A wide thick nose, as if busted a time or too, graced his long face and squared—maybe too squared—jaw. Small but well-shaped eyes were shadowed by the full, deep red brows hovering over his prominent brow, a harshness mixed with soft. Dark and brooding, his brutally masculine face was not what one would call traditionally handsome, but, nonetheless, eye catching in his own right—simply arresting. Bare chested, a thick mat of curls dusting his thick, barreled chest, a pair of form fitting black breeches, and a thick, fur lined brown boot on his good leg were his only concessions towards being clothed. A thick strip of leather with a wide plate in the middle, secured his pants around his thick waist. The plate, reflective and shiny, shimmering like polished bronze, caught the moonlight, glinting off of it.
“Gaia. Earth.”
“Zeme,” Clothos corrected the bouncy Lachesis gently, staring over at a small patch of dried earth expectantly.
Lachesis immediately stopped hopping around from foot to foot like an over exuberant child—it was as if she possessed an odd nervousness around others—a bit more than jittery—and nodded.
Gaia, or Zeme, as she preferred, was next, the ground shaking and shuddering beneath everyone’s feet as a large fissure opened up, tumbling mud, grass, and heavy stones clumped with dirt to reveal a tall, full figured woman with skin as dark as night. Shaped like an overblown hourglass, and all the regal baring fit for a queen, head held high, gaze steady and unflinching, she oozed confidence.
Smoothing her hands lovingly down a figure hugging ecru wrap—soft looking as silk, but breathier than cotton—it molded to her luminous body lovingly, as if a second skin.
Secured at the shoulder and hip with small, hooked clips shimmering with onyx and bits of tiger’s eye, I’d never seen anything like the voluminous gown, its folds gently swaying around that of the wearer.
Eyes as deep and brilliant as malachite, finished off a face too becoming and natural for words. Beyond lovely. Long black lashes framed her large, glowing eyes, and her beautifully flowing thick hair, laden with gold, bright orange, and deep crimson leaves strewn throughout, complemented the warm, rich brown, earthy tresses surrounding her sultry lipped, heart-shaped face. Dangling from each ear lovingly was a set of large, crudely cut agate stones, glittering prettily in her wake with every step she took as her lightly gold dusted skin sparkled in her wake.
Once she reached the sisters, she curtseyed, giving each one a low toned, quiet greeting in kind.
“Feng Bo...?” Lachesis bit her lip and her face screwed up in concentration.
“Bo,” Atropos grumbled, the steady ‘shlick-shlick’ of her soapstone gently running over her scissors’ blades grating, even to my dream observing ears.
Wind was last, whipping in like a tornado on a fierce rush of warm, swirling air, rustling in violently as he kicked up a gust of dirt and ashen earth behind him. Garbed in soft leather breeches, knee high thick boots, and a long, flowing white shirt with ties at the neck, his long, silky black, straight hair was pulled back away from his angular, lightly tanned face, secured at the nape of his neck with what looked like a worn bit of cloth. Of average height, Bo was long and lean, agile, nimbly picking his way past Zeme’s crater in the ground, and the smooth but smoking lip Phaestus’ scorched entrance had created. Almond shaped eyes, grey with a smattering of blue and yellow, slanting exotically as they tipped at the corners, met everyone’s as he solemnly took in their little impromptu gathering. Adjusting the bag across his shoulders, secured at his side, he smiled slowly in greeting.
“Now,” Atropos chuffed, “we may begin.”
“Sisters,” Bo fairly purred, winking playfully when Lachesis glanced up at him and giggled.
Atropos’ lips thinned and her eyes narrowed to little black slits. “You wish to court Death, windbag?”
“No,” he said easily, ignoring her blackened scowl, “I only see the future,” he gave the gold caped sister a lecherous once over, “laid out before me, in my mind’s eye.”
Grinning giddily, Lachesis beamed at the compliment.
She must be ‘future’, I surmised, watching as Clothos spun the thread of life.
A little shell shocked once that sunk in, I blanched and flushed at the innuendo.
Phaestus glowered over at the flirtation, his expression matching Atropos’ perfectly, but neither one spoke.
Clothos just snorted and rolled her eyes, still steadily unravelling a long, shimmering spool of thread. “Lachesis may seem the easiest to convince, sweet little Elemental, but she’s a force when cross.”
Glancing towards the subdued sister in deep plum, Bo’s smile fell and he dropped his act. “Apologies, sisters.”
“Now!” Atropos clapped her hands with a hearty slap. “We begin!”
“She broke a sacred rule. Her interference with mortals has gone on long enough. I say banishment.” Arms crossed over her chest, lips pursed, there was no sympathy in Earth’s eyes for Niniane.
Lips trembling, the Lady of the Lake glanced away, silent tears still slipping down slowly as she tried to breathe in and out steadily.
“Meddling in the affairs of mortals is hardly a crime, Ze.” Turning his eyes towards the sky in a half roll, Bo hummed a little in the back of his throat. “Is that not what we do?”
“I am not speaking of meddling! She is playing god! Famine, disease, and death, all lay at her feet. And for what? Her attachment to one, puny, insignificant human?! She’s killed ten times that! Does that seem fair to you, Feng Bo?” she gritted out, something molten, like melted, boiling rock, blazing in her enraged gaze.
“Her bonded,” Phaestus’ deep voice rumbled out from just behind them.
Zeme marched right up to Bo, advancing on the impudent, slender male, poking the Wind Elemental right in the middle of his chest.
Clearing his throat gruffly as he scratched absently at his beard, shifting away from the arguing pair, I caught the Fire Elemental peeking over at Lachesis when he thought no one was looking.
“Bonded? Pfft. More fool her for tying herself to such a greedy pig.”
“You are bitter, Gaia, sweet,” Bo muttered quietly, grimacing in distaste as he flicked a bit of dirt off his pristine white shirt, lips tightening as a small speck of gold dust was left behind. “Jealous?”
“Jealous?” The beautiful woman spluttered, incredulous. “Hardly. And that’s beside the point.” Tapping her hand along her folded arms, she harrumphed. “We are getting off topic.”
“Yes, we are,” Atropos scolded, only to be hushed by Clothos and Lachesis, who seemed to be studying the exchange interestedly, sharing a meaningful glance.
“You do not know how it is with a bonded. Can you, then, not knowing, really say?” Smooth black brows shooting up, Bo waited.
“No. But... So... you are saying it is alright for her to wipe out an entire village, vegetation, people, animals, all, because she loved him?! An arrogant slip of a man? No, a boy, playing at a man!” Tossing her arms out incredulously, she stomped her foot, a small tremor of her power causing a small quake. “She may punish others for her foolishness, as well as his? Hah!”
“I say don’t banish.” Smirking, Bo inconspicuously sent her flying with a flick of his fingertips, unobtrusively studying his nails as another brain rattling tremor jarred the earth, followed by an enraged shriek. “Phaestus?” Bo murmured lazily, ignoring her tirade. “Looks like it falls on you, brother. What say you?”
Gaze going from one to the other, a long moment passed before the large giant grunted, “Neither.” Shocked, all eyes fell on him, usually the surliest, most uncooperative one of the group, but this went further than that.
“You cannot do nothing,” Atropos cut in, “unless you wish to see her end.” A slow menacing smile spread across her face as her hood tipped back, enhancing her otherworldly beauty as her coal black encased, soulless white eyes flashed. Coupled with her tone, it was rather unsettling. “Then, of course, I shall take over from here.” The sister in red made to step for
ward, scissors already in hand.
“No!” Zeme gasped as Niniane sobbed harder, taking a few quick steps towards her.
“Oh?” Atropos took a step back. Studying Gaia, her voice hardened, expression blanking. “Then decide.”
“I wish to see her reprimanded, learn a lesson, not dead! She is my sister in the elements!” Earth’s head swiveled to Fire. “Phaestus?!” She was pleading with him to help her.
“I never said to end her,” Phaestus muttered warily, wincing as Zeme’s eyes flashed, boiling like lava, and she began to rail at him.
“No one is killing anyone,” Bo whispered softly, the sharp edge to his voice, a hard note one couldn’t miss, as he eyed Atropos warily, fingering a large goatskin bag carelessly held over one shoulder, catching everyone’s attention. The promise in his eyes, should anyone be foolish enough to try such a thing, gave me a deep set of the chills.
“A curse, then?” Lachesis piped up.
“A curse?” Niniane whispered fearfully, hands clutching at her stomach protectively as she moaned, belly roiling hard.
“Hmm. Not a bad idea.” With a nod, in deference to ‘she of things that are to be’, Fire shrugged. “A curse, then, I say.” Glancing sadly as the Lady of the Lake started to protest, he held his hands up. “It is of your own making, sister mine. A curse can be broken.” The great mountain of a man’s eyes softened exponentially at the look in his sister Elemental’s eyes, the stark desperation, the remorse and pain. “Death, life’s great equalizer, cannot.”
“But...” she protested weakly.
“It is not a bad plan,” Bo murmured in agreeance, rubbing at his freshly shaven chin idly.
“Can we not just.... lock her up for a few thousand years? In a...a... in an old tree or the bottom of an ocean or something?” Zeme grumbled, frowning as her gaze took in the ravaged landscape just beyond the clearing. Zeme, mother of earth, was clearly conflicted, mourning the loss of all that once was and never shall be, while fighting her love for Niniane, sister-water.
“You cannot be serious?” Blinking up at her, Bo snorted, gesturing to Water’s burgeoning belly. “What of the child within? As we speak, he is grasping for this world.”
“Soon,” Clothos replied quietly, head still bent, rocking back and forth as her fingers filled with golden thread, “very soon.”
Zeme’s face pinched and she swallowed hard. “Then we must decide soon. I say she sleeps, and the child sleeps with her. No harm shall come to him, and he shall greet this world upon her release.”
“No!” Struggling to her feet, the Lady of the Lake gasped and panted, face red with anger, delicate cheeks mottling as her eyes flashed dark blue. “No one touches my son!”
“He will remain as he is,” Zeme reasoned. “He will be safe with in you, Nin. You can protect him,” she stressed, eyes darting between burgeoning belly and soon-mother-to-be.
“No.” Niniane was firm and set, teeth gritted as she forced the words between panting breaths.
“It would seem as if we are at an impasse,” Phaestus stated mildly, standing back a step when Bo and Zeme advanced on one another, immediately starting a shouting match that had the earth rumbling and wind whipping around them wildly. “I still say she is to be cursed.”
“Asleep! Where she will do no more harm!” Zeme was adamant.
Bo was just as ox-headed. “Awake! She must atone! How can she do so if she is sleeping peacefully, no better to us than if she was dead? No, it is too soft, too easy.” At Gaia’s startled look, he calmed slightly and explained, “I agree, what she did was wrong, she has taken what which was not hers to take. Punishment must be doled out, and severely. She must pay, but four corners are not four with three, and we cannot assign another for water if she still lives! You know of this, and yet you’d suggest such a thing? If a summoning came, the world would fall. Do not be such a fool, Gaia. We would all rot.”
Mouth opening and closing, Zeme paused, her unlined forehead pulling down as she frowned. “I... I... I was not thinking of that.”
“You haven’t had a summoning but once,” Lachesis murmured knowingly, running the tip of her finger over her smiling lips, ignoring Atropos when she went to rib her. Seeing it coming, she deftly missed the pointed elbow, expertly moving just off to the side. “Of the future,” Lachesis reminded, giggling.
Atropos sent her a teeth baring smile, eyes narrowed, fingers rubbing the hilt of her scissors. “And I of the end.” She gave her tool a quick pat.
Eyes shooting back to the Elementals, the sister-fate in gold’s eyes lit up. “So it has been done,” Lachesis intoned, her voice booming out as her hands spread out wide. The four Elementals all looked to the oddest of Fates searchingly. “But, as it is not in you to agree, your natures too different from one another’s to come to a means to an end, the Fates shall pose the terms.”
“Oh, but...” Zeme gasped in protest, a trickle of fear peeking through.
“That is not what was-” Phaestus protested, eyes wide.
“We didn’t even-” Bo’s face had gone ashen.
Niniane, in the final stages of labor, threw her head back and screamed, legs trembling.
Atropos tossed a hand out, stopping Zeme when she would have gone to her. “The terms, sister,” she prompted her sister.
“It shall be done,” Lachesis hummed, inclining her head to Clothos, who’d suddenly stopped her fingers, staring sightlessly into the night.
“Blood is required, given willingly. A virgin’s gift, Ornthren bonded. Love, pure in its intentions, of clear conscience, will ease the way,” Clothos murmured quietly, her face unblinking as her eyes glazed over.
Waving her hand, Lachesis motioned for Wind to continue.
“The heart is the source, claim it wise,” Bo added reluctantly, swallowing hard as he licked his lips and continued, “repercussions are never biased. Do to me as done to thee, so as not to be done again.”
Nodding, the Fate in gold gestured to Zeme.
“The body lives, the mind divides,” Earth whispered in a shaky voice, “distancing one’s self from mortals, minds do forth rend.”
She was making sure Niniane never forgot who she’d be hurting, ordering her to stay close to humans. She’ll bond and feel close to them, or go mad from distancing herself, I assumed. Wind’s verse was along the same lines with his last, but the first was more a warning—don’t give your heart over so easily, protect it and hand over only to those deserving.
How do I know all this? I wondered. Is it the dream? ‘It wants you to know.’ My senses tingled, urging me to be still and listen.
Lastly, it was Phaestus’ turn.
“I have no words of verse,” Phaestus grumbled hesitantly, “I’ve never had use for them. I only wish to tame the lady, so as not to harm more. A lesson, so she may never do... do this.” Tossing his head, his thick mane of red, shimmering with bits of iron and gold, following in his wake, he nodded to the village of death just beyond.
“We shall finish,” Lachesis whispered gently, smiling a bit sadly before taking the string from Clothos fingers and gesturing to Atropos.
“The child shall carry the curse, and all those that follow after. Should you give your heart and your body unwisely, Niniane, Lady of the Lake, the proof will spoil in your womb.”
“No!” The Elementals all cried out.
“Silence!” Atropos boomed out, the vibration of her bellowing shout rustling the leaves in the farthest trees. “A lesson shall be learned, and she shall never forget. Penance shall be earned. If she cannot break the cycle which started this whole atrocity, she will suffer for eternity. If she continues, if she cannot learn the ways of man, it will only worsen more. Her son will carry her scars—the sins of his mother and father. It is fitting, and so shall be done.”
“Wait! No! That is cruel! You cannot even think it! I... I wish to say my verse now,” Phaestus spluttered, large hands now trembling.
“It is already done and won’t be rescinded. Clothos?” Atrop
os prompted, ignoring everyone else.
The sister in purple’s eyes flashed and she blinked, large orbs going completely black, enveloping the white. Expression vacant, she sang in the softest, most beautifully haunting voice I’d ever heard.
“Sacrifice, a virgin’s given.
Gift of the bonded, submit within.
Take the source, claim it wise.
Repercussions never bias.”
Lachesis hummed along happily, fingers slowly measuring out the bit of thread the spinner of life had passed over.
“Do to ye as does to thee, never harm and never flee.
Feel it ill, sicken still.
The body lives, the mind divides.”
“But...” Niniane spluttered. “You curse him for life! You give him no reprieve!”
“As you have given no quarter to all the innocents you’ve slaughtered! You gave not a thought of them! Why, I ask, should we spare your child?” Clothos roared in a rare fit of pique, speaking for the Fates three, letting her emotions for all the threads she’d woven, cut down by another’s hand much too early, show, anger radiating off of her in waves.
“If we did not need the four corners to keep the balance,” Atropos snapped, “we’d have ended you eons ago. You are mere children with too much power, playing at gods. If truth be told, you could all use a lesson.” Slicing a hand through the air like a sword, she glared at them all. “Be glad we have not done just that! Be warned when meddling with man, we will not take further grievances lightly.”
Screaming in anguish, Niniane toppled to her side, groaning as a gush of wetness soaked her gown. Blood and fluid soaked the earth, bleeding into the ground.
“He has come,” Lachesis whispered soothingly.
A few gut wrenching screams later and a startled cry rent the air, the Lady of the Lake’s fellow Elementals gathered around her, Gaia herself assisting the new life into this world.
The Toll Page 26
