The sky turned dark long before sunset. Thick clouds rolled in from the west, and thunder rumbled like distant drums. The soldiers were ready, rifles in hand, faces pale but determined. Emily stood near the church ruins with Nathan beside her. The brass key hung from her neck, glowing faintly beneath her collar. She could feel its pulse growing stronger with every second, as if it sensed what was coming.

Thomas ran up, breathless. “They’re almost here! A hundred men at least.”

Nathan nodded and turned to his men. “Hold the line until I give the order. No panic.” He looked back at Emily. “Stay behind the wagons.”

“I’m not hiding,” she said.

“This isn’t courage anymore,” he warned. “It’s suicide.”

Emily held the key tightly. “Then maybe suicide is what time demands.”

Before he could reply, the first cannon fired. The explosion shook the ground, sending dirt and debris into the air. Soldiers shouted. Horses reared. The world became chaos again. Nathan drew his sword and ran forward, shouting orders. Emily followed, carrying her medical bag even as bullets whistled overhead.

She reached a fallen soldier, pressing her hands against his wound. The key flared bright gold. The bleeding stopped, and he gasped for air, alive again. But this time, Emily felt pain shoot through her chest, as if something inside her had been torn away. She stumbled, gasping, and the light dimmed.

Thomas grabbed her arm. “Stop! You’ll kill yourself!”

She shook her head. “I can’t. If I stop, they die.”

Another explosion hit nearby, and the shockwave knocked them both down. Emily’s vision blurred. When she opened her eyes, she saw the markings from the journal glowing across the ground again. The broken circle had reappeared, larger than before, stretching across the field.

The voices returned, faint but clear. “The gate is opening.”

Emily crawled toward the light. Nathan saw her and ran to stop her, his face streaked with dirt. “Emily, don’t! You don’t know what it’ll do!”

She turned to him, tears in her eyes. “If I open it, maybe I can end this war. Maybe I can fix everything.”

“Not if it means losing you,” he said.

The light grew brighter, surrounding them both. The sound became a low hum that rattled their bones. The air shimmered like water, and the world seemed to fold inward. Emily reached for Nathan’s hand. “If it takes me, promise you’ll remember. Promise you’ll finish what your father started.”

“I’m not letting you go alone,” he said.

The key flared between them, fusing their hands together in golden light. The field disappeared, replaced by white space filled with shifting images—wars, cities, people across centuries. Emily saw the nurse from the trenches, the doctor from 1918, and countless others. They all turned toward her, their faces calm, their eyes bright.

One voice rose above the others. “The healer’s heart opens the gate. The soldier’s will guards it.”

Emily looked at Nathan. “It means you.”

The light surged again. Pain and warmth flooded her body. She felt herself falling through time—past, present, and future twisting together like threads of one long tapestry. She saw herself standing in a modern hospital, her hands glowing as she saved lives, then in the ruins of war, holding Nathan’s hand. She didn’t know which version was real anymore.

Then everything went silent.

When she opened her eyes, the battle was gone. The field was empty except for the faint outline of burned grass. The soldiers, the sound, the chaos—all vanished. Nathan knelt beside her, still holding her hand, breathing hard.

“Where… are we?” she whispered.

He looked around. “I don’t know. But I think time just stopped.”