The Unwound Heart

The Unwound Heart  Elara’s fingers, nimble and impatient, trembled as she placed the final, microscopic gear into the Orrery of Lost Hours. The ancient time-piece, a constellation of interlocking brass spheres and gears, was the most complex mechanism in Master Theron’s shop. If she could make it run, she would finally be a true clockmaker.She whispered the chronomancy phrase she’d stolen from his grimoire. The gears shuddered to life, spinning in a blinding, golden blur. Elara grinned in triumph—until she heard the crack. A mainspring, over-stressed, snapped. The Orrery whirred to a catastrophic halt, one gear bent, the entire alignment