Fated (The Bloodstone Saga 2)

No one could safely stay in mortal form for long here.

Ortrera spotted a stream and turned her horse’s head towards it, the rest of the warriors following suit. We descended next to the water in a field of waving purple daisies. Like normal, before I could dismount, Cadmus was at my side pulling me from the horse. I felt his arms tremble as he held me, a tell-tale sign of fatigue.

I laid my hand against his cheek.

"Sweet, you haven’t yet taken nectar. You must or you will grow weak here. I need you strong."

He nodded, his jaw flexing, and I wondered at his apparent reluctance. But I didn’t remark on it. Instead, I watched him crouch by the stream and scoop it into his mouth. He swallowed with his beautiful eyes closed and his face tilted toward the sun.

While I watched, he transformed into the Cadmus from my memory. His muscles filled out, each individual striation in his biceps becoming apparent to the naked eye. His face quickly leaned down into that of a man, while still retaining his handsome, boyish good looks.

I sucked in my breath. My god, he was beautiful. With the sun shining onto him from behind and the stream sparkling next to him, he truly seemed unworldly.

He had the strangest expression on his face and I stepped toward him in concern.

"My love," I began hesitantly. "What is it? Does something trouble you?"

He nodded curtly, remaining silent as a muscle in his jaw flexed.

"Well?" I prompted. "What is it? Do you feel unwell?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"No. I feel fine. But, Harmonia, the nectar restored my memory. I was afraid of that. I didn’t wish to remember."

I was completely puzzled until a scant second later I realized what he meant.

"Your memories with Eris?" I whispered.

He nodded slowly.

"I don’t wish to talk about it," he said softly. "There is no need to trouble you with it, too.

Let us just remember that it wasn’t truly me. I was enchanted, I wasn’t myself. Shewe didn’t. But it was enough." His voice choked off and he grabbed me in a fierce embrace, clutching me to him tightly.

"You are the one, Harmonia," he growled into my hair. "It is you. It has always been you.

No matter what happened. Do you understand?"

The pain in his voice distracted me from my own dismay and I nodded silently. He was right. He could not help what happened any more than I could.

"Cadmus, do not trouble yourself with it. Put it out of your mind," I pleaded softly. "You are right. It wasn’t you. I know that."

He nodded and turned away, busying himself with filling his flask. I gave him the alone time. I knew him inside and out. He needed to regroup. And I needed something to distract me, as well. If I focused on it, it might well become my undoing.

I turned to Ortrera. "I want her head on a spike, sister."

I should have been ashamed of the venomous thought, but I wasn’t. Apparently, my goddess blood was colder than my mortal blood, something that could come in handy.

Ortrera nodded with a gleam in her eye and a smile.

"I don’t blame you. And I will give that to you, if you wish. Just say the word."

I smiled in appreciation as I let my anger simmer toward my ancient nemesis. Truly, this time she had gone too far. I would restrain myself for now, but her time would come.

The warriors finished tending to their horses and we again mounted and took off for the witches. It was as though even the horses could sense our energy and anxiety. They tossed their mighty heads and nickered from time to time as they flew. I watched the Pegasus to my right with amusement. She seemed to keep an eye on me, gauging my reactions, reading my face. I smiled and I could almost swear that she rolled her large eye at me.

The witches’ cave was on the edge of the Spiritlands and I kept my eyes trained for it as we drew closer. It wasn’t a typical cave, even though it appeared that way on the outside. It was rumored that inside, it contained a direct passageway to the underworld. And that made sense, since one of Hecate’s abilities was the ability to send demons to the underworld. Hades probably did grant her direct access.

I caught sight of it a few minutes later. I nudged Ortrera as I pointed and we aimed towards it, the formation moving as one. It was absolutely amazing- almost like the horses could communicate silently, coordinating each movement to match the horse to their side. For all I knew, that was exactly what they were doing. Nothing in the Spiritlands was impossible.

We landed soundlessly on the grounds right outside the cave, the horses’ hooves as silent as they were trained to be. Even still, I wasn’t surprised to find Hecate leaning against the cave opening, apparently waiting for us. Being the witch that she was, she had uncanny instincts.

"So, you came," Hecate drawled as we quietly approached her.

I nodded as I glanced inside. It was unlike any cave I had ever seen. Once inside the doorway, it opened into a massive cavernous room filled with sparkling white stalactites and stalagmites. Light bounced from each glistening crystal to the next, illuminating the entire cave.

It was almost ethereal and certainly not what I had expected from the queen of witchcraft.

"How could I not?" I answered grimly. "I trusted the Keres. And they have betrayed me. I feel like I can no longer trust my instincts."

"And your birthmark?"

I glanced down and noticed in surprise that the phoenix birthmark that had marked me as a Keeper for generations had grown more pronounced. It was now a deep crimson, not unlike the color of henna. My startled gaze flew up to meet hers. She was already nodding knowingly.

"It has been silent since we arrived here, yet it has grown more pronounced," I stumbled over my words.

She nodded again.

"It is all true," she muttered to herself as she gestured for us to enter.

"What is true?" Cadmus asked, a note of concern in his husky voice.

"Your wife is the chosen one," Hecate confirmed. My heart started pounding. The crazy raven had said as much before he flew away when we first arrived. I had brushed it away at the time. But now

"The chosen one?" I asked doubtfully.

"You are meant to save us," Hecate nodded. "It has always been you. You have the mark."

"Lachesis gave me this mark," I shook my head. "To mark me as a Keeper."

Hecate stared at me in disdain.

"Harmonia, when will you stop accepting people at face value? I realize it is in your nature to believe the best in people, to expect the best, but it simply isn’t so in life. Lachesis lied to you.

You are marked as the chosen one. It has nothing to do with the lies of the Moirae. They simply bewitched it to cause you pain when you went against their plans."

As she spoke, Hecate treaded further into the beautiful cave and we trailed behind. I gazed around us as we walked, taken aback by the beauty surrounding us. The light stone walls looked as though they had been formed from crushed jewels.

She walked to a massive wall of leather-bound books and chose one. As she flipped through the pages, I inhaled the scent of old paper as my mind whirled.

"Why me?" I murmured. "I am nothing great. I am just the daughter of greatness."

Hecate peered at me over the rim of the book.

"Why  not  you?" she asked. "Greatness often comes from unexpected places."

She turned the heavy book towards us and I leaned to take it. A vivid image of a woman surrounded by fire was painted on the ancient parchment. Her hair was long and dark, her eyes a brilliant, glowing green. On her wrist, was a crimson Phoenix. The color of the bird was the exact shade that my birthmark had become.

It was most certainly me. That much was unmistakable.

I was dumbfounded as I read the script below the picture.

She who will save Olympus and all that we know. Treacherous snakes will tremble beneath her fingers and the crown shall be restored.

I took a deep breath.

"So, Lachesis lied about the Keepers. There were never any more than just me?" It was difficult to wrap my mind around.

"Not so," Hecate corrected me. "There are other divine children, meant to act as Keepers of their parents’ mortal enslavement. They acted as you did, enchanted in the same way. They each believed that they were keeping fate. They have no knowledge of who they are or what they are truly doing. But you are correct. They are not marked and they do not possess bloodstones. This is why you are special. The Fates have known this all along. They have always known that you are meant to be their undoing."

"Then why didn’t they just kill me?" I asked. "They could have killed me when I was mortal and no one would have ever known."

She shook her head again as though confounded by my ignorance.

"Harmonia, you are a divine child. You cannot truly die except by Zeus’ sword through your heart. Zeus managed to hide it when the Fates took over Olympus. No one has found it.

And the Moirae have looked everywhere. They have searched the world to no avail."

"Yet it must be somewhere," I pointed out.

"Correct," she nodded. "It must be somewhere. And the one who finds it will restore the throne."

She tapped the picture again. The first time I looked, I had been focused on the phoenix on my wrist. This time, however, I noticed my other hand. A heavy looking sword dangled from it. My breath froze on my lips.

Oh, Mary Mother of God. This just didn’t get any easier. I was supposed to somehow free the Olympic gods from the treachery of the Moirae and do so by being a chosen one who would find a sword that no one else had managed to find in over two thousand years?

Perfect. I should have expected nothing less.

"You must retrieve your father," Hecate announced, watching me with her knowing eyes.

"Do not doubt your abilities or your right. You are the chosen one. You must take what is yours."

I swallowed hard, then swallowed again. It was growing difficult to breathe in this room. I felt Cadmus step closer to me, stroking my shoulders lightly. Of course he would notice my distress. I kept my chin stuck out, hoping that no one else noticed.

Hecate extended her hand, her long fingers curled around something.

"Here," she uttered. "This is the second time you will need our assistance."

I looked at it suspiciously. "What is it?"

Nothing appeared to be moving in her hand, which was a good sign. There was also no foul smell. I gritted my teeth and held my hand out.

She dropped a brass key into my palm.

I studied it. It was just a simple brass key. It looked like a normal skeleton key that you might find in any old house. I looked at Hecate quizzically.

"There’s a catch," she murmured. "You must dip it in your own blood before you attempt to use it. No one else’s will work. It must be yours."

"Of course," I answered, rolling my eyes.

"Do you have the remainder of the Resurrection Potion that I gave to you?"

I nodded. "There is not a lot left, but there are a couple of drops."

"Good. Keep it. You will need it."

I briefly wondered who I would need it for before I put it out of my mind. There was no use pondering it. I didn’t have the gift of prophecy and I wasn’t a witch.