Chapter 742: Fate
"You know he's nuts, right?" Yes, I'd learned to trust Demetrius, but holy. This was life and death of all planes stuff.
"His burdens are necessary," Fate said with sadness in her voice. "Everything has been, for both of you. You weren't able to kill Belaisle when you had him trapped with the oracles, because he is necessary." Oracles? Was he talking about the woman under the rainbow glass? "This fight will decide the course of Fate. Above all else, if you remember nothing I tell you or show you, trust Demetrius. Even when it goes against your heart to do so."
"What happens if we win?" Might be nice to have some advanced knowledge.
She shook her head, looking away, empty eyes on the water of the fountain. "The visions are dim," she said. "I can't see clearly past the battle." Why did I get the impression she wasn't being totally honest with me? Or maybe I was just paranoid.
Naw. Trusting my instincts on this one.
Fate's hand squeezed as her power swelled. "You don't believe," she said. "Will you see with me?"
I barely nodded in answer, realizing doing so was useless to her, only to be drawn in to a vision so powerful I stood there and watched as though it were happening right now.
Was able to see myself, Ameline. Belaisle and Demetrius on the empty plane. Alison was there, Mia. Rupe, my old friend turned enemy. The Zornovs and Quaid. Alive. Which lifted a massive burden from my shoulders.
They would be okay.
And then, in awe, as the sky filled with drach and the Brotherhood fought them.
And then, darkness.
I caught a brief flicker of something past the dark, but Fate cut me off before I could explore it, though I knew the location, the Sidhe cavern.
What wasn't she showing me?
"What happens during your fight will decide where time and destiny run from there. Yes, there are possibilities, but they are fuzzy, insubstantial." Fate released my hand. "But at that moment, when you face Belaisle, everything, every plane, will stand still and even time will wait for the outcome."
Freaky. No pressure or anything.
I carefully shunted the giant, overwhelming terror stirring in my stomach into a tightly sealed box in the depths of my mind and did my best to leave it there. Worry wouldn't help, neither would big picture. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.
Breathing wasn't optional.
Fate hugged me, brushing her lips over my forehead. "Thank you," she whispered, "for all of your sacrifice for those you love, for strangers and races you have never met. Terrible days are behind and even more hardship lies ahead." She hesitated before going on. "And I am so sorry for your loss. But please believe it has all been necessary, no matter what you might think of me and my task."
She might as well have punched me in the stomach. "What are you talking about?" Was someone going to die? Mom? Dad? Meems?
The image of an old lady with wispy hair and bare feet sitting in a sunbeam crossed my mind. Gram. No. But she was the logical choice, wasn't she? Weak, frail.
And if I lost her, I would die.
I felt Max approach, had to force air into my lungs as I reminded myself about the whole breathing thing again. I tried to convince myself she must have been talking about loss I'd already suffered.
Choke.
Even as my mind went back to Gram.
"My darling," Fate spoke to Max while terror tore a massive hole through me. "Your task awaits. You know what to do?"
I turned, heart pounding, to see my drach friend's shoulders sag, his head bowing.
"I do," he said. "And I am ready, no matter the consequences."
Was he going to die?
Why the hell did she have to say that? Now I was worried about every single person in my life.
Gram.
Please, no. Not Gram, Please.
He bowed to Fate, held out his hand to me. Mind whirling in a tornado of fear and doubt, I took it.
"Be well, my love," Fate said.
It took me a moment to realize she wasn't talking to me. But only after I registered the shining tears tracking down Max's cheeks.
I just wished I had the presence of mind to comfort him. Kind of hard to do when I was busy being terrified for the people I loved.
***
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