Lenora's Quest
Lenora settled on a crumbling archway at the edge of what remained of Carvenna, a city once hailed as a jewel of early civilization. Now, scarcely anything stood beyond broken walls and scattered pillars, all buried beneath centuries of dirt and drifting sands. With a gloved hand, she brushed away a layer of dust from her $TIME watch—a device once reserved for legendary Keepers, now loaned to her for a singular quest.
She turned its dial slowly, feeling a flicker of energy spark across her wrist. In the hush of twilight, the ruins shifted around her like a whispered secret. She blinked, and the collapsed stones regained their proud alignment—towers standing tall, courtyards bustling with life. People in flowing robes hurried along cobbled avenues, their laughter echoing off polished marble.
Lenora rose, astonished at Carvenna’s lively grandeur. She scribbled hasty notes in her journal: architecture designs, daily rituals, a sense of communal pride saturating the air. Each detail thrilled her historian’s heart, yet she knew it was but a single snapshot in the city’s storied past.
Adjusting the watch again, she rewound further. At once, the marble columns vanished, replaced by rough wooden dwellings with thatched roofs. The roads were dusty tracks carved by carts, and the local inhabitants labored in fields newly tilled. Where once she had seen towering gates, now a simple wooden fence stood, feebly marking the settlement’s budding perimeter.
At last, Lenora allowed her watch one final twist of the dial. A rush of wind whipped through her hair, and the landscape dimmed. She found herself on an open plain, dotted with grazing animals and only the faintest sign of human presence—perhaps a single shepherd’s hut in the far distance. Carvenna’s earliest heartbeat: no shining arches, no paved thoroughfares, only grass and the promise of something greater yet to come.
Taking a slow breath, Lenora gazed across these timeless meadows. The echoes of Carvenna’s eventual rise—and inevitable decay—unfolded in her mind like a tapestry. She held her watch close, feeling the faint hum that bridged eras. Civilization, she realized, was as fleeting as the dial’s rotation: grown from small seeds, brilliant in its prime, and returned to dust.
Satisfied, she reset the device, readying to leap forward through centuries of Carvenna’s saga once more. Through her watch and her passion for history, she would piece together each phase of the city’s restless story—an unbroken chain that only time itself could weave.
Micro stories are a content feature offered by $TIME's dev Woj. Handwritten and accompanied by art, they serve to deepen the story world we're creating here. Enjoy!
