Chivalrous Welshman

Tommen Forbes is basically your average sixteen year old: hates school, likes girls, desperate to get his license so he doesn't have to be stuck at home. Oh, and he's really a hundred and sixty years old with the ability to bend Time, to make it go faster or slower at will. His dad, Homicide Detective Walter Forbes, also has this ability. They are called Timekeepers. They answer to the Hands of Time and are charged with protecting Time itself from criminal Runners. When women start turning up dead, all the evidence points to Runner involvement. As Walter digs deeper, he discovers that their killer is no ordinary Runner; he's a notorious hired hitman with a sickening lust for death. Worse, his Time abilities far supersede anything Walter or Tommen is capable of. When the killer turns his sights on the father and son, it becomes a race against time to bring this menace to heel.

Walter Forbes is dying. He took three bullets to save his son, but the poison remains, wreaking havoc on his body while he lies in a coma. Earth-side doctors are helpless, Time-side tricks are useless, and Tommen is told repeatedly to make his peace now. But Tommen is unwilling to give up without a fight, and he is prepared to go to any lengths to find a cure, even if that means risking slavery to the Borelians and causing a civil war within the Time industry. As he treads dangerous waters, a message arrives: there is a cure for Walter's ailment, but the journey is perilous, easily a one-way street if he missteps in any way. Even if he does survive long enough to get the cure back to his dad, Tommen risks losing his Apprenticeship, or worse, charges of treason, the punishment for which is having his clock broken, a fate worse than death. Meanwhile, political gears are grinding as the elections heat up, and at least one person involved has his eyes on a much bigger prize than just the Zero Hour.

Civil war looms in the Wheel, hanging over the heads of the voters as everyone wonders whether the Time industry is heading toward another Dispersal. With rumors of a False Zero Hour taking center stage ahead of the elections, everyone is on high alert. Few understand this better than Tommen as he prepares to go before the Hands for his Apprentice review, knowing that Rifun may be all that stands between him and the vengeful Grandfathers. Even Walter is under heavy scrutiny from all sides as both Time-side and Earth-side justice try to prove some sort of collaboration. As he struggles to recover from the Borelian poison, threats are made, and a very personal Voting Day hit list promises to make the elections a very bloody affair. Walter knows he will need his wits and strength about him to survive and fend off further attacks, but not all attacks are external, and past demons come roaring back to life. Everyone is a target, and no one is safe as Rifun and Cassius prepare to make their move in what could be the most brilliant yet deadliest political heist in living memory for the Time industry.

The Time industry has fallen, the Hands of Time have been overthrown, Walter and Micaiah have been captured, and Rifun and Cassius rule. Dark times have come to the universe and a shadow of fear and uncertainty blankets the survivors, Tommen and Micah included. They know it's only a matter of time before Rifun and Cassius begin to mop up, and they're prime targets, especially when the hounds of war are sent out to track down those who escaped the coup. With the chain of command decimated and more questions than answers, the survivors can only rely on themselves and each other, and not always reliably. Their only hope to take back the Wheel of Time may come from an unlikely band of mystics, enemies of both Time and the Cult, but wielding unbelievable power, not only in Time, but Matter and Energy as well. It's a game of blind man's bluff as the survivors work to become the victors, as long as they don't kill each other first.

And just like that, things are back to normal, almost as if nothing had happened. Cassius is dead, Rifun has fled, the Hands of Time are back in control, and all seems well. While everything is back to normal, nothing is the same. With the Akarin revealing themselves in what is perceived as an Akari-bearer civil war against the Cult of the Akari, the survivors of the Zero Hour Revolution want blood, and they don't care whose it is. As if that's not bad enough, the Borelians are no pushovers when it comes to slights and broken contracts, and they issue an official declaration of war against humanity. In the midst of all of this, Tommen has problems of his own as he is forcibly ousted from his position as manager of the bakery. Angry, he signs up to be a counselor at a summer camp for troubled children. Problem is, the counselor he is assisting is more troubled than the children. Worse, he is also Tommen's new mentor when it comes to his new Akari training-something Rifun does not take kindly to. More players take the field, knowing that the Zero Hour Revolution was but one battle in what could be a very long war.