A Fox's Love - 6. The Law of Time

Daniel flew over the town, mind searching. He felt restless, incomplete. Ryan wasn’t here, but he was close to the correct time, off by less than a year. He was getting better at this. And now that he knew how to jump reliably between worlds, it was only a matter of time before he mastered sub-universe portals.

Below him, he felt David in a car, a sense of illness rising from the dragon. And beside him was… Max?

Daniel hadn’t felt the tiger’s presence in ages, ever since he had been killed by…

The dragon’s eyes widened, and he scanned the streets, spotting a truck swerving toward the car.

“No,” he growled. “I’m stopping this.”

The dragon dropped, landing on the sidewalk out of sight of David. A strong enough blast should knock the truck aside. As the vehicle neared, he gathered energy in his hand, careful not to add too much. He wanted to move the truck, not obliterate it.

Both vehicles were moving, Max turning left. Daniel launched the orb at the truck, knocking it a foot to the side. It worked. They were going to pass.

The truck swerved again, slamming into the side of the car as they passed, and Daniel watched the collision in horror, realizing he had made a horrible mistake.

“No…”

He gathered energy again, and tried to jump back in time. He had to stop this.

But the magic wouldn’t work. He couldn’t go back again…

“Someone help!”

He couldn’t help. If he tried, he would only make it worse. They would have made it. He saw that now. There would have been a crash, and some broken bones, but everyone would have survived.

Until he tried to help.

Daniel cast a spell, hiding himself from view as an ambulance pulled up to the scene. He needed to leave. He needed to get out of here. But his feet were motionless, despite his attempts to move. It was as though the universe was driving its lesson home.

You can’t change what is to happen.

The paramedics wheeled a gurney around, a sealed black bag laid out on it. And Daniel swallowed down the lump in his throat.

“I need to go with him! I can help him1” David screamed at a cat. “He isn’t dead!”

Silently, Daniel fell back, and ran from the scene. He was too shook to jump now. He needed to lay low for a while.