There was only a few seconds between Autumn and the ground as she fell. Just a few moments…
Time twisted around those moments…
bent at the edges…
warping like molten glass.
And through that broken slice of reality…Kieran tore through.
Like a streak of lightning.
A blur sharper than violence.
He cut straight through the Guardians' circle…through their sigils, their gasps, the trembling air…zapping past all of them as if in a single heartbeat.
Freya was in his left arm.
His right arm swooped forward just as Autumn's knees gave out.
And before her body could hit the ground…he caught her.
The world jolted back into motion…slow and syrupy…like it was drowning in honey.
Every sound muffled.
Every breath delayed.
Autumn collapsed against his chest, trembling.
Her flames sputtered like wet sparks.
She couldn't even open her eyes.
Only her cracked voice escaped.
A broken whisper…
"Wh…Where…were you Kieran…?" Her fingers twitched against him.
