Chapter 133 Fate
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three
Fate
FORTY YEARS LATER
Istood in the middle of the Academy library, hidden in plain sight by dense shadows.
They danced over my body, licking and caressing my exposed skin.
I pulled them closer, tightening to the point of near suffocation; even after nearly fifty years of original power returning to Meru, it was a relief to feel my innate magic.
Perhaps this was what it felt like to be human, mortal. A ticking clock of flesh with a clear expiry date, want to imbibe heavily in the nuanced joy found in the littlest of things.
I would vow to never take my magic for granted again, but that was a foolish promise, one I knew I’d break in the thousands upon thousands of years left in my existence.
I was as infinite as time itself, bound to no realm and no tide. Created to drift between worlds and aid my creations when they veered too far from their path.
Maybe I’ll take a few thousand years off, disappear into the ether, and let humanity bumble about for a bit.
I hummed at the thought, my soul itching at the prospect of leaving mortal creatures to their own devices without any divine intervention.
Fixing the resulting mess would make it worth it . . .
My straying thoughts were interrupted by the creak of the library doors as they swung slowly inward, illuminating the cavernous space with the eerie blue light indicative of the Mage Orbs this realm loved.
Shuffling steps followed the bobbing light as it slowly—ever so slowly—proceeded into the empty room.
A deep sigh preceded the soft thunk of a large tome connecting with the solid wood table. I drifted closer, floating in my half-corporeal form, still encased in thick shadows, until I could see the old woman clearly.
Her hair piled high on her head was completely white but still held the coarse curl of her youth.
The lustrous light-brown hue of her skin was darker from the sun and paper-thin from age.
Black inked runes still dotted every exposed inch of skin, but they’d faded with time, no new marks taking their place.
My eyes flitted to the Bonding Mark on her right forearm, still pulsating, though the cadence was off and slowed.
She knows.
“You can come out, Fate. I know you’re there.” Faylinn’s voice was reedy and raspy, but her mind was still sharp.
Gradually, I released my hold on the shadows, silently mourning their loss as they faded back into the ether. I kept a small hold on them, a solitary diaphanous strand danced between the talons on my right hand, just to reassure myself of their presence.
Faylinn never moved her gaze from the book in front of her, one shaky hand caressing the glossy gold cover that shone brightly even in the small light.
“My love? Are you here? Are you alright?” Rohak’s voice floated from the open doors, his limping shuffle echoing through the dark space as he moved to join his wife.
Wife was too small a term for what they were to each other—friends, lovers, mates. Soul Bonds. Each other’s perfect half, their flaws and strengths complementary.
While their lives were finite, their love was anything but, and it would echo through time and space, this age and the next.
They deserved as much.
“I’m here, Rohak,” Faylinn called, her tone betraying nothing of the knowledge she held both beneath her palm and in her mind. “Come to me.”
As if drawn by an invisible string, Rohak followed the call of her voice and the sound of her heart until his thin arms banded around her belly, soft from childbirth and age, pulling her gently back against his chest.
“What are you doing in the library so late?” he whispered into her ear, a question meant only for his love, even in the vacant space.
“It is finished.” Her returning whisper was both reverent and sad as she tapped the book lightly.
Rohak hummed against the sagging skin of her neck before placing a chaste kiss on her pulse point.
Faylinn drew to her full height before slowly turning in a circle, until she faced her husband. Her arms banded around his neck as she pulled his face down to hers, their lips touching briefly in a motion that conveyed more than words could ever say.
“It’s nearly time, my love,” Faylinn mumbled against his lips.
I saw Rohak’s stooped body tense slightly before his muscles relaxed completely, his head falling to rest against Faylinn’s shoulder.
“I know. I feel it in the Bond.”
They clung to each other for a few moments, basking in the warmth of each other’s presence and body, not knowing or understanding what awaited them in the ether when their time came.
Their souls were Bonded—where one went, so did the other, both paying for each other’s sins in life.
It would be a cruel thing to bestow upon anyone but those whose souls were crafted just for the other.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be together. Wherever you go, I will go. You are my home, your soul is mine, and mine is yours.” Faylinn’s voice hitched at the end of the vows she’d uttered so long ago.
Rohak’s shaky hands came up to cup her cheeks, his thumbs drawing soothing lines on her cheekbones as he laid a kiss against her brow.
“Your purpose is fulfilled. When the time comes, let me guide and keep you, ease you both into the ether,” I finally spoke for the first time, my voice reverberating in the empty space with ethereal authority.
The tone and tenor would have spooked any others, but Faylinn and Rohak remained impassive, locked in each other’s gaze and embrace.
“Did you offer this to everyone, or are you finally giving your granddaughter a special privilege?” Faylinn’s wry humor had Rohak’s mouth quirking at the ends, hundreds of smile lines appearing on his face.
I huffed a laugh. Whip smart until the end.
“Yes,” I admitted, leaving off that none of the others had taken my offer.
As astute as ever, Faylinn read between the lines, her sharply intelligent hazel eyes milky with age, swooping over my figure.
“How do you benefit, Fate? What’s the other part of the bargain?”
I smiled sharply at her question.
“The book comes with me to Meru.”
Rohak growled, the glower of the once-formidable General now directed at me, but was silenced by a quick pat on his chest from his wife.
“I cannot do that, Fate,” Faylinn said with a shake of her head. “You know I cannot.”
I sighed deeply, rolling the singular shadow through my talons. “It was worth the attempt.”
Faylinn slowly extracted herself from Rohak’s grip before bending to scoop the book into her arms. “The knowledge in here”—she explained while walking toward an open shelf—“is meant for all. Who knows, perhaps one of our descendants will have use of it someday.”
With a strength counterintuitive to her stooped stature, Faylinn hefted the thick tome and slid it into place. Her fingers lingered against the thick spine, the pad of her forefinger tapping once before spinning to face me.
“How about an amended bargain?”
Rohak’s bushy white eyebrows hit his hairline as I smiled fondly at my granddaughter.
“Your proposal?”
“You take us into the ether together, as you originally planned.”
“And what do I get in return?” The shadow flickered faster.
“I ward it. It will stay hidden in plain sight, its existence only revealed when the information is needed.”
The shadow ceased its movement, hovering still above my open palm.
“Deal,” I said, with no hesitation.
That will work beautifully.
My granddaughter wasted no time in procuring a short blade from her waist pouch and slicing her forearm.
Her blood flowed sluggishly, as if her body knew its time had run out.
She dipped a tremoring finger in the small rivulet of red before quickly and deftly inking a series of runes on the shelf around the book, murmuring words of power as she worked.
As quickly as she started, her work was finished. The runes on the shelf glowed a bright white before fading completely. The book was still visible, though it was clear that was as intended. The three of us knew its contents, it would always reveal itself to us.
Faylinn smiled then, a true, wide, beautiful thing, as if the weight of her life was lifted from her shoulders.
“You are certain about this, Faylinn?” Rohak asked. Faylinn’s hand dropped from the book before resting just as delicately against her husband’s cheek.
“Yes.”
Rohak’s palm came to cover Faylinn’s hand. He closed his eyes on a deep breath before opening them again, the emeralds shining with tears and pure devotion.
“Then when it is time, we will go. Together, as it was always intended.”
Hands clasped, bodies pressed together, Faylinn and Rohak turned to face me.
“Mortality is a fickle thing, granddaughter. Use the remainder of your time well. When the ether calls you home, I will bless and keep you. Together forevermore in the ether.”
My words were final and rang with power. With a smile, Faylinn and Rohak turned and left the library, their shuffling steps echoing through the empty, dark space.
I stayed, hidden by shadows, long after the doors shut behind their retreating forms. Soon, there would be nothing left for me here in Elyria, not until the time came again. The silence was deafening, and I suddenly itched to return home.
I released my shadows, letting them wind around my limbs and caress my skin. As my body turned incorporeal, my sight fading as I left this plane, I fixed my gaze on the edge of Faylinn’s golden book, shining in the blue Mage light.
The last thing I saw before the shadows consumed me completely and the runes guarding the book activated—hiding it until the right place, the right time, the right person—was Faylinn’s handwriting down the spine, proudly declaring the title of her life’s work:
The Children of Fate.