The portal shimmered like rippling water over obsidian glass, but what lay beyond was no tranquil oasis. The Garden That Devoured Time was a forbidden realm spoken of in hushed tones even among the gods. It was said to be where a great Chronarch once seeded his memories, only to be consumed by them. Time here didn't pass — it fed.
As Belarion and Kaelira stepped through the veil, the atmosphere thickened. Lush flora coiled in impossible directions, with leaves that aged and regrew in a single breath. Some trees whispered in ancient dialects; others screamed with the laughter of those long dead. The sky blinked between twilight and midnight in irregular pulses, and the ground pulsed with heartbeat-like rhythms.
System Warning:
Temporal Predation Detected
Passive Time Devourers Active Within Environment
Engage [Word of Silence] to suppress cognitive decay
"Here," Belarion muttered, invoking the first Commandment. A bubble of stillness enveloped them, cutting out the garden's chaos. For now.
"The second Commandment must be here," Kaelira said. "But we're not alone."
A thunderous cry broke the tension. From the undergrowth leapt a beast—a lion with a sundial for a mane, and hourglasses for eyes. The Epoch Maw.
It didn't hunt for meat. It hunted moments.
The Epoch Maw
The creature lunged. Kaelira barely dodged as its jaws snapped shut where she'd stood a second before. Belarion countered with a wave of flame-script, but the creature dissolved mid-air, reappearing behind him.
"Time isn't linear here!" Kaelira yelled.
System Alert:
Adversary Identified: Epoch Maw
Status: Apex Predator – Chronovoric Class
Weakness: Anchored Memory Imprints
Belarion reached into his system inventory and drew forth the Memory Seed again—now altered by the Star-Forge. He crushed it in his palm.
Memories surged outward, flooding the air like a rising tide. Childhood, battlefields, the death of his old world, the first time he met Kaelira — all of it. The garden slowed. The beast recoiled, trapped within the solidification of subjective time.
Exploit Successful
Epoch Maw Defeated
Loot Gained: Fossilized Second
Quest Item Obtained: Whispering Petal of the Devouring Tree
From the corpse of the beast bloomed a single flower, its petals shaped like clock hands. It whispered as it opened.
"Speak not what must not be known. To know it, devour the knowing."
Belarion inhaled sharply. The second Commandment wasn't a phrase. It was a paradox. To know it was to forget it.
"I'll do it," he said. "Hold my body steady."
Kaelira's eyes widened. "You'll wipe your mind—on purpose?"
"I'll remember the silence."
He consumed the petal.
The Second Commandment
Darkness. And then light.
Belarion found himself floating in a space with no edges. In front of him stood… himself. But older. Weary. Crowned with time.
"You came far too early," the future self said. "You're not supposed to know the second commandment yet."
"Then I'll learn it early. I refuse fate."
"You can't learn this. You must become the forgetting."
The two Belarions touched palms. Time melted.
Commandment II Acquired: The Forgotten
Arcwheel Integrity +29%
New Ability: [Mind Void] — Immunity to memory-based curses, illusions, and prophetic bindings for 6 minutes.
He awoke. Kaelira had tears in her eyes. "You didn't recognize me for a second."
"I forgot everything," he said. "But remembered what mattered."
The garden crumbled.
Quest Updated: Reforging the Fate Engine
Progress: 2/3 — The Forgotten etched into the Arcwheel
Next Destination: Unknown — Third Commandment is Unwritten