Chapter 36: Hounds of Time
The single Temporal Hound in the center of the chamber finally noticed Ryan. It stopped its restless pacing and tilted its head.
The movement was strange, disjointed, like watching a video that was skipping frames. Its body, made of what looked like shimmering, wavy air, rippled as it focused on him. Its eyes were not eyes at all, but two swirling vortexes of pale blue light.
Ryan stood his ground, his hand gripping his knife so tightly his knuckles were white. A Level 7 Anomaly with a threat level of "Extreme."
This was a whole new level of danger. He was a Seasoned Vanguard, but this creature felt like it was from another league entirely.
The Hound opened its mouth, but the sound that came out was all wrong. Ryan heard the howl a full second before the creature’s jaw actually opened.
It was a deeply unsettling, discordant sound that echoed not off the stone walls, but through time itself. It made his teeth ache and his thoughts feel scrambled.
And then, things got much, much worse.
In response to the strange howl, the very air in the chamber began to crack. Not like breaking glass, but like reality itself was getting thin and brittle.
Eight thin, jagged lines of darkness appeared in the air around the first Hound. They looked like rips in the fabric of the world. From these time-fractures, eight more Temporal Hounds stepped out, one by one.
They weren’t born or summoned in a flash of light; they just calmly walked out of a tear in the moment, as if stepping through a doorway.
Ryan stared, his mind struggling to catch up. A moment ago, it was one versus one. Now, it was one versus nine.