Episode 40 — The Leap of Time
November 17, 1945 — 2:10 AM
> And as the Guardian raised his hand to test their final limits, the Codex vibrated violently, ready to propel them toward the next test, where time and space would bend once more, to continue testing their courage and mastery of shadow.
The Guardian, motionless in the sanctuary, watched the Codex pulse between Clarisse and Léandre. His red eyes shone with a calculating light. Every vibration of the book seemed to obey him, but his intentions remained unfathomable.
"He's sending us elsewhere…" Léandre murmured.
"Yes… he wants to test our endurance," Clarisse replied. "The entity within me senses it."
Suddenly, a green light burst around them. The Codex seemed to stretch, opening like an invisible mouth, sucking in their energy. A whirlwind of time and space enveloped them, projecting them into a dimension where sounds, colors, and landmarks collapsed.
"Benjamin!" Leander shouted in their minds. "We need you!"
The calm voice of Monk Borax reached them almost immediately, guided by the Codex:
"Stay focused. Leave your fears behind. The Guardian wants to see your choice in the face of the unknown. Don't fight the flow."
They emerged into a foreign city, foreign in its structure and atmosphere: New York, 1929, in the throes of Prohibition. The streets were bustling, but the presence of the Codex and the Guardian altered reality around them. Passersby seemed slightly distorted, like ghosts.
"Every era has its pitfalls..." Clarisse said. "People, time itself... anything can become an enemy."
The Guardian's ghosts were already appearing: armed silhouettes, shifting shadows, and echoes of the past trying to disorient them. The Codex vibrated violently, projecting glyphs into the air. Borax whispered again, weaving invisible wards around them:
"Do not be drawn into fear or the anger of the ages. Your strength lies in your union."
The Guardian summoned a crueler test: an entire building transformed into a shifting labyrinth, each wall changing with every step, staircases appearing and disappearing, windows overlooking nonexistent ruins. Visions of historical catastrophes, battles, and deaths past, tried to overwhelm them.
"It wants us to lose our minds..." Leander said, his voice trembling.
"Or give in to the entity..." Clarisse murmured.
But Borax, from his distant position in time and space, strengthened their bond with the Codex.
"Remember the dead river," he reminded them. "The shadow can strike, but it can do nothing against a focused and determined mind."
After a succession of traps and illusions, they reached the center of the time labyrinth. The Codex pulsed, opening to a new page: an unknown rune, but one that clearly indicated their next destination. The Guardian, invisible for the moment, seemed to be watching them, weighing their courage, their mastery, and their connection.
"We're not finished..." Leander said, panting.
"No..." Clarisse replied. "But now we know how to move forward," she added. "And Benjamin is watching."
The Codex vibrated one last time, ready to launch them into the next time jump, a place where shadow and light would mingle even more closely, testing their will to its absolute limits.