The Broken Destiny

by Carlyle Labuschagne

  “You don’t know about…” she began, but once again we were interrupted, this time by a loud whistle coming from somewhere behind us. She looked over her shoulder and signaled something to Enoch who whistled back in response. Moving swiftly to her side, I watched as a couple of dark figures emerged from the rock-face in the distance. Tatos signaled for us to return.

  “I need to release,” Maya said when she stood.

  “Release?” I frowned.

  “Yes.” She answered, squeezing her hands over her crotch to demonstrate what she meant.

  “Oh!” I said, gently hitting myself on the forehead.

  “I suggest you do the same,” she informed me.

  “I don’t need…”

  “Well, force it,” she said, cutting me off. “Climbing with a full bladder is very painful.” She almost smiled “Trust me, I know.”

  Lugging me by my arm, I followed her into the dense bushes.

  “Wait,” I said, turning back. “My shoes!”

  “We’ll be right back,” she said plainly, still holding on to me.

  In the distance, I could make out the three warriors attending to the horses, their dark, slim, tall figures encircling each other. Tatos was brushing down his tan horse while Enoch stood resting his head against the auburn beauty’s nose, stroking her face gently on either side. Maya started humming loudly as she crouched down behind a green-blue leafy bush. I heard the echoes of loud male voices nearing the base of the rocks as they made their way down toward the beach.

  “Hurry up,” I said in a nervous whisper. “They are coming this way.”

  Maya’s humming became more persistent.

  “What in the name of Poseidon are you doing back there?”

  “Shh! I am concentrating,” she said. “Stage fright.” She started humming again.

  I watched the seven or eight figures as they jumped from ledge to ledge, almost crawling down the steep walls of the mountain base. One by one, they dropped down into the distant cove with such poise and grace; I could have sworn they too were trained in the gymnastic arts.

  “You’re up!” Maya called, her dark hair protruding from the top of the shrub.

  “Who are those guys?” I asked.

  She stood next to me, squinting to get a better look at them as they slowly made their way through the long, golden grass, on their way to where the warriors had unloaded everything off the horses earlier.

  She straightened out. “Oh, Troy’s group.” She beamed.

  I frowned.

  “I’ve never met…”

  A sudden snap made me spin around. I swiftly scanned the shrubs but there was no movement whatsoever. The valley surrounding us suddenly took on an eerie quality – just like before the attack. Crouching down, Maya slowly slid the dagger from her boot.

  “I heard that,” she confirmed.

  “Maya, there’s something there.” Shivers broke out all over my body. My senses were telling me to go – go now!

  “It might just be an animal.” She didn’t sound convinced at all.

  “I can feel something. It’s looking right at us,” I said.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  She didn’t have to tell me twice. I had just started to turn my back to follow her when a sharp sting on my thigh startled me, I looked down and there it was – not just a twig or a thorn as I had hoped. To my horror, I could see a red, feathered dart piercing my leg, and then another one hit me on my ankle before I let out a scream.

  “Crap!” I yelled. “Run!”

  This time the poison worked even faster as I stumbled to my knees. I heard Maya scream for Enoch and felt two cold hands seizing my arms, hauling me back toward the valley. I was already feeling numb when my sight zoomed in and out of focus. Maya struggled to free herself from our attackers. As she dropped to the floor she side-swept one of them, shouting even louder for Enoch. I could distinguish the figures of the other boys who were almost upon us by the time I let out another yelp. I tried to pull away but the grip around the top of my arms tightened and numbness captured my bottom half. My vision blurred completely, the fight within me paralyzed by fear as everything went dark. I heard the distinct crush of feet on sand, loud male cries coming from all sides. A sharp, cold, metal object pierced my cheek, someone gasped and the voices around me became hushed. Maya called my name as I sensed myself being dragged backwards. I didn’t even try to move, to shout, or to pull away – I was a coward.

  “Let her go and I might let you die quickly,” a familiar voice said with such confidence, even I took the threat seriously.

  No answer came. They just continued to pull me in the wrong direction.

  “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said the voice with vicious anger and strong assurance.

  A cold metal object pushed deeper into my skin and I found myself screaming out of fear. I heard a recognizable whistle as something flew past my ear, followed by a loud thump. A warm substance splashed onto my face and neck as I collapsed helplessly to the cold sand, the grip around my arms released. The only thing I couldn’t feel were my legs. When I felt the soft touch of Maya’s warm hands around my neck, I relaxed a little. There was scuffling, moans, fists pounding on flesh and a loud exhale followed by a dreadful scream. Maya started to whimper next to me. The clang of metal on metal, the dull thump of flesh on flesh, and the distinct crush of bones beneath skin left me grinding against the scene in my head. I had lost all vision by then.

  “Troy, stop!” I heard Tatos shout. “He’s dead!” And then, there was silence.

  “It’s over,” Maya whispered breathlessly into my ear.

  The constant pounding had finally stopped. My throat closed up and my body trembled as tears streamed down my face. I held onto Maya tighter than I had held onto anything before. Maya kissed me tenderly on my forehead, my head in her lap. She hugged me tightly, wiping my face vigorously at the same time.

  “Enoch!” She shouted.

  I could almost taste the terror in her cry. Her grip around my neck intensified.

  “Maya, I can’t breathe,” I said softly.

  “Maya, let go. You’re strangling her.” Tatos’ voice was as calm as it always was but it somehow sounded void of the usual pleasant ring.

  “You girls okay?” Enoch was just as breathless as we were.

  “I can’t see anything,” I replied, the tears flowing even faster down my face. “My legs,” I added. “I can’t feel my legs.”

  “You’ll be fine. Let’s get you all cleaned up,” Enoch said, his voice much closer than it had been before.

  I felt an arm reach around my back and then gravity seemed to leave me completely as I was lifted off the hard ground. I felt every shaky step Enoch took and could hear the others following us, the murmur of their voices trailing off into the distance. The numbness in my legs made every other sensation more intense.

  “Grab Maya, please,” Enoch’s voice dripped tension and misplaced anger.

  “What about…?” Willard’s breathing was extremely labored as he harshly spat the words out.

  “Troy and his gang will take care of the bodies. Right now, we need to get her to Kronan.”

  Warm tears still flowed down my cheeks but I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from; I could have sworn that I had stopped crying a short while earlier. Enoch’s chest vibrated against my ribs as he spoke. “Tatos”, was all he said. I could tell that he was annoyed by the way his grip tightened around my body.

  Everyone was silent, even the horses. For a moment, I thought that everyone had left. Enoch finally spoke as he put me down.

  “Are you in any pain, Ava?”

  “No. I just can’t see anything … and my legs…”

  The horses suddenly became restless and I could hear Willard trying to calm them with soft kind words.

  “Where’s Maya? Is she okay?” I asked.

  “I’m right here, Ava.” I could hear that she was crying.

  Every abrasive grain of sand pr
icked me through my sweater. I tried to pull myself up, but I was pushed down again.

  “This might sting a bit,” warned Enoch as he crouched over me.

  I could feel his breath on my face. Maya squeezed my hand. Abruptly, a large hand gently pushed down on my forehead while a pair of hands firmly clamped down on my shoulders. The first thing I felt was cold liquid running over my eyes, followed by a stinging sensation which seemed to intensify until it felt as if sweltering coals were being pushed into my eye sockets. My shoulders were held down more firmly, and I was pushed deeper into the sand as my back arched in agony. I heard Tatos calling for Maya whose whimpering had become louder. My lungs burned from a lack of oxygen – I had momentarily stopped breathing. I heard waves rushing toward me, the wind screeching in my ears and the ground shudder beneath me as dozens of footsteps neared. The pain in my eyes diminished slightly as I focused on the footsteps closing in on us. Enoch was still crouching over me; I could feel his firm grasp around my wrists and his warm body over mine.

  “I could hear her screams from way over there! What are you doing?” A voice snapped.

  I felt Enoch’s grip around my wrists twist and tense. I wriggled under the pressure.

  “Well, I don’t see you…”

  Enoch’s voice hurt my ears. I quickly covered one of my ears with my free hand. I heard Maya gasp and I recoiled. Every sound, magnified. Every noise around me had intensified. I could hear the horses breathing in and out, as well as the unsettled beating of their hearts. Mostly, I could hear a constant rushing sound in my ears, like that of a thick liquid gushing through my entire body. Enoch suddenly released his grip.

  “This is your fault!” I heard him shout.

  The suave voice broke into laughter.

  “Let’s hear it then.” Enoch retaliated.

  “Enoch! Troy!” Maya spat.

  “That’s enough! This is not the time for your silly squabbling.

  What is it with you two anyway?” Tatos called from a short distance away.

  Maya took her place by my side once again, carefully placing each of her hands on either side of my face as if holding my head in position.

  “I can’t believe…” She started to cry again. “I’m so sorry, Ava. I’m so sorry.”

  “You’re not the one who should be sorry.” Enoch’s voice was jagged with anger.

  He leaned over me as I lay there blinking, forcing myself to see what was going on. I felt a familiar presence not far behind Enoch. The air around me became stifling as bodies closed in on me. I heard a loud gasp and saw a shadow move closer.

  “What the…” Troy said again.

  “Don’t you say another word.” Enoch uttered angrily, pushing him away.

  He slowly rose to a standing position. His gray figure slid into focus.

  “I thought that you and your pack,” he spat as he quickly moved toward a group of dark figures, “had this place secured.”

  My vision became blotchy as I tried very hard to put a face to Troy’s voice. Dark and light patches were coming into focus as I lifted my head and leaned on my elbow to steady myself. I needed to match a face with a voice I was certain I had heard before. I saw a dark figure break from the pack as others moved into flanking positions behind him. I assumed he was Troy.

  “I did!” Troy shouted back.

  “Then, kindly explain to me how this could have happened?” The annoyance in Enoch’s voice thickened as he tried to compose himself.

  “It is impossible to break the barrier. We’ve been here for at least twenty four hours, scouting every inch of the perimeter, unless…” Troy’s voice trailed off.

  “Magic!” I heard Tatos say.

  “Black magic,” Troy confirmed. “But, it can’t be,” he contradicted himself. “There was no scent. None.”

  “All your training. Useless then?” Enoch said heatedly. “Your father…”

  Troy chuckled.

  “Your ignorance is astonishing, Enoch.”

  Troy’s dark figure turned and Enoch swung at him. I heard his arm whooshing through the air. Troy ducked, turned, grabbed Enoch’s fist and began to laugh.

  “You’re an idiot, you know that? All this, to impress a little girl. You lost your focus, once again, so let’s just say we all slipped up,” Troy stated.

  Enoch froze. So did I. Those words stung – painfully.

  “You better get that wound treated,” Troy said firmly before he turned. “She’d be better off with us.” I heard him say from a distance as his group retreated, taking the horses with them.

  “I dearly hope my father knows what he is doing.”

  All was silent once more. It occurred to me that I had heard Troy’s voice somewhere before.

  “Would you like some water?” Maya asked me, handing me a canister.

  I attempted to say “please”, but my throat burned and I couldn’t get the words out. I was still in shock. Everything was quiet for a while. Enoch and the others were having a private discussion a fair distance away from us. I focused my hearing and leaned toward their muffled voices.

  “If he wasn’t Kronan’s son…” Enoch said, grinding his teeth together.

  “Boy, how I wish I could just pound his arrogant, pretty-boy face,” Willard whispered.

  I giggled to myself and wondered what Troy looked like. If his voice was anything to go by… My musing was stopped dead in its tracks when I realized it was the same voice I had heard in my kitchen that one night. My heart sank as I realized how angry he had made me, how much of an ego he had, and how much I hadn’t liked him. Also, how much emotion I had shown for the first time.

  “Huh? What did you say? I didn’t quite hear you. I was busy…” Maya started to say.

  “I don’t think I said anything. I was just thinking about Troy…” I stopped talking. Everything around me shut down. I need another chance to see him, to…

  “Poseidon to Ava? Hello?” Maya said, waving her hand at me.

  “Sorry, just day-dreaming.”

  “I think we all realized that,” she said lightheartedly.

  I looked up and noticed that all four of them were standing over me.

  “Well, don’t just stand there…” I said, motioning for them to help me up. Maya bent down to push me up as the others pulled me into a standing position. My vision was slowly returning.

  “How are you feeling?” Enoch enquired. His voice composed as he turned to me.

  “Just great thanks!” I answered sarcastically, pondering the speed at which his mood changed. Was he just very temperamental, or crazy? I wondered. Either way, it scared me.

  Once the pain in my eyes had subsided, I felt an incredible itchy sensation like a wire cutting into my cheek. I lifted my hand to touch the affected area but Maya pushed my hand away gingerly.

  “Don’t,” she said grimly.

  “Here,” Willard said, handing me an object.

  My vision was still a little bit blurry. I shut my eyes and reopened them and then tried to refocus on the object.

  “What is it?”

  “A stun dart.”

  Willard stuffed it into his bag. He swiftly zipped it up, a serious expression on his face. Enoch slapped Willard on the side of the head. “Move idiot,” he said impatiently. “Give the lady some room.”

  Tatos assisted me to the flat rock Maya and I had picnicked on earlier.

  “Maya,” he said seriously. “I need you to find the small hole on her ankle.”

  She sat down at my feet and smiled at me.

  “Which is it?’ she asked, rolling my feet from side to side. “Ah, there it is,” she said and wiped at her mouth. She rolled my tights up until they were slightly higher than my calves. I still couldn’t feel much, so I didn’t notice the cold. I leaned back on my hands and closed my eyes, trying to steady the quivering inside. Maya took a deep breath.

  “Smelly,” she teased.

  I timidly smiled back at her. “Whatever,” I playfully retorted, sitting back up, briskly rubbi
ng at my irritated eyes.

  “Take this.” Enoch held out a wet rag. There was an awkward silence.

  “For the itch,” he clarified, wrapping his hand around mine as he placed the rag in it.

  My stomach churned at his touch. I gently wiped my eyes with the rag, its wetness soothing them immediately. It smelled familiar so I took another whiff.

  “Chamomile,” Tatos said.

  “Better?” Enoch asked.

  “Much. Thanks,” I replied hesitantly, catching my breath when his hand brushed my thigh as he sat down.

  He took the cloth from me and started to gently wipe my face. I pushed his hand away, frowning.

  “Sorry, but your face is covered in blood.”

  “Blood? Were my eyes bleeding?”

  “No,” he replied abruptly and stood to walk away.

  I screamed in pain as my skin was pinched under Maya’s sucking effort. She spat onto the sand.

  “Try to stand. It will get the blood flowing,” she said.

  I pulled myself toward her but only parts of my legs had come back to life. I sat back down.

  “Giving up so soon?” she enquired, giving me another tug.

  Willard held me under my arms and helped lift me to my feet. It felt incredibly strange. It felt like I was standing on two severed legs and as I was still disorientated, it also felt like the world had fallen off its axis. As I tilted my head a little to balance my view, I suddenly swayed precariously in my upright position. Enoch grabbed my waist to steady me, my heart skipping a beat even though I was trying to ignore the nervous state I was unexpectedly finding myself in when around him. How quickly things change, I thought, as Maya rubbed some herbal ointment on the small puncture wound beneath my ankle. She then tightly wrapped bandages that had been smeared with the same ointment around my thigh and my ankle. If only I had put my boots on before taking a walk. I should have trusted my gut. I wrinkled my nose at the potent smell.

  “Tea Tree,” Maya said, bouncing back up.

  When she looked at me, her eyes fogged up with tears again. She turned and stood by Tatos who patted her on the back slowly. They exchanged a look I didn’t want to accept. I could tell that something was wrong and that no one wanted to tell me what it was. Enoch tightened his grip around my waist as my legs buckled under.