Silas, Silas—what happened, Silas—what was that, Silas—what did you do just now, Silas?!
Questions tumbled from our mouths at the same time, and we were all kneeling around him, looking out for those shadows at the same time as we took in his face—the blood dripping down his nose, the way he breathed so heavily, the way his skin had turned almost gray.
The way he held that Timekeeper Clock between his hands, too.
His hands that were glowing with that same teal color again.
“It’s okay. It’s safe,” Silas whispered. “It’s safe, they couldn’t get to it, it’s safe…”
He was talking about the clock.
“Hold on, okay? Just hold on. I’m going to carry you out of here—” Reggie made to grab him but Silas raised up a glowing hand and said, “No.”
Such a simple word but it carried so much weight.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Silas said, and closed that same hand around Reggie’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Reggie. I’m sorry to all of you. I tried.”
It made no sense—just like most things in the Labyrinth.
“What? What do you mean?Whatdid you try?” asked one or the other, and that dread in me spread and spread and spread…
I died, and you asked questions.
“But it’s over now. It’s done. It’s only a matter of time before it explodes inwardly…”
His eyes closed.
I realized, Silas could really be dying.
“Silas.” I said his name like an accusation. I leaned closer, grabbed his hands, warm and softly pulsating with life still. I looked down at the Timekeeper Clock on his lap, too—and the hands were spinning. Three sets of them on the clock’s face, and they were spinning without stop while the clock hummed and teal-colored electricity shots buzzed on the engraved silver surface every second.
“Silas, talk to me. Tell me what you did. Why is your magicgreen?Why do you have a Timekeeper Clock, Silas? Talk to me,please.” Because our very survival depending on it.Hissurvival depended on it, and whatever it was that had come over me, I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure he lived to see another day.
The others were right there with me.
We can help,they said.
Tell us how!
We’ve got magic, minutes to spare.
We’re in this together, aren’t we?!
We were.
But Silas smiled.
“You give me hope,” he said. “The Clockrealm will be okay. It’s almost over.”
“What’s almost over, Silas, what’s almost over?!”
“The curse.”
That stopped all of us at once.
“The curse?” someone asked—could have been me.
“The curse to end all curses once and for all. The curse that will stopthem.” Silas’s eyes closed a little more.
