“Whilst you were crying yourself an ocean of regret, I searched this city from the tallest tower to the darkest dungeon to find a way of breaking nature’s law one last time.” He held the orb to Mordelain, and she watched it dance with pearl light. “Go on. Take it.”

Mordelain reached out and took it with trembling fingers. It was warm to the touch. She felt its weight, and then remembered when she had last held one.

“The day I joined the Artificer’s Conclave they gave me one. They called them Skeinslivers.”

“You told me long ago that your ability to traverse worlds had limitations. You found a way to break those laws. It is why we are here now, centuries in the past.” Suresh waved a hand over the length of his body. “That determination is why I am standing here, when once only the Tama claimed the right.”

“No end of trials and tribulations to do, I might add.” Mordelain smirked. “But these were the most treasured of our artefacts. After the Cataclysm most were shattered, their connection to the Void a death sentence for the orbs and their wielders.” Mordelain could only image the pain and suffering wrought upon their owners when the first wave of destruction had struck. “It would have shorn soul from body.”

“Nothing of import or power is without risk. But with every of these relics lost in our time we must find a way to pluck one from history.” Suresh sighed with relief. “I have waited a long time to tell you this.”

“I thank you for the truth. I did not think it possible, but if I can a way to steal this orb from now to then we can finally begin to rebuild the terraforming matrix.”

“It is possible, then?”

Mordelain shrugged. “I thought I had learnt all there was to know about walking between planes. Perhaps it is. Perhaps it is not.” She passed the orb back to her mentor. “Put it back where it belongs.”

“You do not need to use it?” Suresh hesitated, but pocketed the orb into the folds of his robes.

“Though we can interact with this preserved memory of time, we are not truly here: this is not the Fallien of old. Time-travel is too dangerous for me to use it as a battleground for my failings.” She pointed to the oasis. “I wanted this to last forever. Memories stored away in the last vestiges of the Tama’s legacy.”

“How do you travel to then properly?”

Mordelain shrugged. “We must be careful. The slightest misstep could rewrite the history of our home beyond recognition.” She started to calculate all the ways in which their plan could go awry. “We may lose Fallien for good.”

Suresh performed a traditional salute. “I pledge to not stray from our path. To restore Fallien only if possible.”

Mordelain chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. I said we may. I have no intention of letting that happen.”

She drew on her power and wrapped them both in a whorl of energy. As they vanished from the past and fell through the void back to the future, the weight of her words played on her mind. As world after world appeared and vanished, Mordelain’s promise turned into an undeniable, all-consuming urge to right the wrongs of her people.