TRUE, PIERCING, UNBEATABLE: FATE
—THEMA—
She didn't know when the rain had stopped, but when she woke, there was only the sound of a massacre outside.
A spirit, an older woman, sat beside Thema on her cot, watching the curtain. The woman seemed to be nervous. She twitched and jolted oddly.
"Will they hurt me?" Thema asked, not expecting a true answer. "The men out there."
The woman slid her watchful eyes to Thema and made a gesture. Back to bed, you.
"I don't want to sleep," Thema whispered, hugging herself. "Who is out there?"
The spirit, old and wrinkly, shook her head. Freedom.
The words were caught in Thema's throat at what the spirit communicated. The woman vanished, and five large figures entered her cold living space. She hugged her pillow, and shut her eyes.
My freedom will mean the destruction of my mother.
Freedom—Good.
Dying mother—Bad.
A sharp scent hit her and she flung open her eyes.
—REESE—
Holy fucking shit.
As soon as Reese saw the explosion that had nearly burned his face off, he was out. Grabbed, taken. His magic was already too weak.
And all he could think was, holy fucking shit.
—DREW—
A plague had never been suffered by the citizens of Ziralem. Not the new country. But an infectious plague had hit the old country, when Ziralem was not yet Ziralem.
Drew saw his mother scramble for an exit, demanding that the guards let her pass first because she was Lady Orvar, but the guards were so consumed with their own panic that they seemed to forget all status. They, too, ran.
Birds without heads, running, screeching, shoving. And out in the distance, not quite at the entrance of the estate, Drew saw what looked like a small armada approaching, bearing seals that were not Ziralem's.
Kingdom of Verskyia. One of the only remaining monarchy's in the world, and one that Ziralem hadn't encountered since the Levantica trees were erected.
This was an invasion.
Drew filtered through his memory of Verskyia, and all he found were terrible echoes.
YOU ARE READING
Aureate Fates
FantasyIn a country divided by a blood feud, a unifying festival brings both sides together for a few weeks of celebration. Reds, society's elites, are forced to interact with Blues, society's poorest and most unfortunate citizens. But on the last night o...
