Breathlessly pulling apart while lying in the grass, I rolled onto my back as we giggled together and looked up at the clouds, our hands locked together. Reaching over, I jabbed my finger into her ribcage, making her scrunch up defensively while laughing. “That’s for whacking me on the head last night.” The final debt repaid from our previous confrontations.

  “I suppose I deserve that,” she said with regret, "how is it?”

  “Surprisingly fine; I had a killer headache when I woke up, but it’s gone now.” I rolled over as she reached out, pressing gently on it to see for herself.

  As I leaned back when I felt her hands pull away, I was taken aback by how close her face was as she kissed me softly and rested her head on my chest. “So, I suppose we’re a thing now.”

  ‘I beg your pardon for interrupting, but there’s more to it than merely a kiss and a promise,’ Meadhbh interjected, disrupting the moment as we were reminded her presence.

  ‘Oh right, I forgot you were eavesdropping on us. So then, what’s this all about?’

  ‘Well, if you’re graciously allowing me to finish explaining, you still need to link your essences together. This will be huge for you, Sadie, as the substantial amount of mana required will help to open your veins, and you will both become considerably stronger.’

  ‘How will that work? My body painfully rejects the mana of others,' I asked, furrowing my brows as I instinctively glanced towards the path leading back down.

  “I have the same problem. Is this because of our connection?” Ashley said, shooting up.

  ‘I had suspected as much when Sadie first mentioned it, but then, hearing about how you glow in her eyes, I knew it was true. Fate is a term often bandied about as something nonexistent to blame for misfortune, yet it is very real and utterly unforgiving. F?r described how there are major and minor strands of Fate that weave through the tapestry of time. Minor strands resemble luck, where the outcome matters little in the grand scheme of the universe.’

  Hearing that she was descending into another lengthy monologue, I climbed to my feet and pulled Ashley up beside me. As she wrapped her arms around me, I felt my cheek graze against her still sandy hair as we savoured one last moment of our newfound affection. I could feel my heart racing from her touch, and I hoped that yielding to our emotions was the right decision.

  ‘Major strands,’ Meadhbh kept sprouting as we made our way back down to the cave, ‘are significant events that Fate has decreed must occur in one way or another. Attempting to defy Fate is deemed impossible, as it has never been achieved, and the more you resist it, the worse the outcome.’

  “How can you defy Fate? Isn’t it just superstition? You can’t possibly know the future.” Ashley scoffed, poking at the smouldering embers of our cooking fire.

  I heard her laughter ringing in my mind and blinked in surprise. ‘You know very little about the universe; forty years ago, you didn’t believe in magic as you couldn’t experience it. F?r’s race had a unique ability: they could dream and live amongst possible futures. He said it was like reading the last page of a book after having read the first, and then the author rewrites the story inbetween. The future they saw wasn't exactly what came to pass, but by drifting amongst all the different Strands, they could piece together the immutable Fates.’

  The water I had been heating to clean ourselves with was bubbling furiously, far too hot for us to use now. With a loud clatter, I dragged the pot off the fire, causing Ashley to jump at the noise. “Well, it must not have been that remarkable an ability, if you say his world perished and he lost his last fight.”

  ‘I never said he lost, merely injured. His people knew what was coming and understood it was inevitable. Some chose to join the Host, igniting a civil war in the hopes of securing a better future for themselves; the others knew they fought without hope of victory but would not go out without resisting to the bitter end. Facing his foe, F?r knew what would unfold. He stepped onto that battlefield fully aware of how close to death he was. All of this was meticulously planned by him. He has possibly met you dozens or hundreds of times, all without you having yet met him.’

  “So, he knows about us,” I said, pointing at Ashley, “the connection we share. Then why doesn’t he do anything? If he knew about me, why did he let my friends die!” Angered, I bellowed my last question and regretted it when I saw Ashley flinch and look away.

  I heard her sigh, a habit she only displayed when she needed to add emphasis to her actions, as she had no one to act with. ‘Not everyone can be saved. Do you know how many friends I have witnessed die? How many accidents he could have prevented if he had told us? Knowing a possibility of the future is one thing, but it’s just that—a possibility. Is he expected to prevent the deaths of hundreds of billions of beings out there?’

  “She’s right, Sadie,” Ashley said softly, holding my hand. “It appears he intervened at the last possible moment, and only in the least intrusive manner. You’ve got this incredible title awaiting you, and I seem destined to stand by your side, yet here we are, in a cave. If he knew you were the Heir, why weren’t you taken to the Spire as a baby? The same goes for me, or even further back, to our parents or grandparents. He provided you with armour and a way to get stronger for this trip. I asked your mum to bring me here solely because one of my instructors on the Isle suggested it, and I’m beginning to question whether that was his influence. This moment is significant on a major strand, and he’s shaped our paths to stand here.”

  ‘I believe you're correct, Ashley,' Meadhbh concurred.

  “So, we’re merely puppets on his strings then?” I asked coldly.

  ‘We’re all puppets to the strands of Fate, just as he is. A person is shaped by the events they experience; if he were to insulate you from them, what sort of person would you become? He is allowing you to grow and learn, only intervening when he feels it necessary to protect you and correct your course.’

  Sitting down, I stared at the rekindled fire as the wood occasionally popped, sending embers out of the pit. Ashley sat silently next to me, leaning her head against my shoulder, and I instinctively mirrored the gesture. We were enduring this together, neither of us having a true choice in the matter, yet I could tell she had already made peace with it.

  “Is this what you want?” I asked her softly.

  “If Meadhbh is correct and Fate will keep attempting to force us together, I would consider this my choice to seize it by the horns. We may not be doing it entirely on our own terms, but I would like to believe that right here, right now, I am saying yes without reservation.”

  I felt adrift as I gazed into her hazel brown eyes, filled with determination as she looked at me. “I-”

  “Sadie, stop feeling guilty about this.” She interrupted me, placing a hand over my heart. “If you are feeling what I am feeling, then I know your heart is crying out for this. You are not shackling me; I am holding your hand as we walk down this path. Together!”

  Pulling my head forward, our lips locked together as I felt tears streak down my face while I nodded awkwardly as she held us together.

  “Alright.” I gasped as she let me go with a smile. “Together.”

  ‘Wonderful, would you like to know the full effects now or…’

  “Unless there’s something terrible, leave it as a surprise for us,” Ashley grinned without averting her gaze from me, “I believe we’d have more fun discovering it together.”

  Returning to the task of cleaning the cave, I prepared an area at the back where we would conduct the ritual, ceremony, procedure, or whatever it was meant to be. Meadhbh was vague about the details but mentioned that it would be rather messy as our bodies would undergo a renewal and expel waste, whatever that entailed. Reacting in disgust, I was reluctant to do it inside the cave, but we needed the protection it offered. As I locked the cage door, my hands trembled with a mix of excitement and apprehension.

  Ashley stood in the centre of the tarp I had laid out, wearing one of my old t-shirts and matching underwear. Like two newlyweds sharing their first night together, there was an awkwardness to our movements as I climbed up next to her. “It’s cold,” she shivered, wrapping her icy arms around me, trying to steal some of the little warmth I had left.

  Sitting down near the middle, Ashley settled behind me, wrapping her legs around my waist to draw herself closer. As our power balance was heavily skewed in her favour, she would be circulating the mana through my heart, where my core was situated. Using her as a battery, we would first attempt to clear some of the blockages in my twisting mana veins and open me up a bit more.

  I shivered as her cold hand slipped beneath my t-shirt and pressed against my bare back, and felt her warm breath on the back of my neck as she chuckled and teased me with her fingernails. Her right hand moved over my shoulder and hesitated before resting directly on my left boob, sending goosebumps across my body. I could feel my face reddening, but I breathed slowly, attempting to clear my mind of inappropriate thoughts.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “I should have bought you dinner first,” she whispered seductively in my ear as I tried not to squirm.

  ‘Now isn’t the time for that,’ Meadhbh chastised, and I could have sworn I felt Ashley’s disappointment. ‘Ashley, I want you to limit how much you apply; start with five Thaums' worth, then every ten pulses, add a bit more. I will count them in your head, so just listen to my voice until I tell you to stop.’

  Taking a deep breath, I convulsed as the first wave hit me, passing through my body and then escaping through her hand on my breast. Taking two more breaths, the next pulse hit me, but I was ready this time and sensed how it moved through me. Unlike healing mages whose hands felt like fire, this was warm and comfortable, almost as if it were pumping air into a balloon. I grunted slightly as the next pulse struck, and I felt her hands tense a bit before loosening as the fourth pulse arrived.

  ‘Do you want me to stop?’ I was taken aback to hear her words distinctly in my mind, having already mastered the art of projecting her thoughts.

  ‘Keep going,’ I replied, emitting a grunt as the next one arrived.

  ‘Sadie, you’re just wasting energy. While it’s inside you, you need to push it.’ She chastised me for doing nothing, and I waited for the next pulse.

  Feeling it travel down her arm, I waited until it entered my body and attempted to capture it with my own, forcing it towards my arms. There wasn’t much of a result as the mana dissipated back into her body, followed by the next pulse. Getting the hang of it, I redirected it to my arms again and gasped when the next pulse arrived, stronger than before. It shocked me, and I missed it, but prepared myself for the next one. Sitting on the cave floor, legs crossed and eyes closed, I tried to block out the sound of the waves crashing along the beach, focusing on our two bodies.

  Stirring the mana within me, I attempted to blend it with the pulses she sent, and I felt that they resonated with one another. Her mana had initially felt strange to me, but with each pulse, it seemed as though two liquids were mixing. I could feel the warmth beginning to trickle through my already open veins, spreading throughout the rest of my body. Instead of throwing it at the blockages, I redirected it through the rest of me instead.

  The pulses increased in strength once more, and I gasped as they stretched me to my limits. However, I persevered as the next pulse came, which didn’t hurt as much. Coming up with an idea, I focused on the rhythm of her pulses and tried my own. Like a lightning bolt arching through my body, I let it flow through my veins before withdrawing it as the next pulse approached. Instead of letting her mana escape, I began collecting the mana she pushed into me until I had to release it, lest I felt I would burst.

  Collecting the next few pulses, I sensed her change in tempo, and no longer sending pulses, it felt like a steady stream. Having silently adapted to my methods, I discovered that the flashes worked best, and my entire body tingled as the aftereffects slowly faded. Having started with a single arc, I could now project several at once, one to each limb as the pool of warmth in my chest expanded.

  Changing it up once more, I started to pull her mana back and then send it through my own arms, which I had clamped to her thighs. After feeling me change, she began to push her mana into me through both hands, and I let it flow through my body, pushing it into every last vein before sending it back out. A constant flow of mana surged into me, and I could no longer distinguish between what belonged to me and what belonged to her, as they all felt the same now.

  I managed to open my eyes for a brief moment and thought I was going mad as the golden lines that had spread across the armour I had received from Freya were now traced across my skin. Pulsing with the flow of mana, I looked down and saw Ashley’s bare legs glowing in purple, just like mine. I closed my eyes again to concentrate on what we were doing. Like a tidal wave, I sensed her relinquishing her limits, and the full force of her mana collided with me. I wanted to scream, but I gritted my teeth as I let it flow through me and then back into her.

  My awareness of the cave suddenly shifted, and I felt as though I were in Meadhbh’s crystal, able to see everything around me, though my eyes were closed. The cage door of the cave glowed with the mana coursing through the strengthening Runes, with Meadhbh’s crystal glowing gently nearby as she observed silently. Turning my attention to Ashley, her face was scrunched up just like mine. Wait, how am I seeing myself?

  As I looked at my body sitting cross-legged on the tarp, with Ashley wrapping her arms around me, I surveyed the cave. I might have thought myself dead, yet I could see my body twitching occasionally, our hair flying about as if caught in a maelstrom. Crouching down, I reached out to her and felt as though I was cupping her face in my hand. The pained expression she wore faded until I withdrew my invisible hand. Looking down, I beheld an ocean of blue mana far below us, tendrils wriggling their way up towards us.

  Watching it draw nearer, my peculiar out-of-body experience abruptly ended, jolting me back into my body as a surge of power coursed through me. I screamed in pain, as it felt like I had been consumed by fire, my ears ringing as Ashley also screamed as this strange source of power swept through me and into her as well. My body felt as if it would explode as this vast quantity of mana coursed through me, burning through my veins, finding unopened vessels and forcing them open. Ashley’s fingers dug into my skin, her legs squeezing with all their might as my hands did the same to her in response to the pain we were experiencing.

  An image rushed to my mind, a projection like what Meadhbh would send, but this overwhelmed me: a head on a translucent blue body, and their eyes opened, shining far brighter than anything. ‘I see you. Grow! Take my Gift!’

  Her voice silenced my cry of pain as the weight of her presence consumed me, but after her words finished resonating in my mind, the power began to wane. Who was she? The effort we had exerted to clear my body was mere child’s play compared to the change she had wrought. My body felt as though it was overflowing with power, yet I couldn’t quite absorb what Ashley was still offering. I could feel her power waning until her hand on my boob began to slide across my chest, breaking the connection. The hand on my back withdrew, yet my body resisted my commands as I felt myself topple backwards, my head coming to rest on her stomach. I hoped she had fallen onto the pile of old clothes I had prepared for her, following Meadhbh’s suggestion.

  As I opened my eyes, I found myself standing on the same beach as before, and taking the chance to look around, I saw him standing there, alone. I could feel the sensation of sand between my bare toes and the warmth of the water as it rushed up the beach, wetting the bottom of the dress I wore. “Where is this?” I asked nervously.

  Lifting his arm, half of the scene faded away like a mirage, revealing the empty expanse beyond that looked just like my own core. “I thought we might speak for a moment in a more appealing place.”

  “I’ve seen this before, I think, the other night, and a woman whispered spoilers before I woke up. Was that you as well?” I was confused as his smile dropped for a moment, his face shifting to one of sadness or discomfort, it was hard to tell.

  Shaking his head sadly, “No, that wasn’t me. This is my home, or well, my summer home, as you would call it. Over there is one of our palaces.” Turning to point, I realised the mountain he pointed to was actually a massive building, the lights twinkling were windows running up and down it.

  “Our?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Isha’s Embrace, how do you think Meadhbh has known about it? Until now, there have only been three recorded instances in the history of all the worlds of our pocket of the galaxy, and now, with you and Ashley, it makes four.”

  “Where is your partner?” I asked, looking around as if expecting to see someone else appear, but there was no doubt his smile had turned to grief.

  “She's... not here.” I could hear him choking back his tears as he stood up a little straighter, and I felt awful for poking at something bad. I felt tiny as he approached to stand next to me, facing the water, and I turned as well, looking up at him, feeling tiny next to his massive form. “Gaeia, or Earth as you know it, was the place chosen as your cradle. Meadhbh has undoubtedly told you of the war that has been raging beyond these borders, and it will soon flare up once more, rivalling that of the First War.”

  “Cradle? First War?” I asked as he continued looking out to the horizon.

  He didn’t answer my question, but I could see a hint of a smile on his face. “I can provide you wealth, weapons and prestige, but not the truth to the answers you seek at this time.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he placed his huge hand on my shoulder, barely fitting two fingers on it, and I held my tongue, turning to face the ocean like him. “I have carved a path for you to follow, closed wandering strands in the hopes of giving you the best chance of survival. I don’t want to lie to you, so please understand the secrets are to keep you on this path.”

  Crouching down so that our eyes were level, I could feel a lump in the back of my throat and simply nodded as I looked into his shining eyes, completely enraptured by the beauty of the veiny lines that traced across his face. Surprising me, he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

  “Your connection to Ashley is the first path, but there is one more event that must come to pass. Once you cross that threshold, the veil will fall away, and you will learn the terrible truth I am protecting you from. Channel the frustration and anger you feel into driving you forward and when the time is right, I promise you will have all your questions answered, including the ones you haven’t thought of yet.” Following this, the beach began to disappear into a cloud of mist and I felt my sense of self be pushed back into my body.

  A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my head, and as I took a breath, I felt my throat burn, my gag reflex causing my stomach to scrunch up. Rolling sideways, I fell off the platform with a thud, groaning at the pain in my body, while the stench assaulted my nose. As I tried to wipe my face, it felt sticky, with strands of black goop hanging between my hand and my face. Was this the waste Meadhbh had warned us about?

  ‘Good, you’ve woken up. You need to wake Ashley and go clean yourself in the sea.’ I heeded Meadhbh’s instruction and glanced up Ashley, who lay sleeping, her legs splayed like a frog from where I had been sitting. She was just as filthy, and when I touched her arm, it felt like sticking to glue as I struggled to pull myself away.

  Moving my arm woke her as she cried out from the stench assaulting her senses, dry heaving like I had. Tearful, she tried to get to her feet but collapsed into my arms as she stumbled, and we clung together. Laughing through a bit of pain from the stiffness of her body, we managed to separate and trudge through the cave to the entrance. It was a surprisingly clear night, with the moon sparkling atop the waves that crashed gently further down the beach. Jumping down the rocks, I raced down the beach, tearing off my t-shirt and diving into the water, screaming as the coldness shocked me.

  ‘I told you to wash yourself, not drown!' Meadhbh shouted as I finally stopped screaming and continued to shiver.

  Ashley descended more slowly, shuffling with a few squeals as she entered the water. Shivering, she threw herself into my arms, her teeth chattering, and I held her there. Rubbing her back, I discovered that the black substance washed away easily, and we began to clean ourselves thoroughly, dunking our heads to rid our hair of it. I regretted not bringing soap; however, as I peeled it off in clumps, I found myself surprisingly clean beneath.

  Rushing back up the beach, it felt colder out of the water than in it, and we hurried towards the tent. However, I stopped her at the last moment and handed her a towel to dry off and remove the sand, not wanting a repeat of the first night. Seemingly annoyed that I had interrupted her efforts to get warm, she rubbed herself raw before disappearing under the covers as I closed the gate, peering out anxiously for any monsters that might be lurking nearby, but saw nothing.

  Joining her under the covers, she pressed her naked body against my own; her earlier embarrassment vanished as we intertwined our legs and tried to warm ourselves. I didn’t feel any different than before, and I wondered if it had all been an illusion. I sensed her head shift as she placed a soft kiss on the side of my neck, drawing her arms a little closer before burying her face into my collar. In comparison to Candace, despite our rocky start, Candace seemed rather plain and unappealing, while holding her made me feel special. Was this the connection I pondered as I slowly drifted off to sleep to Ashley’s gentle breathing.