The bump on the roof was obviously Kairos. No one else ever bothered to land on the roof of Arkadin’s house. Everyone else used the front door like normal, sensible beings.
Climbing out of bed, Arkadin grabbed one of his blankets and headed outside. Just as he suspected, the Dragon God of Time was standing there, perched on the roof’s tallest point, looking down at him.
“What do you want?” Arkadin snapped. “You know you’re not supposed to come here. None of you are. This is my domain and you’re not invited.”
Kairos shook himself down, but didn’t respond.
“Brother, if you’re going to sit around like an idiot, then can you please get off the roof of my house?”
“Fine.”
With a tut, Kairos flapped his wings and landed beside Arkadin, being very careful not to break anything. He was far, far taller than Arkadin, even taller than Arkadin’s house. But he had a solemn look on his face, as if he had seen something horrible.
“Kairos, what the fuck are you doing here?” Arkadin wasn’t in the mood to go through normal shenanigans. Every other time Kairos had popped by, they’d had a massive argument, ending with Kairos breaking something then storming off in anger.
“I… I wanted to talk…” Words finally stumbled from the Whenvern’s mouth.
“Really now?”
“Yes.”
Arkadin sighed. “One moment.”
He popped back inside, grabbed a couple of cans of soda and a chair, then quickly returned. Kairos was still sitting there, looking sad and scared.
“Alright. What’s the problem?”
Kairos looked down at Arkadin. “Do you dream?”
“Uh…” The question caught Arkadin off guard. “What sort of dreams? Like premonitions? Because I don’t get that sort of thing. But normal dreams when I close my eyes? Sure. Why do you ask?”
“Because I have been having bad dreams. What one would call nightmares.”
The Thantophor blinked. “Bad dreams?”
“The same one. One I cannot explain.”
“Well I can’t really help if you don’t tell me…” Arkadin paused. He too had been having strange dreams. Not nightmares, just weird ones that didn’t make much sense. Almost like memories. Normally Arkadin’s dreams were just him working, because that was what his subconscious was always doing anyway.
“I basically make a universe die!” Kairos suddenly shouted. “In my dream! They’re… They’re like Yisini! And they attack me! One of them does! She’s trying to kill me! And I defend myself and I mortally wound her, and this second one comes and I accidentally kill him thinking he’s a threat as well! And then the whole universe stops… But I’m too hurt and I’m not the one freezing time… And it all… fades…”
“And then you hear Kinisis and Kenon talking…”
Kairos nodded. “Yes. Talking about starting again. How do you know?”
Arkadin shrugged. “Most of what you said? I don’t get. But I’ve been having a dream about you being injured and everything stops and starts fading away. I know you did something, but I’m talking to someone else. As if I’m aware of what’s going on. And then, as I start to fade away too, I hear Kinisis and Kenon talking.”
“And then we wake up here…” Kairos sighed one last time. “Thank you for talking to me, little brother. I feel better now.”
The Lord of Death blinked in confusion as the Whenvern flapped his massive wings and flew away, disappearing into the night.
“You’re welcome, I guess?”