Time Blinder

Ocean Lockwood

Description

After Stevie finds a reason to breathe from the depths of his despair, he is caught in the war of the eclipse, where the lunar luster and the lambent moon entwine. They collide in the coldest tempest beneath the louring heights that graze the stars of Penns. Yet, unbeknownst to him, he is trapped in an eternal calamity of time.

Sujets

• Frost (desambiguación)
• Blinder
• Spell
• Soul
• Space
• Frost
• Fiction
• Time
• Musique soul

Informations

• Publié par: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Date de parution: 12 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781543770636
• Langue: English

Extrait

TIME BLINDER
 
SHADOW OF FROST
 
 
 
OCEAN LOCKWOOD
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 by Ocean Lockwood.
 
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-5437-7062-9
 
eBook
978-1-5437-7063-6
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
 
 
 
www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore
CONTENTS
Prelude
Chapter 1:   First Encounter
Chapter 2:   Double Visions
Chapter 3:   Outburst
Chapter 4:   Dark Ambush
Chapter 5:   Reflect and Replay
Chapter 6:   Medicinal Death
Chapter 7:   Two Is One
Chapter 8:   Unsearching
Chapter 9:   Again’s a Gain
Chapter 10:   Uninvited Belonging
Chapter 11:   The Reap and the Soul
Chapter 12:   Bloodline Age
Chapter 13:   Distortion
Chapter 14:   Orbiting Sight
Chapter 15:   North Wind Alchemist
Chapter 16:   Tripped Towers
Chapter 17:   Towering Lows
Chapter 18:   Marble Snowball
Chapter 19:   Found the Lone
Chapter 20:   Three Is a Crown
Chapter 21:   Death of the Phoenix
Chapter 22:   Recover and Uncover
Chapter 23:   Gone Galore
Chapter 24:   Illusive Interlude
PRELUDE
[[Twainnet:: Planin—Birth City for Alm agge]]
A n asteroid was thrown across the sky, pulling a long trail behind it. Past Twainnet it flew, the planet’s gravity was weak, and was not powerful enough to influence its course.
A man watched the event while he was waiting for the news. His name was Sturdewealiseen Griffen, son of Svenpandur-Sulfwan. He was commonly known as Sturde. He was not waiting for any ordinary news but for the birth of his son. The women of their species were not required to carry their pregnancies.
A lady’s voice came into his mind. “Congratulations, sir! Your boy is born.”
He quickly stood up and walked towards the delivery suite. A female spouse could elect to experience birth mentally or not to. Sturde’s wife had opted to do so. Her name was Wendesquincy Rapienne-Hollows. Sturde called her Wendy.
When he reached the delivery suite, he saw Wendy. She was looking weak.
“You shouldn’t have elected mental labour,” he said, and coughed. He felt heartache at seeing her go through that.
“It’s fine. If we had done this when we were younger, Stevie would’ve been older by now,” Wendy said.
Stevie’s full name was Stevienyosen Griffen. He had been born on this day. Sturde and Wendy were already quite old when they had Stevie. They had experienced a great deal of adventure when they were younger and would not have had the chance to do so if they had had a child.
“After we fly out, we’ll show you every speck of knowledge in this universe, Stevie,” Sturde coughed again as he turned away.
As she stared at Sturde, tears rolled from Wendy’s eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.
 
Chapter 1
FIRST ENCOUNTER
“N ever thought we’d be here so soon.” A young voice spoke.
“They weren’t supposed to launch the attack this early.” A woman replied.
“Didn’t you know?” The man glanced at the woman. They stood on a platform overlooking a scrapyard.
“I anticipated it. This galaxy’s no home to those who do not adapt.” She paused. “Your father and I came here once a long time ago, when the streets were still burning as the war struck. This was where we found Pegelle.” She recounted. “It was cold back then, just as it is now. Too many things have gone by.” She looked up at the sky.
The clouds choked grey; the great moon shadowed the deep alleyways. It held no beautiful sight in the sky above, for the stars were beaten by the lights on the planet. On this land, the great moon looked bigger than the sun. It seemed like it engulfed the sun every night before it could even finish setting. And when twilight came, the only stars were not in the sky, but in bulbs bolstered by secure posts hammered into the earth. They were the planets of Rocroc and Potreal, its counterpart. The two planets danced around each other, consuming each other whole in the darkness once in every while.
He stared at a broken-down ship, its fuselage vandalised with scratches and dents, windows shattered, and inside, wrecked. Ruined its wings was, half opened, peaking out where it was not supposed to. The windshield hollow like eyes staring back at him, he felt sorrow.
“I spent most of my life in that ship, and I didn’t even get to keep anything.”
“Not everything’s lost,” she reached into her pocket, “I managed to save this.”
Out came dangling chains, a pocket watch she held in her hand. It was azure, silver streaks breaking up its monotony. Behind the glass was darkness lined with golden numbers. Its hands were intricately carved, it too was created from gold.
“You can keep this instead, Stevie.” She handed the watch over to him.
Now in his hands he held the time of the day, he checked the time after his mother did, before putting it in his pocket.
Stevie’s attention drew back to the creaking ship.
“Why’d they savage your ship?” He asked in his naivety, with his eyes still glued to the ship that slowly lifted away.
“It was because of me.” Wendy replied vaguely before deflecting, “I hope this tragedy won’t find you on your first harvest, Stevie.”
She left Stevie to watch as the ship got crushed by the mechanical hands of the compactor. A lonely silence was all that remained with him, seeping within, he felt a type of uneasiness that only begged for him to leave. So, he stepped up a stair, into the living quarter of the spaceship, seeing his mentor, Glange and his friend, Celebus. They sat on a lounging bench, Stevie choosing to sit on the armchair next to it.
“We’ve come back,” Stevie notified.
“Well then, welcome back.” Glange greeted. “Remember the stars, Stevie, we’ll be seeing them closer than before.” He paused, before turning to Wendy and continuing, “How would you like to celebrate Stevie and Celebus’ nineteenth and twentieth?”
“Something special. A great surprise for you, Stevie,” Wendy smiled warmly at Stevie.
“How about me, father?” Celebus turned to look at Glange.
“Absolutely… nothing.” Glange smiled at Celebus before chuckling, “it’s just a good chaff, I was kidding. I’ll tell you when we reach Staffiwoods. We all have someone to visit.” Glange turned back to the rest, “Alright kids, and you, Pegelle, we’re about to make a flight to the spaceport and proceed to Staffiwoods from there. Ready up,” Glange’s high expression was contrasted by his cold eyes that followed as he turned back to the hall.
Wisps sand and gravel blasted away from the rear of the spacecraft as it hovered on the ground. It blasted upwards toward the clouds, smothered by other spacecrafts’ filtrate.
Soon enough, they were upon the spaceport, landing in line with other spaceships. Slowly, Alranger was pulled into the runway’s rails.
“Take off!” Glange announced.
The spaceship ran up the ascending runway. As it crossed the edge, it disappeared into a beam of light, lighting up the sky of Rocroc. Now the stars remembered their places in the dark void with their beautiful glimmer. Stevie looked upon the planet he was on just a second ago, its red sky brushed atop the depressing grey clouds, beating light from inside its shadow. A distance away was its counterpart, who suffered the same fate as Rocroc. Potreal, drowning in a grey sea above it.
After some time, they each left to their own rooms, first was Wendy, followed by Peggelle, then Stevie. All except for Glange and Celebus, who were still by the panel. Celebus wanted to help his father out with routinary duties when flying, gears, and piloting. Celebus knew how Glange needed it all to be just right before he could put his mind at ease for the final step, the sleep. And Celebus, too, wanted to put his mind at ease.
“Will we…” he paused, pursing his lip for a moment before breathing out, “Will we get to see mother again? I thought maybe… she would’ve wanted to see me.”
“But it seems, she might not ever come back. After what happened with Nevie…” He took a deep breath, “I don’t know if she would want to.”
“It’s been eleven years; she can’t possibly do this to me.”
“I’m sorry.” Glange muttered in a sigh, his expression had been one of empathy, a sort that held such familiarity, the same remorse he had for himself.
“I hope she is too. Whatever then, I won’t think of it anymore, goodnight.”
“Remember to dream when you’re asleep.” Glange handed him a small tablet, “we’re in for a long ride.”
“See you soon.” Celebus picked up the tablet from Glange’s palm.
Placing the tablet on his tongue, he closed the door behind him and felt the tablet kick in quickly, what strong dose it was. He already felt drowsy, and he stumbled back into his bed, laying his back down on the soft mattress. The texture, he felt with his numbing fingers. Before he knew it, he was left with his mind, and even it too, started to descend into emptiness.
Meanwhile, in another room, a troubled mother. In her dark