Weaving Destinies

“I guess Callagroth is back in business,” I said to Alec as we ran past even more corpses.

“The bodies are still warm. This could not have happened all too long ago,” he remarked.

“Does that mean that he might not be far off? Do we have a chance to catch him?” I asked as a slight hope grew within me. We probably wouldn’t be able to do any real damage, but maybe we could at least chase him off before he killed anyone else.

The loud cry of a baby filled the air. My eyes widened.

“He wouldn’t!” I exclaimed in horror as we made another turn. “Alec, please tell me there are no babies here tonight!”

“Most of the guests brought their children and put them in one of the rooms to play with one another,” Alec replied gravely.

“So Callagroth is killing the poor, innocent little children in the nursery?” I managed to say, my shock stopping my breath in my throat.

“I am afraid you are correct,” Alec said softly. The trail of corpses finally ended in front of a door. Without wasting any time, Alec threw the door open. I was afraid to look inside, but I knew I had to. The sight made my jaw drop in amazement.

Everything was normal. A few women walked around taking care of children. One held a crying baby in her arms, rocking it back and forth in an attempt to sooth it.

“Alec!” a small voice exclaimed. “Sen! Sen!”

I turned to see a little girl who was maybe four or five years old running towards Alec. She leapt into his arms, chattering in a strange language that I didn’t understand. She had long blond hair and gray eyes, and although she was young, her face was strikingly similar to Queen Anne’s. The only thing that wasn’t normal was her arms.

She didn’t really have arms. Instead, she had yellow-brown, feathered wings that stretched along the sides of her body. She appeared to have a hand at the tip of each wing, but her maroon gown definitely had to have been specially made. There was a gold circlet around her head, so I assumed that she was Alec’s younger sister and a princess. She looked to be the only child here with wings. I wondered if she recognized how much she stood out.

“Tari, I really must leave. I will return,” Alec interrupted her, although his voice was kind. The little girl shook her head, wailing in her other language and wrapping her wings around his neck.

One of the women came over and gently pried her from his arms. She screamed and cried, but the woman soothingly murmured to her in the same language.

“My younger sister, Nefertari,” Alec confirmed my suspicions, watching the little girl with an affectionate smile. “Although she understands English, she only speaks Peit. It is easier for her angelic tongue.”

“I’m glad everyone is okay, but I’m definitely confused,” I frowned. “Why would Callagroth lead us here if he hadn’t attacked?”

Alec and I looked at each other with wide eyes, realizing it at the same time.

“It was just a distraction!” I shouted in dismay, and we took off running out the door again. I took a moment to lose my high-heeled shoes and toss them aside. The dress wasn’t helping either. I was not exactly dressed for fighting.

By now, some curious live servants were surrounding the dead ones.

“Go to the nursery and evacuate all of the children!” Alec commanded as we ran past them. “Do not tell them why. Get them somewhere safe!”

The servants didn’t look at all surprised. Most of them headed for the room we had just left while a few went down a different hallway. It was like they had practiced for this day. I imagined a voice on an intercom: “Attention. Please vacate the building in a quick, orderly fashion. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.”

We finally reached the entrance to the ballroom, and we emerged at the top of the stairs. This time, no one stared at us. They were too preoccupied with the strange creatures trying to tear them to bits. From what I could see, the things were basically bright red, scaly unicorns with solid, powerful tails. Several people already lay dead around the room, either stabbed through the heart or viciously gutted. A handful of men and women had swords, but most of them were either trying to fight with their bare hands or running around screaming. Somehow, one end of the room had caught on fire, adding to the chaos and destruction.

Alec wasted no time in sprinting down the stairs. He scooped up a dead man’s sword and started fighting a unicorn. He quickly and skillfully dispatched it with a stab into its chest. I stood a few feet behind him, feeling useless. I didn’t see any other swords on the ground that I could grab, and I didn’t know how to fight anyways.

A unicorn suddenly turned its gray eyes towards me and charged like a mad bull. I was about to start screaming for Alec to save me like the pathetic girl I was when a man with curly brown hair held out a hand and chanted a few words. The ground beneath the unicorn shook, and it fell to its knees. Alec paused for a moment from fighting another unicorn to stab this one in the neck.

“Thanks,” I smiled at the man.

“It was nothing, your Serene Highness,” he said, but he was frowning. His slanted brown eyes scanned the room, his body tense in anticipation for the next attack.

“No, I don’t know how to fight or use magic,” I sighed, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He only glanced at me before turning his attention to another attacking unicorn. A few more unfamiliar words, and a long, pointed rock suddenly shot up from the ground, spearing the unicorn straight through the middle.

“How did this happen?” I asked, having to shout over the noise of screaming and fighting. “I’m assuming a bunch of crazy unicorns didn’t just appear in the room all at once.”

“All unicorns are crazy, your Serene Highness!” was the man’s response.

“Yes, but how did they get here?” I repeated impatiently.

“This isn’t really the best time!” he said, focusing on another unicorn. A few rocks sprung up from the ground, but none of them managed to hit the unicorn.

“Was it Callagroth?” I asked, refusing to give up. The man chanted another time, and he finally managed to land a hit.

“No,” he answered, and I was surprised. Before I could ask more, I saw that Alec was at least nine feet away. I didn’t want to interfere, so I quickly ran closer to give him more room. Poor Alec. It had to be hard to fight on a leash.

I looked around, and although people were still running around like maniacs, Alec had apparently turned the tide. He had already managed to slay quite a few unicorns, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

I also noticed that despite the general panic, no one was heading for the exits. I had once heard that during emergencies, most people will not think normally. This seemed to be true. None of them had even considered leaving the room despite the dangerous situation.

“Hey, everyone!” I shouted as loudly as possible. The guests who were not fighting unicorns actually looked up.

“Go out the door!” I pointed to the grand staircase. “Leave the building! Get out of here!”

It seemed so obvious to me, but I could see in their eyes that the idea had not occurred to at least some of them. A steady stream of people started heading for the staircase, escaping at last. I had no doubt that they would stumble around in the hallway like lemmings without someone to herd them, but I had to stay here with Alec.

“Oh, Livvy. Why would you do something like that?” a voice sighed.

My blood froze. I was so afraid to turn around. I knew what I expected to see was impossible, but that voice… It sounded so much like her that I couldn’t breathe.

“Trying to be a hero, Livvy?” the voice asked mockingly. “Think that maybe doing the right thing now will make up for the past? Here’s a spoiler for you: it won’t.”

I slowly turned. My mouth was dry, and a cold sweat covered my skin. Standing behind me was Madison.

Madison, just like I had dreamed, wore a long silver dress and had torn, skeletal wings. Everything was exactly the same as I remembered from the shape of her eyebrows to the bold, exotic scent of her perfume.

“But… how did you…” I stammered hoarsely.

“Miss me?” Madison smiled sweetly. The room started spinning, and soon everything faded to black.

“Faith? Faith, my darling! Please, do wake up!”

Groggily, I opened my eyes to see Alec’s concerned face looking down at me.

“What?” I managed to ask unhappily. My head was throbbing. I felt fuzzy and disoriented.

“My dearest, how glad I am that you have awakened! You fainted, my flower!” he smiled in relief, his rapid breathing slowing down.

“Does seeing me in danger automatically increase your use of unnecessary nouns?” I asked, rubbing my forehead. I suddenly realized that I was no longer in the ballroom but in the room where I had met Gregory Ingraham. Not only that, I was laying on the floor with my head in Alec’s lap as he lovingly stroked my hair.

I quickly sat up, flying out of his reach. Unfortunately, this swift movement caused me to black out and forced me to collapse backwards once again into his strong arms.

“Relax, my love. You are safe within the strong barrier placed here by Gregory himself. Once you have recovered a bit, we will leave this place immediately,” Alec soothed. Unwillingly, I allowed myself to lie in his lap again. As I tried to ignore Alec’s gentle hands brushing against my hair, I had that irritating feeling that I had forgotten something important.

“Ugh, I can’t remember!” I groaned aloud.

“Whatever it is, it will return to you shortly, my beloved,” Alec assured me. “But there is a question which I myself have forgotten to ask you.”

“Shoot,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Where did you get your dagger?” he asked carefully.

“It’s from… a friend of the family,” I lied. “Why?”

“Because it is the same dagger which destroyed Nayan,” Alec replied bluntly. My eyes opened immediately.

“I did not recognize it at first, but as I reflected, I realized that it was the same one,” he continued.

“Was it your mom’s?” I asked.

“No. It was belonged to my aunt. Her name was Julia, and she died many years ago,” he answered.