The Fates
Chapter 17

The preparations for their departure were finally done. The last night in the village they had a big fire blazing again and Celia had come to like the intimacy of their gatherings.

She had not seen anyone shift and that was something she had really hoped to see.

Celia had however seen other amazing animals, just yesterday a monkey had jumped on her shoulder as she was being shown around the spectacular forest for the last time.

It was decided that Khalil would be going with them a little more than halfway to the land of the gods, from there he would make his own way to the shifter tribe that he had talked about.

It was with strange conflict that Celia said goodbye to the tribe, her short time there had made her almost feel at home.

Amara had stepped back as soon as she was told about the joining and she had even begun being civil, which had surprised Celia greatly.

She also really longed to leave, leaving meant that they were one step closer to her and Rhale finally being joined to one another and she could hardly wait. Rhale kept making her feel like her body was burning and she wanted him to put out the fire.

Ximena had embraced her as they said goodbye, telling her that she was welcome back if she ever decided to become a warrior.

Taurus had come and gone as he pleased while they were there but at the time of their departure he was waiting for them, ready to ride off again.

It was only after they had made it through the windy stone arch that she realized that Khalil did not have a horse.

“Are we going to get another horse?” Celia asked as soon as they were safely on the other side.

“No other horse can ride as fast as Taurus.” Taurus made a sound in agreement and Celia smiled fondly at him.

“So are we going to walk?” The two men just looked at each other and smiled wide.

“No, we’re not.”

Before she knew it Khalil was ripping off his pants, she turned around just before she saw anything improper and Rhale came to embrace her, she felt his chest rumble with laughter.

“It's safe to turn around now” he whispered in her ear and she slowly turned around, her hand ready if she needed to cover her eyes.

Khalil was gone and in his place was a beautiful beast. His soft looking coat was dotted in black rosettes and as he opened his mouth she saw his huge teeth as he let out a feral roar that echoed around them.

Celia blinked several times to make sure that what she was seeing was actually real but no matter how many times she blinked the jaguar was still there.

“He is as fast as Taurus in his jaguar form.” Rhale said from behind her. “Come, we have a long way to go before we make camp.”

And then they were off again, Celia sitting in front of Rhale as they flew forward.

Khalil had no trouble keeping up with them, he ran right next to them the entire time.

They were headed north and they moved slightly to the side of where they had first come.

Because they did not want to be seen they were going to travel in forests as much as possible. People didn’t just walk around in forests, unless they were hunters, or fighters. But it was highly unlikely that they would run into anyone.

She was only happy that there was no need to go through the dark forest again.

When night fell they made camp, this time they had sleeping bags with them.

Ximena had wanted them to take tents with them but poor Taurus could only carry so much.

Celia walked around the small camp, looking for firewood, everything was dry so she already had her arms full.

“I will come back soon” Khalil said and she was ready this time, she covered her eyes before he took off his pants.

“Where is he going?”

“To hunt, we have enough food with us but you have seen his appetite.” Rhale answered and Celia nodded her head, she had seen Khalil's appetite, he ate more than she ever thought could be possible.

“Cover your eyes sweetheart” Khalil yelled from somewhere in the forest and her hand instantly went over her eyes. “I am covered now so you can open your eyes, although I don’t have anything I haven’t shown before.”

Celia could feel herself turning deep red, the first time she would see a man naked was going to be Rhale and if she could decide he would be the only one she ever saw naked.

“I caught a meal.” Khalil said, proudly holding up a wild boar and her jaw dropped, he caught and killed a boar?

“That will make an amazing meal” Rhale commented just as he got the fire blazing.

“Let's skin it.” Celia turned her attention elsewhere, she would not watch an animal get skinned.

She was lying down in her sleeping bag, she was warm and her belly was full of food so she let the soft conversation of the two men slowly lull her to sleep.

“That thing with the bow, has she done it before?” Celia was half asleep but like in a dream she still heard them speaking.

“No, that was the first time.”

“It was remarkable. Do you think joining with her is wise? Does she know?”

“No” Rhale almost growled and she swiftly wondered what that was about.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“I don’t know, I would much rather just forget about it.”

“It would affect her. Perhaps you should tell her before you reach gods land.”

“What if she changes her mind?”

“She will be angry if you do not tell her.”

Their voices faded and she fell into a deep sleep…

She was flying, soaring in the sky.

Her wings were tired but she had to keep going, something was in her system, it made her weak. But if she couldn’t make it then they would capture her.

She needed to make sure that someone was safe, it was important, very important.

She had to, she had to, she had to...

Whatever was in her system weakened her further, her wings felt heavy, so so heavy.

She worked hard at keeping herself up in the air, she flapped her wings as hard as she could, she tried harder still but she was losing height.

She could not move her wings anymore and panic was rising within her. She tried again and again and again, they would not move. Not her arms, or legs either.

She was falling fast and she kept falling.

The ground was coming closer. She closed her eyes.

Celia opened her eyes and sat straight up, chipping for breath. It had been so real, had it been only a dream?

“Celia, what’s wrong?” Rhale was beside her, it had been a dream, not real.

But she had been so afraid, she was still shaking from the terror.

“Celia? Celia, look at me!” Rhale’s stern voice made her eyes go to his and she fell into his arms. Celia slowly came back to her senses, she was crying but her body was calming down.

“It was only a dream” she said desperately “It wasn’t real, only a dream.”

She pulled away from Rhale and dried her tears, the feelings she had during the dream had been the worst. It reminded her of how she had felt when the hybrids had killed her mother and afterwards when she had been running.

Her body still shook a little but she realized that there was nothing here to make her feel this way, it was only a dream. Celia slowly looked around, Rhale was looking at her worriedly, eyes filled with worry as he rubbed her arm in a comforting gesture. Khalil was laying by the fire in his jaguar form, his eyes on her.

“Celia, what happened?”

“I... I don’t know. It was a dream.” Her body started to shake again.

“Okay, it’s okay shhh.” Rhale’s big arms came around her again. “What did you dream about?”

“I was flying but then, I don’t know.” The dream itself was fading but the feelings she had had in the dream she remembered well.

“You're safe, I will never let anything hurt you.”

Celia believed with all her heart that Rhale would try.

The next day the men didn’t mention her crying fit in the middle of the night and she was thankful for it. She still didn’t understand why she had reacted that way to a dream and she just wanted to forget about the whole thing.

After eating some meat that was leftover from the boar they had cooked over the fire last night she got up to pack away her things, she was just about to reach for her sleeping bag when Rhale took it from her.

“Go and sit down, I will do this.”

“No, I can do it” she really did not want Rhale to see her as weak.

“Celia” He gave her one of those looks, the ‘do as I say or else’ look and she gave up, not wanting to argue with him she went to sit down. She was still tired, that dream had worn her down tremendously.

It was still morning when they rode off, Taurus maneuvering skills as good as ever as he galloped through the forest, Khalil fast behind them.

They stopped by a creek, drank and filled their pouches before they rode on.

Celia’s body was starting to get used to all this riding and her legs only hurt a little when they stopped for the night.

This time when she slept she did not dream and she thanked the Fates for it.

It was the third day of riding, Celia was secretly glad when she saw that the forest ended. She thought a change of scenery would be nice, she was getting tired of looking at trees.

Before them stood a smaller mountain and they rode towards it. The weather was getting really cold now and she had put on the thick winter clothes that they had brought with them.

The mountain top was covered in snow and the white surface reflected off the light making the snow glisten like a million diamonds. Celia was so caught up by the beautiful scene that she missed what was happening on the ground below it.

She pulled her eyes away from the mountain at the sound of Khalil’s loud roar.

In front of them stood the biggest, ugliest thing Celia had ever seen. Rhale swiftly jumped off Taurus and together Rhale and Khalil ran towards the thing.

It was at least four times as tall as Rhale and its loud grunting noises were coming from deep down its thick throat.

Its mouth was hanging open and she could see pointy yellowing teeth stacked over each other. Big droplets of droll were running down the side of its mouth, landing on its protruding stomach.

It moved its arms around in a wild frenzy as Rhale ducked and ran towards its belly, he swiftly slashed it with his sword, making a deep cut in its abdomen. Taurus took a couple of steps back while Celia looked on, shocked by the ghastly sight before her.

The things' guts came spilling out and Rhale quickly jumped out of the way. Khalil was not as lucky, he had had a death grip on the things' leg when Rhale had struck it and he got covered in its intestines.

If the sight was not enough for Celia to want to vomit the smell most definitely were.

She covered her mouth with her hand, she had never smelled anything so revolting in her life. And poor Khalil was covered in it.

They rode off in search of water so Khalil could wash himself, Celia could smell him even from on top of Taurus and her lips twisted into a grimace.

Suddenly she longed for the forest again, they had somehow managed to avoid dark creatures there.

They eventually found another creek and Khalil jumped into the cold water without hesitation, splashing around like a maniac.

“What was that thing?” Celia turned to look at Rhale.

“A mountain troll.” Rhale muttered as he dismounted and walked over to the creek to wash his hands.

“Did you have to gut it?”

“I saw an opportunity and I took it.” Khalil was still complaining about the smell as they settled down for the night. Rhale needed very little sleep, so he had been the one to stay up and watch over them as they slept.

Tonight, however, he needed sleep so Khalil was going to keep watch. This was their last night together, tomorrow morning they would go separate ways. Celia was going to be really sad to see Khalil go, she had come to enjoy his company tremendously.

Rhale made himself comfortable next to Celia and she fell into a dreamless sleep safely in his arms.

“This is where I leave you” Khalil shifted back to his human form in order to say a proper goodbye.

He held his hand to his heart but Celia threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

“Stay safe”

“We'll see each other again sweet Angel” But Khalil hugged her tightly to him.

Him and Rhale embraced as well, in a more manly manner.

“Remember what I said” Khalil said sternly to Rhale but his eyes shifted to Celia.

She felt like she should remember something but it was just out of her grasp.

“Be safe, we will meet up when all this is done. If you find out anything about the Fates”

“Then I will send a message. “

“Only use”

“Only use a raven, I know”

Celia and Rhale stood and watched as Khalil ran away.

“It’s only us again.” She said when she could no longer see Khalil.

“Only us” Rhale said as his arms came around her from behind. “Do you mind it?”

“No” Celia smiled and looked up at him “I don’t mind it.” She lifted herself up on her tippy toes and kissed his lips sweetly.

“Not at all” she whispered against his lips.

As they rode away again Celia could not shake the feeling that she was supposed to remember something. If she only knew what it was.

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