Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

77. To Love A Monster

In the silence of stopped time, Lili was finally able to take a breath. She looked around at the motionless figures of Robert, of her father, of all the screechers and imps, locked in their mid-battle positions like a frozen television screen. Everything was on pause - everything except for Lili herself, and Eternity, the magic of time channeling through them and only them.

She looked at the limp sixteen year old that she was holding up, then at her father. Lili assumed that he had already sent her siblings home - he would have never abandoned them in the heat of this fight, so if they weren't here, they must be safe elsewhere. Now, Lili thought, it was up to her to make sure that her dad was safe too. He had come for her and Eternity, after all, and defeated the sorcerers pursuing them. He protected her and their family, always. With the power of time coursing through her veins, she wanted to extend that same protection to him.

Gently, Lili lowered Eternity to the ground so that the girl was resting atop the stone ramparts. Hesitantly, she disconnected their touch, hoping that to do so wouldn't break the spell keeping time stilled, or worse, trap one of them in that very stillness. Fortunately, that didn't happen. As Lili sighed with relief, she presumed it was because she and Eternity had long ago transcended the need to be physically touching to be connected - they had a mental and magical link between their very souls. Their power flowed over that bond, maintaining the stopped clock.

Newly assured of her ability to maintain this power over time, Lili strode quickly to her father's side. Rafe had been frozen in the act of casting a spell, his hands raised defensively, his brow furrowed with intense determination. Lili looked up into his statuesque face, twisted with anger and protectiveness, and found herself resisting the urge to smile. She had spent so long being afraid of her rage, but it was something she had inherited from Rafe, and seeing that reflected on his face, she wondered how she could ever have been so silly to be terrified of a trait she had in common with her dad. 

"Don't worry," she whispered to the motionless, frozen Rafe, "I know that so many horrible things have happened, but I won't let them anymore. I'll keep this family safe, just like you do. Just like mom does."

With one hand, she motioned, forming a portal back to the Wibberly home just behind Rafe, With the other, Lili lightly grabbed her dad's wrist, his eyes focusing as the magic of time extended to him, bringing him through the barrier and into consciousness, even with the clock still stopped. 

"Lili," Rafe said, "what the hell is-"

"It's gonna be okay," Lili promised fiercely, "it has to be. I'll make it okay. I'll finish this, dad. I promise."

"Lili, what are you doing?" Rafe asked, "if there's a plan, I can help-"

"He's cursed mom and tortured Eternity," Lili said, "I won't let him hurt anyone else I love."

Rafe opened his mouth to speak, to protest his daughter's throwing herself into danger for his sake, to reassure her that he was more than able to handle Robert Lloyd, but he never got the chance. Lili pushed him, her hand firmly shoving his chest backwards. He staggered, and it was only when he felt the telltale hum of magic did he realize that she had shoved him through a magical doorway. 

Rafe lunged forward, trying to get back through the portal, to help Lili before she put her life at risk, but the magical door slammed shut, and without Lili's magic, the frozen hourglass exerted its will. Rafe was frozen in time once more, reaching out for the portal that was no longer there, and the daughter that was all the way across the globe. 

Lili turned away from the spot where her father had stood, before she had sent him back to safety. Her gaze, sharp and alert, raked over the various screechers and imps that had stormed the rooftops. Just a bit ago, they had been on her heels as she fled. Now, they were as lifeless as wax-figures, and as helpless too. The tables had turned; Lili was in control of the battle, the situation, and time itself. She had wrested the power back into her hands, and it was with that power, and a quick flick of her wrist, that she sent a wave of emerald and gold fire to tear into the monsters, turning them to ash while they couldn't even think what was happening, let alone react. A second turn of her hand and the still stronghold and all the frozen monsters within found itself aflame, that same jewel toned and gilded tipped fire making its way along the halls.