"What? You are Lara Chronveil?" Alex shouted, stopping in his tracks. The black circle that had been following them slowed so much that he found himself far ahead of it, knowing it would take a long time for it to reach him.
"Why are you shouting so loudly?" Lara covered her ears, wincing as if his sudden outburst had truly hurt her.
"Um, doesn't that mean you are the heir of the Chronveil house?" Alex asked. He remembered learning the names of the great ducal families, their patriarchs and matriarchs, and their children, since his private tutors had drilled them into his memory. But he had never seen any of them in person, and all he really knew were their names. Their powers and secrets were kept hidden, of course—no one wanted to share such information. Still, each house was famous for something, even if the details were a mystery. For example, everyone knew Drakethorne was known for having black dragon's blood.
And the Chronveil family was famous for being able to see
FATE
It was a mystical power, little understood, except that everyone supposedly had their fate and destiny written somewhere, or perhaps it could be predicted if a Chronveil looked for it. But their predictions were not always correct, at least as far as he had heard, since his tutors explained that fate could change depending on a person's choices and will.
"Yes, I am the heir of the Chronveil house, but that doesn't mean you should shout like that," Lara replied, her voice sharp with annoyance. She tried to mimic his tone, shouting even louder at the end of her sentence.
"Okay, sorry for that," Alex said, covering his ear because Lara's shout was even louder than his own. He stepped back, still uneasy. "But that doesn't explain why you saved me." He called daggers from his dimensional space and gripped a dagger in each hand, crossing his arms in front of himself in a defensive stance, ready to throw one if Lara attacked.
"Pfft! Do you really think those daggers would save you?" Lara laughed, placing her hands on her hips. She shifted her stance, tapping her foot against the ground, and added, "I am level forty-two."
Whatever sorcery Lara used by tapping her foot revealed itself in the next moment. A thin crack started to open beneath her foot, splitting the ground in two, the fissure racing straight toward Alex until it stopped right under his leg. He stumbled back, lost his footing, and landed hard on the ground, his backside hitting with a thud. Crawling back quickly, he tried to put as much distance as he could between himself and the crack, which looked so deep and so dark that even the pale light from the moon and the faint glitter of stars above could not show what was inside, and in that darkness it seemed as if the crack might run endlessly down into the earth.
Alex felt his chest tighten, and his heart pounded so loudly in his ribcage that it seemed ready to leap from his chest. His blood rushed, and he wanted to run.
"Don't worry, I mean no harm," she said, as if she knew what was going on inside his body.
Alex tried to calm himself, taking a deep breath before turning to look at the black sucking circle that had been slowly moving toward them but now had stopped completely. "Did you stop that too, or what?" he asked, pointing at the circle. Behind it, there was a black wall that seemed to mark the end of everything, nothing beyond it. He wondered whether the black wall behind the circle would be solid or soft if he touched it.
"Pfft! Just because I can split the earth doesn't mean I can stop that circle," Lara said, laughing so hard that her eyes started to water. Alex felt so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear into that black circle to hide from her laughter.
"It probably stopped because the zone has shrunk enough for now, but it will start again soon," Lara explained, pointing at the black circle. She tapped the side of her forehead with her other hand and added, "Didn't the principal say the space would keep shrinking, so it'll start again?"
"Makes sense. But why did you help me? I remember you said something like 'found you' when you saw me," Alex asked, still confused about her intentions.
Even though she said she meant no harm, Alex still gripped a dagger in each hand, though they now hung at his sides. If she changed her mind and attacked, he doubted he could kill her, but at least he could leave a mark or two, since she wore no armor.
"It's just that I was looking for you, and when I saw you, I was so happy that I shouted 'found you' because I've been searching for you since I arrived," Lara said, trying to remember the details. "I was looking for you to see your fate lines. But you know, I can't see your fate lines, and even after touching your hand, I felt nothing. Just like my grandmother said, you don't have any fate."
Alex instinctively stepped back as the girl's green eyes changed to purple, matching her hair, and her gaze swept over him from head to toe.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked, feeling as though those purple eyes could strip him bare with just a glance.
"No matter how hard I look, I can't see your fate lines," Lara said, and in a blur, she was suddenly beside him, holding his palm between both her hands. Alex wanted to pull away, but when he saw her furrowed brow and closed eyes, he allowed it for the moment.
Alex had heard from his mother that Grand Duchess Morgana Chronveil had been unable to see his fate when he was a child. So he wondered if her granddaughter, Lara, would have any more luck.
"Aargh!" Lara cried out, pain twisting her face as blood seeped from her eyes. When she opened them again, her pupils had returned to green. Shaking her head, she released his hand. "I can't see your fate, even when I use my powers," she said reluctantly.
"Are you alright?" Alex asked, wary of her bleeding eyes.
Lara wiped the blood from her cheeks. "I'm fine. It's just that using that power is exhausting, and without it, I have to touch people to see their fate," she said, brushing off his concern. "Just now, I grabbed your hand with my power fully activated, which I hadn't done before when I helped you. And just like before, I can't see your fate, no matter what I do. It's just plain black, like some wall is shielding it away." Her voice sounded dissatisfied, as if she had tasted something bitter.
But before he could ask who or what was blocking his fate, Lara grabbed his armor and pulled him close, their faces just inches apart. "Wha—" Before he could finish, an arrow whistled past where his head had just been and buried itself deep in the trunk of a nearby tree.
***
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