Title: Knotted Destiny
By: QT
Edited By: buttons7

Summery: A new era is arising as darkness sets over the vast kingdom of Tortall. People are slain ruthlessly, cities are destroyed, people's hope diminishes rapidly. The only one who can turn the tide and return things to a balance is an unknown and unexpected hero.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Tamora Pierce's characters, however, I do own this plot.

"..." Talking
'...' Thinking

Onward Kalasin rode, urging her mount to go as fast as possible. Scenery passed them in streaks of blurred color, the only thing staying in focus was the road ahead. Soon, even that became a blur as the girl's sight grew fuzzy. 'I'm tired', she suddenly realized and slowed Mavaiya down to a canter. "If I fall off, drag me off the road and hide," she whispered to the mare with doubt that the horse understood. Sleep seemed to come upon the girl at full force for, within minutes, the Princess was asleep, her limp body leaning against the horse's strong neck.

Though she knew it was a long time after she had fallen asleep, it felt like only seconds had passed when she hit hardened earth with a thud, waking to pain and voices.

"She's the one we're to look after?" a booming voice asked.

"Brother, she is the one," said another voice, only more calmly. This voice, unlike the previous, sounded like wind gracefully blowing across the land, and yet there was a harshness like a pack of hounds racing after their prey.

"Sister, dear, look at her. She's a runt! She won't last and we are wasting valuable time," replied the voice from before. This voice was definitely a man's. It was deep and held authority. The man's voice, which prickled with the clang of swords, but was filled with warmth like the sun itself sent chills down Kalasin's spine.

A groaning Kalasin opened her lids, her blue orbs widening as far as they'd go, her jaw dropping open, and her throat going dry. In front of her stood two very tall figures, one female the other male. The female's skin was as pale as the moonlight glow, and her green eyes blazed with radiance. Her hair fell around her shoulders in long curly locks and the gown she wore shimmered in the night.

The man, however, looked far different from the lady standing next to him. He was donned in snow-white tunic with gold plated armor on top of it. His skin was dark brown, his eyes dark as night and his hair was cropped short. In one hand he held a gold spear, the blade on it showing white hot.

Looking down near his feet, his piercing eyes settled upon the small, frail figure that sat before him. The girl he looked at just gazed at him, her normally ivory skin going ashen as his presence and power pressed upon her. Her black hair was messily cut short, her cream tunic marked with dirt. Her breaches showed where dust settled and her hand was gripping the hilt of her dagger, white-knuckled.

"Stand up, Kalasin of Conté, and ride your horse home, where you belong," demanded the man.

A fire inside the girl that she didn't know she had blazed with fury at his words. Swiftly she stood up, her sapphire eyes narrowing at the figures as the realisation of who they were settled upon her. "Great Goddess, Mithros, forgive me for not being more respectable and bowing to you, but I do not bow to those who believe I'm weak or those who think they know where I belong," she spat, her words like poison.

Her jaw clenched when they both turned to her, Mithros beating down on her with power to make her submit, the Goddess looking thoughtful. 'I will not give in,' Kalasin thought as her knees grew wobbly. "Leave me be if you have no interest in me," she cried out as her head started to pound.

The Goddess smiled and settled her hand onto Mithros' shoulder. "You have underestimated this young one, brother, as I thought you had. She defies you because of the lack of faith you have in her, not out of lack of respect. Give her a chance to become what she was meant to be. Give her a chance to fulfill the prophecy and set things to order."

A grumble, which sounded more like the roar of thunder to Kalasin, emitted from Mithros as his dark eyes glanced quickly to his sister and then settled onto the Princess. Nodding, he took a step towards the girl as the Goddess became shrouded in a thick mist and disappeared.

A large, surprisingly cool hand rested upon the soft skin of Kalasin's cheek. A small gasp escaped from full, pink lips. Kalasin's long dark lashes fluttered as warmth suddenly filled her body. Every muscle in her body relaxed, her nerves feeling as if they went numb to the touch.

"Perhaps my sister is right, and I have judged you too soon, but you are just a frail girl," said Mithros softly, his voice filled with the heat of a summer's day. "You will happen upon multiple tasks along the way of a hard journey that you have chosen to take. There are dangers here that you wouldn't expect; immortals, both ones that are known and others which have yet to be revealed. There are bandits, hillmen, soldiers of enemies as well as those that belong to Tortall.

"You, Kalasin, have a kind heart that can shatter easily. You aren't use to the hard life of a warrior that can easily break your body. You must constantly be someone you aren't, hiding your true identity for the safety of those you love, as well as yourself. This journey will most likely claim your life if you continue on, and no one will come for you to rescue you anymore, whether you wish it or not. You are alone now, Kalasin of Conté. Knowing all of this, do you accept this burden that will be put on your shoulders, the burden of the prophecies you are to fulfill?"

Dazed, the Princess nodded, her azure eyes never leaving the dark pools of the god's eyes. She felt so weak, so awed by the change in Mithros she had just witnessed. "W-what prophecies are you speaking of, and why are you choosing me?" she somehow managed to ask.

A smile crossed Mithros's thin lips as he replied, "The prophecies tell of an individual who will defeat evil when darkness descends upon all of man-kind. That time has come, Kalasin, and your courage, your strength, is what it may take to allow these prophecies to come true. This wouldn't be necessary if gods were allowed to interfere greatly in the mortal realm, but even if we were allowed, we are kept busy in our own kingdom. The evil isn't just upon mortals, but the gods as well. I have to go-"

"No, wait! I...what if I fail?"

The god seemed to look pale at that suggestion, but quickly hid his emotion and shrugged. "Beware of everyone and everything around you. You have both friends and enemies, but you can trust no one. Be safe Princess, I will check up on you when I'm able, if I have enough strength to do so." With that said, Mithros bent down and pressed warm lips against the smooth skin of Kalasin's forehead. Images rushed into her mind of bodies littering the reddened ground. A shadow hovered over one body in particular, and to Kalasin's horror when she squinted to see its face, it was herself laying there with arrows planted in her body and a sword shoved into her chest.

The image faded when the god finished disappearing back to his home. 'That must be what will happen if I fail,' the girl thought grimly, 'if I die before I complete this task, then we all die. But, what was that shadow? Who was that shadow?'

Suddenly, Kalasin noticed that dawn was coming and she hadn't had much sleep. Groaning, the girl looked around for Mavaiya, spotting her grazing on a patch of grass nearby. Sluggishly, she walked over to the mare and ran her hands over her back before struggling as she mounted up. Clicking her tongue against her teeth and gripping fistfuls of the mare's mane, the girl nudged the horse lightly with a booted foot, "Come on, girl, we have a way to go yet before we can rest."

Mavaiya snorted and took one last bite of grass before turning to walk off, but halted abruptly. Her ears went back and her nostrils flared. Something was out there, something not right. The Goddess had told her to keep the girl safe and if she were to go in the direction her rider wished her, they'd be walking into danger.

Kalasin frowned deeply and stared at her horse, "What is it girl?" she asked soothingly.

Mavaiya shook her head and pawed at the ground, snorting again as Kalasin slipped off of her back and lifted the saddlebag over her shoulder before continuing along the path. Whinnying a protest, Mavaiya followed the girl, all her senses alert for the slightest movement or feel of danger.

Kalasin trudged along, stumbling on the slightest raise or dip in the ground. The exhaustion that was enveloping her blinded her to the fact that Mavaiya had stopped dead in her tracks and was whinnying a warning to the girl. Moments later, a rope was looped around her torso, tying her arms to her sides.

The girl felt her rump hit the hard earth once again and swore, looking up with fire blazing in her eyes. Gathered around her were three male centaurs. A centaur was an immortal shaped like a human from the waist up and a horse from the waist down. There were different types of centaurs, those which were very dangerous and would kill you with metal claws and teeth, and those which were the sociable type, trading with villages for goods, helping out in battles if needed. The centaurs Kalasin gazed at weren't the ones to worry greatly about; they had no metal claws instead of hands and hooves.

"What's a young girl like you doing all by yourself with a pretty looking slave like that innocent blood over there?" asked the centaur who was holding the rope leash that imprisoned her as he nodded to Mavaiya.

Kalasin's blood went cold as she looked her captors over. The one that had spoken had brown hair that ended just below his shoulders and was tied back with a black band. His skin was sandy colored and his big brown eyes were intimidating. He had a straight nose and long lashes. His lips were thin, but his teeth, she saw when he smiled, were pearly white. There was a long gash on his right breast that still bled from a battle recently fought.

Seeing her eyes linger on his wound, the centaur smirked. "It's from some raiders we had to take care of. They thought they could loot us, but they were proven wrong, their lives were taken for it. Now, how about you be a good lil' thing and answer my previous question: what is a young girl like yourself doing here?"

Kalasin swallowed and tried to stand up but was jerked back to the ground. Glaring, she looked deep into those brown eyes with her azure ones and cleared her throat. "My business is my own and I just want to make it to the next town for a place to sleep. I'm no raider and I wish not to do harm to you, any of you, and I wish to be let go, now, if you please."

Laughter rang into the air from the three males and two females that held Mavaiya captive. "You think we'll let you go that easily?" chuckled the brown-haired male.

"Well, no, but if you do, I'll heal that wound for you. That way it won't get infected and it won't hurt. You won't even have a scar unless you want one," replied Kalasin coolly.

The male suddenly turned serious and walked up to her, the rope firmly held in his hand. Circling around her he snorted, "And what makes you think I'll trust you?"

"You could take my weapon. I have the gift for healing. If you'd rather have that wound go bad, then ignore me, but I must really insist you let me take care of it."

"What's the catch?"

"I be let go along with Mavaiya and you leave us alone."

"Forget it. It's not enough to give you our trust. You're coming with us, you and that slave, and we'll take you to Graystreak. He'll know what to do with a younglin' like you who's full of fire." Chuckling, he bent down and hoisted Kalasin over his shoulder before taking off in a gallop, the two males following on either side behind him and then the two females towing a very displeased Mavaiya.

With a sigh, Kalasin closed her eyes, deciding now would be a good time to catch up on lost sleep, 'but first,' she thought to herself, 'I'll tend to that wound. Even if they decide to enslave me or kill me or anything, I'll have done something good that may make a difference in the future.' Looking inside, she found her pool of magic and dipped a hand in it, withdrawing a handful of magic. Fixing the gash in her mind, she threw her magic to it and traveled through the wound, burning out the start of an infection, a piece of rusted metal from a knife that must have inflicted the damage, and then she started to magically sew the skin together, fusing it so only a scar as visible as a few strands of hair bunched together was present.

Feeling even more exhausted, Kalasin bit her lip and took a deep breath, deciding not to stop there, but to see if anything else needed mending. Spreading her magic throughout his body, she found bruises which she healed, a torn muscle, and a chipped bone. Using up the rest of her strength to mend the muscle and bone that were his horse-half, she gave into sleep once the job was done. Sinking into darkness, a smile crossed her lips, 'I've done good,' she thought to herself.

The next morning, Kalasin awoke with a start, her heart racing as she looked around her with widened eyes. 'It was just a dream,' she thought to herself with relief as images from her night-mare flashed in her mind; a great battle, the smell of burning flesh belonging to both human and animal. A shadow of a beast stood at the top of a hill, behind it were thousands of different immortals intertwined with humans. Beside the beast stood human-looking figure with blazing eyes that were red, flecked with brown and yellow. Kalasin shuddered and stood up, stretching stiff limbs.

She was in a wooden room that had a thick woolen rug in the center and a pile of pillows, which she had slept on, in the corner. A small table with a plate of food and water was in another corner, and near the door was a bucket to use as a privy. Shaking her head, Kalasin walked over to the food and used her gift to test it for poison, or anything that could harm her. It was safe, along with the water. Feeling thirsty rather than hungry, she gulped the water down and looked around for her pack. It leaned against the wall near the pillows, and beside it was a silk white gown, a breastband of her size, and clean loincloth. Clenching her fists she walked over to the door and twisted the doorknob only to find it locked. Kicking the wooden barrier, she stalked back over to the pillows and dropped down on them, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at nothing in particular.

Minutes passed as Kalasin got fed up with sitting and paced around the room before the door finally opened to admit a large centaur. He looked to be in his fifties and had fair skin. His black and gray streaked hair that was twined and oiled into ringlets. The ends held an assortment of beads. He donned a wrap-around shirt that hung loosely on his body, the hems slightly tattered. Metal chains adorned his wrists and a few around his neck while strung beads and ribbons. His horse half was a blue roan with a black and white streaked tail. The white strands of hair were braided and held beads here and there.

Kalasin gasped and ran to a corner of the room, pressing herself against the wall when the centaur ran at her. Closing her eyes, she waited for an impact of his hooves that never came. Slowly, she opened her blue eyes and found him in front of her, blocking her only exit. On either side of her head was his hand as he hovered over her. She felt his eyes looking her up and down, examining her as if she were a slave being sold off. The warmth from his breath and body surrounded her as fear gathered in her throat.

"I'm Graystreak, the chief of these centaurs. What might your name be?"

"Kale, sir," she replied weakly.

"Yes, Kale, you'll do just fine," the creature said with a wicked grin.

AN: Thank you for the nice reviews! Also, I have been noticing (and it's been pointed out to me multiple times) that I had been spelling "Kalasin" as "Kalisin". I apologize for that mistake and I have gone through the chapters and re-typed her name so that it is now accurate.