Read Strike 3: The Returning Sunrise for Free Online

standing in front of a yellow curtain that opened and closed. As Strike stopped to inspect one of the cuckoo clocks, he picked the perfect time: as the clock struck two in the morning, its bells chimed, and a small wooden door opened on its front. Out of the door, a tiny soldier emerged, holding a rifle. However, the soldier was quickly followed by a black-furred, gigantic, ape-like monster, which held its arms high in the air as it chased the soldier around the track outside of the clock. Usually with clocks like this, the figures continue chasing each other until the bells stop chiming, but that wasn’t the case with this clock; as Strike watched, the giant ape caught up with the soldier and used its massive hands to rip the man’s head clean off his body.
    “Hi, Tobin!” a voice suddenly shouted.
    With a gasp, Strike turned to his right: there was a woman in her early sixties standing at the end of the row of clocks, with a thrilled grin across her face. She was dressed in red, orange, and yellow flowing robes, with long gold earrings that shimmered from the candlelight, a big chunky necklace of blue stones resting on her chest, and a mass of neatly-coifed, curly, grey hair atop her head. She also had several dozen gold bracelets on her wrists, which jingled like bells as she clapped her hands together in excitement.
    “Oh my god!” she shouted. “I’ve been waiting for you forever! Look at you—you’re really here! And so handsome!” The woman reached forward and grabbed Strike, pulling him close with both arms and squeezing him, all while swaying him from side to side. “I went back and forth, for decades,” she said. “He’ll be here, he won’t be here. He’ll come see me, he won’t come see me. But—you came! Today, just like I thought you would! Oh, this is just great!”
    The woman let go of Strike and walked across the shop. This was clearly the Time Queen, Strike thought to himself, though she wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. Puzzled, he watched as she walked to a little sitting area in the middle of the shop, with two large sitting chairs and a circular table resting in between them.
    “Would you like something to drink, Tobin? Some iced tea, maybe? I have peach iced tea, your favorite. You can take off your mask, too, by the way—I already know who you are, Tobin Lloyd.”
    Smiling bigger than ever, the Time Queen reached for a pitcher of iced tea on the table and poured the cold drink into two glasses. As Strike cautiously stepped toward her, he took off his mask.
    “How did you...?” Tobin watched as the Time Queen hummed a song and neatly arranged a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table. “You knew I was coming?”
    “Well, I had a pretty good idea. The past, you see, is easy. I can tell you anything you want to know about the past, because it’s already been decided. The future, though, it can be muddy. It’s always changing, there are different possibilities, and any one decision anybody makes at any moment can set it off in a different path.” The Time Queen brought one of the glasses of iced tea to Tobin. “I’ve been seeing this particular moment since I was ten years old—sometimes you came, sometimes you didn’t. But—lo and behold—here we are. Come, sit down, sit down!”
    Knowing he’d rather jump out the window than drink whatever this crazy woman had poured for him, Tobin took the glass and followed her to the sitting area. As he sat down in one of the ancient-looking chairs, she sat down across from him, grinning. She seemed to be getting more excited by the minute.
    “Do you want to tell me why you’re here?” she asked. “I already know, but you can tell me, anyway.”
    Tobin thought it over. As nutty as this woman seemed, there was a reason he had traveled all the way there. “I hear you know all about the time-stream. As soon as I heard that, I wanted to come, but…”
    The Time Queen smirked. “Let me guess: Orion, right? He has never