“If I am understanding this correctly,” Kathleen asked, “You are a time traveller?”

The Watcher replied, “That's what I'm saying.”

The campfire crackled between them, sparks and ember gently drifting away with the breeze of the plains. Dots of lights freckled the west, the town and villages of Dane and the Grassplains filled the earth like the stars did in the clear night sky. A single hot-air balloon floated slowly across the backdrop, its flame a soft flicker in the background of space. Their destination, Ra'Kalen, stretched the base of the mountain ridges to the south. To the north, Everwind continued to shine bright, the capitol a beacon even at night.

“But you are not able to time travel right now?” She bit into her piece of bread.

He stopped mid bite, thinking of a reply, “Boy, you sure ask tough questions, don't you?”

“I am not a boy,” she snapped back, lacking in finesse more than she would like. She scratched at her hair, not having been used to sweating and not showering as much as for the two days they had been on the road. From the looks of it, they would reach Ra'Kalen as early as the next noon and she could not wait to find an inn for a hot bath. She continued, “You really should see someone about that. Maybe an Enhancer can fix your 'condition'? There's one in Ra'Kalen, actually.”

The Watcher looked back quizzically in a way she wanted to say was a manner of distrust. He asked, “Aren't you even the least bit sceptical of what I said?”

She smiled back, “My family is the head of the state of Consortia.” She looked down to the fire sombrely, flames dancing within her ember eyes. With a deep breath, she forced herself to cheer up her tone. “They held lavish parties almost every other week, inviting performers from across the country with amazing talents, and nothing much surprises me any more. We once had a mage who could turn water into wine.”

“Was his name Jesus by any chance?”

“Yeah! How did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” he nonchalantly replied. “But I am getting the hang of how this universe-multiverse thing works.”

Even after travelling with him for two days, she could not fully comprehend the man. Sometimes, he would ask questions so fundamental that she felt akin to tutoring her nephew when she answered. Yet, at other moments, he had a worldly aura, emitting the sense of wisdom in spades and an intellect that seemed to dwarf any known mortal alive.

She leaned closer to the fire, putting her face in the light. Curious, she asked, “What is your world like?”

“Sorry?”

“You keep saying you're from this other universe. Other planet. What is it like?”

He raised a brow, “What is what like?”

“Your home planet. This other place.”

She watched as his smile widened. A grin that spread from ear to ear. A glint shone in his eyes not from the reflection of the campfire. “Oh...” he started with an ecstatic groan. “Oh... my world... is amazing. We had cars–um... carriages, that could fly. Planes the size of trains and faster than ships. We could make food by the millions of barrels with the flick of a switch. We built towers that reached out into space, and ungodly sized domes for games and sports. And holograms! Oh! Those were amazing things. Light that gives a three dimensional image. You would have loved it.”

Kathleen could only smile as he reminiscence his home. Campfire stories. One of the things she had looked forward to in her dreams of travels.

Then, The Watcher trailed off. “We had... great people. Men and women... capable of amazing feats. I knew a man who could fuse with anything he touched. And I knew a thief, oh, she was a thief alright. Stole the throne of a kingdom. A little girl who brought hope to an entire nation. A boy who could snipe off a target from a quarter a continent away. Then there's that kid who could see the end of the world, and the old man who stopped it.” She listened, attention enraptured to his tales. “Stuff of legends they were. Battled gods and took down monsters of all kind. Tales that get sung off to the end of all time.”

“It sounds amazing.”

“Oh, it is.”

Her heart skipped a beat when a thought crossed her, and she nervously asked, “Can I go? To your world?”

The Watcher gave her a gentle smile, his eyes soft with regret. “I would love to take you. But I can't. Not any longer at least.”

She had not meant to pry, but her words came faster than her mind could process. “Why not?”

He answered with the casualness that came with having expected a question, and none of the hesitation that should have been with how personal it was. “There are rules to being a time traveller. You can't go back to places you've already been. You can't see the same thing twice, unless you are supposed to.”

“Sounds complex.”

“Is complex. Technically, I am the last of my kind.” The mood swung to a deep low, and the campfire flickered, almost in a reaction to the atmosphere. She felt a chill ran down her spine, and the air seemed to dip. “I can't go back to see any of the people I loved. Can't even go back to visit my own species. As far as I am concerned, I am the last of my kind. There will never be any kind like me again. The last of the Hymns.”

“Last of the what?”

He snapped out of his memories, looking to her with clear eyes that twinkled. “Sorry! I must be getting old, remembering the years before like an aged man. Now I just need a rocker and a lawn to yell at people from.”

She smiled back, “I'm fine with it, hearing about your stories. I grew up in a strict household. Wasn't even allowed to leave the estate until I was fourteen. Stories are how I grew up. Books that explored the world in my presence. Experience and recollection from my parents and serv–peers.”

Through the light of the flames, she could see him look at her with a sad smile. For some reason, she felt pitied. Yes, her life had not been the most adventurous of all, but she had safety, wealth, and stability. Things that many people would gladly hand over their freedom to have. Still, when The Watcher looked at her, she felt like a child again, being gently reprimanded by her mother for deciding to go for a ride on the family steed before her feet could even reach the stirrup, and crying after having fallen off said same horse.

The Watcher shot up from his seat with a loud shout. “Oh!”

Kathleen turned around in fear, expecting an ambush by bandits or hunters, only to be faced with the continued darkness of the night.

“What in the Titans–?” she turned back to her companion and yelled, “Watcher! What did I say about scaring me like that?”

Ignoring her, he rambled on, “Why don't we go travelling?”

“Um... we are travelling, aren't we?”

“No! I mean, yes, we are now. But I'm talking about after all this over! After I find out what one three nine is and get my powers fixed. You and me,” He circled the campfire and extended his hand to her, “All of time and... and... what's the name of this planet?”

The offer rang in her ears and she struggled to answer her question. Elation built up in her. She was being offered to travel, not just the world, but all of history and the future. She needed to answer. Her throat was caught. She forced herself to croak, “Tearha.”

“With an 'H'?” He drew back his hand, confused at the pronunciation. “Ter-rha?”

“With an 'H',” she confirmed.

“Weird. But okay.” He extended his hand again with a smile so wide and toothy he looked like a court jester. “You and me. Time and Tearha. What d'you say?”

She could only nod. Slowly she raised her hand to his. Like a knight in the heroic tales from her childhood, he brought her daintily to her feet. With a toothy grin, he broke the refined silence with a cheer and a fist pump, pulling her into a spinning hug as he excitedly rambled on of all the things they would do and see. The history they could learn. The legends and stories they would meet.

But she could not focus. In two days, her nightmare of a bandit ambush had turned into the possibility of achieving her dreams of travel in the most amazing way possible. Slowly, the realization set in, and as the smile returned to her face, she grabbed The Watcher by the arm and pulled the man into a dance lighted by the campfire, under the stars of the endless plains of Eltar.