The Fates

It was way too warm and Celia was for the first time happy with the flimsy dress she was wearing. The air was so wet that her fingers were beginning to prune and she looked at them warily, she disliked the humid air.

"So you are related to The Fates?" Khalil asked beside her as they waited for the next set of fighters to take their place in the middle of the clearing. It was some sort of annual competition and anyone who wanted to could enter.

They were fighting with nothing but their fists and the rules were only thus- when your opponent gave up you stopped fighting. The winners would then fight the winners and so on, until there was only one left.

Rhale had not entered as Celia had thought he would have and she was happy that he hadn't. She wasn't sure if she could have watched if Rhale had decided to compete.

"To one of the Fates, the one who is still awake." Celia answered Khalil, two new fighters took their positions and everyone around them started to shout out pointers as soon as the fight started. One of the men took a bad brow to his face and Celia grimaced, that was going to leave a nasty mark.

"Awake?"

"The other ones sleep." Khalil froze beside her and she tore her eyes away from the fight, he looked horrified.

"They sleep? But who will bring the dead beyond the Fates? Who is making sure that our fates is as it was meant? Who is watching over us?"

Celia shrugged "Mildritha I suppose."

"Mildritha?"

"My grandmother, or maybe no one. Maybe we make our own fates." She actually liked the sound of that, she liked the thought that she herself could change and shape her own life and not be doomed to the fate that had been given to her when she was born. Khalil apparently did not feel the same, he almost looked scared.

It looked strange on him, a strong, frightening warrior, afraid that he might have to make his own fate. It did not suit him.

"Would it be so bad?" She asked softly.

"You must wake them." He was completely serious, not a trace of jest in sight.

"Me? Why?" Someone won but Celia wasn't paying attention to the competition anymore, her focus was on the dark man beside her.

"The world needs them, even our own realm is declining. Dark creatures have wiped away entire tribes, do not tell me that was always their fate."

The guilt grew within her again, but Rhale had been right. She needed time to figure out if she even could help, there was nothing she could do now as things were. The realization still did not make her feel any less guilty. But what Khalil was asking, waking The Fates, it was impossible. How was she supposed to do something like that?

"I am sure they will wake when they are ready. There is nothing I can do to wake them."

"Have you tried?" Tried what? Again there was nothing she could do, she did not have any powers and she doubted that her mere existence would be enough of a substitute for their own children.

"They are siblings, no? The Fates?" he asked.

"Yes, they are."

"You said that you were only related to one of them. If they are siblings then you are related to all of them. If you can not wake them then we are all doomed."

Celia had not thought of that, if she was Mildritha's granddaughter would that not make her the grandniece to the other Fates? Still she wouldn't know how to go about even trying to wake them from their slumber.

"I can not even be in the realm of the Fates without falling asleep myself. I am sorry but I just don't see how I would wake them."

"Would you try it if there was a way?" Khalil's voice sounded urgent as he spoke and Celia looked down on the damp ground, thinking it over before she replied.

"Yes, I would." If she knew of a way then she would try. But she still did not know of such a way.

"Then we will search for a way." He said it so strongly, all traces of fear now eradicated "I will accompany you and Rhale to the realm of the humans. There are shifter clans, they are different from us but I know one of those clans has a big collection of ancient scripts. We will start there."

As she listened to Khalil she could see Rhale making his way towards them.

"I need time, the King is after me." She said and looked at Khalil, remembering Rhale's words from the other day she added "Me and Rhale are going to the land of the gods to be joined."

Khalil looked at her with wide eyes and she could have sworn that she heard him mutter lucky bastard under his breath but she thought that she must have heard him wrong.

Her attention was brought back to the competition by loud cheering around her. Amara had apparently won, beating all the other competitors.

"Is it over now?"

"Not quite, the winner is allowed to challenge anyone, including those who did not enter, in a challenge of their own choosing." Rhale said beside her, having worked his way through the crowd.

Amara was smiling, taking in the crowd's cheers with her hands raised above her head.

"I challenge!" Amara yelled out, her voice loud and strong. Everyone quieted down and listened excitedly to what she had to say.

"I challenge Celia the angel, in bow and arrow!"

Murmurs broke out around them and all eyes turned to Celia.

"What?" She whispered to Rhale "I'm not even a part of the tribe, can she do that?"

"Challenge approved!" Ximena yelled out "We will set up and meet after the evening meal!"

"Apparently so." Rhale whispered back to her. People were already beginning to leave the fighting grounds.

"I don't even have to accept the challenge?"

"No. That is not how it works here, come." Rhale said and pulled her away. Khalil was smiling brightly at her, apparently happy that she would have to compete. She was not.

As soon as the door closed behind them in Rhale's house Celia started pacing, her hands mindlessly combing through her hair.

"Can I refuse?"

"You can but you would have to leave instantly."

Darn it, they were not ready to leave yet. Food was easy enough to get a hold of here, it was the warm clothing that was taking time. They never had any need for it here.

"I can't compete with her Rhale!" Celia was ready to pull her hair out, Rhale had a bemused smirk on his face. She did not see what was funny in this.

"Calm, Celia." He said and stopped her pacing by grabbing her shoulders. "Ximena is the one who decides how the competition will work. She would not let you fight her directly."

Celia was not convinced and even if it was just shooting at targets, that she hoped were not alive, she still knew that she would make a fool of herself.

"Do not worry, it will be fine." She disagreed, could not see how any of this could be fine.

They ate just the two of them and Celia loved the thing they called rice, it did not exist where she came from.

"Khalid wants to accompany us when we leave. He wants to search for a way to wake up the Fates." She shuddered at the thought of actually having to try and wake them up. Would they be angry? But she pushed it aside, that was a problem for another day. First there needed to be a way to begin with and she doubted that there were.

"That does not surprise me. I will speak to him and see what he is planning, the gods would not take kindly to having a shifter on their lands so he can not follow us there."

"They don't like shifters?"

"Only God's and their joined ones are allowed there." She could hear distaste in Rhale’s voice.

Celia bit her lip nervously "What will they say about us, wanting to join that is?"

"There will be a test to see if we are compatible. If we are, they will check for your purity, ancient nonsense, but when it shows that you are they will say nothing of it."

"What is your father like?"

"He is not a father, he is a man who made me."

Celia left it at that, she could hear in his tone that he did not want to speak about it. She wondered quietly what had happened with his father that made him sound so angry by just the mentioning of him but she shrugged it off, it wasn't her place.

She had one more question, if he and his father were at odds with one another were they even welcomed there?

"Will they welcome us?"

"They will."

For the rest of the meal Rhale tried to cheer her up but the competition was hanging over her head. She did not want to compete and she definitely did not want to lose against Amara. Celia did not want to be beaten in front of the entire village but, most importantly, she did not want to look like a fool in front of Rhale.

The door burst open and she jumped in surprise at the loud bang as the door hit the wall. Khalil came strutting in, still wearing a big smile on his face.

"I had the honor to help set up the competition. Mother was not happy that Amara challenged you but she could not deny it without causing a ruckus, everyone would question why you were allowed to stay if she had done so." Khalil grabbed a piece of meat off her plate and she gave him the entire thing, she could not eat another bite anyway. He started gulping down the food like he was starving.

"What will the competition entail?" Rhale asked while he finished his own food.

"No combat. We will not hurt the angel, as mother said."

No combat, that was at least good. "So, what will I have to do?" She was biting her nails now waiting for him to swallow the huge amount of food he had just put into his mouth.

"It is simple enough, first there are unmoving targets, stationed at different difficulty levels. You will take turns shooting, the easiest first and so on. You will be judged on where the arrow lands on the target and how deep the arrow goes into the target. You can not win there, my sister is really strong. Aim for the middle of the target. If you shoot perfectly you have a chance to win the first round or at the very least make it to the second round."

That did not sound too bad, if she could only make it to the second round maybe she would not look so much of a fool as she had feared.

"What is the second round?"

Khalil had to swallow food again before he could speak and Celia was growing restless, "well?"

Finally he swallowed and he gave her a big smile. "The second round is moving targets."

Celia was really beginning to sweat now, she really hoped that she would not have to shoot any animals. She would not be able to do that, the only way she could see herself doing that was if it was a necessity and not for a stupid challenge.

Khalil was having too good of a time watching her sweat, now he was gulping down water from her cup, holding up a finger signaling for her to wait. Celia glared at him.

He drank all of it, of course and then he had to cough too. She looked at Rhale but he had lied down on his elbow, amused by her reaction too. Unbelievable...

Finally he spoke "The moving targets are wooden plates, they will be thrown up in the air at different angles, height and speed. The one who hits the most wins the second round. Mother will be the judge, if it is a tie in both rounds then a third and final round will be held." He held up his hand just as she was about to ask what that round was "Do not ask. I do not know, mother will decide if that happens."

No combat, no animals. Targets, unmoving and moving. Celia was beginning to feel slightly less terrified, it did not sound so bad. She could do this.

A knock sounded at the door and Rhale went to open it. A woman she did not recognise stood by it, she had her hands behind her back and rings adorned her upper arms signaling what Celia had come to understand meant a great warrior. Someone who had been brave in battle received one ring, she wore three of them.

"The one who has been challenged must make her way to the fighting grounds. The competition is about to start" She said looking at Celia without any emotion on her face. Celia was sure that her face showed a million.

Celia rose herself up on her feet and with Rhale and Khalil on either side of her they started walking forward, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

She really did not want to do this.