The next morning, Eldenbrook seemed quieter than usual. Eryndor wandered along the river, the glowing vial tucked safely into his coat. He had promised himself he would be careful—but curiosity tugged at him.
He paused at the edge of the forest. A faint shimmer ran along the trees, like a ripple of heat, though the air was cool. Something—or someone—was here.
Before he could react, a figure emerged from the shadows. Unlike the Time Warden from the night before, this one smiled, sharp and confident.
"You must be Eryndor," the stranger said. "The new Archivist causing all that commotion in Eldenbrook."
Eryndor instinctively stepped back. "Who… who are you?"
The figure laughed, low and casual. "Call me Riven. I've been pulling futures for longer than you've been alive. You're clumsy with your power… and it's only a matter of time before you break something important."
Eryndor's hand went to the vial. "I… I didn't know. I'm just… trying to understand it."
Riven's grin widened. "Understand? You don't even know the rules yet, kid. Let me show you what happens when you pull without thinking."
With a flick of his wrist, Riven produced a small, glowing orb from thin air. It expanded into a miniature storm—a fragment of a future that had never come to pass. Trees grew and shrank in fast-forward, lightning arced across the sky in tiny bursts.
Eryndor's eyes widened. "That… that's dangerous!"
"Exactly." Riven shrugged. "But that's the kind of power we wield. And if you can't handle it… the world suffers."
Eryndor clenched his fists. He wanted to stop Riven, but he knew he had no idea how to control such a fragment. Hesitating could cost him everything.
Riven noticed his hesitation. "Lesson one, Archivist: small things can break the world if you don't respect them. And lesson two…" He vanished in a flash, leaving only the echo of his laughter.
The forest around Eryndor shimmered oddly, leaves floating mid-air before settling again. A branch nearby had split in half, though nothing had touched it. The first real taste of the cost of pulling futures hit him hard.
Eryndor looked down at his vial. He realized that understanding his power wasn't just curiosity—it was survival. And if he wanted to live, he needed to learn fast.
Somewhere, beyond the clouds and beyond time, the Archive watched. And now, so did Riven.