Lyra's POV
Three hours of rewiring, one near explosion, and exactly zero explanations later, Lyra sat on the floor, slumped against the base of the console.
Kael watched her from the opposite end of the lab, seated like a prince in exile, unbothered by the sparks, the stress, or the broken rules of physics.
"This is bad," she muttered to herself. "Really, really bad."
The core had stabilized—for now. But its pulse wasn't natural. It hummed in a strange frequency, as if something inside it was... alive.
And worse?
Kael had been right.
Whatever had come through the portal with him, it wasn't human. Or safe.
"It's not just time that's broken. Something... followed me through."
His words echoed in her head like a siren.
She stood up, shaky but determined.
"I need to call Professor Hale."
Kael looked up sharply. "Will he believe you?"
"I don't care." She turned to the emergency line. "He needs to know."
---
Two Hours Later...
Professor Hale stormed into the lab like a man returning from war. His white hair was messier than usual, glasses fogged from the rain. His eyes scanned the lab—and stopped.
On Kael.
"What is this?" he asked sharply. "Lyra, explain."
She stood up from the terminal. "I—I didn't mean to. I swear. The machine activated on its own. I was trying to stabilize the quantum stream and then—he appeared."
Kael stepped forward. "My name is Kael, son of—"
"Not now," the professor snapped, already at the console. His fingers flew over the keys. Lines of code scrolled rapidly. "This can't be happening. This tech wasn't even calibrated for cross-temporal access. Let alone—"
He stopped.
The core pulsed again.
He turned to her, eyes wide. "Lyra. This is beyond time travel. This is dimensional breach. You didn't just open a gate through time—you opened a crack across realities."
Her breath caught. "But that's not possible. We never even—"
"You didn't." His voice dropped. "But someone else did."
---
Kael's POV
So this was the mind behind the magic.
The elder. The one Lyra trusted. The man with hands that shaped stars inside a room of wires.
Professor Hale was no king, no priest. But Kael recognized power when he saw it. And fear.
This man was afraid.
Afraid of him. Of the portal. Of what lay beyond it.
"Your portal," Kael said slowly, "pulled me across realms. That kind of magic—if unstable—creates echoes."
"Echoes?"
Kael nodded. "Ghosts. Creatures that don't belong to one time or space. Some follow the tear... and feast on the opening."
Professor Hale paled. "You're saying we've invited a predator?"
"Or worse. A hunter."
---
Lyra's POV
Lyra's mind reeled.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
She was supposed to protect the lab while the professor was away. Follow instructions. Monitor logs.
Not pull ancient princes from magical realms and rip holes through the multiverse.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
The professor turned to her, his expression unexpectedly gentle.
"I know, Lyra. I left you too much responsibility. I never imagined..." He exhaled. "We have to shut it down. The experiment. The lab. Everything."
Her heart dropped. "But—Kael?"
Professor Hale hesitated. "We'll find a way to send him back. That's the only way to stabilize the breach."
Kael stood silently.
He didn't argue.
He didn't protest.
But he looked at her.
And Lyra realized in that moment—
He didn't want to go.
And neither did she want to lose him.
---