Whispers of Fate: Part 6

Part 6

Natalie hadn’t planned on running away, it was just a thought that had built up over the last two days. It had all started with that night of her tragic vision which she still prayed was false. No, it was false. Mother Isa wouldn’t let that sort of thing happen. She wouldn’t.

Natalie shivered. She had left everything that she had come with in favor of going in bare feet and her blanket. Thinking back, she knew this was a bad idea, the cold was a great killer of anyone unprepared to fight its consequences. Not that it mattered, nothing mattered. This was not a march of rebellion, it was one of penance. Her home had been attacked and she was not there to stop it. 

She slapped her wrist over and over until her frozen skin began to bleed. 

Ashallalah bent over the empty bedroll and pulled the bangle from its folds. Holding it tightly in her hands, she looked back out over the Mara’s fading footsteps. Suddenly, upon her shoulder, was a black hand colder than the entire mountain. 

“She’ll be back.”

She gripped the bangle tighter, godly knuckles white on the ancient silver. “How can you be so sure?”

A tall figure whose face and body was obscured by a long black coat of shadows and a large hood that hung past his face. “Yes, my greatest creation hath come to usher her back into your arms, even if neither of them know it.”

Ashallalah reached up and took his hand, her fingers caressing the cold digits. “Oh Mol, what have we done?”

Mol laughed, the grating of steel on bone. “We have done what we must. The gears have been set in motion for a time that has been planned since we began. Now, to usher in the result. Farewell, my love, I am needed elsewhere.”

He gently laid dark lips on her warm hand and pulled away. She turned to see him but he was already gone and the snow was starting to fall once more. She sighed. 

How many hands must bleed pulling our rope?

The beast continued its pursuit of this scent of potent flowers. Its head was filled with visions of azaleas, lilies, golden roses, and dark purple hyacinths as it stumbled up the mountain in search of its source. Clawing its way towards divinity, it stumbled and fell on the ice. Shaking its head, it put itself on its feet once more. As it did, another scent, a natural odor, hit its nose and it turned toward the source.  

In the trees just beyond the beaten path of rocks, in the snow lay a young girl, her eyes shut. Upon the sight of the girl, Drysi could feel herself slowly coming back into command of her senses. Hesitant in her claws, Drysi reached out and gently brushed the girl’s light hair out of her face. When she didn’t move, Drysi took her in her large arms and, when she was settled against her fur, began to sprint up the mountain.

Much to her relief, there was a cave at the top that appeared to be lived in already. Perhaps this was the girl's things. The smell of magic was stronger here than anywhere but Drysi could no longer care, it was as if her initial instructions faded away when she came back into consciousness.

Setting the girl on the bedroll, Drysi curled up at the other side of the cave. Suddenly she was tired, and cold, really cold. Leaning against the wall, she was met by a shock of pain that travelled up her whole spine. Reaching back, she touched her back and felt cold metal pushing its way from her flesh. She tried to pull at it but it stuck and her body was quaking from the pain. Pulling back her hand, she found it was covered in blood. Was it hers? Shivering violently, Drysi curled up on the ground, allowed her eyes to close, and tried to think of better nights. There were none.

Natalie awoke to a hand rustling her blanket which she now lay on top of. At first, she was simply confused how she ended up back in the cave but this confusion quickly turned to panic when her eyes laid upon the crumpled figure in the corner. Scrambling off the bed, she backed herself to the wall and felt as if she were about to scream at the sight of the pool of blood surrounding the little girl who shivered in her sleep. This scream was stopped by a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Shhhhh.”

Natalie glanced up at Ashallalah for answers but she only looked at the girl. “We have a visitor, Mara. It would be rude to let her die here.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Natalie nodded and ran to her side, knees soaking in the red water. Unsure what to do next, she simply turned her over and stared at the three bolts jutting from her spine. It was grotesque and yet Natalie found herself more worried than anything.

There came a tapping on her shoulder and the bangle was held out before her face. Without thinking, Natalie took the bangle and shoved it on her arm. “Tell me what to do.”

Ashallalah, now kneeling across from them, gestured to the bolts. “First, we will need to pull those out. This will have to be a very quick process for each one. Roll her over so that she is facing down and take a strong grip with both hands.”

Natalie did as she was told. The child was lighter than she had expected and was moved easily. Putting her knees on either side of the wound, she took hold of the bolt that was higher up on her back. Ashallalah nodded. “Do each one fast and in sequence. Then, prepare to heal rapidly after.”

Natalie nodded back, made sure that her grip was steady on the wet metal, and, as fast as was possible, she wrenched it from the flesh. Again, and the second bolt was free, the blood rapidly gushing onto the floor. This didn’t stop her from doing her job and soon the last bolt clattered to the ground. 

“Good. Now, stretch out your hand over her back, focus on her flesh and organs, and allow the time stream to flow through your palm. This will increase the speed of time for those parts of her body and the natural healing process will handle the rest. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any rust or infection so this should be a clean heal.”

Quickly putting her hand forward, the bangle began to glow in the darkness. For a moment, nothing occurred until, like flowing mud, the flesh around the wounds began to rapidly move back into place. The girl started to scream and shift in pain but Natalie held her steady, her hand twitching at the power that flowed through her small bones.     

 One entire hellish minute passed and eventually the flesh finished its mending, only scars remained on the blood splattered skin. Natalie fell back onto her ankles, chest rising and falling once the weight of the situation had passed. Stress tears began to fall but she quickly wiped them away. The sound of heavy breathing filled the cave as even the world sighed in relief. 

From just below Natalie’s kneeling form, came a small voice that was barely a pin drop in the silence. Despite its insistent sobbing, it managed to squeeze out two words: “Thank… you…”

Natalie examined her hands under a flow of freezing water. She found herself laughing at the irony of it all. Afterall, the last time that her hands were covered in so much blood, a life had been taken, the life of someone who had been there since her moment of birth. Now, bloody hands had saved a life, a life of someone she had never even met before now. 

“You did something very noble today.”

Natalie nodded without looking back. Ashallalah stood just outside the cave, her feet not even making prints in the snow. “I am proud of you. You should be too.”

“Yeah.”

Silence persisted once more. Then the presence behind her changed, it grew shorter, more human. It had been just a bit too long since she had been in the vicinity of another human, even if it had only been twenty six days.

“You… you saved me. Why?”

Natalie smiled and shook her head. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? You just lost a lot of blood.”

“Eh, I have experienced worse. Besides, it's only midnight. I couldn't sleep." 

Finally wiping her hands clean, Natalie turned to meet the girl’s face. The poor thing was thin, with a face that spoke only of sadness. Her hair, black as midnight, flowed over her shoulders, pronouncing the shadows that shrouded most of her small figure.

“What is your name?”

The girl itched the top of her head and yawned, her maw bearing teeth that were more pointed than most humans. “It's…uh- I- my name is Drysi. Drysi Maddox. What’s yours?”

Natalie nodded and moved toward the small girl who flinched at her approach. “Don’t worry, I saved your life, I won’t hurt you now. My name is Natalie Lawrence. Now, let's get back inside, it's quite cold out here.”

Despite her exhaustion, Natalie threw a magical flame into the pit in the center of the cave. Drysi watched this act, not with wonder, but guilt. Even though she oftentimes forgot much of what occurred while she was a beast, there were certain things no one could ever forget. 

Natalie saw Drysi absentmindedly rubbing at her shoulder. When asked why, she only responded. “Oh, it's nothing. I just… I burnt my shoulder one time. It's ok, I’m alright.”

Despite her lack of faith in the girl’s statement, Natalie shrugged it aside and took a seat on the other side of the fire. After staring into the glow for an extended amount of time, she felt eyes resting upon her. Looking up, she could see Drysi staring at the bangle glowing upon her wrist. “Oh, this?”

She held up her wrist allowing the bangle to slide down her forearm. “Its a… a gift from my goddess when I was chosen to be hers. A gift I didn’t ask for. This is what saved your life, not me.”

Drysi felt sick to her stomach. So, she has come face to face with a witch, the very one she had been sent to kill. However, despite her being the enemy, Drysi couldn’t bring herself to hate Natalie. After all, she made sure Drysi lived through the night. Such was her fate: everything she hated was the reason she was still alive. She instead grew bitter. Bitter toward herself, bitter toward Kestrel, perhaps even towards the world itself. 

She met eyes with the witch and what she saw was not some soulless monster, as she had been told, but rather a little girl, not too much older than herself. Sure, she had to grow up fast but she was still only eight and seeing someone near her age, weighed down with such a heavy responsibility, inspired a change in heart, even if she didn’t want to admit it. “So, what do you mean you were chosen?”

Natalie’s face melted into a frown as she leaned against the wall, eyes staring at the stars beyond the stone ceiling. “Ashallalah, the goddess of the night, of life, picked me to be her Mara, her chosen savior. I… I don’t really even know what that means any more. I wasn’t even able to help in an attack against my own sisters because I was stuck here on this forsaken rock, too close to divinity to help my coven on the ground.”

With the sound of every word she spoke, Drysi’s heart was filled more and more with dread. What would the witch do when she found out who it was that she was talking to? Would she be just as merciful? Or would she repurpose the bolts lying in the corner and undo her healing? Drysi knew not the extent of her power and the very thought of being in a room with someone this strong, who had every right to despise her very being, terrified her to the core. “I… I understand what you mean. I don’t very much like myself either. I…uh- I have a curse. It's complicated but whenever I am threatened or distressed I become an ugly stain on the earth, a monster.”

Natalie cocked her head. “We all become monsters under stress, it's natural.”

Drysi shook her head and leaned forward, hand now fiddling with a small rock. “No, its not like that. I mean a literal monster, a wolf… of sorts. My hands hurt everything they touch and my eyes bring ruin to anything they see.”

Natalie laughed. “I have heard such tales as these, men that become blinded by rage and become monsters in their own right. It's just that I-”

Drysi threw the rock against the far wall. “I’m trying to say that I killed your coven!”

She quickly threw her hand up to her mouth as if she could somehow force her words back down her throat but it was too late, they had already escaped.

With furrowed brows, Natalie searched the eyes of the girl yet found no hint of any lies. Suddenly, her heart jumped into her mouth. Without saying a single word, she slowly stood up and walked out of the curtain into the blowing snow. With all the rage in her soul, a firestorm erupted from her fingers, scorching the flurry before her and out past her vision. When the spectacle had ended, she crumbled to her knees, her legs burying themselves in the mud which the flames had created around her. 

She screamed at the storm, at providence itself. Why? Why would the gods deliver her tormentor directly to her hand? Did they want her to take revenge? To take what was taken? A life for hundreds of lives? Did they want her to be the actual monster? Oh, how wretched this all is. A twisted and terrible trick of fate.

After staring into the sky for answers, she found nothing but clouds. Looking at the mud, the rocks too remained indifferent. No. No more answers from the gods, what did she want? Did she want to take revenge? To be that savior? That monster? One life could not repay hundreds, it never even repaid one. 

She held her hand to her face, and flexed it twice before letting it drop once more. “No.”

Dragging herself off the ground, and wiping away her tears, she moved aside the curtain. Approaching the girl huddled in the corner, she crouched so that their eyes were equal. “Do you regret it?”

Drysi quickly nodded, head moving in fear. “Yes, yes more than anything.”

Natalie hung her head for a moment before her arms extended out before her. When Drysi accepted the embrace, she heard three words which she had never heard before and never expected to hear now: “I forgive you.”

When those words had been uttered, Drysi returned the hug and let the sound of the fire answer for her. For the first time since she had first been hugged by her father long ago, she smiled, a true and unrestricted smile, not like those she had given Kestrel. This was real.