50 A TIC.

The North Gate stood majestic with two colossal towers completely decorated with scenes of battles in high relief. Men fought with centaurs, minotaurs and half-human-half-birds beings in a cruel and violent battle. Glax remembered Anteu and Charikleia, and what he had heard about an exodus to the north.

Under the shadow of the immense gate that required complex machinery of chain gears and pulleys to be opened by the defense unit. And at that moment, the biggest gate was closed. They carried out strict surveillance at the smaller gate, which only allowed people they could pass through.

Glax had already informed them about the appearance of the bandit, and in fact had given them a drawing with the man's face. By that time, the rumor that a group of Furies had lost General Chriseis's coffin seemed to have spread throughout the capital. Some Alectryons* who were off duty and out of their dorms that night, offered to buy Glax and his friend a drink, but Glax left it until another time.

The neighborhood near the north gate was a cluster of decaying businesses and foreigners' homes. Clearly that was the part of the city that would not be shown to a tourist.

The green gas lamps were the only street lighting, but they could see proud symbols of their home regions hanging from the windows. Most businesses had drawings on the outside, explaining what they sold or offered. Even the brothel was quite explicit about its images.

Glax and Rasmus pulled the hoods over their heads, shielding themselves from the wind, as they wandered the streets. Glax showed the drawing with the outlaw's face on it, to some people, but they basically superstitiously protected themselves when they saw the machine in the man's eye and walked away.

The echelians' persignation was made with fingers in the shape of a horn, pointed at the paper on which the drawing was, which Glax found hilarious.

Glax bought two grilled sardines on skewers from a boy, and showed him the drawing. The boy thought for a moment, and pointed to a street, turning to meet other customers beside his brazier.

That was the best tip so far, and Glax signaled Rasmus to follow him.

After walking for quite a while and going further into the Northern Gate's area, they saw a small square and several houses different from the neighborhood overall appearance. They were houses that Glax identified as being closer to the Romanesque style. Byzantine perhaps? They stood out and seemed to belong to a different culture.

Most of the buildings were in terrible condition, and had become shelter for the homeless when they still had roofs. Glax also saw soul orbs roaming this region.

"Dafuq! Look at those orbs! "

"Yeah, it's indeed a problem. When they are not properly forwarded, they can stay in the same place," Rasmus said, shivering noticeably. He pulled an amulet from his clothing that he left on his chest, visible. "Is this a foreigners' neighborhood? Did Steam People live here? They built cool houses, uh."

Glax suspected so. Machines that were once used to pump water from the aqueduct directly into the houses were abandoned, rusted and half destroyed.

In that place, even more than at sea, the awareness that he was close to the souls of the dead made him uneasy.

As they walked through the region, Glax noticed energy disturbances. The air was thick, and he even had the feeling that he was walking at the bottom of a pool. He could see the soul orbs, not as large or as luminous as those he saw at sea, roaming the region or accumulating in places.

"Are you not noticing this, Rasmus?"

"Man, I just don't know what to do about it! I've never been to a place like this!"

"It doesn't seem like a problem for the people who live here."

"They must feel like ghosts too, in this city." Rasmus pondered. "The goy must be around, I think. I don't think they would hand him over to the guard without good reason, though."

Glax understood his friend's logic and nodded.

His gaze swept the region once more. A facade, better preserved than the others, caught his attention. He was able to read, in Latin characters 'Horologist' in relief on the worn and grimy facade of the large house.

"Isn't a horologist a guy who knows about ... watches?" Looking out the windows, they only saw a single point of light, probably an ordinary oil lamp.

"Uhn, a house so big that it only has that point of light… This is a little suspicious. Why would all residents be at one point?"

"There shouldn't be too many," Rasmus concluded.

"That's right," Glax agreed. We are going to enter through different points of the house, Ras. He can be there."

"How do you know that?"

"he fell into the sea and it has parts that can get stuck. He might be looking for a fix in this house."

"Ahhh, makes sense."

Glax hoped it would, he didn't want to invade a place without a good reason. Even more without knowing exactly what they would find there.

It was not strange to find out the doors were securely locked. But it would have been normal for the residents to have come to see who was trying to get in, to defend the place, but that didn't happen.

Glax decided to enter through a second floor window while Rasmus ... well, Rasmus decided to break down the main door.

As soon as Glax entered the empty, dusty room, he heard a noise in a nearby room. Dragging feet on the creaky floor, and a muffled, soft child's cry. Grabbing a wooden bar he found, he moved towards the corridor.

Everything was pitch dark, and only the light of the moon coming in through the poorly protected windows illuminated the interior of the house. His eyes were still adapting to the darkness.

His 'mechanical instinct' warned him before he could really see. He sidestepped, throwing himself against the wall, and getting rid of the blow that would hit his skull. The hammer whizzed by his ear. Instinctively, he used the bar as a stake, hitting the attacker's chest.

He knew it was the 'Mech-eye'. Glax could hear the mechanisms of his bionic eye seizing after the sea water ruined the lubrication between the pieces.

The blunt piece of wood hit the opponent squarely, but did not pierce him. 'Mech-Eye' stumbled backward, trying to balance himself, and Glax tried to hit him again, this time in the head. His opponent masterfully parried the blow, using the hammer's handle.

Glax was grabbed by one arm, and thrown with all his strength to the lower floor. Rasmus had just burst through the sturdy store door, and Glax fell on top of his friend.

'Was that a… Strike?' He wondered, astonished, as he stood up. He was dizzy and for a change, sore. But he wasn't going to let the bastard get away. Rasmus also rose like a tower at his side.

"YOU BASTARD! Did you ruin my first broken door entrance?!" The big Valosian yelled, shocked, grabbing the door with both hands.

What did Ras intend? Beat the man with the door?!

"Hey, kiddos. What do you know? Come home, there's nothing here for you, boys." The man sneered at them from above.

Glax took off for the stairs again, and the man was waiting at the top, swinging the hammer from one hand to the other. The only weapon that Glax had was his short sword, the gladius, which he never felt comfortable using.

Glax and Mech-Eye fought on the stairs. Glax was at a disadvantage and could barely defend himself from his enemy's fast, spectacular and consecutive attacks. Then the door flew towards them.

"Watch out, Glax!" Rasmus' warning was a little delayed, and the huge object hit both.

He saw the head of the Mechanical Eye being hit by the corner of the door and his face was deformed, expelling the machine attached to his face. The mechanism pulled skin and flesh with it. The man's mouth opened in a silent scream, while 150 kilos of solid wood crushed the rest of his head in F = (M x V x V) / (2 x D).

But Glax wasn't the main target, and the corner of the door hit his knee as he tried to dodge. He noticed his kneecap sink like a ball of wax, before he felt the pain.

Glax rolled down the stairs and fell on his stomach. He heard a 'click' and felt a ringing in his ear, which immediately made him dizzy.

But he knew what had happened. He had fallen on top of his bag. And on top of the mysterious clock that came from Valya.

Tic ...Tac.

ZZZZZZRRRRLLLZZZZZZZ

OHMMMMMMMMMMMM

Tic ... Tac.

Not only did he hear the clock and its mechanisms, the tourbillon keeping pace, but he could hear the time.

The TIME.

Everything was connected to the clock, and to him. His heartbeats synced with the clockwork, becoming the tic tac.

The clockwork was deteriorating, losing its perfect pace...

No! He needed to do something.

Click.

A full second came back before his eyes.

Suddenly he was at the top of the stairs again, and he knew what was going to happen.