Temporal Dominion

Lucian's breath was unsteady as he stared at the ground, trying to process what he had just witnessed.

The vision had been different—far more vivid, far more real—and utterly terrifying. It wasn't like his previous glimpses of the near future, small ripples ahead in time that he could react to.

This was something else.

Something far away.

Something inevitable.

Elara's voice broke through his haze. "Lucian. Tell me what you saw."

He swallowed. "The forest… it was dead."

Elara frowned. "Dead?"

Lucian nodded. "The trees—withered in an instant. The ground cracked like glass. The sky…" He hesitated, the memory sending a chill through his bones. "It was dark. But not like night. It was… wrong."

Elara was quiet for a long moment, her usual sharp demeanor replaced by something rare—concern. "That's not a future you just saw, is it?"

Lucian clenched his fists. "I don't know. It wasn't like before. It wasn't a few seconds ahead—it was… further. I could feel it."

Elara exhaled sharply. "That's… new."

Lucian ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. And I don't think I liked it."

Elara crossed her arms. "If this power lets you see the future, then maybe you're seeing a possible one. Like a warning."

Lucian shivered at the thought. If this was a warning, then something horrible was coming.

And the worst part?

It wasn't the vision itself that unsettled him the most.

It was the feeling that accompanied it.

That sensation—the whisper in his mind, the echo of something unseen—

Something was watching.

Waiting.

And it had spoken to him.

"Not yet."

A phrase that felt less like reassurance and more like a promise.

Elara placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. "Hey. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out."

Lucian forced himself to nod. "Yeah."

Elara studied him for a moment before sighing. "Alright. We should stop for today."

Lucian hesitated. He didn't want to stop. Despite the fear, despite the unease, there was a pull inside him—a need to understand.

But he knew she was right. He was exhausted, mentally and physically.

And whatever his power was… it was only getting stronger.

Elara nudged him. "Come on. Let's head back before someone notices we're gone."

Lucian took one last glance at the ruins in the distance, that strange pull still lingering in the back of his mind.

Then he turned away.

But even as they left the clearing, a sense of unease settled deep in his bones.

Because for the first time since his awakening, Lucian wasn't just afraid of what he could do.

He was afraid of what he had seen.

And the terrifying part?

It hadn't even begun yet.