Destiny, a concept with myriad names, yet only one essence, one undeniable truth. The question reverberates through the corridors of our minds at least once in our existence: "Why am I here?" For some, the answer may seem simple, evident in their purpose and path. Yet, for the chosen few, the question unveils a complexity beyond measure. Destiny becomes a labyrinthine journey, an enigmatic tapestry of interconnected threads. So the question remains, "why are you here?"
Blood dried on her shaking hands, her hair matted with dried mud and ash. A smudge of blood stained her cheek, her light blue eyes cut through like razors, yet they drowned in a sea of sorrow and pain. She had found refuge in an armoire, safe from them for now, but she knew it wouldn't last long. She knew what she had to do. What she had always known she would have to do. A path she could never escape. Her destiny.
She stroked her young child's hair, knowing this would be her last chance of ever doing so. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breaths came ragged and shallow. The end was near.
"Always remember, Onyx," she swallowed the lump rising in her throat, fighting back her own hot tears. "To never stray from the light," she managed to say before losing the battle to her array of emotions.
Onyx, her only living child, stared back at her with a fiery-like gaze—a dark amber gold, radiating with a power she could barely comprehend. It was a power that couldn't be contained, a power that would forever make Onyx a trophy to many. A prize worth dying for.
An Orc's loud, gruff voice rang out, ordering the guards to find them. This was it—the moment she had lived for, she had lived over many times before. Yet, now that it was here, she found herself unsure if she was taking the right path, if this was indeed how it was to end for her.
"Onyx, listen to me," she urgently grabbed Onyx's shoulders, seeking the young child's full attention. "When I open these doors, run and never stop! Not even for me." Worry and confusion raced across her small, innocent face. Her golden eyes ablaze with innocence and purity.
"Stay that way my love." Her mind briefly flashed.
"One," she blurted out, as she choked back her emotions. "Two, three!" With a hard shove she swung open the armoire's doors and leaped out, clutching Onyx's small hand in a tight and frantic grasp.
"Over there!" she heard a guard yell behind them. Fear coursed through her veins, feeding her with a sudden rush of energy she didn't think she had. "RUN!" she yelled at Onyx as the child struggled to keep up with her mother's pace. An arrow whizzed past her face, startling her. She tightened her grip on Onyx's hand and pushed herself harder, fighting her hardest to flee the burning kingdom.
Arrows flew by, just missing her as they cascaded onto the hard ground, causing dirt to rain down upon them. "Almost there," she told herself, that was until she abruptly stopped as a surge of pain shot through her. She glanced down only to be accompanied with a stream of warm, crimson, blood pouring from her pierced side. An Orcish arrow head embedded deep in her side, the ground filling its thrust with her sacrifice. The sharp tinge of iron overcame her sense of taste. The world began to spin in a downward spiral, her legs feeling weak and wobbly. Raven couldn't catch herself as she unwillingly fell to the ground. That very fall, being the last she would ever take.
-ooooo-
Onyx's gaze shot up as she hurried to find her mother's eyes, her fear and innocence reflecting upon her golden gaze. "Mother!" she called out as she watched Raven crumple, helplessly to the ground, clutching her wound and gasping for what little breath she could grasp on to. Her mother's eyes locked onto Onyx's, pain filling them. But even more, recognition, as if she had known the outcome all along.
"Run," she choked out weakly, "Run and don't look back."
"But mother, I can't leave you here. She will kill you," Onyx protested with anger.
"No, you have to go," Raven's voice strained as more blood pulsing from her wound. "It is my time, little one." She rasped as she coughed, hacking up blood that staining her rosy lips. Onyx's small frame crouched beside her, refusing to let go.
"Now go. You will understand when the time comes." Her mother released her grip on Onyx's hand, but Onyx immediately reached back for it. "I love you, little one." Onyx's eyes welled up with scalding tears, blurring her vision as she got up from the blood-soaked ground. "I will avenge you, mother. I promise."
She ran as fast as she could, pushing herself toward the wooden gates that led to the outside world, far from the smoldering kingdom which had burned down to embers. Each step she took brought her closer to the woods, where she could run and hide. Each step brought her closer to the safety of the wilderness. Each step closer to freedom. Suddenly, a figure leaped out, blocking any means of escape. The figure's eyes glowed with a violet purple, its obsidian wings opening and closing. Beckoning her.
"Well, well, there you are," A female voice lashed out like a blade, her words dripping with venom. She glancing back at Onyx's dying mother carelessly. "The only child of the Raven Queen all to myself." She sneered, crouching down, meeting Onyx's golden eyes directly.
"I am not scared of you," young Onyx said boldly as her muscles tensed, preparing to fight her way out.
"A feisty one she is," The woman observed, getting up from her crouched position and brushing the black dirt off her unscathed hands. "She would make an excellent addition to my arena."
"NO!" Onyx heard her mother's hoarse cry in protest.
"Guards!" The winged woman called out, and quickly in response two burly Orcs appeared, each grabbing one of Onyx's small arms. "Take this mutt to the cages, and take her to my kingdom safe and alive." She ordered with a sharp tone.
"Yes, you're Majesty," they responded as they drug Onyx off towards the cages.
-ooooo-
"Demeter you monster!" growled Raven, as she struggled to get up from the blood-soaked ground but falling back down with a hard thud.
"That is Queen Demeter" Demeter responded calmly. "And no, I am now the keeper of the true monster," she paused, sliding a dagger out of its sheath as the ting of meted filled the air, "your beloved daughter." She continued, stepping on Raven's throat, pinning her to the ground as though insuring her death. "Any last words?" she asked coldly without remorse.
Even under the pressure on her throat, the undying pain in her side, and the promise of death, Raven couldn't help but smile. "Indeed I do. You will fall to the least likely of hands, Demeter," she rasped.
"Any other useless words?" Demeter sighed, unbothered.
Raven closed her eyes and slightly shook her head, knowing the unavoidable end. "Put me out of my misery," were her final, solemn words.
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The Chronicles of Onyx: Book 1
काल्पनिक**Action/Adventure Second place winner for The Fabulous Writer Awards ** Book One of the Chronicles of Onyx series. (FIRST DRAFT) War. For lifetimes it has consumed the lands of Druzatria, coursing and destroying all freedom and peace. Claiming inn...
