Book of Fates ✔

A guide

Anya soundly slept all the flight to Cusco. In her dreams, she witnessed ancient pyramids with their tops concealed in mystical mist built and turned to ashes. She traveled through dark, solemn woods that whispered in her ears, revealing secrets of the beyond. She walked among the shadows of yet-to-come and with the spirits of the bygone...

After all these visions created by her slumbering mind, Anya felt shattered to pieces and even more tired that before falling asleep. The daitias, on the other hand, seemed peculiarly vigorous and full of energy. Except for Nikk though, who casted Anya a concerned look on their way out of the airport, suggesting that his dreams could be of some the same kind.

Despite everything, the Peruvian city welcomed its visitors with warming sunshine and jolly hustle and bustle in the streets. Fresh wind brushed Anya's skin and the air of adventures soon filled her lungs with calmness and determination once again.

"Well, the lord of the GPS, where are we to go now?" Nikk asked Eirney as they all stood in a central city square facing a majestic cathedral.

"Inspiring," Rill said, gazing upon distant hills where a hundred of tiny red-roofed houses were scattered. Green forests were fading in the horizon, dressing up the nature in its ultimate power and beauty. "Can you hear those trees silently saying that they've been growing here long before human race and would be growing still long after it's gone? I can."

"Now we're to go through those exact trees," Eirney rubbed his forehead, frowning at his digital map. "Maybe we stop here for a while and have some rest en la ciudad?"

"Have some rest?" Daphne gave him an annoyed glance. "You've been snoring for six hours straight in the plane and now you want to have some rest?"

"My neck always aches in planes. I need time to recover." Eirn made a sick face. "And some real food, not that half-frozen half-burned apple pie I've been fed aboard."

Nick listened to his sister argue with Eirney for a few minutes, then loosed a breath of irritation and said, "How about a compromise? Let's have a break from each other for two hour. Rest, eat, find a car to drive through the woods and then go?"

Surprisingly, everyone agreed. Anya wondered whether Nikk was born good at parleying or was he just good at sensing Daphne's mood and knew ways of reasoning her. The second guess soon proved to be wrong, actually.

In a few minutes, the daitias somehow drifted away, mingling with the masses and vanishing from the view. Anya found herself left alone with Amarillis. They bought ice cream and lazily roamed along the busy street stashed with souvenir stalls.

Folks were shouting and rushing back and forth, flashing before Anya's eyes in a chaotic dance. Nauseating. Anya never liked crowds, never understood those who loved parties or being surrounded by unfamiliar people, their searching eyes and their silly jokes. Besides, the air in the market place was so hot and stuffy, it was hard to breathe.

"Look at those shawls," Rill stopped by a stall covered with scarves and capes of all colors. She ran her hand over the clothes and drew her eyebrows together. "Do you think it's cashmere?"

Anya indifferently glanced from behind the daitian shoulder. "I don't know." Humming, sweaty men and women were swirling around, pushing and shoving and elbowing each other, making Anya sick. But Rill seemed to be paying no attention.

All this madness made Anya think of a better place to be in right now. Kelas, maybe? It was quite peaceful there. Home would be the best though. Home... My room where the string lights are flickering over my bed at night, where I can bury myself in the blankets and pillows and forget all the noises and disturbing thoughts... And where Leir tried to kidnap me once. Damn. The last memory caused a chilling shiver run down Anya's spine.