February 19, 1282
Pathseer’s Chamber, Kelstone
Fate stood before a tall, gilded mirror that, at present, only reflected a fairy. She appeared to be a human girl, no more than six years old, with wispy blond curls and an angelic face. But her lavender eyes told her real age.
Fate had been created by several of the gods hundreds of years ago and given her sacred task. She was the Pathseer, the one that watched over this world and assured that there was balance.
All fairies were psychic, but only Fate could see the future in great detail through her enchanted mirror. She also had the power to see the paths that led to these futures and, if necessary, to alter them.
Today she had seen a new vision. Something was threatening to upset that balance. A great evil was coming.
She touched the cool glass before her, and spirals rippled through liquid silver beneath her fingertips. The gentle waves moved outward, into the frame, and then stilled. She took her hand away and watched as the mirror began to show the events that would one day to come to pass.
__________
A haughty woman with long black hair and intense dark eyes strode purposefully down a stone corridor. “Xavien, did you order Hilltop Village burnt?” she asked.
“It’s been done, High Priestess,” answered the blond, sallow-faced man who followed close behind her.
She smiled. “Good.”
They turned and walked through a doorway into a large room. A guard stood near a lava pit that ran along the left wall behind a bloodstained stone altar.
She stopped. “Where’s the sacrifice?”
“In his cell, High Priestess,” the guard answered.
She sighed. “Today is the 15th and it is noon―the sacrifice is supposed to be on the altar already.”
“But it’s not―”
“Do you know what I really hate?” she cut in, then answered for him as she walked closer. “I hate having my time wasted.”
“But―”
“You’re fired.” Taking one final step, she shoved him and he fell backward into the glowing orange pit. The sound of his scream was cut short a second later and replaced with her laughter. She turned to Xavien. “Get it? He’s fired?”
As always, Xavien was momentarily enthralled by her beauty. She only wore a top and skirt that were made from strips of black leather. It covered very little of her curvaceous body, leaving her long legs―and a good portion of her ample breasts―exposed. But his gaze finally settled on her full, blood red lips. He knew from personal experience the unbelievable pleasure and pain that mouth could cause.
She rolled her eyes. “Never mind.” She headed to the altar. “Go fetch the sacrifice now.”
“Um… High Priestess, he… he’s not due to be sacrificed until tomorrow,” Xavien told her. “Today’s the 14th.”
She turned back to him, her hands on her hips. “Really?”
“Yes.”
She started laughing again. “That’s even funnier!”
He just nodded, automatically agreeing with her.
She shook her head. “You have no sense of humor,” she told him in a bored voice, then ran her hand along the top of the warm altar, looking thoughtful. “Hmm… perhaps I’ll have him brought anyway. Is he attractive?”
Xavien stepped closer and caressed her bare arm, his gaze filled with longing. “I would very gladly serve you,” he said meaningfully.
She whirled around and backhanded him. The large ruby ring on her middle finger slashed his cheek, causing tiny beads of blood to appear. “Do not touch me!” she hissed.
“I’m sorry, I just thought―”
“You are not here to think,” she told him disdainfully. “And you have already served your purpose in that area. Now all that’s left for you, King Xavien, is to rule this world while I fulfill my destiny and become a goddess. Most importantly, you need to ensure that the heir is kept safe, so that he may take the throne when he’s of age.”
“Our son will be kept safe at all costs,” Xavien agreed, but gave a small, sad sigh as he continued to look at her with a yearning gaze.
She was, as always, oblivious to his melancholy mood. She cared for no one, nor did she feel any compassion―and he definitely wasn’t important enough to retain her attention. Instead, she turned her thoughts to other things.
“In less than a month everything will be as it should be,” she said with a blissful sigh. “My lord Malluk, my perfect God of Darkness, will give me the power to bend this world to my will and―”
“Sorry, High Priestess,” Xavien interrupted, “but why do you need an heir if you’ll be able to do that?”
She slapped him again. “To be king and keep order in my world, you idiot.” She gave an exasperated sigh and waved a dismissive hand. “Leave me,” she commanded. “And have the sacrifice brought to me.”
His shoulders slumped as he obediently left to do her bidding.
__________
The silver ripples moved through the mirror again. Slowing to a stop, a new scene began, this time even further into the future…
__________
A beautiful, well-built man with a malicious smile sat on the throne in Oraunt Castle, while Kieran stood at a nearby window, gazing out at the soldiers who were gathering in the courtyard below. They all wore black-and-red armor with the symbol of a hellhound's head on their chests.
She laughed at something the king had said. “And they actually thought their little rebel group could do anything?” she asked, though she didn’t have to. She was a goddess now and could easily read his thoughts, but that was no fun.
He nodded, his expression just as amused as hers. “There were less than fifty of them, too. Pathetic.”
“And what did you do with them?” she practically purred as she moved away from the window and came to stand beside her son.
“Oh, they’re in the dungeon―toys to play with when I get back.”
“Yes, I see your men are assembling,” she noted. “Where are you taking them?”
He grinned. “I found the secret city of the fairies.”
“Finally!” She grinned and moaned in delight. They would have known sooner, but Daegon, the God of Light, kept the city invisible, even from her.
The king stood and ran his finger along her jaw. “Time to wipe out the little pests,” he told her, and headed toward the door.
“Wait,” she said, making him pause and look back. “I’ll take care of them.”
He scowled as he returned to her. “Don’t you dare take all my fun. I’ve been looking for them for years. This is my victory, Mother, not yours.”
She looked up at him. “Hmm… we'll do it together.”
“Fine, but we’re taking horses and doing it my way.”
She sighed. “What do you have against using divine power?”
He smiled sadistically. “Because doing it the dirty way is so much more fun.”
“Mmm, how can I say no to that kind of passion?”
“You can’t,” he said knowingly. “Come on, I know how you like watching me.”
She grinned, her dark eyes smoldering with desire at the thought. “Just promise you’ll go slow.”
He gave a throaty chuckle. “There are two things a person should never rush: pleasure and pain.”
She reached up to caress his cheek. “You’re so like me,” she told him proudly. “Beautiful, strong, perfectly vicious.”
He held her gaze as he caught her hand and kissed it, then gave her a smile before joining his men. They were riding into a battle that the king knew he would win. Fairies were the most magical of creatures, but even a whole city of them would be no match for his might. Not only did he have his own talent with a blade, he had hundreds of soldiers at his command, and he was also the high priest as well as the king, meaning he had Malluk’s divine magic. His mother was right, he didn’t like to use it, but he would if he had to.
One thing was certain: the fairies would be exterminated.
__________
Fate touched the mirror again, ridding her sight the horrific images that followed. The gods wouldn’t save the fairies from that future. The gods helped no one. They gave their divine magic to their clergy and let them do with it what they would. Only rarely did a god take enough interest in someone to offer them extraordinary power and immortality, as the dark god would for his high priestess.
Fate stepped up to another mirror. “Show me a champion,” she said in a bell-like voice as she touched the glass. It rippled and stilled before showing her not one, but two people from Earth.
She would open a portal to that world. It would be the first time anyone had come to Kelstone from Earth in hundreds of years. Not since the time of open portals, before the fairies had come to be the keepers of them. Now the portals, as well as Fate, were believed to be myths. But they were only hidden, kept safe in a secret city… for now.
