The Crossing (Book One)

Chapter Eleven: Fate

The morning light crept into the room followed by a loud shriek that awoke him. He was on the balls of his feet in a heartbeat, crouched with dagger in hand and sword within reach.

Something was wrong. His gaze shifted to the bed. With a start, he stood and fumed at the crumpled sheets in the empty bed.

"Damn it!" Tezaro had awakened to an empty room.

Hurriedly he stalked to the privy room and opened the door in search of Aurora. Cursing, he began stuffing items and food into the remaining bags. "Armindia's best warrior my--- Ah!"

He hobbled on one foot near the bedpost while using the most graphic of curses in very imaginative combinations. He was disgusted at himself as the sting in his toe began to ease away.

How could this have happened?! How could she have fooled him into believing he had convinced her to see Anthonias first? He had underestimated her, a mistake he did not intend on repeating. Gods be damned, but she was stubborn!

Their late night conversation had left him raw. Her observation of the situation had chilled his heart. Nothing could bring back Larn, and yet no one understood his driving need for justice. Larn's life had not been meaningless.

Anthonias had dangled in front of him the last glimmer of hope with the information he possessed. In his quest to find justice for his murdered brother, contact with many old friends had waned and finally been lost. Rather than giving up, he had continued the search alone for close to a year undaunted.

He chastised himself. If he had been traveling with friends this wouldn't have happened. In the past week he hadn't slept more than a couple of hours each night. His body badly needed rest but had been denied until finally, his body had overridden his discipline.

Searching for Aurora in a strange world had taken all of his tracking abilities to new heights. Finding her had been the easier part after following Lord Fennaris as he stalked her. It was a shock when he recognized Aurora. He couldn't explain it, but he was certain she was the same age as the image he had first seen of her.

Years ago, when he had earned the title of Protector, he had been granted an audience with the Oracle. He was different then: younger, hopeful, and lighthearted. His future awaited him.

He had entered the mystic springs deep within the slate caverns and witnessed the graceful liquid feminine figure who rose from the waters even as the pool remained still. Water rippled through her translucent body. In reverence he took to his knee.

"I am Tezaro, Protector of Armindia." A formal introduction as was tradition even though the Blue Oracle knew who he was and why he had come.

In the rushing murmuring of the waterfalls he heard the Oracle's voice. "Hail, to you brave knight. Witness before my sight." The angelic figure pointed with her hand at the pool beneath.

The water rippled into clarity and an image appeared. He would never be able to forget the moment he saw her face. A young woman sat alone. At the sight of her silent tears, his heart had clenched in an unfamiliar manner.

"Through a Crossing of twisted paths, the Key to all will be in your hands. She will be friend and cause you woe. Your greatest love; your greatest foe." The Blue Oracle dissolved into the pool. The image of Aurora disappeared in swelling circles that spread wider until the water stilled.

There had been more to his prophecy but that was an outcome he would make certain never came to be.

From that moment, her face was seared to his mind. As always, the Oracle had not lied. If he had doubted it before, upon seeing Aurora he realized he was forever more linked to her--- even if she were his doom.