The Fates
Chapter 7

Celia was staring at the sky angrily, after the forest she never thought that she would want the sun to go away.

They had been walking for hours and had only stopped once for a short break and Celia wondered why she had even bothered to wash herself in the spring, she was so sweaty that she felt disgusting. Rhale on the other hand hardly even looked bothered as they continued on torturous climb.

Her legs hurt badly and shook from the pain but she willed herself forward. Celia was walking first now that the trail was steeper, Rhale had said that it would be easier for him to catch her if she were to fall if he was walking behind her. Celia hoped that was true, she couldn’t even bring herself to look down, she had done that once and almost lost her balance. She did not want to fall to such a gruesome death.

In some parts the trail was so narrow that they needed to walk sideways, but those places were luckily few and far in-between.

Except for the heat and the treacherous ground nothing of significance had yet to happen, sure she had stepped on a few loose rocks here and there but Rhale had been quick to grab a hold of her to keep her upright.

Celia wasn’t sure if she should be happy about the fact that nothing had tried to stop them. She wondered what it would mean if she truly was an angel. She knew that she didn’t have any special powers but would that save her from being hunted?

She thought not, especially now that the King knew of her existence. What would the King do if she simply never showed up at court? Would he send out people to catch her? Celia already knew the answer to that, it wasn’t a question of if the King would do that but a question of when.

She also wondered what she would do or even say if she was allowed entry to the Fates. Celia had been so focused on the journey to the Fates itself that she had thought very little about the fact that she might actually meet them. It had seemed so far fetched to her but now as they were getting closer to the top she felt petrified.

Celia was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn’t notice the big boulder that was falling down from the mountain at an accelerating speed. Neither did Rhale apparently since he didn’t shout out a warning to her.

When she did notice there was little she could do, it was already upon them and Celia braced herself for the force, covering her head with her hands. She hadn’t needed to, the boulder went past her and straight at Rhale, she could hear herself scream as she realized that it would smash him into pieces.

Celia watched horrified as Rhale put his arms up, she expected the boulder to break his arms but it came to a standstill in his hands. He made a grunting noise and threw it away, down the mountain like it was nothing but a pebble.

She gaped at him, not believing what she had just witnessed. How could anyone be that strong?

“Well, either that was a coincidence or the Fates do not want me here. Keep going, I’m going to walk a few more steps behind you just in case.” Rhale said calmly.

She shook her head in amazement but continued to move forward, she had known that he was strong but she had never realized just how strong he actually was.

They made it halfway up before Celia needed to take a break again, they sat down when they came to a wider part of the trail and she gulped down her water greedily. They had little food left, Rhale had planned on getting more provisions at the village where they had planned on staying the night but everyone being dead had made him change their plans.

Celia still wondered what could kill an entire village when they had all been safely inside their homes, when her village had been attacked only those who were outside had suffered.

Rhale divided the food and told her that he would hunt on their way back. She knew that it was a necessity but that was still something she did not want to witness.

“We'll walk a little longer today, hopefully we’ll find a broader place where we can spend the night.” Celia forced herself up on her feet again hoping that they soon would find a suitable place, she was thurily exhausted.

It was evening when they found ground that protruded out from the trail and made a big cliff. Celia let herself sink down, happy that she could finally rest her tired legs. She was glad now for the laps that Rhale had made her run, if she had not been forced to do so she knew that she would never have been able to walk all this way.

Rhale sat down beside her and they looked out at the view, Celia had never been so high up before and she was astonished at the beauty before her. The sun sat low in the sky and they watched as it slowly disappeared behind the horizon.

The air grew cooler and she sighed in relief, the heat had been unbearable. She became aware of Rhale’s closeness to her and her heart rate picked up. They had still not talked about what had happened between them in the water and she could not stop thinking about it. Celia was afraid that he regretted it, what could someone like him possibly see in her?

The stories she had heard about him had all seemed so unbelievable, but now that she knew Rhale herself she could easily believe that he really had done all of those things and more.

Rhale was celebrated as a hero and talked about with as much awe as trepidation. If she remembered correctly Rhale had joined a warrior tribe at a young age and after that his great deeds were too many to mention. The most famous story was the one about when he had slayed a Typhon, the deadliest and most fearsome monster that ever had ever roamed the earth.

“Did you really do all of those things that are said in the stories?” Celia's curiosity got the better of her, sometimes she felt like she really knew him but other times, like today when he caught that boulder, she felt like she didn’t know him at all.

“Depends on what stories you’ve heard. Some things I did, some things I didn’t. People have a tendency to exaggerate.” Rhale turned his head to looked at her, as their eyes met she felt lost in them, as she had felt so many times before.

“How old are you?” Rhale moved his head closer to hers and his scent made her dizzy.

“When you become old enough, age loses its meaning. I was here before the Fates made the angels, before the first villages grew into cities, before Kings and Queens ruled the land.”

Celia had a hard time comprehending what he was saying, how could anyone have lived for so long. He must see her as nothing more than a child. But then why was he coming closer still? Why was his lips so close to hers?

“I must be a child in your eyes”

“I have walked the earth for centuries and never once have I met someone that made me feel as much as you do. You are young, yes, but no living man could ever see you as a child Celia.” Rhale’s lips reached hers then, hard and demanding and this time when his tongue touched her lips she opened without hesitation.

She loved the taste of him, it was like nothing else in this world and she met his tongue's thrust with her own. Celia moaned as Rhale's hand found its way into her hair, guiding her head to the side so that he could enter her mouth deeper.

He pulled away from her, gently kissing the side of her lips. “You need some sleep, tomorrow will be another long day.”

Celia eluctantly agreed and she let herself be pulled down to the ground, she rested her head on his chest and fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.

The next day they walked on at a brisk pace, Celia felt refreshed after a good night’s sleep. She never slept so well as when she slept in Rhale’s arms, he somehow managed to keep the nightmares that she so often had away from her mind.

They had ended up walking more than halfway yesterday and now they were really close to the top. Celia could feel it, it was like an energy flowing around the air, growing stronger the closer they got and her legs moved faster, willing this climb to be done.

She could see the fog now, it was like a thick wall before them but as soon as they entered it the wind picked up. Celia could hear the wind howling around her but somehow she remained unaffected, turning around she saw that the same could not be said for Rhale.

Rhale walked with his head down and was grabbing the side of the mountain for support as he tried to move forward despite the harsh wind. Celia's hair moved wildly around her but other than that the wind did not bother her.

“Go on! I will meet you at the top!” Rhale yelled loudly, still the words were muffled and she had to strain to hear what he said. Celia continued walking but when she looked back she could see that the wind was pulling him backwards no matter how hard he tried.

I'm not going without him, she thought and decided that it was time to test the theory, if the Fates really would allow her safe passage.

Slowly she turned around and forced herself not to look down, she then walked back to Rhale, the wind still didn’t touch her which she took as a good sign.

“Go back Celia!” Rhale’s voice was harsh as he yelled through the loud screeching of the wind.

But Celia would not listen to him, not this time. If the wind worsened he would be blown right of the mountain and determined she continued to make her way to him.

As she got closer to Rhale the wind lessened around him and as soon as she reached him the wind changed its course to moved around them, blowing wildly at their sides but never touching either of them.

“I’m not going without you” Celia grabbed Rhale’s big hand hard as she turned herself back around “Stay close to me.”

“What would you have done if that had not worked?” she heard Rhale ask behind her, didn’t he understand? She could do none of this without him.

“I would have fallen” She replied calmly, she would rather fall then be left here without him.

They moved forward and the wind howled agrily around them, the closer they got to the top the louder it became. Celia badly wanted to cover her ears but she kept one of her hands in his, making sure she did not lose him.

The path ended and before them was a dead end, Celia looked up, they were so close, but the mountain was like a wall between them and their destination. She realized that they somehow would need to climb over it.

“I’ll lift you up!” Rhale yelled behind her, the wind was impossible loud and she barely heard him even though he was right behind her.

“No! Then you won’t be able to get up!”

But Rhale paid her no mind, she felt his hands around her waist and before she knew it she was up in the air, her hands reflexively grabbed a hold of the edge. He pushed her higher up and she had no choice but to hoist herself up the last of the way.

The instant Celia reached the top the wind stopped, she turned around only to realize that the wind was still blowing under the cliff and she could no longer see Rhale.

Panicking, Celia laid down on her stomach and crawled until her head was over the edge, she could now see Rhale struggling against the wind. She reached her hand down as far as she could and yelled out to him, his head snapped up and he grabbed her hand, as soon as he did the wind moved around him again and he jumped up, grabbing the edge with one hand. Celia pulled as hard as she could and soon Rhale was laying beside her. No more wind, thank the Fates.

Celia rose herself up at the same time as Rhale and as she looked around. As she strained her eyes to try and see through the thick mist the fog began to disappear.

They were on a flat surface, high wild grasses and different coloured flowers were growing all around them. Celia took a deep breath and the most amazing scent filled her, the most perfect mix of spicy and sweet.

“Carnations” Rhale came to stand beside her.

“What?”

“It’s Carnations, the flowers. That’s what you smell like.” Celia tore her eyes away from the beautiful scene before her and looked at Rhale, he was staring at her with a small smile on his lips, his blue eyes soft.

“This is what I smell like to you?” She asked bewildered.

“The scent of angels” Rhale whispered gently.

Celia took a deep breath through her nose and smelled the wonderful scent, she had never seen such a flower before.

The flowers were small and delicate with vibrant colours of pink, red, white and purple.

Rhale stroked a piece of stray hair back behind her ear “The scent of you.”

Celia could feel her cheeks redden and she looked away from him. The top was a lot bigger than she had thought but she could not see an entrance anywhere.

“What do we do now?” Celia asked, almost hoping that they could just leave. She didn’t really look forward to walking all the way down again but she was really wishing that this whole angel thing had been a mistake.

“Now we wait.” Celia hunched her shoulders in defeat, she would not even try to persuade him to leave after everything they had gone through to get here. They sat themselves down amongst the flowers.

“What are we going to wait for?”

“I don’t know”

It was so peaceful here and Celia was so tired that she laid herself down, she was also very thirsty but she didn’t see the saddle bag, Rhale must have lost it in the wind.

She felt him lay down beside her. It was so peaceful and so quiet, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep…

Something made her wake up, she looked at Rhale but he was sleeping. Celia sat up confused and looked around, to the far left of her fog had appeared again, it moved around and around, shaping itself like an arch.

Celia rose up and tentatively walked towards it, she looked behind her at Rhale again, he was still sleeping.

Should she wake him? Something told her that she shouldn’t, what she should do was walk through the arch of fog. Celia walked slowly, almost trying to fight it but completely unable to.

Another step, then another until she passed through the fog.

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