blogombal Episode Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Voices of Fate
Episode Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Voices of Fate
“See for yourself,” whispered the voices. Golden light echoed throughout the room, and threads branched out in all directions from the book. It wasn’t my golden light, somehow coming directly from them.The shimmery light surrounding them faded just a bit.
The older woman jerked, but her eyes remained a blazing white as she clutched the box in her hands. Here, directed by the fates to do their bidding. She reminded me of the one who watched over the dog that’d helped me. She wasn’t trapped, just listening to her magic, to help me.
The threads streamed from the book, but they all ended in midair. Where they ended, images rippled into view, like mirrors with golden reflective surfaces. People, customers, all beings I recognized from being in the shop at one point or another.
Doing great deeds.
Blue trolls around a campfire, one of them standing tall with magic surrounding them. A woman walking among the stars, bright familiar boots on her feet. An elderly woman knitting hats and scarves, then those same scarves covering the heads of a multitude of students, studying.
The ladies who had picked out gifts for partners all were cozied up with beings I didn’t recognize. The images continued.
All the people who we had helped within the shop. Memories drifted through my head of the various people contained within the images. We’d helped all those people.
“Yet, you do other work…” Again, the voices came from all directions as the threads changed. They hummed together, and my power pulsed in response to the hum. The glow rose from my own hand, and the fates faded a bit more, like my energy had overwhelmed them. The same golden glow, but something inside it pushed them away.
The threads all shifted. More images appeared.
The light elemental with a sword fighting a massive horde of creatures to protect a city. A Sphinx reading a book next to a portal. Bright green leaves from a massive tree shading that magical author, who spoke in front of a bunch of small children.
“Important work we didn’t see…” The voices weren’t as strong this time.
These were the stops that the Cat hadn’t known about. The ones sending him into an untrusting frenzy, since he didn’t understand. They had come from me. Somehow, I had found these threads, using my fate magic.
“He needs to let go…”
“You want me to take over,” I whispered, as the words bubbled up inside me. Hadn’t that been what I’d been doing with the coffeeshop days, and potentially more?
More images of when Betty had taken control.
“But, Betty did this…” I explained, looking at the places we had traveled that the Cat hadn’t known about. That the book didn’t lead us to.
“You did this…” It came out stronger this time, from all three of them. Inarguable and certain. “Threadfinder…”
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I had nothing to say in response as it all sank in.
Betty reacting to my fate magic made sense, and it also explained when I didn’t have much luck using it myself. The weight of accepting that I had caused each of these visits, helped each of these people, was staggering.
It wasn’t as many as had come from the book, but that was because in the beginning, the book had driven them all. Now, in the last few weeks, it had mostly been me.
We’d helped these people because something inside me said we needed to. Not just asked, demanded that we help, and Betty, being the shop, responded to those demands, making it possible.
That was good. This work was important.
“Choose…”
The book flew out of my hand and hovered in the air, as bright golden light washed out of its pages. A massive list filled most of the inside, with checkmarks next to the items. Row after row of customers in the shop, or deliveries. I only caught a glimpse of the words as they continued to flip.
But this wasn’t just about me, and the Cat wasn’t here.
“He fixed all of these. Will he be free?” I asked the question, trying to think as fast as I could about all of this.
The Cat did not trust the fates, but everything I’d learned about them reinforced the idea that they protected the tree. And given that the tree protected us all…
“All must choose…”
Finally the pages stopped moving as the first blank page appeared. Words appeared on the surface, scrolling faster than I could read them. Once the page finished filling in, a dotted line appeared.
I started reading the contract, since that was clearly what it was. It reminded me of the employment contract I’d signed to start working at the shop, except this one used fancy language, and I didn’t even know what some of the words meant.
Nothing about the actual job was described, just mentions of the shop, keeping true to the tree, and a bunch of other things that didn’t make sense to me. There wasn’t a chance I’d sign something I didn’t understand without help.
The golden light suddenly dimmed as Lorestone appeared, still sitting on top of my magical book. The stone's appearance cut through the light over top of the center table in the shop. It helped clear my mind.
Betty’d sent reinforcements. I wasn’t alone having to make a decision without the Cat. Betty stood with me.
“Choose…” The words came again, but even fainter than before.
The elderly woman jerked as her hands scrabbled at the box in her arms. She tore the lid open, and pulled out a stone feather.
Not a feather, a quill.
The Folly of Felix.
With one fluid movement, I snagged Lorestone and the dragon book, placing them on top of the golden book. “Translate!”
Bright green and black magic rippled through the room as the three glittering beings trembled.
#
Another burst of energy sent me to my paws. Light rose from the archway leading out onto the balcony.
Golden light.
A burst of cold down my spine rushed through my body, as I darted as fast as my weak body would allow me.
Echoes of the Fates stood in the shop, with the golden book open in front of Sable. A poor woman held out a quill to Sable.
Everything slowed down and happened at once.
“Choose…” the Echoes said.
No, they would not get their claws into her! They would trap her bright light. Not Sable. Not my family.
I leaped as Sable’s hand twitched. Somehow, I wouldn’t be fast enough. I couldn’t stop her.
Horrible words clawed their way out of my throat. The only power I had left to keep her safe.
“You’re fired!” The words mingled with Sable’s demand to ‘Translate’. Wait, what?