Weaving Destinies

I felt awful. Everything seemed to be going wrong. My heart felt like it was splitting into a million pieces, but I couldn’t cry. All of the tears had already leaked out. Now all I could do was stare sadly at the wall, waiting for Alec to come back.

Or could I?

“Maybe there’s another way,” I thought. “I’m finding my own way out, and this time I’ll make sure Alec can’t follow me!”

Quickly, I crept to the door and opened it a little. Peering out into the lighted corridor, I saw that it was empty. I slipped out of the room and began to sneak along the hallway, occasionally stopping to make sure I was alone. I heard voices in a room nearby, and I paused to listen.

“I do not know what to do,” I heard Alec’s voice sigh.

“If she wants to go, let her. You can’t simply keep her locked up like a bird in a cage. Wait until she is ready. I know that you’ll love her no matter how long it takes her to realize who she really is,” a voice I recognized as Anne’s said.

“But if he lets her go back to Earth, then what will we tell the people? Surely they will rise up against us! And what of Callagroth? And the prophecies?” a deep, male voice demanded. I assumed that it belonged to the High King, Alec’s father.

“The prophecies will come true soon enough, in their own time. We can’t force these things you know. And I’m sure that the people of Torm will understand if we explain things properly. As for Callagroth…” Anne’s voice trailed off.

“It is settled then. I will allow her to leave, but I will watch her always and make sure she is safe at all times. We will discuss matters of Callagroth later,” Alec said. I heard a sound of a chair scraping on the stone floor as he stood up. I ran back to the room and sat down again. After a few moments, Alec returned. He knelt in front of me and took my hands in his.

“Listen, my Faith. I have made my decision. You are free to leave. I shall no longer keep you here against your will. I will arrange for a formal escort to the portal,” he said softly. I was genuinely surprised, but I decided not to question it. At this point, I’d do anything to go home, although maybe everyone was right. I was just postponing the inevitable.

Alec and several guards escorted me to the forest. Once I reached the edge of it, Alec stopped and turned to me.

“Faith, I will never forget you,” he said, looking heartbroken, and he let me go on alone. Soon I reached the portal, but just as I was about to enter it, a hand reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me.

I was about to cry out, but then I turned to see a boy not much younger than me. He put a finger to his lips to tell me to keep quiet and motioned for me to follow. Curious, I followed him to a clearing far away from the portal. The boy turned to me and whispered, “I need your help.”

“What? How can I help you?” I whispered back, wondering if anyone was watching us.

“You see, I’m the real heir to the throne of Torm. This world was overthrown by evil some time back. I’m the only one of my kind left. I want you to help me cleanse Torm of this evil. Please help me!” Something seemed kind of fishy about this.

“I still don’t understand,” I said. “How can I help you?”

“I need you to kill Alec,” the boy answered. Seeing my shocked face, he hurriedly explained, “You’re the only one who can get close enough to him! Don’t worry; I have a plan! And I’ll train you so you can fight him if you have to, and I’ll even let you go back to where ever you’re from whenever you want!” I looked into his sad, helpless eyes. I definitely didn’t want to kill anyone, even Alec, but I felt like I should do something to help this boy.

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll think about it. What’s your name? I’m Olivia, but you can just call me Livvy.” The boy smiled happily at me.

“I’m Callagroth. You might have heard about me from them. I’m their greatest enemy right now. I’ve convinced some of the creatures here to help me, but that’s about it. Come with me, and I’ll show you where I live,” the boy chirped and ran off into the forest. I followed, and soon we reached a cave. Inside, I saw the remnants of a humble living space. Suddenly, I heard a thud from behind. I turned to see that the entrance to the cave had been blocked off.

“Sorry, you can never be too careful,” a man’s voice said. I saw a tall man with short white hair who appeared to be in his late twenties step out of the shadows and into the torchlight from where Callagroth used to be.

“Don’t look surprised. This is just another one of my forms. I change often, so you’d better get used to it,” he said sternly. I realized that it was Callagroth, so I nodded and smiled.

“Now then, about your training,” he said. “You will train eleven hours a day physically, eleven hours mentally.”

“But that only gives me two hours of sleep! And no free time!” I protested. “That’s insane!”

“You don’t need sleep or free time. Consider the sleep a gift. First, of course, I will need to alter your DNA,” Callagroth said. What in the world had I gotten myself into?

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” I said uneasily.

“How dare you question my plans!” Callagroth suddenly yelled, flying at me. Instinctively, I ducked out of the way, and he hit the wall of the cave. I grabbed a torch and waved it in front of myself as he headed for me again. He moved surprisingly fast, and the torch was knocked out of my hands. I aimed a punch, but I missed as he pushed me to the ground.

“You inferior little worm! I must keep you under tight supervision. You will remain with me. I can use you to my advantage, for you are Alec’s greatest strength and greatest weakness,” he grinned evilly at me, quoting that stupid prophecy again. I suddenly heard pounding where the opening of the cave used to be. Callagroth glared in the direction of the sound and began to chant under his breath. I put a hand up to shield myself before a strange feeling came over me. It was as if my mind pulsated, sending out waves of energy and leaving me breathless and shivering. The wall exploded, scattering pieces of rock everywhere, and Alec ran in the cave with a sword drawn.

A golden glow surrounded Callagroth and me. Callagroth continued chanting until Alec knocked him over. There was a blinding flash of light, and everything went black.

I slowly opened my eyes. I sat up and looked around. I was still in the cave, but Alec was lying on the floor still unconscious, and Callagroth had disappeared. I saw fading sunlight coming in through the entrance, so I figured it was about 5:30 pm or whenever they had sunset on this planet. I walked outside, but I suddenly hit an invisible wall.

“Ow! What the heck?” I winced, holding my nose and putting my free hand up in front of me. There was definitely something blocking my way. I heard Alec groan behind me.

“Faith, are you all right, my darling?” he asked. “I came as soon as I sensed that you were in danger.”

“Don’t call me your darling,” I scoffed. “And we’re trapped.”

“Trapped? What do you mean, my love?” Alec got up and walked towards me.

“Don’t call me your love! I mean I tried to get away, but there’s something here!” I said more forcefully, already frustrated with him. Alec cautiously put his hand up to the air in front of him.

“I do not think there is,” he said after waving it around. I put my hand where the barrier was. Nothing.

“That’s funny,” I frowned. “It’s like it was never there, but I know it was.”

Alec sighed and said, “Release my powers so that I may examine any spells Callagroth cast.”

“Release your powers?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “And how exactly am I supposed to do that?”

“Well, in truth you could permanently allow me to use all of my powers at their greatest strengths if you would give me a kiss…” Alec replied.

“So if I kissed you, then you would leave me alone?” I asked hopefully.

“I am afraid it is not that simple. It must be a kiss of true love,” Alec explained. “You must truly love me and be willing to sacrifice anything for me.”

“Well, you can cross that one off the list. Now what?”

“There is another way. Just do as you did before.”

“You mean when I got that weird feeling like I was sending out radio signals?”

“Yes. You have complete control over my ability to use all of my powers. If you do that again, then I will be able to use my hidden powers to figure out what is wrong.”

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You have powers that you usually can’t use, but if I help you by sending one of those energy wave things, you can use them?”

“Exactly. However, it is only temporary and only about half as powerful as it would normally be.”

“Sure, it’s worth a try,” I agreed, and I closed my eyes. Concentrating hard, I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter until the prickly feeling forms in my head. I relaxed my muscles until the feeling flowed through me and into the air, leaving me with goosebumps.

“That is perfect,” I heard Alec say. I opened my eyes, and he held his hands up above his head before bringing them together. All of a sudden, strange glowing gold symbols appear out of thin air and orbited around Alec and me. Alec studied them, apparently reading their meanings before sighing. The symbols disappeared, and he looked at me.

“Faith, I am afraid I have some very bad news, and I am truly sorry about this,” he said, frowning.

“Just get it over with and tell me,” I said, already wincing.

“I believe this spell was intended for you and Callagroth so that you would always be nearby. But when I knocked him over, the spell latched onto me before completing itself. It altered the strands of reality and conditions of normal living,” he explained.

“English, please,” I sighed.

Alec took a deep breath and said, “A barrier has formed around us. Until Callagroth is killed, we are unable to be more than ten feet away from each other.”