Cantral The Entra

You are not favoured by the Universe.

Haroc charges for Ramet. His boots slam against the ice so hard I imagine cracks forming and being swallowed whole by the frigid water beneath. My instincts faulter, I stall. Fendan charges too and meets Haroc head on. Their metal bodies clang and send vibrations through the ice but it does not crack, it does not forsake us.

Fendan, Ramet and Haroc crash and clash. My helmet slips over my head and still I do not move. My courage has deserted and Zafira's words flee from my mind.

Ramet tears Fendan from Haroc's grip. Fear renders me useless, as frozen as the lake I stand upon. All my life I've trained in the simulation rooms, and they were dangerous, I was injured, I could have died but nothing has ever felt as real as this.

Haroc's boot crashes into Fendan's chest and he falls with his back against the ice. Slow and steady, with the arrogance of someone who believes they have won, Haroc approaches, his foot lifts, ready to crash down on Fendan's head.

"Hey!" Ramet shouts. "Did you know I used to laugh at you?" She laughs now too. "Haroc, Prime's oldest prisoner ..."

Haroc turns, he stares at Ramet.

"I never liked you," Ramet continues. "Surprised you came here today ... was it my poem? Or Cantral? You'll do anything for Cantral, won't you?" She shakes her head. "Misplaced love, don't worry, we've all been there."

Haroc charges for Ramet and she sprints away. Over the lake and into the forest. I run to Fendan and kneel beside him.

"Fendan ..." I whisper.

Fendan sits up, he rubs his bruised temple. "I'm fine."

"I can't do this," my voice is hysterical, my body shakes. "He's chasing Ramet, and I can't do this!"

Fendan stands. "Cantral," he snaps, "you are not favoured by the Universe, you are not special, you have no prophecy. Haroc was wrong—"

"How is this supposed help?" I shout.

"Haroc was wrong." Fendan smiles. "He is not imbued with the strength of the Universe, he is but a person, who hurts and bleeds, and he can die. And you are just Cantral, caring, loving, fearful and strong. You took Haroc on when you were twelve and you can do it now too." And before I can answer Fendan sprints away.

The ghost of the Detrie woman stands beside me, my first kill, my only kill. She seemed old at the time, to a child, but she can't have had many years on me. But she was braver than me, her life meant more than mine. I owe it to her to wipe Haroc from existence. I owe it to everyone.

On that day, she looked at me, she saw me. She knew it was not my fault, it was not a child's fault. But I'm no longer a child. I'm an adult and my actions have consequences. I'm scared but I'm strong too. Zafira's words find me, if I don't kill Haroc, I'm with him.

I run into the forest. Footsteps show the way. Fresh white snow crunches under my feet, it feels different here, than it did in the simulation room. Softer, crunchier. Shouts drive me forward and I ignore the prints in the snow. I run faster. Anger, guilt and hope spur me on.

And then I see them. A nightmare. A horror story.

Haroc flings Ramet against the trunk of a tree. Metal cracks against woods. She slumps to the ground, lifeless. Her suit conceals the horrors of the injuries I imagine she has endured. And the tree bears the scars of attack. Ice and bark no longer cling to a portion of the trunk and yellow sap slips from a deep wound. She won't be dead, Haroc wants her to suffer, he said it himself and I never doubt Haroc.

Blue blood colours the snow around Fendan, as if the ground swapped places with the sky. His suit is a mangled mess, his head, a shade of blue unnatural to him. If Fendan cannot match Haroc, why did he believe I could? Doubts creep in, but will they guide me? Or will they debilitate me?