Inflexible | Fated Four: Book 1

Chapter Five

*Clarissa*

The next morning I stood next to the lake with Arrow and Soren. Ryder and Calix had gone out into the city on business. I wasn't sure what exactly that business was, but I knew I shouldn't ask, at least not yet. They would tell me eventually, I was sure.

My training would be starting today and Arrow and Soren would be teaching me how to control and use the powers that I inherited from Melinoe.

"Well as we've seen, you can see ghosts," Soren told me, "Unsurprising given who your Mother is."

"Tell us about when you started seeing ghosts," Arrow told me.

"I guess it started happening after my Mother visited me," I admitted, "After she left that night, I saw Percival, but I haven't seen any ghosts around here."

"The woods around the lake house are part of our property," Soren told me, "Ghosts know better than to trespass on the Four Fates' territory."

"So then how are you going to teach me how to control my powers?" I asked.

"It's simple really," Soren replied, "The three of us are going to hike through the woods."

"What?" I asked, severely confused by his response, "How is a hike through the woods going to help me?"

Arrow took pity on me and spoke next.

"We're going to hike through the woods until we reach the edge of the barrier," he told me, "There's usually some ghosts near there."

I nodded.

We entered the woods and began to walk through them. As we walked, my mind wandered and I found myself thinking of the two men with me. Soren and Arrow Mortane.

They were mysterious that was for sure. Two of the Four Fates. Well I knew the story of the Three Fates. Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho were all children of Nyx. They controlled the fate of humans. Clotho would spin life threads, Lachesis would measure how long the threads were, thereby indicating the lifespan, and Atropos would cut the threads when it was time. But there was a Fourth Fate. Which of the brothers was the Fourth Fate? I wasn't sure. In fact I wasn't even sure which of the four brothers were Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho. 

Maybe Arrow was Atropos. He was the oldest sibling, just like Atropos, but maybe the birth order was just another thing the humans got wrong. Atropos could have been the youngest for all I knew.

Besides, I was just guessing. I didn't know for sure if Arrow was Atropos. He and the other three Mortane brothers didn't exactly make it clear who was who. I assumed their powers revealed more about their identities, but they didn't seem to use them.

Maybe I'd get a better idea of their identities today. After all, they had to use their powers to train with me, right?

We reached a clearing and stopped.

"Look over there, Clary," Arrow told me, "Tell me what you see."

I looked in the direction that he indicated and saw a silvery curtain-like structure in front of me. Although it looked more solid and far more sturdy than a curtain.

"Is that the barrier?" I asked.

"Very good," Soren told me, "Yes, that's the barrier. Now what do you see beyond the barrier?"

I looked beyond the barrier and saw silvery transparent men and women walking around the woods. I swallowed hard as I started to hear their whispery voices in my head. I bit my lip as the whispering got louder.

"Ghosts," I gasped, "There are so many of them."

"Can you hear them?" Soren asked.

"Yeah," I replied as the whispering got even louder.