Elyndra took a step back, her instincts screaming at her to run. The cloaked figure—taller than she had first thought—moved toward her, slow and deliberate.
"You don't even know what you carry, do you?" the stranger asked.
Elyndra kept her dagger ready, gripping the hourglass tighter. "I know it's worth something, and I don't take kindly to people trying to steal from me."
A gust of wind tore through the alley, sending the figure's hood flying back. Elyndra's breath hitched. A pair of silver eyes—far too bright for the darkness—studied her with an unsettling calm. The man's face was sharp, his raven-black hair streaked with silver at the temples. He looked no older than thirty, but there was something ancient in his gaze.
"My name is Kael Draven," he said, as if that should mean something. "And if you don't give me the hourglass, time itself may fracture."
Elyndra scoffed, feigning confidence. "That sounds like a 'you' problem."
Kael exhaled sharply. "If only it were."
Before Elyndra could react, the ground beneath them trembled. The air crackled with unseen energy, and the hourglass in her hands suddenly grew warm. She gasped as the swirling sands inside began moving faster—then, in a single violent pulse, the glass shattered.
Light exploded outward, swallowing the alley in a brilliant blue-white glow.
The world twisted.
The cityscape around Elyndra blurred, distorting like ripples across a pond. She felt herself falling, not down, but through something—through time itself.
The last thing she saw before darkness took her was Kael reaching out, his silver eyes wide with something dangerously close to fear.