Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Thirty

The minute we were within, the opening shut out the view of her home and we were surrounded by blue and white on all sides, perfectly round but for the floor which leveled off into a frothing white pathway. I could feel the mist as the water sprayed but swirled too fast to drench us. It made no sound. We reached a moment of quiet, complete tranquility. Then, as though it was urging us not to stop, the swirling started to move faster, creating foam at our feet. When I looked down I saw the froth reaching towards my ankles. What happened if it stopped?

I ignored the image the thought created in my mind and focused on the blue in front of me as I stepped forward, one foot after the other, over and over again. The tunnel was so clear and bright and flecked with white it reminded me of the clearest sky speckled with fluffy, perfectly placed clouds. Everything sparkled, like the sun came from all around. Looking at the blue, thinking of David's eyes and ignoring the waves of dizziness pressing against me, we finally reached the crest of our climb. The saltiness of the water within the tunnel was overpowering. It left a bitter taste upon my tongue and I felt it burrow and dry my skin until surely, I would crack.

The dizziness faded as the swirling stopped. Everything stood still, just for a moment.

Sound became deafening again, like waves crashing against a cliff.

From the entrance, the tunnel began to fill with the blue of its walls. From tranquility to deafening, it urged us to leave. Fast. As quick as we could flee. The entrance was collapsing on itself, merging the colours around me, and continued to work its way upwards to the exit we hadn't yet reached. Run! We had to hurry. It was getting closer, moving quicker than we could sprint.

My stomach reached my throat as my fears became a reality, threatening to let go of the potion that still didn't sit right. We're going to be trapped! I was wrong. I am going to die, and Lachesis didn't take care of me as she promised!

My feet stalled, freezing my movements.

I am going to drown!

"Come on!" Lachesis screamed and reached back to grab my hand.

I startled, slowly coming out of the paralysis, and almost stumbled as she yanked me forward. Run! I have to flee.

Lachesis refused to let go of my hand, pulling me along at her unnatural speed. I ran until my lungs burned. Finally, a curtain made of hanging beads of water, so perfectly round and clear, caught the light of the still-shining sun from somewhere outside of the tunnel. Lachesis released her hold on my hand, but now I was afraid to let go.

What if I wasn't ready for what I would find?

Lachesis looked behind her and then gestured for me to hurry. If she said anything, it couldn't be heard above the crashes of water at our backs. The tunnel would be swallowed soon. Already the wetness of its swell dampened my feet, rising to my knees... to my waist.

If we didn't go we'd be swimming and then trapped, without air.

Lachesis looked at me again, grabbed my hand once more, and then nodded to the veil. The water droplets had begun to sweat, as if they too knew our decision needed to be quick. Perhaps they just wanted to join the currents of their mother's veins. Either way, I nodded and took my steps on Lachesis's cue.

One.

Two....

The third step was tricky as it marked the exact point we crossed through the veil's bounds. A tidal wave threatened to crush us and then paused mid-air, pushing, struggling against another more powerful but invisible source. Lachesis.

The fourth step was filled with the strength needed for us to pass.

The fifth... Like a suction cup pulled from a window, we were free.

My breath surfaced, and I gulped for air, no longer suffocating beneath the surface of my fear or the collapsing tunnel that chased us to no avail. It didn't catch us! Oh my... why am I doing this? Trusting Lachesis is going to get me killed for good.

The threat was gone.

We were free.

We fell to our hands and knees upon a desert floor in the middle of sand and sky, both gasping, though I didn't understand why she was so affected. How did a Goddess—Fate itself—suffer from insufficient supplies of air? She was immortal. That had to come with a perk. Otherwise, what was the point? Ruining lives? I knew she hadn't accepted the role out of the goodness in her heart. Lachesis must benefit in other ways.

By the time I regained enough air for speech, and hopefully the return of my strength, Lachesis was still sprawled. No. Wait. She had fallen from her knees to her belly and was face-down on the ground. Other than the rise and fall of her chest, she didn't move. I couldn't hear so much as a moan. Goddesses didn't die. Fate couldn't perish, not without the world descending into chaos and ultimately, Darkness.

Unconvinced of her staying power, I crawled like a toddler winning a 10k race to her side, speedy quick but clumsy. If Lachesis wasn't okay, we were hooped. Royally, totally, if-it-happened-to-someone-else-I'd-laugh screwed. There was no way I would be able to carry dead weight if I couldn't even manage to stand on my own. And what of our connection? If she was too hurt to keep moving, how would that affect me?

Rushing to her, I whispered urgently, "Lachesis?"

I leaned over her and poked her with a light touch to her side, just below her ribs. It wasn't hard enough to inflict pain unless injury already existed. Still, my arm recoiled back to my side in case she decided to hit me. When she still didn't move, I tried again, harder this time. By the fifth attempt there wasn't tentativeness, only impatience. If I could handle it, what was her problem? The potion would wear off. This was wasting time and I hadn't seen my parents yet. We were the only two people in sight. There wasn't even a building that I could see that I could run to for help.

"Lachesis, come on."

Testing my legs, I found I could finally stand. It wasn't race worthy, but it allowed me to get up, straddle Lachesis, and bend down to attempt roll her from her stomach to her side. It was a no-go, but not for a lack of effort. The only result I gained was a fear that in mist form, with no body or protective layer the potion from Renalda had provided, my sweat would slowly cause me to evaporate like puddles after a heavy rain on a sunny summer day, and I could cease to exist.

I caught my breath and tried again. Determination to survive fuelled my strength. Lachesis began to move. Millimeter by millimeter, the effort it took felt inhuman. Impossible. When I managed to get a full inch of distance completed, Lachesis reacted as I first imagined she would, and progress dropped back to square one as she swung out to hit me, thankfully missing her mark.

She thumped hard to the ground and a cloud of dust rose in the air, but I was happy it caused her to groan. I fell to my knees before catching my breath. Every time I inhaled, the sand surrounding us clogged my airways until it felt as though I shouldn't even try to breathe at all. Could oxygen deprivation induce hallucinations? Did I even need to breathe without my body?

Lachesis moaned again and her body, the image so unreal it couldn't be right, flickered, just like my grandfather's old television when he tried catching a signal with bunny ears. Colour, black and white, colour, and then snow. Her dress changed in style and colour, from medieval to modern and red to black. The streaks in her hair bled upon every strand and grew. Then, just as I reached out to lay my hand on her, she lit up and flashed like a multi-coloured disco ball.

I pulled my hand back, gasping in surprise, and narrowed my gaze.

She screamed and lurched, twitching as her back arched unnaturally up to the sky. Her hand shook as she struggled for a pouch at her waist. With a shake of my head, I cleared my stray thoughts and tried to help, knowing she would never manage. I unclasped the silver canteen that was housed within the pouch. Her spasms would leave bruises as I became the punching bag for which her blows landed, but it was worth it. After emptying the canteen, most of which became clumps in the sand because it was so hard to pour into her mouth, the shaking slowed. The flashing stopped, and her appearance became unchanging as though nothing had been out of the ordinary.

The screaming died.

Lachesis didn't move, not even the breath she'd struggled to inhale evident anymore.