Page 33 of Fate

“Lunos! Goddess!” Ripples echo across the water in the wake of my voice and power. There’s no telling if she’ll hear me, but for some reason I know she will. I believe she will.

“My, my. You have been busy,” the crystal-clear tone of Lunos’s voice chimes behind me. I turn in the sand and see the goddess of magic and moon tower above me. Her silver eyes of power flick across my body, as if reading my past through it.

“You manifested my power while awake.” Her head tilts to the side, an owl considering prey in the wheat fields. “A few times it seems. You have exceeded my expectations; you will be more than ready when you reach me.”

A chill grabs me at that. “Ready for this war of yours?”

Lunos straightens her head, immediately making me regret the acid in my words. The goddess steps past me and gazes out onto the lake.

“It is not my war Skion. It is the eternal war. The one that returns, every cycle, in every form.” Lunos languidly spins in place, ethereal threads of power drifting from her. “And yes. You will be ready to aid my efforts, now that you understand what power is.”

The corner of my lip twitches, still irked that Lunos hadn’t simply explained to me. “Why didn’t you tell me? It would have been simpler.”

The goddess sighs, disappointed in my question. “Think about it, Skion. Would you have truly believed if I had told you? No. An infinitesimally small fleck of doubt would have remained, locking away your power forever. And that, I cannot abide. I need your power.” As soon as she gives life to the words, I realize what a stupid question that had been. True power requires true belief.

“What can you tell me about this power, this magic? Will it always be this painful to use?”

Lunos quirks an eyebrow and looks up in the night sky. “Pain…I have forgotten what that feels like. But, yes. Any use of this power, this magic, comes with a cost.”

Unless I hold onto it forever. My little test proved that, but I’m not ready to share that with Lunos. Her words today have felt…hungry. No, they’ve also been that way, haven’t they? More than that though, Helia’s fate eats at me. Aspect or no, being thrown aside as a reward is enough to encourage wariness. The world quakes, the night twisting above us, a sign of my waking.

“Too late for more. Keep training Skion. Keep using my power and come to me.”

***

The familiar sensation of a bed of furs cushions my back, giving me a quiet surety. I open my eyes and attempt to roll out of Helia’s bed, only to be greeted with a surge of dull pain thrumming through me. Groaning, I lie back down and take in the surroundings.

I’m right; this is Helia’s room, except no Helia resting on my chest this time. She is nowhere to be seen, though the remnants of a breakfast lay on her desk. I assume breakfast based on the light shining through the one window in her room. It’s not long before exhaustion and pain force my eyes closed. Besides, too much is on my mind to glean tidbits about Helia.

What does Lunos truly want? All this talk of belief and power, the eternal war…through it all, me. The Conduit. It can’t be as simple as randomly being a fated champion of a goddess. There has to be more to it.

The gentle creak of the wooden door interrupts my thoughts as someone walks in. Through cracked lids, I see Helia look my way, a gloomy pallor clear as day. I force my eyes open, watching as the weight on her chiseled shoulders evaporates. Relief washes over her like the first spring rains.

“One of these days, I’ll find my way to your bed on my own.”

Helia’s mouth twitches before clutching her face, laughter uncontrollably rips from the depths of her soul. Not a chuckle, not a belly laugh, but something akin to a tonic from a physic; a healing balm to drive away the demons. Rushing to my side, Helia easily scoops me off the bed, tenderly clutching me to her chest. The drop of a tear hits my head, the first drops of a rainstorm. I shove the pain to the side; she needs this and so do I. Her scent floods my nostrils; grass, forest pine, and fresh dew.

Eventually the clouds fade, and Helia lowers me like a winter snowflake back on the bed, earning her a grateful sound as the cloud of furs soothe the fiery pain shooting through my body. Bringing over the chair from the desk, she falls into it at the bedside. Through a splayed hand, I see those green eyes staring into my soul, my own storm brewing within.

“Andra told me what happened in the alleyway two nights ago. Skion, you—”

“Two nights ago?!” I struggle to push myself up and fall back due to the pain. “I’ve been out that long?”

Helia gives a throaty, yet exasperated affirmation before continuing. “Skion, you have to promise me you won’t do that again. I know what we are and what we face. But, seeing you like this…” With each word, Helia leans closer to the bed until she is practically leaning on it. “I cannot lose you.”

My mouth dries out and the pain fades to the background. Hearing those words is sudden; our relationship is still developing. Pantheons, we haven’t even had sex yet. Seeing the raw vulnerability of my commander, my savior, it is difficult to resist.

Struggling, I stammer a reply. “I-I, um, thank you Helia. It warms me to hear you say that. But, I can’t make that promise; you know I can’t. I’d do anything to protect you, and the others. Well, maybe not Andra.”

Helia’s unintentional chuckle dissolves the edge of where that conversation was headed.

“So be it. I suppose I wouldn’t fall for someone who would put their own safety over others.” A resigned smirk finishes blunting that edge, and I smile in kind, the corners of my eyes crinkling.

“Wait, so you’re falling for me? I thought you had already fallen. I mean, you do keep putting me in your bed.” A muscle twitches in Helia’s cheek, only serving to urge me forward. I pull the saddest pout I can muster. “You keep putting me here but nothing happens. Almost makes a girl think she isn’t wanted.”

Am I being an ass, considering I’m the reason nothing has happened? Yes. Am I okay teasing Helia like this? Based on the feral smolder in her eyes; absolutely.

Helia pushes out of the chair and looms over me. A mountain lioness approaching cornered prey. A hand slowly glides up my chest and gently, but oh so firmly, grips the side of my face. With the intensity of the summer sun, Helia leans in.