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I unfurled my wings and stretched them out, releasing the tension and stiffness from being cramped up for so long, a soft groan emitting from my throat.
With one mighty slap of my wings, I shot up from the ground. The natural wind was powerful, but my wings were stronger—they carried me up, through the white clouds, until I made it to the other side, to the never-ending stretch of azure. There, I flew to a small, flat clearing a few hundred feet below the mountain’s sharp peak. My wings flexed once before they snapped shut and disappeared.
The mouth of a cave yawned before me, ancient runes carved around its opening, the magic potent, old, and strange. Strong magic always had a taste to it, but when it came to the Three Spinners’ magic, it had the ability to cauterize the taste buds on one’s tongue. And despite the intensity of their magic, my mouth tasted of nothing.
Ducking my head, I walked into the dark abyss. The tunnel was small and narrow, and if I hadn’t tucked my wings away, I never would have fit. The tunnel broke off into different paths, creating a labyrinth of sorts—a maze one could get lost in forthe rest of their life if they took a wrong turn, which explained why there were so many skeletons.
This was not my first time visiting the Three Spinners, nor did I imagine it would be my last. I knew my way around the innards of the mountain almost as well as I knew the nine tiers of the Spirit Realm. I knew to always—always—stick to the main path, even though the labyrinth could easily persuade you to try another.
No matter how deep I ventured into the mountain, the dripping of water was ever present. It sounded no better than a male with an enlarged prostate trying to take a leak—pissing out an inconsistent flow. Sometimes it was a light dribble, and other times, a sputtering stream.
A pulsating, luminescent orange glowed at the end of the tunnel. The closer I got, the hotter the temperature became, until it was enough to make my own blood feel like it was boiling in my veins. Reaching the end, I stepped out into the vast expanse that roared before me, peering at the twisted path that snaked ahead. An ocean of lava bubbled on either side of it, striking itself against it as if the two sides were trying to reunite with one another, but the path was in its way. With each strike, droplets of lava were tossed up into the air, landing on the path, pebbling it in the slippery, blazing-hot substance.
I glanced down at the boots I’d had a sorceress enchant prior to coming here, hoping that these ones lasted longer than the last pair. Considering there was only one way to find out, I continued ahead. Lava smashed against the sides of the path, spraying onto me, burning through my clothes, sinking well past my skin. Before the lava had a chance to cool, my immortal cells pushed it out and healed the bloodless holes. This process repeated over and over again as I forged on.
By the time I reached the end, overall, I was quite impressed with how well my boots held up against the lava. Normally,the flesh from my feet would have been long gone by now. Next time, I would get the sorceress to enchant my clothes as well.
A round dais was raised before me. On it, three towering, empty thrones sat side by side. Behind them, spanning from floor to ceiling, was a stretch of never-ending shelves chock-full of yarn-filled spools—one for every soul. The Wall of Weavings.
I glanced to the left of the thrones, finding one of the sisters sitting at one of the spinning wheels.
The Goddess of Fate.
Her bony, curled fingers worked tirelessly as she spun the glowing fibers by hand—spinning a life story for the soul she was working on. She wore her wiry, gray hair braided, an array of reds and purples streaked throughout it. Matching her hair, her clothing consisted of similar colors, resembling the berries she adored so much.
“Well hello, handsome. It’s been a while.” Her stormy-gray eyes met mine.
“Fate,” I greeted her.
Knowing full well why I had come, she said, “Let me lay eyes upon the little treasures.”
I slipped my hand into my pocket and took out a small bundle of cloth. Slowly, I unraveled it, feeling her greedy eyes watching my every move. I tilted my hand, allowing her to see the five tiny seeds.
Like my leather boots, I’d had them enchanted—enchanted to survive in even the most unfathomable conditions—like here, in the belly of the mountain’s blazing inferno. With these seeds, she could begin propagating plants down here, something she had never been able to do before.
She quit her spinning. Quickly, she extended her purple-stained fingers towards me, gesturing for me to hand them over.
I gave her a devilish grin. “Not until you tell me what I have come to hear. If I wage war on the New Gods, will I win?”
She sucked on her yellow, cracked teeth, mulling my request over. Then she nodded. Waving her hand, a spool full of glowing, black yarn was pulled from one of the shelves, floating over to us. It dropped into her hand. She began to unravel it, her eyes scanning the threads every so often as if she were thumbing through a novel and just reading the chapter titles. It took her a while to find what she was searching for, but when she did, she stopped and began to concentrate on the portion she held between her hands. She brought it closer to her face as she inspected the yarn.
After a moment, her brows raised. Slowly, her hands lowered to her lap, the yarn still taut. Her expression seemed almost . . . surprised.
“Well?” I asked in soft demand, taking a step forward.
“The Goddess of Free Will has granted you a choice in the matter.” She looked up at me, curiosity swarming in the pits of her gray eyes. “When the time comes, whether you take the Living and Immortal Realms will be up to you.”
That vague answer was not what I had come here for and I knew the Three Spinners well enough to be cautious of murky answers. “If I am going to give you these seeds, Fate, I am going to need more clarity than that.”
Her gaze bounced between my fist which held the seeds and the yarn in her hands—a decision standing before her. She clicked her tongue, her tell that her mind was made up. “Then ask specifically what it is you wish to know.”
“If I declare war on the New Gods, will I win?”
“If you were to go to war now, you would lose,” she said, not bothering to look back at the yarn. “But if you seed discord among the New Gods and give it time to grow, then you shall win.”
“How long must I wait?”
“Many, many, many years,” she answered as she began to roll the yarn back up.
