MORI GLANCED AROUND, BREATH GHOSTING IN FRONT OF HIS FACE.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting on to see on Elete, but surely this wasn't it. Suddenly, Junot's reaction made sense. She'd thought they were lying, about visiting Elete, because the world no longer existed. But how had she known about Arkos, so soon?

Mori shivered, his thoughts returning once again to Arkos, to the tower fragmenting. This was all that would be left of it now — this fractured, desolate world. No light, no land, just the crumbling tower and heavy, choking darkness.

"I thought it was just Arkos," Mori whispered. "It's happened here, too?"

"Apparently." Argent scanned the scene below him, a hard glint in his eyes. "We should get back."

He took out the traveller's timepiece. But before they could do anything, what was left of the platform. Mori tried to grab at the timepiece, but it slipped away from his grasp. Mori tumbled after it, down into the thick shadows below them. The darkness slid away to let him through. He heard disembodied voices whispering at his air, fingers in his hair, on his skin—

He landed on his back with a grunt. On what, exactly, he couldn't say. The ground beneath was soft but sturdy, giving way gently under his feet as he stood. Mori rubbed his head and looked around, but everything around him was just pitch black nothing.

"Well, well. Hello, Mori." A voice rumbled through the darkness. Light and playful and laced with danger. "It's wonderful to finally meet you."

Mori swung round, but only rippling shadow greeted him. "How do you know who I am?"

The air around him rumbled. Mori supposed it must be laughter.

"What a trivial question," the voice said. "I know all the clockmakers, as I would my own flesh and blood." Something touched his chest and dug in, pricking his skin. "The rites you took with Ren are a contract. Your power binds you to me." A breeze fluttered over his shoulders. A cold breath chilled his ear. "In a sense, we are one."

Mori shrank away. "Who are you?"

"Ah, I am known by many names." The presence receded. "But most simply know me as the space I inhabit — the void."

"The void?"

"This space is my power. And everything within it —" Icy fingers snaked around Mori's throat — "belongs to me."

Mori swallowed. Dread seeped out from the touch at his neck, chilling his skin like freezing water. He recognised the feeling – the frantic panic from his nightmares, the dread at the pit of his soul. He thrashed, but the grip merely tightened. The thick air piled into his throat, and suddenly he couldn't breathe—

After a moment, the pressure on his throat fell away. Mori staggered away, coughing. The void laughed again, a grim chuckle that echoed in his chest long after the noise had stopped.

"I suppose I should be more hospitable. It has been a long time since I have had a visitor."

Some of the shadow drew away. Mori could just about make out a figure, floating just ahead of him. Mori stumbled forward. It was a young woman, hovering on her back in mid-air, unconscious.

Mori couldn't help but stare. She was oddly beautiful, delicate tan skin smoothed by slumber. Copper-brown hair curled around her face, dying rose petals wilting amongst her curls.

"What happened to her?"

"Consider it a cautionary tale of sorts. This is what becomes of those who search for knowledge beyond their limits." The void sighed, then focused its attention back on Mori. "You will join her soon enough. You and that...other one you brought." A pause; the void appeared to be considering something. "Bashko?" It harrumphed. "Perhaps not. No matter. Both of you have sealed your fate."

"I can't stay here," Mori said. "I have to get back. I dropped a timepiece down here, I just need it back and we can go."

The air sharpened, so suddenly Mori heard it snap. Pain stung his skin like lightning.

"Fool!" the void growled. The air thrummed with its sudden rage. "You think you can just leave this place, when your very presence here is a violation?"

"But I haven't—"

The air crackled again, and Mori flinched. "I know of the timepiece you refer to. It is an abomination — an entity that should never have existed. In the act of its creation, she defied the direction of the grand system itself. And by using it, so have you."

"I didn't mean to—"

"Silence."

His throat closed up. Mori lifted his hands and found he couldn't see his fingers. Darkness crept up his body, the void swallowing him whole. He couldn't resist, only shut his eyes and let it claim him.

So, this is it.

Trapped in eternal slumber for the rest of his life. Perhaps this was the fate he deserved.

Arkos. The thought burned inside him. He couldn't be trapped here, not yet. Not when he'd just started to make progress.

No.

His eyes opened. A slow-burning sensation pushed through him, simmering just below the void. He couldn't name it. His fingers clenched into tight fists. He willed, if there was any power in him, to break free. He couldn't be trapped here, not while Arkos still had to rebuilt. He'd resist to his last breath, with the last scrap of strength he had left in his body, if it was enough to get him out of here.

But the dark dug deeper. His arms grew heavy. His legs wouldn't move. Cold spread across his body, like chains around his limbs. Shadows spread across the edge of his vision, creeping in further and further—

Not now. Mori thrashed in the grip of the darkness. Not yet—

Blinding white light erupted from his chest.

Mori let out a gasp as power surged through his body. He heard something in the darkness scream. The shadows peeled away from him, freeing his limbs. Mori staggered back. He felt like he'd been drained of energy, barely enough to keep him upright. But the energy pulsing from his chest was enough to keep him moving. He backed away and broke into a stumbling run, the light carving a path through the gloom.

He dug through the darkness, unsure where he was going.

The space lightened ahead of him. Mori pushed, fingers digging through crisscrossing tree trunks that flaked away like ash beneath his fingers. He stumbled into a clearing, shrouded in wispy, acrid smoke. He could just make out the gnarled silhouettes of dark, twisted trees surrounding him.

Mori hunched over, hands on his knees, panting. The light sloughed off his shoulders in waves, illuminating the smoke like a gentle flame. Something burned at his chest. He realised it wasn't just his lungs, straining for air. Mori reached for his torso, starting when his fingers brushed against cool metal.

The synchroniser.

Had the light come from there? Mori pulled the pocket watch away from his neck. Its face blazed white, so bright he couldn't look at it straight on. The light burned his hands, sharp like fire but somehow not painful.

Mori's head throbbed. Trying to piece everything together only made him lightheaded. Dimly, he remembered he'd charged the timepiece with a tower's energy, a power he didn't truly understand. Had he somehow managed to tap into it? Mori though about channelling the light to his hands. His palms flared, blue-white energy sparking at his fingers. A thrill jolted through him.

Something moved at his right. Mori swung round. Energy burst from his hands, tearing a line of light through the shadowy branches. It burst through the trees, shattering the fragile branches into billowing ash.

"Mori, wait. It's just me," A familiar voice called through the smoke. A second later, Argent's figure resolved, his hands raised. "Calm down, would you?"

"Calm down?" Mori snapped. "It's your fault we wound up in this mess."

Argent rubbed a hand through his hair. "I will admit it wasn't the most well-thought out of plans."

"That's all you're going to say?" Mori's frustration spiked. "We're probably stuck here forever, just because you couldn't just let Ren work on something without butting into it. Did you even get the answers you wanted?"

Argent gave him a weird look. "Let's focus on getting out of here. I couldn't find the traveller's timepiece anywhere down here. I don't suppose you had any luck?"

Mori shook his head. "I was talking with — something," Mori said. He glanced over his shoulder, remembering the darkness engulfing him, the cold hands around his throat. "It called itself the void."

Almost as if on cue, the hair at the back of Mori's neck prickled up. The presence closed in on him again, rumbling with low, menacing fury. As it burst into the clearing, the shadows melted away and it took shape, coalescing into a blurred, humanoid figure, with long claws for fingers and two burning white holes in its face for eyes.

"Run all you like," it hissed. "Nothing can save you now you're here. Not even your little toy."

Mori backed away. His head swam, but he forced the dizziness away. "I can't stay here. I have to restore Arkos."

The figure tipped its head back. "Ludicrous. A mere clockmaker, trying to build a tower?"

"If you don't want me doing it, then do it yourself."

"You dare doubt my power?" The figure exploded into shards of darkness, filling the space. Argent backed up a step, but the light from the synchroniser rose again to engulf it, shearing away at the writhing shadow.

"I meant — I don't care who restores it," Mori called. "But at the moment, I'm the only one who wants to bring it back. I made a mistake, earlier. I just want to fix it." He stared through the whirling dance of light and shadow, trying to pick out the figure within. "Restoring the tower is part of the direction of the system, surely? Isn't this what you want?"

He let the light fade. The shadow shrank back to the void's figure. It stooped over, gasping for breath. It looked like the light had weakened it.

Mori's pulse raced. He realised that what he had was power, and maybe the key to getting them out of here. Mori took a step towards it, keeping the light active as a warning.

"I just want to restore the tower," Mori said. "Let us go. And once that's done, I'll come back here. I won't run or fight."

The figure laughed. "You'll return of your own free will? You truly expect me to believe that?"

Mori stared back at it. "I will. I keep my promises."

Argent glanced at him. "Mori, maybe you should think about this—"

Four shadowy walls burst up between them, enclosing Mori and the void in a space of darkness. Mori let the light flare up again. It deflected off the walls and bounced back into the synchroniser.

Mori backed up a step. "What did you do?"

"Time moves on, clockmaker." Something nudged the timepiece around his neck. "Your fire will die out soon. And when that happens, nothing will be able to help you. Your friend will be safe as long as he doesn't interfere. So state your terms. I will determine if your contract is worth honouring."

Mori took a deep breath in.

"Give us the timepiece, and let us out," Mori said. He hesitated. "That other girl as well."

"No," the void rumbled. "She is beneath your concern."

The light snapped out again, aiming for the source of the voice. He aimed it well; the light burst against the figure. It leapt away with a screech, and the air filled with the stench of burning.

It growled. "I assure you, there is nothing you can do that one. Her fate is one she chose. I'll return your timepiece, and send the both of you back." The figure leaned in. Its eyes sharpened, and something like a smile grew across its face. "And once we're there, perhaps you will be able to do me a favour."

Fingers tightened around his shoulders. Mori nodded, suppressing a shiver. "And I'll come back with you once it's done," he said.

Maybe then he'd be able to rest easy, with that weight lifted from his soul.

The air thrummed with pleasure. "Very well." The barrier dropped away, and a slow-rising wind whipped up, surrounding them in the vortex. "I accept your terms."

"Terms?" Argent looked at Mori. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Mori muttered. "It's sorted out now."

The ground beneath them rumbled. The wind grew to a howl, ripping through their ears. The figure leapt at Mori, smile slashing its face, claw-hands outstretched. Mori jerked away with a cry, but a gust of wind seemed to snatch at it and it vanished a moment before it collided with Mori's chest.

"Thus seals the pact, to be voided by none," the very air rumbled, its voice gathering like thunder. Mori staggered away as the ground started to crumble beneath them. "So as it is written, then let it be done."