The temporal engine hummed deep beneath the castle, a monstrous contraption of gears, glass, and liquid starlight. Tucan called it "the heart of eternity." Hafa called it a glorified hourglass. Tonight, it would be her weapon.
She waited until the moon drowned itself in clouds, then slipped into the engine chamber. The air buzzed with latent power, and the floor vibrated underfoot like a sleeping dragon. Tucan's blueprints lay scattered on a worktable—Redirect illusion parameters to Ashen Pass, overlap Earth Kingdom sigils—and Hafa's stomach churned. He's really going to do it.
"Plan B, then," she muttered, pulling a stolen vial of Fire Kingdom alchemical powder from her sleeve. Disrupt the engine's frequency. Scatter the illusion. It would blunt the illusion's range, sparing the Earth Kingdom's border villages. But if Tucan noticed…
He'll skin me alive. Or unalive me. Whatever's worse.
She climbed the engine's scaffold, her boots slipping on frost-coated metal. Below, the machine's core pulsed like a heartbeat, threads of silver light weaving the grand illusion. Hafa uncorked the vial.
"Stop."
The voice came from the shadows. The Shadow of the Veils.
Hafa froze. "Here to lecture me? 'The Timeless King's will is absolute'? Save it."
The hooded figure glided forward, their hands still hidden. "You misunderstand. I am here to help."
"Help?" Hafa snorted. "Since when do assassins play rebel?"
"Since the Timeless King's 'clean' wars began starving my kin." The Shadow pulled back their hood, revealing a face Hafa recognized—Lira, an Earth Kingdom mixed-born smuggler she'd met years ago, now disguised as the clan's leader. "Your plan is noble, Hafa, but flawed. The powder will destabilize the engine entirely. Kill thousands."
Hafa's grip tightened on the vial. "Then what's your plan?"
Lira smiled, sharp as a dagger. "We don't dilute the illusion. We expand it."
Two Hours Later:
The engine roared to life, its light flooding the chamber. Tucan stood at the controls, his back to Hafa as she lurked in the shadows.
"Begin," he ordered.
The clans obeyed, channeling their elemental magic into the machine. The air rippled—and above the Ashen Pass, the Earth Kingdom's army shimmered into existence, an illusion perfect in every detail.
Hafa exchanged a glance with Lira, hidden among the Veils Clan. Now.
As Tucan focused, Hafa lunged, dumping the alchemical powder not into the engine—but into the Fire Kingdom's sigil on the map. The powder ignited, twisting the illusion.
The Earth Kingdom's army flickered, then changed. Their uniforms shifted to civilian garb. Their weapons became farming tools.
"What—?" Tucan spun, his eyes blazing. "Hafa!"
The chamber erupted in chaos. Clans shouted, the engine screeched, and Lira vanished into smoke.
Hafa bolted, Tucan's roar echoing behind her. "You dare defy me?!"
She didn't look back.
The Aftermath:
The Fire Kingdom's army attacked the illusionary civilians, only to realize too late that the Earth Kingdom's real forces flanked them. The Earth King, enraged by the "attack on innocents," joined the battle personally. The Ashen Pass became a storm of fire and stone—but the border villages, miraculously, were spared.
Back in the Timeless Kingdom, Tucan cornered Hafa in the clocktower.
"Explain," he snarled, pinning her against a frozen lens.
She grinned, breathless. "You wanted clean? I gave you cleaner. No dead civilians. Just kings killing kings."
"You interfered! You betrayed—"
"I fixed your mess!" She shoved him back. "You're so obsessed with playing god, you forgot to be human!"
He grabbed her wrist, time-energy crackling. "I should erase you."
"Then do it." She stepped closer, fire sparking in her palms. "But we both know you won't."
"Why?" His voice broke. "Why risk everything?"
"Because someone has to!" The fire in her hands died. "And… I thought you might finally see me."
The clocktower trembled. Somewhere, a lens shattered.
Tucan released her, his anger dissolving into something raw. "Leave. Before I…"
"Before you what?"
He turned away. "Before I ask you to stay."