Андрей Сопельник – Universe Aeternov. Book two. The Shadow that Remembers the Light (страница 3)

• myself standing on the Aeternum… but without shadows.

And then he cries black tears – not from despair, but from the betrayal he is preparing to commit.

These tears are the last signal.

They do not fall to the ground, but into the Chrono-Heart and turn into a vision for Alina.

“He didn’t betray the light,” she whispers, looking into the mirror of time. – He allows the Darkness to enter… so that we can see it being born.”

5. THE TEAM’S DECISION

– We have to stop him before he returns to the past, – says Andrey. – But how?” He is the Lord of Darkness. He rules the six worlds of the Abyss!

“No, – Alina shakes her head. “He’s waiting for us to come.” He doesn’t want the Darkness to win. He wants us to save him from himself.

Inna puts her hand on Andrey’s shoulder.

“Then we’ll go where hope hasn’t gone before,” she says. – On Mekhanos-9. To the Forge of the God of Darkness. And we’ll remind Knox.… who he really is.

“And if he doesn’t remember us anymore?” Andrey asks.

“Then we’ll remind him of his mother,” says Elira. “Her lullaby.” Her scent. Her hands.

“And if that’s not enough?” Alexey whispers.

“Then we’ll take his hand, – Alina replies, – and say, “You’re not a vessel of darkness. You’re the door she couldn’t shut.”

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

On the edge of the Aeterna, the “Heart of Tomorrow” is preparing to leap – not through hope, but through sacrifice.

The ship doesn’t sing.

He prays.

For the first time, the heroes are not flying to save worlds…

but to save someone who has already become their prison and their friend.

And somewhere in the depths of Mechanos-9, Knox looks into the Mirror of the Destroyed Time and whispers:

– Wait for me. I’m still here. As long as you remember, I’m alive.

Chapter 3. The third. A CLOCK MADE OF ASHES

“Time does not choose heroes.

It chooses those who are not afraid to be human, even in hell.”

1. A DREAM THAT IS NOT A DREAM.

Andrey did not sleep. He failed.

Not in a dream. Not as a memory. And into the rift, a thin crack between worlds where time does not flow, but groans.

It was cold, and there was the smell of coal, burning, and sweat.

The sounds are kayla’s thuds, screeching, coughing, and muffled fear.

The light is just a dim lantern on his forehead, trembling like a last hope.

He’s not in his body. He is an observer: invisible, disembodied… but feeling everything.

And he knows: it’s 1943. Mines near Rostov. The depth is three hundred meters. There is a war on the surface. And there is another war below: with darkness, with fatigue, with the thought: “Why go upstairs if there is death there?

“And then he sees him.

A young guy about sixteen years old. He was thin, with a face chiseled by hunger and stubbornness. On the chest is a battered tunic with a faded star. In the eyes is not the absence of fear, but stubborn faith.

This is his grandfather. Andrey Semenovich Chronosynthesis.

The one who once said,

“The clock is not ticking… but they remember every second when you were happy.”

2. THE CLOCK IN THE DARK.

The shift is in full swing. Grandfather digs in a narrow hole, where even breathing is painful.

Suddenly – a landslide.

Small, but enough to block up the passage.

He remains alone. The lantern flickers. Oxygen is running out.

In a panic, in the dark, the hand gropes for something hard under a layer of coal.

He pulls out his watch.

Not simple. The case is made of a strange metal, warm, as if alive. The glass is cracked, but not broken. The hands froze at 3:33.

And at that moment, there was a flash.

No light. Memory.

Grandfather sees:

• a boy in the garden, planting a flower for his sick mother;

• a young man who swears to protect his native village;

• the old man who gives this watch to the woman with the galaxy eyes;

And… himself, standing here in the mine, with blood and coal dust on his hands.

He doesn’t understand what’s going on. But he feels: This is not a godsend.

This is the message.

From the future. From someone who hasn’t been born yet… but already remembers him.

3. A VOICE FROM THE FUTURE

Andrey, the observer, tries to shout. But he’s a shadow. He can’t interfere.

And then the clock “wakes up”.

From their mechanism, through a crack in the glass, comes a small voice – his own voice, but from the future.:

“Grandfather… it’s me.” Andrey. You don’t have to die here. This watch is not just time. They are the source of the Chrono-Heart. And they were waiting for you… to pass them on. Through the war. Through the pain. Decades later. One day… I will save the world – with your hands.

Grandfather freezes. Tears roll down his face, mixing with coal dust.

He’s not going crazy.

He believes.

Because there is love in that voice. The one that is stronger than death.