The Moirai

by Ali Winters

  Then she broke free.

  Gasping for breath, Nivian barely managed to stop herself from falling forward onto her face. Dark, murky water splashed all around her legs. She found herself in the middle of a large circular lake. The water shallow as far as she could tell. Forest lined the edges, each identical in the way they all seemed to lean forward, pointing to the center of the lake.

  From habit, she placed a foot atop the water to walk along the surface and frowned when it sank. She tried again, but with no success. Flexing her hand, she willed a small orb of power to form in her palm. The build up skittered along her skin with the familiar electricity then sputtered and faded.

  She tried again. Nothing.

  It seemed none of her powers world work from there on out. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, yet inconvenient and unsettling nonetheless.

  Storm clouds hovered in the sky, covering the horizon with a solid blanket of ominous gray that threatened to open up and pour down at any moment, destroying the perfect quiet.

  The distant sound of water trickling caught her attention. Nivian moved out further into the water, toward the sound, and soon she was wading waist deep.

  Pale shapes loomed ahead and she squinted into the dim light. Jagged rocks jutted out of the water like angry teeth forming a circle around a large, black hole.

  Her feet no longer touched the bottom and she was forced to swim the rest of the way, her clumsy attempt was less than graceful. She caught mouthful after mouthful of water before her fingers managed to grab hold of a tooth like rock. She pulled herself up onto the stone, sputtering. The lingering taste of algae coated her tongue.

  Nivian peered down into the void. The trickling water echoed in the chamber, making it impossible to tell how deep it was.

  Only able to see a few feet down, Nivian plucked up a loose pebble and dropped it in. It bounced off the rock sides but the sound of water soon drowned it out. It seemed to be widest at the top, narrowing as it spiraled downward.

  Nivian swung a leg and felt around with the toe of her boot, reaching for something to prop herself up with. Finding a small lip of a rock, she brought her other leg over and lowered herself over the edge.

  The rocks were large and slick with slime from the constant trickle of water coating them.

  Nivian took her time, feeling for cracks or ridges to grasp as she clung precariously.

  Inch by inch, she made her way down.

  Chancing a look up, she groaned seeing only a few yards above then the lip. Sweat dripped down the sides of her temple as she reached out with a boot, determined to keep going. The tread slipped against the rock, unable to find purchase.

  “Uhg, come on,” she grunted, dropping her gaze to where she reached out. Nivian’s hand slipped and she hissed, drawing it into herself. Blood oozed from a small cut. Nivian shook her hand, willing the unfamiliar sting to fade but only succeeding in making it worse.

  It wasn’t a bad cut by any means, but she’d never really been injured, and when she had, her Reapers’ powers were always there to steal the pain away and heal her quickly.

  Small pebbles rained down below her from her movements and she stilled, heart pounding loudly. Her fingers slipped on the wet rock, losing their grip. Nivian fought to cling on, her hands aching from the pressure. The nails of her fingers dug in and bent back, and she cried out in pain. Her right hand slipped, leaving her hanging by one arm.

  The darkness below stretched out like massive jaws awaiting her fall into its gaping maw.

  She forced her mind to work through her panic and used the momentum of her swaying body to reach up and grab hold of the rock once more.

  More loose gravel ground into her opened palm. Her arms shook from the strain of holding on. The brittle rock crumbled from under her grip. But she held steady.

  In a blink, Nivian found herself surrounded only by air. She flailed her arms wildly, reaching for something, anything, to catch her, but the rocks were too wet and slick, her skin too smooth and raw.

  She fell down, down, down, into the void, the hole she’d entered though shrinking as if closing its lazy eye.

  And then, nothing.

  Nivian woke with a jolt and pushed herself up, every muscle in her arms and back protesting the movement. Her skull pounded, as if it would split her in half. Pressing her hand to the back of her head, her fingers touched something hot and sticky. She pulled them away to see them covered in a thick, red substance. Blood.

  Tilting her head back, she peered at the hole above. It was a far way off. It should have been impossible for her to survive the fall without her powers. She didn’t understand, but she would take it.

  She stood on wobbly legs, cringing when small rocks hit her face.

  Pebbles floated in the air. Nivian lifted her hand and poked one, sending it drifting away. It struck another, and the two bounced gently off each other and changed direction. She plucked one from the air and threw it down. It slowed, stopping then rested with the softest rustle along the ground.

  The gravity at the bottom was almost nonexistent. It explained why she never heard the rock she threw hit the bottom.

  Nivian turned in a small circle, blinking into the shadows. But it was the trickle of water at her feet that guided her. It glided along the ground through a thin channel formed by the constant flow from above. And she followed it into the massive cave that yawned open before her.

  NINETEEN

  NIVIAN

  NIVIAN FOLLOWED THE trickling of water, growing used to the dark at long last as her eyes finally adjusted. Her fingertips dragged along the wall as a guide. The longer she walked, the more she lost track of time, until she couldn’t feel it at all. Time stood still in a way she’d thought impossible.

  The tunnel curved and as she rounded the bend, light flooded the space, nearly blinding her. She threw an arm up to shield her eyes and waited for them to adjust. Again. The passage widened until it gave way to an opening and ahead waited the shore of a river.

  She gasped as she realized she was no longer alone.

  A host of people shuffled around, parting as if she were a boulder sitting in the middle of a stream. Not one looked her way.

  Their presence sent a shiver along her skin.

  They were haggard and gray. And none of them wore a strip of clothing, but they didn’t seem to need it. Their bodies were shapeless, save for the generalization of arms, legs, and a torso. Some had heads of beasts. Of lions and bears, horses, birds, and dogs. Some carried weapons, others, nothing but long hair that fell in tangled curtains hiding their faces.

  Nivian caught up to one and stretched out a hand to grab their shoulder, but the form moved out of reach as if it sensed her but did not see her. She tried again and again, each moving away like a feather floating on the wind.

  The host wandered as if in a trance. No goal in mind, save for walking aimlessly, never able to stop and rest. She followed on the outskirts of the group, watching them closely.

  The Underworld was a place of water, and she a drop of oil.

  Eventually, the host of bodies ended and she stopped to look around. Steep, rocky mountains skirted the river, leaving only a narrow strip of land to walk that stretched on farther than her eyes could see.

  A man sat with his legs crossed and head bowed along the rocky wall. He watched her with eyes as black as coal and just as dusty. She changed course and headed in his direction.

  “Excuse me?” she said once within earshot.

  He looked up at her, face expressionless.

  His head spun, swiveling on his neck, and when it came to a stop, his expression had turned angry.

  Nivian’s eyes widened. Nothing could have prepared her for that sight.

  “You do not belong here,” he seethed through a mouth of crooked and broken teeth. When he spoke, it was as if the words were bones he chewed and spat out in a spray of sharp splinters.

  Nivian swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked over her shoulder to the straggling few wa
nderers.

  “What are they?” she asked.

  The man’s head spun again and his new expression was one of sorrow. “They are the lost souls, doomed to wander the shores of the river Mortis for all of eternity.”

  “I’m—” she started.

  “I know why you are here,” he snapped again.

  Fine. Everyone seemed to know why she did what she did. It was almost as if they were all in on some absurd test they created just for her. Scientists in a lab, while she was their rat stuck in a nearly impossible maze. They had the power to make her mission happen within minutes, yet chose to watch her stumble along, guessing.

  “How do I find Hades?”

  “You don’t. Now, turn back, you do not belong here.”

  “I can’t leave without Kain,” she said, steeling her spine.

  “You will destroy yourself.” Again, the man’s head swiveled at a dizzying speed, stopping on his angry face.

  “I don’t care. I’m not leaving without him.” Nivian refused to be turned away.

  “Very well,” the old man waved an arm out toward a large steep mountain at his back. A deep ravine was carved into the side of the peak, starting next to him and creating a large, eight foot high wall on the outside of the path winding its way up to the top.

  Funny, it hadn’t been there a moment ago. She gazed down the trail, trying to see around the corner.

  “Follow the path to the top if you wish to beg Hades for a favor.” He let out a cruel laugh. “But don’t get your hopes up.”

  Nivian turned to thank the man, but he was gone. She shrugged and stepped onto the path.

  It didn’t take long before the muscles in her legs burned and her breath came in rapid bursts. She kept her eyes on the ground directly in front of her to avoid stumbling.

  “Nivian,” Caspian’s voice hissed.

  Nivian stopped dead in her tracks, her heart thundering wildly in her chest. “C-Caspian?”

  He took several menacing steps toward her.

  “I thought I told you no.” There was no kindness in his voice. Only anger, and the pain of betrayal. “I gave you direct orders to stay and Reap. And, instead, you sneak into my office and steal from me.”

  “I’m sorry, I had to.” Nivian reached out to him but he backed up a step, avoiding her touch. She dropped her hand. “We’re in the Underworld now, don’t you see—”

  “All I see is that it was a mistake to ever trust you in the first place,” he growled. “Turn back now and perhaps in time, all can be forgiven.” Caspian gripped her by the arm and started leading her back down the way she’d come.

  Her mind spun in dizzying circles. How had he known?

  Nivian looked up into the face of the man who’d been her friend for as long as she could remember. Caspian’s features were drawn taught.

  Unless he’d always known it was possible to bring Kain back.

  But why wouldn’t he want her to?

  “Please, Caspian, I know I can get Kain, why are you trying to stop me?” Nivian jerked on her arm, but he held firm.

  He looked at her then with an icy coldness in the black depths of his eyes she had never seen before. “Because he is dead and you cannot get him back as much as you’d like to think otherwise.” He brought his face close to hers and spoke soft and slow, with frighteningly calm fury. “And because, Nivian, you betrayed me.” He started walking again, practically dragging her behind him.

  “I’m sorry, Caspian, but if you would just listen.”

  “The time for listening has long since passed. Now you will go back and do your duty as you were created to do.”

  “No,” she said quietly, but he ignored her, continuing to pull her along. “I said, no!” Nivian dug in her heels and jerked her arm out of Caspian’s grasp.

  “You dare defy me, again?”

  Nivian backed away slowly, moving up the mountainside. “I’m sorry, Caspian. I’m doing this for all of us.” She continued to move away and he remained where he stood, agape in disbelief. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so, sorry.”

  And then, she turned and ran. She ran until she nearly collapsed, her parched throat felt as though she swallowed burning ash. Nivian listened for the sound of Caspian’s footsteps following her, but the only sound she heard was her own breathing and the roaring of her pulse.

  She was almost halfway up. She had to keep going. But the pang of Caspian’s anger lingered like a knife. Nivian had expected him to be angry and hurt, but it was so much worse seeing it in his eyes than she could have ever imagined.

  Breathless, Nivian sat down and pulled her legs into herself, resting her forehead on her knees and cried. She had ruined her friendship with Caspian.

  “Why couldn’t he just understand?” she asked as she cried.

  “Gaia, you are too sensitive,” a female voice said with the hint of amusement. “When are you going to toughen up already? It’s so embarrassing. It’s not like you’re a human, you are a Reaper, so act like it.”

  Nivian wiped at her eyes and looked up. Camira leaned against the wall in front of her, arms crossed and foot propped up.

  “Cami?” Nivian wiped at her face, sucking in a sharp breath. “You’re… you’re…?”

  “Alive?” she said, finishing her sentence. “Yeah. No thanks to you and that stupid Hunter.” She dropped her arms and took a few steps forward. “Once again, thanks to my resourcefulness I was able to survive, yet again.”

  Nivian scrambled up and ran to her friend, throwing her arms around her neck. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t a better friend,” she whispered. “I just—”

  Camira placed both hands on her shoulders and shoved her away. Nivian grunted as she collided with the rock.

  “Get off of me,” Camira spat.

  “Cami?” Nivian blinked. The rage on Camira’s face scared her. And then she remembered how Cami had acted at the edge of Yeva’s domain. “Why did you do it, Camira? Why did you turn on us?”

  “Why?” The Reaper stalked closer, fire flashing in her umber eyes. “Because you, friend,” she spat the word, “turned your back on your own kind, and for what? Not even a human… but a Hunter of all things. It’s disgusting.” Camira reached behind her back and pulled out her scythe. “Silas should have destroyed you the second you failed to complete your mark.”

  Nivian backed down the path, keeping her eyes on the advancing Reaper. Camira swung the scythe, narrowly missing her. “Cami, stop! Please listen to me.”

  “No, you listen. I’m going to do what should have been done months ago.” Camira swung again and again, with tireless sweeps of the curved blade. “You should have been a better friend, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to turn to Yeva, of all things, to help me!” Camira screeched.

  Nivian reached behind her back, grabbing for her scythe but only getting air. Her scythe; she had left it with her cloak.

  “There are things going on you don’t know about,” Nivian inched away as she spoke, barely dodging each pass of the blade, but knew she couldn’t keep allowing Camira to push her back.

  One of these times, she would hit her mark.

  Nivian looked around for anything to help but came up empty. She studied Camira’s movements as she pressed in on her, timing them.

  Camira swung again and Nivian leaped, throwing herself on the ground and rolling. But her timing was off, the scythe’s blade sliced her cheek, barely missing taking off her head. She ignored the stinging pain and the wet trickle of blood dripping down her face.

  She jumped to her feet and slammed her body into Camira’s. The scythe went sliding down the deep slope of the mountain. Camira crashed into the wall with her shoulder, sending loose stone crumbing and raining down on the path.

  “Stop this, Cami, we can talk this out!” Nivian pleaded as she backed up.

  Camira straightened. “Talk, talk, talk. That’s all you ever want to do,” she shot back. “You need to be a Reaper of action for a change.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Nivian s
aid, dodging a fist.

  Camira let out a harsh, humorless laugh. “Please,” she scoffed, “you are pathetic.” She swung again in quick succession, striking Nivian in the jaw then the stomach.

  Nivian doubled over, coughing. Camira kicked, sticking her in the chest with her heavy boot and sending her flying onto her back. Kicks rained down on Nivian and it was all she could do to keep her arms up, shielding her face.

  She followed Camira’s movements by the sound of her boots on the gravel. And when the Reaper stopped by her head to adjust her footing, Nivian’s arms reached out and grabbed her leg, yanking as hard as she could. Camira landed hard on her side next to her.

  Nivian scrambled to her feet at the same time as Camira. But Camira was slow to turn. Nivian sent a kick to the center of Camira’s back. Nothing about the move felt right to her as her ex-friend was sent sprawling out onto the ground. Nivian spun on her heel and took off up the mountain.

  She had to get to Hades.

  She had to.

  The path broke off into two directions. One straight up, the other more level. Nivian took the latter, hoping to gain some distance before Camira chased her down. Nivian skidded to a stop, swinging her arms wildly as she teetered on the edge of a drop off.

  She looked over her shoulder, knowing Camira could not be far behind.

  Quickly, Nivian kicked at the dirt on the ground while moving back the way she’d come. If she could make it look like she fell, she might be able to gain more time.

  At the fork, she was careful to walk alongside the wall, keeping the dirt and rubble as undisturbed as possible. After the path turned, she threw caution away and ran.

  Black spots swam across her vision. She was running too hard, she needed to catch her breath, but she couldn’t take the time. She wasn’t used to having such limitations on her. Still, Nivian pushed her body, refusing to give up.

  Nivian staggered back as she slammed into something hard. Two strong hands caught her arms and steadied her.

  “Hades?” she gasped, sighing into the front of his shirt.