Destiny Unbonded

Chapter 7

The Lands and all their bounty were given to men through the generosity of the Gods. But the Chaos poisoned lands beyond the eastern mountains were forbidden.

- The Canon

[Cyril]

The closer we came to the Piso Dráckos Mountains, the more impenetrable they seemed. Illuminated by the sun at our backs, sharp points of hard rock and snow speared the clouds above, standing side by side like an armored phalanx. The hairs on my bare arms stood up, as much from the chilled breeze that descended from the heights as the apprehension of what lied before us.

Since the bandits, our journey had thankfully gone without incident. Grasslands gradually ceded to forest, first hardwoods and then pine. We passed through scattered villages. Eyes turned our way as they would for all strangers, but sometime they would dart away when I returned the gaze, and I could not escape the feeling that we were purposefully watched.

I took guarded moments to study Ophelia along the way. With long flowing dark hair, gentle face, and lithe figure, she was truly beautiful. And she had a smile like morning sunshine that chased the night chill away. In moments of delirious thought, I imagined us together. But with she being a Moirai and me of Chaos, how could that ever come to be?

Kit seemed to like Ophelia, and they became friends, sometimes ganging up against me in playful jest. I taught Ophelia some of the sign language so she and Kit might converse on a basic level.

After coming to the mouth of a red-rock canyon that cut through the foothills, I spread the map on a flat rock. The promise of safe passage through the mountains to the Forbidden Lands was as faint as the dotted line drawn on parchment, but it was all we had. Ophelia dismounted and came to my side, the worry that prickled my gut did not show on her face.

"Let us make camp here," I said, pointing to a circ of boulders that would provide some shelter. "Best we cross the mountains starting early in the morning, rested and well fed."

Game was plentiful here, and I managed to claim two grouse and a rabbit with my bow. Roasted over the fire, combined with berries that Kit found and flatbread from our supplies, we had a fine meal.

As dusk painted the western sky in reds, oranges, and indigos, we reclined on our bedrolls, Ophelia near me. Dash curled up beside Kit. Heat from the flickering fire reflected off the surrounding boulders, providing a pleasant warmth, but the night cold was yet to come. The purchase of warmer clothes and furs in the last village seemed a wise investment.

Ophelia turned toward me. "If I may ask, how did you obtain that map?"

"Father gave it to me the eve of my expulsion from Kelde. My mother sent it to him years earlier." I took a deep breath. "She left us when I was a young boy. I have only a few vague memories of her, but those are warm with love."

"Why would she leave you?"

Logically, as a Moirai pledged in service to the Gods, I should be guarded with Ophelia, but, inexplicably, I was not. "Father told me she is of the Chaos and eventually the Gods would have found her. She fled to protect us. I hope the map leads me to her."

There was that Gods' cursed word again: hope. I clung to it, but it seemed so fragile a thing to lead my destiny.

"Sure are you to follow me, Ophelia?" I said. "I fear danger may accompany us."

She laid a hand on my arm. "I am with you, Cyril."

There was a trust in Ophelia's deep honey eyes. But the doubts creeping into my mind made me shiver, and I felt unworthy of her confidence. What if I led her and my little sister to doom? I shook away those dark thoughts, for what good were they?