There you are.
We took turns, three after three, to peek around the edge of the wall, to see the Timekeepers better.
The corridor widened a few feet from the corner, and Master Talik and Calren were standing there behind two people—both Timekeepers judging by the color of their curly hair—who sat in front of this big console mounted on the wall. It had two large screens, and green symbols moved on it from one side to the other, impossible to see with clarity from this distance.
But we did hear the voices when we focused, like the Labyrinth itself was throwing them our way.
“…you felt it, too, didn’t you?” Calren was saying—to Master Talik.
“The lag? Yes, of course.” The old Timekeeper nodded, then put his hands in the pockets of his gray pants, his posture rigid, his shoulders straight. “I felt the echo arriving too late clearly.”
The sound of metal shifting, rubbing against one another like swords in a duel, filled our ears, and the others pulled meback for a chance to see, too. It didn’t matter, though. I’d seen enough.
I pressed my back against the wall and closed my eyes, focused all my attention on my ears.
“That shouldn’t be possible inside the Labyrinth,” Calren said, and his voice barely reached, but I still heard it. I could still make out his words.
“It wasn’t,” said Master Talik. “Untilhim.”
A moment filled with only the sound of wheels and cogs turning, not metal but plastic this time. Maybe those Timekeepers sitting at that console were working something?
A deep sigh. “He’s been moving the anchors.” Calren.
“Also impossible. They were sealed after the first trial,” Master Talik said calmly.
What in the Everstill wereanchors,though?
And most importantly, who washim?
“Notallof them,” Calren said, almost reluctantly.
I pressed my back against the wall harder, tried to lean closer as they whispered—possibly Calren asking about whatever those anchors were, and I didn’t catch it.
But then Master Talik said, “Wehaveto intervene. If the fourth trial runs on misaligned anchors…” his voice trailed off.
“The Sparetime won’t funnel cleanly,” Calren finished for him.
By that point my brain wasmashedpotatoes.
“Exactly,” said Master Talik. “I say we send in the team again.”
“It takeshours,” Calren said, a little too loudly, and then slammed his cane against the floor like he always did. The sound was unmistakable. I even saw how he did it in my mind’s eye. “How? How did he get through? Answer me.”
This time, Master Talik stayed silent, but one of otherTimekeepers sitting at the console spoke: “He bypassed the Diamond clearance, Sir.”
“Onwhoseauthority? Check the records,” Calren said.
“That’s the thing.” Another voice, this one shaking. “Thereisno record, Sir.”
Another deep, long sigh.
“You know what he is, right?” Calren then said, and my heart skipped all the beats.
“I do,” said Master Talik. “I think it’s?—”
An alarm rang somewhere on the other side of the corridor.
We jumped.
