Premonition
Invisible Ties
She watched as the disciple of Grima and the Exalt of Ylisse battled before her. She watched their step, calculated their every move, evaluating every attack. The disciple was a powerful enemy, and she knew the Exalt couldn't fight him alone, so she stepped in to help him.
She pulled a book adorned with gold out from a pocket with in her coat, and flipped it open. Many ancient symbols and inscriptions were written on every single page, and only great, powerful mages could read them and use their hidden power to their advantage. She was one of those powerful mages.
The disciple noticed as she began whispering the words of ancient mages. Her hand held in front of her illuminated as she concentrated the power of the words through her body, allowing it to gather in her hand. The disciple knew that she was using a very powerful magic, so he used his own magic to move himself in the blink of an eye to a place where she would not see him. The Exalt, however, traced his movements, and saw as he began to prepare equally powerful magic.
"Up there!" the Exalt warned his ally, so she looked up and released the ancient power she had harvested. A bolt of lightning formed from the power and shot at the disciple, who used his magic to defend himself. He had to keep her alive, he knew, so he turned and used his power against the Exalt once again.
The Exalt had been unprepared, and was hit with the full blow of the disciple's magic. He was now extremely vulnerable. The disciple ceased the moment and prepared his strongest magic to kill the Exalt, but she was watching. When he released his magic, she released magic with an equal amount of power. The two canceled each other out, and the Exalt was not harmed.
The disciple looked up at her, scowling, then once again used his magic to move himself across the room so he could reevaluate himself. The Exalt turned to her.
"This is it," he said, a soft smile crossing his kind face, "our final battle. As soon as we're done here, this nightmare will be over."
She nodded, but she wasn't fully listening. She was afraid, knowing that if she wasn't careful, she could ruin all of their chances if victory. She doubted herself, and had no trust in herself. The Exalt, however, trusted her more than anyone else in the world.
He noticed her anxiety, and smiled. "You're one of us, now," he said gently, "and no 'destiny' can change that."
He lifted her face gingerly so he could see her eyes from beneath the hood. With his other hand, he tucked strands of her dirty-blonde hair behind her ear. She smiled wryly and pressed her cheek against his warm hand.
The Exalt slowly took his hand from her face and drew his sword once again. "Have faith in yourself," he told her. She nodded, and he smiled again. "Now let's kill this dastard and be done with it!"
She nodded again. "Thank you," she whispered.
The Exalt gently squeezed her hand, before turning to look at the livid disciple. "I'm guessing we don't necessarily need a strategy now?"
She shook her head. "Get as close to him as you can without being to close to him. I want to be the one to finish him."
He nodded, and she advanced with him close at her heals. The disciple had clamed himself by the time they reached him. She had a feeling he had prayed to Grima, his god, and had a new renounced hope of victory. He looked at her, and grinned viciously.
"Why do you resist to walk the path our god has paved for you?" he sneered. She growled, then began to prepare the ancient power once again. The disciple continued, "Struggle all you want, fool! You can't rewrite what is already written!"
"Don't listen to him," the Exalt said gently. "You got this. My strength is yours."
Nodding once again, she concentrated all her energy into her words as she murmured the ancient, powerful words. All of the energy gathered together resulted in having very powerful magic at her command. She waited for the perfect moment, then released the energy. It hit the disciple hard, and he collapsed, at the verge of death.
The Exalt thought it was over. He thought she had finished their enemy. He lowered his guard, and turned to her, smiling. But the disciple wasn't ready to end it.
"This isn't over," he gasped, concentrating all the lifeforce he had left into a final attack. "Damn you both!" He shot the final attack at the Exalt, who wasn't prepared to defend himself.
"Look out!" she shrieked, pushing the Exalt out of the way, and taking the blow herself. Excruciating pain seared through her body, but she didn't mind. She knew that an attack like that would kill the disciple, since he was so weak.
She hit floor with a thud. The force of her body hitting the ground made her pain increase, and the world around became blurry, but she knew that she was going to be okay. She watched as the Exalt approached her, and looked at his blurred face.
"You alright?" he asked softly. She nodded faintly, and he bent down and scooped her up. "That's the end of him. Thanks to you, we carried the day. We can rest easy now."
Suddenly, an immense amount of anger began to pulse through her body, but she knew the anger didn't belong to her. Red veins of light sliced through her vision, and she felt lightheaded. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew it wasn't good.
"Put me down," she said, her voice full of urgency. The Exalt looked down at her, worried.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Just put me down!" she screamed, and began to thrash in his arms. He gently set her on her feet, but put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from falling. She began to feel nauseous as the anger pulsed through her body again, and almost collapsed in his arms.
"Hey, stay with me!" he shouted.
She couldn't comprehend what she was doing, and didn't notice as her body acted on its own. She didn't realize as she began her body unconsciously began to concentrate the ancient power in her hand. She lost all control her entire self.
When she regained control of her body and mind, it was too late. She had made a sword of lighting from the power of the ancients, and she had forced it through the Exalt's chest.
She was unable to figure out what had just happened. Her thoughts were rushing so fast through her mind that she wasn't able to understand any of them.
All she knew for truth was that she had just killed the Exalt.
He looked at her, and as the life drained from his face he said softly, "This is not your... your fault. Promise me... you'll find your way out of this place. Please... go..."
His body crumpled in front of her.
She stumbled back, looking at the lifeless body of the man she had just killed. Tears welled in her eyes as she began to lose consciousness once again.
All her senses died out except her hearing.
All she could hear was dark, maniacal laughter.
