements felt like they were taking place in another reality. Time loops opened and closed around them, threatening to trap them forever.
As they moved, Evelyn noticed something else—a subtle pattern in the fog, a strange rhythm that pulsed in sync with the wraiths' movements. It was almost as if the creatures were following an invisible clock, moving in cycles. Could it be possible that the wraiths themselves were being controlled by something larger?
"We're being watched," Fenrir suddenly growled, his eyes narrowing. "This is too organized."
The weight of Fenrir's words settled over them like a cold shroud. Evelyn glanced back toward the shimmering pool. There was more to this layer than they had anticipated. If the Time Wraiths were being guided, it meant someone—or something—was directing the layers of Non-Space. The creatures weren't just mindless obstacles; they were soldiers in a much larger plan.
But now wasn't the time to unravel that mystery.
"Circle them!" Evelyn instructed, focusing on the immediate threat. With immense effort, he and Asher began to flank the wraiths, trying to herd them toward the pool. Every motion was agonizing, as if they were dragging themselves through the molasses of time itself.
Fenrir, always quick to act, fired a flare into the sky. It shot through the fog, illuminating the area in a brilliant burst of light. The wraiths turned, their ghostly forms drawn toward the disturbance. Slowly, agonizingly, they drifted toward the pool.
The first wraith reached the shimmering surface, its form flickering violently as it came into contact with the liquid time. A high-pitched screech pierced the air, and the creature began to dissolve, its very essence unraveling as it was pulled apart by the liquid. One by one, the other wraiths followed, collapsing into energy as they touched the pool.
As the last wraith was destroyed, the oppressive weight lifted from the air. Time snapped back into place, leaving the group gasping for breath, their bodies finally free from the distortion.
"That was... close," Asher panted, leaning heavily on his knees.
Evelyn didn't respond at first, his gaze fixed on the pool of liquid time, which was now calm and still. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something they were missing. The way the wraiths had moved, the rhythm of their attacks—something was guiding them.
"The Non-Space is adapting," he finally said, his voice hard. "And someone—something—is pulling the strings."
Before they could dwell on it, a low, distant howling echoed through the layer, a haunting reminder of the greatest challenge still awaiting them. The Eclipse Hound was growing stronger with every layer they passed, and they weren't any closer to figuring out how to stop it.
As they regrouped, Evelyn's thoughts were already racing toward the next challenge. Something told him that the true enemy wasn't just the monsters lurking in each layer. There was something—or someone—much larger orchestrating everything, and time was running out.
As Evelyn drifted into a restless sleep, the weight of the Non-Space's challenges pressing down on his mind, the same haunting dream began to unfurl once again. This time, the vision was clearer, more vivid. He saw the commander—Aiden—standing on the precipice of a shattered world. The skies above were ablaze with swirling colors, torn apart by a cosmic storm. Aiden, resolute and fierce, raised his hand, commanding the Shadow Seekers to strike against an unseen force that threatened to consume everything. His voice echoed with authority and urgency, but Evelyn couldn't make out the words. What was he trying to tell him?
Suddenly, the ground beneath Aiden's feet cracked open, revealing a gaping abyss, and from it, dark tendrils of energy reached out, pulling him into the void. His face, now clearer than ever, turned toward Evelyn, eyes filled with sorrow and determination, as if he knew this battle would be his last.
Just as Aiden was about to disappear into the darkness, Evelyn jolted awake to the sound of Asher's voice cutting through the silence.
"Get up! Something's wrong!"
Startled, Evelyn blinked rapidly, his heart racing as the remnants of the dream clung to her mind. He glanced around, disoriented, but quickly realized they were still in the strange clearing they had found—a small respite in the harshness of the Non-Space. The 'plantina,' as Fenrir had called it, was a rare phenomenon in the Non-Space, a patch of glowing, ethereal plants that radiated a soft, calming light. It had been a safe haven, but now the soft glow was fading.
Fenrir was already on his feet, his sharp gaze scanning the surrounding area. The plantina, which had provided them with much-needed relief, was beginning to dissolve, its tendrils of light evaporating into the air.
"It's vanishing," Fenrir said, his voice grim. "We need to move—now."
Evelyn forced himself to stand, shaking off the lingering fog of sleep and the unsettling vision of Aiden. He exchanged a quick look with Asher, who was already gathering his gear, his expression tense. They had hoped for more time to recover, but the Non-Space was unrelenting. Even in its brief moments of calm, it never truly allowed them to rest.
As they prepared to leave, Evelyn couldn't shake the feeling that his dream was more than just a vision. It was a message—a warning from the past. But why was he seeing Aiden? And why did his presence feel so familiar? The mysteries surrounding him only deepened with each layer they passed, and Evelyn knew that the answers he sought were tied to the very heart of the Non-Space.
They moved swiftly, the air growing colder and denser as the plantina vanished completely, leaving only the oppressive darkness of the first layer in its wake. As they navigated through the desolate terrain, Evelyn found himself thinking about the strange connection he felt to the commander from her dreams. He hadn't mentioned it to the others yet, unsure of how they would react, but the visions were becoming more frequent, more detailed. A part of her feared what they might mean.
"Asher," he said quietly as they walked. "Have you ever had dreams that feel... too real? Like they're trying to tell you something?"
Asher glanced at him, his brow furrowed. "In this place? Every dream feels like a warning." He paused for a moment, considering his words. "But yeah, I've had a few lately. Weird ones. Why do you ask?"
"I keep seeing this man. A commander, I think. He's fighting some kind of battle, and every time I see him, it feels... familiar, like I should know him."
Asher frowned. "A commander? That's strange. You think it has something to do with the Non-Space?"
Evelyn shrugged, unsure. "Maybe. But it feels deeper than that, like it's connected to everything we're doing here. Like he's trying to warn me about something."
Before Asher could respond, Fenrir, who had been scouting ahead, stopped abruptly and motioned for them to be silent. The air had changed again—thicker, more oppressive. A low, distant hum filled the space around them, vibrating through the ground.
"We're close to the next layer," Fenrir said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Be ready."
The trio tensed, their weapons at the ready as they approached the boundary of the first layer. The Void Serpents and the time wraiths had been only the beginning, a test of their resilience and strength. Whatever lay ahead would be far worse, and the toll the Non-Space was taking on their minds and bodies was becoming harder to ignore.
As they stepped through the threshold into the second layer, the world around them shifted once more. The ground beneath their feet felt different—softer, more fluid, as though reality itself was warping and bending with every step they took.
Evelyn's thoughts drifted back to Aiden, to the dream that still lingered in the back of his mind. There was something she was missing, a piece of the puzzle that hadn't yet revealed itself. He had to figure it out before it was too late, before the Non-Space consumed them all.
But for now, they had to survive the second layer—the domain of the Time Wraiths. And as the air around them began to shimmer with temporal distortions, Evelyn knew they were about to face a new, unimaginable terror.