Destined (Prophecy of the Stars Book 1)

by Rae Hendricks

  But her newfound hope was immediately crushed by one of the creatures jumping down from the trees, directly in front of her path. Her momentum was gone along with her hope, and a combination of her shock and attempt to stop in her tracks pushed her backwards onto the ground. The creature snickered above her, “I like when they give a little chassse..” and his brother joined him with the same bloodthirsty grin.

  “Let’s behave now, shaaall we?”

  She crawled backwards, every ounce of strength trying to propel her in any direction that was away from these monsters.

  “What do you want from me?” she growled as they crept closer.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head about thaaat.”

  Their sing-songy hissing was already getting on her nerves, and as one tried to grab hold of her ankles, she kicked at him furiously, almost managing to hit him smack in the face. But that only seemed to provoke him further as he shrieked and then giggled again, like he was playing a game. If she was going to be taken by these creeps, she wasn’t going to go without a fight. The other grabbed her left arm and started dragging her, deeper into the forest, back to where they had come from. He was surprisingly strong in a way that his size didn’t suggest. Dirty, black fingernails dug in and pinched at her skin. She dug the heels of her boots into the earth as hard as she could and tried to wrench her arm free, but he had her held in a tight, painful grip.

  In the midst of being dragged across the forest floor, she clawed at the ground frantically, trying to find any grip she could that would stop her from being stolen away. Her right hand found a small but heavy rock, and she held it tight in her fist, waiting for the opportunity to strike with the only weapon she had. It wasn’t ideal, but it was far better than nothing at all.

  The second of the two brothers followed gleefully, not bothering to assist his sibling in her abduction, rather, seemingly overtaken with ecstasy at his new toy. She glared at him, and it only seemed to make him happier and giddier.

  She had the thought that she’d need to take out the one who had a tight hold on her arm first. The other seemed to follow his lead.

  She let him drag her further into the dark forest under the guise of having given up, and she felt like a life-sized ragdoll being led to its death. She needed the perfect moment, otherwise, she might get an idea of what exactly they could do with those razor sharp teeth.

  Not long after that thought, he pushed her violently in the direction of a large tree where she narrowly missed face-planting into its trunk and turning the beauty of the large, exotic plants into more enemies she didn’t know she had. Once again, she was in awe of this creature’s immense strength in comparison to his size. He pulled a frayed rope off of his belt and quickly began to tie it tightly around her wrist. He was silent and focused, but his brother cackled ominously from across the clearing. This had to be the moment—it would be her last chance before her hands were completely bound and of no use.

  She white-knuckled the rock in her hand, took a deep breath, and prepared to attack. With all the strength left in her sore arm, she wound up. She closed her eyes tight.

  Then, there was nothing but screams. High-pitched, terror-filled screams.

  For a few seconds, she wondered if they were coming out of her—involuntarily, in preparation for what she was about to do. But the rock had dropped from her hand in fright, and her arm was frozen, still hanging in the air uselessly. She peeked her eyes open and saw her attacker. Bleeding and pale faced, trying to catch his breath. An arrow stuck out of his shoulder- the cause of the screaming. The injured creature’s brother screamed perilously, his head rotating frantically in every direction, searching for the danger with a bow and arrow. Shiloh pulled the unfinished knot off of her wrist and huddled behind the tree she was meant to be tied to.

  She waited. For her savior? For another—evidently stronger—abductor? She wanted to run—back to home, to safety, but she was frozen. In fear, some—but mostly in curiosity. It was like a book she couldn’t put down. She had to see what was going to happen next, and she had to see who, or what, was going to come out of the darkness of the forest. If she ever made it out of this she would need to get her head checked.

  Seconds felt like hours. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion when she heard the sound of hooves. ‘Hooves? Were there horses in these woods? A hero on horseback?’ She fleetingly thought about how strange this all was, and how strange she was. What kind of person sticks around after they were kidnapped by a couple of goblins? Especially when whatever had saved her had the potential to be even worse?

  She was startled by the injured brother’s voice, soft and shuddering—“Sagi—Sagittarius….”

  The other creature shrieked again after hearing this, running full-speed to collect his brother. He scurried off into the dark forest, dragging his sibling behind him by the arm that didn’t have an arrow sticking out of it. They were scared. Terrified, actually. But why? Should she be scared too?

  And then he was there. Tall and magnificent, Sagittarius. Half-man, half-horse. A centaur, with a massive bow and arrow. He looked strong and mighty, but with soft, wisdom-filled eyes. His mouth was curved in a frown, his brow furrowed—in worry or frustration?

  Surely, he was not expecting to have to save some mere human from the hands of disgusting gnomes or goblins, or whatever they were when he woke up that morning. Odd that she would even worry about what he was thinking, though, rather than being shocked at his existence. In fact, this was the point where Shiloh began to wonder if she was just on some strange dream that she couldn’t remember actually getting into bed and getting into. But her dreams were never so exciting or dangerous.

  It couldn’t be explained in that moment, but Shiloh did not have an ounce of fear of him as she surveyed the creature of myth who had potentially saved her. She felt kinship and familiarity and did not hesitate to step out of her hiding place. She almost didn’t feel like she was in control of her own body, but her mind felt at peace.

  His hair looked silky though wild like he had just been rolling around on the first floor. It was dark, though a couple of levels lighter than her own hair. His eyes were also dark as they surveyed her. He was a little scarier than the pictures she had seen, but there was no denying his power or regalness.

  He looked at her with saddened, adoring eyes. “My girl…” he whispered.

  Chapter Two

  In an instant, every ounce of peace that she had felt when she saw him disappeared and was replaced by pure anger that she didn’t even completely understand. Rapid fire questions followed suit. “Your girl? What is this? Who are you? Why do I feel like I know you?” she demanded, confused and infuriated. “I was handling that; I didn’t need some hero to come save me!”

  Sagittarius grimaced and lowered his eyes to the ground. The look was not befitting of such a man, but Shiloh ignored it completely. “Do you think you’re my knight in shining armor, that can swoop in and save me? I’m not some Disney princess waiting to be saved by some prince!” She glared at him tempestuously, “I’m not your girl, and I do not belong to you.”

  She was even surprised at her own reaction, yet another sign of her abnormality. Wouldn’t any other teenage girl kill to be saved and claimed by some king or prince, even if he was half horse?

  She gasped, suddenly remembering the hooded man on her way home from school, the familiarity, and that was what she felt when she saw him. “It was you! You were following me!” She didn’t know how considering it would be pretty obvious if a centaur was walking down the street, but the shock of the goblins had worn off along with the multicolored foliage. Shiloh guessed that there was little that she couldn’t believe at this point.

  He nodded slowly, eyes still trained on the forest floor.

  “Say something!” She hardly recognized her own voice. It was filled with anger and betrayal, the likes of which she’d never felt before.

  “Please, my dear. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. Let me
explain. You must be very confused…” He trailed off, gauging her reaction and waiting for some sign of a willingness to listen. She glared hard at him in return but sat on the ground like a small child waiting for story time, arms crossed. It might’ve been a funny sight if she weren’t so angry.

  He let out a small sigh of relief before launching into his tale. And Shiloh couldn’t exactly say for sure that she was ready to hear it even if she herself had demanded it. Something lifechanging was coming and much too soon for her taste.

  “You are special. By now, you must know that…”

  Shiloh scoffed immediately. How ridiculous is this, she thought, special? She hadn’t felt like anything out of the ordinary in her life. She was certain, in fact, that the only people on Earth who thought she was special were her parents. Different? Maybe. But definitely not special in any case.

  Still, she wanted to hear what the centaur in front of her had to say. This whole experience was something special after all, so she let him tell his story.

  She was nowhere near prepared for the revelations contained within, however.

  ***

  Sagittarius was a warrior. A strong fighter with a violent streak but the wisdom to use it only when necessary. He was of two very different minds wrapped up into one. He never thought much of love or romance, but rather, spent his time delving into philosophy or hunting in the woods.

  Until he saw her…

  Her name was Rowena, and she walked into his life nonchalantly, as if she weren’t changing his entire world with just one look. She was beautiful. But more than that, she was everything he was not and more. She was sharp. Sharper than he. She was part of the noble race of dragons, with a family tree that stretched back to the dawn of time.

  Sagittarius fell for her in seconds—he would always swear it was love at first sight, but she didn’t believe in that kind of thing. Though, she slowly fell for him in kind.

  Soon they were inseparable, intertwined in fate. More so than they knew at the time.

  Of their love, soon came a pregnancy. It was a happy surprise, and for a while, they were the perfect picture of a happy family. They were so in love and ready to welcome a baby girl into the world. But it wasn’t long until the rumors began to spread.

  Libra had spoken of a prophecy, and it did not bode well for their family. But Libra was not wrong.

  Libra was the harbinger of truth and justice, intertwined within the very fabric of Fate itself. She believed in perpetuating balance in the all things, and thus chose no favorites. Her prophecies were told to all—and her foresight was kept from no one. But she was selective with the details, and she never picked sides, no matter the goodness or the evil of each. She never made exceptions, she always held tight onto her values, and she most certainly did not lie. Gaining an audience with her was difficult for most, however, because respect for her craft had spread throughout the realm.

  Libra foretold of a child. A daughter, who would unite the people against the peril of the world. A daughter, born of dragon, that would destroy Scorpio in her wake. She would save two worlds alike and banish the division within our people. This daughter of Sagittarius would take us under her wing and lead us out of the darkness.

  As expected, this infuriated Scorpio, and his rage knew no bounds. He felt even more out casted than he already was. Rowena knew her baby was in danger from the second she heard of the prophecy because she was sure that he was not above killing a child. He was a vicious man who would do anything for a little bit of power. So, she hid.

  She had remembered a cave, far up in the mountains above the city she called home. She used to fly up there, to overlook the views and the lights of the city and be alone. Even better—it would take Scorpio’s soldiers ages to climb up on foot, so she would at least have some time before anyone came for her.

  When it was time to give birth to her daughter, Rowena laid on the cold floor of the cave, whimpering in pain with every contraction. She knew she didn’t have much time. Sweat seemed to flow endlessly from her brow, but she kept as quiet as she possibly could, given the circumstances. Her daughter was coming very soon, and any pain or fear she felt now was worth her daughter growing up safe and unharmed. So, it had to be.

  She did not have an easy birth. She laid in pain for hours, expecting the soldiers of Scorpio to come slay her at any given moment. She kept her eyes trained on the cave entrance whilst listening intently for any disturbance. If she’d had the chance, she would have told anyone who would listen that it was all worth it the moment she held her baby girl in her arms for the first time, even if it were just for a moment.

  And that baby girl looked up at her with massive blue eyes. Such a deep blue, it looked like there were entire galaxies trapped in those tiny irises—Rowena could hardly look away. Her daughter looked back at her, wide-eyed and curious, but didn’t make a sound. Silent and tired tears ran down Rowena’s face as she kissed a small, brass medallion that hung around her neck, pulled it over her head, and tucked it gently inside her baby’s blanket.

  She could have stared at that tiny face for days without blinking, but before she could get nearly enough, she heard heavy footsteps and shouts not far from the outside of the cave entrance.

  She stood shakily, placing her child deliberately in the midst of a cluster of rocks towards the back of the cave. She took out a small dagger and sliced the palm of her left hand enough to draw blood. She methodically placed a small dot of the blood onto the baby’s forehead, kissed her, and prayed for her to be silent. A small smile graced her face, as she knew she had succeeded. But she also knew what was to come.

  She knelt on the ground, using her blood and a finger to hurriedly scrawl runic inscriptions on the rock face nearest the baby. When she finished, the runes faded away into the rock face itself, hiding all traces of the baby. Powerful illusion magic had hidden her baby from the view of any intruders as well as any trace of a birth happening in this cave.

  With her last ounces of strength, drained from the exertion, she sat back down with her back at the wall where she had given birth to her first and only daughter, and closed her eyes.

  She was confident that the illusion magic would hide her daughter from her attackers long enough for Sagittarius to come find her and keep her safe. She was even more certain that they would kill her. And when they did, they would think she was still pregnant. Her baby would live a full life, free from harm until the time was right for her to return and save them all.

  Rowena was ready.

  Shiloh’s hand instinctively tugged at the necklace hanging around her neck. Her mother’s? It had been with her as long as she could remember, the only belonging she had when her parents adopted her, according to their story.

  “They killed her? They killed my mother?” Shiloh wiped at her face with the back of her hand, only just now realizing that she had been tearing up. Something about the story had triggered a feeling of immense loss, as if she were seeing her mother sacrifice herself in real time. She couldn’t understand why she felt so close to it—it was just a story, it had to be.

  Still, if it were just a story after all, why did it feel so real?

  “Yes, they did. And they thought they killed you, too.”

  His nonchalance and matter-of-fact speech irritated her. This wasn’t story time anymore. This was her mother’s life, her life, that he was describing—all of a sudden after her entire childhood had passed by. It was kind of ironic now thinking back to the slight want she’d had to get information about her biological parents. They were from some magical realm, and she never had to worry about finding them. At least not until a day like today when one of them apparently had come looking for her and tear her whole safe, boring world apart.

  Shiloh didn’t understand the coldness or the sudden reason she was here and hearing this. If he wasn’t going to tell her before, then why even bother now? Surely, a 16-year-old was not expected to swoop in and be a savior when it seemed not even the great Sagittarius could do any
thing to stop Scorpio…or maybe it was that he wouldn’t.

  “Why weren’t you there? You should have protected her! You should have protected us!” she accused. After all, as far as she was concerned, this wound was fresh. And she had imagined so many times what she might find about her parents and why they gave her up, but one of them being murdered after giving birth to her all alone was not at all something that came to mind. Not that a mythical centaur god and a dragon came to mind, either. But the fact that she couldn’t even see one half of her parentage with her own eyes right now if she wanted to, hurt so much more, especially since it sounded to her like her father could have had every power to stop that tragedy all those years ago.

  Sagittarius looked away from his daughter. “I know—I should have been. But it was the way it had to be. I have felt the same way you do now about my own actions since the day I let you go…let her go. But I can’t change it, nor would I. She would have never forgiven me.”

  “The way it had to be? Are you out of your mind? Did you even love her? Did you even care?”

  For a moment, Shiloh felt fear as she watched his face turn hot and red. He may have been her father, but he was clearly a powerful being. No matter her true identity, he had more power in one hand than in her whole body, and had she angered him enough, she couldn’t say he wouldn’t use that against her. But, then he took a deep breath, seeming calmer, before he spoke once more. Though, she could hear the desperation in his gruff voice to get her to believe him. “I loved your mother more than anything in this world. Except for you, that is.”

  “Me? You don’t even know me. You’re just here, dumping all this on me now. Where were you when I was growing up? When I had my first steps? You’re no father. You abandoned me and forked me over to strangers. HUMAN ones.” Her words had to be like knives into his heart, but he met her with a straight, stoic face. She knew she sounded like an emotional teenager right now, and maybe she was being unfair. But it wasn’t every day you found out your whole life was a lie.