Destiny Unbonded

Chapter 5

The will of the Gods is far beyond men's understanding.

- The Canon

[Ophelia]

One horrific event ripped the faith from me, leaving my passion betrayed. Over a lifetime, I had been taught to never question the Gods' will. Now I wished nothing of it.  But even a perverse faith was something to hold on to. Now with my soul hollow and listless, I felt an uneasy kind of mourning. Losing my religion was not so easy.

Damn the Gods! There must be something better.

I witnessed firsthand the Gods' disregard for humanity. Do not actions reveal the heart, like fruit the tree? Nemesis ignored my pleas, mocking me as she slaughtered with sick amusement. Both the Goddess and Cyril spared my life when they could have taken it, one because I did not matter and the other because I did.

Now a mere man defined my destiny.

No. Not a 'mere' man. There was something more, something the Moirai part of me sensed whenever he came close, something that caused me to shudder. A vague dark abyss concealed itself within him, a churning maelstrom waiting patiently for release. Could it be the Chaos?

Cyril looked everyway like a man, a handsome one at that, stirring a long forgotten primal desire within my human heart. With deep moss-green eyes, wavy chestnut hair, and a strong dimpled face, he would turn the head of most maidens. His sleeveless brown tunic displayed broad shoulders and muscular arms, likely shaped from many swings of a blacksmith's hammer. And there was a kind gentleness in his eyes, even in moments of deep grief or anger, when he had every reason to lash out, that, perhaps, his greatest beauty.

He rode on one of the three horses we took from the village, freeing the other animals. Kit rode with him, rather than on her own horse, the arm of a protective big brother around her waist. They did not look like brother and sister, though, Kit having skin like a moonless night and tightly curled black hair that sprang out in all directions.

We stopped once to collect a brown and auburn burro named Dash, such a strange name for the stubborn animal. But it eventually heeded Kit's wordless coaxing. The two seemed to have a mutual affection for each other.

The dusty road wound between grassy hills and clumps of trees that huddled near creeks and washes. The low sun at our back illuminated the white-capped Piso Dráckos Mountains far ahead on the distant horizon, the pointed peaks like the backs of dragons for which they were named.

For the first time in my life, my destiny diverged from the Gods. It felt both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. I broke the silence, save for the clopping of hooves and periodic protests from Dash. "Where will your path take us, Cyril?"

He pointed ahead. "Eastward, past the mountains into the Forbidden Lands."

Hairs stood on my arms as a racing chill invoked a shiver. I recalled as a young girl the nightmare inducing tales of monsters that inhabited the poisonous lands, of sharp claws that snatched and powerful jaws that crushed. While each village had different versions of the tales with different monsters, they all agreed on one thing: the mountains were deadly enough to cross, but no man faced the beasts and survived. The Gods had forbidden men to enter, hence the name.

"Do you know how to get through the mountains? What will we face in the Forbidden Lands?" My voice sounded more desperately shrill than I wanted it to.

Cyril shrugged. "As to the first question, I have a map. To the second, I hoped you could tell me?" He lifted an eyebrow.

Shaking my head, I replied. "The Gods did not share that information with me. All I know are the stories and that written in the Canon. It says the Forbidden Lands are dangerous and entry not allowed for our own good."