by S. N. Hunt
Micheal grabbed the doctor around the throat, “She will live!”
Movar gently pulled Micheal away from the doctor. The doctor gasped and rubbed at his throat.
“I will do what I can, but it is out of my hands. Pray to what gods you worship that she pulls through.”
The doctor gathered up his things and left the room quickly. Micheal sat in the chair by her bed and hung his head in his hands. Movar laid a hand on his shoulder.
“She is strong. She will pull through this, Micheal. I am sorry that this happened.”
“We should’ve gone around. I shouldn’t have left her. So many should haves!”
“We could not leave these people to die. I will leave you alone with her. I will return later tonight.”
Movar left the room and Micheal gathered up Sarah’s hand in his. He laid his head on top of their joined hands.
“Please don’t leave me. I need you, Sarah. I think I love you.”
∞∞∞
Sarah walked through a castle. The walls were grey and made of stone. She saw a door ahead and pushed it open. It opened up into a large throne room. A white aisle runner led to a throne atop a dais. On the walls were stained glass windows that cast colors all around her. Each window had a person casting magic. One for fire, wind, air and water.
“You have grown so much.”
Sarah gasped and turned toward the voice. A woman stood by the door. She stepped out of the shadows. It was like looking at a mirror. Except for the pointed ears that marked the woman as Elven. She wore a long grey dress. She walked up to Sarah.
“Hello, Sarah. I am Alavara. Your mother.”
Sarah swallowed hard, “This is an illusion. My mother is dead.”
“Yes, I am. You were shot by a Tsoain arrow. They dip them in poison. It is incredibly deadly, but it also weakens the barrier between the living world and underworld. When diluted, they use it to communicate with their ancestors.”
Sarah looked around the room, “So I am dead. Where are we? You would think if I was dead that I would’ve picked somewhere I knew.”
“You are not dead yet. Micheal is doing all he can to save you. This is the throne room of our kingdom, at least it was before Antony took it.”
“How did he win? Lyris said you were powerful.”
“Oh, I am. My sister was right in that respect. But even my magic couldn’t stand against Merlin.”
“Wait, Merlin never came over to the Veil, I thought?”
“He didn’t but his grimoire did. Somehow Antony got a hold of it. He used a spell in its pages to subdue me. I woke and was paralyzed. I could not speak or move. He murdered Ronan as I laid there and could only watch. Then he turned on me.”
A tear streaked down Alavara’s cheek. Sarah wrapped her arms around her. Alavara was taller than her, but she still squeezed her tightly.
“I am sorry I was not there for you all these years. You grew into a beautiful woman. Now you must grow into a strong woman. You have many trials ahead of you.”
Sarah stayed in her mother’s arms and her own tears flowed.
“You must harness your powers, Sarah. You are the most powerful elementalist this world has ever seen. The Gold Contract must be destroyed. You will beat Antony and rule benevolently.”
“I don’t want to fight though. I want to be happy and live a normal life. This isn’t what I dreamed my life would be. I am not a queen.”
Alavara pulled back and looked down into her eyes.
“Oh, but you are. You will become a great warrior queen to rival all nations. You will bring peace to the lands of the Veil.”
Sarah looked into her mother’s eyes. They were so much like hers. She wondered what her father looked like.
“If you are here, where is my father? Can I meet him?”
Alavara shook her head.
“Only one can appear. The poison is not that powerful. He said to tell you, he is proud and loves you very much.”
Alavara let go of her and walked back a step. The air around her grew hazy.
“Our time is up, Sarah. Trust Micheal, trust yourself. Tabitha will help you. After you learn your powers, seek the tomb of kings. The kings of old will help you.”
Her voice faded as she disappeared.
“Mother? MOM!”
∞∞∞
Sarah woke thirsty. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her dry mouth. Her eyes hurt and she was freezing. She shivered and looked around the room.
“Sarah, you are awake! Here, sip this, slowly now.”
Movar helped her to drink. The water was cool and refreshing as she drank.
“Let me get Micheal. He just left to tend to the horses. I will be right back.”
She followed him with her eyes as he left the room. She moaned as pain lanced through her shoulder. The room grew dark and her eyes slid shut.
∞∞∞
Sarah stood in an immense field of grain. In the distance, she could see the trees. Panic rose inside her.
No, no, no. Not the dream again. I haven’t had it in weeks.
Hearing the hoofbeats, she turned toward it. The black rider bearing down on her. She didn’t run this time. She raised her arms up to him. He grabbed her off the ground and she turned to look him in the face.
She removed his cloak from his head and peeled the hood off. Crimson eyes met hers, but his hair was white, not black.
“Hello, princess. Let me introduce myself. Antony at your service.”
She screamed and his laugh echoed in her ears. The dream shifted. She was now standing in Ollsrion. She stood by the lake and looked up into the trees.
Sarah turned around and saw a mirror image of herself walking into the clearing. She watched as she touched the trees and fire licked up the bark. Sarah ran up to herself and started screaming. She fell right through her mirror image. The other Sarah lit the entire forest on fire.
Antony rode into the clearing. He dismounted in front of the other Sarah. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. Sarah walked up to them both. He looked just like Micheal but his hair was stark white.
“We have won, my love,” he said.
“Yes, Antony.” the other Sarah replied.
“NO! This isn’t right. This is all wrong. I love Micheal. Not you, Antony. Stop! Stop it!”
The dream cracked and then shattered like glass.
∞∞∞
“Are you sure she was awake?”
“Are you saying that I am lying?” Movar growled at the doctor.
“No, no. Usually they wake and stay awake. But it is a good sign. I am more confident than before that she will survive the poison. Her fever is still high, though. Keep cold compresses on her and hope it breaks soon. Only that will insure she lives.”
The doctor walked from the room.
“I am not leaving her again. Could you please tend to the horses?”
Movar nodded and looked at Micheal hunched over her. He had been angry that he was not there when she had woken. Though Movar had raced to get him, by the time they came back, she was asleep again.
“I have lived for a long time, Micheal. It has been awhile since I’ve seen a man that loved a woman the way you do.”
“I can not lose her. Without her, there is no more reason for me to be.”
“Who is she? We both know she is not just some girl looking for training at the University.”
“She is King Ronan’s and Queen Alavara’s daughter. I am her Guardian. We are journeying to Zlorta to get her trained.”
“She is an elementalist? Interesting. I know the story of the king and queen. So you seek to destroy your brother, Antony.”
“How do you know he is my brother?”
Movar leaned against the wall, “Ty and King Ronan were dear friends of mine. I never got the chance to meet Alavara. I did not realize that this child was theirs. You should have told me. You and your brother were thick as thieves. Will you be able to kill him?”
“It will not be up to me t
o kill him. That is up to her.”
“Elementalists can’t use their magic to hurt another. How can she destroy him?”
“She must break the Gold Contract. It lays in the tomb of kings. Once her training is done, we will journey there.”
“I was there for the signing of that document. It has so much magic woven into it. It can not be broken.”
“I’ve seen it.”
Movar pushed off the wall. He looked down at Micheal.
“What do you mean, you have seen it?”
“I have seen it in a dream. Or vision. It can be broken.”
“Half-truths again, Micheal. Tell me who or what showed you?” He growled low in his throat.
Micheal looked up at him, “It is not my secret to tell, dragon.”
“The water of sights showed you, didn’t they? The fates themselves constructed that fountain. It once sat in my stash. Then it disappeared when we split the world. I wish to see where those bitches have moved my property.”
“You had the fountain? What bitches?”
“The fates. Those three are something else. They gave it to me as a gift for being their bedfellow. Centuries we laid together. It was glorious! Clotho was incredibly flexible, Lachesis loved any kind of kink, and Atropos had a mouth to rival the best whore. It might have helped that she didn’t have many teeth. But either way, they were amazing in the sack.”
“So if it was a gift, why did they take it away?”
“Well, that was kinda my fault. I think they may have thought we were exclusive. But I can’t be tied down to one woman, much less three. I just have so much love to give. They caught me in bed with an angel. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Angels so rarely appear. At first it was just talking and then boom. She is riding on my cock in the middle of my parlor. Total accident.”
Micheal just stared at him.
“Well, Clotho comes waltzing in and screams holy hell. Lachesis and Atropos follow, and they beat up the angel. I try to calm everyone down, even offering to share myself with them all. The fates kick the angel out and disappear. I haven’t seen them for years or the angel. Such a shame, she was good in bed. Then the world splits, and the fountain is gone.”
“So why would I tell you where it is? Obviously they don’t want you to have it.”
“Oh, I don’t want it back. I just want to look in it and see those bitches’ faces. Tell them it is over. Jealousy is not attractive and they can keep their damn fountain.”
“I think they realize it is over. I will think about it and let you know what I decide.”
Movar sniffed, “Very well. I will leave you to it then. All this reminiscing about old flames makes me want to see what the local cuisine is like. Maybe there is a young thing in this desert village.”
“Don’t get in trouble!” Micheal shouted as Movar left.
Chapter Twenty One
Sarah sat in a void. A place of nothingness. No sun, no moon, no stars. It wasn’t cold or warm. Just…. nothing.
She stood up and looked around. She walked to her left for what seemed like hours. Still the nothingness.
“Hello?” She cried out into the dark.
Nothing answered her. Not even an echo. Panic gripped her. She turned right and started running.
“Hello? Is anyone here? Please!” She shouted into the void.
She tripped in her panic and fell to her knees. Tears fell. She wrapped her arms around her knees and cried.
“Oh, you poor girl. I am so sorry we are late.”
“Clotho takes forever to get ready.”
“I do not!”
Sarah looked up into three faces. Three women stood around her. They reached down and helped her to her feet. They wiped her tears away.
“Here we are.”
“Home sweet home.”
“I don’t take forever.”
Sarah watched as a door appeared in the void. The youngest woman opened the door, and the women pushed her through.
Sarah now stood in a large room. The walls were white plaster with wood trim. A fireplace with a fire burning bright. A pot boiled over the top of the flames. A table and four chairs sat to the right. The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room with a butcher block, where many knifes laid out. A sink with herbs drying in a window was to her left. Ahead of her stairs led up to a second floor.
“Have a seat, girlie.”
“Got a stew on the fire.”
“I am always on time.”
Sarah took a seat at the table. One woman went to the fire and stirred the pot. The youngest one moved to the kitchen area and grabbed bowls. The oldest one sat at the table across from her. She groaned as she sat, her bones popping loudly.
“I am Atropos. The one at the pot is Lachesis. The late one is Clotho. We are the fates.”
“It is so nice to meet you, Sarah.” Lachesis said as she spooned stew into the bowls.
“I am not late, I am always right on time,” said Clotho.
Sarah looked at the woman in front of her. Her face was creased and wrinkled. She looked ancient. Her hair was thin and wiry. It hung in black strands around her. Her eyes were an icy blue and cloudy with age. She was thin and her back was hunched. She smiled at Sarah and she saw Atropos was missing some teeth.
Clotho handed her a bowl of stew and took the seat on her left. Clotho was young. She had a look of innocence on her face. Her red hair hung around her in curls and shined in the firelight. Her icy blue eyes matched the older woman’s eyes. She was a beauty with high cheekbones and full red lips. She was curvy, but not chubby.
Lachesis sat down on her right. She looked older than Clotho. Fine lines were around her icy blue eyes and mouth. Her blonde hair was not as healthy as Clotho’s was. It shined but was duller. She was still slender, but gravity had worked against her.
Studying each woman, Sarah realized they were identical in features. Though each had a different color hair and each was of a different age, they were exactly the same. Sarah remembered bits and pieces from school about the fates. They wove the tapestry of life.
“Do you know why we came to you, Sarah?” said Atropos.
“Of course, she doesn’t realize?”
“How could she know?”
Sarah looked at each woman and shook her head no.
“We chose Micheal for you.”
“He loves you so much.”
“He is so dreamy.”
The women turned and looked at Clotho. She blushed and shrugged. She looked at Atropos and mouthed, “Sorry.”
“When you and the queen bathed in the fountain, our magic absorbed into you.”
“You can see what is to come in your dreams.”
“You were not to be influenced by the waters.”
Sarah blushed at the memory.
“We can’t change what has happened.”
“But we can steer it in the right direction.”
“Let the visions you see be warnings, mind what they show.”
Sarah had a hard time following the flow of conversation. Each woman spoke right after the other. Her head was spinning from following their conversation.
“Micheal is your destiny.”
“His love is what will ground you.”
“Eat your stew.”
Sarah looked down at her bowl and picked up her spoon. Warmth flowed through her as she ate. Her eyelids drooped, and she knew sleep would not be far off.
“Tell Micheal to reveal about the fountain to Movar.”
“Movar must come to the fountain. His destiny calls.”
“Tell Movar, I miss his uterus beater.”
Atropos slapped Clotho on her arm and Lachesis scoffed in disgust. Clotho blushed to the roots of her hair. Sarah smiled and closed her eyes.
∞∞∞
Sarah opened her eyes and saw Movar leaning over her. She smiled and chuckled. He looked down into her face with concern.
“Clotho said she misses your uterus beater.” Sarah laughed harder.
“Micheal?” she said as soon as she stopped laughing.
“I am here.”
He squeezed her left hand gently. She turned her head and smiled at him. He was sitting in a chair next to her bed.
“Atropos said to reveal the fountain. Lachesis said Movar must go to the fountain. His destiny calls.”
Micheal looked at Movar, “She met the fates? Do you think it is true or a hallucination?”
“Only Clotho called my cock that. She met them alright. Where is the fountain?”
“I am right here. I can hear you.” She said, but they just ignored her.
“Queen Lyris of Ollsrion has the fountain.”
Movar nodded, “I will stay till she is better. Then I will seek this Queen Lyris.”
“I am still here, guys. I saw a lot of things while I was asleep. But I am glad to be alive.”
She sat up and got out of bed. Micheal and Movar both tried to push her back down. She waved off their hands. She stood and stretched her arms over her head. Micheal grabbed her and pulled her sleeve down. There on her skin was a scar, but no wound.
“Your wound is gone. How is this possible?”
“Wound? I feel great. I haven’t been like this in years.”
“Sarah, did the fates give you anything to eat while you were with them?” Movar asked.
“Yea, they gave me stew. It made me warm and then really sleepy.”
“The fates, themselves, healed you. You must be special indeed.”
∞∞∞
Antony walked into the Ugmidh’s lab. He saw the lich writing notes at his desk. Ugmidh’s skeletal hands moved the quill across the pages of his journal. His black robes hung around him in tatters.
“I wish not to be disturbed.” His deep raspy voice said.
“I don’t care.” Antony replied.
Ugmidh spun around and stood. He removed the spectacles from his fleshless face and bowed low to Antony. The blue light in his empty eye sockets flickered. He had no use for the glasses, but he still wore them.
“My lord, I did not realize it was you. Please excuse my comment.”