Chapter 10: A Fated Encounter…

What do you do when someone sincerely asks you for help? Many would instantly answer that they would help them, but is that truly the case? Think back, have you ever seen a beggar on the side of the streets asking for coins? How many have you seen them and how many times did you stop to give them money or food? How many times did you walk past without acknowledging them or pretend that you didn’t hear them?

People like to say that a hero will always help someone in need, but in reality, this is not the case.

There are, however, instances when all but the most cruel individuals would help someone. Such as when a young child is in danger and asking for help.

But what if that child was being chased by a man of authority and they claimed that the child was a criminal, would you let the young one be punished for that crime despite their age or would you still help them?

What if the man claimed that the child was an extreme danger to the safety of the world? That the child’s could endanger countless people just by being left alive. Then the child claimed that they had done nothing wrong, and that they never want to do anything that would endanger or hurt people. The man was only chasing them out of fear.

Now let’s say that the child's proclaimed innocence and the authority figures claim that the child was dangerous to the world were both true?

What would you do then?

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Thane

Once again, Thane was on a horse headed for Twinford with his companions. The usual three were with him as well as Stone. He had recently returned from helping Bartholemew with a rescue mission in a collapsed mine. The giant’s strength and endurance was put to good use in clearing out the rocks to rescue the miners.

Strangely enough, Gailwyn and Lance were accompanying them on this journey, and brought Lady Astley with them. Ruby was missing the bright red hair that was the source of her name, instead concealing it with magic to a more mundane brown color. Even with this change, she kept a hood drawn up over her head to prevent people from recognizing her.

“Why is she hiding her identity?” Thane asked, “Aren’t we returning her to her family?

“Not at this time. We have received a request to keep her under our protection until we find out who is after her.”

After a bit of debate the previous night, it was concluded that whoever attacked the caravan was after Ruby, and not any of the goods that were being transported. And whoever did this was responsible for the death of Baron Astley. There were no clues as to the motive of the attack, or the identity of the attacker. So until they had more information, Ruby was staying incognito.

They were traveling together, but the mission for Thane’s group did not involve Lady Astley, but was much more profitable. They were carrying the large chest of goods that was salvaged from the caravan with the ultimate goal of bringing them to Verda to sell. Marcus and Gailwyn had told them that a few of the dried herbs inside were quite valuable for both cooking and alchemy. The fire damage was only on the surface of the chest, and the sigil of the supplier was still quite visible. They planned on tracking the supplier down in Verda to see if they would be interested in buying the herbs back.

Since it took so long for them to make preparations at the keep, it was near sunset before they arrived at Twinford. From there it would take nearly two days to travel to Verda. As the group placed their horses in a stable Thane asked Lance a question. “I was wondering, about those shoulder decorations on your armor.” He placed one of his hands on his shoulder, spreading his fingers out to mimic the wing-like shape of the ornaments. “What exactly are they?”

“They are called the wings of the Seraph, only when a paladin finishes his training at a temple and passes a difficult test can he earn the right to be called a Seraph Knight. It is considered a great honor, very few take the test and only the most talented can pass it.”

“So it is basically a mark that says you are an elite Paladin?”

“Yes,” he gave Thane a stern look, “Maybe one day we can have a proper duel and you can see what I am truly capable of. Our last one was inconclusive.”

Thane separated from the rest of the group and headed towards the east wall. Mersine wasn’t here to guide him this time, but he was confident he could find what he was looking for if he just followed the aqueduct.

He arrived at the location from his dream, where he had Mersine had made a deal with that elf about a week prior. First he climbed to the top of the building and looked around. There was a spot of blood and the remains of a rope ladder. It had been released from the aqueduct above and slashed apart to prevent anyone from using it.

He walked back down to the ground level and began to look around the area. He found signs of a battle, bits of blood and hair and scuffed ground where bodies had hit the ground. One of the trails in particular stood out. A figure had hit the ground here and skidded across the ground for some time, scraping metal against stone. It almost seemed like something knocked him down and rode him across the ground like something swooping in from the sky above. Or someone. The amount of blood was small, it didn’t look like anyone died here. This was starting to seem less and less like a dream.

It was starting to get dark, he needed to join the others at the inn. It also felt like he was being watched, and he doubted it was the elf that he had met earlier. He heightened his senses to the max as he walked back to meet the others. Whoever was trailing him followed him up until the moment he met up with Mahs and Sara in front of the Inn, then they seemed to back off. Thane had a lot to think on, and one more thing to check to make certain that his dream was real.

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The next day they had all woken up and prepared to leave. Gailwyn told them that she had a few more things to take care of, and that they should go ahead. She and Ruby would catch up by horse once they were finished since they wouldn’t be slowed down by a cart. Lance however would not be coming with them to Verda.

Thane and Kisha were riding next to the open wagon, Mahs was once again controlling the wagon while his sister Sarah was reclining inside the wagon staring at the sky. Stone seemed to be content to walk. There was a lot of open space in the wagon, with just a small bit taken up by the chest they were transporting as well as feed for the horses and water. It seemed like kind of a waste to use a full wagon just for this. Perhaps they were planning on bringing a few things back from the city they were headed towards.

Once they crossed the bridge on the road to the east, Thane began to split off from the group. “You guys go ahead, there is one more thing I need to check. I’ll catch up in a few minutes.”

The three friends looked around confused as Thane spurred his horse north, and it didn’t take long to reach his destination. He was at the point of the river that was directly across from the water wheel that fed the aqueduct. He watched the massive wheel move for a moment. The water from the river would push the wheel and fill the large buckets spaced throughout. Once the bucket reached the top, it would be flipped and emptied into the channel where the water would flow into the city. The wheel also powered a mill inside, but admiring the construction wasn’t the reason he had come here.

He got off of his horse and began to search the ground. He still wasn't sure if his dream two nights ago was really a dream at all. He found signs, but nothing conclusive. If he could actually prove that the man and young girl had passed through here and ran east then he would know for certain. “What are you looking for?” asked Kisha.

She had evidently followed him but he was too distracted to notice. “I’m not certain. Just checking to see if someone passed through here recently.”

“Is this about the commotion from a few nights ago? I heard the people being chased jumped off the wall, do you think they came through here?”

“I don't know but…” he paused as he found a rock that had been pressed into the mud. “Yeah they did.” He searched around a bit more and found a few more signs leading to a trail of footprints following the river north. North, but in the dream they went east…

“This is wrong,” Thane said. “The footprints are all the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, they are always the same depth, that's not right.”

She was still confused, “Isn’t that normal? Someone wouldn’t just get heavier.”

Thane shook his head and pointed at the ground, “Here close to the river it is muddy, but as you keep moving and get even closer to the river, there are more rocks mixed in the dirt. The footprints should sink deeper in the mud but these don’t. The footprints are fake.”

Thane began to focus his mana and touched the ground looking for traces of magic. “Shadow magic, some sort of illusion? But the ground has actually changed… Kisha can you undo what was done?” He remembered Nighthawk from his vision, if there was anyone who could use Shadow magic it would be her.

Kisha jumped off her horse and sat down. She began her communion, connecting to the land around her. The ground around her began to ripple like someone was dropping small stones into still water. The foriegn mana had been purged and the earth returned to its state before the magic was cast. Thane went back to where the tracks started previously, the trail led East like he suspected. His dream...no it was not a dream… the vision he shared with the young girl, it was all true.

“The forest to the east, how big is it?”

“It’s more of a grove, on the other side is nothing but farmlands until we reach Verda.”

“So they ran into the woods so they can’t be followed by horses then what? Hide out in a farming village? Maybe they planned on stealing horses...they would be caught if they tried to cross open plains on foot.”

“Do you know something about what happened here?”

“No, I was just curious.” He saw Kisha purse her lips and could tell that she knew he was lying. She didn’t press the issue and the two of them got back on their horses.

“If they did hide or stop by one of the farming communes, we will pass it on the road.” Kisha said. “You can find more information then.”

They caught up quickly with the wagon and continued on the way. They did take quite a few breaks and even allowed Thane to add a deer to the cargo they were carrying. He spotted it around noon and managed to kill it with a single shot. The new bow was a bit stronger than he was anticipating, nearly piercing entirely through the deer’s torso to the point where the arrow couldn’t be pulled out without cutting the deer open.

They were reaching the limits of their endurance, and surrounded by nothing but acres of corn when they saw a sign indicating there was a town nearby. “We’re stopping at the village up here,” proclaimed Mahs. “I don’t think my backside can endure another minute in this bumpy wagon.” They all nodded in agreement, sore from riding for so long. They sped up the pace, and suddenly brought the horses to a stop as a loud sound echoed across the fields.

There was a loud explosion, it sounded like a boom of thunder from a lightning strike. Then a loud shriek followed by a second identical thunderclap. “I’m going ahead!” Thane shouted and brought his horse to a sprint. Kisha was right behind him and Stone was running trying to catch up.

He could see nothing but the rows of tall corn plants as he rode, no sign of the village yet or of any people. He could see smoke from the other side of a small hill and realized he was close. Suddenly he brought the horse to a stop, he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked into the field and saw many of the corn stalks move as if a group of people were pushing it out of their way.

He pulled a strap loose, freeing his sword to be drawn at any time, and saw a figure break through the crops and run out into the road. She looked up to Thane on his horse and pleaded with him. “Please, you have to help me. I’m being chased.”

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He had only seen her briefly twice. Blonde hair, grey eyes, probably a bit older than 10 years old. It was undoubtedly the girl in his vision.

She gasped as his friends caught up, Kisha on her horse wasn’t that intimidating, but the large bald man who was with her was another matter. Even while Thane was mounted, Stone was still more than a head taller than him.

She repeated herself, “Please help me, there are men chasing after me. But don’t hurt them, they aren’t bad, they are just confused.”

“Hmmm…” grumbled Stone as he stepped forward. When the six men emerged from the cornfield, instead of finding the girl that they expected, they found themselves being stared down on by a 3 meter tall giant.

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Amara

This was it, her chance to escape. As soon as she realized that her mana was usable she began to gather it.

“You fool! Don’t you know what she is capable of!?”

The lead inquisitor was in a panic, and Amara smiled and gave him a hateful glare, “They are about to find out.”

“Amdusias, sin kul shulk nhim!”

Amdusais, let your voice roar!

She clapped her hands together, and the sound that followed was a massive thunderclap. The surrounding villagers and paladins were unable to keep their balance and fell to the ground covering their ears.

She compressed the sound and focused it on the shackles on her arms and legs. The metal began to vibrate with a high pitched shriek until the locks fell apart and she pulled the bindings off.

She let out a second thunderclap before her captors could recover and began to run towards her companion. “Gerard, we need to-”

Suddenly she felt as if she had been punched in the stomach and she came to a quick halt. She saw that the lead inquisitor was pointing some sort of device at her that looked like a heavy sceptre. She gathered mana to make a counterattack and…

Nothing.

The inquisitor gave a mocking smile, even though whatever he did had left him drained and barely standing. “How does it feel to lose the connection to your false god, witch?”

“Gerard, just run! Survive!”

She turned away and ran as fast as she could, making for the corn field in hopes that her short height could keep her concealed better. She heard the inquisitor shout, “Quinn, take any villagers that will follow you and capture that witch. The demon's power has been sealed, she is just a girl now.”

When she was in the middle of the field she stopped to catch her breath. It would be impossible to find someone her size in the middle of all this, or so she thought. Even though she couldn’t see them, she could hear them, and they were headed straight for her.

Can they track me? She thought. This could be bad. Picking up the pace she began to run again. She didn’t know how much longer she would be weakened, but her connection would have to be restored eventually, she just had to keep running until then.

She emerged from the field and saw a boy on a horse. He was fairly cute, he had the deep amber hair color that she was so fond of and pale blue eyes that were almost grey, it reminded her of someone she used to know. He was armed with many weapons. She saw a sword at his waist, a dagger in a thigh sheath, a second longsword plus a greatsword were sheathed and attached to the horse as well as a bow. He was obviously some sort of adventurer, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that she needed his horse. She would have to get him to lower his guard until she found a way to take it.

“Please you have to help me, I’m being chased!”

She realized he wasn’t alone when his friends caught up with him. She let out an audible gasp, there was a girl, younger than the boy with a strange silver hair. But it wasn’t her that made Amara gasp, it was the giant running next to her. He was a Brun, which was different from an actual giant, but the differences weren’t important at this point. What was important was that he just showed that he could run and keep pace with the girl while she was mounted. Stealing a horse just got a bit more complicated.

She needed someone that could stop her pursuers, but didn’t want to get the innocent villagers hurt. “Please help me, there are men chasing after me. But don’t hurt them, they aren’t bad, they are just confused.”

“Hmmm…” the giant stepped forward next to her and stared down the men who emerged. There were six in all, one paladin leading five villagers.

The young man rode his horse forward until he was next to her and looked down at Amara. “Stay with Kisha, we’ll send these guys home.”

Oh, she thought, he’s one of those idiots.”

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Thane

Thane looked down from his horse at the men on the road. “So, one Seraph Knight and five men with hoes and pitchforks are chasing after a young girl. What is this all about?”

“Stay out of this traveler,” the Paladin replied, “and let us take the witch.”

“A witch huh?” Thane replied, “and what exactly has she done that would have you chase her like this?”

“She is a witch, that is enough, She uses the power of demons.”

“She is a girl, and I think it requires more than “she is a witch” to capture and punish someone.”

“That is for the inquisitors to decide, not you.”

Stone interrupted, “She is a child, a young one at that. Shouldn’t the parents be the ones to punish her transgressions, and also be the ones held responsible for them? I will not allow you to take this child.”

“Listen big man, I don't know what you.-”

Stone stomped his foot on the ground, and the road seemed to shake, “Mis cain.”

“You don’t understand, she is dangerous.”

Stone growled and stepped forward, “So am I”. He wasn’t holding his axe, but his muscles were tense and his fists were clenched.

Thane had already given Kisha a heads up about his plan, and he was now giving her the signal to go from behind his back. He then leapt off of his horse and charged forward. He kept his sword sheathed, instead casting magic that caused his hands to spark with electricity. He thrust with his palm, striking one of the men in the chest, discharging the lightning in his hand. The woman next to him was too surprised to react and was only able to recoil in fright. He simply laid his other hand on her shoulder sending a shock through her body knocking her unconscious. Two of the other villagers were getting bludgeoned by stalks and cobs of corn and were soon knocked unconscious by the assault. The paladin tried to shout and draw his weapon, but as soon as his hand reached for his sword, Stone’s fist descended and the man crumpled like a rag doll. The last man standing was a villager that had dropped his pitchfork and was backing away slowly.

Thane walked up to the man calmly, “Don’t worry, I’m just going to knock you out.” When Thane laid his hand on the terrified man, he collapsed just like the others. Thane turned around to look for the girl and saw her attempting to climb his horse. Stone reached over and plucked her off the horse, lifting her in the air with one hand.

Thane heard the wagon approaching, the siblings were about to catch up. Now all he had to do was figure out what to do with this girl. Stone set her down away from his horse next to Kisha and Thane walked over to her. “So, do you want to tell me what is going on here? They called you a witch.”

She started to look a bit nervous and a little irritated, “They are just scared, someone my age uses magic without killing herself and they think there must be something foul. What about you? You were channeling lightning through your arms without killing yourself. How does that work?”

“Don’t dodge the question, I’m not the one being chased by an angry mob with farm tools.” When the wagon arrived, the young girl began to get more nervous and didn’t seem to be interested in answering him. “Fine, do you have a name?”

“Amara.”

“Just Amara?”

“Yes.”

“Does the name Thales mean anything to you?” Thane saw her shocked expression and assumed he was correct. Suddenly she became defensive.

“Where did you hear that? Who are you anyway?” The girl's eyes appeared to frost over, her irises and pupils fading to white before disappearing entirely. Once again, she was visibly shocked, “you…” she looked over to Kisha and the two who had just arrived, “all of you…” Her eyes faded back to normal, “That lightning, are you Xander’s son Thane?” she pointed over to Mahs, “Are you Thane?”

“You know me?” Thane replied.

“I know of you, my mother always told me to go to Xander if I ever needed help. Please can you help me and take me to him?”

“I can’t, he is no longer…” Thane trailed off unable to finish the sentence.

She looked like she had just taken a heavy blow and was about to collapse, “I see. I need... I don’t know what to do.”

“I said I will not allow them to take you,” Stone interrupted .

“He’s right, we can't just leave you and we already picked a side the moment we attacked that knight.” Thane looked around the area, “Is there anywhere around here where we can hide out of sight for a bit? I think we need to hear your story.” .

“There is an overhang a bit off the road over there by the stream. It can keep us concealed and sheltered as long as nobody looks too hard.”

“Mahs, Sarah, head into the town, they haven’t seen you yet. Pick up the people we knocked out and bring them in with you. They should just think of you as some helpful travelers. Also see if there is anyone who wants to buy that deer, I may not have time to prep it.” He whispered the next part to Sarah, “Find out what you can about what is in the town and whatever you can about our new friend. Then find us by the stream.”

Sarah nodded and whispered back, “Keep your guard up, she isn’t telling us everything. She’s only a child but something is off about her. There is no way she should have known you and your father just from your magic.”

Thane nodded and the two groups separated. Once Thane, Kisha, and Stone were out of sight with the girl, the twins started rousing the villagers and loading the ones that wouldn’t wake up into the cart.

Once Thane pushed through the crops and reached the bottom of the hill he saw the location she was talking about. The stream had cut into the hill during the spring floods and formed a natural shelter that was fairly dry now. The river also seemed to mark the edge of the land the village was farming.

“All right,” said Thane, “First tell me what happened.”

She retold her story to the people present, about how she and her friend were traveling through the town and the inquisitors rode in. They identified her and her friend and accused them of consorting with demons. After a sham trial they were both sentenced to death. She had escaped and was looking for a way to get to safety. She left out the part about being the one that caused the commotion in Twinford and that she had been running for days. If Thane hadn’t seen it happen in his vision, he would have never had any doubts about her story.

Kisha stood up and walked into the field and started pulling corn cobs off the stalks, Stone was sitting silent on a rock and it seemed like neither of them questioned her tale. There were a few questions that popped into Thane’s mind. Such as what she had actually done to warrant a death sentence.

“Why did they ask for your death? It seems a bit extreme to execute someone your age.”

“It’s because I’m a Sorscare like you, and the inquisition exists to hunt people like us. They put us away for a lifetime of internment when they catch us, and they don’t hesitate to kill us if we resist or are deemed ‘dangerous’.”

“What do you mean like me? What is a Sorscare?”

“In the ancient language it means ‘one who lacks a destiny’.” When she noticed Thane was confused she seemed a bit surprised, “Wait, did your father not tell you anything?”

“My father has been gone for almost seven years now.”

“I...I’m sorry, you told me before but I didn’t know how long it had been.” Once again she seemed almost at the verge of tears.

“It was a long time ago, don’t worry about it. So what is a Sorscare and what makes you think I am one?”

“I would have known you were one as soon as I found out you were Alexander’s son. It can be passed from parent to child. Even without that I have special eyes, have you ever heard of a Fate Scryer?”

“I have heard they are unreliable most of the time, but they have the power to see the will of the gods or something like that. Is that what caused your eyes to go white?”

“I’m surprised you could see that, it's a trait passed down in my family from mother to daughter. Every girl born with the gift is given the name Amara, so my mother and grandmother have the same name as me. The name comes from the vampire queen Mara who was said to be able to see into the souls of mortals.” She paused when she realized she was getting off subject and corrected herself. “You are right though, the reason it is so unreliable is that most people don’t have a set fate. Even fewer have a set fate at birth, and those are mostly future rulers, or important heroes or...martyrs. Usually once events start in motion, then fate solidifies, like a knot cinching tight around someone guiding them in their actions. It basically ensures their success, or failure.”

Kisha had returned and was feeding corn cobs to the horses, “My mother told me stories about that when I was a little girl. She called it the gods’ puppet show.”

“That is about as accurate a description as any. When I looked at you and your friends, I couldn’t scry your fate.”

“You just said that most people don’t have a set fate.”

“Yes but even when they have no fate, it still clings to them, wraps around them. You, me and your friends. Everyone but the big guy there. We don’t have it clinging to us. We don’t have a set destiny now, nor will we ever in the future.”

“Is that any reason for them to want you dead?”

“Were you listening? This fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it is a system that the gods put in motion whenever they want something done. People like you and your parents can act outside of this system. Meaning you can directly act against the will of the gods and even stop their plans. It doesn’t have to be intentional either, you can do it by accident just by walking free in the world.”

“Is it really that bad?” asked Kisha.

“You may not think so, but there are many who don’t agree with you. Just remember this: You can’t let anyone know this about you. By your very nature you are an enemy of the gods and all who serve them.”

It did sound a bit extreme, Thane wasn’t entirely certain he could trust her, even if she did know of him and his father. She might just be trying to convince them that they shared an enemy. “Aren’t you being a bit over dramatic?” he asked.

“Am I? I’ve been on the run most of my life because I was exposed. Your parents were hiding in some small village for the same reason.”

“But how?” Thane asked, “How does something like this even happen?”

“That's a bit of a long story but I’ll tell you what I know.”