The ink on the parchment seeped into the cheap cotton fibers, drawing the lines of grain shipments, iron ingot reserves, and river patrol routes. Tair rested his left elbow against the cold stone table, scanning the numbers with his only visible eye. Behind the leather bandage, his blinded eye socket throbbed with a dull, rhythmic ache—a constant reminder of the cycles he had already burned through.
Outside the arched window, Elyaran was celebrating. Musicians struck the strings of long-necked lutes, while the smell of roasted mutton filled the clear night air. Azhred was outside; he moved among the lower-ranking commanders, solidifying his position as the city’s heroic liberator with his silver aura and easy laughter.
Tair did not care about the songs. He cared about iron and grain.
According to intelligence gathered from the dead Inspector Varok’s private ledgers, Marshal Kaelen’s vanguard—the Imperial 10th Crown Legion—was not advancing directly along the main trade road. Kaelen was an old Imperial fox; before the actual siege began, he was directing three thousand heavy cavalry through Lethrûn’s Dry Riverbed to cut off Veylahr’s water supply.
If I let them cut the aqueducts, the city will surrender in eighteen days, Tair thought. Azhred will go out and want to meet them in an honorable open-field battle. He will lose half his cavalry.
Tair placed his left palm over the obsidian ring. The dark stone was ice-cold against his pale skin. He needed to conduct a precise regional temporal analysis to map the exact passage of Kaelen’s scouts through the pass.
He activated the cycle reflection.
Neural Strain Threshold: 78%. Initiating Temporal Probe...
Suddenly, the familiar emerald-green system lines twisted violently. A sharp, high-frequency ringing echoed inside his skull, as though a rusted needle had been driven into his brainstem. The world around him did not slow into its usual calm, frozen state; instead, the candlelight flickered wildly, casting double shadows across the walls.
System Anomaly: ASTRA
KRONO-ANCHOR CRITICAL ANOMALY: Temporal Adaptation Detected.
PATH REROUTED: 'Lethrûn-Scout-01' rerouted by system layer.
DESYNCHRONIZATION ERROR RATE: 41%.
System Anomaly: The system has adapted to the prediction patterns Tair used in previous cycles and has randomly rearranged the enemy patrol route with a deviation (Desync).
Neural Overload: Because the predicted information does not match the synchronized record, Tair is experiencing a severe synchronization breakdown.
Physical Cost: A thin trickle of blood has begun leaking from his left ear, while the numbness in his right arm has climbed into the shoulder muscles.