1



Walking the filthy, near deserted streets of Jarang, Delta searched futilely for the missing Keepers of Time. Over the past month since their sudden disappearance, she had found nothing. Not a single clue.

After the first two weeks, she had begun to worry. It was common for the Keepers to be apart for long periods of time... but if one called, the others would gather... fast. Delta had called such a Gathering over six weeks ago. None of the Keepers, apart from herself, had been present.

What had become of them? Yes, of course it was a little odd if one or even two of the Keepers didn’t make an appearance at a Gathering. The absence of four, however, meant something was dreadfully wrong. As the only remaining Keeper, it was Delta’s foremost duty to discover exactly what that was.

Delta had returned to the past in hope of discovering what had become of them. There was nothing, no clue, she couldn’t even seem to locate the others. Unable to change events of the past, the Keepers were the witnesses of these events. Silent bystanders.

Delta looked up the twisting narrow dirt street. There were no answers here. Nodding her head in resolution, her eyes slid closed as she focused on where she wanted to go: the time before her creation.



Standing in the middle of the street, she watched as Time sped around her, people filled the streets for brief moments. Nothing and no one was aware of her silent presence, people walked through her, not noticing her blue-grey eyes on them, watching. The crowds were soon replaced by thriving forests, a barren wasteland... Then came the Abyss before the existence of Time.

Delta seemed to be floating through nothing, her mind alone pulling her towards her destination. A small gathering of about twelve slowly came into view. The Creators, terrifyingly powerful beings, their forms undefined and hazy, an inner light shone through their smoke-like exteriors.

The Creators stood before her in a half circle, their shimmering backs turned, unaware of her presence. Their attention seemed to be focused on something on a tall pedestal at the fore of their semi-circle. Curiously, Delta slowly moved around to the side for a better look.

She clapped a hand over her mouth in fear, yet not knowing what it was she was so afraid of. A single white rose lay on the pedestal. Unrestrained fear tore its way viciously through her as her heart heart hammered painfully within its bone cage, Delta's leg screamed at her to run, to flee the obvious danger, yet she stood transfixed, her eyes locked on the rose.

Unable to restrain herself, she took another step forward, totally absorbed in what lay on the pedestal. All her senses were fighting her. She took a second step. A sudden agony burst to life across the skin on the right side of her middle where the symbol of the Keepers of Time was tattooed. Gasping in pain, she looked down to see the infinity sign, glowing white, The Warning.

Her instincts taking over, she backed away from the thorned flower. Delta’s hand lowered from her face as the pain subsided.

Gasping for breath, she turned slowly, watching the Creators.

“Why the rose?” asked one in a clearly feminine voice.

“The rose, a symbol of beauty, life and danger all at the same time, as are the Keepers of Time, a single thorn penetrating the flesh will be their undoing,” was the deep reply.

“Why must there be something capable of destroying them?” the question came from a third smoky figure. The voice had definitely come from that individual, although the mouth hadn’t seem to have moved.

The Keepers could be destroyed? Was that possible? Delta shook her head; refusing to believe it. That couldn’t be possible. Could it?

“There must be a balance.” It was the same, deep voice that had answered the first question, the owner of which appeared to be in control of those gathered. “Like Time, Balance is one of the key aspects to life and death. Every time something or someone passes from the world of the living, another must be born. In making the Keepers of Time immortal, we have upset the Balance. In theory, the White Rose should even the tipping scale.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the others gathered.

“Is it too great a risk?”

The leader turned to face the figure who had asked the question. “No. I don’t believe so. It is a risk, yes. But no one will ever be aware of this weakness. Not unless one of us reveals this secret.” The speaker looked threateningly at all those gathered.

Someone knows. Delta came to her conclusion. Someone knows.

Fear held her in an icy grip. If someone knew about the rose and was destroying the Keepers of Time… She was the next victim. Shaking her head, she tried to convince herself it wasn’t true.

Maybe there’s something else I’ve overlooked. Maybe it’s not the rose. There’s another reason. There has to be. No. Deep inside she knew what had become of the other Keepers of Time. Deep inside she knew they were coming. Coming for her.

“No one must ever know,” the deep, resounding voice seemed to echo. Off what, though, Delta had not the slightest idea. “No one must ever know the secret of the White Rose.”

The others agreed in solemn tones.

“It won’t work,” came a timid voice from those gathered.

“Why?”

“Because it is still not balanced. There has to be something larger against the Keepers of Time.”

Those gathered looked from between either speaker.

“What makes you so sure?”

“The Keepers are immortal, yes?”

The figures nodded silently.

“And yet no one else is, the only way for them to be destroyed is from this rose,” he gestured to the pedestal. “It is not enough, it will not balance.”

There was silence for a moment. “I believe you are correct in your theory.”

Delta tensed.

The figure that appeared to be in control looked over at the rest, “What are we going to do?”

There was a slight stirring in the crowd but no answers came forth.

“I know,” came the timid voice of the figure who had discovered the dilemma. “Another who knows the secret.”

“Another immortal?”

“No, that would upset the balance once more. Every generation, a single being will be born with the power to unlock the secret. The power to destroy the Keepers of Time.”

The others looked around nervously, not knowing if they should go forth with what had been suggested.

“Are there any more ideas?” asked their leader.

No one voiced an opinion.

Sighing heavily, the head lifted. “It is done then. Every generation one will be born with the ability to unlock the secret as to how to destroy the Keepers of Time. Gathering over.”

The light seemed to fade from the Creators, their smoky exterior slowly dispersing.

Delta stood frozen for a moment, the conversation replaying through her mind. As far as she could tell, someone had unlocked the secret to their destruction.

The moment the last Keeper of Time was destroyed, Time would be accessible to be tampered with… or destroyed. She could never let that be the fate of the world.

You hold the fate of the world, a distant voice echoed through her mind.

Delta shuddered at the thought, unable to imagine what the world would become of without the interference of Time. A world without flow. A world without light, without dark, without… anything. A world she alone had the power to keep in non-existence and keep it there she would.

Closing her eyes, Delta concentrated on the Present, the Time she wished to visit.

The world whirled around her, people coming, people going. From downpours to clear blue skies. Then it stopped. Everything stilled about her.

She was back in the world of Time. The streets were a packed mess as day broke.

She had been gone that long?

People hurried from here to there. None seemed to notice her silent and strange appearance. No one ever did.

A Keeper of Time could not have a life among mortals. Brief acquaintances were all one was permitted. How would it be taken if they aged whilst you remained young? How is it logically possible if one disappeared for such lengths of Time, appearing suddenly a few years later? How could such things be explained?

Shaking her head to dispel the negative thoughts coursing through her mind, Delta concentrated on her task. Answers. She had to find the last place the Keepers had been. From there she could uncover the identity of her hunter.

Turning, she followed the flow of the crowd, not knowing where to start her search… or where it would finish.



As the sun sank beneath the distant horizon, Delta continued her quest for the answers she sought. So far she had found nothing. The crowds had dispersed a few hours ago and still she had wandered the streets. Looking. Constantly searching.

Wiping a hand over her tired eyes, Delta was about to give up for the night when pain erupted across her tattooed skin. Casting a terrified glance over her shoulder, she was shocked to see no one there. Why the pain then? If there was no one with the rose… then the answer hit her.

Turning around once more, Delta searched the deepening shadows. Then she saw it. Lying in a dark corner, was a single white rose. Fighting against the pain coursing across her skin, she made her way to the single thorned flower, all traces of tiredness vanishing.

After what seemed to be an eternity of agony but could have only been moments, Delta reached the rose. Cautiously, she knelt by the flower. Without touching it, she inspected it.

It seemed to be a normal looking flower. Just as she was about to turn away, something on the stem caught her eye. Turning back, she saw a small, red stain in the tip of one of the thorns.

Gasping against the pain, Delta stumbled backwards. The agony didn’t seem to lessen as she had imagined it would… it intensified. Her eyes watering, she continued to back hastily away from that single White Rose.

Something made contact with her back. Clenching her teeth, she spun around, coming face to face with a tall, hooded figure. Cold laughter echoed from the interior of the hood.

“Keeper of Time, I’ve been searching for you,” the voice seemed somewhat distant, yet powerful. “I take from your duty.” The laughter sounded within the confines of the hood once more as a pale, shrivelled hand lifted from the folds of the cloak. In the grip of thumb and fore-finger, a thorned White Rose twirled.

Delta closed her eyes. Focusing on a different Time, the Future. She couldn’t concentrate. The harsh laughter tearing her concentration from her grasp.

She felt something sharp touch the symbol of the Keepers of Time. Cracking an eye open, she saw the Rose pressed against her middle. Pain unlike any other flared across her skin. Looking up into the hooded face, her blue-grey eyes met flaring white orbs.

Her muscles tightening, she watched in shock as hesitation flicked fleetingly through those eyes. In moments, that hesitation vanished to be replaced with ruthless malice. A merciless grin began to spread over skeletal features.