The Broken Destiny (34 page)

I saw a plan beginning to form in her eyes.

Later that evening, I heard the beating of drums echo over the lands. Walking over to the window, I stood and welcomed the chilly breeze. Ugly, brown welts of smoke stained the purple night sky, scarring the faces of the three moons. The rains had seized the distant stars visible through the little cloud cover. I looked down at the traditional decorative cloth that replaced my dress, held together only by strings of golden beads, my hands and feet dressed in red beads. I wanted to rip the clothes from my body, but was not prepared to go naked. The wire of remorse wrapped around my body like a wounded animal, and to me, those clothes represented every wrong decision I had ever made to get to that point. I promised myself that I would never, ever, give Enoch what he wanted. I would rather die a hundred times over than let that happen. Enoch was dead to me and he was responsible for the death of the one I loved, the one I was meant to have been with all along. I could finally see that. Being near Troy, made a part of me that I’d never known existed, come alive. I wanted to be more like that girl and more like him. I could see clearly at last, but it was too late. I would never be able to tell him that. I would never be able to tell him that I was changing because of him. I wanted to blame Enoch for distracting me from my purpose, but I couldn’t blame him. I knew that it was all on me, all my own fault. I had let him deceive me. I tortured myself with the thought that,
Troy was right. It is entirely my fault.
The pain and loathing that surged inside me built up to a crescendo as warm tears silently escaped. Emotion spilled from every corner of my mind, overwhelming my heart. I stumbled over to the open window. Cold air and rotten smoke blew past me. It felt like I was going to explode with hatred. I forced myself to snap out of it.
I will use this. I will use it well.
That foreign, wicked smile crept across my face. I refused to give Enoch another thought. He didn’t deserve it. That was the exact moment that I became able to voluntarily block him from reading my mind.

“I would rather be naked than wear the colors of my enemy,” I said out loud to the walls in the room as if they were spies.

I ripped the strings of beads and watched them burst all over the floor. Next, I tore the robes from my body, walked over to the enormous bed and wrapped myself in the animal skins. The tiny hairs of what I thought must be a goat’s pelt, were prickly against my silky skin. One by one, I pulled all the skins from the walls and couches.

“The time has come, my people!” The witchdoctor’s voice boomed from afar.

I froze.

“The cleansing ceremony will begin tonight.”

The door swung open and I scurried to the far corner. I swore under my breath as I melted into the shadows – there was nowhere else to go.

“Princess?” someone whispered softly.

The young queen came creeping into the room. Two young men stood behind her.

“We have to hurry. He’ll notice my absence soon.”

I allowed myself to be seen. Her eyes fell on my chosen attire. She laughed and handed me a bundle of old clothes. Untangling it, I discovered a pair of jeans and a light blue sweater.

“Where did you get these?”

“Hurry, there’s no time.”

I pulled the pair of jeans over my quivering legs and then the sweater, both too big for me. I rolled the jeans up and did the same with the sweater’s sleeves. It was then that I recognized the sweater.

“Sage!” I said out loud. “You have to take me to her!”

“Princess, we don’t have time.”

“Please. I can’t leave her here. She is still alive, isn’t she?”

“Yes, but she’s not the girl you remember.”

“I don’t care. Take me to her,” I insisted.

She nodded.

I held onto the waist of the jeans with one hand as we left. The soft sweater clung to the curves of my breasts. There was no time to fuss; I needed to get to Sage. I knew she had
changed
, just like me. There would be no other reason she would be there. We slipped out of the room and paused at the end of the narrow, dimly lighted corridor, and satisfied we were in the clear, entered what looked like a kitchen and proceeded through the dark room until we came to a colossal oven. The young queen softly nudged me into the out-of-use oven. She led the way and I slid into the darkness behind her, the two young Zulu boys following close behind. The tunnel grew darker, like a black wall rising before us. The air was stale and stifling as we headed in. I slowed down as I was confused about the layout of the low, slanted tunnel. The young boys behind me kept coming and pushed me onward into the darkness. I grabbed onto one of their arms to steady myself. The boy’s skin was warm and smooth in contrast to the coarse walls I continuously kept scraping my hands and feet against. Finally, a glow signaled the end of the tunnel. The coarse sandstone sides of the tunnel began scraping against the sweater as it narrowed even further. My toes were the first to feel the cold air. The young queen grabbed my hand as we popped out the other end.

“We made it!” I said, blowing out a huge sigh of relief.

My words came crashing down on me as I saw Enoch standing just outside the tunnel, his arms crossed over his chest, and a huge feathered crown matching the colors of his eyes sat atop his head. He grinned so wickedly, I felt like killing him then and there. But my lack of training left me less than confident in my abilities.

“Leaving so soon?” he enquired plainly.

I turned to see that the boys had receded back into the darkness of the tunnel. I felt relieved as their identities would be hidden, but the young queen, however, knelt at Enoch’s feet in despair. Her betrayal was now evident. As my eyes fell on her, the pain I had swallowed before came back up into my chest, threatening to tear through me. His eyes followed mine.

“Oh, trust me; she will be made an example of.”

“Enoch, please. I forced her to help me. It’s my fault.”

His face was scraped clean of any human traits.

“It is your fault, entirely. Her blood will be on your hands.”

He picked her up and threw her to the guards. My blood started to boil.
I can’t let them hurt her. She’s been so kind to me. I can’t let anything happen to her. I refuse to have another death on my conscience.

“Okay, Enoch. Let’s do this.” I smiled.

Something foreign, something strong, something that came as naturally as breathing forced its way through me. I felt a calmness wash over me – I breathed in the sweet smell of revenge. The supernova of hatred was building within me.

I tasted the darkness on my lips.

I welcomed it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Revelations

Change everything you are.

Change everything you were.

Change everything you will be.

T
he second I let everything slip away, the sensation of my heart shattering into a million pieces shot through me like a blade to my wrist. The slow burn of pain threatened to take over, but it was replaced by a white rage so pure in its strength, it left me dizzy. I was furious at myself for allowing these devastating events to happen and I blamed myself for everything bad that was happening. The anger and disgust I felt was the same anger and disgust I had experienced the day after I was raped. I knew those feelings would never go away. Nothing I could think of would ever heal the bad choices I had made. The things I had allowed to happen to me, to my friends… Nothing in the universe could ever make it all go away.
I am a disaster
, I pronounced to myself. I clenched my fists at my sides as we headed back toward the chambers, my knuckles turning white against my body. A troop of guards escorted us up a spiral staircase made from the same ivory as the four-poster bed. Skulls hung from the clay brick hallways, strings of multicolored spears decorated the roof, their sharp blades threatening to come down on me at any minute. We entered a doorway and my eyes fell on a massive lion’s head stuck to the wall – we were about to enter the Royal chamber. A golden mane gave way to a soft, fair face and in its eyes, hollowness and death was evident. My heart ached at the way its beauty and majesticness had been defiled at the hands of
this
world. Realization of how I was going to beat my enemy sank in hard and fast. I almost felt sick at the thought that I was to become what I had hated for so long in order to save myself, to get to Troy’s body in time, to save the villagers, the young queen and eventually save everything I loved. My pulse raced at the idea.
Why did it have to come down to this?
I knew no other way. I wished something would come to me soon. It was the only way I could think of. I had to become what I hated – and very fast. As the doors opened, Enoch gripped my arm and pulled me into the room. I drew in all the fear; let it wash away any compassion and insecurities I owned. I wanted to rip everything inside me to shreds so I could get to that dark place edging toward my consciousness. I needed to get to it immediately. The doors closed behind us and I turned to see death all around me. The eyes of dozens of animals displayed as trophies, called to me from the very walls they hung from. I wanted to smash the walls in, to destroy everything in my path with my fists, because the broken bones would distract me from the pain I felt inside. I buried myself, and the darkness in my heart came alive as Enoch grinned at me. Shuddering, I filled myself with the unknown. Whatever I had taken from the Isithunzi when he had touched me was now the bridge between my heart and the darkness welling up inside me. I was scared yet empowered by it. A flicker of sadness washed over me for what I was about to do, but I quickly suppressed it.
Troy would hate this
. That sadness and pain become my trigger – I welcomed it – I owned it. If only for this night, I could revel in the beauty of the darkness. The poison would fuel me, scrape at the edges of my soul and scar me, but I would not let it break me. Bouquets of flowers filled the corners of the room, and a tall fire burned a strange electric green in a colossal fireplace that was draped with skins and skulls. Rose petals were scattered across the floor and on the bed.

“How sweet,” I said, turning to Enoch. The darkness was coming at an alarming rate.

“Giving in?” he asked excitedly.

He walked over to the window, hands behind his back. “Ava, I know you lied to me.” He turned, grinning.

I frowned.

“You see, if you had lost your innocence as you proclaimed…” Slowly he came toward me, eyes blazing with pride at his discovery. “You would have had your powers.” He grinned. “You see, to
Change
is just the beginning, but to acquire your powers you would have had to breach the gap between your heart and your soul, and the only way to do that is to have lost yourself in the physical and emotional pleasure of it all.”

“So, maybe I didn’t enjoy it.” I quickly countered.

He snorted. “Those darts, each one laced with a potent potion that drew you to…”

Suddenly, I realized that all those times I had felt attracted to the male species…

“It was before.” I interjected

“Easy there.” He chuckled. “What you are, what is inside of you…” He touched my chest with one hand. “…Once you lose your innocence, it acts as a catalyst to your powers.”

“That’s why you wanted me to…”

He nodded.

“Asshole.” I sneered back.

He turned to the bed.

“Your father said to wait…” I stated. I had to stall him as much as possible.

Suddenly he spun, a growl escaping from his throat.

“My father has been blinded and controlled by the ancestors, he has no idea how things have evolved, what you really are.”

“And you do?”

He smiled an all-knowing-smile.

“What did you do, Enoch?”

“It doesn’t matter. I did what I had to do.”

“For what purpose, exactly?”

“My own!” He shouted, and pulled me to the bed.

When he shoved me onto the bed, he held out a green vial. It glowed in his hand.

“You see this?” He waved it in front of my face. “You have no choice.”

I gasped. The liquid inside the vial wafted in circles as if it were imprisoned smoke.

“That’s right, Ava.” He slowly walked toward the window, his gait resembling that of a monster. “This here is powerful magic that will seduce you into its power.” He turned and flashed a row of brilliantly white teeth.

“I’m glad to see you didn’t inherit your father’s looks,” I said bluntly.

His face dropped, his eyes iced over and a smirk slowly rose from the corners of his mouth. “You’ll give yourself to me freely,” he said, pressing his lips into a thin, hard line.

I smiled my wickedest smile. “You’re a coward.”

He shrugged uncaringly. “If you say so,” he replied absentmindedly as he fondled the lid of the vial.

I knew I had to do some quick thinking to get into that monster’s head, and I was aware that I needed to play to his ego.

“It’s easy to force my hand, but it will mean nothing. It won’t be me that lays in your bed tonight.” I smiled. He needed to have some sense of victory, I knew that much.

“All you will be proving is that you weren’t able to get the girl on your own, but had to resort to using
daddy’s
magic to get her to agree to go to bed with you.”

He took a step back toward me. “Shut up,” he sneered.

“Why? Because you know I’m right? You’re nothing without your daddy.”

He clenched his fists.

“How am I supposed to fall in love with that? I could never love a man who can’t think for himself. You’re the weak one, not me. I will never regard you as anything more than an extension of your father’s will. And, believe me when I say this, there is nothing attractive about that.”

He smashed the vial onto the floor in a fit of rage. The soft mist rose around his legs and evaporated into the air around him.

“I don’t need magic,” he said as he stalked toward me.

He forcefully grabbed my sweater while his other hand grasped my jaw. He pulled me into a fierce kiss. It wasn’t like before when he had crushed his mouth against mine. This time, it was both aggressive and gentle. He wanted me to feel that some part of him did want me in a gentle loving way. His hands shivered as he pulled me closer. I let him and I indulged in the moment, knowing full well that playing along would give me a few more seconds to summon the numbness. He closed his eyes and his grip became like that of a robot as he started to soak up my essence. I absorbed his poison as I kissed him back, allowing the numbness to take over. I felt my temperature rise as a feeling of power started to bubble up inside me. I knew what I had to do to fully gain my powers; it was the only way to gain supremacy over him – to become what I was meant to be. But, foremost, I had to become what I didn’t want to become.
To know yourself, you have to know who you are not. To find the light, you have to go through the dark.

The rage grew and it wasn’t long before I was almost totally gone. I tore at my clothes and then at his. He was totally taken aback and fell to his knees. My skin glowed all over. Using my bare feet, I pushed down on his chest until he was laying flat on the floor in front of me, yielding completely. A foreign, evil smile made its way onto my lips as my hands glided over his chest like melting ice. I might have been enjoying it a bit too much. I lowered myself on top of him. Electricity surged through my skin as I pressed my breasts against him. All of a sudden, I had the incredible urge to throw up and had to quickly swallow the last of my concerns and considerations. I felt my life slip away, but also felt something take hold of me. Once I was inside of him, I could almost not bear the surge of power.

“HANG ON!”

It was all so surreal. I concentrated on following through. The only solution was to fight myself, to revel in the pleasure of it all as my powers emerged. My body was bruised inside and out, and suddenly, I was set alight.
It
came over me and Ava was buried far beyond my reach. I had succeeded in implementing what I had been created to master. I did make love to him, as much as I possibly could stand to. The dark cloud poured into me. I was instantly aware that it would kill him, but the shift had taken over and I had lost all control. At that moment, I had hoped it would kill us both. I drew in the darkness and blacked out as I submitted to its power.

Coming to, I found myself standing in front of a towering mirror. Etched into its delicate frame were engraved symbols, adorned with all kinds of gems shining as bright as the sun. I was memorized by its beauty. I recognized some of the symbols as being Minoan. Running my fingers along the edges, I observed that they appeared to be from several different languages. My hands trembled as I recognized some of the symbols; numbers from the human race. The amethyst on my pendant suddenly faded, its lustrous glow giving way to a dull insipidness as I looked into my reflection for the very first time. I almost felt weak in the revelation of what had just happened, what I had done. My eyes were as gray as a wicked storm, skin as pale as ivory and hair as gold as a solar flare colliding with a star. My skin still aglow, I felt the hollowness take over. In the reflection of the silver glass, I saw his body. Slowly, I turned around to see Enoch spread out on the floor, lifeless and gray, black hair sprawled over the dark, red carpet – death. I hurried over to him, grabbing some sheets to cover myself. I stood over his comatose body and kicked his arm, but he didn’t respond. I couldn’t remember what had happened. Unexpectedly, Troy’s angelic face flashed before my eyes and then it all came back to me.
I remember a power surge before a bright glow and then…

“I killed him,” I grunted, but the revelation only held emptiness, and the darkness lasted for a moment longer.

“I told you I would kill you and you didn’t believe me.” His ice blue eyes, void of light.

“Now, every last one of you will feel my lethal retribution.” I spoke the words out loud, but they seemed distant as they came out of my mouth. I was saying things I didn’t feel. The numbness had already become a part of me. I had switched from being myself to being someone else, like I was simply breathing in air. I walked over to the door, mechanically. Before opening it, I twisted on my heel and looked at Enoch’s dilapidated body one final time – no, I still felt nothing. I swung the door open, the coldness refreshing against my feverish skin. The guards came rushing over to me and pointed their spears at my throat. One of them peeked into the room and dropped to his knees in an instant. The others followed quickly, almost immediately kneeling at my feet.

“That’s right,” I said, smiling. “Go tell your
king
…” I looked into the eyes of the young man kneeling beside me as he trembled, unable to hold my gaze, or too afraid to. “…I will see him now.”

The young man rose, bowed and scurried down the hallway. The other guards ran over to their dead prince.

“Get
that
out of here!” I shouted, motioning to the body with my free hand and with the other, I clung so tightly to the thin layer of fabric covering my naked body, afraid to let go as if it were the only part of me left that cared.

I watched the four men lift his body, his dark hair swaying against the air as they exited. I shut the door behind them. I wanted to feel bad for killing Enoch, for Arriana’s sake, but I felt nothing. I didn’t feel sad or regretful. It should have bothered me, but the only thing that troubled me was that I didn’t give a damn. And, the only thing I regretted was that perhaps Enoch was the only one who had truly ever known what I was. He sure seemed to think so. But, he was dead, along with my feelings for him. I looked down at my hands and felt rejuvenated. It felt like I had just woken up for the very first time. My skin still radiated with a faint, golden glow. I walked back to the mirror and scrutinized the horrid masks that hung on the wall beside it, desecrating the beauty of the traveling mirror. An electric charge ran through me, and that was what I had become. I pulled all of the masks down from the walls and smashed them to pieces on the stone floor. I pulled the wire free from the clay holding the pieces together. I wanted to see the color of my blood one more time. I wanted to fathom what I was, but the blood didn’t come. The wound healed perfectly even before I could see it. I closely examined myself in the mirror and saw that every scar on my face had healed, too. I realized that my powers had arrived along with the darkness. I wrapped the wire around my upper chest and pulled the dark cloth I had draped around me, through the hoop and folded it over like a dress. I need my hands so I could strangle the Isithunzi to death the minute he walked through that door. I hesitated. I wasn’t very clued up on black magic, and I wasn’t sure what I had done earlier. In addition, I didn’t know if I could do it again. The minute he heard of his son’s death, he would come. The thought of Enoch being his son made bile rise up into my mouth. I was disgusted that I had dated a half-breed, a monster. I sat down on the floor beside the mirror. My mind was not my own. I gazed at the fragments of clay scattered around me and swore. I needed help. I remembered they were under the impression that I could speak to the others telepathically.
Could I?
I wondered. I sat with my face to the mirror and touched both hands to the cold glass – I would use it as a mediator. Now that I had my powers, I would have to at least try. I started to focus, took in the vibrations around me as Kronan and Tatos had showed me
. I know what to do
, I reminded myself.
I just have to remember something that is already a part of me.
I called for Kronan in my head, but nothing came back. Then I called for Anaya, but once again nothing happened. I bit down on my lip.