He landed on his knees, hard. Two seconds after her body hit the ground. Ten seconds, he just needed to get there ten seconds earlier to save her. He got there just as the sword was piercing her heart through and through in the first five seconds. Then watched in the last two seconds as her body fell lifeless to the ground, followed by his knees two seconds after as his body succumbed to instant hopelessness. He could never save her, but he would have no choice but to try.

He closed his eyes as his body pulsed and every atom of it charged with energy and released it in a quick blue burst. Apothous opened his eyes to a scene 15 minutes earlier when he was storming The House of Mathus. He had the twin swords of obsidian in hand, which were legend for delivering the final blow in many a war through the land, he stood ready to do whatever it took to take the crown. He stood amidst the war zone in front of him as the loyal Knights of Mathus tried to defend the royal house against the rebellion, but slowly crumbled under the might of his allies. They stood no chance against Apothous “The “Ninja Knight” as he was known, for his quick movements with his sword and ability to read his enemies movements before they could move their sword. That was just him, the leader of his forces. Apothous came with 20 men to take down The House of Mathus which was guarded by 300 men. But he felt not even a sliver of fear the first time because he knew his alliance of rebels was an astronomical force to be reckoned with. He had Allegra “The Dragon Queen” a warrior who could control fire at will and throw it from her hands and mouth and focus it into her twin Katana blades. As well as Scythe “The Demon Monk” who seemed harmless, as he was bald and preferred to dress in a lesser class clothing of monk rags as he found them “more comforting to the soul”. Although he was nicknamed The Demon Monk because he was a trickster, and Kong Fu master of The Drunken Monkey technique and wielded two twin scythe that few lived to tell the tale about. And although he dressed like a monk, he had the patience of a short fused bomb and was not to be taken lightly, no matter how many cups deep he was in a bottle of rum. And those were just two of the companions he had on the front lines that traded sides with him when he started the rebellion against the king.

Yes, Apothous felt fully confident he and his allies could take the house and the royal family down. In fact, the first time, he thought him and his two companions could do it themselves. The first time, Apothous thought they could. But the second time he looped back to that moment, none of it mattered. He already knew his fate and the fate of Delhi if he didn’t get to her in time. Just as the siege on the house began he took off without a word towards the atrium of the coliseum sized royal house of Mathus. It was a top one of the tallest hills in the region, and no simple feat to attack. But he knew that Ziph would be holding Delhi right in the center of the atrium waiting for him to come through the main door of the house to kill her upon his entry. So this time he figured he would scale the wall using his obsidian swords as picks, to surprise him from behind. Apothous was gifted with agility by the god of fate at birth. See he could run three times faster than the most athletic sprinter in all of his land, but he was also super agile with quick reflexes, which is what made him the kings favorite knight to send into battle for quick results before the rebellion. But for the first time in his life, Apothous felt nothing but slow and out of time. He ran as fast as he could, slicing through the ranks of knights defending the house and in minutes had bounded the hill and had reached the castle walls. He took a huge leap and plunged his blades into the brick and began to climb pulling his swords out and plunging one after the other higher into the wall pulling himself up. Until he reached the top of the 30-foot wall and swung himself up. But it was he was immediately spotted by a knight as he jumped down the other side and plunged his sword into his back to silence him. But it was too late, “he’s here!” he managed to yell before the blade made contact. “Dammit” said Apothous as he began to run for the atrium. But then suddenly a pocket of air 30 yards in front of him the size of a body turned bright orange and fizzed. With a cracking sound that sizzled like electricity, the orange air solidified into two bodies. It was Ziph holding a long dagger to the back of Delhi. Ziph was King Mathus’ personal advisor and guard who had the ability to teleport, and he knew exactly how to use it in the field for a tactical advantage.

“This rebellion was over before it began Apothous” said Ziph as he drove the dagger straight through the heart of Delhi. “NooOOO” yelled Apothous as he realized once again he had failed to save his wife. He landed on his knees, hard. Two seconds after her body hit the ground. Ten seconds, he just needed to get there ten seconds earlier to save her. “As with any snake or rebellion, cut off the head of the snake, and the body will die.” Said Ziph with a twinge of hatred in his voice. “As for your fate, you sealed it yourself. At least in her death she is free of the treachery you brought into her life.”

Apothous shaking with rage responded “I will kill you, just you wait”. What many didn’t know was that Apothous had the ability to travel back in time a maximum of 15 minutes. But he could only travel back to where he already was and re-due a situation, which is why it seemed as if he could predict his enemies moves before they made them. Many people were completely ignorant to the knowledge. Unfortunately, Zip was not. Just as Apothous’ eyes turned blue with the glow of the temporal energy gathering in his cells as he prepared to loop back in time Zip grinned, “Gotcha!” he stated just as someone grabbed the back of his head with both hands. He felt a shock as electricity surged from the hands into his brain and throughout his body. The temporal energy in his body changed. It burned every atom in his body hot with a green tinge. “What are you doing to me?!?!” he shouted in anguish. “I’m serving your punishment Apothous. For the rest of your insufferable life, probably for the rest of eternity-if I have this whole time travel thing you do correct in my head- you will relive the last 15 minutes of failure in your life. Watching your beloved die, and knowing your rebellion dies with her. See we may not be able to stop your drunken, fire breathing freaks outside. But without you, they’re idiots with no tactical strategy what so ever. Enjoy your eternity! I hope your hunger for power was worth it. You got the only person that would ever love you in this world killed and you have to relive it forever. There is no greater hell than this. Do it Zachariah!”

“Nooo WAIT!” And with a surge that felt like a mini-explosion in his brain Apothous pulsed. When he opened his eyes again. He was standing at the base of the hill again, looking up at the castle that was The House of Mathus. Holding the swords of Obsidian in his hands, with his men behind him poised for the siege. A single tear escaped his eye as he knew no matter how many different times and ways he tried, he would end up right back at this moment and his beloved’s fate would be the same. He landed on his knees, hard. Two seconds after her body hit the ground. Ten seconds, he just needed to get there ten seconds earlier to save her…